But nothing happens before Malfoy Manor in the book!
Like, literally... NOTHING.
The book was a little crap, so I'm hopeful! The worst books always make the best films (Order and Half-Blood Prince) and the best books always make the worst films (Prisoner), so I'm excited and then expecting the second half to suck.
But nothing happens before Malfoy Manor in the book!
Like, literally... NOTHING.
The book was a little crap, so I'm hopeful! The worst books always make the best films (Order and Half-Blood Prince) and the best books always make the worst films (Prisoner), so I'm excited and then expecting the second half to suck.
I completely agree, but as I sort of couldn't be arsed with the films after PoA, I can't see how consistent, or indeed, inconsistent, the films have been. Hence I am NOT going to see Harry Potter as I'd rather have watched the rest first, and quite frankly, I can think of many more beneficial and entertaining things to do with £8.20 and 2 hours 26 mins of my time, mostly involving changing the money into pennies and throwing them at foreigners...
But usually the camping scenes have things going on, it's never just them sitting there doing nothing. There's usually some conversation (this is in a matter of days as opposed to the book where it's a couple of months).
But Neal just for you,
Harry releases Hedwig before he left Privet Drive, and during the chase scene she tries to save him, but gets killed.
Just got back from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and I thought it was utterly brilliant! Huge, HUGE improvement from the frankly awful Half-Blood Prince and without doubt the best of the series so far.
The film adaptation is very well done. There are many parts of the book which have been cut however I have no problem with these cuts as although they were very meaningful to the book, they would make the film much more tedious and uninteresting. I like how the film has a MUCH more dark, sinister and tense atmosphere than any of the other films.
One addition I loved was the opening scene. Unlike the infamous scene in HBP, this was very well done, it had some point in the plot and was emotional at the same time. Excellent idea to add it. Regarding Hedwig, I feel it was done a lot better in the film and finally I liked the change in the Malfoy Manor scene:
Bellatrix doesn't use the Cruciatus curse to torture Hermione but instead carves the word "Mudblood" into her arm using her teeth. It was an excellent and rightfully disturbing scene made so by excellent acting from both HBC and Emma.
I completely agree with RCF regarding the humour. It didn't feel forced and was used at the appropriate moments and I'm glad they've FINALLY made use of the Weasley Twins properly. Ginny was still awful though, even in the 2 minutes she was on screen.
The camping scenes are nowhere near as tedious as they are in the book and they're broken up by some amazing moments notably the locket scene and Godric's Hollow. I'd just like to add Bathilda Bagshot does an excellent job of being very creepy, that particular scene was predictable but still made me jump.
The soundtrack was not the best, but it was far from the worst. There's some incredibly tense sections which fit each scene perfectly and thankfully don't detract from the film. My favourite pieces from the soundtrack are the opening two pieces: "Obliviate" and "Snape to Malfoy Manor".
Acting from Emma was superb, she really was the star in this film and has improved so much from HBP. Rupert did a good job as usual and Dan was just okay. Particular acting praises should go to Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Isaacs and the guy who played Yaxley. (Who is an awesome character I should point out, where was he the rest of the series?)
Overall, an excellent film, I for one preferred it to the book, mainly because action scenes are so much better on the big screen and JK Rowling can't write them to save her life! It's not perfect but I was very satisfied with the film however I feel non-readers might struggle to keep up with it. I just hope Part 2 doesn't go down the "Lord of the Rings epic battle" route and maintains the dark and tense atmosphere throughout the film.
I would highly recommend it and look forward to seeing it again in a few weeks time once the initial hype has died down.
Really enjoyed Harry Potter today, I won't write an elobrate review as I think people have said what I wanted to.
Emma Watson was fantastic in it, and the scene with the locket in the woods was way more terrifying than I expected.
Other scenes that stood out, that emotional opening scene, harry and hermione dancing in the tent and the godric hallow scene. ALSO, LOVED the animation about the story of the deathly hallows, love little touches like that.
It was completely expected (obviously) but it does feel like only half a film which is kinda lame because you pay full price. I was hoping to feel more satisfied, that said I can't wait for the next part. I hope they keep it up.
It was better than the last 2 thats for sure. Bits of the film were so slow though to the point I could have gone to sleep lol. But the action sections were well done and you felt involved. I do understand why the camping part was needed.
The section that told the story of the Deathly Hallows was very good
It was an emotional film and it was well done for them parts of it.
Some of the camera work seemed a bit strange just like the last 2. Lots of swinging the camera around and shaky when walking round, 2 things I do not really like.
Overall it was good still not up to the level of my best one.
Remember I have not read the books so I need to the films to explain things and this one did unlike the last 2.
Recently got back from seeing Potter and some sort of Hallow in London.
I've loved all the Harry Potter films apart from the last one. I felt overall the film was good but there were things that annoyed me. There were tonnes of long fade to blacks which just got boring, no wonder its 2 hours 30 mins long, half of it is just a black screen with no sound! There were several shots where it felt like the cameraman was drunk and seeing how major the production for these films are you'd have thought that they would at least hire decent camera peeps. Sometimes there were long drawn scenes of nothingness which were just boring. But there was one thing that made me really go 'wtf?' There was some really bad green screen in some of the exterior shots and it just made me go all weird as it sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the series.
Anywho the cast of 'whos who in British acting' were fantastic as always. Oh and Rhys Ifans <3 Had no idea he was in it, I think his presence made it for me lol.
I just watch the new Harry Potter and I can sum it up in one magical (see what I did there) word, UGH. Seriously I dont know where to begin of how overrated this movie really is. Let me start with the obvious, nothing, I repeat nothing happens! any hint of any ****ing action disappears in ****ing seconds. I loved all the major action scenes in the Harry Potter series, and there was none! like I said any action dissipated in seconds. Now I do recognize this is only part 1, but that doesn't mean that it has to feel like a part 1, make it feel like a ****ing movie not an episode. At the end I felt like nothing was actually accomplished just people died. However there is a small shimmer of saving grace, the acting was excellent best in the series. The story of course was also great, and I can see the story finally coming to a climax. To bad the movie in a whole was sub-par, not bad, but sub-par.
7/10
tl;dr - ****ty movie, not action what so ever, good acting, great story telling.
Now to go in hiding from the fallout from Neal and other harry potter fans.
It's alright Jer, as long as it set the scene well enough (and true enough to the book), then TDHp1 has done its job.
However, based on reviews I'm going to say right now that they've gone about it the wrong way entirely! They went for a scene-setter to reduce individual film length (that's fine - I said that to do it properly that's what they'd have to do ever since I'd finished the book). HOWEVER! What they've gone and done is dragged it out far too much to enable them to have a grand finale at Malfoy Manor (totally unnecessary given the tone and themes of the rest of the first half of the book)!
What they should have done is finish after the Deathly Hallows is explained to them. Leaving all action for part 2. Instead they've got a confused film, but a more than likely awesome final installment .
I do like Harry Potter, Jer, yes. But I'm not deluded enough to think the sun shines from the backside of every second like some. So feel free to slate, I like seeing unbiased reviews. Just you wait for the epic mind **** though .
Potter 7 suffers from the exact same core problem that the 6th film did...
It's the penultimate, henceforth, like maybe middling films, doesn't do much in the way of... anything, and rather indeed, potters about a bit if you will...
On the other hand, it's true to the book... Anyone who knew of the storyline should definitely understand why there is a lack of action in the film, because it's a camping trip trying to figure out what's going on... Stuff goes down from Shell Cottage so the 2nd part should be superior...
It felt very episodic though... With a rather cliched ending indeed... However I'm not sure that they should've stopped it earlier as it would've even made LESS sense to do so based on how they did the film... After Malfoy Manor was the better way as they got to end the film on a very sad note as well as have it more set up with the characters realising what they have to do and what will happen if they don't... Plus it meant more Bella, how can ANYONE complain about that?
However, two major annoyances throughout... Too make slow fades AND even worse, really dodgy backgrounds... Some of them were AWFUL... Come on big-budget film... Get some bloody decent workers in to make it actual seem that you're on some cliffs... Jesus...
But the film was good and I would probably agree that splitting the book up was a decent enough choice, allowing for some more development here and there and not rushing through the story... The 'cartoon' sequence was brilliant and as mentioned they really improved on how the humour was delivered in the film...
The 3 have certainly grow up over the years, none more so than Rupert, who's very good at being an arse... Whilst Emma still delivers lines weakly sometimes... And Daniel is... used to get his kit off obviously :lol:
Special mention to Xenophilius Lovegood and of course Ralph Fiennes... God he's awesome...
I would go for 7/10 for it... And look forward to the final film with slight anticipation to see how they deal with the ending of the biggest book series in our time...
Last night I caught up with two films I've wanted to see for a few weeks now. First up was The kids are alright.
It was a really good film. I thought the story was quite quirky and fun if really emotional at times. The whole cast were great and just made it really enjoyable to watch.
Rating: 4/5
Then I watched Another year
I have to admit that I've never seen a Mike Leigh film. Well after this that is totally going to change. It was such a fantastic film. I loved how the film was split into all four seasons and each season felt like a new film but with the same characters, getting to know the characters more and more. They were great, realistic characters with some real emotion and at times, rather hilarious moments. It was just a joy to watch and I recommend to all.
First off, I HATE Dreamworks animation films. I always go in to a screening of their films wanting to hate it. However, just like HTTYD, I was won over, moreso with this film. It's no Incredibles but I loved some of the interesting plot turns, very unexpected and they really added to the film. It was really entertaining with some great music (very heavy rock-based, I approved) and just some hilarious moments throughout. I really expected all the main parts of the film to be in the trailer, it would appear that this was no where near the case, thankfully, leaving lots of fantastic surprises for when you first see the film, good times. So yeah, I loved it and the 3D wasn't bad, then again I'm one of these peeps that say that 3D only works on animated films and not live action so yeah, just another case to prove my theory quite right. It was also really weird as the whole style of the film and the way some of the characters looked appeared to be ripped straight out of Disney's Meet the Robinsons, very odd...Think I've sussed Dreamwork's plan, just place epic Disney characters in their films to make them good, they had Stitch in HTTYD and now have a mass of characters from Meet the Robinsons in this lol.
Rating: 4/5
Next up was Unstoppable.
This was another film where I thought that what was in the trailer was every bit of the film, this was pretty much true. Everything was simple, plain, predictable and at break-neck speed. The performances were ok but the camerawork just made me want to scream "it's called a tripod, use one". I hate this sort of film, lets throw the camera everywhere to make it seem more energetic and manic. So just because of this I'm going to tell everyone to stay well away from this film as if it had any entertaining element the camerawork/direction completely destroyed it.
Rating: 1/5
The third film of the day was London Boulevard.
This was an odd film. It was trying to be like Lock Stock etc and it just felt like it was straining to reach that sort of cool. I just thought it lacked in every department apart from the story but it's told so badly and cut down where it certainly needed extending that it just fails. I thought it was hilariously bad in fact I mean, how the hell are we meant to believe the 'relationship' between the two main characters, they have minimal interaction and when they are together not many words or actions happen, they just kinda linger and we're meant to gather that they are in 'love'. Most of it didn't make any sense and it just left me feeling like I couldn't care less about any of the characters (apart from the male actor, he was the only one to pull off some entertainment for this dire film). Urgh, I can't be bothered to write about this film any more, it annoys me.
Rating: 1/5
However, I still had one more film to see, would it re-save the day? Machete!
Stemmed from a fake trailer made as part of Grindhouse this is one hilarious and cool riff, once again, on the Grindhouse type of film. I loved it, cheesy one-liners, gallons of fake blood and just fantastic fun through-out. I really don't want to say any more just in case I give something away, just go and see it, it's fantastic.
John, and this coming from me, your determination that anything not animated by Disney really does make me cringe.
Then your further determination to quantify any unexpected approval by saying it's just copying does similar :lol:
Now, I can't speak for the film you reviewed as I haven't seen it. But other than the way Toothless shows emotion How To Train Your Dragon is nothing like Lilo and Stitch - Pokemon, certainly; but not Lilo and Stitch (and last time I checked that wasn't Disney, I'd be delighted to be proved wrong though ).
Confused Peep has been awoken by Neal of sillyville.
Lilo and Stitch was the 42nd animated film to be released by Disney. No idea where this whole not being Disney malarky is coming from.
Toothless in HTTYD reminds me so much of Stitch its silly, it's like Stitch v2. I'm not saying the films are similar at all, just that one character from each film are similar which just happens to be from the same directors.
One of the minor characters in Megamind looks like an adult version with brown hair and different glasses of the main kid in Meet the Robinsons.
Can't find a pic of the one in Megamind but here is the one from Meet the Robinsons.
Then the flying minions in Megamind are a complete copy with added teeth of the bowler hats in Meet the Robinsons. If you see it you'll totally see where I'm coming from. I'm also not saying that this makes the films bad, it's just something I've noticed and doesn't affect my opinion of the films in any way. So I don't quite understand what you're getting at once again. My shock from the film is not based on similarities with other characters it is with the way the story develops and how lots of what happens is not shown in the trailers.
I also love animations that aren't Disney thank you very much, I just don't like Dreamworks (since their CGI days). Studio Ghibli films are amazing and I can't wait to start getting my hands on some of the blu-ray editions of their films.
Whilst this remains a fact, and one of their better post-renaissance films - this was not the point. I just had a look to double check, and I was right, Pokemon is not a Disney invention.
peep said:
One of the minor characters in Megamind looks like an adult version with brown hair and different glasses of the main kid in Meet the Robinsons.
Can't find a pic of the one in Megamind but here is the one from Meet the Robinsons.
Then the flying minions in Megamind are a complete copy with added teeth of the bowler hats in Meet the Robinsons. If you see it you'll totally see where I'm coming from. I'm also not saying that this makes the films bad, it's just something I've noticed and doesn't affect my opinion of the films in any way. So I don't quite understand what you're getting at once again. My shock from the film is not based on similarities with other characters it is with the way the story develops and how lots of what happens is not shown in the trailers.
I can see that being the case. But then we can't then use this and not blast Disney for copying Dreamworks with regards to Madagascar in their film "The Wild".
It's swings and roundabouts John, stop looking at it from only one angle - this is what I'm saying and cringing at.
peep said:
I also love animations that aren't Disney thank you very much, I just don't like Dreamworks (since their CGI days). Studio Ghibli films are amazing and I can't wait to start getting my hands on some of the blu-ray editions of their films.
This: was a very good attempt at avoiding and twisting this issue. I quite approve. But the argument was that you, a self-proclaimed fair and open-minded film critic, are going out to see Dreamworks animations hoping to hate them. It's just nonsensical. Now off you go to watch Barbie Rapunzel :lol: .
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