9 posts tagged “harry potter”
At around 2am this morning, I was over April Fool's day. My roommate already wished me a Happy Birthday, followed by "APRIL FOOLS" (weird). My RSS feeds were being clogged with lame stories. Google's main prank, Virgle, was alright, but nothing really special. It was well thought out and suprisingly developed. Don't those Google people have anything better to do? I was most amused by Gmail Custom Time. Damn, if only it were real. The funniest one I've seen was BBC's flying penguins documentary, which is more of an ad than a prank, but it's hilarious. I expected something really shocking and possibly real to pop up. Remember the Taco Liberty Bell? Youtube didn't appear to do anything...
As for the most obnoxious April fool's joke, that award goes to Mugglenet, who felt it necessary to populate their site with a running stream of fake/lame/obnoxious Harry Potter stories. They had one up that blatantly mocked H/Hr shippers and the concept of Harry and Hermione together. Listen, I'm no H/Hr shipper, but that was a low blow. Ship wars are so 2000. Let it be douches.
No, Jo isn't writing another book (though she totally will do another installment in like 10 years), Warner Bros. is splitting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two parts. I have pretty negative feelings about this. First off, I had major, major problems with the book, so I'm not looking forward to reliving every single moment of that over the course of two movies. Honestly, if there was one book that suffered from length, it was OotP. If there were two, add in Deathly Hallows, because there were long stretches of nothing, which really needed to be truncated... which is what movies are for!
Why do you think the LotR movies were so amazing? I have a confession, I couldn't get through the LotR books, mostly because of the chapters and chapters of walking, singing, and whining about food. The Hobbit kept those things to a minimum, but Tolkien felt the need to expand that in the trilogy. The great thing about movies is that they cut out the fat (well good movie adaptations, anyway) and leave the necessary good bits. If every one of those movies were split into two (which I know they could have been, since there are 4 hour extended editions), I probably would be annoyed by lack of action or furthering of the plot. I can't speak from experience, since I haven't seen the extended editions, for all I know they could be 4 kick ass amazing hours of footage that needed to be cut because 3 hours is enough.
To be fair, Warner Bros. isn't about to release a 3 hour and 20 minute Harry Potter, movie, and I guess a lot of fans still have problems with cuts to the Canon. I'm not one of them. Don't get the wrong, I was annoyed by the drastic changes from the books made in PoA (Marauders FTW?), but I learned to accept the movies and books as different forms of the same tale, adaptations, if you will. I guess the world isn't as enlightened as I am.
OotP benefited massively from cuts, I mean, Jo needed editorial cuts before sending that manuscript to the printing press. I understand that people had problems with that movie, non-readers were lost because of the truncation. So the writers need a little editorial practice, surely they'll figure it out by HBP, right? Why not put that to good use in Deathly Hallows? I mean, with the ability to make two 2+ hour long movies, they might have time to include... *takes inhaler*... the epilogue *GAGS*. And that may be the biggest tragedy.
Now, who will be directing these two potential turds? Rumor has it, it's David Yates, director of OotP. You'd think, since he directed my favorite film, OotP, I'd be elated. You could think that, but you'd be wrong. I had high hopes for directors: Spielberg, ... OK, mostly Spielberg. I kinda hoped for Guillermo del Toro to helm this, it seemed up his Pan's Labyrinth alley, but it wasn't meant to be, he caught a bigger fish: The Hobbit movie and prequel. I'm eagerly anticipating that endeavor.
OK, well, why not get Alfonso Cuarón? Sure he raped PoA and stole out Harry Potter childhood innocence, but he excelled in artsying up the HP franchise, and set the standard that future directors of the series worked from. Think about it. Also, any of you see Children of Men? His long, tracking shots would be brilliant during the many DH chase and action scenes. I would have loved to see his interpretation of the battle at Hogwarts. I guess I'll just have to imagine how awesome it would be.
So overall, I understand why WB did it. I don't believe it was a greedy move to make money, I really think they were thinking of Joe Moviegoer and how he would react to a truncated final installment. They need to approach the franchise as its own Canon and treat the ending as such, so people like my sister who hasn't read the books, will feel satisfied with the resolution. Though, if the movie watchers were anything like the book readers, they probably will leave the last movie feeling empty, which will evolve into anger and bitterness. I guess where the end of the series goes, nobody wins.
Warning, potential ruining of childhood inside (Harry Potter)
Oh Jo. She continues on her tour of post-DH bullshit that wasn't included in the books. This week's tidbit? Dumbledore was gay. I was actually speechless, I never once thought of Dumbledore's sexuality, with men or woman. To me, his type of love was not of a sexual nature, but more of a guardianship. Well... guess not. I linked to that article because the wording was hysterical. Let's break it down.
- The question asked by "one young fan" was if Dumbledore found "true love". Well Jo responded ever so bluntly, "Dumbledore is gay", to which the audience gasped and applauded. Way to scar that one kid, who expected to receive an answer about a young childhood sweetheart.
- Technically, Dumbledore did have a childhood sweetheart, except he wasn't so sweet. I'll quote directly from the ABC article, because the wording is hysterically brilliant. "Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. 'Falling in love can blind us to an extent,' Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was 'horribly, terribly let down.' Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his 'great tragedy.'" I bet he was horribly, terribly let down.
- This got me thinking about how a lot of people, clearly not me, believed Dumbledore gay. I always thought Dumbledore was very, very close to Harry, and often got overly emotional. Now, I'm not saying Dumbledore was in love with Harry (Gays aren't pedophiles), but could Dumbledore have been in love with James? The reverse Snape (that should be a sexual position, just saying). Snape despised Harry because of the love he had for Lily, and the hate he had for James. But if Dumbledore was in love with James, I could see him taking a special interest in James's son, Harry. Dumbledore would want James's son to be cared for as best as possible. Theoretically, that's also what Snape should have done, but he isn't exactly the nicest guy, is he? Now I'm going to think about Dumbledore moping around James and Lily (like Tonks with Lupin) as his heart broke as the love of his life (since Grindelwald) went on with a woman.
- I love when mainstream media reports on the fandom. "Potter readers on fan sites and elsewhere on the Internet have speculated on the sexuality of Dumbledore, noting that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past. And explicit scenes with Dumbledore already have appeared in fan fiction." Oh those explicit scenes.
- I love how the writers of the HBP script were going to include something about a past female interest and Jo crossed it out and wrote in the margin "Dumbledore is gay". I wish I could see the looks on the faces of those writers. I bet someone spit out their coffee.
I had a lot of reasons to be amused by this, but still... I don't like to think about Dumbledore and any sort of sexuality. But it does explain Dumbledore's "flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet" when he visited Tom Riddle in HBP. I do hope they include that now that we know the truth...
The Office 4.04
I feel like the only person who didn't really love this episode... I feel like Michael is getting way too ridiculous for me... I don't know, I spent most of the episode doing my Chemistry Lab Report, so maybe I wasn't paying much attention. I do recall it wasn't as bad as the first 3 (read 6 30 minute episodes), but I didn't think it was at all up to par with the amazing episodes of season 2 or season 3. Maybe I'll have to watch it again. I doubt Michael will be any less of a buffoon, though.
I haven't read any of the stories, but word has it Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been leaked. That or significant details. So I guess I'm making my internet exit sooner than I expected. I will not be spoiled! Adios, I'll probably post a pre-DH theory-fest once I finish HBP again. So long for now!
Here's a review I wrote yesterday before I saw OotP again. Note: Spoilers
OK a few more things to add:Here's how I went into OotP: The books sucked, Harry whined, and there was a kick ass Ministry Battle. I definitely expected the entire movie to suck until the battle. HOLY SHIT I WAS WRONG. I actually LOVE this movie. I think it's better than the book. I hated the book. I want to beat Jo over the head with all my teenage angst, just like she did to us with Harry. The movie was able to strip away all of the unnecessary Angry Harry and found some of the awesome things and made them more awesome. LUNA FRICKIN' LOVEGOOD IS BOSS. Holy shit amazing casting. This was the part Evanna Lynch was meant to play. She was just so out there, it was brilliant. Then fucking Tonks was awesome, even if she was only in it for a little. Neville kicked some major ass, the movies always give him something good to do. I'm so jazzed, I saw the film, then spent like an hour talking about it. THIS is how OotP should have been. I just loved EVERYONE (OK maybe not Emma, but that's because the poor girl can't act).
Dan Radcliffe, the love of my life, learned how to act!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, I never thought he was that bad, just that crying scene in PoA kinda ruined his rep. Obviously he took some kick ass acting classes. Actually, everyone stepped up to their roles. I was beaming with pride the entire movie. Remember, I expected to fall asleep, I mean the book was that boring in spots. The best part about this movie was the flow. All the other movies felt somewhat disjointed. There were scenic shots in between scenes and they didn't flow as fluidly as a good adaptation should. This worked like magic. Things that happened several chapters later occurred in the same scene, but it all worked. There was a new script writer and it showed. This had a much more mature feel to it, as it should have. And the movie was just so pretty. Major props to you, David Yates. He just elevated everything to a new level. Part of me dares to say it was even artsy at points.
Everything clicked in this film. I get that Sirius was the only one Harry had left, and I understand the significance of his death. It wasn't until this movie that I really got Sirius and Harry. I was so upset when Sirius died this time. Yates did a wonderful job of showing how the two of them had bonded. I daresay that Rowling wasn't able to fully convey that. Also, Gary Oldman really fit the role of Sirius more than I thought he did in PoA. He definitely looked more attractive. Oh, and I was so happy that they did the head in the fire thing so well. Anger doesn't describe my reaction to the depiction of it in the fourth film. Ick.
So, all this is brilliant and fantastic, but the one thing where I was a little disappointed was with the battle. You know, the one I swore was the only good thing about this movie. I was hoping to see a lot of the Department of Mysteries. I wanted to see the Brain that tried to kill Ron, and I wanted to see the door that Harry couldn't unlock and melted his knife, and I wanted to see the bell jar with the bird who kept turning into an egg and then back into a bird. I really wanted to see that last bit. The Time room was so cool, I loved the time turners that broke, then repaired themselves, then broke again... I was a little underwhelmed with this big, huge, climactic battle. But Sirius's death was as upsetting as ever. I shed a tear, and I was pretty OK with Bella actually using the killing curse as opposed to Sirius getting knocked through the veil (which should have been darker IMO).
OK some random notes: As a Cho-hater, I pretty much loved that Yates made her the Sneak. Sure there was Veritaserum involved, but whatever. Bellatrix was as awesome and badass as I hoped. I flipped a shit when Sirius punched out Lucius. Major pwnage.
Again, just fricking awesome. Personally, I don't know why some people dislike this. If they think this is angsty, clearly they haven't read the fifth book.
- My sister hadn't read the books, and she didn't understand anything. I guess if you hadn't read the books, a number of things seemed just random and odd.
- I just keep loving Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. I can't get over how perfect she was. Everytime I think I've calmed down, I just remember her voice and her intonation, and I get all giddy again. BRILLIANT!
- The script adaptation kept a lot of lines from the book. I forgot how many good things were in that book. I guess they were all hidden by the giant pile of poo that was the Harry-angst
- When Sirius punched Lucius, pwnage. Majorly.
- I'm getting a little more disappointed with the Battle Scene. My sister didn't even notice it was a battle, she may have fallen asleep though. There was just so much to see in the Department of Mysteries and we only got a tiny taste. I really, really, really wanted to see that time room. *sigh*
- I'm a little worried that Narcissa Malfoy will get cut out of HBP, because they didn't show her on the Black family tree. I mean, I know she's important, and I don't see how they could cut her out, but it's plausible. She was just the shit, her and Bella. I'll be really, really pissed if that happens.
- Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe are fucking sexy. I don't know how that happened with Rupert, he used to be funny looking.
- I still pronounce Lestrange with a soft "a", as opposted to Le-STRANGE.
I had a busy day finishing up OotP and I went out to get some Harry Potter stuff to wear to the midnight movie. Now I'm planning out how I'm supposed to watch 3 HP movies tomorrow. I'm currently watching Sorcerer's Stone, which is reminding me how tiny and cute everyone used to be
But because I was so busy, I seemed to have missed the memo that Dead Like Me is coming back. Now don't get me wrong, I really liked it, but on the list of shows I'd think would come back from the dead, ironically this wouldn't be near the top. I never thought it had the base to do this. Weird.
Order of the Phoenix Trailer. Watch it. Now.
OMG OMG OMG. This is my least favo(u)rite of the series, but I think this will be the best movie. Why? Because the action sequences will be the shit. This book is perfect movie, and DUDE, I'm pumped. My favo(u)rite part of the trailer (I only saw it once) was Voldemort in a black suit standing at the train station. I don't recall that from the book, but definitely a nice touch.
In other news, I may or may not have ringworm. If you googleimage it, my mark isn't as gross, it's just a tiny ellipse-shaped mark. Mom diagnosed it, so it's probably incorrect. Still...ew.
Oh and prom was fun.
It's happening tonight :-)
In other very exciting news, the OotP teaser was released, and I am so pumped! Helena Bonham Carter looks incredible as Bellatrix Lestrange! I'm so going to the OotP New York premiere. I went to the GoF one and it was amazing, plus it'll be warm for the OotP one. The GoF one was just chilly...stupid November.
School will make you miss many things, like the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes wedding extravaganza. Luckily, MSNBC was on top of it. Nothing like 5 hours of "breaking news" about a wedding in Italy...
Looks like Sci Fi is finally getting some balls and getting Battlestar Galactica some prime real estate. January, the show will air Sundays at 10. I'm pretty pumped, because no longer is it going to get the one night when people aren't home. Sundays at 10 is a big deal, and it'll face some competition, but I think this move will gain viewership.
