HARRY POTTER ei doni della morte!!!!
That's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Italian ^_^
When I was first planning this trip, a serious concern of mine was my ability to see this film while I was in Italy. This may seem silly to you, but I was very worried. Please don't judge me!! Anyway, I came to my senses and figured that this is an international phenomenon - of course Italy, with all its flaws, will have this film available (also, seeing a movie shouldn't be the most important thing ever).
Since I've been having the time of my life (not to be totally cheesy), I strangely kept forgetting that this movie was coming out. I mean I obviously KNEW, but I wasn't counting down the days like I was with the 6th film/every other HP film. But the day before, I'm frantically scouring the internet in hopes of finding a midnight premiere because how sick would that be? I'm six hours ahead of all of my friends - I would be seeing the film when it was still 6 PM at home! I could imagine sending texts at 3 in the morning, cackling that I saw the film while they were still waiting for midnight.
Of course, you can't always get what you want: Italy, or at least Rome, doesn't believe in midnight premieres. In fact, their movie theaters don't open until 4 PM! SERIOUSLY? This is where I would say the US is one of the greatest countries of all time: you can go to the movies at 11 in the morning if you so desired. Here? Nope! So I had to sit through my class, acting like I was on crack because the anticipation was killing me/making me ridiculously hyper.
Finally, after mixing up theaters (one said they played films in their original languages, but not Harry Potter - fuck you!) and all that drama, I saw it.
WARNING: SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!
The Good (and there's quite a lot!)
1. First off, I must give props to Alexandre Desplat. Ever since John Williams left (although he did create a wonderful score for Memoirs of a Geisha), I felt that the scores in the past three movies have been rather...blah, save for maybe a few tracks here and there. But this one, right from the beginning, was fantastic. He's a really talented composer (his work for The Painted Veil is one of my favorites), and he deserves a lot of praise. Bravo, sir!
2. The Malfoy Manor scene was all kinds of great. Jason Isaacs and Tom Felton as Lucius and Draco were especially fantastic. Lucius is a far cry from what he used to be and Draco's staring at the Muggle Studies teacher like he was going to vomit was good. His acting with Harry's capture was also very good. And I'm REALLY excited for Alan Rickman in Part II - he's going to be incredible.
3. Fred and George. They were especially amusing in this movie. George's "good morning" to Harry and Ginny after their hook up (will be discussed later) had my entire theater in hysterics. I'm going to be so upset with Fred's death in Part II :(
4. BILL!!!! Yeah, that's it haha. Now all we need is CHARLIE!
5. Hedwig. I heard rumors that they weren't going to kill her and I was so afraid/angry. I'm glad they killed her in the film, which is rather awful and cruel, but hey, it's canon!
6. Ron/Hermione. The filmmakers did a REALLY good job setting those two up for Part II. Even though they're not my favorite ship (meaning I would never write them), I shipped them hardcore in this movie haha. I think they're the only couple in this franchise who actually has good romantic chemistry? More on this later.
7. I loved the Patronus disrupting the wedding - I thought it was so eery and fantastically done.
8. This may be because I can't stand Remus' character at the end of book 6 and 7, but I liked how the movies completely removed Remus running away from Tonks and whatnot. Honestly, I really despise that relationship in general, so the less it's depicted in the films, the better. It really should bother me because it's an important scene in the books...but I just can't bring myself to care. I'd like to say they're removing the assassination of Remus' character as well as they can ^_^
9. This is really sad of me, but the quick cuts of Regulus in /jumping out of the window are SO HOT. I don't know why hahah probably because I like Regulus' character a lot. Can we haz moar pweese?
10. The Ministry break-in. Those actors were really great. And I highly enjoyed Harry's confrontation with Umbridge in the first place he ever saw her. Nice "completing the circle," which was definitely a theme in this! I like that.
11. The "Magic Is Might" fountain. I'm so glad they kept that in the movie and actually showed it.
12. Emma Watson's acting when Ron was splinched. This was one of the few scenes where I actually would commend her on her acting, which is always subpar, IMO.
13. Rupert Grint. Wow. He was FANTASTIC throughout this entire film. His paranoia, his resentment, his fear, his obvious concern for Hermione/loved ones were just so wonderfully shown. He really is the best actor out of the trio and I hope he has a successful career post-HP because he deserves it. Bravo!
14. The dancing scene. It was cute - especially since Dan is a horrible dancer hahah. I also liked that as soon as the music stopped, they kind of realized how bleak their situation really is - it was unsettling to watch.
15. Dan Radcliffe's acting at Godric's Hollow's graveyard. His crying is really hit or miss sometimes, but this, his "holding back tears but kind of failing," was really superb. It certainly made me want to cry and not just because I love Lily and James to bits.
16. Bathilda Bagshot was very creepy - I felt SO uneasy the entire time. But probably because I was imagining Nagini coming out of her mouth (more that later). But I liked how you constantly heard flies buzzing, signaling that there was something dead, you know? Nice hint.
17. Dayum. Grindewald is a fine piece of ass! You go, Dumblepops.
18. Ron's "Hey!" to Hermione like nothing happened hahaha hilarious.
19. The animation sequence that showed the story of The Three Brothers. AWESOME. It was gorgeous. Whoever did that is awesome!
20. Harry's face after the Stinging Hex HAHA.
21. That creeper who was definitely a pedophile saying all those things to Hermione - I hated it in the books and I hated seeing it on screen. But wait, wasn't Greyback supposed to say those things? Whatever, I'm glad they kept it in.
22. Bellatrix/Hermione torture. Helena Bonham Carter, as always, is a pleasure to watch as that psycho bitch we all hate and Emma Watson surprised me yet again by making those horrifying screams. I got the chills! Nice touch with carving "Mudblood" onto her arm.
23. Epic Dobby was epic? Yes. That death scene =(
The Bad & The Ugly
1. Missing Harry/Dudley scene. I understand why they had to cut it, but I rather liked that part in the books. Sad!
2. Mundugus Fletcher. Why couldn't they introduce this guy two movies ago? So annoying.
3. Molly Weasley. Is it just me, or was she totally unemotional? I don't know if it's just because she's in shock over this entire situation, or if it's something else...I just hope she steps it up in Part II with "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH," because that line is definitely going to be in the movie. Unless WB wants millions of fans murdering them.
4. Harry/Ginny. I know this isn't a couple I like, but Dan and Bonnie just have NO chemistry! I don't know if it's because Bonnie still looks like an eleven-year-old and Dan feels uncomfortable, or if it's just because these two really don't know each other, but it's terrible! The kiss was just...bizarre. It felt flat and boring.
5. This isn't really a con, but did anybody in the sixth movie explain to Harry that Grimmauld Place, and therefore Kreacher is his? I feel like they didn't, which is why I'm putting "Kreacher randomly obeying all of Harry's commands" as a negative. I understand why, but people who haven't read the books wouldn't get it!
6. Harry not actually going into Sirius' room and seeing the letter his mother wrote to him. I loved how in the books they showed that the letter was missing the bottom half and we later find out that Snape took it. Agh, that could've been some really great filming if they showed it. Not happy about that.
7. Harry not taking Mad Eye's eye from Umbridge's door? This is fail, filmmakers - you guys really couldn't show him ripping the eye out? It would've taken five seconds. I don't appreciate this at all.
8. Harry's Polyjuice Potion wearing off a good fifteen minutes before Hermione's and Ron's. Although, as I said before, I loved his confronting Umbridge, it literally makes no sense.
9. Emma Watson during Ron's walk out. Excuse me, but in the books, she was DEVASTATED! Emma did not do a good job with - she wasn't very emotional! Especially since in the book she immediately starts sobbing after he leaves. But maybe they dodged a bullet because we know how Emma cries - it's awful.
10. Nagini not coming out of Bathilda Bagshot's mouth. This is minuscule, but for me, this scene was one of, if not THE scariest scene in the Harry Potter series. Nothing creeped me out more. So it was kind of a disappointment with Nagini coming out of a pile of clothes.
11. The locket scene by the lake. It kind of lasted for a bit too long...and I found it really awkward that Dan and Emma had more chemistry in their kiss than Dan/Bonnie. Just saying. Was it necessary for them to be naked?
12. Bellatrix throwing the knife. Slow-mo, REALLY? In the book, you had no idea what was going on and you thought that they made it out in one piece and then you saw Dobby with the knife sticking out of his chest! It was supposed to be a surprise, which I thought would've been just as good on screen. This was just cheesy.
IN CONCLUSION:
This film was great, despite this half of the book being so incredibly boring for me to read. In fact, I would go as far as saying that it's just as good as movies 1 and 2 (which I think were the best). It was a great adaptation and actually made it more enjoyable than the book itself. (kind of like movie 2, actually). I MUST see it again, hopefully in iMax!
I'm going home in exactly a week! SO INSANE!
Until later!
~*MissGoalie*~
When I was first planning this trip, a serious concern of mine was my ability to see this film while I was in Italy. This may seem silly to you, but I was very worried. Please don't judge me!! Anyway, I came to my senses and figured that this is an international phenomenon - of course Italy, with all its flaws, will have this film available (also, seeing a movie shouldn't be the most important thing ever).
Since I've been having the time of my life (not to be totally cheesy), I strangely kept forgetting that this movie was coming out. I mean I obviously KNEW, but I wasn't counting down the days like I was with the 6th film/every other HP film. But the day before, I'm frantically scouring the internet in hopes of finding a midnight premiere because how sick would that be? I'm six hours ahead of all of my friends - I would be seeing the film when it was still 6 PM at home! I could imagine sending texts at 3 in the morning, cackling that I saw the film while they were still waiting for midnight.
Of course, you can't always get what you want: Italy, or at least Rome, doesn't believe in midnight premieres. In fact, their movie theaters don't open until 4 PM! SERIOUSLY? This is where I would say the US is one of the greatest countries of all time: you can go to the movies at 11 in the morning if you so desired. Here? Nope! So I had to sit through my class, acting like I was on crack because the anticipation was killing me/making me ridiculously hyper.
Finally, after mixing up theaters (one said they played films in their original languages, but not Harry Potter - fuck you!) and all that drama, I saw it.
WARNING: SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!
The Good (and there's quite a lot!)
1. First off, I must give props to Alexandre Desplat. Ever since John Williams left (although he did create a wonderful score for Memoirs of a Geisha), I felt that the scores in the past three movies have been rather...blah, save for maybe a few tracks here and there. But this one, right from the beginning, was fantastic. He's a really talented composer (his work for The Painted Veil is one of my favorites), and he deserves a lot of praise. Bravo, sir!
2. The Malfoy Manor scene was all kinds of great. Jason Isaacs and Tom Felton as Lucius and Draco were especially fantastic. Lucius is a far cry from what he used to be and Draco's staring at the Muggle Studies teacher like he was going to vomit was good. His acting with Harry's capture was also very good. And I'm REALLY excited for Alan Rickman in Part II - he's going to be incredible.
3. Fred and George. They were especially amusing in this movie. George's "good morning" to Harry and Ginny after their hook up (will be discussed later) had my entire theater in hysterics. I'm going to be so upset with Fred's death in Part II :(
4. BILL!!!! Yeah, that's it haha. Now all we need is CHARLIE!
5. Hedwig. I heard rumors that they weren't going to kill her and I was so afraid/angry. I'm glad they killed her in the film, which is rather awful and cruel, but hey, it's canon!
6. Ron/Hermione. The filmmakers did a REALLY good job setting those two up for Part II. Even though they're not my favorite ship (meaning I would never write them), I shipped them hardcore in this movie haha. I think they're the only couple in this franchise who actually has good romantic chemistry? More on this later.
7. I loved the Patronus disrupting the wedding - I thought it was so eery and fantastically done.
8. This may be because I can't stand Remus' character at the end of book 6 and 7, but I liked how the movies completely removed Remus running away from Tonks and whatnot. Honestly, I really despise that relationship in general, so the less it's depicted in the films, the better. It really should bother me because it's an important scene in the books...but I just can't bring myself to care. I'd like to say they're removing the assassination of Remus' character as well as they can ^_^
9. This is really sad of me, but the quick cuts of Regulus in /jumping out of the window are SO HOT. I don't know why hahah probably because I like Regulus' character a lot. Can we haz moar pweese?
10. The Ministry break-in. Those actors were really great. And I highly enjoyed Harry's confrontation with Umbridge in the first place he ever saw her. Nice "completing the circle," which was definitely a theme in this! I like that.
11. The "Magic Is Might" fountain. I'm so glad they kept that in the movie and actually showed it.
12. Emma Watson's acting when Ron was splinched. This was one of the few scenes where I actually would commend her on her acting, which is always subpar, IMO.
13. Rupert Grint. Wow. He was FANTASTIC throughout this entire film. His paranoia, his resentment, his fear, his obvious concern for Hermione/loved ones were just so wonderfully shown. He really is the best actor out of the trio and I hope he has a successful career post-HP because he deserves it. Bravo!
14. The dancing scene. It was cute - especially since Dan is a horrible dancer hahah. I also liked that as soon as the music stopped, they kind of realized how bleak their situation really is - it was unsettling to watch.
15. Dan Radcliffe's acting at Godric's Hollow's graveyard. His crying is really hit or miss sometimes, but this, his "holding back tears but kind of failing," was really superb. It certainly made me want to cry and not just because I love Lily and James to bits.
16. Bathilda Bagshot was very creepy - I felt SO uneasy the entire time. But probably because I was imagining Nagini coming out of her mouth (more that later). But I liked how you constantly heard flies buzzing, signaling that there was something dead, you know? Nice hint.
17. Dayum. Grindewald is a fine piece of ass! You go, Dumblepops.
18. Ron's "Hey!" to Hermione like nothing happened hahaha hilarious.
19. The animation sequence that showed the story of The Three Brothers. AWESOME. It was gorgeous. Whoever did that is awesome!
20. Harry's face after the Stinging Hex HAHA.
21. That creeper who was definitely a pedophile saying all those things to Hermione - I hated it in the books and I hated seeing it on screen. But wait, wasn't Greyback supposed to say those things? Whatever, I'm glad they kept it in.
22. Bellatrix/Hermione torture. Helena Bonham Carter, as always, is a pleasure to watch as that psycho bitch we all hate and Emma Watson surprised me yet again by making those horrifying screams. I got the chills! Nice touch with carving "Mudblood" onto her arm.
23. Epic Dobby was epic? Yes. That death scene =(
The Bad & The Ugly
1. Missing Harry/Dudley scene. I understand why they had to cut it, but I rather liked that part in the books. Sad!
2. Mundugus Fletcher. Why couldn't they introduce this guy two movies ago? So annoying.
3. Molly Weasley. Is it just me, or was she totally unemotional? I don't know if it's just because she's in shock over this entire situation, or if it's something else...I just hope she steps it up in Part II with "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH," because that line is definitely going to be in the movie. Unless WB wants millions of fans murdering them.
4. Harry/Ginny. I know this isn't a couple I like, but Dan and Bonnie just have NO chemistry! I don't know if it's because Bonnie still looks like an eleven-year-old and Dan feels uncomfortable, or if it's just because these two really don't know each other, but it's terrible! The kiss was just...bizarre. It felt flat and boring.
5. This isn't really a con, but did anybody in the sixth movie explain to Harry that Grimmauld Place, and therefore Kreacher is his? I feel like they didn't, which is why I'm putting "Kreacher randomly obeying all of Harry's commands" as a negative. I understand why, but people who haven't read the books wouldn't get it!
6. Harry not actually going into Sirius' room and seeing the letter his mother wrote to him. I loved how in the books they showed that the letter was missing the bottom half and we later find out that Snape took it. Agh, that could've been some really great filming if they showed it. Not happy about that.
7. Harry not taking Mad Eye's eye from Umbridge's door? This is fail, filmmakers - you guys really couldn't show him ripping the eye out? It would've taken five seconds. I don't appreciate this at all.
8. Harry's Polyjuice Potion wearing off a good fifteen minutes before Hermione's and Ron's. Although, as I said before, I loved his confronting Umbridge, it literally makes no sense.
9. Emma Watson during Ron's walk out. Excuse me, but in the books, she was DEVASTATED! Emma did not do a good job with - she wasn't very emotional! Especially since in the book she immediately starts sobbing after he leaves. But maybe they dodged a bullet because we know how Emma cries - it's awful.
10. Nagini not coming out of Bathilda Bagshot's mouth. This is minuscule, but for me, this scene was one of, if not THE scariest scene in the Harry Potter series. Nothing creeped me out more. So it was kind of a disappointment with Nagini coming out of a pile of clothes.
11. The locket scene by the lake. It kind of lasted for a bit too long...and I found it really awkward that Dan and Emma had more chemistry in their kiss than Dan/Bonnie. Just saying. Was it necessary for them to be naked?
12. Bellatrix throwing the knife. Slow-mo, REALLY? In the book, you had no idea what was going on and you thought that they made it out in one piece and then you saw Dobby with the knife sticking out of his chest! It was supposed to be a surprise, which I thought would've been just as good on screen. This was just cheesy.
IN CONCLUSION:
This film was great, despite this half of the book being so incredibly boring for me to read. In fact, I would go as far as saying that it's just as good as movies 1 and 2 (which I think were the best). It was a great adaptation and actually made it more enjoyable than the book itself. (kind of like movie 2, actually). I MUST see it again, hopefully in iMax!
I'm going home in exactly a week! SO INSANE!
Until later!
~*MissGoalie*~