The Simpson's MovieDespite a strong pull
To force minor characters
It's the family
Some may consider the following to contain spoilers...
Looking back nearly a week since watching the movie, I find that the thing that sticks with me the most is how much they relied on the Simpsons themselves to carry the movie. The entire town has moments, but I would guess 90% of the movie is the family. This strikes me as not the easiest decision to make, as making a series of gags out of the foibles of the beloved supporting cast would possibly be easier than crafting a film so focused on the family.
Generally I found it to be highly entertaining, essentially a well crafted extended episode rendered in more colors and more detail (outside the characters themselves). It's no Homer in the 3D vortex, this is the animation what brung 'em. As such, it's not a must see on the big screen, and I look forward to watching the DVD to see all that's going on in the background.
Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry so angry
But not as long as the book
Rousingly dispatched
I agree with most of our little reviewer group that this one was done fairly well, and possibly as well as the book could have been done. Watching an hour or so of Harry getting his ass kicked would have been very tough to pull off. That said, he perhaps got over his withering darkness a little easier than he should have, though he did bitch-slap DD at the end.
The Ministry part at the end was vastly different than I remember the book. Like Dan I recall an extended bit of wandering in and out of rooms, though they did explain the portal that sucks in Sirius in the book, where in the movie he's jsut gone with no explanation whatsoever.
I liked the Luna casting, and indeed she is Mighty Tom circa 1987. I also generally liked Umbridge, in the sense that I thought her casting was right on, and casting Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix is so much of a no brainer that it's brilliant. She hilarious appears to be combining her character from Fight Club with those of the period pieces she started her career in (Room With a View etc). Great.
Agree with a comment from Stephen regarding why/how did Umbridge escape the centaurs. Faith recalls DD saving her, but I cannot. Too bad if so. And hilariously, in the 4 years since I last read #5, I'd totally forgotten about Hagrid's brother, and so didn't recognize the name in book 7.
Special effects continue to get better. Hagrid's brother and Kreacher so much better than the troll in #1 and Dobby in #2. Also, major magical fights done very well, which was something I could never quite wrap my head around. Lots of spells without speaking, putting the youngsters at a huge disadvantage, though they certainly more than hold their own.
300Stunning film making
Though Spartans are just cartoons
Sporting their six-packs
I was a big fan of Sin City, both for its technique and its storyline. This, while based on a great true story, renders the characters so two-dimensionally as to be ridiculous. They are literally just outrageously fit automatons. You barely care that they die (oops - spoiler).
That said, the technique is worth the price of admission. It's simply a gorgeous piece of film making.
You could. however, make a much better story of the Battle of Thermopylae.
5 comments:
Only one I've seen is HP. Glad you enjoyed it. On the Sirius side, in the movie - it looked as though Bellatrix got him with the killing curse (Aveda Cadaver) and he fell through the veil from the force. In the book, I seem to remember that he more or less fell through the veil and his fate was more or less mysterious. Something we still do not know much about. I actually thought it would play a HUGE part as the Hallows in book 7 - I was wrong.
My recollection is that portal was very specifically described as to a place of non-being - it may have even had a specific name. Sirius was gone and utterly irretrievable. I expected him to remain so.
I can remember Sirius shouting "Is that the best you can do?" in the book, which sounded so much like a movie line, I was shocked they didn't use it. Which reminds me, how much you want to bet they won't use "Get away from her you bitch" in the adaptation of book 7?
That was a really corny line. I don't recall the Sirius one, but if so, also very corny.
I'm not sure if it's just me projecting more of it than there is, but the movies seem to have made Sirius a somewhat unappealing character. Not so much that he has negatives, just that he seems to be ridiculously distant. With Gary Oldman playing him, it seems there was room for a bit more depth.
Mrs. Weasley: corny in her finest moment, which says everything you need to know about my least favorite character in the HP pantheon.
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