Yay for much-needed updatingness...
Just so you all know: this is going to be a loooooong post. I will hide as much of it as possible behind lj-cuts, but still. Looooong. Because it's loooooong needed.
First: I have now completed all of my assessment for this semester. *takesbow* And this means *shockhorrorgasp* Sarah McLaren has completed her Bachelor of Arts degree! A little frightening, but very, very good. And while I might not have all of the opportunities I thought I would by the end, I do have ways forward that don't require the hideous expense of yet more tertiary education. Which is definitely of the good. I don't know, yet, exactly where my life will go over the next few years, or where I will take it, which is also a little frightening. But the child in me just says "Whee! An adventure!" And I'm choosing to listen to her.
There are much-needed thanks I need to make, people without whom this graduation would never have been possible:
1) My gorgeous, darling, ever-huggable Ewan, who not only supported me through anxiety-attacks, excessive snarkiness on my part, titanic battles with the younger sib over the computer, and severe bouts of "I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this"... BUT he also tidied my room enough for me to work at my desk! Anyone who's seen my room knows how huge a task that is. Not quite Herculean (he didn't have to divert any rivers, at least - I think Dad would've been pissed off about the water damage), but nevertheless a big deal, and a wonderful kindness, because it meant I didn't suffer back-spasms for the entire three weeks. Without him I am as nothing, and he is everything to me. *gloomphs him*
2)Joaquin Rodrigo, whose Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un gentilhombres help me sustain relative calmness and positivity. To explain to those who don't know: I suffer something known as "reactive depressive disorder". What it means is that, once I am depressed (which is all too often, especially when I'm under stress), the strangest subliminal shifts can trigger huge mood-swings. These triggers can include a change in light levels, wind direction, temperature, background noise, and new drifting smells and scents; all things that most people don't pick up on consciously. All things I have to be consciously aware of, because of how they affect me. Fortunately, I've begun learning some of my 'positive' triggers - sounds, smells, etc, that trigger positive shifts in mood - and Rodrigo's music seems to be one of those triggers.
3)Bridie, the family cat, who was excessively "helpful" over the entire three weeks; she managed to sense exactly which book I would need to read, and promptly sat on it every time, looking gorgeous. She's a tiny little black long-hair with beautiful green eyes (like the bottom of citrus-leaves), delicate paws, a pink tongue, and the sweetest little face I've ever seen. She's also rather demanding. However, she also sat on my lap a lot, which is a rare occurrence, and kept me nice and warm. Unfortunately, it also meant that when she couldn't sit on my lap, she used claws to show her displeasure. But.
4)Dad, who found a way for me to continue working even when Rachel demanded the laptop. Without his help, I probably still wouldn't have the Shakespearean Worlds essay done...
5)My best friend, Sheena, who not only gave me great feedback for Chrysalis, but then went far above and beyond the call of duty by spending four hours talking with me about my Shakespeare essay during the middle of the night. Seriously, from one in the morning, until five am. She is the other reason that damn essay is finished.
6)All of YOU who gave such great feedback and support about Chrysalis - it really did help, if only by convincing me that it didn't suck mightily.
7)Chris, Ben, Ewan and Ellie, for much needed digital carnage - XBoxing is fantastic therapy, my friends.
Without all of these people, I would probably be a sad, shivering, catatonic wreck right now. So *HUGS* go out to all of you!
And now, because I want to, I'm shoving in a two-page essay I had to write to accompany Chrysalis. I like it, and any writers out there might find it interesting to see how I, as a writer, work...
This semester’s creative piece was a hard one for me to write - I had a lot of ideas I toyed with, then discarded. I’m ashamed to say that one of the main inspirations for what became Out of the Chrysalis was the desire to embark on a bit of creative “Ray-bashing” - Ray being an ex of mine, on whom Mark is (rather closely) modelled.
However, not all of my inspirations were so petty - I also wanted to attempt my first romantic scene; originally, this was going to lead into a sex-scene. However, quite apart from feeling I wasn’t quite up to that challenge, the piece was quickly moving away from any need for sex. The sex was there (probably), but it wasn’t the point.
Another inspiration - and the most influential, by far - was that a friend of mine, Es, had just begun a relationship with a woman. I don’t know whether this is her first homosexual relationship. However, I do know that her previous, hetero relationships have been less than successful. Men have left her dissatisfied, upset, or just plain left. S-J, on the other hand, is a lovely woman who makes Es feel special, desirable, and above all, loved. However, Es has not “come out” to her parents (at least, as I write this, she hasn’t), and is indeed a little afraid to. She’s not alone in this. There are many hundreds of young men and women who are afraid to tell their parents that they are not ‘straight’. My favourite uncle was one of those, a couple of decades ago. My mother faced the same challenge only ten years ago. Many of my friends still haven’t faced it.
So I wanted to try and write a piece about a young woman, Jen, who discovers (in her case, rather abruptly) that she is not entirely hetero, and how she deals with the challenges that that discovery creates. Of course, Jen doesn’t deal with them, exactly, until the climax of the piece.
I didn’t want Jen to be perfect. I have a bad habit of writing characters that are a little too nice, a little too much... well, a little too much like how I wish I was - the fanfic term for a character like that is ‘Mary-Sue’. Jen wasn’t ever going to be like that. In fact, Jen is quite a lot like me - intelligent, but not always bright, and not always aware of what is happening to or in the people around her; she is also (as I was myself until only a few years ago) unquestioningly hetero, to the point where she doesn’t even consider that others may not be.
Lori was a different matter. My sister Rachel was the one who pointed out that I was writing her a lot more as a Mary-Sue, and a lot less as a real person. So Lori became a little oversensitive, even a little neurotic. She gained a low self-esteem, an inability to cope with perceived rejection, and a tendency to lash out and overreact to a tense situation.
As far as the other characters are concerned, Em and Theresa were really just extras. Cameos. I’m sure they have lives of their own, and an equally fascinating story to tell. But for Jen, they are peripheral - and this is, in the end, Jen’s story.
Sean (originally Ruaridh - pronounced ‘Rory’) was just a guy who was interested in Jen. The Irish accent came from a guy in one of my tutes this semester (like me, Jen has a thing for accents). In many ways, Sean was there simply to show that Jen had matured a little since dating Mark - she didn’t automatically go out with a guy just because he asked. Of course, that probably got lost in the associations with her ex. Sean also became a catalytic character, inadvertently causing Lori to ‘out’ Jen, then deliberately sending Mark after them.
Jen’s parents were modelled pretty closely on my own (apart from the divorce and Mum’s partner). I picture my own Dad reacting to a coming-out pretty much the same way Mr Simons did - unconditional support and love, but a lot of hesitation, a need to try and cope, to understand. An ability to accept the daughter without accepting the daughter’s lifestyle. Mr Simons is sweet, and pretty daggy, and a very loving father, but he is essentially flawed and conservative, and will probably take some time to get used to Jen going out with Lori.
Mrs Simons (like my own Mum) is much more broad-minded - and much more aware and observant than either her husband or her daughter. While (like Mr Simons) she might not be entirely comfortable with her daughter’s change in lifestyle, she is warmly accepting of anyone who brings her daughter happiness, and is willing to ignore a little thing like gender - at least, that’s how I think she’d put it. I should note that she really didn’t like Mark.
In terms of structure, I adopted one very similar to the one I used in a previous assessment piece, A Kindness of Strangers. I used a linear time-progression, but disjointed, separated into sections, and skipping intervening passages of time that didn’t further the story. While we often take such a structure for granted these days, especially in extended fiction, I thought it worth pointing out - especially as other structural devices commonly used these days include flashbacks and dream-sequences, neither of which I wanted to use.
The biggest influences on the style and tone of writing I adopted in this piece (especially in the ‘romantic’ description) were fanfics and fanships (also known as ‘relationship fics’, these are fictional pieces about real people - rather like tabloid articles, only with much better writing and a narrative structure) that Es was getting me to read at the time. I also relied a lot on feedback from Es, my sister, and my best friend (a lovely young gay woman) Sheena, mostly about the realism of the situations I was placing Jen in, and my depictions of that.
I had no deeper agenda than simply depicting one (fictional) woman’s coming-out story. I rarely have any deep symbolism (other than the title - more on that in a second); for me, my short stories are, or should be, like snapshots of someone’s life - very real, very mundane, and fairly shallow. There is no deeper purpose to the pieces, or the writing-styles I choose, than to tell a good yarn. Hopefully one that people can identify or sympathise with. To be honest, I often find myself growing impatient with writers who use gimmicky structural or narrative devices or styles to try and create a resonance and symbolism the piece’s story doesn’t already contain (in the same way, David Lynch’s films by turns bore and confuse me). Such writing is often innovative, challenging and even brilliant - but it can still be unnecessary. As a result, while I have employed recurring jokes, and there is an overriding theme - represented by the title - I didn’t set out to break any boundaries with this piece.
The title (just to explain) plays with the idea that coming out is something akin to a new butterfly or moth emerging from its chrysalis - fragile, colourful, not always easily accepted (moths, especially), and radically different from their previous form. While I don’t believe it should, a person’s sexuality, and their acknowledgement of it, changes others’ perceptions of them as drastically as a chrysalis changes a caterpillar into a butterfly.
To conclude, this piece is not the best I’ve ever written, mainly due to my difficulty writing anything this semester. But it is also not finished. I’ve grown quite fond of Jen and Lori, and I plan to do their story justice. There are sections that remain weak, writing that is cliched. Once I have time, once I’m ready, I’m going to come back to this, and tinker.
So there it is. I like it (though I'm suddenly worried I might have offended Es... If I have, I'm really, really sorry! It was written with all love and affection!).
Uh, apart from that, I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban last night... *growls* Not - happy - Jan! I spent most of the film thinking "Okay, I would've done that SO differently!" There were some great moments, I'll admit (the Boggart scene, for instance - priceless! Well, until that bit....) but overall I was rather disappointed.
I reacted this way when I first saw Two Towers - which has since grown on me (mostly thanks to Peter Jackson's extended edition) - so I'm hoping this will inch its way into my affections as well. It's also quite probable that I got my hopes up far too high, but, dammit, it's my favourite book!
So, things I disliked about the movie: first, the Dursleys were abysmal. Repeat after me: a-bys-mal. Dudley was tolerable, being glued to the TV for most of the scene, and Aunt Marge was actually very well done, but Vernon and Petunia were pathetic - which took me by surprise, since Richard Griffiths is normally such a great actor. But the whole scene was some sort of Jim Carrey-esque farce. NOT what the book does (well, not entirely).
After that, of course, was the Sirius-as-a-dog shot - while the dog looked the part, he NEVER snarled at Harry. Point blank never. Just lurked there, all quietly menacing. That's all.
Then there was the unnecessarily long, effects-ridden Knight Bus sequence. While Stan Shunpike was brilliant, the Rastafarian head was irritating, and there were a few effects-shots that - given my later complaint - were pretty unnecessary.
As for Tom, of the Leaky Cauldron, being some mugging Igor-type hunchback, well *huffs* how dare they?!? Okay, sure, I've got a soft spot for Tom because he acts as foster-father to my fic's Mary Sue (this fic is something I'll finally be able to start writing!), but still, he's described in the book as a kindly, jolly old man. If they changed Fudge's costume so it was more faithful to the books, the least they could've done was keep Tom faithful as well.
Mr Weasley's acting was also of doom-iness, and for that I blame the direction of the scene - he's meant to be whispering urgently, not dragging Harry around half the bloody set. Not to mention that it's far better for Harry to overhear it first - means Mr Weasley can get straight to the point of telling Harry not to actually go looking for Black.
To be fair, I thought the acting of the Weasley twins (James and Oliver Phelps, I believe) was a hell of a lot better than the last film - they actually had comic timing this time. But WTF was with their hair? They looked like something out of the Brady Bunch.
That was a complaint I had with a lot of the costumes, actually: too much livin' in the 70s. It gave the film a dated look it shouldn't've had.
The Dementors were mostly good, though they did look an awful lot like the Ringwraiths - possibly what they were modelled on, though, so we'll forgive that... The special effects showing them draining happiness, on the other hand, was stupid, and repeated FAR too often. Plus, the soundtrack-of-doom kept drowning out any little ringing noises or the rather unimpressive screams (the woman doing Lily's screaming sounded like me, for gods' sake. That's not good).
Lupin was a lot better than I expected (though his excessively thin-lipped accent got a little irritating - since when was 'Boggart' pronounced 'Bog-ut'? Or 'Patronus' pronounced 'Pat-roh-nus'?), in spite of the ratty-little moustache. The scars were a very good touch, I thought.
Michael Gambon as Dumbledore lived up to my expectations. His script, however, was absolute wanking shite. The pace of the film was rushed as it was (the film needed a good extra 30 minutes, so that moods and facts could be properly established), so why, when they cut out perfectly good lines and scenes, did they include such utter rubbish?
Alan Rickman's best moments were not as Snape, but as the Boggart forced into the hideous clothes. Wonderful campiness, and you could tell Rickman enjoyed every minute of it!
Buckbeak was also fantastic (though we could've done without the pointless swooping low over the lake - and the godsawful "Kink of the World" moment). And I checked - he is grey. So they got that right. He was fantastic. Loved him. Loved Draco getting beaten up by him, too. Always fun to see Draco suffer (though Tom Felton's acting was remarkably improved from previous films - pity his accent wasn't).
I was glad they'd removed Professor Flitwick's hideous latex jowls, but he's still supposed to be white-haired. But Warwick Davis didn't get enough screen-time anyway, so most people probably didn't notice.
Apart from this (which all occured within the first 45 minutes), my main complaints were the dicking around with plot sequence. I mean, WTF was with Harry seeing Peter Pettigrew on the map? So totally unnecessary. An interesting way to lead into the scene where Lupin gets the Map, but still - surely there was a better way? And was anyone else watching Lupin telling Harry off and thinking "Ask the question, Harry: 'how do you know it's a map, sir?' Just ask the fucking question!"? Or was it just me?
The overuse of shots of season-change, the Hogwarts grounds, and the Dementors also got quite irritating.
I was quite impressed with the way the whole 'doubling up in time' was done. Unfortunately, it was completely ruined by finishing with the arrival of the Firebolt. Yes, Harry loves to fly. Yes, the broom is a big thing. But it's supposed to be in the middle of the damned book!
*sighs* There were good things about the film as well, I admit: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have all improved as actors, I thought. And Gary Oldman as Sirius Black was really good. There were also some fantastic Ron-Hermione moments (though the Lupin-Harry slashiness started to get to me - I seem to have a thing against Harry ever getting together with anyone; give him loads of unresolved sexual tension, I say, crank up the angst even more. Heroes aren't supposed to get the girl until the end - and that's another two books away). But Cuaron dicked around with the original story far too much for me to forgive him, I think. Thank all the celestial beings that he's not directing the next one!
So yes, in conclusion: unimpressed with the film. I apologise for the length of that rant, and any spoilers given. But I really needed to vent! *snuggles books, "I'll never leave you again!"*
And now, after all that, I'm going to go back to the XBox party (which I think has turned into a viewing of Futurama - just as good!).
First: I have now completed all of my assessment for this semester. *takesbow* And this means *shockhorrorgasp* Sarah McLaren has completed her Bachelor of Arts degree! A little frightening, but very, very good. And while I might not have all of the opportunities I thought I would by the end, I do have ways forward that don't require the hideous expense of yet more tertiary education. Which is definitely of the good. I don't know, yet, exactly where my life will go over the next few years, or where I will take it, which is also a little frightening. But the child in me just says "Whee! An adventure!" And I'm choosing to listen to her.
There are much-needed thanks I need to make, people without whom this graduation would never have been possible:
1) My gorgeous, darling, ever-huggable Ewan, who not only supported me through anxiety-attacks, excessive snarkiness on my part, titanic battles with the younger sib over the computer, and severe bouts of "I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this"... BUT he also tidied my room enough for me to work at my desk! Anyone who's seen my room knows how huge a task that is. Not quite Herculean (he didn't have to divert any rivers, at least - I think Dad would've been pissed off about the water damage), but nevertheless a big deal, and a wonderful kindness, because it meant I didn't suffer back-spasms for the entire three weeks. Without him I am as nothing, and he is everything to me. *gloomphs him*
2)Joaquin Rodrigo, whose Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un gentilhombres help me sustain relative calmness and positivity. To explain to those who don't know: I suffer something known as "reactive depressive disorder". What it means is that, once I am depressed (which is all too often, especially when I'm under stress), the strangest subliminal shifts can trigger huge mood-swings. These triggers can include a change in light levels, wind direction, temperature, background noise, and new drifting smells and scents; all things that most people don't pick up on consciously. All things I have to be consciously aware of, because of how they affect me. Fortunately, I've begun learning some of my 'positive' triggers - sounds, smells, etc, that trigger positive shifts in mood - and Rodrigo's music seems to be one of those triggers.
3)Bridie, the family cat, who was excessively "helpful" over the entire three weeks; she managed to sense exactly which book I would need to read, and promptly sat on it every time, looking gorgeous. She's a tiny little black long-hair with beautiful green eyes (like the bottom of citrus-leaves), delicate paws, a pink tongue, and the sweetest little face I've ever seen. She's also rather demanding. However, she also sat on my lap a lot, which is a rare occurrence, and kept me nice and warm. Unfortunately, it also meant that when she couldn't sit on my lap, she used claws to show her displeasure. But.
4)Dad, who found a way for me to continue working even when Rachel demanded the laptop. Without his help, I probably still wouldn't have the Shakespearean Worlds essay done...
5)My best friend, Sheena, who not only gave me great feedback for Chrysalis, but then went far above and beyond the call of duty by spending four hours talking with me about my Shakespeare essay during the middle of the night. Seriously, from one in the morning, until five am. She is the other reason that damn essay is finished.
6)All of YOU who gave such great feedback and support about Chrysalis - it really did help, if only by convincing me that it didn't suck mightily.
7)Chris, Ben, Ewan and Ellie, for much needed digital carnage - XBoxing is fantastic therapy, my friends.
Without all of these people, I would probably be a sad, shivering, catatonic wreck right now. So *HUGS* go out to all of you!
And now, because I want to, I'm shoving in a two-page essay I had to write to accompany Chrysalis. I like it, and any writers out there might find it interesting to see how I, as a writer, work...
This semester’s creative piece was a hard one for me to write - I had a lot of ideas I toyed with, then discarded. I’m ashamed to say that one of the main inspirations for what became Out of the Chrysalis was the desire to embark on a bit of creative “Ray-bashing” - Ray being an ex of mine, on whom Mark is (rather closely) modelled.
However, not all of my inspirations were so petty - I also wanted to attempt my first romantic scene; originally, this was going to lead into a sex-scene. However, quite apart from feeling I wasn’t quite up to that challenge, the piece was quickly moving away from any need for sex. The sex was there (probably), but it wasn’t the point.
Another inspiration - and the most influential, by far - was that a friend of mine, Es, had just begun a relationship with a woman. I don’t know whether this is her first homosexual relationship. However, I do know that her previous, hetero relationships have been less than successful. Men have left her dissatisfied, upset, or just plain left. S-J, on the other hand, is a lovely woman who makes Es feel special, desirable, and above all, loved. However, Es has not “come out” to her parents (at least, as I write this, she hasn’t), and is indeed a little afraid to. She’s not alone in this. There are many hundreds of young men and women who are afraid to tell their parents that they are not ‘straight’. My favourite uncle was one of those, a couple of decades ago. My mother faced the same challenge only ten years ago. Many of my friends still haven’t faced it.
So I wanted to try and write a piece about a young woman, Jen, who discovers (in her case, rather abruptly) that she is not entirely hetero, and how she deals with the challenges that that discovery creates. Of course, Jen doesn’t deal with them, exactly, until the climax of the piece.
I didn’t want Jen to be perfect. I have a bad habit of writing characters that are a little too nice, a little too much... well, a little too much like how I wish I was - the fanfic term for a character like that is ‘Mary-Sue’. Jen wasn’t ever going to be like that. In fact, Jen is quite a lot like me - intelligent, but not always bright, and not always aware of what is happening to or in the people around her; she is also (as I was myself until only a few years ago) unquestioningly hetero, to the point where she doesn’t even consider that others may not be.
Lori was a different matter. My sister Rachel was the one who pointed out that I was writing her a lot more as a Mary-Sue, and a lot less as a real person. So Lori became a little oversensitive, even a little neurotic. She gained a low self-esteem, an inability to cope with perceived rejection, and a tendency to lash out and overreact to a tense situation.
As far as the other characters are concerned, Em and Theresa were really just extras. Cameos. I’m sure they have lives of their own, and an equally fascinating story to tell. But for Jen, they are peripheral - and this is, in the end, Jen’s story.
Sean (originally Ruaridh - pronounced ‘Rory’) was just a guy who was interested in Jen. The Irish accent came from a guy in one of my tutes this semester (like me, Jen has a thing for accents). In many ways, Sean was there simply to show that Jen had matured a little since dating Mark - she didn’t automatically go out with a guy just because he asked. Of course, that probably got lost in the associations with her ex. Sean also became a catalytic character, inadvertently causing Lori to ‘out’ Jen, then deliberately sending Mark after them.
Jen’s parents were modelled pretty closely on my own (apart from the divorce and Mum’s partner). I picture my own Dad reacting to a coming-out pretty much the same way Mr Simons did - unconditional support and love, but a lot of hesitation, a need to try and cope, to understand. An ability to accept the daughter without accepting the daughter’s lifestyle. Mr Simons is sweet, and pretty daggy, and a very loving father, but he is essentially flawed and conservative, and will probably take some time to get used to Jen going out with Lori.
Mrs Simons (like my own Mum) is much more broad-minded - and much more aware and observant than either her husband or her daughter. While (like Mr Simons) she might not be entirely comfortable with her daughter’s change in lifestyle, she is warmly accepting of anyone who brings her daughter happiness, and is willing to ignore a little thing like gender - at least, that’s how I think she’d put it. I should note that she really didn’t like Mark.
In terms of structure, I adopted one very similar to the one I used in a previous assessment piece, A Kindness of Strangers. I used a linear time-progression, but disjointed, separated into sections, and skipping intervening passages of time that didn’t further the story. While we often take such a structure for granted these days, especially in extended fiction, I thought it worth pointing out - especially as other structural devices commonly used these days include flashbacks and dream-sequences, neither of which I wanted to use.
The biggest influences on the style and tone of writing I adopted in this piece (especially in the ‘romantic’ description) were fanfics and fanships (also known as ‘relationship fics’, these are fictional pieces about real people - rather like tabloid articles, only with much better writing and a narrative structure) that Es was getting me to read at the time. I also relied a lot on feedback from Es, my sister, and my best friend (a lovely young gay woman) Sheena, mostly about the realism of the situations I was placing Jen in, and my depictions of that.
I had no deeper agenda than simply depicting one (fictional) woman’s coming-out story. I rarely have any deep symbolism (other than the title - more on that in a second); for me, my short stories are, or should be, like snapshots of someone’s life - very real, very mundane, and fairly shallow. There is no deeper purpose to the pieces, or the writing-styles I choose, than to tell a good yarn. Hopefully one that people can identify or sympathise with. To be honest, I often find myself growing impatient with writers who use gimmicky structural or narrative devices or styles to try and create a resonance and symbolism the piece’s story doesn’t already contain (in the same way, David Lynch’s films by turns bore and confuse me). Such writing is often innovative, challenging and even brilliant - but it can still be unnecessary. As a result, while I have employed recurring jokes, and there is an overriding theme - represented by the title - I didn’t set out to break any boundaries with this piece.
The title (just to explain) plays with the idea that coming out is something akin to a new butterfly or moth emerging from its chrysalis - fragile, colourful, not always easily accepted (moths, especially), and radically different from their previous form. While I don’t believe it should, a person’s sexuality, and their acknowledgement of it, changes others’ perceptions of them as drastically as a chrysalis changes a caterpillar into a butterfly.
To conclude, this piece is not the best I’ve ever written, mainly due to my difficulty writing anything this semester. But it is also not finished. I’ve grown quite fond of Jen and Lori, and I plan to do their story justice. There are sections that remain weak, writing that is cliched. Once I have time, once I’m ready, I’m going to come back to this, and tinker.
So there it is. I like it (though I'm suddenly worried I might have offended Es... If I have, I'm really, really sorry! It was written with all love and affection!).
Uh, apart from that, I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban last night... *growls* Not - happy - Jan! I spent most of the film thinking "Okay, I would've done that SO differently!" There were some great moments, I'll admit (the Boggart scene, for instance - priceless! Well, until that bit....) but overall I was rather disappointed.
I reacted this way when I first saw Two Towers - which has since grown on me (mostly thanks to Peter Jackson's extended edition) - so I'm hoping this will inch its way into my affections as well. It's also quite probable that I got my hopes up far too high, but, dammit, it's my favourite book!
So, things I disliked about the movie: first, the Dursleys were abysmal. Repeat after me: a-bys-mal. Dudley was tolerable, being glued to the TV for most of the scene, and Aunt Marge was actually very well done, but Vernon and Petunia were pathetic - which took me by surprise, since Richard Griffiths is normally such a great actor. But the whole scene was some sort of Jim Carrey-esque farce. NOT what the book does (well, not entirely).
After that, of course, was the Sirius-as-a-dog shot - while the dog looked the part, he NEVER snarled at Harry. Point blank never. Just lurked there, all quietly menacing. That's all.
Then there was the unnecessarily long, effects-ridden Knight Bus sequence. While Stan Shunpike was brilliant, the Rastafarian head was irritating, and there were a few effects-shots that - given my later complaint - were pretty unnecessary.
As for Tom, of the Leaky Cauldron, being some mugging Igor-type hunchback, well *huffs* how dare they?!? Okay, sure, I've got a soft spot for Tom because he acts as foster-father to my fic's Mary Sue (this fic is something I'll finally be able to start writing!), but still, he's described in the book as a kindly, jolly old man. If they changed Fudge's costume so it was more faithful to the books, the least they could've done was keep Tom faithful as well.
Mr Weasley's acting was also of doom-iness, and for that I blame the direction of the scene - he's meant to be whispering urgently, not dragging Harry around half the bloody set. Not to mention that it's far better for Harry to overhear it first - means Mr Weasley can get straight to the point of telling Harry not to actually go looking for Black.
To be fair, I thought the acting of the Weasley twins (James and Oliver Phelps, I believe) was a hell of a lot better than the last film - they actually had comic timing this time. But WTF was with their hair? They looked like something out of the Brady Bunch.
That was a complaint I had with a lot of the costumes, actually: too much livin' in the 70s. It gave the film a dated look it shouldn't've had.
The Dementors were mostly good, though they did look an awful lot like the Ringwraiths - possibly what they were modelled on, though, so we'll forgive that... The special effects showing them draining happiness, on the other hand, was stupid, and repeated FAR too often. Plus, the soundtrack-of-doom kept drowning out any little ringing noises or the rather unimpressive screams (the woman doing Lily's screaming sounded like me, for gods' sake. That's not good).
Lupin was a lot better than I expected (though his excessively thin-lipped accent got a little irritating - since when was 'Boggart' pronounced 'Bog-ut'? Or 'Patronus' pronounced 'Pat-roh-nus'?), in spite of the ratty-little moustache. The scars were a very good touch, I thought.
Michael Gambon as Dumbledore lived up to my expectations. His script, however, was absolute wanking shite. The pace of the film was rushed as it was (the film needed a good extra 30 minutes, so that moods and facts could be properly established), so why, when they cut out perfectly good lines and scenes, did they include such utter rubbish?
Alan Rickman's best moments were not as Snape, but as the Boggart forced into the hideous clothes. Wonderful campiness, and you could tell Rickman enjoyed every minute of it!
Buckbeak was also fantastic (though we could've done without the pointless swooping low over the lake - and the godsawful "Kink of the World" moment). And I checked - he is grey. So they got that right. He was fantastic. Loved him. Loved Draco getting beaten up by him, too. Always fun to see Draco suffer (though Tom Felton's acting was remarkably improved from previous films - pity his accent wasn't).
I was glad they'd removed Professor Flitwick's hideous latex jowls, but he's still supposed to be white-haired. But Warwick Davis didn't get enough screen-time anyway, so most people probably didn't notice.
Apart from this (which all occured within the first 45 minutes), my main complaints were the dicking around with plot sequence. I mean, WTF was with Harry seeing Peter Pettigrew on the map? So totally unnecessary. An interesting way to lead into the scene where Lupin gets the Map, but still - surely there was a better way? And was anyone else watching Lupin telling Harry off and thinking "Ask the question, Harry: 'how do you know it's a map, sir?' Just ask the fucking question!"? Or was it just me?
The overuse of shots of season-change, the Hogwarts grounds, and the Dementors also got quite irritating.
I was quite impressed with the way the whole 'doubling up in time' was done. Unfortunately, it was completely ruined by finishing with the arrival of the Firebolt. Yes, Harry loves to fly. Yes, the broom is a big thing. But it's supposed to be in the middle of the damned book!
*sighs* There were good things about the film as well, I admit: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have all improved as actors, I thought. And Gary Oldman as Sirius Black was really good. There were also some fantastic Ron-Hermione moments (though the Lupin-Harry slashiness started to get to me - I seem to have a thing against Harry ever getting together with anyone; give him loads of unresolved sexual tension, I say, crank up the angst even more. Heroes aren't supposed to get the girl until the end - and that's another two books away). But Cuaron dicked around with the original story far too much for me to forgive him, I think. Thank all the celestial beings that he's not directing the next one!
So yes, in conclusion: unimpressed with the film. I apologise for the length of that rant, and any spoilers given. But I really needed to vent! *snuggles books, "I'll never leave you again!"*
And now, after all that, I'm going to go back to the XBox party (which I think has turned into a viewing of Futurama - just as good!).