Stevie and the Advance Movie Screening of the Boy Wizard movie
Holy crap! I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire yesterday! There were things I liked quite a bit, and I think the kids are maturing into really talented actors. Daniel Radcliffe mastered the strength and pathos required from him in both Voldemort's rising and the transport back to the Triwizard Tournament. Rupert Grint's only lines in the first forty minutes were variations on the phrase, "bloody hell" but he did quite a lot with it. And Emma Watson just radiated calm, concern and loveliness. She has a great scene at the end of the ball that's just heartbreaking. I do think there wasn't enough time among the three of them, just together, evolving their relationships. There was too much other stuff to fit in.
I guess that's the difficulty of adapting a 700-page book into a manageable time period (2 hours, 37 minutes). They had to streamline GOF quite a bit, losing the Dursleys and the SPEW/House Elves plot. I rather liked the way they advanced the story without the house elves, but I did miss the Dursleys. I like the floo powder/fireplace bit in the book. Percy was left out entirely, as was Bill, Charlie and Mrs. Weasley and Ludo Bagman, and the joke-shop developments weren't followed. The Weasley twins, however, were given plenty of screen time and that made me quite happy.
My main complaint is that it felt sort of rushed, particularly at the end. And I think that's because there are four major sections in the book that must be setpieces in the film. They are crucial and much more exciting than hanging together in the common room, and you can't skip or abridge them: each of the three tasks and Voldemort's rising. Voldemort's rising is especially well-handled. It was truly scary, and yes, they can make Ralph Fiennes unhot. Very, very unhot.
Something just occurred to me now -- I don't think Victor Krum actually has any lines. He does go out with Hermione* and there's a pretty funny line about how their relationship is more physical than cerebral. Hee.
They still have Snape fairly softened up, and I'm curious as to how they're going to change that. I mean, two movies from now, he has to kill Dumbledore and it's pretty hard to see him go from his characterization in this film to the way he acts in the following two.
Anyway. The Greatest News Story of Our Time in Andersonville continues further! I stopped by yesterday to read the supportive cards and such up in the window; I couldn't go in because I had Sophie with me.** The live TV broadcasts have stopped unfortunately, but I'm glad the world is still keeping caught up on this. Andersonville was described by one of the Trib columnists as upscale, and I suppose it is now. That bums me out, but that's for another entry, I suppose.
*I, uh, don't think Hermionepotter.net is going to like this film one bit, incidentally.
**Who then embarrassed me by barking at a developmentally disabled woman who wanted to pet her. See, it's not just badly behaving kids that can cause trouble!