Harry Potter Marathon Part 3: Starring the Whomping Willow

[aria624]

HP3: The Prisoner of Azkaban

Easily my least favorite book, surprisingly one of the better movies.  Definitely a huge step up from #2 and #1

• LUMOS MAXIMA
• God, Marge is brilliant.
• Harry looks *so much older* all the sudden.
• For the first time, I watched Petunia's face when Marge is talking about Harry's mother.  I wonder if Fiona Shaw knew then her character's arc.  She looked down, and didn't agree with Marge.  Interesting.
• Hehe.  I love the music choice right here.
• Yes, because running off into the night with a giant trunk and NO IDEA where you're going is always a good idea.
• Oooh creepy flickery street light
• Yeah okay, the whole "creepy playground" sequence is ridiculous.
• "Whatchoo fall over for?" 
• Cuaron tried to bring more darkness and more humor into the series at the same time.  The result is sequences like the Knight Bus, which is equal parts fantastic and ridiculous.
• I laughed so hard when Tom turned off the car alarm.  Way to marry the magical and the modern.
• Fudge's pinstriped robes is one of my favorite costumes.
• It's interesting to note how the color palette changes throughout the series.  The first two movies are very bright, full of reds and golds and rich color.  Azkaban suddenly shifts to a darker palette, full of greys and greens and splashes of rich dark red and violet.
• Crookshaaaaanks
• I like the sequence of Mr. Weasley talking to Harry about Sirius Black, and the continuation onto the train.  It feels a little forced, but it works well.
• Dementors Freak. Me. Out.
• Hey I just noticed - Dementors look a lot like the illustration of Death in the Tale of the Seven Brothers from HP7.  Huh.  That's kind of cool.
• Crookshanks is so ugly.
• Cuaron does a lot more with transitions, but it seems like at times he does too much.  The scenes of the whomping willow always bothered me.
• I kind of like the choir.  And the giant toads.  Look, I mean, why not.
• I didn't love Gambledore right away.  It took a while to warm up to him.  I do, however, love the podium.
• I think I was just so in love with Harris's version of Dumbledore.  Now, Gambon's Dumbledore is all I can picture.  I don't see how it could have been done better in the last film.  But in this one, I felt that they tried to hard to bring a level of eccentricity to Dumbledore.
• Dawn French as the Fat Lady is so amazing. 
• RAWR Ron.  RAWRRRR.
• Words cannot express how much I love Emma Thompson as Trelawney.  The Hair, the costume...those coke-bottle glasses.  I would have been laughing SO HARD if I had been on set.
• Random Gryffindor Student With More Lines Than The Main Supporting Cast.   Dude, just give the lines to Dean. 
• Yeah, rock that swagger, Malfoy.
• I laughed so hard when they pulled their cloaks up like dementors.  that is SO a teenage thing to do.
• Beaky!  I liked the hippogriff.  Great CGI work.  Although the flying scene is again, kind of silly. 
• OH HAI Time Turner! That was sneaky.  Actually, if you look for it, she's obviously wearing it almost the whole film.  Huh.  I didn't see it before.
• The boggart scene is pretty well done.  Could you imagine being on set with Rickman in that ridi(k)culous getup?  Also Giant Creepy Jack In the Box is CREEPY.
• I didn't like this bridge at first.  Now, though, I really like the way they built on to the sets.  Especially playing the video games, the castle is so well planned and designed, and it feels real. 
• I love the reactions from all the portraits to the fat lady's disappearance.  That's great.  Sir Cadogan cameo FTW.
• All I can think now of with Malfoy's little picture plane is A Very Potter Sequel.  "I drew a picture of you, Potter! Look at the shading!"
• I like when Harry wakes up in the Hospital.  The sight of Neville and Seamus with facepaint is kind of fantastic.
• The Marauder's Map is one of the greatest pieces of movie prop I've ever seen.  Like, I love it.  I want a copy of it.  That and the circular map from Pirates.  
• "Very haunted up here, isn't it."
• I know this scene is backstory setup, but it's well done. 
• I'm curious who came up with the idea for the spine candles.  I love them, but how do you think of something like that?
• "Spiders...want me to tap dance."  "You tell those spiders, Ron".  LOL every time
• I'm pretty sure I cheered when Hermione punched Draco.  (just now)
• Cheesiest Trio Movie Still pose in 3...2...1
• They build the shrieking shack on a mechanism so the whole house would tilt and shift.  It's an interesting effect, but it's not very noticeable on film.
• Timothy Spall was a great choice for Wormtail.
• There are some continuity issues in here.
• It seems kind of unlikely that the Dementors wouldn't pay any attention to Harry and Hermione.  It's not like they're a mile away.  They're on the other side of the lake.
• I always liked this little courtyard set, with the fountain.
• I never understood why Lupin didn't explain the map.  It would have been perfect, it wouldn't have taken more than a minute.  Explain the stag patronus and the map. 
• I'm pretty sure everyone despises that last shot. 

What Cuaron did was to take the world that Columbus built and expand it, enhance it, and give it some depth.  However, at the same time it aired on the side of ridiculous. Toned down, it could have been fantastic.

Goblet of Fire, bring it on.