movies, and au revoir....

[lagilman]

And so I dragged myself out to see Harry Potter tonight, mainly so I could continue living with the rest of the fannish world (at least until I admit that I don't plan to read The New Book until sometimes in September, anyway)

My reaction? Lovely fun, as always (the fight scene is magnificently choreographed and shot), and everyone handed in superb jobs as always (and Daniel R? OMG I saw a flash of the man he's going to become and I wish I were 15 again. Okay, 20.)

But the best moment came when I turned to C. (who knows not the books or the movies) and crowed "Because he's Dumbledore, that's why!" (followed soon after by "Because she's Hermione, that's why!")

That said, as lovely as it was -- once was enough. Like the book, it was a delightful time and now I'm done.

(EtA: I should have mentioned that the actress who plays Luna is perfect, perfect, perfect and I adored the character in a way I couldn't in the book.)

And although we were disappointed not to get previews for Spiderwick Chronicles (sorry, Holly), they showed previews for Stardust (want. now. NOW!) and a terminally adorable and possibly hysterical movie called Enchanted. So yes. So very, very yes. Just for the damn chipmunk.

(they also showed previews for The Dark is Rising and I could weep. I indeed may weep. It will look very nice I'm sure [I recognized many of the scenes as image-perfect] but that has about as much in common with the books as Demi Moore's "The Scarlet Letter" had with the classic novel of the same name.)

And now, I must go do laundry and pack up the car so I'm ready to hit the road tomorrow. Necon, ho! (no to be confused with the Necon Wh-- what? Oh, right. shhhhhhh.)

Comments

[sharan.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Now I'll have to get to a movie just to see the Dark is Rising preview. I'm seriously looking forward to that one (but really worried about how much they're going to change it). I LOVE those books! They're much better than the Harry Potter books IMHO.

[lagilman]

Prepare to have your heart broken, then. As warned, it may look pretty but the changes they made are... troublesome at best and devastating at worst. as I said, I weep.

[djonn]

I had picked up some while back that there were Serious Fannish Rumblings about the ways in which The Dark Is Rising was being morphed for the big screen. The trailer, unfortunately, reinforces those rumblings tenfold; it has the look of being one of those movies that has very, very little to do with the book.

To be entirely fair, divergence does not always make for bad films. Both Brad Bird's animated version of The Iron Giant and the Don Bluth Secret of NIMH (adapted from Mrs Frisby & the Rats of NIMH) are fantastic movies which bear at best slight resemblance to their source works. Another example is the old Disney film Candleshoe starring Helen Hayes, David Niven, and a very young Jodie Foster; the movie is great fun, but when I went to look up the Michael Innes book from which it's drawn I found the novel well-nigh unreadable.

So it may be that The Dark Is Rising will turn out to be a passable film -- but no, it doesn't look as if it's going to be remotely faithful, and the trailer isn't particularly promising on its own merits.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

As warned, it may look pretty but the changes they made are... troublesome at best and devastating at worst.

I ain't gonna like that....

Awesome series. We will damage them, my precious, won't we?

[girasole.livejournal.com]

Like Suri, I was horrified by the Dark Is Rising trailer. It seemed to violate everything I know and love about those books. But you never know.

[sharan.livejournal.com]

Damn, that's not good:(. I was a little worried when I heard they changed him from 11 years old to 15, and I guess I had good reason to worry! It's a shame. I was really hoping the movie would be another good adaptation (like Narnia or LOTR) and do well and bring more attention to the books.

[blazedglory.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the trailer (or even heard there was going to be a movie, yes I'm living under a rock). Or maybe I saw it and forgot. Anyway, just the notion that they'd change a character's age from 11 to 15 takes the story sharply away from the book. Eleven and fifteen are very different ages. I don't mean to sound as though I'm treating anyone here like an idiot by pointing that out. (I don't remember those years of my own, but my own kid is 11 and my godchildren were 15 relatively recently.) I probably shouldn't imply that the writers of the script are idiots, either, but perhaps they don't care, thought it wouldn't matter, or thought we wouldn't notice.

[sharan.livejournal.com]

Well, this weekend I saw posters for the movie at a Borders Express with a listing for the website (www.darkthemovie.com (http://www.darkthemovie.com) so I went there and decided to see the trailer for myself. *OUCH!* It's worse than I thought. Modern day? High School? Digital cameras? Malls? ARGH! This is supposed to take place in the middle of the woods in Wales in winter with no technology (for God's sake I first read the books when I was a kid sometime in the 70s when digital cameras didn't even exist). What exactly made them think they had to modernize the books to get people to watch this, when all the really successful movies like LOTR, Narnia, and even Harry Potter didn't go that route?

I don't see any mention of the Old Ones either, just that he's supposed to be some kind of warrior.

So, yes, it is bad. I only hope the modern day stuff isn't as big a part of the movie itself as it is the trailer. I will see the movie anyway just on principle (it's still based, albeit loosely, on the books I love, and I want to support the books) but I'm not going to have very high hopes for this one:(.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard of Enchanted ... I just watched the trailer, and, um. Yeah. I'm definitely going to have to see that. :)

[lagilman]

the entire adult portion of the audience died at that preview.

[djonn]

I dunno. Enchanted looks as if it's either going to be utterly brilliant or desperately, jaw-droppingly awful, and very little from the live-action side of the Disney empire in recent years suggests that they've got the right kind of writing sensibility to make this work.

Mind, one of my biases here is that a long-standing friend of mine has, for a number of years now, been making his living on Broadway as a candlestick, an evil lion, and a Grinch. So when I see someone dressed up as a fairytale character, I am likely as not going to say, "Oh, I used to play cards with him when we were in college," shrug, and go on about my business.

[jesterjoker.livejournal.com]

For the Spiderwick preview, did you mean seeing it period, or seeing it in the theater? The Youtube is a fun critter.

I've been reading OooP just now, so I can have some geek cred! I would read it a while ago, if I had known of Tonks... :D

[lagilman]

Tonks rocks. she doesn't get enough screen time in the movie but she steals scenes with abandon.

(as does the actres who plays Luna. Wow she's perfect)

[jesterjoker.livejournal.com]

Bugger that she's not in it more, but I'm glad to hear she rocks. :D

The... uh... Wikipedia c.c ... said that Rowling said Luna's actress was perfect for the role, so that's also not too surprising! ;)

[madkestrel.livejournal.com]

(they also showed previews for The Dark is Rising and I could weep.

I'm seriously considering taking all five book to the theater and sitting outside reading, with a sign that says, "Buy the books instead - you'll thank me later."

[allaboutm-e.livejournal.com]

We have traditionally "read" our Harry Potter books via audio read by the splendiferous Jim Dale in the car, and so we will probably complete Deathly Hallows sometime in September as well...
Going to make a night of it and see "Order of the Phoenix" Friday, then jaunt to the local booksellers' midnight party...

[delkytlar.livejournal.com]

Austin and I were treated to a preview trifecta before HP: Spiderwick, Dark Is Rising and The Golden Compass. Oddly enough, none of the trailers made me turn to him and say "We've got to see that." In fact, the only trailer during HP that made me at all interested was "Fred Claus" (which is, in its own way, a bit sad). We saw the Enchanted trailer before Ratatouille, and all four of us declared our intent to see it on the big screen.

As for HP, much as I enjoyed it, there was so much material missing from the book version, it is actually my least favorite of the movie series. I'm much more looking forward to the movie of Half-Blood Prince.

And yes, Luna was terrific.

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

I am in denial about that Dark is Rising promo, or at least I'm trying to be. Oh look, I tell myself, isn't it a funny coincidence that they're making a movie with the same name as one of my favorite books on earth.

Will Stanton would DIE THE DEATH before admitting whatever horrid thing it was that he said about girls, because Will has dignity. Will having dignity was a major part of what I loved in those books, that dignity was a possible thing to have even when you were 12 years old and younger than everyone you knew. And sometimes they could even recognize and value it in you, even if they didn't exactly get where it came from or where it was going.