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Author Topic: The Harry Potter Marathon  (Read 58802 times)

Junior

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #50 on: July 13, 2010, 01:30:31 PM »
Yeah, but he's just OK. He builds the world well, and he gets the story done, but there isn't the additional magic that the later films have. I got kind of bored while he was just going through the motions. Everything after Snape's speech and before they get to Fluffy was just dull.

Is there a reason why a director like Yates or Cuaron couldn't have done the same stuff as Columbus did but executed it with more flair?
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Corndog

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #51 on: July 13, 2010, 01:33:28 PM »
That is an interesting point steve, but I tend to agree with Junior here. I'm not saying what Columbus did was bad, more just bland with what he had. The film had its moments but I credit more the story and the actors than I do the direction of Columbus. He is solid and always has been. Nothing against the man, Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire are awesome.
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oldkid

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #52 on: July 13, 2010, 04:44:33 PM »
That is an interesting point steve, but I tend to agree with Junior here. I'm not saying what Columbus did was bad, more just bland with what he had. The film had its moments but I credit more the story and the actors than I do the direction of Columbus. He is solid and always has been. Nothing against the man, Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire are awesome.

All I'm saying is that it could have been worse which would have killed the series before it had really begun.  Suppose they looked for "celebrity" directors like with the Mission Impossible series?  Lars Von Trier doing Azkaban?  Herzog Meier doing Goblet of Fire?  Terrance Malick doing Sorcerer's Stone-- you think it's long now?   Even my favorite director Miyazaki starting off the series.  Sure, it'd look good, but the story would have been unrecognizable-- the tree out front would have eaten the school and Harry would have had to find a middle road between preserving nature and humanity.  It's good to get someone there who will let the story do the talking.

EDIT: I was thinking that perhaps Kar Wai Wong could do Order of Phoenix.  Perhaps not much plot would happen, but he'd be able to fully explore Harry's anger.  That might be good.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2010, 04:48:13 PM by oldkid »
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Junior

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #53 on: July 13, 2010, 04:47:21 PM »
You may be right. This is one reason why I am looking forward to the remake/re-adaptations in 20 years. These are fine films, but I always want to see other takes on the same story/world.
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smirnoff

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #54 on: July 13, 2010, 04:54:15 PM »
It's good to get someone there who will let the story do the talking.

Well said, this particularly.

I remember part 1 being satisfying to very good. It has been a good 5 or 6 years since I watched it though. We'll see how I feel about it in a couple weeks.
« Last Edit: July 13, 2010, 05:03:39 PM by smirnoff »

Bondo

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #55 on: July 13, 2010, 05:27:23 PM »
I hope I live long enough to see the BBC/HBO seven season series.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #56 on: July 13, 2010, 06:59:43 PM »
That would be something. I'd hope they would get Idziak to shoot it all.

tinyholidays

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #57 on: July 14, 2010, 12:21:04 AM »
I hope I live long enough to see the BBC/HBO seven season series.

I've always thought that it could only really be done properly as an extensive animated series. But that's the difference between me wanting to see every single thing in the books and filmmakers interpreting the material.

Bondo

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #58 on: July 14, 2010, 12:33:23 AM »
I hope I live long enough to see the BBC/HBO seven season series.

I've always thought that it could only really be done properly as an extensive animated series. But that's the difference between me wanting to see every single thing in the books and filmmakers interpreting the material.

I can dig it. Animation for that scale of a project makes it less expensive and makes you not have to worry about actor aging so it has a lot of pluses.

Bondo

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Re: The Harry Potter Marathon
« Reply #59 on: July 16, 2010, 04:28:01 PM »
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

To play off Steve's point, I think it is fair to claim that Columbus is just letting the story play through and he should be commended for effective visualization of the world and casting of the characters. Though they do not generally show the skill of the later movies, this is still solid child acting and of course the adult cast is epic. I do prefer Richard Harris in the role of Dumbledore. I think his more congenial attitude is more fitting to the character than the less charismatic Gambon. But the problem with just let the story do the talking is that the first two books are the weakest ones. They are the ones that could use the most creative energy, and of course you can't prove the counterfactual that someone who offers that creative energy would somehow do less in the set design/casting that Columbus established. One thing Columbus' design falls short IMO, and really the books do as well, is a sense of geography within the castle. I know the "stairs change" but I definitely have a reduced sense of where everything is relative to everything else.

One of the distinct things about this entry...actually giving my HP man-crush Sean Biggerstaff some lines as Oliver Wood. That accent! That said, I've generally found the film series coverage of Quidditch to be rather lackluster. It is what I'd expect Michael Bay would do to the sport, making the action more grandiose and violent with no account of the rules of the game that makes it a legitimate fantasy sport. The effects during these scenes aren't particularly convincing neither. I understand that the sport risks being rather uninteresting in the visual medium otherwise, but I'm not sure it goes in a useful direction.

I would have liked to see a bit more panache in the sequence of trials at the end. We've discussed whether the logic puzzle could work on film. But given that the clues were very visual (spatial, color, size), it actually seems a good opportunity to let us be working the puzzle alongside Hermione. Anyway, I can't say I remember the book that well that I pick out what's missing. Most of the shortcuts work pretty well here. At the end of the day, I don't have it in me to not like a Harry Potter film.

Rating: B-
« Last Edit: July 26, 2010, 12:54:11 PM by Bondo »

 

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