MR

Confession - I'm a Harry Potter dork. Read and loved them all.

Movie opens this week! Who's going? Who's excited?!

(I'm going in 3 hours )

Midnight show tonight. Yup.

I actually like the movies. My daughter loves Harry Potter and Twilight so it's almost a given to go.

She actually got in trouble and I wasn't going to take her to see the movie but I figure I'll surprise her since her birthday is
Saturday.

Please let me know your review when you return (without spoilers if you would).

Ratgirl wrote:Please let me know your review when you return (without spoilers if you would).

Nah, I'd never post spoilers, unless the movie had been around for a real long time - if by then ya haven't seen it, it's your own problem. LOL!! Plus a lot of people just see the movies and haven't read the book, so it's not fair to them either. BIG doings in this film though! Should be excellent!

I have tix for the midnight show in the VIP screens! Huges couch-like seats, free popcorn, and a good reason to act like a zombie tomorrow.

I never got into them until a few months ago. I've never read a book and can't tell you details. But the storyline is fun. And I love any excuse to go to the movies at midnight.

I've always felt the books were infinitely better than any of the films, but I enjoy seeing the director's take on the book. My only complaint is when they over-edit, like the last film. Very sporadic cutting in that one. Praying this one is better, and from what I'm reading.. it is.

Love the sig, Kate!

Sitting at the theatre now... some jackass down in the general seating is giving a countdown.

Now the previews are on... everybody's cheering like apeshit. Ok, this is why I wait a month a do sunday matinees!

Seacrest out!

Awesome movie! The effects get better with each film.

Except the part where the film broke... twice... and Potter geeks started throwing their plastic wands (not a joke!).

Many things were left out an some were not fully explained, but eh... it's already a 3 hour film, and they got all of the important stuff, so it works. I wasn't diappointed. Now it's going to be killer waiting for part 7. The effects get better with each film.

I'm going tonight.

I can't understand people who don't want to read the books, they read pretty fast, and if you watch the movie you're missing maybe half of the story. In this particular film I hear that they cut out one of the Riddle flashbacks in favor of more ~Harry+Ginny/Cho time~. I encourage anyone who likes the movies to read the books to get the full story.

Sarah wrote:I'm going tonight.

I can't understand people who don't want to read the books, they read pretty fast, and if you watch the movie you're missing maybe half of the story. In this particular film I hear that they cut out one of the Riddle flashbacks in favor of more ~Harry+Ginny/Cho time~. I encourage anyone who likes the movies to read the books to get the full story.

I love the movies So i guess i really need to read the books.

Sarah wrote:I can't understand people who don't want to read the books, they read pretty fast, and if you watch the movie you're missing maybe half of the story.

For the same reason some people don't read any book. They just don't care to.
I haven't read them because I'm not into it enough to constitute devoting spare time I hardly have to reading a ghastly long series when all I'm really interested in is seeing the movie. I read both Dan Brown's books years before they became movies... when I finally got to see them both on the screen I went with people who hadn't read the books. It was the same, they're missing half the good stuff. But one girl's Angels & Demons is another girl's Half Blood Prince.

Stopped caring after Part 3.
From part 4 onwards, the movies have become increasingly hard to follow.
Maybe I need to read the books.
Not even sure I will check this one out.

The_Noble_Cause wrote:Stopped caring after Part 3.
From part 4 onwards, the movies have become increasingly hard to follow.
Maybe I need to read the books.
Not even sure I will check this one out.

I agree... complex movies like that are harder for me to stay with if I haven't read the book. I have a far better attention span and memory for books than for movies, so if I hadn't read all of the Harry Potters, I'd be lost with just the films. I saw all 3 Lord of the Rings fims, have read none of the books... and can't tell you one damn thing about the story line except these things: Frodo needs to take a gold ring somewhere, a bunch of other short-ass little hobbits go with him, Gandalf is a wizard, and Orlando Bloom looks like a girl. I retained nothing from those movies.

You're not the only dork...I can't wait for this movie. I'm literally salivating at the opportunity.

I really wish Walt Disney World bought the rights for this.....they were offered, prior to Universal Studios...and delined. Now Universal is building a Harry Potter World....

I might just have to break my own rule and darken the doors of universal in orlando...

strangegrey wrote:You're not the only dork...I can't wait for this movie. I'm literally salivating at the opportunity.

You won't be disappointed.

I will certainly not spoil anything for those who are watchers and not readers, but I can say this... if you've read this book and you know about the big event at the end... that whole scene was executed beautifully. It was just as it played out in my mind when I read it, and even though I knew what goign to happen, it had the same impact. Now that is the sign of a director and a group of actors who did their job WELL.

Made 22 Million in Midnight showings!

My wife is pissed about how the end is different but everything we've read says it is a very good movie.

Going Sunday.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on Harry Potter!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APhdCSj-j8Q

bluejeangirl76 wrote:Confession - I'm a Harry Potter dork. Read and loved them all.

Movie opens this week! Who's going? Who's excited?!

(I'm going in 3 hours )

Have not seen the movie yet..yes I have also read all the books......wonderfully written. I own all the movies on DVD as well........How was it?

Yeah... best of the lot of them in my opinion. Only complaint for me was the ending. C'mon..that should have been MUCH larger. At least they got Fawkes flying overhead.

You knew in advance there'd be scenes cut that were in the book but ran out of time for in the film. I wasn't disappointed in the choices made (unlike the last film). Quidditch was fantastic and long missed -- really enjoyed it. Luna stole the show (love the lion). Funny in all the right places, gripping of the shirt of your significant other for protection in others (inferis & fenrir). Good stuff.. two thumbs way up. DEFINITELY need to see again, but I'll wait til the insanity dies down a bit before venturing back... and will do midweek too. For a midnight show, I got home at 3:30 AM. And I live 5 minutes away from my theater.

Here's my thoughts:

Ok, so I went and saw Harry Potter.

I have to admit that I'm not so much into Potter. A lot of that comes from the first Potter movies coming out around the time of "Lord of the Rings"...and, well, Tolkein and Peter Jackson rule. I mean, compare the cave troll and mines of Moria scene to the troll scene in Potter, and you get the idea. It just seemed so average to me...and more directed to kids and not me.

I did like Prisoner of Azkaban where they back up time and have a do over. So many 'oh, that's why that happened...' bits. It's just really cool how that was done. The others just seem high school'ish...I just never got into them.

So, I had sorta mediocre expactions for "Half Blood Prince", but I ended up really liking it. The story is really something anybody can relate to, not just teens, or adults who can put themselves in a teen's shoes. Harry is all grown up. Dumbledore is more of a mentor to him then in the previous movies where others seem to take that role. The entire movie is much more dramatic and the story within is much darker. Sure, there are still the given high school puberty scenes...but it is much more for some needed comic relief, and to show these are not 12yr old kids any longer. It worked a lot better for me this time then in the past.

Harry finaly seems to be at the hero stage in this long journey. He suffers greatly in this movie, especialy at the end. He has finaly come into his own and is no longer just a promising student of magic, and is ready to really fight the evil that anybody who followed the series knows has been there from the beginning, and is not just dealing with the menace before he is realy ready.

In the end, "Half Blood Prince" is really a set up for the next movie. That worked for me too...because, for the first time, I am looking forward to seeing the next Harry Potter movie.

JK Rowling is a fraud.....plain and simple.

http://www.geocities.com/medevam/similar.html


AT THE END OF LOTR THE TWO TOWERS FRODO ASKS SAM 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' SAM SAYS 'THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD LEFT IN THE WORLD' ......AT END OF HP ORDER OF THE PHOENIX RON ASKS HARRY 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' HARRY SAYS ' THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THIS WORLD'

StocktontoMalone wrote:JK Rowling is a fraud.....plain and simple.

http://www.geocities.com/medevam/similar.html

Not going to touch the similarities, as I can't speak from a basis of knowledge, but there is one big difference I can address.

The big difference between Harry Potter and LOTR, is that Harry Potter is palatable.

A few years ago, I sat down with the first lord of the rings movie, a bag of popcorn and rather significant expectations (given all of the hype being pumped around by the ring-suckers)....

75 minutes into the first movie, I was completely and utterly un-engaged. One hour and fucking fifteen minutes into this boring movie, there's zero character development, seemingly zero action/plot movement....

then I thought. "Shit, Randall Graves was right. They were just fucking walking." pitiful!


...now maybe it gets better. who knows. But let me say this. I'm by no means a need-it-now type of person. I am more than willing to let a movie slowly unfold the plot. (Hell, I'm a huge fan of 'Where Eagles Dare' so that should say something). But when a movie like the 1st Lord Of The Rings takes more than 75 minutes for any worthwhile character or plot development....it's not worth wasting any more time. If the rest of the movies are anything like the first 75 minutes of LOTR, it's a waste.

I'm still skeptical...because each and every time I see a clip from one of the LOTR movies, I see them walking...nothing else. (Not to mention that Randall, again, seems to hit the nail on the head with respect to the hobbit's gayness)



Now, take Harry Potter....I was sucked into the first Harry Potter movie within 5 minutes. I hadn't read a lick of the books, but enjoyed the movies so much so that I've seen them all multiple times.



You need a damn good story to make a good movie.......but you can also ruin a damn good story with a shitty movie. It seems to me that the HP applies to the former and LOTR applies to the latter...

bluejeangirl76 wrote:Confession - I'm a Harry Potter dork. Read and loved them all.

Movie opens this week! Who's going? Who's excited?!

(I'm going in 3 hours )

My 8 year old son read all 7 Potter books 5 times. He thoroughly enjoyed the movie and he wants to watch it again next week.

bluejeangirl76 wrote:

Ratgirl wrote:Please let me know your review when you return (without spoilers if you would).

Nah, I'd never post spoilers, unless the movie had been around for a real long time - if by then ya haven't seen it, it's your own problem. LOL!! Plus a lot of people just see the movies and haven't read the book, so it's not fair to them either. BIG doings in this film though! Should be excellent!

Excellent it was. We saw it yesterday and enjoyed it.

strangegrey wrote: "Shit, Randall Graves was right. They were just fucking walking."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0sc-gS9AqM

then I thought. "Shit, Randall Graves was right. They were just fucking walking." pitiful!

Hey, looks like you are onto something there.....bravo!

Let's delve deeper:

Breaking Away - They were just fucking riding bicycles. Pitiful!

Top Gun - They were just flying planes. Pitiful!

Fast & The Furious - They were just fucking racing cars. Pitiful!

Speed - They were just fucking riding on a bus. Pitiful!



LOTR is about getting to a place far away while many someones are trying to wax your ass. Now, granted, the movie adaptations were a little hokey. Having read the series at LEAST 20 times in my life the movies were a letdown...but let's get real here....Rowling doesn't have the talent to bring Tolkien a cup of coffee, let alone stack up against him in the writing category...

StocktontoMalone wrote:JK Rowling is a fraud.....plain and simple.

http://www.geocities.com/medevam/similar.html


AT THE END OF LOTR THE TWO TOWERS FRODO ASKS SAM 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' SAM SAYS 'THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD LEFT IN THE WORLD' ......AT END OF HP ORDER OF THE PHOENIX RON ASKS HARRY 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' HARRY SAYS ' THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THIS WORLD'

This may be true, but LOTR, as much of an accomplishment as it is, was also derivative.
Most great works are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._T ... influences

The_Noble_Cause wrote:

StocktontoMalone wrote:JK Rowling is a fraud.....plain and simple.

http://www.geocities.com/medevam/similar.html


AT THE END OF LOTR THE TWO TOWERS FRODO ASKS SAM 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' SAM SAYS 'THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD LEFT IN THE WORLD' ......AT END OF HP ORDER OF THE PHOENIX RON ASKS HARRY 'WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR?' HARRY SAYS ' THAT THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THIS WORLD'

This may be true, but LOTR, as much of an accomplishment as it is, was also derivative.
Most great works are.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._T ... influences

There's a HUGE difference between being 'derivative', and downright plagiarism....

StocktontoMalone wrote:There's a HUGE difference between being 'derivative', and downright plagiarism....

You can make that distinction if you like, but can you back it up?
Some of Tolkien's storylines and character names are pulled verbatim out of the Volsung saga and other mythologies.
The above list of Rowling's alleged plagarisms are general fantasy tropes dating back to the creation of the genre.
No Tolkien fan should be taking another author to the woodshed for being derivative.

StocktontoMalone wrote:LOTR is about getting to a place far away while many someones are trying to wax your ass. Now, granted, the movie adaptations were a little hokey. Having read the series at LEAST 20 times in my life the movies were a letdown...but let's get real here....Rowling doesn't have the talent to bring Tolkien a cup of coffee, let alone stack up against him in the writing category...

Yeah, this is so major. Forget starving children dying, fuck disease and famine. Let's all get bent out of shape over some books! Woo!