24 posts tagged “harry potter”
The odds were stacked against me liking the film of New Moon. I loved the book and the scene where Edward leaves Bella is one of my favourites and had me an emotional wreck when I first read it.
So when I started seeing trailers which showed the scene in the film and it just didn't seem the same as how I remembered it, I wasn't hopeful.
I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy the film, I did, but it seemed to lack the charm and freshness of Twilight which was inevitably shot on a much smaller budget. It was like the film makers made a list of all the things that would make the teen girls scream and added them by bucket load.
Now I'm all for admiring a finely worked out male torso but it was gratuitous ripping off of shirts at every possible opportunity, or so it seemed. The audience actually started to laugh.
Edward's smoky appearances were just to appease the Pattinson fans and almost looked cartoon-like .
And to top it all the Volturi - who I actually did like - had opera as lift music. I mean, please.
The way Bella just immediately forgives Edward irked me in the book too. I just wanted her to yell, just a little bit. Particularly as one of the bits in the book that I liked for its added emotional impact was the fact that Edward cleared out her room of all the things he'd given her so she didn't have any reminders.
There is only a fleeting reference to this in the film. I thought that was not only very mean but made Edward a far more interesting character. Well lets face it, leaving Bella is the most interesting thing he does in pretty much the entire series.
I am strangely tempted to see it again though to see if its better second time around when I'm more relaxed about what they've done and can sit back and enjoy it as a film in its own right.
Strangely I'm actually quite hopeful for what they will do with Eclipse. It is the weakest of the books with a big build up to a pretty lame confrontation. No one dies, there isn't anything tragic, its all a bit disappointing. Now the film-makers aren't going to kill someone off but they can certainly add a bit more drama. I think some of the action sequences in Harry Potter work much better in the films than in the books.
So overall a bit disappointed really. It was OK but definitely could have been better.
The entertainment stars are in alignment this week and boy I'm looking forward to it.
Two bits of theatre and two films are in prospect starting tomorrow with Life is a Dream at the Donmar with an actor called Dominic West that everyone seems to be excited about. I'm on the waiting list to borrow Dan's copy of The Wire so am quite please my first experience of seeing him will be on the stage.
Then on Thursday, I'm at the National to see the new Alan Bennett play The Habit of Art. Seeing Michael Gambon (would take my Harry Potter actors stage tally up to six) was part of the draw but sadly he's had to withdraw due to ill health and Richard Griffiths is stepping into his shoes. I've already seen Griffiths in Equus and I'm hoping for a good, more varied performance to what I've already seen him do.
The third treat, and first film, regular readers will already know about as it is Bright Star which I've already written about to death. (The excitement just grows and grows, I feel like a kid in the run up to Christmas).
And finally there is what at the very least will be a good eye-candy movie but what I'm hoping will be a quirky gem: The Men Who Stare at Goats (trailer below). George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey - a potentially magic combination.
Shame I have to work in between really.
The last couple of things I've seen at the NT's Cottesloe Theatre have been a bit of a disappointment: Black Album and Dido, Queen of Carthage.
Our Class was theatre-buddy Debbie's choice and if she could apply the same judgement to picking horses she'd be very rich.
It's the first time I've seen the Cottesloe use the flexible seating arrangement it boasts and the stage was in the middle: A bare-boards pit with 10 chairs. The only other decoration was a pile of ash for the second half.
The opening scene is set in a classroom with the 10 each introducing themselves and saying what they want to be when they grow up - the playfulness, innocence and friendship you know is going to be slowly destroyed by horrific anti-semitism, politics and fear.
All actors remained on stage sitting on the edge of pit when not part of the action. There was a mix of re-enactment, first person narrative mixed with children's songs and live music stirred in.
It examines the tragedy of Jedwabne through the eyes of those 10 who lived (and died)
It's a thought provoking and harrowing piece of drama and a great bit of theatre, simply but effectively done.
And here are some others thoughts
Guardian What the play also proves, with unsensational dignity, is that, as one of the characters says, "you can never bury the truth"
Daily Telegraph It is hard to praise the 10-strong cast too highly as they bring the complex
stories of 10 characters, some of them through many decades, to vivid life
PS I can tick yet another Harry Potter actor off the theatre list - Stan Shunpike the bus conductor in Prisoner of Azkaban AKA Lee Ingleby. Shame Michael Gambon has had to pull out of the Art of Class but I get Richard Griffiths instead, although it will be the third time I've seen him tread the boards.
My sister's been sorting through stuff at my Mum's house and unearthed all sort of stuff from my youth. Most of it is rubbish (why would I want to keep my guide badges?) but there are the occasional hidden gem such a file of old theatre programs from plays I saw as a student.
The performance was also memorable because one of the characters costumes caught light on a candle but no one was hurt fortunately.
Sadly Martin McKellan's career doesn't seem to have taken off in the same way. The most recent listing for him on IMDB is an episode of The Bill. Which is a shame.
Other names you may have heard of are Stephen Beckett who went on to play key characters in Coronation Street and Emmerdale and Toby Jones who has one of those faces you know you've seen in a bunch of stuff and will be voicing Dobby the House Elf in the last two Harry Potters.
Peter Jackson is denying rumours that he will be announcing who will play Bilbo in The Hobbit at Comic-Con but what is interesting is who is in supposedly in the running: Daniel Radcliffe, David Tennant and James McAvoy.
If it was up to me to choose from this trio this is how I'd rate them:
4/10 David Tennant
(BBC's Dr Who and my favourite Hamlet so far) Too tall and willowy for a Hobbit and I'm not sure he'd pull off the down to earthy, nature loving character that is inherent in a Hobbit.
7/10 Daniel Radcliffe
(Harry Potter and stage stripper) Well he is the right height (sorry that is a bit mean especially coming from someone who is also economically sized) but I think still a bit young. Mind you he's got dragon experience.
9/10 James McAvoy
(Atonement, Wanted etc) Nigh on perfect I'd say. He's not too tall and has the right build for a Hobbit. Think he's a good age to play Bilbo and I know I've said him before but I loved him as Mr Tumnus so he has fantasy genre experience.
Others I think should be considered are: Jim Sturgess although he is quite tall but has a face that I think would work as a Hobbit, Emile Hirsch is small of stature although I think he looks a little more elf-like. And finally Gael Garcia Bernal would be my wild card - think he would make a great Bilbo with a hint of latin energy. He's also short.
And funnily Entertainmentment Weekly has picked up on exactly the same issues. In their pole James McAvoy is coming out way ahead of the other two.
Anyone who has been in my company in the last week or two will know how excited I've been about the new Harry Potter film.
Bought my ticket over a month ago for a screening at the IMAX complete with the 'IMAX experience' ie 3D bits. And so today from work I dashed across Waterloo Bridge to join the crowds in high expectation.
But I'm sad to say it's the first one I've walked away from disappointed. Why?
*stop reading now if you don't like spoilers*
Well, it wasn't the fact that it wasn't a polished film. The acting was the best so far, the attention to detail on the sets ratcheted up even further and the special effects and especially the quidditch superb without being intrusive.
So what was it?
And for once the film failed to produce a bang where the book normally produces a fizz, something that Warner Bros has been very good at in the past.
The dramatic tension in the Astronomy Tower showdown is played down - in the book Harry wants to fight back and Dumbledore is forced to stun him and cover him with his visibility cloak to protect him so he witnesses the whole thing but is powerless to stop it. In the film there is none of that.
The battle post Dumbledore's demise is a also a big part of what I remember about the book but apart from Bellatrix Lestrange smashing up the empty Great Hall a bit, it all seemed to be over very quickly and with little action. They didn't even deem it worthy of shooting in 3D which I think is telling. The IMAX experience instead is reserved for the opening scenes and I can't help feeling that, like my 3D specs, I was left dangling waiting for a bit more.
At this moment in time I'm not sure I'll go and see it again, as I usually do, but I probably will if only to see if I'm being a bit harsh.
The BBC has done a good round up of reviews at the bottom of its own review among them I think this one sums up my feelings the best and comes from a 15 year old reviewer in the Independent:
The Half-Blood Prince is frightening, funny, romantic and entertaining but as the end credits rolled, I still felt disappointed. I had waited all year to see my second-favourite Potter book brought to life. If I wasn't a die-hard fan, I'm sure I would have loved it. My gripe is that the film was simply too different from the book - the writers inserted pointless scenes and took out others crucial to the narrative.
And so I've finished all four books in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. They have dominated my life for the last si weeks, almost in the same way that Harry Potter series does, but not quite.
Perhaps it is unfair to compare the two series, after all they are
ultimately aimed at different audiences but their success and
phenomenon surrounding them make them obvious contenders for a compare
and contrast.
Meyers makes Rowling look like a writer worthy of receiving a Booker nod. OK so Rowling isn't the best writer and was given too much free reign
in later books but the Harry Potter series has far more layers,
revelations and she certainly knows how to make her characters suffer,
something Meyers can only do in degrees.
There is much that is frustrating in the Twilight series: the poor writing in places, the indulgence, the overwhelming 'niceness', the sometimes awkward plot flow and decisions but all that can be forgiven for what is ultimately an addictive and fascinating premise.
I'm 37 and I want to be a vampire. There I've said it.
Having now finished the last book, I feel lost, all those evening looking forward to reading the next instalment. However, unlike Rowling, Meyers has left the door ajar and I ticked off at least three potential new story lines in the final chapters. So despite my frustrations, I'm almost hoping she does decide to write a fifth.
Here are my reviews for the individual books as I finished them:
Twilight
Sentimental and some vomit inducing romance but written in a such way that can press all the same buttons it would have done had I been 14 again and reading it. Because of this and the fact that it is nice easy read and shameless escapism I loved every page and am going straight on to the sequel.
New Moon
Eclipse
Book concentrates on the relationships of the key characters with less big dramatic story lines than the previous two books. In fact it is more about the build up to the grand finale rather than the finale itself which is a little bit of a damp squib. Maybe a little indulgent at times and the Edward character is starting to become just a little too good to be true. But that said it got its hooks in and I cantered through it with much enjoyment. Straight onto the next and final book in the saga...
Breaking Dawn
Feel slightly sad it's all over for the Twilight series now, although she has left a couple of potential threads which could make further books. Meyers isn't JK Rowling and frustratingly often shies away from taking the drama to the next level (Note to Meyers: think carefully what you entitle your chapters as it can kind of spoil the tension when they give too much away). The first two books are the best. Although Breaking Dawn has more in it than Eclipse but I was still hooked and there is now a vampire-sized hole in my life.
Roll on the release of the Twilight DVD in April.
Which holiday blockbuster are you most looking forward to seeing?
Well there is a big Harry Potter-size hole to fill so it's this:
Finally after what seems likes weeks of enjoying the popcorn more than the movies, I've seen something truly entertaining: In Bruges.
In it Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play assassins Ray and Ken who've been told to lay low in Bruges after a hit by their boss Harry played by Ralph Fiennes.
Ray and Ken are obviously cut from different cloth which makes for an interesting journey as the real reason for the Bruges trip unfolds.
To say more about the story line would spoil it but it is funny, sad and violent all melded into one. It is nice to see Farrell working with his native Irish accent for once and he is a natural at this type of character. Gleeson is just one of those actors who consistently puts in a good turn although this is the first thing I've seen him in since Harry Potter's IV and V and I can't quite get Mad-Eye Mooney out of my head when I see him on screen, which has nothing to do with his performance.
Fiennes is fabulous as a foul-mouthed, London criminal head-case. He does suprisingly well with a broad Laahnden accent but having seen him as Voldemort in HP, playing evil again was no great test of his acting ability.
In fact the film turned out to be a bit of Harry Potter reunion with Clemence Poesy who was Fleur Delacour in IV taking the Hogwarts total up to three. Poesy plays Farrell's love interest and a character that is a departure from the children's film. It shouldn't surprise me as she's done a lot of film work in France.
Anyway I digress, it is a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours and having been sorely disappointed with Oxford Murders, Leatherheads and Shine A Light recently it was refreshing to leave the cinema with a smile on my face rather than just bits of popcorn.
When I booked the tickets for the RSC's King Lear back in summer it seemed like an age to wait but in the blink of an eye the months have passed. Arriving excited with anticipation at the New London Theatre there were posters warning us that the play contained loud gun-shots and brief nudity. J and I both joked that as long as it wasn't Ian McKellan who was getting his kit off, that would be fine.
I'm fond of good tragedy and in particular Shakespeare's but this storyline didn't really move me and left me feeling that most of the characters got what they deserved. Perhaps it was the way it was played and that is no way a criticism of the acting which was generally superb.
It sounds like I didn't enjoy it but I really did and almost entirely because of McKellan who's performance was mesmerising. He is a true King of Shakespearean acting, put him and Patrick Stewart on the stage together and the rest of the cast might as well stay in their dressing rooms.
Other notable performances came from Sylvester McCoy who played The Fool and was unceremoniously and rather shockingly hung just before the interval. (His 'body' was retrieved by stage hands during the interval which some in the audience felt deserved an applause.)
Frances Barber who I've seen playing Mrs Coulter in the Dark Materials at the National was an excellently selfish and manipulative Goneril, the eldest daughter.
The jury is still out on Romola Garai (seen recently in the film Atonement) who played the youngest daughter Cordelia and the chief victim of the tragedy. Many actors have said baddies are more fun to play and maybe it's because she's a goody that she didn't get the chance to shine, I don't know, I'd have to see another actress play the part to really judge.
This probably only makes sense to me but while the story didn't move me in the same way that say Hamlet or Othello does the performance itself was utterly engaging.
And oh yes I nearly forgot, the nudity. Well it wasn't what I'd describe as brief and despite the warning it was far more shocking than Equus . What I will say is that Gandalf's is bigger than Harry Potter's.
