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[Hm, a Police Academy reference doesn't really work, does it? But I just couldn't think of a good recognizable 3rd-movie subtitle with the same comedic value as "Electric Boogaloo".]
I saw Prisoner of Azkaban today, a $4 matinee on the nice big screen at the Somerville Theater. The theater was nearly empty, which was great, but it was overly air-conditioned, so I was shivering through most of it. It didn't help that many of the scenes were in the snow or the cold rain. Anyway, despite the harsh environment, I loved the movie. I didn't hate the first two, but I was disappointed by a lot of Chris Columbus's directorial decisions, not to mention the awful special effects (a lot of the Quidditch animation in the first movie looked like cut-scenes from a third-rate FRPG video game). The special effects have gotten much better (although the werewolf was still kind of lame), but more importantly the director Alfonso Cuaron gave this one a much darker look. He's also helped by the fact that the third book is much better than the first two, probably the best of the five (although I like the 4th about as much). The third book is longer than the first two, too, but inexplicably the movie is shorter, which is my main complaint. Mark Caro's review sums it up well:
Two bits of casting trivia: David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) have both been in multiple Mike Leigh movies, and were in Life Is Sweet together; also, Timothy Spall played Rosencrantz in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, while Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) was Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. (Thanks to IMDb for the latter.) I was very happy with the casting of Thewlis and Oldman, and I'm glad they're important characters who will reappear. (I wonder if Rowling had Gilderoy Lockhart show up again in Order of the Phoenix just so Kenneth Branagh could return?) Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort in Goblet of Fire should be interesting as well, although since Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) is directing, I was hoping for Hugh Grant. (He also did Donnie Brasco, so Johnny Depp wasn't totally out of the question either.) By the way, is it okay to say I have a crush on 14-year-old Emma Watson? Probably not.
I just found J.K.Rowling's official website, which has a lot of interesting stuff straight from the author, such as an amusing FAQ entry about the significance of the character Mark Evans. No real hints about who the Half-Blood Prince is (aside from "not Harry or Voldemort"), but my money is on Seamus Finnigan. (Of course it could be Ron or Neville, but those are too obvious.)
Bonus movie review: I saw Our Man In Havana (1959) the other day, thanks to Tivo's lucky guess. It's based on a novel by Graham Greene, who also wrote The Third Man, which had the same director (Carol Reed). There are many similarities, but Our Man In Havana is a black comedy set in Cuba (filmed shortly before the revolution, which adds an interesting subtext). Alec Guinness plays a near-broke vacuum cleaner salesman who is recruited (by Noel Coward) into the British intelligence, but soon learns he's in over his head and starts making up information in order to keep getting paid. It's hilarious, but in an understated way, and it's a bit grim to think about the bungling spy organization given the recent WMD intelligence debacle. (One of the things he makes up is in fact an advanced secret weapon that "makes the H-bomb look like a conventional weapon", and his superiors accept his fanciful sketches without question.) Overall a great underrated movie, worth checking out if you run across it on AMC.
And speaking of novel adaptations, I saw a commercial for Vanity Fair starring Reese Witherspoon. I've had the book (by Thackeray) on my shelf for ages; I guess this means I have one more month to get around to finally reading it.
I saw Prisoner of Azkaban today, a $4 matinee on the nice big screen at the Somerville Theater. The theater was nearly empty, which was great, but it was overly air-conditioned, so I was shivering through most of it. It didn't help that many of the scenes were in the snow or the cold rain. Anyway, despite the harsh environment, I loved the movie. I didn't hate the first two, but I was disappointed by a lot of Chris Columbus's directorial decisions, not to mention the awful special effects (a lot of the Quidditch animation in the first movie looked like cut-scenes from a third-rate FRPG video game). The special effects have gotten much better (although the werewolf was still kind of lame), but more importantly the director Alfonso Cuaron gave this one a much darker look. He's also helped by the fact that the third book is much better than the first two, probably the best of the five (although I like the 4th about as much). The third book is longer than the first two, too, but inexplicably the movie is shorter, which is my main complaint. Mark Caro's review sums it up well:
Given how much deeper the feelings of "The Prisoner of Azkaban" run, it's odd that the place it comes up short is the ending. The book's conclusion packs a wallop, drawing connections between Harry and his dad, the living and the dead, in a way that's as profound as it is poignant. The movie hits the same plot points, but many details are missing, so what's there feels more rushed, less resonant and, despite the overall darker tone, not weighty enough.There's even more ground to cover in Goblet of Fire, and I hope they can figure out the right parts to concentrate on.
Two bits of casting trivia: David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) have both been in multiple Mike Leigh movies, and were in Life Is Sweet together; also, Timothy Spall played Rosencrantz in Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, while Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) was Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. (Thanks to IMDb for the latter.) I was very happy with the casting of Thewlis and Oldman, and I'm glad they're important characters who will reappear. (I wonder if Rowling had Gilderoy Lockhart show up again in Order of the Phoenix just so Kenneth Branagh could return?) Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort in Goblet of Fire should be interesting as well, although since Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) is directing, I was hoping for Hugh Grant. (He also did Donnie Brasco, so Johnny Depp wasn't totally out of the question either.) By the way, is it okay to say I have a crush on 14-year-old Emma Watson? Probably not.
I just found J.K.Rowling's official website, which has a lot of interesting stuff straight from the author, such as an amusing FAQ entry about the significance of the character Mark Evans. No real hints about who the Half-Blood Prince is (aside from "not Harry or Voldemort"), but my money is on Seamus Finnigan. (Of course it could be Ron or Neville, but those are too obvious.)
Bonus movie review: I saw Our Man In Havana (1959) the other day, thanks to Tivo's lucky guess. It's based on a novel by Graham Greene, who also wrote The Third Man, which had the same director (Carol Reed). There are many similarities, but Our Man In Havana is a black comedy set in Cuba (filmed shortly before the revolution, which adds an interesting subtext). Alec Guinness plays a near-broke vacuum cleaner salesman who is recruited (by Noel Coward) into the British intelligence, but soon learns he's in over his head and starts making up information in order to keep getting paid. It's hilarious, but in an understated way, and it's a bit grim to think about the bungling spy organization given the recent WMD intelligence debacle. (One of the things he makes up is in fact an advanced secret weapon that "makes the H-bomb look like a conventional weapon", and his superiors accept his fanciful sketches without question.) Overall a great underrated movie, worth checking out if you run across it on AMC.
And speaking of novel adaptations, I saw a commercial for Vanity Fair starring Reese Witherspoon. I've had the book (by Thackeray) on my shelf for ages; I guess this means I have one more month to get around to finally reading it.