jmc_bks: (Default)
jmc_bks ([personal profile] jmc_bks) wrote2007-07-19 04:43 pm
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Good people vs. death eaters

My thoughts, in no particular order:

Best line of the movie: Sirius's "The world isn't divided into good people and Death Eaters."

Sirius? Totally slashy and more than a little cracked by his imprisonment in Azkaban.

Helena Bonham-Carter? Creepily insane as Bellatrix Lestrage.

I'm not a Lucius Malfoy fan in the books, but Jason Isaacs in a bad blond wig and a mask? MROW. Add the cape and the serpent cane and I feel all swoony.

Dan Radcliffe's acting has improved immensely. Emma Watson needs to learn to convey emotion in more ways -- the deep/heavy breathing gets old. Would've liked to see more of Rupert Grint. Evanna Lynch was ethereal as Luna; she wasn't the Luna of my imagination but she was very good. And now I could totally 'ship Luna/Neville.

Snape is much more likeable in the films. Part of this is because he's played by Alan Rickman, but the other part is that the film isn't told merely from Harry's perspective, which skews the reader's view of Snape since they have such an awful relationship. Wish he'd had more screen time in OotP. Really, this holds true for all of the returning characters -- Hagrid, McGonagall, the Weasleys, the Order.

Imelda Staunton absolutely stole the movie as Umbridge. I hope she gets BAFTA and Oscar nominations for her role.

Michael Gambon, however great an actor he is, is not working for me as Dumbledore. During the film Q&A last week online at the Post, part of the discussion centered on how he was supposed to be colder toward Harry in this book. But that's not my problem; my problem is that his interpretation of Dumbledore generally is much colder and grouchier than Richard Harris's was. And he plays Dumbledore as a wizard with a lot more fear and uncertainty, too, than JKR wrote him, IMO.

Loved the Extendable Ears. And the Weasley twins with their new haircuts.

Was seriously disturbed by those meowing kittens on the plates.

And the battle at the Ministry? Rocked.

As did the night flying along the Thames, which I don't believe actually occured in the book.

[identity profile] jperceval.livejournal.com 2007-07-20 12:08 pm (UTC)(link)
You hit the nail on the head about Michael Gambon. I have never liked his interpretation of Dumbledore. Peter O'Toole or Tom Baker or maybe even Richard Briers (is he still alive? I better check that one) would have been better choices, b/c they all have that ability to act with an impish twinkle in their eye like Harris did...and like Dumbledore always has in the books.

[identity profile] jmc-bks.livejournal.com 2007-07-20 12:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I generally have a hard time casting known actors for book characters as I read, so I end up with a mental picture that is completely imaginary. Then the book is turned into a movie and I'm left wondering, What were they thinking to cast him/her?

I've heard O'Toole mentioned a couple of times now, among others. I still don't have any idea who could be a better Dumbledore, I just know that Gambon's interprestation doesn't work for me.

[identity profile] jperceval.livejournal.com 2007-07-20 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)
O'Toole and Harris were best friends in real life, and their acting abilities are strikingly similar. He would have been perfect to replace Harris. But I wonder if they didn't want to take a chance on an older actor -- Gambon is 66 to O'Toole's (very hard living) 74. And both Baker and Briers are 73 as well. Maybe they didn't want to chance having to replace Dumbledore again?