Re: Release, Record: 11/9
...do you mean Sat the 9th? Or did I miss it today?
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...do you mean Sat the 9th? Or did I miss it today?
Let's assume it's Saturday, and if the kids don't show we'll run our own really awful commentary.
Dammit
i have a wedding to go to that day
Dammit
i have a wedding to go to that day
Skip it; statistically both parties will have another go in a few years anyway.
im in for these. gonna have hangover but it'll be worth it.
Could be an interesting double bill, for the Harry Potter fans. I'll probably be there regardless, weather permitting.
Anyone seen this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_people_dear_readers
I set up a screening in college then couldn't make it - been meaning to revisit it since.
Hurray for Harry! Sort of....
I'm of two minds about the Potter films. I never had any interest in the books, but I've mostly enjoyed the movies, but not as much as I'd like. After the first one, I thought, 'Cool! So Harry is just starting to learn magic and will grow into a kick-ass wizard in the next couple of films!"
Then the second film came out, and it was still set in the school, and Harry didn't really do any magic, but he did wield a sword. And I thought, 'Okay, so he'll start whippin' out spells next time and start exploring the wizarding world."
And then the third one came out, and it was STILL set in the school. And the whole plot CLIMAXES with Harry casting ONE spell while Hermione runs around accomplishing all kinds of secret shit. And I was like, "Okay, really? This is the great Harry Potter that everyone talks about like he's the MESSIAH?"
Now we're SEVEN movies in, and it's STILL Sweet Valley High with wands that shoot phaser blasts. About all the magic Harry can accomplish is knocking people down. And he still doesn't know SHIT compared to JK Rowling—I mean "Hermione".
But I've long since settled into enjoying the films as a bit of murky fluff.
You'll enjoy this last one, then, the entire movie is gonna be errbody blowing the school to shit.
Hurray for Harry! Sort of....
I'm of two minds about the Potter films. I never had any interest in the books, but I've mostly enjoyed the movies, but not as much as I'd like. After the first one, I thought, 'Cool! So Harry is just starting to learn magic and will grow into a kick-ass wizard in the next couple of films!"
Then the second film came out, and it was still set in the school, and Harry didn't really do any magic, but he did wield a sword. And I thought, 'Okay, so he'll start whippin' out spells next time and start exploring the wizarding world."
And then the third one came out, and it was STILL set in the school. And the whole plot CLIMAXES with Harry casting ONE spell while Hermione runs around accomplishing all kinds of secret shit. And I was like, "Okay, really? This is the great Harry Potter that everyone talks about like he's the MESSIAH?"
Now we're SEVEN movies in, and it's STILL Sweet Valley High with wands that shoot phaser blasts. About all the magic Harry can accomplish is knocking people down. And he still doesn't know SHIT compared to JK Rowling—I mean "Hermione".
But I've long since settled into enjoying the films as a bit of murky fluff.
I'd say you missed a fair amount of the point of Harry Potter, though that's no surprise since you've just watched the movies. I recommend reading the books, but you aint gonna!
N.b. Non Australian readers may be puzzled by Maggot1300's cordial reply in Strine. Wukkas > no wuckin' furries > no fuckin' worries.
This is why we can't have nice words.
Zarban: You should check out the books. One of the central themes, which isn't really covered in the films, is that destiny is kind of bullshit, and the only thing that makes Harry "special" is that everyone has decided he is, beginning with Voldemort. It's actually mentioned that the prophecy in Order of the Phoenix could have applied to Harry or, of all people, Neville Longbottom. It's almost completely arbitrary that he decided it meant Harry and tried to kill him, and a TOTAL fluke that he failed. Everyone is talking about Harry like he's the Messiah -- but they've completely misread the situation.
Point is, it's a "greatness thrust upon him" type situation, with everyone just kind of expecting him to show up and save them and not realizing they should probably explain how. Harry spends the series becoming the hero everyone believes he is, which I think is far more interesting than if he just started that way.
I'd say you missed a fair amount of the point of Harry Potter
It's about some teen wizards who repeatedly use almost no magic to discover the dark secret of a succession of Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. And then they go camping for a whole movie. Right?
Harry spends the series becoming the hero everyone believes he is, which I think is far more interesting than if he just started that way.
Movie SEVEN: Hermione has made all the preparations. Hermione leads their escapes and picks their locations. Hermione knows how to make their camp undetectable. Hermione explains the plot to Harry. Hermione makes the disguise potion. Hermione saves Ron's arm. Hermione disguises Harry from the snatchers.
Harry... has to be saved from drowning after diving into a frozen pond alone to retrieve a sword that appeared to him without his doing anything.
That Hermione is gonna make a hell of a wizard some day. Harry? Not so much.
Last edited by Zarban (2011-07-08 18:55:03)
Just because she's read more books than Harry doesn't make her better at magic. She says as much in Movie 1. She may be a quick thinker, which is fine, but I don't see her completing the mission without Harry.
Well, that's another recurring point in the story, which is that Harry can't do this alone, and one of the things that makes him the thematic foil to the villain is that he sees and appreciates and encourages the strengths of those around him, whereas the villain wants to be the mostest and bestest all by himself.
Things would probably be much easier for everyone if Hermione could just face Voldemort herself and be done with it. Harry's not especially smart or talented, and he knows that. But she's not the hero, for better or worse; she's one of Harry's mentor characters. She's there to help him do what he, and only he, has ultimately gotta do.
P.S. Trying to type "Zarban" on my phone, autocorrect keeps changing it to "Zar an." It simply will not tolerate the B. I don't know.
I'm going to stop now because the idea that Michael is engaged in a Harry Potter debate via his phone makes me sad.
Again, I LIKE the movies. I just wish Harry weren't constantly having things explained to him by Hermione and used magic more that wasn't just knocking people down.
Last edited by Zarban (2011-07-08 22:11:29)
HARRY POTTER IS SERIOUS BUSINESS ZAR AN
Sometimes I wish I could ReTweet forum posts.
Thirded.
And slightly more on topic. love the books, loathe most of the movies.
FixedR6 wrote:N.b. Non Australian readers may be puzzled by Maggot1300's cordial reply in Strine. Wukkas > no wuckin' furries > no fuckin' worries.
This is why we can't have nice words.
now im confused... what's wrong with wukkas?? its a grouse saying
**Possible (semantic) Spoiler warning for the movies and books, just in case**
HP has loads of depth present within the books, so much that encyclopedic ones have been written by many just to explain parts of said depth. The books, in those cases (both the canon and...extracurricular ones) have the ability to flesh that out with no real worry as to length. *eyes Book 5/OotP somewhat fondly* This:
I just wish Harry weren't constantly having things explained to him by Hermione and used magic more that wasn't just knocking people down.
is a near direct result of Kloves having the task of compacting most of those layers of depth into an incredibly limited space while ALSO having the responsibility of communicating them to people who have not read/listened to the books and all of the backstory in detail. Hermione's (and several others') explaining has plenty of wiggle room in JKR's arena, but much less so in the movies. If I recall correctly, Emma is given other characters' lines/perspectives sometimes to serve that purpose.
The "knocking-down magic" stems from the book series being (at least at first) geared toward children (Now, that's most likely just one aspect of it, but.). Harry doesn't use anything stronger than Expelliarmus and Stupefy as his signatures because, as far as we see in the majority of the books, that's the most he was taught. Expelliarmus in Lockhart's Dueling Club - courtesy of Snape, where it blasted Lockhart pretty far off - and Stupefy because it was a submissive maneuver used (and the first one he's seen and heard the incantation to) in the Quidditch World Cup aftermath. Since those were the first offensive spells he was exposed to, they become his bread-and-butter for offense pretty much until he splits off from Hogwarts in DH. Then the more...complicated spells he learns after that are either from battle observation, or field necessity and Hermione/Ron/Other Significant Person using them with the incantations audible or shown to him (after which point, he is able to put them to use himself).
As for the rest of it, Harry's been put on a pedestal by the rest of the Wizarding World, who idolize him for something he has no idea how he accomplished or how to give a repeat performance, as it were. This gives him gigantic expectations to fulfill. Dumbles' reluctance to train him due to the man's (understandable) emotional attachment to preserving Harry's innocence provides severe setbacks to this. As a result, Harry needs a complex support system to fill in the gaps. Yet, the wider World sees nothing of that, they only get that "Ooh, he defeated the evil dictator before, so he MUST know how to do it again!" - with the cocktail of yellow journalism and a press monopoly thrown in to skew public opinion. As the series moves forward, he gleans the knowledge from his support system to finally do his task in the end like Mike said, but he would never have gotten that far without his friends and haphazard experiences each year filling in the gap left by Dumbledore's too-little-too-late training.
HARRY POTTER IS SERIOUS BUSINESS ZAR AN
Trufax. *nods*
Quick question (then I'll scroll up to see if it's been answered already): which versions of HP1+2 are you doing, cos I've just spied some extended versions.
btw: we don't need a twitter account to listen, right ?!
Last edited by Fido (2011-07-09 15:09:07)
Harry Potter is that film series that everyone on the planet has seen but I haven't bothered. The early films looked OK in the trailers... for kid's movies. By the fourth or fifth one they started getting really dark and action-oriented, and looked more interesting to me, but I figured I'd have to watch the previous three or four flicks to figure out what the hell was going on, so I just never did.
The last one's coming out, tho, and I have all of them on bluray, so I may as well watch them all now.
No Twitter account needed, Fido.
merci bocu
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