"the intermediate stage between socialism and capitalism is alcoholism" - norman brenner.
Ok...so...OH MY GOD.
I got back from seeing Harry Potter about an hour ago...and IT WAS SO AMAZING!
And thank God for that. I was SO afraid Yates was going to screw up this movie and I was going to have to kill someone, because OOTP is my favorite book of them all. Fortunately, I think it was a lot much better than the last two. Especially PoA, that movie was so infuriating!
Anyways, in order to protect virgin eyes, a complete review is behind the cut.
Ok...so...I guess I'll just go by character, that seems like the best way to make sure I don't forget anything. Lord knows I won't be able to go chronologically without going off on tons of random tangents. Onward...
HARRY.
I have to say, I was much more impressed with DanRad's acting than I have been in the past. I thought he did a FANTASTIC job -- I think Equus really pushed him to grow in his acting ability. I was probably most impressed with the scene in the Ministry when Voldemort possessed him. THAT was a good bit of acting. And really, when I think about it, he didn't do all that much...but I think that's what made it so much more powerful. He showed the struggle in the simplest, most honest way, and I was just so captivated by that entire scene. Granted, I was still so emotionally distraught by Sirius's death that everything just killed me during that scene, but whatever. Overall, I thought he did a really great job - much better than in the past, I think. And my god...when did he get so...OLD? I mean, he's got that tight tshirt...damn. It was good, even with the short hair. I got past it, I suppose. Still bugs me that he has blue eyes (color effing contacts, people! not that difficult!), but life goes on.
RON.
Aw...I love Ron. He's just great. My favorite ever was when Seamus is all up in Harry's face with the "YO MOMMA!" stuff, and Ron just walks in there and OWNS it. Lovelove. He's just so funny - "Don't worry, Hermione, I'll go easy on you." Baha. Yeah, sure. And I loved that Fred and George were betting on them - that wasn't in the book, was it? I couldn't remember. Whatever. He's just so cute and awkward - although I've realized as I've been re-reading the books how many of his little sarcastic one-liners they cut out, which makes me INCREDIBLY sad. Ron is SUCH a hilarious character, and I wish they'd portray him as a bit more witty and sarcastic in the movies. It just seems like they made him a bit more reserved or something. I don't know. I mean, Rupert Grint is absolutely perfect in every way, just me being obsessive, I suppose. Anyways - fabulous, as usual. I've loved him in every single film so far - no matter what I thought about...ahem...other things.
HERMIONE.
Eh. Hermione didn't impress me much in this movie. Not that she was bad, she just didn't stand out, I guess. I was incredibly amused when she Stupified Ron into the wall, I have to admit. And when she said breaking the rules was exciting. Although my absolute favorite part of that was Fred and George's faces in the background when she said that - just laughing and shaking their heads. I tend to get a bit distracted when they're in the scene...anyways. My only issue...yes, Emma Watson is pretty. Hermione is not. How friggin' hard is it to give her bushy hair?!? I mean, honestly - I'm sure the hair people were around in the 80s. Brush! Tease! She's Hermione Granger! Its what she's KNOWN for, people. Throw me a bone and give me some frizz, PLEASE. Anyways. End rant. Oh! One more good Hermy moment - when she was being all mommy-ish with Grawp telling him to put her down. HI-larious. And Ron goes and hits him with the branch...ahah. TOTALLY made me have a Hercules moment and in my head I went, "I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this. Have a nice day." Ooh. Now I have a very strange mental picture of [bushyhaired!] Hermione trying to be all seductive...interesting.
Who next...well, since I've talked about them enough...
FRED & GEORGE.
BRILLIANCE!! I adored them SO MUCH in this movie! I was REALLYREALLYREALLY hoping for "HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF, HE GOT OFF..." but its not that big a deal, I guess. God...they just OWNED in this! And I was so excited, because I absolutely adore them, they're some of my favorites [I think they're tied with Lupin for 2nd after Sirius...], and so I've been letting everyone know that if they didn't get the screen time they deserved, shit would hit the fan. Fortunately, it was better than I expected! I loved every minute of them on screen - I think they got a lot more appreciation than usual, and its about time! I loved that they included the bit about them Apparating, that always just cracked me up. Granted, when they first appeared I was totally unprepared - and was consequently overwhelmed by their astounding sexiness and such. I mean, I think this movie made me fall in love with them all over again. God...they were just beautiful! Even with the short hair...I think I actually like it better, which is incredibly unusual for me. :) I wish there had been more about their joke shop - but at least they included it. The testing on the first-years cracked me up! And again, I loved when they bet on Ron and Hermione in the DA lesson, that was a fabulous little detail. Um...oh, yes. I thought it was a little strange that they put everyone in the detention with Umbridge with the hand-carving quill thing. That was something I wouldn't have expected them to do, but it didn't really bother me that much. It was just different. Plus, it provided the opportunity for that INCREDIBLY cute bit where the twins were talking to the cute little kid, telling him it wouldn't hurt for that long...that was just adorable. And then, of course, there's the escape. I thought it was FABULOUS and incredibly well-done in the short time they had for it, although I was really hoping for the swamp. :( Ah well, I thought the fireworks and all the proclamations falling down was really fun - and my favorite was the big 'W' in the sky! Ron was all like, 'yeah...those are my brothers.' Totally wasn't expecting to be thrust into visions of Sirius being Crucio-ed though. [step off my man, ho!] But I guess that was a kinda cool transistion, even though it was like giving me a moment of intense happiness and then saying, "Well we can't have that - let us so cruelly remind you that your lover is about to die." Ah, well.
I guess that makes for a nice transistion.
SIRIUS.
Sirius Black...be still my heart. I mean, my god, he was just so...[melts]. I loved him before there WERE any movies, and as much as the Sirius Black of my fastasy world is basically Johnny Depp, Gary Oldman just had him down to an aboslute T. I wish there had been more of him, although I thought they definitely alloted him an appropriate amount of screen time. I mean, Harry walks into Grimmauld and I was literally bouncing, I was so excited! I was like..."Sirius! I hear you...walk, Harry, damn you!" And then you see him talking to Lupin through the doorframe...I may have stopped breathing. And of course most of that scene was him telling Harry about the Order and such...that was beautiful. He's just so mysterious and passionate and sexy...
Anyways. My absolute favorite Sirius moment was the Christmas scene, where he comes down the stairs and is leaning against the doorframe, glass of wine in hand, "Merry Christmas, Harry," and the winking! Oh, God. Perfection, I swear. I almost started crying during the scene with the family tree, and when he says they'll be a proper family in the end...sigh. I'm in such denial. Oh! Oh! I completely skipped over the scene in the train station! The picture of the original Order was GREAT...though not nearly as great as the furry robe thing Sirius was wearing. ;) I mean, those tattoos! Bad for my imagination, that was. Alright, because I can't pretend like it didn't happen - the battle scene. God - as soon as Harry had the vision of Voldemort and Sirius I teared up. I actually said, out loud, "Oh my god, I don't think I'm ready for this!" and definitely got laughed at by Lauren. Oh well. But OH MAN, I was so excited when he showed up and was all, "Get away from my godson." Yeah, you punch that bitch, Sirius! Power to the people! I was all curled up in my seat, hands covering most of my face, trying to brace myself for what was coming, and it still caught me off guard. Completely different from how I pictured it, but I didn't dislike the way they did it. I didn't think Bellatrix actually hit him with Avada Kedavra, though - she just hit him with some random curse and he fell back through the veil, which is why he died. Am I wrong? I can't remember exactly. Anyways, I cried through the rest of the scene - actually through the entire ending of the movie. I thought the part where it was all silent after he fell back and Lupin was holding Harry back was a really incredible part of the film - as was the whole battle with Dumbledore and Voldemort. But OH MY GOD - I've never wanted to hurt anyone as much as Bellatrix Lestrange when she's walking through the atrium singing "I killed Sirius Black!" I think I actually audibly growled at the screen. Evil little bitch. There better be some serious [sirius!] vengence. Hardcore.
Bellatrix.
So yeah, Helena Bonham Carter was definitely perfect for that role. I knew she would be. I can tell by the level that I absolutely hate her and want her to die. :) I thought she did a perfect interpretation of her character, and while its not exactly what I expected, I thought it was fabulous and I can't imagine it any other way, although initially when I read the books I guess I imagined her as more seductive and smooth than obnoxious and agressive. But I like it more, I think, and now I'm thinking the seductive personality is more Narcissa than Bella. Physically, she's exactly what I pictured - although the hair was a little different. But then I guess after that many years in Azkaban you're not exactly ready for a photoshoot.
Lucius.
Seemed a bit different in this movie than the others. CoS, I guess. I can't really pinpoint it, but he just seemed a little different than I remember him. Whatever though, he was still perfect. And damn, he's pretty too! I wish there had been more of the battle in the different rooms in the Dept. of Mysteries, (particularly the "Accio Brain!" part...) but whatever. Jason Issacs - they couldn't have found someone better if they tried. Not a whole lot to say about him...sorry. There wasn't a whole lot of him in there.
Draco.
Well sheesh...where was he? I mean, he had like, 4 lines in the entire film. But thinking back to the book, there wasn't a whole lot of him to begin with. I mean, they cut out the quidditch plot entirely, and aside from "Weasley is Our King" there's really not a whole lot of Malfoy influence. Sad day for no quidditch, by the way! Although I have to admit that I wouldn't have given up anything they included for the quidditch story. God - that's got to be blasphemy or something. Oh well.
Lupin.
Ok...so I can deal with the lack of Draco...but where the HELL was Lupin?!?! I mean, he got his bit at the Order meeting, but wasn't even there to go rescue Harry, wasn't at Christmas I don't think, and there were maybe two shots of him in the battle scene. LAME! I adore Lupin, and I so wish there'd been more of him. I thought he looked better in POA, actually, but I guess the idea is for him to look worse as time goes on. What I was INCREDIBLY upset about was the absolute BLOW-OFF OF THE TONKS/LUPIN RELATIONSHIP. ARGHHHHH! You cannot do this to me! I need my romance, damnit! Harry/Cho does NOT count. 1) Their small bit of relationship was cut, 2) Cho is an annoying little whiner that gets on my nerves more than anyone in the entire series. There are more reasons, but I'll stop there. Cho isn't even getting her own category, because she's not even worth mentioning. She's even more boring in the movies than in the books. Although I did love that they made her the one who told - even more reason to hate her. :)
Tonks.
Should have been more of her, too. Tonks is a great character, and I really enjoyed the bit she got. Her nose changes were hilarious, and I loved when her hair changed color when she got mad that Moody called her Nymphadora. Ha. Although I wish they'd included the screaming portrait of Mrs. Black whenever Tonks knocked something over. Oh! That makes me think of Kreacher...totally creepy! Loved it. Although Grimmauld Place looked a lot different from how I pictured it. I expected it to actually be a house, first of all...but whatever. I liked it, especially the Black family tree. I thought having it all over the walls of the room was really fabulous. I loved it with all the pictures and everything. Anyways.
Man...I'm getting tired...this is long...I think this'll be it.
Umbridge.
Oh MAN! She was awesome. Another absolutely perfect character. She absolutely cracked me up! THE CAT PLATES. Oh my god...that was HILARIOUS. She was just great. Her and Filch were hysterical - and just the way she said things...infuriating in the sweetest, phoniest possible way. I LOVED IT! Imelda Staunton should win an award. That was some seriously amazing acting, let me tell you something.
Ok...I'm tired, and I have class in 7 hours, so I'm off. I'll come back and finish this later or something.
Anyways. GO SEE IT! IMMEDIATELY! Night.