Topics:
*How do you feel about the acting ability of the young actors?
*Do you approve of the overall cast or would you make changes?
*What's it like seeing some of these moments on the screen?
*What was your favorite part?
FOR TOMORROW:
Chamber of Secrets chapters 1 & 2
1. I thought the young actors did very well, especially considering their young ages and inexperience. They weren't what I had in my mind, and unfortunately now I can't even see my original mental images of them.
ReplyDelete2. Overall cast - love Maggie Smith as McGonagall. Don't like the guy who pays Flitwick - not at all how I imagined him. As much as I adore Alan Rickman, he's wrong for this part - about 3 decades too old, and not nearly sneering or mean-spirited enough. Snape is so very angry in the book, and that doesn't come through in the movie. Rickman is a more likeable Snape than the book Snape.
3. Seeing it on the screen took away some of the magic for me. I avoided seeing them for a long time, knowing that would happen. Having said that, I still enjoy the movies for what they are.
4. Favourite part - I love the first train ride. There's so much between Harry and Ron already, and they really capture the insecurities of young boys going off to boarding school for the first time.
I'll admit something here. I saw the movie before I read the books. I was a die hard Lord of the Rings fan and I thought Harry was kind of stealing our thunder since the first two came out the same year.
ReplyDeleteBut I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and it looked so damn cute.
I've had to come to a point where I view the movies and books as completely different stories because otherwise I'd just kill myself, but this first one still keeps a lot of the heart. They were so much shorter, so they could leave more in I guess. So now I really like watching the first two movies because I feel like they are closer to the books I read than any of the films that came afterward.
I have issues with the movies interrupting my book reading. I can actually hear Ron's line from the movie interspersed with the dialog in the book. I think that it is because the Ron movie character was so enjoyable. Before the books were finished, I stopped watching the movies when they came out so, that they didn't ruin the rest of the books for me. I am hoping that now I will finally be able to watch them and appreciate them on a more separate level.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the first movie was the boat ride to the castle. The first view is amazing!!! I also really liked the entrance to Diagon ally.
RowanWitch of The Spooky Group
The first thing I started to realize from the beginning of the movie is that Harry is really sarcastic to the Dursley's in the book, but is very innocent in the movie.
ReplyDeleteLove the train! It's so pretty and old fashioned.
ReplyDeleteI love the snake scene in the movie and the look on Harry's face before his uncle glares at him.
The boat rides: I figure the first years are put in the boats so they get to Hogwarts slower than everyone else (so all but first years are seated and waiting for the sorting ceremony) and so they get their first view from the water. This is wonderful in the movie, as it's our first view, too.
We learn later about the "horseless" carriages for everyone else. Yet, the book mentions everyone getting back in the boats at the end of the year. Maybe the first years boat back across to the train, so they don't experience the carriages until their next year.
The Wizard's chess scene that Ron plays is really stunning in the movie. Those chess pieces are scary.
EMBARRASING CONFESSION: I love the fact that Neville gets 10 points for standing up to his friends. I love it even more in the movie. I usually tear up at that point. I'm such a softie.
GAMES: Did anyone else play the games on the second disk? There are Easter Eggs on these, too.
Logic test: it would have been too static for the movie but I love the potions logic test that Hermonine solves.
Gosh those kids are young, now that we've seen them since. Ron is just wonderful. Herminone has a tendancy to take a big breath before many of her lines. She gets better in other movies. Maggie Smith is perfect . . .
I'm bummed that they didn't have Madame Hooch in any other movies but you can catch
Zoë Wanamaker in the Britcom "My Family"
OH AND REALLY: I knew of the Philosopher's Stone from reading "Gone Away Lake" in my childhood. Why they had to film everything twice to refer to the Socerer's Stone for American's is beyond me. Though the illeteration is nice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone-Away_Lake If you haven't read it, run, go find in your library or buy it. It's set in the 50's but it still feels modern. You'll love it.
KuKu