Movie Magic: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1.

WOW! wow.

I think they actually did it just right! (for once!) That beginning before the title sequence is so poignant, with so many unsaid goodbyes (I had forgotten about those!), so many heartbreaking looks (snif!!!).

How can I review this without spoiling it for anyone? Tough one... let's see if I can figure out how to speak in code so that I can express my opinion on certain points so that those who have seen the movie (or are very familiar with the book) will understand me, but so that I don't give anything away for the rest...

Movie Madness: POTTER!!!

Tonight's THE night!!!

I finally get to see the Beginning of the End with friends of mine in Luxemburg (so English!!! no dubbing, yay!!!). I've already heard from my sisters that it's fabulous... so very excited! I think the hardest thing will be waiting 8 months for the 2nd half of the story, argh!!!

Last year I prepared for the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with Potter Wednesdays when I rewatched all the previous films on dvd and reviewing them here on the blog (Philosopher's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix). For this movie I wanted to re-read all the books, but I couldn't bring them with me to Belgium, so I just rented Half-Blood Prince on dvd to dip back into J.K.Rowling's magical universe. No need to mix up a batch of frenzy, I already got a fabulous dose last week in London when I happened on the World Premiere at Leicester Square!

If you want to dip back into the Potter Universe before watching the latest outing, you can either click on the titles above to re-visit my reviews, or you can head on over to Pop Classics where a Classicist gives her unique view on each of the films (very interesting reads!).

And you can be sure I'll be getting a Potter review out ASAP! ;o) 

I'll try to avoid spoilers... :p

Movie Madness: crazy premiere in London!

Talk about walking into a madhouse! My sister and I were trying to cross Leicester Square tonight to collect our Mamma Mia! tickets with enough time to have dinner before the show... and found our paths blocked by a horde of screaming people!

My sister's like: "Thursday night? Oh, probably a movie premiere... I wonder which one it could be?... noooo... wait a minute! not... HARRY POTTER?!?!?!?!"

We found ourselves at a corner of the Square amongst a crowd of people looking up at a big screen showing the highlights of what was going on in the "fenced-off" zone (protected by Death Eaters no less!).

Potter Wednesdays: Half-Blood Prince

It's time for the final Potter Wednesday! Until next year that is when I can start a countdown to Deathly Hallows! But that one will be with the books... :p

So I got to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this weekend with my sister in London, which is a double YAY!!! for me! One because of the excellent company, and two because it wasn't dubbed and I got to hear Alan Rickman's voice!!! :o)

On to the movie...

Wow!

Tears of laughter, tears of sadness.

A few quick thoughts:

• Hormones in a rage.

• Luna wearing Spectrespecs!

• Ron on a broom (priceless!).

• Lavender Brown... *shudder*

• Harry and Ginny.

• Poor Hermione!

• Attack on the Burrow... new, unexpected and excellent!

• Voldemort was creepy even as a child!

• Draco Malfoy finally gets something to do!

• Not impressed by Slughorn...

Wondering....
...how on earth are people who haven't read the books going to understand what happens next?! I mean, how is Harry supposed to know what objects to look for as horcruxes? They left out too many of the visits to Tom Riddle's past in the pensieve... visits that were what informed Dumbledore and Harry on the special nature of the objects Riddle chose as hosts for his horcruxes!


Ooops moment (will watch my words with this so as not to give away a major spoiler for next film, those who have read book 7 will understand):

• That scene Astronomy tower (the encounter that never happened in the book) gives away waaaaay too much!!!

Negative points:

• Not enough Ginny.

• I really wanted to see the meeting between the Minister of Magic and the new British PM! :p

• I understand the reasons for the lack of funeral and fight (I'm guessing budget) , but I really missed them!!! Particularly the fight between the members of the D.A. and the Death Eaters! grrr... A Weasly was supposed to get bitten by Fenrir!

All in all I really enjoyed the movie (my sister complained that I laughed too loud and quite often!) even if I think the ending kind of resulted in an overall drop in quality (would have been sooo much better with the battle!). Now I have to ponder on wether or not to re-read the book... might be frustrating but it will be nice to re-visit all those moments that were left out! :p

Potter Wednesdays: Order of the Phoenix

Ahhh, the final Potter movie on dvd! This must mean I'm about to see the new one on the big screen! And my sources tell me it will be in a spiffy London cinema on Friday night, YAY!!!

But for right now, back to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix... i.e. Dumbledore's Army vs. an excess of pink! :p


New characters!

• Loony Luna :o) great casting choice there, that girl really pulls it off!

• Dolores Umbridge... scary! That voice, that character... and all that pink! *shudder* I think she may be the scariest of the villains we've faced so far in part because her evilness is hidden under layers of "what's proper" and doing things for "the greater good"... in other words a fanatic! Very dangerous...

• Bellatrix Lestrange - Sirius' absolutely insane and evil cousin, marvellous Helena Bonham Carter!

Fun moments:

• Oh look, the Dursleys are back! I missed them in the last movie! Did they change actors for Dudley? But wait a minute! Isn't Petunia supposed to receive a letter from Dumbledore right about now? Weren't we supposed to finally understand why Harry's been staying with them instead of a friendlier wizard family (like the Weasleys)?

• I love flying! And that ride up the Thames although short was excellent! (almost makes up for the lack of quidditch)

• Sirius' house.... spooky! And Kreacher is the worst! Pity we didn't get to spend much time there... but at least the reunion with Sirius was heartwarming (and heartbreaking when you think about the outcome).

• Welcome to the ministry of magic! Nice to see it after all this time!

• Ahhh... the famous "first kiss"! but even more than that I loved Hermione's translation of the female point of view for the guys (and Cho's "feelings") and their incredulous reaction! :p

• Anything and everything to do with the DA! (Dumbledore's Army) particularly Neville's progress and being able to see how powerful Ginny is! About time that girl got something to do! :o)

• We finally get more Snape thx to the Occlumency lessons!

• I loved Fred and George's farewell to Hogwarts (but I still don't think they got enough screen time and wish I could have seen the swamp), take that Umbridge!

Scenes I didn't like so much (or missing from the book that I wished were there):

• Harry's outrage (when he walks in on Ron and Hermione in Sirius' house) at having no news all summer long doesn't come across that well. In fact I found the acting by the main trio to be little bit less convincing this time, a bit forced, particularly those first reunion scenes (it got better later). And wasn't this the episode were Ron and Hermione got made prefects and Harry didn't (adding to the rage)?

• I wanted to visit the magical hospital (whose name I can't remember now, St Mungo's?) to see Mr Weasley after the snake attack, visit Neville's parents (and finally meet his scary grandma) and catch a glimpse of poor Gilderoy Lockhart who still can't remember anything (from movie 2!) sigh!

• Also seriously missing was Angelina's turn as Quidditch captain and the funny Keeper tryouts! grrrr....

• I don't like the way Umbridge found out about the DA (loved the classes), and Cho wasn't supposed to be the traitor!!! Changing the story there people! tsk! tsk!

Great lines:

• Umbridge in DADA class:

"Theory is enough to get you through your examinations, which after all is what school is all about"

HA! It's sad that some educational systems are actually about that! Passing tests doesn't mean being educated! Just 'cause you can memorize a bunch of factoids doesn't mean you know how to use them properly when the time comes!

• Ron when Hermione talks about forming the DA and breaking the rules:

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?!"

• And Hermione in the Forest:

"Grawp! PUT ME DOWN! NOW!"

Anyhow, as much fun as freaky Umbridge is, I think the end of the movie is the best part An excellent final half hour with all the Ministry of Magic battle... and that death is just as sudden and shocking as when I read it the first time! Tears and shock. It takes a while to sink in what with everything else that's still happening. And we finally get to see the (one and only) confrontation between Dumbledore and Voldemort! :o)

(hmmm... they don't seem so confrontational in this shot do they?)

I checked out the extra scenes on the dvd hoping for some juicy stuff, but there's nothing big, they just add a few tidbits to Neville and add some creepiness to Umbridge (extra scene in the forest, talking about "the ends justify the means"), and a definitely better scene between Umbridge and Trelawney. But no swamp from the twins, no quidditch tryouts with Ron flailing try to stop the quaffle from entering the goals...

And now I'm looking forward to the Half-Blood Prince where we get more Snape! Farewell to Hogwarts! (but didn't book 7 end there, onsight at Hogwarts? must re-read to double-check)


Check back in next week for the final chapter of Potter Wednesdays!

Remembering Potter characters...

Need a reminder of who the various characters are before you go see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince?

There are so many it can get a bit confusing at times! So just head on over to IGN to catch up on the Top 25 Harry Potter characters (or at least their top 25 selection). Spoilers up to movie 5!

Who are your favourite Harry Potter characters?

Mine are Snape and Lupin!

I found my suspicions of Snape confirmed in the final book and so enjoyed the character even more, but as much as I enjoy Alan Rickman's performance best of all, my favourite character still has to be the wonderful Professor Lupin! It's a pity he appears less and less in subsequent films (we interact a bit more with him in the books).

Oh, and as a post-script... did you hear about Daniel Radcliffe's interview with an 11 year-old reporter?! Lovely story! It's at NyMagazine.

Potter Wednesdays: The Goblet of Fire

Oops! The Hogwarts Express has been slightly delayed today due to unforseen circumstances, but better late than never, right? ;o)

So some of you will be lucky enough to see the Half-Blood Prince tonight! (or to have already seen it like my kiwi sister who is ahead by a dozen hours and so already had her big quidditch 3-D experience... grrrrr!!!)

I'll just have to contain my impatience by continuing to watch these kids grow up on my small screen at home, reliving the magic, and getting ready to hit the movie theatre as soon as I set foot in London! (I could go see it tonight also, but do I really want to watch it dubbed just for the sake of not waiting 10 days? nah! But if some friends suggest an outing I might cave to the pressure... and then just go see it again in English! lol!)

But back to the task at hand:
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire!
don't you just love these titles?! ;o)

First thoughts when this movie comes to mind:

• no quidditch?! :s
• dragons!!! :o)
• cute (teenage crushes)
• sad... :o( (the first shocking -and sudden- death in the saga -if we don't count Harry's parents-)

For this instalment of Potter Wednesdays I figured I'd share the thoughts that popped into my head while watching the movie:

• Quidditch world cup -> too short!

Plus all wrong the seating of the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione! They should have been with the Minister of Magic and the Malfoys! (and Croutch's house elf)
Wrong dark mark sequence! Should be in the forest, should be with Harry's wand that he missplaced...

• New characters:

Mad Eye Moody - excellent!
Rita Skeeter not nasty enough and what about being an animagus (the secret to her secrets)?!
Mme Maxime and Karkaroff... boff!
Cedric Diggory - scrumptious!
Cho - featherbrained

• Continuity error: when Harry talks to Sirius in the fire place, and they talk about his dream, Sirius says "you saw Wormtail and Voldemort in the dream" but how does Harry know who Wormtail is? They never explained the Maurauder's Map in the previous movie or the names Wormtail, Padfoot, Moony and Prongs.

• Loved Malfoy the ferret! wonderful!

• I missed the summoning lessons between Harry and Hermione (and all the other sessions with just her or with Ron as well when they're helping Harry learn new spells or master old ones to help him through the tasks! All necessary stuff for movie 5!). The dragon isn't supposed to escape but it does add some of that tension you could feel when reading the book.

• Those BEARDS!!! The twins are such wonderful comic relief! I can't wait to see how they take on Umbridge in next week's movie!!!

• Prof MacGonagall's dance lessons: "babbling bumbling band of baboons!" and the girls jump up ready to dance while the boys are totally dreading it!

• Teen angst what with boys starting to look at girls in a different way (the dance etc), Harry and (specially) Ron finally realising that Hermione's a girl! (she looks gorgeous by the way!). And Hermione frustrated crying at the end...

• Why's Neville helping Harry instead of Dobby?! That was Moody's original plan but it didn't work and so he inspired Dobby to steal the gillyweed and it to Harry at the last minute. Did love the effects after he ate the gillyweed though, looked v cool! Not that I really miss the House Elf plotline... Dobby was really annoying in Chamber of Secrets! Just wondering how that will impact the final movie...

• I'm cold just thinking of the water in that lake!

• The pensieve is cool! Am looking forward to seeing more of it in the new movie!

• That Maze is AWESOME!!! Wish I could explore one like it! (but without the monsters) But I wanted to see the Sphinx!!! They didn't show enough of the monsters! The Boggart, the spider...
  

• The suddenness of that death in the graveyard still shocks me! The whole graveyard sequence is so well done what with Harry walking out from behind the tombstone to face Voldemort (whom we finally see!)... the reverse wand effect "priori incantatum", the appearance of the dearly departed... talk about bittersweet moments!

Final thoughts:

• It's a pity the movie concentrated almost exclusively on the Tournament leaving so much of the school life out... particularly Harry's practice spell sessions which are what helped him get through the first and third tasks! And where was Percy?! And Bill and Mrs Weasly (for the 1st task)?
• Loved the looks and glances... they managed to convey so much! Krum's look at Hermione when he put his name in the Goblet of Fire, Ron's glare when Harry's name pops out of it...
• Not enough Snape! He says almost nothing throughout the film, but when he's there he sure as hell makes his presence known! (such as when he smacked Ron and Harry several times over the head when they were discussing dance partners in study hall) ;o)
• Smooth ending!

Potter Wednesdays: Prisoner of Azkaban

This is where things start changing and the intensity gets upped a notch. For starters we've got a new Dumbledore! And may I say after having rewatched these three movies I do prefer this one, he's a bit more dynamic and transmits better the sense of hidden power beneath the cool exterior. Also, the kids are visibly quite a bit older here. Not just physically but emotionally. I enjoyed the few moments where you could see something "beginning" to happen between Ron and Hermione, and Daniel Radcliff channels Harry's impatience and anger very well.


This is the only film without even a cameo by Lord Voldemort, but enough of a sense of danger is transmitted with the escaped muderer Sirius Black and the Dementors who are after him. Who needs the Dark Lord when a psycopath is on the loose and after your hero? ;o) And just the idea of those Dementors has to be one of the scariest things around! Feeding of joy and happyness? Leaving you only with your most aweful memories? Sucking out your soul with a kiss?! *shudder*


I'm not sure when I saw this in the cinema if I knew then who Alfonso Cuarón was or if I recognised his name from his previous movies I'd seen and enjoyed (Y tu mamá también, Great Expectations, A Little Princess), but I do remember quite clearly that I recognised the hand of a Mexican director behind a lot of the little quirks in characters and background! Those shrunken heads and skulls all over the place? The kids clothes when they're goofing off first night back in the tower? And so many other little bits and pieces. The movie also felt so much more real and intense than the first two, like we've left behind childhood and moved into the realm of teen angst, and Cuarón managed to get that wonderfully out of his actors! Something else I really enjoyed, his way of showing the passage of time (over the school year) with the changing of the leaves on the Whomping Willow, felt very poetic... Anyhow between Y tu mamá también and this one, I've been keeping an eye out for Cuarón movies ever since and try not to miss them! I do wish they'd have given him the final Potter movie to direct as well... *sigh*


Things I didn't like so much: we didn't get to see enough interactions between Snape and Lupin (my favourite prof in the series)! Nor is it mentioned anywhere that in spite of his hatred, Snape still makes the Wolfsbane Potion each month so Sirius will do a harmless werewolf transformation. And they totally mixed up when Snape catches Harry with the Marauder's Map (of which we also didn't see enough). What about Harry's floating head that scares the hell out of Malfoy near the Shrieking Shack?! Another mix up, in the book Harry receives the Firebolt some time in the middle of the story and spends a long time wondering who gave it to him (in fact when Hermione suspects -rightfully- that it was Sirius Black and tells McGonagall the others are furious with her since the broom gets confiscated for tests against hexes and he almost doesn't get it back in time for the next Quidditch match!), whereas in the film it's just a note at the ending... So we missed the moment of realisation when Harry thanks his Godfather for it. We also miss out on moments such as when he receives the signed Hogsmeade authorisation for the following year. Or when Harry gets home and scares the Dursleys with tales of his "escaped muderer" godfather! lol! And I missed seeing Hermione storm out of Trelawney's class!


But enough of the negatives... this book is where more elements go missing in the movie, and it only got worse from here on out (what with the growing size of the books and all that) so I'm not going to keep harping on what's missing! Anyways, this has been my favourite so far, and if I remember correctly the newer ones it's my favourite of ALL of them! I'll reappraise as I watch the others...

Want to add on how I much I enjoyed all the scenes between Lupin and Harry, you could believe they really cared about and respected each other.


PS: did you guys hear about Rupert Grint (Ron Weasly) catching swine flu?! Apparently a light case as he'll be at the international premiere in London tomorrow... Thanks to Juliette from Pop Classic for the heads up! (later confirmed in my Spanish newspaper...)

Potter Wednesdays: The Chamber of Secrets

Enemies of the Heir Beware!

The Chamber hath once again reopened its doors and the evil within shall strike down those unworthy to grace the halls of Hogwarts!

O.k., I'm going to start by saying this is my least favourite Harry Potter novel, and so ditto movie (no reflection on the quality of the film or the adaptation or anything else, I just didn't care for the original story!). In fact the movie got on my nerves in such a way as I'd say makes it a very faithful adaptation of the novel! ;o) I couldn't stand the character of Gilderoy Lockhart (but bravo Kenneth Branagh, great job!) the new DADA teacher (defense against the dark arts), and Dobby is very annoying!


So in the spirit of whining and complaining, I'm going to start out with things I didn't like... such as: isn't this also the book with the terrible Halloween party with all the ghosts? (haven't read them in a while, I might have that mixed up) If so that would have been an awesome scene to watch! And I missed the scenes where they steal the ingredients of the Polyjuice Potion from Snape's cupboard! What's the use of having introduced Harry's invisibility cloak in film 1 if they don't use it as much as in the book? And that was definitely not my idea of what a basilisk should look like! Haven't they read any Greek mythology?! Also -and big point here- the book managed to portray very well how bad Harry felt that many of his classmates turned on him and suspected him of being the Heir of Slytherin since he spoke Parseltongue (while Fred and George enjoyed it immensly! "Watch out! Heir of Slytherin coming through!")... in the movie there were barely a few annoying looks and whispers! Plus I wanted to see the History of Magic class with its ghostly professor who could probably kill you of boredom with his droning voice, I wanted to see the class wake up and pay attention when Hermione manages to break the monotony by quizzing him about the Chamber of Secrets (and not in McGonagall's class!).

Still... it was the last movie to feature a quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor so there is that going for it... And kudos for welcoming in Ginny Weasly, poor girl should have known better than to mess with a book that has a mind of its own! Who said books weren't dangerous? ;o) Was also fun to get a peak into the Weasly's house (although we didn't get to stay long enough, snif!).

Favourite moment: Snape disarming a cocky Lockhart in the duelling lesson!

EXPELLIARMUS!

Next week, my favourite (I think) in the series: The Prisoner of Azkaban! :o)