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Quint's long-ass visit report for HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX! Sets, interviews and Gary Oldman!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here.
I actually had over half of this set report typed up and saved in my old email program, but the wrath of some enraged Mac god decided my Mac Mail program didn’t really need to run anymore… and that I really didn’t want about a quarter of my stored mail, including my half-written set report.
It’s a good thing, really. I didn’t exactly have the best time on the junket and I started writing straight away, while all that was still fresh in my mind. And, honestly, I hate it when reporters bitch and moan about having a bad time when a million other people would kill to be in their position.
It’s better that this report, while lacking the freshness of mind of the original, is less emotional.
One of the things I love the most about what I do for a living is visiting movie sets. They’ve always fascinated me. I can see how some think they’re boring. The pace is usually deadly slow, but I’ve always been obsessed with movies and how they are made. I feel at home on a movie set. I could be watching film history being made and that’s genuinely exciting for me.
The reason I don’t like junket set visits is because I don’t get that chance to observe the film actually working. On this visit, I spent about 12 hours on the set and of that 12 hours I got to spend 10 minutes watching a scene shot.
Granted, that was 10 minutes of watching Gary Oldman work, so who am I to complain? I was just like Veruca Salt, I guess… Or Oliver. I wanted more.
The rest of the visit was divided by round table interviews, tours of the sets, a demonstration of the EA game for ORDER OF THE PHOENIX and a viewing of various art, production stills and props from the movie.
It sucks a little bit being embargoed this long for the report because basically all the art and the stills I saw, which were big news then, are common knowledge now. I was freaking out about seeing a picture of Azkaban prison on a pinned up Daily Prophet. I was excited to write it up, describing the A shape of the prison, set in the middle of a raging river, perched on the very edge of a waterfall… But now you can go see it in the trailer.
Which allows me to now focus on the best experiences of the set. You won’t see a transcription of the round table interviews. I’m sure you can go to all the other fan sites that were there and read a complete transcription. Leaky-Cauldron, mugglenet, etc. I know Garth from Dark Horizons was there as well.
What I will talk about are my impressions touring the sets, the bit of filming I saw, my impressions of the cast who came in to do these round tables and whatever my direct interaction was at these round table interviews.
Let’s start with the sets. This was one of the main reasons I accepted this invite. I’ve mentioned already I don’t regularly attend junket anythings… pre-release interview junkets, set visits, etc… But I accepted this solely because I wanted to observe the Potter universe first hand. I wanted to see the sets, I wanted to watch them filming.
I am a Potter nerd. I love the books, I’ve really enjoyed the movies and I think it’s one of the most fascinating series ever committed to the screen. What other series has 7 huge films, all following the progression of the same core team in front of the camera? What’s even more unique is that it’s a kid’s series that grows with its audience, the audience in turn gets to watch the progression of the same group as they mature.
It’s pretty fascinating stuff.
The Potter series shoots at Leavesden Studios and has since the beginning. Because there’s always a Potter film in some form of production, they pretty much have the run of the biggest stages.
For instance, the Great Hall has been set up there since they first began filming. They even built it to be sturdier than an average set because they knew they’d be using it for all 7 movies, which will take… what? Ten years when all is said and done?
They built the Great Hall with real stone for that purpose.
It was quite surreal walking down the Great Hall, past the rows of tables. It’s a big place, but it looks bigger on the screen. It is completely contained, though. No false walls (that I could tell). The un-bewitched ceiling was a bit off-putting as I was used to seeing it all CGIy.
What I did notice was the detail on the walls. Every animal representing each different house (Lion for Gryffindor, Snake for Slytherin, Eagle for Ravenclaw and Badger for Hufflepuff) built in as gargoyles on the walls.
The entrance to the Great Hall is the exact same as you know it from the movies. Sometimes they build these things to be separately, but not in this case.
Nailed up all around the Great Hall doors were the Proclamations. If you don’t know the book, there’s a political element involving the government leaning on this school and instituting policy changes. It gets a little out of control and I saw the end result, with over 100 different framed rules crudely nailed all up and down the walls beside the door and even arching over the top of the door.
Out of all the different sets I toured on this visit, I spent the most time in the Great Hall. I got an up close look at the giant glass tubes holding different colored crystals, that end up keeping the house point tally. I sat at the Gryffindor house table. And I sat in Dumbledore’s chair, getting a feeling for what he sees when he looks out at the hall.
The other known set I saw was Dumbledore’s office, which was very busy, cluttered. A lot of the picture frames on the walls were just frames on green screen, where they’ll add in the moving ex-headmasters. The set was multi-leveled, with Dumbledore’s library behind his desk going up another flight.
The new sets I saw were number 12 Grimmauld Place, the Trial Chamber and the Ministry of Magic lobby.
Grimmauld Place was pretty sweet, I have to say. Grimmauld Place is Sirius Black’s house and headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, which is the group of adult wizards that bands together, kind of like an underground resistance.
The cool thing about this set was they really got to play with the dark side of things, being that Sirius inherited it from his Dark Wizard family and never had any time to fix it up, being that he was put away in Azkaban.
Once again, they built the whole thing, all different layers of it.
The entrance hallway is incredibly narrow and lined with pictures. It ends in a doorway that leads to the kitchen and branches left to a steep staircase that leads upwards. On the floor was a hollowed-out troll foot holding umbrellas and canes and stuff, like some assholes do with Elephant feet in the muggle world.
The kitchen is cramped, dirty and long. Black is the predominant color in this house. It’s the color of the wallpaper, the wood, pretty much any surface. There are shelves of plates, each stamped with the Black Family crest,
Up the staircase was pretty sweet. There were shrunken heads (house elves?) on display in grimy glass cases. Also, at the level area before the stairs turn and go up again was the portrait of Sirius’ mother, covered in a black drape.
The staircase led to two rooms. One room was the bedroom, where Harry, Ron and Hermione reunite. Ratty, run-down, but still a bedroom. The second room is more interesting, featuring the Black family tapestry.
I was told then that JK Rowling supplied all the information, going back five generations. The tapestry covered all the wall space, with burnt out faces peppered throughout. These were people that Sirius’ mother disowned. Sirius’ own face is burnt out.
The one thing of interest I saw in the many names was this: Charles and Doreen Potter – 1920-1977. Maybe I missed it, but I never knew Sirius had a blood relation to the Potter line. I always thought he and James Potter were just friends.
You’ve seen the trail chamber set… it was just as it appears in the trailer and pre-production stills. Rounded, many rising rings of seats.
The other new set I saw was the Ministry of Magic. It was ornate and still being constructed. It reminded me more than a little bit of Wizard of Oz, bright green tile, polished immaculately and rising up many stories.
There’s an Omni hotel in Austin that’s kind of half hotel and half office space, so in the lobby of the hotel you can see many stories of office windows.
The Ministry of Magic set reminded me of that hotel, with office windows looking down on the lobby of the Ministry, where the fountain and statues from the end of the book are.
There’s a long, wide corridor, floor and walls green-tiled as well, that leads to the lobby and on each side are rows of giant fire places. These are for floo travel, but they’re so big… made for travel first, not to hold fire. They’re probably eight to ten feet tall and four feet wide.
Once again, massive, massive set. You could walk in a line for maybe 3 minutes and still be on this set.
Now it’s time to talk about the people. I wouldn’t say I “met” anybody, but I did sit in on roundtables with Daniel Radcliffe, Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), Gary Oldman, Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) and Emma Watson. I’m going to be a little dickish here and only transcribe my one question with each, along with my impressions of them.
Daniel Radcliffe – I know it’s weird, but I couldn’t help starring at the scar on his forehead. He was in costume and made up. I’ve been in the lucky position of seeing some iconic movie figures in the past and I had a similar experience when I was on RINGS and I first saw Elijah Wood dressed up all hobbit-like. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the ring of power around his neck.
But Radcliffe was super nice, very friendly, down to Earth and very open. I had the first question.
Quint: From reading the books, Harry’s a lot… grumpier… than he has been.
Daniel Radcliffe: Yes.
Quint: Are you finding it at all difficult keeping him sympathetic?
Daniel Radcliffe: Um… No. I think there are different ways of playing anger. I think a lot of times the actor playing anger tends to shout and that can be very boring and that’s when I think you can lose an audience. But actually, what’s great about Harry is he quite introspective. He feels all this stuff, but he actually keeps it inside most of the time.
This film sees the first sort of release of any sort of rage and anger that’s built up over the last… well, his entire life, really. So, I think, particularly when you take into account what Harry’s been through, he’s very easy to sympathize with because his anger seems… not petulant, but more like a natural reaction to the stuff that has happened in his life. So, hopefully I won’t lose the audience too much.
Next up was Gary Oldman… now this was amazingly cool. I’m a huge fan of his… And again, he was all dressed up in Sirius’ fitting pin-stripped suit, his tattoos visible.
But there was Gary Oldman, sitting five feet in front of me… possibly one of the best actors working in film today. This was my big geek-out moment. And it was pretty funny listening to him talk to these Potter nerds (again, myself included), telling them that it’s really just a part for him. He finds things to grasp on to and has fun, but it’s not like his world is changed every day because he is Sirius Black. We grab the end of one of his previous questions for me to come in.
BEWARE OF BIG SPOILERS INVOLVING HIS CHARACTER IF YOU’RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE BOOK!
Gary Oldman: You know, I say it’s fiction, but I don’t mean it’s froth. There’s a lot here that (Rowling) has written. There’s a lot of stuff, deep stuff, in these books about relationships and love and family and loss and all of that.
But it’s ultimately a role. I mean, all it has done… it’s just made my fanbase younger.
Quint: You didn’t have 4 year olds coming up to you quoting SID AND NANCY?
Gary Oldman: Not really, no. You know, “I saw you in HANNIBAL.” (laughs)
Quint: For me Sirius is one of the most likable characters in the whole series. Everybody’s against him, he’s the underdog. Do you find it satisfying that you’re able to play a character that is so anti-establishment in a series like this?
Gary Oldman: Well, it’s nice to be anti-establishment and nice. Because I’ve played anti-establishment and bad. (laughs)
So, it’s actually quite nice… Yeah, he’s reckless. But you know, it’s a gift to sort of do it and I’m glad I’ve been a part of it. I don’t think he’s coming back in seven, so… I don’t think the audience could take another watery, teary-eyed reunion.
SUPER-DUPER MEGA-SPOILERS OVER!!!!
Emma Watson – Yep, she’s a pretty girl and will be a beautiful woman. She came off as very nice and professional. And I won’t say any names, but I must say I got a nice little private chuckle seeing an older male journalist in the interview circle perk up and fluster his questions like a boy on a date. I wonder how often she gets that?
Quint: Are you at a point now whenever a new Potter book comes out you read it like the first draft of a screenplay?
Emma Watson: Um… no. The books, for me, meant something before I was in this and they mean something separately still, so I still look at them as books.
I mean, I kind of sometimes slip into seeing us playing the people, but I started reading Harry Potter when I was seven or eight and I had read the third and was onto the fourth by the time I started auditioning, so I was already into the Harry Potter world, but kind of yeah.
Evanna Lynch – Out of everybody we saw, I think Evanna Lynch was the most loved by the little group of online peoples onset that day. One, she got the role of Luna Lovegood because of reading about the audition on one of the Potter fan sites. She was a bigger Potter nerd than anybody on that set, including the people that run these websites, and knew most of them on sight or by hearing their voices.
I never introduced myself as being from AICN, so I have no idea if she would have known me from Adam, but I’ll tell you what really kind of warmed my heart about her. This was her first interview. Ever. And she was so nervous, so intimidated that she was literally shaking so badly that she needed help walking into the room to talk to us.
She was so shy, her eyes as big as saucers. And then just watching her relax a little when she realized she was a fan of most of the people in the room.
It was absolutely adorable. Add on to that she IS Luna Lovegood in person… kind of airy, brutally honest, no filter whatsoever… and the flattery, then you get the group’s favorite interviewee.
Quint: As a fan, what was the most important thing for you that you wanted to make sure you brought to Luna, what aspect to her personality or character?
Evanna Lynch: I wanted everything to be perfect because she was always my favorite character, you know? And… I want… Everyone says she’s crazy. She is, kind of, but I don’t think she’s crazy. Everyone says she’s weird, but she’s just honest and she just says what she thinks and that’s the way she’s been brought up and she doesn’t know any other way.
I think it’s weird when people who aren’t being themselves… that’s weird. I wanted to have some of the fun parts to her, but also that she is very intelligent. And she’s really insightful. I think she’s a very good person.
And one of the last was Jason Isaacs, who I really liked a lot. He was really open, had a great sense of humor and just seemed like the kind of guy you could hang out with and have a laugh. Keeping in mind the sequence they were shooting this day was Sirius Black dueling alongside Harry Potter against Lucius Malfoy in the Veil Room at the Ministry, here’s my question.
Quint: When I was reading this sequence that you’re shooting today as kind of an old western shoot-out. That’s what I had in my mind when reading it
Jason Isaacs: Yeah.
Quint: Are you enjoying the action aspect of it?
Jason Isaacs: I probably shouldn’t say how much I’m enjoying it because then people will just be annoyed that I get paid for it as well. But yeah, I know that I’m doing exactly what kids all over the world will be doing once they’ve seen the film. I’m having a wand battle. We’ve been waiting for the wizards to have a wand battle since the series began. We’ve seen the kids, who are learning, but we’re the ninjas unleashed.
Not only are we meant to be very good at it, but Gary Oldman and I, who are having a fight today, we’ve been given a week with the choreographer to come up with basically anything we want and they will make it real.
So, we kept going “Well, could we…” and I don’t want to tell you what it is because it’ll give away some of the fun things, but “Could you do this with a wand?” To a stony silence.
And I go, “Could we?” And they just looked and kind of shrugged their shoulders and went, “You can do whatever you want!” So, there’s all kinds of fabulous fun.
So, we have all that out of the way… this is turning into a long report, but I promise the end is near.
Now we get to the bit where I actually got to see shooting. We all had earphones and crowded in front of a monitor on the outside of the Veil Room set. I never got to see inside it with my own eyes, but it was rocky and the pillars that held the veil were erected.
We came in as Gary Oldman and Jason Isaacs were talking about their scene, about to rehearse.
Isaacs approaches and says something like, “The Dark Lord will be pleased…” and makes short, stabbing motions with his wand, which Oldman reacts to, moving his wand in time, deflecting the charms. He also seems to get caught a few times, having to steady his wand hand and hold it in one position, acting as if there was a connection between the two wands, like at the end of GOBLET OF FIRE.
After the rehearsal, David Yates called out, “Fine. We should have shot it!”
As the crew put the final touches on the lighting, I heard Oldman over the headphones. “You ever get the feeling, after you’ve done some takes, you feel like you’re in the zone. You’ve done it as well as it will ever be done and then they tell you the boom is in?”
Which he followed up by practicing his wand movements, face set and whistling the Harry Potter theme to himself. He did shoot out one, “My name’s Sirius and I’m delirious!” which made me smile.
They picked up a take. The slate wasn’t labeled HARRY POTTER AND THE anything, but TIPTOP. The lighting was such that each time a spell was cast or deflected they’d flash a different colored light.
When they begin their fight, Lucius says, “You should have stayed in hiding, Black.” Oldman shoots back, “You will wish I had!” The wands swing around… up, down, left, right.
Oldman drops his wand at one point and Lucius approaches. Radcliffe jumps in, calling “Impedimenta!” giving Sirius time to grab his wand. There’s more fighting and Radcliffe throws another charm causing Oldman to cackle and shout out, “Good one, James!”
Of course, in the rush of the moment, he confused Harry with James Potter.
They did this a few times and on one take Oldman missed his cue. “Wrong again! Dammit!”
I’m sure they got what they needed. I saw the movie last week and this scene was still in it… kind of important as something really big happens in the very next shot. I just wasn’t there to see the rest. I saw the rehearsal and maybe two or three takes. Most of the coolest stuff was eavesdropping on conversations between Oldman and Radcliffe, Oldman and Isaacs and Oldman and nobody.
It wasn’t ideal, but I can’t deny I had a little bit of fun. It was sweet actually being IN Hogwarts, sitting in Dumbledore’s office and dining hall chairs, seeing all the actors in costume up close and personal-like and a paid trip to London is also nothing to complain about (even if I did spend more time in the air than on the ground).
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting hit pretty hard with Pottermania. It’s just this whole last week has been so Potter-centric. I had those one on one interviews, saw the new movie, wrote up this up, re-read Book 6 and the 7th and final Potter book is due out in less than a month. Crazy.
So, thanks for reading along through all that. I hope it turned out halfway decent.
I still have my final one on one interview from the last London junket, with Harry Potter himself: Daniel Radcliffe. It’s halfway there right now, so hopefully I’ll have that finished by tomorrow morning.
See ya’ then, if you’re not Harry Pottered out by then.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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...but I thought Macs were supposed to be oh so stable.
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The machine is fine. The program fucked up on me because of the huge email load we get. I probably had close to 24,000 emails stored on it, with a daily load of 600-800 coming in. Of course, most of that's spam, but I keep most of my non-spam mail, hence the huge amount stored. I'm using thunderbird now... it's had some problems, too, but those are easier to get around. I've never had my system freeze on me. I have had parts wear out, but my OS has never crashed, which happened almost daily on my last laptop (Windows 98).
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and Cuaron back for hallows!
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I was resolute in my belief that the movies are slowly but surely butchering the books, but I think I'm cracking because this is starting to look very good.
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I'm not a huge Potter fan, but hearing about the behind-the-scenes aspects like this is always great. The sheer logisitics of making a huge film like this must just be insane. Nice job yet again, Quint.
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Then hats off to you Quint.
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HE WANTS TO BE IN THE NEXT ONE!!!
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...for the updates, Quint!
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bring him in!!!
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Appreciated. I gotta admit, when it was first announced that Warner Bros. had signed David Yates, I was like "who?"... but, after seeing the final trailer on the big screen, the film looks great. I still think it'll be a wise idea if they bring back Alfonso for the last film though, if he wants to do it.
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GOF was the worst of them all for me. OotP is my favorite book so far so I hope they get it right. Luna will be perfect. Nat Tena as Tonks is the Sex. Sirius gets a meaty role. So far it looks like it will be the best yet. Here's hoping. I'm still 10 times more excited for the 7th book.
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Isaacs is awesome! Thank you very much for the report, Quint. It's insane how much I'm looking forward to this. OOTP is my favorite of the series - or actually in a tie with HBP. I may have a sensory overload during the whole end sequence. The moment Harry and everyone arrive at the Ministry of Magic, my thoughts will be fragmented... Department of Mysteries... Ethereal. Dueling. Spells. Flashing colors. Sirius. Lucius. Bellatrix. Sirius! The Veil! Harry... Dumbledore!! Voldemort! And the rest is silence. My silent explosion of glorious insanity!
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Kneel before the redhead! I do every night, and maybe Yoko does, too??? I'm getting some sweaty-assed palms waiting for this one. One qusetion...are the flapping caterpillars in check, or does Emma emote to the back row?
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Their work in these films is great and one of the things I enjoy most about them. Rickman, too, though he never gets enough screentime.
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Or is that kind of thing only reserved for crappy Michael Bay movies?
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damn, Colonel, I forgot you'd brought them up in previous posts. You know those betwitched brows had to be flapping al through the roundtable interview. Though I'd love to hear from Quint if they move as exagerratedly in person as they do on screen.
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Do her eyebrows flap around as much in-person as they do everytime she is on screen. She looks like she's about to fly away without a broom they way she flaps them things up and down all the time. ;-) thanks
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Jun 25, 2007 3:43:44 PM CDT
The best HP and the best franchise flick of the year?
by performingmonkey
That's what I think. After the improbably unexpected fucking up of the Spider-man trilogy by Raimi (why, Sam, godsdamnit why??) and the over-stuffing of Pirates 3 (good = Barbossa marrying Will and Elizabeth while they kill people and Lord Beckett's ship being blown up in iconic spectacular fashion, bad = the entire Jack-is-insane sequence and the 'resolution' to the Davey Jones/Calypso story) I'm damn sure that Order Of The Phoenix will be the only good sequel this year and a fantastic movie in its own right. It's the best book, Jo Rowling at her peak (Half-Blood Prince was a bit of a let-down for me after the excellence of Order). The Death Eaters fight the Order of the Phoenix FFS. And Dumbledore fights Voldemort! And that's only the end sequence. The stuff that happens before that is 20 times better than Goblet Of Fire (which at the moment is my least favourite book).
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b/c WB (or whomever) has cut some great trailers for this one.
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Gary Oldman popping pills and blasting HP and Ron with a shotgun while Hermione is getting milk from the corner store. Then she seeks refuge with Jean Reno who teachers her how to "clean".
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Oh, well.
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The rest of the year seems to be a wash.
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Thanks, Quint. Its probably better sans personal bitching ;)
Can't wait for the "ninjas unleashed" wizards duels!! -
Can't wait for Emma Watson to turn eighteen... I mean, I can't wait for the movie to come out. Damnit! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!! Quint, you have to freeze me. When I wake up, both the movie and book will be out.
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coming to Universal's Islands of Adventure.
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no? umm i think it is!!!Oh and i can't wait to read what the pervs are going to write when this movie come out.
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bring it!!! mehhh
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Tell that to someone who really cares HP's last book. Just go to those kiddie sites and make them cry!!! .P.S. I don't believe you!!
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cxccx
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You guys need to get out of the country more, in the UK 16 is the Age of Consent.The cutie has been legal and no doubt working on her wand handling ability for over a year.
BTW....Nice report Quint. -
Jun 25, 2007 7:03:00 PM CDT
SNAPE KILLS HIS OWN TESTICLES WITH A SLEDGE HAMMER
by lour reed luvs frank zappa
HE SMASHES THOSE NUTS HARD
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Jun 25, 2007 9:06:45 PM CDT
I WOULD LIKE TO FUCK EMMA WATSON
by supercowbell 4 cant stop the cowbell
its legal because we are about the same age
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stardust, ratatouille, transformers, no coutry for old men...oh...there are quite tasty films yet to come.
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Curron so needs to get back on this series. Azkaban remains my fav. book and installment of the movie. and compared to GoF. He interjected so many great "little" moments, like when Lupin is packing his suitcase with just a wave of his wand here and there. His seemed the most "magical" of all the books. It's just great. I hope David yates continues in this tradition, the previews look great and I can't wait to finish up this series this summer, I've been following it since...99? About the time the 3rd book was released I believe, caught the first in paperback and read it one day, ent out and bought the other 2 that day. However I don't think they'll remain classics in the future, well, I mean they will but they won't have the same resonce. I look at the first, 3 or 4 when she throws out some modern things that date the book, I specifically remember harry trying to explain to Hagrid or Ron about a Playstation and describing it as a type of computer. It's kind of like in Lewis' Magician's Nephew and TLWW, when describing certain aspects of things, he dates himself by using certain descriptions and words that really don't have a significance anymore, you get the general idea of what he's talking about but there isn't that timelessness that the other books really nail (although t tok me awhile to releize when reading Caspain what an electric torch was, but I think that has more to do with me being American then anything else and young and quite uninformed in the ways of the world having lived only in KS my entire life)there my complaint about the books is over and again can't wait to see what yates brings us in TOTP, hopefully it'll be better then GoF. man that movie sucked.
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no.. that was a really bad joke sorry.
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He is actually charming and you kind of miss that when he's playing crazy bad guys. He can keep the good guys coming for awhile.
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everything going on he really hasn't had much to do so hopefully he'll get to shine a bit in this one.
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It's too bad that the WB couldn't do a Batman movie from Gordan's point of view when he joined Gotham's police force. It'd make for really fascinating movie with him dealing with all the corrupting, failing marriage, and suddenly some possible sociopath dressed up in a bat costume beating up thugs.
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...and hearing what Evana Lynch (sp?) had to say about her, I have to say I'm pretty pleased that they picked a girl who understands the character so well (or at least, feels the same way about her as I do). You go Evana!
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would be a great Rufus Scrimgeour,not so sure about Greyback
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...is going to be in a Harry Potter movie. He's already in every Hollywood-produced film set in the UK anyway. It's not a question of if, just a question of who. [/glib]...
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Maybe they're good for 5 year olds but the first two are terrible, the third and fourth mildly entertaining. They are in no way worth the hype and excitement surrounding them though. There is no cinematic mastery behind them, they are very blandly put together and churned out. If they had got Spielberg, Gilliam etc to direct it could have been an interesting series but choosing hack directors (much like the Bond franchise) really destroys the potential of the films. I mean Rowling wanted Terry Gilliam to do them but they brought in Chris Columbus, that says it all.
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I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan but I've seen all the movies and I've even read the books. I find them entertaining but nothing more than that.
I'd agree with you on the first two movies but I feel that the last two films really were good fantasy films. Plus would you really consider Alfonso Cuarón to be a hack director? -
Let'e remember that he wanted to relocat the thing to america, and make it an animation... man's made some genius films, but he ain't ALWAYS right. Remember Hook....?
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It was reported on Joblo that in an interview with Oldman that he is very close to deciding to quit acting to move onto other things (directing?). If that's true I'd be even more upset about this than Connery quitting.
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Jun 26, 2007 7:19:52 AM CDT
speilberg wanted haley joel osment as harry potter
by supercowbell 4 cant stop the cowbell
and him and rowling disagreed about that thats why he didnt direct
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http://tinyurl.com/2vah2c
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now he's come of age he's in the money. ah to be 18 with 20 million in your bank account.
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And the Emma Watson TB stuff is totally nasty.
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It all really depends on what you like. Harry Potter gets ripped on to death by adults who find it "too childish" purely because it involves kids and magic. Some are just stubborn and refuse to watch it to give it a chance. In fact, Harry Potter contains themes that are much more powerful and resonant than anything "adult" stories have to offer, but they are more present in the book, and are not the obvious cliches the movies tries to throw in. I happen to love Harry Potter because it contains what most movies made today are missing: heart and emotion. Even if the movies fail to do this, the books certainly have it (and don't misunderstand me; it's none of the cheese like the ending of the Chamber of Secrets film). There are deep and meaningful relationships between the characters, there is always a sense that love is the most powerful element in the world (and the most dangerous), and you always care about everyone. I love the way everything is a mystery too; that's what makes the fandom so fun and interesting. We all wanna find out what happens, and the fun is that we know we will never figure it out. We want to be surprised. The writing isn't the greatest, but there is a sense of ease when you read it that lets it move along relatively smoothly. And the dialogue is a wonder. I just hate it when people come onto topics of films they hate just to rip on them. Come on, people, if you are too mature for these films, as you say, then learn to grow up and not come on here purely to bash them like arrogant teenagers.
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I probably shouldn't feed the trolls, but for someone supposedly so much better than all of us morons who enjoy Harry Potter, you certainly waste a whole lot of energy belaboring the same dull point in every singe Harry Potter TalkBack, sometimes more than once. Can't you just ignore Harry Potter threads like 99% of all the other crap on this site you're not interested in? Or is positioning yourself as superior to a large group of people through unquantifiable accusations how you get your jollies? Whatever; you're pretty goddamned tiresome yourself.
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Keep the 'Berg away from HP!
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looking forward to potter month. discovered the books the summer #3 was released. my family and i loved them from the beginning. the movies have been mild to major disappointments. we still go to see them. from what i've read, I have big expectations for this movie and half-blood. it's finally nice to have a director who is actually a fan of the books. we have two copies of book 7 paid for and, yes, we will be at a midnight party. i will see the movie at a midnight showing then take the family the next day.
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and that's a bad thing. They are totally different mediums, but for whatever reason, the stories are not dramtic enough for the screen because they stay to close to the narrative of the books.
The enemy is so flippant. We're talking about life and death, yet most of the time, the characters just forget about it. Where's the danger?
The Prisoner of Azkabhan is forgotten half way through, it becomes a movie about death eaters. Now, in the book, that's fine, but in the film, that's your story, but the it diverts -- Sirius is forgotten until later. -
Sounds like you had a blast! I'm jealous..
Thanks for the write up! -
3/5 stars gits!
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God no, please God no, he's in everything these days and I can't stand him. Bill Nighy for Fenrir Greyback!!! Any ideas on who is R.A.B.?? Great report Quint, really loved reading it!
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where is the Daniel Radcliff interview? I was enjoying your little Harry Potter Mania thing.
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I thought it was easily the worst installment in the series. Despite the changing of certain important events and the omission of others (which really are petty charges for a 2.10hr movie based on a 900 page book)
This movie lacked any sort of flow. It was primarily a series of 30 second to 1min scenes that never really amounted to any sort of emotional substance. The plot was driven by the non contiguous pieces of exposition. Often regarding something that just happened in the previous scene however as there lacked any sort of continuity between the scenes the audience needs a rather staunch pep talk as to why the current scene is taking place and perhaps what was missed from the last uninteresting interaction between the characters.
"oh harry my parents were killed by beatrix lestrange....we will make them proud of us...” honestly like a 30second scene that has absolutely zero bearing on the scene prior or after.
The fireplace scene where the children sit around and laugh like jackasses after discussing the kiss with cho…Even the scene where uh Padfoot looks behind the veil has the emotional weight of you killed kenny, you bastard!"
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