Quaggy's Year of Movies Part 1

[quaggy_mire]

So I've been seeing a surprising number of films since I moved over here, both as a social activity with the others in my program and on my own as a break from writing and general PhD stuff. I've already put this off long enough that I have to break these into two parts! So let's start with the movie I saw in January and work our way forward...

Comments

[zaftig46]

OMG, Neville and Luna are fantastic! Except that they don't end up together, according to JKR, which is a shame. But I totally ship them, too.

[quaggy_mire]

Yes, but in the movie-verse they do! So all is right in the world. :-) They look perfect together too. Him being so tall and her being so tiny.

As a side note, I also think it's hilarious that Neville wound up growing up to physically look more like the book version of Harry Potter than Daniel Radcliffe does!

[miss_dottie]

But I totally get why she was cast.
You mean, beside being the director's wife?
/sarcasm.

[quaggy_mire]

Oh really?! HA! Well, that explains a lot, doesn't it? She did a fairly good job despite the nepotism, but she totally did not look the part.

[miss_dottie]

Yeah, it's a small group of friends (Hazanavicius, Béjo & Dujardin). Together they did a spoof of James Bond, then its sequel, and then The Artist. I don't know if Béjo and Hazanavicius (Do I get extra points for spelling it right and going through the effort of typing it twice?) are married, but they're definitely in a relationship and most journalists label them "husband & wife".

[quaggy_mire]

Yes, you totally get extra points! :-P But it's kind of cool that it's a circle of friends... and they chose such quirky projects! Be interesting to see what they do next.

[flippet]

I only just finished the Harry Potter movies last weekend, marathoned the last three (and I'm not sure I've seen the one previous to that). I haven't read the books.

But I have to say, I thought that Neville/Luna was a stroke of genius too. They're both so dreamy/dippy, in perfectly complementary ways. And I was in love with the way that Neville turned into a quiet hero. He kind of fell into being rock-solid, surprisingly enough. Which complements Luna's knowingness.

I suppose I can see why you'd ship Harry/Hermione...but they didn't strike me as an OTP, really. (And even though the dancing scene was sweet, I didn't get 'chemistry' out of it.) And I do like Ron/Hermione. I agree that Harry/Ginny doesn't really make sense, and yeah, the actors kind of had horrible chemistry with each other. That's tough, though, when you're casting ten-year-olds for things that are going to happen 8-10 years later. You're kind of stuck with what you've got

[quaggy_mire]

I suppose I can see why you'd ship Harry/Hermione...but they didn't strike me as an OTP, really.

Well, ultimately it's because they're not. Everyone knew fairly early on that Hermione was going to be with Ron and Harry with Ginny. But I do think the actors have good chemistry and have had since, like, the third movie. Maybe it's just the combination of being good friends in real life and that their acting styles are complimentary. But I've always enjoyed their interaction.

That's tough, though, when you're casting ten-year-olds for things that are going to happen 8-10 years later. You're kind of stuck with what you've got.

Yes, that's totally true. Like the fact that Harry in the books is very tall and his actor wound up being much shorter than the other guys in the cast. The reason that Luna is so perfectly cast is because she's the only major character that didn't show up until the fifth book, so they weren't stuck with a girl who was perfect when she was 10, but wasn't so much when she was 14.

[quaggy_mire]

I think JK Rowling just mentioned Luna/Neville in an interview...it wasn't in the epilogue, was it? Shows how often I've read that part, huh?

No JK said that Neville married Hannah Abbot and Luna married someone we never even "met". So yeah, it was totally a movie thing. And not reading the epilogue is good for your health.

I pretty much see the movie/books as separate entities too...and the Harry/Hermione dance and the LUNA/NEVILLE stuff was just gorgeous.

Yes, the movies really did become their own thing towards the end, so I was faced with the strange situation that as my enthusiasm for the series waned with later books... it ramped up with the release of the latter movies. Go figure.

And I need a Neville/Luna icon. :-D

[quaggy_mire]

I just meant that that's not explained in the epilogue, is it? JK Rowling came along and explained it all afterwards, didn't she? But you find out Neville's a professor, but nothing else in the actual text, right?

No, you're right. All we found out is that Neville's a professor. I'm not sure Luna is mentioned in the actual text of the epilogue at all. Silly archaic epilogue!

Yeah, I never quite felt the same about the books after Sirius died.

See it was never one thing for me... I just started enjoying them less and less. Probably because they became so bloody long. And the camping trip from hell. Still feel cheated that I got a camping trip from hell when I was expecting an epic quest adventure!

Oh any because I nearly forgot...

And your Luna/Neville story is completely and totally my canon :) Thank you! Not bad considering that it was only a 100 word drabble! Though I really do have to write that movie-verse post-series fic. (Which, by the way, was going to include Neville/Luna pairing... and now I'm completely justified

[gatsbyfan]

There are three times when the introduction of sound actually made me jump.
I saw it in the theater for Talk Cinema before it was released. I can say the entire audience had that reaction.

And then another when the handsome lead actor spoke.

I adored that movie.

[quaggy_mire]

And then another when the handsome lead actor spoke.

I was already spoiled about the French accent, unfortunately. I wonder if they meant for that to have the significance that it did.