Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix [movie]

[chomiji]

Actually, I quite liked it ... but (1) I've almost given up expecting much from the actual book series, and (2) I've pretty much forgotten what happened in the book. So your reactions to the movie might not be the same as mine.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (movie review)

I was especially taken with the performances by Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood (see the icon) and Allan Rickman as Snape. Luna has faced death and survived, and now she has reached that happy Nirvana where nothing much bothers her and everything wrong can be at least ameliorated by a suitable application of pudding. (One mainstream reviewer noted that although many people will like the character, they probably wouldn't want to be stuck in a railway compartment with her. But I think I could handle it ... .) Rickman does a amazing things with a very small amount of screen time indeed, and Snape's ambiguity continues to be fascinating. At the moment, I'm leaning toward "Snape is a horrible human being but not evil and not a traitor - he has honor even if he barely has humanity, and maybe, given his history, he's actually doing as well as can be expected."

I'm not claiming that the movie is anything significant on the historical scale, but it kept my attention and gave me some emotional payoff, and I had no trouble suspending my disbelief for everything except Hagrid's unfortunate brother. In particular, the sequence from the point at which Umbridge's inquisitors broke down the wall to the secret training ground of Dumbledore's Army until the end of the battle in the Ministry of Magic had me quite literally on the edge of my seat (and indeed, gripping the back of the seat in front of me by the very end).

The audience at our showing cheered and clapped at appropriate spots during the movie, which I always take as a good sign. And I would like to extend my congratulations (along with a token slap on the wrist) to the audience member who managed to make himself heard above the roar of jeering and laughter that broke out when the witless, cowardly Minister of Magic finally admitted that Voldemort had returned. I'm sure that all of us wanted to exclaim, as that leather-lunged individual did, "No shit, Sherlock!"

Comments

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

I just got back from seeing it. (I hate crowds so I waited until today.) I was amused by the education politics of Dolores Umbridge.

Separated at birth?

http://www.ed.gov/news/photos/2005/106/edlite-0106_1.html
http://imdb.com/gallery/ss/0373889/0000000093C.jpg.html

I was also amused to see which of the young actors had gotten tall, some quite tall.

I'll post about it myself later. I also just read SDK 23 and liked it a lot, so I'll post about it too.

[chomiji]

We saw it Saturday night - it wasn't too bad, crowds-wise.

Hee! No, I hadn't noticed that resemblance, but I'm not surprised. Political commentary in children's literature goes back at least as far as nursery rhymes ... . And yes, if Neville was in a U.S. school, everyone would be nagging him - "don't you play baskertball?"

I'm glad you liked SDK 23! I'll be blogging it sometime too - I'm way behind in my manga blogging.

[ipperne.livejournal.com]

We saw it the day before yesterday, and we both agreed that it wouldn't hurt if there was at least half an hour more. Mostly becaus we didn't notice that it was over 2 hours already.

But my overall opinion is that they managed to cover the important things in the book, but many of the small amusing details was lost in the process. still it's 600 pages they had to fit into those two hours, so well done.

but I still think that there was a severe lack of Draco! where did he go? he was kinda all over the book as far as I remember, but now...

[chomiji]

The Mr. also thought that things would have been better with more details. I think he likes the scenes showing how they teach wizardry. But I've forgotten so much that I didn't miss it!

Instead of Draco, we had his nasty Papa. That guy could play Fubuki if he lost some weight - he has the right imperious attitude. The guy who's playing Draco is starting to look like the lead guitarist in a punk band.

[ipperne.livejournal.com]

But I don't like Draco's nasty Papa. I like Draco! Don't ask me why, but I think he's a cutie...
the lead guitarist in a punk band O.O that idea have produced some very amusing images in my head by now ^^

SDK as a real movie could be so amusing, I wonder how Hotaru would be like then... But yes, the guy who plays Lucis would be perfect as Fubuki!
Anyway, now that you are mentioning Fubuki... I just found a one page gag with him and Hishigi(and the cat) and I think that you are going to love it. I think that I'll just edit the scan and post it right away for you to enjoy^^

[sanada.livejournal.com]

YES, Luna was fantastic! I was pleasantly surprised, because they made her abnormal enough to be a little unsettling. I wouldn't mind being stuck in a train compartment with her either (we'd probably get along). And Evanna Lynch was so much better than Emma Watson as Hermione... x__x; I've always been a Snape fan and an Alan Rickman fan, so I really wish he had gotten more screen time. He's one of the most interesting characters in the books because of his moral ambiguity (I like Slughorn, too). Most of the characters are either very very good or very very bad, which is okay for 11-year-olds in the first book but painfully dull in later books, with the exception of characters that are just funny (like the Weasley twins). I think the 4th books was the strongest, and the 5th successfully rode on that momentum, and the 6th was forced at best... so I'm not optimistic for the 7th... oh well, I still might run around in a Snape costume. ^^;

[chomiji]

(Yuki looks like he's got food posoning in that icon ...! XD   )

Hermione never looked sturdy enough to me. Most of the girls I knew of that type were either slightly heavy or slightly jock-ish. She's always been this rather snippy waif. Luna, on the other hand, seemed spot-on. I've known a few of that model ... very sweet, and quite, quite off-kilter.

Yeah, the B&W-ness of the characters is one of the things that makes the biggest contrasts with Diana Wynne Jones' work, where people are more realistically gray-ish. (And let's not even think about grown-up stuff like Lymond ... .)

So when should I be looking for you in your Snape get-up?

[sanada.livejournal.com]

I know, I love that icon~ It sums up my feelings about Emma Watson~

And her hair's not bushy enough... she's a little too perfect, you know? And she delivers her lines so declaratively that you can tell she's acting... it breaks the flow of of a scene. It worked when she was younger, but not now.

I guess it's supposed to be more whimsical and lighthearted, although a lot of Rowling's "whimsy" feels forced to me.

Oh, I'll probably wear it Friday night. ^^; It's not much, though, just a crappy costume cobbled together from bits of other costumes. I was photographed in it once for the Sun paper, and I looked pretty creepy. ^^;;

No Draco?

[(Anonymous)]

But I love that whiny brat. And too bad there isn't more Snape, he is fascinating. Wasn't he bullied by Harry's dad's crowd when they were all younger?

I'm looking forward to seeing next weekend after the crowds have died down some.

TK

Re: No Draco?

[chomiji]

Hi, TK!!!

Yeah, in fact, they show that part of Snape's history in a flashback in the movie - pretty well done, I thought. Draco has, like, two lines in the entire thing, although he shows up and looks snarky in a number of scenes.

Crowds weren't bad in downtown Silver Spring in Saturday - they have this amazing modern megaplex on the upper floor of a block of shops, with stadium-style seating in all the theaters. There are some OK restaurants and a Borders in the same complex.