I can't wait for this to come out. July 17th will be the first day I lay out of work, the boys and I have never not seen an HP movie on the first day it comes out. Too bad they are too old and cool to dress up this year.

I fly back home (from a weeks holiday) on the 13th (that's when its released here), I'll be at the flicks that night or the next.

The trailer looks excellent, the director did State of Play (which I loved) so I have high expectations for it. I think the kids have improved so much over the years.

Loved the film, I was sitting in the cinema thinking the amount of big names they get for these films and they are only on screen for 5 minutes!

I'm impressed that Ron got away with saying "toss-pot" made me laugh like a 12 year old.

Yeah, we were joking about that -- it becomes kind of clear they probably bring them in for one day and have them shoot all the professors scenes and OoTP scenes.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how sad is it that I told my boss I was sick and then proceeded to go and see this movie? And once it was over I almost went and bought another ticket?

Pft. I don't know how it would affect the 1 to 10 score, but I've done much sadder things when Lord of the Rings was coming out. I was in college and they always came out right when I wanted to kill myself during finals. I never missed a test, but work and studying I definitely skipped out on to watch - and rewatch - LotR.

Kimchi,

Sorry, wrong forum.

I went to see the movie again yesterday and walked out after an hour. One girl doing a running commentary, one infant fussing, and a toddler kicking my chair and yelling constantly completely ruined it for me. At least I got my money back.

What i liked:

-The actress who played Umbridge did an amazing job. I hated her, her outfits, her attitude and the little squeals she emitted. It takes a certain talent to tackle those roles and she did it perfectly.

-In the book. Harry spent a lot of time yelling/getting mad at Ron and Hermione. Thankfully it was cut from the movie. I found those parts of the book very annoying.


What i didn't like:

-Ron and Hermione were almost relegated to supporting characters.

-Was that a cameo by Draco Malfoy?

-The movie felt like a transitional movie. I had the feeling that the movie existed mostly for the purpose of supporting the events that were going to happen in the future rather than stand in its own right.


Making a Harry Potter movie must really be a difficult task. The books were getting thicker and thicker as they progressed and you have to cut more material to fit in the movie. Since the last book was kept a secret, the director doesn't know what will be very important later on.


For those who saw the movie, there is a very spoilery comparison between the book and the movie:
Link

Well, that's...exhaustive. Wow.

Meh. This is my most favorite book and my least favorite movie. Which is curious, because before OotP, Azkaban was my favorite book AND movie.

It's interesting to me that with all the stuff they cut out, the movie still dragged in the middle. My favorite thing about the book, the Weasley Twins and their disruption in quitting Hogwarts, was kind of underplayed here. Sigh.

I also didn't like it. It felt like it was screaming along, bouncing from thing to thing. At first I thought I didn't like because I'd just reread the book, so I noticed all the cuts. But I saw it with someone who hasn't read the book in a while, and she also thought it went way to fast and didn't flow.

I did like the fight at the end, and Luna was fantastic. I was expecting more from Bellatrix, but I thought Helena Bonham Carter was more crazy and less scary, instead of being both batshit crazy and terrifying.

Agreed. The fight was pretty kickass, but I feel like I waited two hours just to get to the good part.

Prisoner of Azkaban is still my favorite. That movie actually got me to read the books. I'd seen one and two, wasn't overwhelmed but I loved three and decided to pick up book four (then five, then six and seven is waiting in my damn office right now - first time in my life I'm actually looking forward to going to work on Monday). I was hooked.

Not that you asked but I'm telling you anyway!!! Ha ha!

I mean, it must be hard to get it just right. Put too much in and it's boring; put too little in and it feels like a highlight reel. In fact, I can't recall the discussion of Sirius's nickname being "Padfoot" coming up onscreen before Harry shouted "PADFOOT IS IN TROUBLE!" to Snape. (That bit about who wrote the Maurader's Map was snipped from Azkaban.) Did Harry put it in a letter during the GoF movie? I don't recall.

All I could remember thinking through the whole movie was "Thank God I've read the book or I'd have no idea what the hell was going on right now."

I love Alfonso Cuaron, but he can't be the only genius at converting HP books to screen, right?

Unfortunately, Yates will be directing Half Blood Prince.

*blech*

Lord, I hope they go back to Chris Columbus or Alfonso Cuaron for #7

Columbus for Deathly Hallows? Please shoot me now. Cuaron would be awesome, but I'm guessing he's on to bigger and better things now.

I thought Yates did a pretty decent job here, as I liked this movie quite a bit, second only to the genius Cuaron adaptation of Prisoner of Azkaban. I really hadn't liked OoTP that much as a book -- I mean, I get that Harry was being a tempermental teenager, but his incessant squabbling and put-upon demeanor wore thin really fast. It helped a great deal to have all that compressed in the film; a little goes a long way where moody teenage angst is concerned.

I also just thought the film looked great -- much better than 1, 2 or 4, which all featured really static compositions and a plodding, leaden pace. I just rewatched Azkaban and Goblet of Fire against last night -- well, they were playing while I read/napped/read in a marathon to finish Deathly Hallows. I was struck again by how skillfully Cuaron captured the sense of wonder about Hogwarts that I always got from the books, and which had seemed so woefully absent in films 1 and 2, which seemed to think that bashing the audience over the head with a John Williams soundtrack would be enough to do the trick.

Similarly, I was struck again by how pathetically bad Goblet of Fire was. It drags, there's relatively little emotion or character development, and it seemed to take every opportunity to deflate whatever drama started to build up. For instance, Harry hitting upon the Accio spell to recover his Firebolt for the dragon task was a moment of revelation in the book, but in the movie, it comes off as an almost mechanical decision -- just an excuse to throw in an aerial chase and lots of broomstick special effects. Grr.

I remember watching it and thinking, he’s wearing that hoodie again? Also thought it was strange he was wearing that jacket with his school uniform. And those are my two great insights on this movie.

Good point, EssPee. I guess since the books (and therefore the films) continue to get darker and darker, by the time "Deathly Hallows" comes out on film they should go with someone like Cronenberg to direct!

HA!

Look at the young man who plays Neville!

He looks so different. I know Neville is not cool but you wouldn't think a change of clothes, hair and a bit of stubble would make that much of a change.

Apparently he wears false teeth and things to make his ears stick out for the role, but I think the actor's gone through a growth spurt that has changed his real-life look a bit. It will be interesting to see him in future films!

Hubba Hubba!