This is online now at AOL UK...but, unfortunately, one can't watch it without downloading crappy AOL software. Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
Since there is no way in heck that I'm going to install anything by that blasted company on my computer, I suppose I'll have to wait for Apple or somebody else to pick it up, eh?
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Exactly. Last time I installed their Active X player, it messed up my computer -so- badly.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
We are expressly forbidden from downloading anything from AOL at my work.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
What sort of real fans are you two? Go to Mugglenet or The Leaky Cauldron.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
I'm a fake fan. Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
Youtube link Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Posted by sarcasticmuppet (Member # 5035) on :
In spite of myself, I'm really excited. I really like the idea of Umbridge as a Stepford wife-type villain.
The last film fell kinda flat with me, though. I don't want to get my hopes up too much.
Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
Pretty cool, although Voldemort still just looks silly. Giant frog man != scary.
Posted by Fyfe (Member # 937) on :
This actually looks quite good. The trailers always make me super excited and then the movies are a let-down....but whatever! Yay for Harry Potter!
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
That gave me goose pimples. That has never happened for a HP movie before, despite being a fan of the books.
Last time that happened, about any movie, it was about FotR. (although Pan's Labyrinth came close)
Posted by Snail (Member # 9958) on :
I agree that this is probably yet another case where the trailer is much better than the movie. That said, Umbridge does look cool. They didn't show enough Helena Bonham Carter, though, seeing as she will be the main reason I'll go see this movie.
Am I alone in thinking that they should've made Harry Potter into a seven season television series instead of seven movies?
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
This looks fantastic! !! I can't wait. Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
I'm excited. I think the possibilities with this one are huge. It's got a much darker tone. If done right, this could be really really good. Honestly, I thought this was the weakest book. But maybe the movie will be the opposite.
Of the movies, I still think Prisoner or Azkaban was the best. For some reason, Goblet of Fire came off too light and bubble gum for me. I just didn't like it as well.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
quote:Originally posted by Snail: Am I alone in thinking that they should've made Harry Potter into a seven season television series instead of seven movies?
The problem is, a lot of the episodes would be Harry getting points deducted by Snape. Period. Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
I'm going to have to talk myself into getting over the fact that the woman playing Umbridge doesn't look like Umbridge. And I'm glad that Ron's hair is shorter again.
How's that for a superficial reaction?
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
The Umbridge of the book is -so- grotesque that I think most non-Potter fans would assume that she's meant to be a non-human...which would make Umbridge's blatant prejudice towards non-humans puzzling. Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
I think part of my reaction is that my one and only experience as a teacher in the schools was at a high school with a principal who so resembled the Dolores Umbridge of the book as to make me wish I was back there to hear what the kids were saying when Order of the Phoenix came out. Physical resemblance to a certain extent, but then she really did issue blatantly silly edicts that only highlighted her lack of inherent authority . . . so I guess what I really want is Ms. ______ in the role!
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Cool . . . I didn't realize Helena Bonham Carter was going to play Bellatrix! I look forward to watching her as well. Although I didn't catch her at all in that trailer--unless she was the dominatrix-type in black leather that they flashed on the screen for about a quarter of a second.
In googling that, I also found reference to her playing opposite Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd -- that should be great! I don't generally care for Tim Burton, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with this film. I saw it on Broadway years ago with Angela Lansbury. It's gruesome enough without adding any extra creepifying, though, so we'll see what I think of Burton's touch.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Yeah, movie Bellatrix has sort of a decaying Harlequin Death Rocker thing going on.
Posted by Snail (Member # 9958) on :
quote: The problem is, a lot of the episodes would be Harry getting points deducted by Snape. Period. [Big Grin]
Heh, probably. But still, the structure of the books is already so episodic...
Anyway, of the movies I also found Prisoner of Azkaban to be the best. I think it's the only HP film that truly works on its own as a movie, something that could be enjoyed by even those not familiar with the source material.
In general the problem with all the four films so far has been that the charm of the books, to me at least, comes from the humour and the school setting and the banter between the main heroes. It's the overall wizarding school atmosphere that matters the most and what the books are really about, the big Voldemort plot is simply there because there has to be some sort of a context to keep you interested in more of the school stuff. If the books were just about Harry vs. Voldemort they wouldn't have the readership they've gathered... it's the juxtaposition of that amidst all the "mundane" school stuff that makes the books so good. And the reason the films feel so hollow to me is that in them the Voldemort stuff kind of overrides everything else. If they had to make movies out of these books, I think they should've simplified the main conspiracies of each book and cut more of those scenes in order to allow for more of the atmosphere/character building stuff.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I disagree. Without that conflict nothing else matters at all, and the story wouldn't exist.
I like the books as well, but honestly I think all of the movies do a very good job of capturing the spirit of the books.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Umbridge isn't nearly toad-like for my taste. And Voldemort... there's something almost weak about him. I hope the movie is at least better than the last one.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
I'll also have to disagree. What appeals to me about the books is the strong plotting and the vivid characterization...which I would like with or without the boarding school "but magic!" stuff.
From book 4 (possibly book 3) onward, the "Good Versus Evil" plot has taken more prominence in the text...as the series really does seem to be about the choice between love and selfishness, if it's about anything. Posted by Snail (Member # 9958) on :
quote: I'll also have to disagree. What appeals to me about the books is the strong plotting and the vivid characterization...which I would like with or without the boarding school "but magic!" stuff.
See, and I don't think the characterization works at all in the films. Harry's pain at being the odd one out and not having a family and so on doesn't come across at all in the films.
I think the dance scene in the fourth movie is the closest the films ever got to the atmosphere I liked in the books. (But other than that dance scene I didn't really like the fourth film.)
Still, I suppose it's just one of those things where tastes differ.
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