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annuinSo Saturday, after a mere 5 or so hours sleep, and then a trip into NYC followed by 4+ hours in the dojo doing the promotion test, we headed back home again. A plan had been hatched earlier in the week to go see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with Kit for his birthday. I was happy to be informed that he'd drive up here, we have more entertaining space than he does, and after that exhausting day I'd already gotten to the point where I was bribing PreZ to go out anywhere.
We headed off to Applebees for some dinner, and desserts-to-go for later, then watched a couple of episodes of Coupling's second season before heading off to see Harry Potter. Coupling just seems to get better and better. I love that show, it's so damn hilarious.
I really enjoyed HP a lot. The movie felt a bit rushed, but that's because of the amount of storyline they had to cram into the 2 hours and 20 minutes of movie. All in all they did a good job of getting it all in there without having to cut too much, and whilst maintaining a fairly tight plot. There were a few small things that irked both PreZ and myself, little things that could have used a few moments of explanation, that should have been explained, but weren't. Nothing major in the scheme of things.
I found that Michael Gambon's Dumbledore worked for me, much more than I thought it would, as initially from the trailers I really had to adjust to the difference in actors/appearance/mannerisms/voice. He still had the all-knowing vibe only it was shown in a different manner, much more straight forward rather than the ultra cryptic way that Harris would do things.
From interviews in a Making Of I've seen, the differences between Richard Harris' Dumbledore and Michael Gambon's were on purpose. They specifically changed Gambon's Dumbledore so that it wouldn't just be a pale attempt to step into Richard's shoes, which wouldn't have been possible anyway. So Gambon gets to put his own stamp on the character.
Gambon was more dynamic than Richard Harris, which also seemed to fit this film better, because that was a lot more dynamic than the first two. Not that nothing happens in the first two movies, but there seemed to be much more momentum of events in the third movie than in the previous ones, and I think that the director also captured this well.
I felt this film was more realistic, due to the the more gritty portrayal of the world. Harry's neighbourhood was more tangible, as was London, rather than the atmosphere of childlike awe and wonder that surrounded the first two movies. This really felt as though the magical world was integrated into the Real muggle world, the one as we know it, rather than a more fantastical real world which was portrayed in the first two movies.
Very enjoyable. It was also interesting to see how much the kids have changed. In the first two movies there wasn't a huge difference, but now most of them have really been vaulted into puberty, and that was amusing to see.
I've read rumours that they might have to replace the actors with younger versions to maintain the proper ages with the storyline, but personally I hope they don't do that. The casting is spot on, and they have such chemistry together. Plus if US tv can show us 20 and 30 somethings playing teenagers in school (and quite unbelievably so in most cases), then I think we can deal with kids slightly older by mere years.
From looking on imdb.com I see that Alfonso Cuaron won't be back for The Goblet of Fire, unfortunately. According to that listing filming started in March, and the director is Mike Newell who directed Mona Lisa Smile, Pushing Tin, Donnie Brasco and Four Weddings and a Funeral.
After the movie we had desserts, tea and watched some more Coupling before Kit headed off around 4.30am or so. A good yet exhausting Saturday.
We headed off to Applebees for some dinner, and desserts-to-go for later, then watched a couple of episodes of Coupling's second season before heading off to see Harry Potter. Coupling just seems to get better and better. I love that show, it's so damn hilarious.
I really enjoyed HP a lot. The movie felt a bit rushed, but that's because of the amount of storyline they had to cram into the 2 hours and 20 minutes of movie. All in all they did a good job of getting it all in there without having to cut too much, and whilst maintaining a fairly tight plot. There were a few small things that irked both PreZ and myself, little things that could have used a few moments of explanation, that should have been explained, but weren't. Nothing major in the scheme of things.
I found that Michael Gambon's Dumbledore worked for me, much more than I thought it would, as initially from the trailers I really had to adjust to the difference in actors/appearance/mannerisms/voice. He still had the all-knowing vibe only it was shown in a different manner, much more straight forward rather than the ultra cryptic way that Harris would do things.
From interviews in a Making Of I've seen, the differences between Richard Harris' Dumbledore and Michael Gambon's were on purpose. They specifically changed Gambon's Dumbledore so that it wouldn't just be a pale attempt to step into Richard's shoes, which wouldn't have been possible anyway. So Gambon gets to put his own stamp on the character.
Gambon was more dynamic than Richard Harris, which also seemed to fit this film better, because that was a lot more dynamic than the first two. Not that nothing happens in the first two movies, but there seemed to be much more momentum of events in the third movie than in the previous ones, and I think that the director also captured this well.
I felt this film was more realistic, due to the the more gritty portrayal of the world. Harry's neighbourhood was more tangible, as was London, rather than the atmosphere of childlike awe and wonder that surrounded the first two movies. This really felt as though the magical world was integrated into the Real muggle world, the one as we know it, rather than a more fantastical real world which was portrayed in the first two movies.
Very enjoyable. It was also interesting to see how much the kids have changed. In the first two movies there wasn't a huge difference, but now most of them have really been vaulted into puberty, and that was amusing to see.
I've read rumours that they might have to replace the actors with younger versions to maintain the proper ages with the storyline, but personally I hope they don't do that. The casting is spot on, and they have such chemistry together. Plus if US tv can show us 20 and 30 somethings playing teenagers in school (and quite unbelievably so in most cases), then I think we can deal with kids slightly older by mere years.
From looking on imdb.com I see that Alfonso Cuaron won't be back for The Goblet of Fire, unfortunately. According to that listing filming started in March, and the director is Mike Newell who directed Mona Lisa Smile, Pushing Tin, Donnie Brasco and Four Weddings and a Funeral.
After the movie we had desserts, tea and watched some more Coupling before Kit headed off around 4.30am or so. A good yet exhausting Saturday.
