GoF Movie Thoughts and Filch Love
I finally saw GoF last weekend, and as is my habit, I'm now tagging along behind the rest of fandom with my (potentially spoilery) impressions.
I don't really know how I've managed to miss out on this experience, but before this, I'd never gone to a movie by myself. And let me tell you, it was thoroughly enjoyable. No one stole my armrest. No one spilled coke in my lap. No one nudged me in the dark, gesturing toward his lap & making come-hither eyebrow gestures.
...OK, well that last one was a rare occurrence, anyway. Ahem. But still.
I think this is the best movie yet. It seems...somehow larger than the other three. Grander somehow, and darker and richer and sweeter and more real. And the music? The music! The sound in general, really, is just excellent. Those tribal drums throughout, and Durmstrang's stomp number with their sparky staves. And that noise the Death Eaters were making? That supremely creepy bass chant? *shivers*
There was real horror in this movie. Unvarnished and raw and terrible. The chaos and quiet desolation of the World Cup. Amos' anguished wails over Cedric's body. Oh, that broke my heart. Those two scenes, in particular, had a frantic, desperate, racing quality. And I found the pacing overall to be interesting. With all the quick, almost violent cuts. Like from the beginning of the world cup to the rejoicing in the tent. Or from Harry's snatching of the golden egg to the rejoicing in the common room.
There were only a few of us in the theater, which was a little disappointing, because I think I was the only one laughing at some points. Well, and then there were times when I laughed solely because I had my shippy goggles on. Really, why did no one tell me that Draco scurries down Goyle's trousers?!
The dragon crawling around on the rooftops? Wow, absolutely beautiful. But you know, the whole premise of the first task has always bothered me. It seems terribly cruel, involving as it does the manipulation of maternal instincts and all. These dragons are nesting mothers, people. They're just trying to fend off some little primate intent on the kidnapping and probable murder of their children. In the book, at least they're left relatively unharmed, physically anyway. (Right? Am I misremembering?) But in the film the Horntail plummets to the ground, wounded. Possibly mortally so.
But then the books have always portrayed wizarding folk using animals in pretty nasty ways. I keep expecting Hermione to take issue with this, to bring up the ethics of the transfiguration of sentient creatures, or something. Especially when the process obviously causes suffering. "Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. [While a poorly-transfigured pincushion] still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!" (GoF, Chapter 15). She's the age at which lots of girls, if their temperament leans in that direction anyway, become spiritual and impassioned. I certainly did. And she's zealous as a champion for the house elves. Maybe for her, the acceptable level of cruelty is inversely proportional to a creature's intelligence? ...I suppose that's the case for most of us, after all. Plus, she's young, so conflicting principles are understandable.
Anyway. I am so rambly.
OK, what's up with the foliage? Cedric jumps out of a tree. Draco jumps out of a tree. And apparently, shrubbery gives Krum cataracts.
I found the whole maze scene to be confusing, really. And it really didn't help matters that that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail kept running through my head: "Yes, shrubberies are my trade. I am a shrubber. My name is Roger the Shrubber. I arrange, design, and sell shrubberies."
We got lots of new views of the castle and grounds, which made my little set-designing heart soar. In fact, I found it hard to not concentrate on the minutiae, actually. At the very beginning, I caught myself examining the "BREAD" on Frank Bryce's charming breadbox, and had to try and force myself to take in the big picture. I don't usually have this problem, that my attention to the sets and props and costumes interferes with my suspension of disbelief. It must be a result of my fannish life, and my desire for bigger better faster more. My drive to deconstruct it. I bet I'll have the same problem with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
There's so much Neville! How I love all the Neville. He even almost makes up for the complete absence of house elves. And so much of the twins! How I love the twins. They even almost make up for the complete absence of the Burrow. And Percy. And Molly. And Bill. And Charlie. Voldemort was absolutely brilliant, as was Mad-Eye. And of course, as I'm sure we'll almost all agree, there wasn't nearly enough Snape.
And Groovy New DumbledoreTM even got a manicure for the occasion. Hee. I don't know, I haven't completely accepted him yet. Compared to Richard Harris' portrayal, he seems so much more... well... so much more insane. Which is truer to canon, really, I suppose. He's so much more physical, somehow. More virile, brimming with latent power. More unpredictable and frightening.
Oh, and Ron. He really stole the show, for me. Surly and injured and so very, very sweet. I was so pleased to see they'd done his role justice in this film.
And then, finally, there's Filch. Filch! The dancing with Mrs. Norris. The premature canon-firing. The mincing through the Great Hall. (Or was it trotting?) *flails* So much Filch!
I'm aware that not everyone is quite as enamored of our bitter, jowly old caretaker as I am. But I'm beside myself about the new Filch-centric community squibbed. Lately I've been kind of idly puzzling over the fact that there isn't more Filch around. I don't really get it. I mean, this fandom is a breeding ground for obscure little kinks, so why is there not more love for Argus? His bondage devices are canon!
I'd even begun toying with the idea of starting a community myself, or at least building a Filch masterlist. But I have just about zero interest in or aptitude for modding at this point, so I kept blowing off the idea. Then yesterday I was absolutely thrilled to discover that someone had gone and done it. I was giggly all day.
Aah, you scoff. But the filchiness will win you over, just you wait.
I don't really know how I've managed to miss out on this experience, but before this, I'd never gone to a movie by myself. And let me tell you, it was thoroughly enjoyable. No one stole my armrest. No one spilled coke in my lap. No one nudged me in the dark, gesturing toward his lap & making come-hither eyebrow gestures.
...OK, well that last one was a rare occurrence, anyway. Ahem. But still.
I think this is the best movie yet. It seems...somehow larger than the other three. Grander somehow, and darker and richer and sweeter and more real. And the music? The music! The sound in general, really, is just excellent. Those tribal drums throughout, and Durmstrang's stomp number with their sparky staves. And that noise the Death Eaters were making? That supremely creepy bass chant? *shivers*
There was real horror in this movie. Unvarnished and raw and terrible. The chaos and quiet desolation of the World Cup. Amos' anguished wails over Cedric's body. Oh, that broke my heart. Those two scenes, in particular, had a frantic, desperate, racing quality. And I found the pacing overall to be interesting. With all the quick, almost violent cuts. Like from the beginning of the world cup to the rejoicing in the tent. Or from Harry's snatching of the golden egg to the rejoicing in the common room.
There were only a few of us in the theater, which was a little disappointing, because I think I was the only one laughing at some points. Well, and then there were times when I laughed solely because I had my shippy goggles on. Really, why did no one tell me that Draco scurries down Goyle's trousers?!
The dragon crawling around on the rooftops? Wow, absolutely beautiful. But you know, the whole premise of the first task has always bothered me. It seems terribly cruel, involving as it does the manipulation of maternal instincts and all. These dragons are nesting mothers, people. They're just trying to fend off some little primate intent on the kidnapping and probable murder of their children. In the book, at least they're left relatively unharmed, physically anyway. (Right? Am I misremembering?) But in the film the Horntail plummets to the ground, wounded. Possibly mortally so.
But then the books have always portrayed wizarding folk using animals in pretty nasty ways. I keep expecting Hermione to take issue with this, to bring up the ethics of the transfiguration of sentient creatures, or something. Especially when the process obviously causes suffering. "Miss Granger remains the only person in this class who has managed to turn a hedgehog into a satisfactory pincushion. [While a poorly-transfigured pincushion] still curls up in fright if anyone approaches it with a pin!" (GoF, Chapter 15). She's the age at which lots of girls, if their temperament leans in that direction anyway, become spiritual and impassioned. I certainly did. And she's zealous as a champion for the house elves. Maybe for her, the acceptable level of cruelty is inversely proportional to a creature's intelligence? ...I suppose that's the case for most of us, after all. Plus, she's young, so conflicting principles are understandable.
Anyway. I am so rambly.
OK, what's up with the foliage? Cedric jumps out of a tree. Draco jumps out of a tree. And apparently, shrubbery gives Krum cataracts.
I found the whole maze scene to be confusing, really. And it really didn't help matters that that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail kept running through my head: "Yes, shrubberies are my trade. I am a shrubber. My name is Roger the Shrubber. I arrange, design, and sell shrubberies."
We got lots of new views of the castle and grounds, which made my little set-designing heart soar. In fact, I found it hard to not concentrate on the minutiae, actually. At the very beginning, I caught myself examining the "BREAD" on Frank Bryce's charming breadbox, and had to try and force myself to take in the big picture. I don't usually have this problem, that my attention to the sets and props and costumes interferes with my suspension of disbelief. It must be a result of my fannish life, and my desire for bigger better faster more. My drive to deconstruct it. I bet I'll have the same problem with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
There's so much Neville! How I love all the Neville. He even almost makes up for the complete absence of house elves. And so much of the twins! How I love the twins. They even almost make up for the complete absence of the Burrow. And Percy. And Molly. And Bill. And Charlie. Voldemort was absolutely brilliant, as was Mad-Eye. And of course, as I'm sure we'll almost all agree, there wasn't nearly enough Snape.
And Groovy New DumbledoreTM even got a manicure for the occasion. Hee. I don't know, I haven't completely accepted him yet. Compared to Richard Harris' portrayal, he seems so much more... well... so much more insane. Which is truer to canon, really, I suppose. He's so much more physical, somehow. More virile, brimming with latent power. More unpredictable and frightening.
Oh, and Ron. He really stole the show, for me. Surly and injured and so very, very sweet. I was so pleased to see they'd done his role justice in this film.
And then, finally, there's Filch. Filch! The dancing with Mrs. Norris. The premature canon-firing. The mincing through the Great Hall. (Or was it trotting?) *flails* So much Filch!
I'm aware that not everyone is quite as enamored of our bitter, jowly old caretaker as I am. But I'm beside myself about the new Filch-centric community squibbed. Lately I've been kind of idly puzzling over the fact that there isn't more Filch around. I don't really get it. I mean, this fandom is a breeding ground for obscure little kinks, so why is there not more love for Argus? His bondage devices are canon!
I'd even begun toying with the idea of starting a community myself, or at least building a Filch masterlist. But I have just about zero interest in or aptitude for modding at this point, so I kept blowing off the idea. Then yesterday I was absolutely thrilled to discover that someone had gone and done it. I was giggly all day.
Aah, you scoff. But the filchiness will win you over, just you wait.