Thursday, July 12, 2007

with a twist of lemon

i have to say something, but i'll keep it brief because i know there's going to be an explosion of blogging commentary far more insightful and thorough than i can muster. basically, harry potter and the order of the pheonix was well worth the wait and the inflated price of movie tickets, but i found myself repeatedly saying "that didn't happen in the book" (poor coffeeshopgirl had to witness the head shaking and muttering). i can understand the need to slim things down so I'm not upset about what wasn't included. what i am upset about is how many liberties were taken with the chronology and the blatant reworking of major events. there were decisions made that just didn't seem necessary to me, which is, of course, based on my extensive knowledge of film direction and all those years i spent in hollywood seamlessly reproducing literary work for the big screen.

i probably would have been more accepting of the inaccuracies had i not read the book about 3 weeks ago. in reality, i shouldn't be upset about them at all because movies aren't necessarily meant to be true to the book... but they (oh nameless harry potter filmsmiths) were doing so well.

i left the theater feeling bitter and hungry for more. maybe i'll squirrel away some grocery money to see it again so i can reprogram my brain to accept it for what it is: a cinematographic piece of eye candy with great pacing and a cast as deep as the 1927 New York Yankees' bench.

could Snape be more peevish? i love hating that guy.

2 comments:

Spinning Ninny said...

i don't mind snape that much. i haven't read the books, so i don't know if he's portrayed differently there...but i thought the insight into his dislike of the potter's made his actions and demeanor understandable.

over all great movie. i can't wait to read these books. i think i'm about ready to start acquiring them from Half.com.

at least you remember things from the book...carolyn can't remember a damn thing. she's read through book 6 and i asked her some specific questions about that book and she had no idea...

ester said...

the friend i saw HPV with felt the same way. having not read the book in a while AND since i wasn't crazy-crazy about it, i was more at liberty to be enchanted by the movie, i think, and to enjoy it on its own terms.

all the same, i wish you n coffeeshop girl were in nyc so we could go to an adult HPVII party and stay up all night reading in true dork fashion.