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duchess_of_pieDisclaimer: y’all know what a big fan I am. Give me this one entry to gush and I’ll henceforth never bore you so badly again. Or better yet, just skip this one.
oh, i was just way too tired to post yesterday….that midnight harry potter on wednesday done me in. but i meant to post on it, so here’s goes.
REVIEWS OF THE DUCHESS #1: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRIZONER OF AZKABAN
first off, it helps if you’re a fan of the books. but if you don’t know what’s good for you and have never delved into the world of hogwarts, quiddich, and anamagi, it’s still a good time. and for the love of snape, at least see the first two movies in prep, as there’s not a lot of background explaination.
The marauders: wormtail, moony, padfoot and prongs are all accounted for and present—as much as they can be—and their map is an entertaining theme for the credits. Lupin not as loopy as I’d expected, but I loved the fact that he plays a jazz record while the students take on the boggart. Gary oldman as Sirius black: brilliant, but not enough screen time. The explainations behind the origins of the map, the marauder’s time in school and the past duel between black and pettigrew are sadly omitted. And I got the feeling that there was something newly revealed regarding romantic notions of both remus and Sirius…though that’s just a hunch….maybe…*^_^*
Characters and actors to note: michael gambon is no richard harris and lacks his soft-hearted excentricity, but with his limited scenes, he does well. Emma Thompson as trelawny is fucking hilarious and best casting to date. Draco, dudly and crookshanks are seriously downplayed (and what the hell happened to goyle?). “most change to happen to a child between movies” award goes to Neville. Jesus. Hardly recognized him! The twins are back in full force, but the rest of the weasley clan has been horribly backgrounded. And some fucking sweet moments between hermione and ron. What. We all saw that coming.
The more things change, the more they remain the same: all but one returning actor and familiar sets are comforting, but the pacing and direction is so different than the first two that it’s quite a shock…but a good one. The whole movie I’m thinking, god, it’s SO different…but it’s SO better. It makes the first two look shameful. (note to fans: rewatch the first two before you go, because they’ll never be good enough again.) alfonzo cauron is a god. Under his directorial cap, the characters are humanized and robbed of their former stiltedness, hogwarts becomes less an enigmatic castle and settles into the bones of being a day-to-day school (that, yes, just happens to be set in a 1000 year old castle), the pace is furious and free and the mood is 100% darker AND funnier. That last one alone is evidence of his powers, the rest is crowning bonus.
Favorite bits: the beautifully handling of the time-turner incident, the “should we get closer?” comment from hermione to ron, trelawny’s classes, dementors hanging out around hogwarts, harry’s moment of the patronus, and the innkeeper of the leaky caldron. And, although my dear professor snape is not as prominent or pissed off as he is in the books, he makes up for it by being especially dastardly in class and by coming to the rescue later (like the hero I know he’s going to be revealed to be). I heart alan rickman.
Okay, I’ve wasted enough time for those of you who don’t care and are terribly embarrassed of me.
oh, i was just way too tired to post yesterday….that midnight harry potter on wednesday done me in. but i meant to post on it, so here’s goes.
REVIEWS OF THE DUCHESS #1: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRIZONER OF AZKABAN
first off, it helps if you’re a fan of the books. but if you don’t know what’s good for you and have never delved into the world of hogwarts, quiddich, and anamagi, it’s still a good time. and for the love of snape, at least see the first two movies in prep, as there’s not a lot of background explaination.
The marauders: wormtail, moony, padfoot and prongs are all accounted for and present—as much as they can be—and their map is an entertaining theme for the credits. Lupin not as loopy as I’d expected, but I loved the fact that he plays a jazz record while the students take on the boggart. Gary oldman as Sirius black: brilliant, but not enough screen time. The explainations behind the origins of the map, the marauder’s time in school and the past duel between black and pettigrew are sadly omitted. And I got the feeling that there was something newly revealed regarding romantic notions of both remus and Sirius…though that’s just a hunch….maybe…*^_^*
Characters and actors to note: michael gambon is no richard harris and lacks his soft-hearted excentricity, but with his limited scenes, he does well. Emma Thompson as trelawny is fucking hilarious and best casting to date. Draco, dudly and crookshanks are seriously downplayed (and what the hell happened to goyle?). “most change to happen to a child between movies” award goes to Neville. Jesus. Hardly recognized him! The twins are back in full force, but the rest of the weasley clan has been horribly backgrounded. And some fucking sweet moments between hermione and ron. What. We all saw that coming.
The more things change, the more they remain the same: all but one returning actor and familiar sets are comforting, but the pacing and direction is so different than the first two that it’s quite a shock…but a good one. The whole movie I’m thinking, god, it’s SO different…but it’s SO better. It makes the first two look shameful. (note to fans: rewatch the first two before you go, because they’ll never be good enough again.) alfonzo cauron is a god. Under his directorial cap, the characters are humanized and robbed of their former stiltedness, hogwarts becomes less an enigmatic castle and settles into the bones of being a day-to-day school (that, yes, just happens to be set in a 1000 year old castle), the pace is furious and free and the mood is 100% darker AND funnier. That last one alone is evidence of his powers, the rest is crowning bonus.
Favorite bits: the beautifully handling of the time-turner incident, the “should we get closer?” comment from hermione to ron, trelawny’s classes, dementors hanging out around hogwarts, harry’s moment of the patronus, and the innkeeper of the leaky caldron. And, although my dear professor snape is not as prominent or pissed off as he is in the books, he makes up for it by being especially dastardly in class and by coming to the rescue later (like the hero I know he’s going to be revealed to be). I heart alan rickman.
Okay, I’ve wasted enough time for those of you who don’t care and are terribly embarrassed of me.
