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#51 |
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In Time-Out For My Sins
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: My shed
Posts: 5,206
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Saw it today. Definitely one of the better films, though I still enjoy the artsy 3rd movie moreso. And I agree, the epilogue made me gag a little. Sooooo much cheese in it. And honestly, I don't need to see the next generation; I think it's a given that they all live happily together and have smex.
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#52 |
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All these little things
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Doncaster
Posts: 1,141
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#53 |
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Wait, didn't I kill that character?
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Querying Central
Posts: 1,559
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Where did it deviate from the events in the book? It followed it pretty faithfully, as I recall. (Even filming that awful epilogue...)
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My synopsis thinks it's so tough. Come on over and beat it down. "So we must daily keep things wound: that is, we must pray when prayer seems dry as dust; we must write when we are physically tired, when our hearts are heavy" -Madeleine L'Engle |
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#54 |
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Listening to the Voices In My Head
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: I can see the Rocky Mountains
Posts: 5,770
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So want to see this. The only thing stopping me is the fact that my husband is gone for a couple of months, and we saw part one together. I will most likely end up seeing anyway`.
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Rejection isn't failure. Failure is giving up. Everybody gets rejected, it's how you handle it that determines where you will end up. Richard Castle WIPs: Second Chances (?) 60,246 - off to Betas M/M Romance Untitled M/M Romance 1358/50,000 Untitiled UF - 35,738/80,000
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#55 |
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Just a guy with a pen & a delusion
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,574
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I feel a bit eh after seeing it. Spoiler warning.
================================================== SPOILERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSS ================================================== I felt like the movie didn't know what it wanted to be. On one hand, it seemed to be aiming for this dark, grim, bleak aesthetic. I mean, just take a look at the opening scene--Snape on the ledge, a gray Hogwarts beneath, and that haunting music in the background. Those opening moments? Beautifully done. Unfortunately, a lot of other scenes in the film which were intended to be dark/grim/haunting seemed to be trying too hard. Like the dialogue between what's his name and Fleur. The order uses this as a hide-out. What's left of us anyway. and everyone looking so somber and grim. Beat me over the head with it, why don't you? And then we have that scene with Aberforth. It just felt so forced to me. Like, okay, [insert dramatic scene with dramatic dialogue here]. Aberforth hardly even knows who Harry is (aside from being the boy who lived, that is) and now all of a sudden he's acting like he's known Harry for years. Then there are moments that just feel flat out unrealistic. Why would the students of Hogwarts sacrifice themselves for Harry? I don't remember how Rowling handles it, but in the movie, I couldn't help thinking, really? it's that easy? And McGonagal (sp?) has no problems sending first years into battle against death eaters? Why did Snape's two henchmen simply stand there when McGonogal came at him? Why did Snape not try to attack Voldemort and/or escape when it became clear Voldemort meant to murder him? Why did Neville choose the ridiculous rambo route to blowing up the bridge when he could have just blown it up far in advance of the shield going down. Yeah, it would've been less "epic." But it also would have made a hell of a lot more sense. And finally, there are moments where the movie tries to be funny and ends up going against the very dark/grim/haunting character which it's trying so hard to pursue. Harry's dialogue with Seamus. "What is it?" "We don't know." "Where is it?" "We don't know." Really? You had a vision that it has something to do with The Gray Lady, remember? That's what led you back to Hogwarts, remember? Wouldn't you bring that up, Harry? Huh? McGonagal turning schoolgirl and saying "Ooo, I've always wanted to use that spell!" Really? Really? Then we have Neville, who survives his rambo routine on the bridge by clinging to the edge. And if that's not cliche enough, the second he pulls himself up he gives us the obligatory one-liner. "Well, that went well." You also have characters coming out of nowhere. Pre-battle, Molly Weasley is walking side by side with McGonagal for god knows what reason, even though the only line she has in the entire movie is "Not my daughter you bitch." Turns out that Hagrid has been captured by Voldemort and being held at the forbidden forest, yet Voldemort makes no mention of that fact during his little public service announcement. Why then is he holding Hagrid hostage, if not to lure Harry in? And of course, the final show-down between Harry and Voldemort. Well, it's an improvement over the book in the sense that we actually get a real fight (even though realistically, Harry couldn't even hold a candle to Snape, much less Voldy.) But it's a rather brief fight. And what the hell is up with Voldemort slapping Harry around? What is this, the UFC? All that said, I don't think the movie was bad. But nothing special. I don't think it really knew what it wanted to be.
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Repped by Laura Langlie PARADOX- to be published by Greenwillow TBA Novel - to be published by Greenwillow The Future of Young Adult Literature, and Quite possibly Literature In General Last edited by Mr. Anonymous; 07-24-2011 at 08:38 AM. |
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#56 | |
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practical experience, FTW
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: On the edge of Imagination
Posts: 110
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I think Neville is a fun underdog to root for. He's picked on constantly through out his childhood by his peers, etc.. Even his 'friends' laughed at him(in a less horrific way perhaps, but it probably still hurt,) His mother/father were tortured to death. It's easy to see why people want to root for him. However, I don't understand at all how anyone can say Harry wasn't that heroic(or one of the least heroic in the series.) Maybe he's not your favorite(and that's fine) but Harry was VERY Heroic. Put yourself in his shoes. All the things that Harry went through from the first book up to the last. [Spoilers]: 1) Your mother/father were murdered. 2) You live with an aunt/uncle who love you so much that you live in a cupboard under the stairs. 3) You come face to face with the man(Voldemort) who murdered your parents(just after watching a fellow student be killed) and you're as helpless against him as you were when you were a baby. So you step out from behind a tombstone, prepared to meet your fate. 4) Everyone thinks you're so awesome, etc... then turn on you when you tell them that Voldemort is back. You're bashed in the papers. Made fun of by your peers, constantly called a liar(and worse), etc.. 5) Your God father(who you grow to love like a father) is not only on the run for a crime that he didn't commit but he's killed in front of you. 6) Dumbledore, another father figure, is murdered in front you... by a teacher that CONSTANTLY BERATED you for your father's "sins." 7) You give up your life(school) to hunt down mysterious objects that might be the key to destroying one of the worst wizards of all time because no one else can do it. 8) Another friend(Dobby) is killed in helping to save your life. 9) You're constantly hunted by Voldemort(the most powerful person in the entire world.) 10) You're told(through Snape's memories) that in order to defeat Voldemort and save the world from him you have to die. Not only die but LET Voldemort kill you. The same person who killed your parents. [/Spoilers] Again, it's okay that Harry isn't a person's favorite character(even the least favorite ) but let's not pretend that he isn't heroic. Very few people could go through a fraction of that stuff and do the things that Harry does. Confronting fears, reaching inside yourself and doing what's right. That was Harry.
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#57 |
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Just a guy with a pen & a delusion
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,574
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^ I think the issue with Harry isn't that he's not heroic, so much as he's not all that interesting. Voldemort is an interesting (albeit rather one-dimensional) character. Dumbledore is an interesting character. Snape is perhaps THE most interesting character in the series. Harry? He's just a regular kid, more or less, put in an extra-ordinary circumstance/set of circumstances.
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Repped by Laura Langlie PARADOX- to be published by Greenwillow TBA Novel - to be published by Greenwillow The Future of Young Adult Literature, and Quite possibly Literature In General Last edited by Mr. Anonymous; 07-24-2011 at 08:58 AM. |
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#58 | |
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Five by Five
SuperModerator
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Yesterday
Posts: 10,547
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#59 | |
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我的身分還是秘密.
Join Date: May 2006
Location: 神出鬼没像那暗夜的噩夢.
Posts: 8,291
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#60 | |
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In Time-Out For My Sins
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: My shed
Posts: 5,206
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That sounds messy. |
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#61 | |
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Malkavian Primogen
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 2,061
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Harry seems to me a quite vivid character. When we meet him, he's not unlike an eleven-year-old male Jane Eyre, the orphan trapped in an unwelcoming, even abusive (albeit not terribly) home who's remained an essentially good kid. Even then he is sharp, has a temper he keeps under control (or works at it, anyway), is not at all self-pitying and refreshingly lacks much vanity. A somewhat atypical but mostly-attractive set of personality traits that feels true. He proceeds from there. At heart he's bright and talented, but not interested in academic subjects for their own sake. More a doer than a thinker or dreamer, which also shows in his choice of career and in his love of Quidditch. One formulaic part of all seven books (and very many more besides, for perfectly good reasons) is that Harry (and others) are pushed into a situation where they have to make a character-revealing choice. Such choices become something else as well--they become a habit, just as in real life. I don't see why (for example) a stutter or being a show-off or believing in nargles would somehow make Harry Potter a better, more interesting character. He seems interesting and well-rounded with plenty of facets to me. Frankly, I've read plenty of folks going on and on about all his flaws, decrying the series for having as its hero such unethical, reckless, lying little egomaniac. That makes just as much sense to me as calling him "just a regular kid."
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#62 |
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I see you!
SuperModerator
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Midwest
Posts: 12,886
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Poor Harry. Can't get no respect, can he?
![]() I *like* Harry. What's more, I even liked CAPSLOCK Harry. Or, more to the point, I sympathized with him. I think he was interesting and doing interesting things, even when he was acting like a little git to his friends. *shrug* Will finally go to see this on Wednesday and I'm really looking forward to it.
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#63 |
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Just Plain Sick
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Under The Weeping Moon
Posts: 404
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speaking of apparating how come it was never used until HBP? Also, movie wise, when did the kids even learn how to apparate?
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My Website: http://www.darrenfrey.net Work In Progress: Blackened Newest Release: The Blood Reapers Facebook | Twitter | Blog |
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#64 |
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Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fudz. Not pie. I do not share pie. EVER.
Posts: 20,019
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Thank God they didn't insert the apparition lessons into the movie. The film would have been six hours long. And apparation can only be done by kids who are of age. Harry isn't of age until his birthday party at the beginning of HPATDH. That's why they have to come get him on brooms, thestrals and Sirius' flying motorcycle--that and the trace.
Mr. Anonymous-- Aberforth Dumbledore has known Harry Potter for years. He's the barman at the pub where they have the meeting to set up Dumbledore's army. Also, he's been keeping an eye on Harry almost literally in the mirror, of which Harry has a fragment. The eye Harry thinks is Dumbledore is Aberforth, and that's why Dobby shows up to rescue them from the Malfoys' mansion. Look--I went to see the movie, and while there were slight deviations in the story I thought they handled the material very well and with a care for Rowling's work. The three kids have grown up to be good little actors, and the supporting cast is the best collection of UK actors imaginable. The only thing that might make it better is for Lawrence Olivier to come back from the dead. If someone goes to the movie looking for flaws, they're going to find them. But, if someone goes to the movie to experience the last hurrah of Harry Potter's world, they'll come away satisfied. Aside from the inevitable Hollywood treatment the battle of Hogwarts was given, including the dragon ride through Gringotts that has Disney ride written all over it, the producers remained faithful to JK Rowling's material. And why not? SHE was one of the producers. That means that the script at some point went through her. If JK didn't object to the tweaks, I'm certainly not going to.
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#65 |
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Just a guy with a pen & a delusion
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,574
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kaitie - I understood *why* he did it. But if you look at it realistically, the odds of successfully pulling that stunt off are so small that it would be much safer to blow up the bridge ahead of time, though as you mentioned, the wizards can still aparate (sp?) so why are we doing this in the first place? lol. I just felt Neville's rambo/han solo thing felt very out of place in a movie going for the dark, gritty, realistic feel.
Barthomlomew - You've hit on a big part of why the series is so popular, I think. Harry's a sort of everyman kind of character that almost anyone can project themselves onto. David - lol. Harry is unique. But he's also just a regular kid, to my mind. Every human being on this earth is unique in their own way. However, despite this uniqueness, some people stand out as more unique/more individual. If Voldemort had gone after Neville instead (and harry's parents just died in a car accident after all), then it's likely Harry wouldn't have gone on to do a tenth of the things he did in the books. He'd probably have been just another kid at Hogwarts. What makes Harry particularly unique is not his character (IMO) so much as the circumstances he is placed in, and I think one of the reasons for the series' immense popularity is that (especially with the earlier books) it gives readers a sympathetic character that they can see themselves in who acts in the way they would like to imagine they'd act under extreme circumstances. mscelina - Aberforth Dumbledore has known Harry Potter for years. He's the barman at the pub where they have the meeting to set up Dumbledore's army. Also, he's been keeping an eye on Harry almost literally in the mirror, of which Harry has a fragment. The eye Harry thinks is Dumbledore is Aberforth, and that's why Dobby shows up to rescue them from the Malfoys' mansion. I realize that. However, Aberforth's direct interaction with Harry was minimal in the books, and as far as the movies go, I'm not sure they ever had any on screen interaction before Part 2. I didn't come to the movie looking for flaws. I just thought, given how overwhelming positive the reviews were (96% on rotten tomatoes) that I would find it a stronger movie. I am glad so many others were not similarly disappointed, and I freely admit that while I've seen all the films, I've never been a huge fan. So maybe that's also a part of it.
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Repped by Laura Langlie PARADOX- to be published by Greenwillow TBA Novel - to be published by Greenwillow The Future of Young Adult Literature, and Quite possibly Literature In General Last edited by Mr. Anonymous; 07-25-2011 at 06:27 AM. |
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#66 | |
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Freshly caught writing bug lives!
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: The view from my stained glass window suggests by a moonlit lake someplace...
Posts: 894
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Quest Seekers blog / Twitter ...if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches. - William Goldman, The Princess Bride We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan |
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#67 |
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Can't Touch This, Stop, Query Time!
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Baton Rouge
Posts: 130
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I thought it was a good movie, but not a great movie. But I was happy enough with it, though the Voldemort/Draco hug was just this side of awkward.
I will say the special effects finally came much closer to what I always imagined in my head when it came to the magic. The fiendfyre was really cool to see. On a technical note, one thing I wished they'd done with the last two films was remove that light filter they used to make everything so gloomy. I get that they did it to create "instant mood", but when you barely get light at a beach house, I find it a bit annoying. Personally, I would have found it a bit more interesting to have a less gloomy palate to contrast the situation they find themselves in, at least before Hogwarts. On a side note: whenever I see the later movies, I am always struck by how much their fight really is isolated from the rest of the world. You "know" that in the books, but seeing events in London makes it a lot more apparent.
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-Inspiration strikes...it's holding out for dental. |
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#68 |
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I heart sexy elves and wizards.
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 818
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To those asking why the Death Eaters didn't apparate, you can't apparate inside the grounds of Hogwarts.
I thought the film was good. Parts I wish had been done differently (namely Fred's death) but mostly I reckon we should just enjoy it for what it is, which is pretty damn awesome. I don't mind the epilogue. Yes, a little cheesy but I've grown up with these characters and needed to know that they were okay after everything.
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Call of the Siren (YA Fantasy): 19.2k (1st draft) The Silver Princess (YA Fantasy): 83.1k (editing) 'Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.' - J.K. Rowling Last edited by fredXgeorge; 07-30-2011 at 05:27 PM. |
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#69 |
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Five by Five
SuperModerator
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Yesterday
Posts: 10,547
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#70 |
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AW = Procrastination.
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Catch me if you can!
Posts: 862
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Over all, I thought the movie was well done. I loved (loved loved loved) the part in the Pensive. I thought that was executed perfectly.
The rest of the ending I did not like. Perhaps I'm just too much of a purist, but I don't see the purpose in changing things just for the sake of change. The fact that they made Nevil a bumbling idiot instead of a hero for killing the snake seriously irked me, but that's nothing compared to how mad I was over the whole duel between Harry and Voldemort. I really wanted them to circle each other in a final stand off in front of everyone else in the wizarding world. I wanted there to be no questions in anyone's mind later as to what happened. I understand flying around is more dramatic, but they took out some outstanding dialogue. "You wouldn't dare" "YES I DARE." It doesn't get any better than that. So instead, the dialogue added felt cheesy and forced. Not heroic. I think they could have made just as dramatic of an ending while staying true to the book. But maybe that's just me.
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#71 | |||
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All these little things
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Doncaster
Posts: 1,141
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