Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

Hotsauce84

**PAGING LASERWOLF**You KNOW I was gonna post about this. I just got home from the midnight showing. (Sidenote: I used to avoid premieres/midnight showings because I wanted to stay away from the annoying teenage masses. After the past few, I realize that the sheer excitement at these showings far overshadows the nonsense. People cheering at the opening credits and pivotal moments in the film, young girls swooning at the sight of their favorite heartthrob, applause at the end of the movie...it's all VERY fun. I love it.) **SPOILER ALERT***Due to the lack of action scenes, this movie is the most slow-moving of the bunch. Admittedly, I found myself getting restless. HOWEVER...I liked it a lot! Definitely not my favorite (Cuaron's Prisoner Of Azkaban wins that one...VIVA MEXICO!), but this has to be one of the most beautifully shot movies of the series. The set design, cinematography (same dude that did Amelie), costume designs (especially the Quidditch uniforms)....it's all just incredible and amazing. It makes me want to move to London and wear tailored tweed and dress perfectly disheveled and run around in castles every single day.The last book will be split into 2 movies and I have a feeling the slow buildup in this one was intentional...I bet the finale will be mindblowing action-wise. As it is, this movie has the best Quidditch scene of all in that it actually feels real. None of that goofy computer animated video game quality this time around. Ron's haphazard victory was hilarious. Which brings me to another point...the casting of these movies is PERFECT. Ron, Snape, Hagrid, even the smaller roles like Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix...they all own their roles. I admire the "keep it real British" aspect of this film. It was decided long ago that all parts will be played by British actors.I think that Dumbledore's death could've been handled better. I fully expected to tear up at this scene but it just kind of...happened. Harry didn't seem as distraught as I expected him to be. It all seemed a bit rushed, though now that I think about it, I remember feeling that way about the book too. I did choke up a bit during his memorial/burial(?) when the professors and students raised their wands in solidarity, but that's mostly because it reminded me of my friend Consuelo's funeral a few months ago. She was DEEPLY involved in Chicano studies and activism and her students raised a single fist in the air as the casket was lowered. That move broke me down something awful.I plan on seeing this again soon. Preferably NOT from the third row in this time. I want to be able to take in all the beautiful shots without craning my neck. I should've got there earlier! 4 theatres in one cineplex on a Tuesday night and each one of them was sold out. And there were at least 4 other cineplexes with midnight showings that were just as packed. Wow. And to think I was clowned like crazy when I was reading the books. "Why are you reading that girly sh*t?! That's for kids!" Whatever. Those same fools were tweeting while waiting in line for the movie.Swoon alert: Who is that girl in the coffee shop scene at the beginning?! WOWSERS! (IMDB says it's a fine - and I do mean FINE - young lady named Elarica Gallagher. Only 2 acting credits to her name.) There are some sexy ass extras as well! (See the "love potion" scene in Slughorn's class.)I don't recall any other Strutters who are Potter fans (besides D*n and I), but I'd love to hear input from any of you that are.

Hotsauce84

And oh...







Just sayin'...

Lucious_Fox

Hey Herm,

Has this series gotten better over time?
Peaked already?
Just Coasting....?

It seems like the street buzz aint the same as it was 5 years ago....Where regular non-Hardcore-Potter fans were swept up in it.

thrope

ehhh it makes sense for it to cool off slightly after the books stopped coming out

Lamont

I don't recall any other Strutters who are Potter fans

there's a reason for that...

Hotsauce84

ehhh it makes sense for it to cool off slightly after the books stopped coming out

I get the feeling that Batmon's trying to set me up for some point he wants to make against the movie, but nevertheless, I'll take the bait:

From CNN.com

(CNN) -- "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" made $22.2 million at its midnight showings Wednesday, setting a new record.[/b]

The figure was released by Warner Bros., the studio that produced the film. (Warner Bros., like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.) The previous record was held by last year's Batman tale "The Dark Knight," which made $18 million at its midnight showings.[/b]

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which opened on a Wednesday in late June, grossed about $16 million in its midnight premiere, according to the trade paper Variety.

"Half-Blood Prince," the sixth movie in the series based on J.K. Rowling's seven Harry Potter books, had more than 2,700 sold-out screenings, according to MovieTickets.com.[/b]

The film had more than 1,500 midnight screening sellouts in the United States[/b] and finished as the No. 2 all-time movie for advance ticket sales at MovieTickets.com.

The film finished just behind "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" in advanced sales.

Not sure about "street" buzz, but it apparently has a VERY strong buzz from somewhere. Mind you, this was a TUESDAY night. Granted, school's out and all but there were full on (nuclear!) families in my theater. I'm sure they - like me - had to be up at 7:30a for work this morning. Two different theaters in town had 4 midnight screenings each that sold out. They ended up adding 3am showings to accomodate those left out. Crazy.

Lucious_Fox

nah dogs - im not talmbout ticket sales.

Im askin u as a fan if you have seen this "get better" or just alright.

Do u like every movie equally?

Otis_Funkmeyer

Fan here! This was the first HP book I read and it hooked me on the series. I wanted to know what happened after the last movie. I've been listening to the audio book in my car to get ready for this weekend.

Okem

The movies are pretty (not entirely sure what this gremlins is, but doo doo they are)

They would've been so much more if Terry Gillaim had been allowed to direct the first one. Then maybe Guillermo del Toro or Tim Burton, but no. The studios are such pussies.

Hotsauce84

Well it's one long continuous (and preestablished) story, so I wouldn't necessarily say the storyline's improved. If you read the books, you already know what's gonna happen (which makes tj's success of the movies even more impressive).

The cinematography, action scenes (see my Quidditch reference above) and most importantly, the actors in their roles have definitely improved. These folks have been playing the same character for 6-7 years now. They pretty much own the characters they portray. Keep in mind that some of these kids had very little acting experience before being cast in this series.

Hotsauce84

"The," not "tj's."

Dang iPhone.

rootlesscosmo

any nudity in these jawns? I've never checked for them.

Hotsauce84

Nope, though the male inner webs are going gaga over the fact that Emma Watson (who plays Hermione Granger) is now of legal age.

faux_rillz

Anybody who would watch/read this junk suffers from a terminal lack of swag.

Hotsauce84

Guilty as charged!

motown67

I just took my kid and niece to this today. Thought it was a complete waste of time. Splitting the last book into 2 movies came off to me as pure money making. They want one final cash in before the finale one. The movie was 2 1/2 hours long, I felt 1 hr 45 min. was on the different love stories amongst the 3 main characters. Like the last one I thought this hardly moved the story along. The series has definitely gone stale. Instead of ending with bang, they just gave us a prequel type movie because they know all the bang is going into the last one. Skip this and wait for the finale would be my advice.

Hotsauce84

This isn't the last one. This is book 6. There are two movies to come.

I really thought critics were gonna feel like you do since there's so little action and a strong focus on the "angst of adolescent romance" or whatever, but the reviews I've read so far are putting it up there in the top 2. Go figure.

Hotsauce84

Also, I feel that at least 2 of the books (#'s 5 & 7) should've been split into two movies. There's A LOT that's left out, minimized and/or worked into other areas. Thankfully, JK Rowling has final say on the scripts so at least they stay as true to her vision as possible.

JRoot

Herm,

Not really a huge fan, but my wife is over the mooon for this stuff, so I play along. As bell hooks said about Harry Potter, "just because something is bullshit doesn't mean that we can't enjoy it. We just have to acknowledge that it's bullshit and move on."

Saw the movie last night. TOO SLOW, DAWG. I agree that the costumes were nice, and that the art direction was good and all, but the narrative in this one just kinda dragged. Not a lot of tension with Draco Malfoy...not a lot of tension with Snape...just not a lot of tension at all. I also think they should have done more with Dumbledore's shriveled hand -- that was well-described and grotesque in the book, but in the movie it just looked like he had been digging around in a bag of briquets.

I'm also glad they changed it from the book, so Dumbledore lives and becomes the dark lord at the end.

PSYCH.
JRoot

Hotsauce84

^^Funny post!^^

bassie

I am tutoring someone who can't read right now and would probably choose a book over a turntable on a desert island, but F*ck if I don't feel like throwing these Harry Potter books to the ground and stomping on them when I see grown ass adults on public transit reading them and carrying them around like some golden goblet full of magic wizard cum. Please.

Hotsauce84

I am tutoring someone who can't read right now and would probably choose a book over a turntable on a desert island, but F*ck if I don't feel like throwing these Harry Potter books to the ground and stomping on them when I see grown ass adults on public transit reading them and carrying them around like some golden goblet full of magic wizard cum. Please.

Still? I saw that when they were out but not so much these days.

But anyways...sounds like YOU have more issues than they do!

Grafwritah

Anybody who would watch/read this junk suffers from a terminal lack of swag.

If there was anyone who I would suspect as a closet Harry Potter fan, it would be faux_rillz.

Hotsauce84

Anybody who would watch/read this junk suffers from a terminal lack of swag.

If there was anyone who I would suspect as a closet Harry Potter fan, it would be faux_rillz.

I think he's more of a Twilight guy.

the_space

i just saw this at a theater in shanghai, and there were seemingly really abrupt cuts with large chunks of dialogue missing. the transitions for some scenes were nonsensical.

chinese censors hack up movies all the time, but was there anything in this kids movie that was such a big deal?

*spoilers/questions
-why didn't harry get in trouble for fusking up malfoy?
-if malfoy cursed that girl to deliver the poison necklace, why didn't he curse her to not fusk it up?
-why don't they fly around on their brooms all the time? so many problems could've been solved had they been able to fly around.
-if harry is the chosen one, why is he still so damned useless. kid is softer than baby sh!t.