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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2010 19:30:43 GMT
I am a Harry Potter fan, both the books and the movies. This generally causes eyes to widen. "You?? How could YOU like that?" People also react that way when I refer to some of the television shows that I regularly watch.
Apparently I give an impression of being "above" certain forms of entertainment. People are so wrong! Often I say that I like certain things that people don't admit to liking or watching themselves. Sometimes it "validates" something that they didn't dare admit they liked, and sometimes they just think I am weird because they really don't like it at all.
And I don't care. I don't need other people to like what I like, and I do not disparage what other people find enjoyable, even if I hate it myself.
And therefore, I propose to anyone who is interested the next Harry Potter trailer.
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Post by joanne28 on Jun 30, 2010 20:15:00 GMT
I'm with you, K. Well-written children's literature is an enormous treat. My niece introduced me to Harry Potter early enough and one pleasure I miss is buying the new book - always in summer - and sitting in the back garden with a cold drink reading till I was done.
I also reread all the books before I go see the next movie.
I did find Deathly Hallows a little rushed and not as satisfactory as the first 6, but I suspect that's because very little action takes place at Hogwarts.
I do hope she doesn't write any more Harry Potters. As much as I would love it, it would be anti-climatic.
Waiting till November for the next movie is hard, plus the second installment is 2011. AND I have to wait till December 2010 for the next Chronicles of Narnia movie - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2010 20:24:38 GMT
Harry Potter is fun. My kids grew up watching the movies and reading all the books. All three of them are/were in to it. So of course I got to do the same. What's not to like?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2010 20:24:53 GMT
Yes, Deathly Hallows was disappointing, particurlarly the unnecessary epilogue. I really hope that it is not in the movie
I have enjoyed watching these actors grow up, and I really can't wait to see them in totally different things as adults.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2010 21:22:18 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 26, 2010 2:10:14 GMT
Oooooo!  I absolutely love the Harry Potter books, but was so disappointed by the first movie that I never watched another one. The trailer for Deathly Hallows looks fabulous, however. If it's that exciting in 2D, 3D on the big screen will be quite the experience. |
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Post by joanne28 on Sept 26, 2010 17:21:55 GMT
Bixa, were you really so disappointed by the first movie? I thought they had done a very good job of it.
As far as the books go, no. 5 (The Order of the Phoenix) could have done with a fair bit of editing. It rambled on and on but at that point, I think Jo Rowling's publishers were loath to do anything. Plus she may well have dictated terms.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2010 17:36:38 GMT
I liked the first film as well. Not some of the others.
However, the principal thing that I have liked about the films is that they were able to keep most of the same cast -- especially the young cast -- and it has been excellent to watch them grow into adults over time. I can't think of any other film series where this has taken place.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 26, 2010 17:57:37 GMT
I did not hate the first movie and thought the casting, effects, etc. were brilliant. For whatever reason, though, it seemed to lack some essential spark. I know others who felt this way about it, too. Maybe our expectations were just too high.
I am enough of a fan of the series that I know I will eventually commit to watching all the movies in sequence. With books and movies, sometimes stuff that doesn't strike sparks the first time will catch fire on a subsequent viewing.
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Post by joanne28 on Sept 26, 2010 20:48:59 GMT
There have been only a few times when I have felt the movie matched the book.
I thought Emma Thompson did a superlative job on her screenplay with "Sense and Sensibility". She did not add anything, she simply cut characters and scenes out that would lengthen the movie unduly (althought lengthening Jane Austen is not a problem with me).
I've always prefered the movie "Women in Love" to the book but then I've always found reading D.H. Lawrence akin to living underwater.
But I was most annoyed with Peter Jackson with "The Two Towers" because he CHANGED Tolkien. I know Lord of the Rings quite well and trust me, there were no elves at Helm's Deep for starters. Plus a few other things that got up my nose. That's the same sin as having Romeo and Juliet live, and have kids & grandkids at the end of the movie.
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Post by myrt on Nov 10, 2010 8:24:27 GMT
Joanne28, I sooooo agree with you about the Lord of the Rings trilogy - always one of my favourite books which I have reread regularly. I was really up for the films.......and some of it was very very good. I could forgive Jackson for some of the extra stuff, particularly in the battle scenes as I think he captured the epicness and grandeur of them pretty well, I could even forgive him not doing the Shire and the fight with Saroman BUT the truly awful Hollywood kiss between Aragorn and his elvish bit of stuff when Strider had been crowned just ruined everything....unbelievably tacky...yuck!  I love the Harry Potter books and by and large I think the films have been pretty good. I cannot bear those superior people who sneer at adults reading them - I feel a bit sorry for them actually...what a lot of great books and films they must miss with that attitude!  |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 10, 2010 19:01:23 GMT
I wasn't a huge fan of the books until I bought my OH an audio-book with Stephen Fry reading the first one...totally brilliant. We now have all of them as audio books...excellent for chillin in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate (with marshmallows) in the dark....sigh.....perfick.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 10, 2010 19:04:39 GMT
I prefer The Hobbit to LOTR...I wanted to strangle both Frodo and Sam throughout the films (especially the last one)...but I forgive Peter Jackson EVERYTHING because of Aragorn....<simpers>....oh and the last battle was pretty splendid.....
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2010 19:18:52 GMT
I feel that I will be rereading The Lord of the Rings soon. It is great 'bad season' literature, when you go to bed early because the flat is getting cold.
As for Harry Potter, isn't the royal world premiere in London imminent? Like tomorrow or maybe the following Thursday?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 10, 2010 19:35:47 GMT
Tomorrow...I wasn't invited.... |
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Post by bjd on Nov 10, 2010 19:55:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2010 20:45:01 GMT
So strange to see Emma Watson with short hair.
This is probably the first time in history that nearly the entire cast of characters has stayed with a project for 10 years. I know that when the first two movies came out, the producers wondered about whether they should change the actors or not, knowing that they would age faster than the books could be filmed. I am glad that they were able to maintain the same team -- it absolutely would not have been the same without them.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 11, 2010 3:36:02 GMT
I think K2 is weird.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2010 0:05:34 GMT
I'm due to see the new Harry Potter movie soon. Will let you know what I think of it afterwords. I agree, Kerouac, in that it is good that they were able to keep the same main actors. For the kids who grew up with the books and movies, (like my boys), it makes a bit difference. And I was given two for one tickets for the entrance fee. So I'm real happy. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2010 0:11:00 GMT
Comes out in France next Wednesday (not tomorrow), except in the city of Rennes where it comes out on Monday. They apparently had contests all over Europe for Pottermaniacs to see which city would win an advance release of the movie.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 17, 2010 20:15:42 GMT
We'll probably go at the weekend...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 21, 2010 17:24:47 GMT
Well I didn't go....went to see the seals on the coast instead. Now plan to go next week sometime. Anybody seen it yet?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2010 17:32:56 GMT
I see that it is breaking records (obviously). Coming out in the Imax places in France tomorrow but the normal places only on Wednesday... I doubt that I'll see it before next weekend. It's not as though I don't already know the plot.
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Post by lola on Nov 22, 2010 2:45:16 GMT
My 18 yo said it was fantastic. She saw it in Seattle.
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Post by joanne28 on Nov 22, 2010 20:28:11 GMT
I'm going to wait for a few weeks before going. As K2 said, I know the plot. I'm not very fond of massive crowds so I'll give it a while to settle down.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2010 21:05:23 GMT
Well, I saw it tonight. It is not at all like the other films. I think some parents are going to regret taking younger children to see it -- there is practically no "fun" in it (as anybody who has read the book already knows). And of course, part 1 ends at one of the saddest deaths. Try telling your kids they'll have to wait until July to see what happens next!
p.s. It is 'almost' excellent, particularly in terms of cinematography. So many desolate places in the English wilderness! I was expecting their paths to cross Frodo and Samwise at any moment.
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Post by myrt on Nov 29, 2010 15:00:41 GMT
I took my youngest (age 11) to see it yesterday and we both really enjoyed it! I'm glad I didn't take the grandchildren though (ages 5 & 8) - it was far too dark and really pretty scary in places...and deeply upsetting (sob) even though I've read the last book and knew what would be happening.
The three main actors seem to have matured into their roles and they certainly carried the entire film extremely well - this particular section of the story has very few of the 'character' actors who have provided so many of the moments of humour and deep emotion. It's a strange mixture - no Hogwarts, some very very bleak moments, very sparsely populated and very little advancement of the plot but, overall, I thought it was done very well - and now I can't wait until July 2011!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2010 19:33:36 GMT
To go back to the essence of Harry Potter, I would like to say what I thought was particularly intelligent about the books.
Kids need to identify with the characters. Harry Potter was a great role model but not the right person for everybody. He is a leader with a few flaws including not being the top student of the class, and also has great courage and obviously a "destiny." Not every kid can identify with this. Then we have Hermione, the teacher's pet, best in most classes, but with a temperament. That brings in quite a few more people. As for Ron, he's the great average everyday guy, the perfect sidekick but with moments of rebellion.
Those three characters probably allow 80 or 90% of the readers to find sufficient identification. But what about the others?
So there are other characters -- Neville Longbottom, always the last in the class but with a moment of redeeming glory in one of the books, Luna Lovegood, the weird clairvoyant misfit, Moaning Myrtle, the pain in the ass but still useful, Cho Chang for a little ethnic diversity... There is even bad boy Draco Malfoy, who is really just misguided by his evil family.
J.K. Rowling covered just about every possibility so that absolutely everybody could identify with somebody. About the only writer that I can think of who did the same thing is J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2010 16:37:24 GMT
Just love your description of the characters, Kerouac. That's just how they are. I'm seeing the movie this weekend with my sons, let you know what I think about it afterwards.  |
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 1, 2010 18:36:07 GMT
I saw the film on Saturday, left feeling sad and a bit frustrated because it hadn't reached any conclusion. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were very good....
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