Sometimes getting out of a rut is the hardest part.
*exhales sigh of relief*
There. That wasn't so bad. New blog post posted.
On a side note, I have lots of fun and exciting things happening on the writing front. (Re: the current works in progress, yes that was plural.) Happy day. As things progress, I'll keep you posted.
As for now, my lips are sealed.
Moving on, per fabulous recommendations from Howard Taylor, Scalzi, and Anne Sowards, I'm off to see Star Trek tonight.
Instead of the mild interest I had before, I'm actually pretty excited and am looking forward to a good show. And since Anne's facebook review is my favorite, I'm posting it in it's entirety below. Enjoy.
"Anne Sowards just got home from seeing STAR TREK. She enjoyed it so much that not even having her train go out of service, then the next train she took stopping short of her home, and having to take a bus the rest of the way has killed her mood."
So I had to view quite a few trailers until I got one that didn't look like a hodge-podge of older bond films, so I wonder at the accuracy of the clip above. If the clip is accurate as to the upcoming film, then it looks like part of the movie was filmed in NYC, or at the very least, that a few NYPD cop cars made it to the set.
-Bitter
Edit: Now that I think about it, a couple of the scenes shown in the clip remind me of The Bourne Ultimatum..... hmmm, I wonder if they borrowed from that film to make the clip...
Why yes, that is a Kwik E Mart! If you happen to be in midtown within the next few weeks, make sure to stop by and grab a squishee. Located between 8th & 9th on 42nd Street this Kwik E Mart is full of all your favorites, from Buzz cola to Krusty-O's cereal.
The next time you take a break, make sure to surf by The Simpsons movie website where you can create an avatar, play The Ball of Death, or my favorite The Wrecking Ball.
Oh, and for those of you who don't know. The movie comes out today!
Oh, and go here and watch all three previews! So absolutely funny!!
I went to see Harry Potter #5 a couple nights ago, and boy was it fun. Spectacularly filmed and directed, the movie was wonderful to watch and was beautifully produced.
Let me reiterate before we begin, I loved the movie, and thought it was great, but overall I felt something was lacking, your average movie watcher won’t notice, but uber-Potter-fans out there will. Let me start by telling what I did like about the movie.
I arrived at the AMC Lincoln Square Cinemas 45 minutes early, theater #1 was already packed. For those of you non-locals, theater #1, aka Lowes Up, is an 876-seat theater with cushy burgundy seats, a HUGE screen, a balcony, and Thai inspired décor--complete with golden elephants in relief about the room.
The demographic for the evening: a lot of adults from mid-twenties to early forties, and many, many older teens. I was quite happy to note that there was not a stroller in sight.
The lights dimmed, everyone clapped, and when the previews were over, we clapped again. Excitement buzzed from one corner of the theater to the other, and it took a moment for everyone to settle down.
The WB flashed across a mist filled screen moving ever closer, yet the music didn’t start, turning into one of those delayed gratification things. After we passed through the giant WB, the music finally started and an excited chatter made the rounds again, accompanied by applause.
I noticed immediately that the music was different, that it didn’t evolve into the well-used themes from before, and now as I think back, the distinct musical tropes that John Williams uses in his compositional arsenal were missing.
Instead we got a whole other kettle of fish, which I was quite pleased with. Having only seen the movie once and not having listened intently to the score, I can’t describe the new musical themes except to say they were perfect. For me the new composer was a welcome change. During one part of the credits-- I’m a credits watcher-- the music became so sad, yet hopeful. For several moments while the music played, I felt anything was possible that I could rise up out of sadness and conquer the world. All because of the music, which demonstrated a masterful use of color, theme, and scoring.
Watching The Order of the Pheonix was fun with this particular audience. All the way through the movie as particular scenes began, people in the audience cheered, bubbling with anticipation for what was about to happen.
Near the beginning, I loved it when Harry produced a patronus charm and flung it around. I loved the way the kestrals were portrayed; they looked quite real and were fabulously executed. I absolutely loved (yet again) the fight scene at the end, you’ll know what I mean when you see it.
And, if you can believe it, there was even a spot in the middle when everyone gasped in surprise and shock. This is quite hard to do with an audience that already knows the story. All in all, the movie was well executed, and if I hadn’t read the books and had only been a fan of the movies, it would have been just great.
Unfortunately, I’m an avid fan of the books, and have read them each many times. So for me, I came away from the movie with a vague sense of disappointment.
The movie felt quite a bit short. I suppose that having watched Pirates of the Caribbean, At World’s End so many times in a row didn’t help, but never-the-less, it felt a little rushed.
Speaking of Pirates, I suppose my level of expectation has risen to an obscenely high level and needs to be readjusted. Yet I hoped anyway. How could the director of Harry Potter ever hope to match the ease in which Pirates left bread crumbs for the careful watcher?
So with my Pirates, At World’s End bias admitted and pushed aside, let’s move forward.
I think that when you get right down to it, the reason why I am so disappointed with Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, (the movie) is that there were too many missed opportunities to delight and surprise us, the loyal readers and fans of the series.
Yes, I know that the movie would be ten hours long if the screenplay matched the book scene for scene. And I understand why it is necessary to cut things from the story, (keep the plot moving forward and keep pacing strong). But there were many instances when things could have been tucked into the movie that readers would recognize, know, and appreciate; but that the average watcher couldn’t care about. And more importantly, there are times when the audience trilled with excitement at the beginning of a scene only to have the buzz fall flat as a gutted scene left us wanting.
And this is what my disappointment boils down to; I think the director aimed to please just the surfacey fans of the series. The ones who wouldn’t miss the details, and wouldn’t recognize the strangulated scenes that left us to deal with weakened characters.
I’ll soften my opinion by saying, perhaps the choices in what to show and what not to show was a case of do it all and end up with something mediocre, or choose a few things and succeed beyond their wildest dreams. If this is the case and they chose the latter, then they succeeded. The movie was brilliant. But frankly I’m one of the ones that wanted it all.
It was a mistake to leave so many of the little details out. In the end, it will just succeed in alienating the loyal readers of the series, the ones who made the movies possible in the first place. (For example look at the poorly made movie, Eragon. Except Eragon was so badly gutted and rewritten, it doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned on the same page as Pirates and Potter.)
It wouldn’t have taken much to keep us going. Just a little bit here and there. As we noticed the trail of crumbs left us, we’d have felt like we were part of the inside crowd and ‘in the know’. Instead what we see are the missing things and are left puzzled, saying, “But Why?”
Yes, I’ll go see it again. It was a great movie, and very well done. I just wish it hadn’t left me wanting.
-Bitter
Spoiler specifics behind the cut, (the things I wish they'd done differently) and just a few of them since I’ve um, written enough already!
Update, . . . so blogger doesn't allow me to selectively put part of my posts behind a cut, it's either all or nothing. I'm going for the nothing route. If you don't want to read any potential spoilers, don't read past the line of *'s. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * It wasn’t until most of the movie was over that I began to notice the missing parts.
I wish…
-that we’d have seen the screeching portrait at the Order’s head quarters. We saw the troll’s leg, but not the portrait screeching. Just catching a glimpse of her screaming in rage would be enough.
-that both times Harry entered the Ministry of Magic, that he would have been given his visitor’s badge. They didn’t have to talk about it, or show a close up. Just the simple act of him emerging from the telephone booth with it on, would have been enough.
-that the script writers hadn’t written in Cho Chang as the betrayer of the ‘Dumbldore’s Army’ and since they did, the least they could have done was tattooed the word “Snitch” across Cho’s forehead in purple boils. As it stands, Cho gets alienated, the hex that Hermoine so cleverly worked into the sign-up sheet gets left out, and the whole group ends up in detention writing who knows what with those ‘special’ quills that Harry used when writing, “I will not tell lies.”
-that they would have shown the swamp in the hallway that Delores Umbridge couldn’t clear up.
-that the scene where the twins wreck havoc on the school wouldn’t have been as weak as it was.
-that in the final fight scene at the Ministry, we would have seen the jelly-legs curse, or the brains that get attached to Ron.
And lastly, I’d like to tell you about one particular scene that left me feeling iffy. It’s the one where Delores Umbridge is throwing Sybil Trelawney out of the school. It was beautifully set-up, Emma Thompson, as usual, did a fabulous job setting the tone and scene. All the students were there, anticipation was building, and low and behold, Dumbledore stormed out into the courtyard to save the day, only he didn’t. People cheered when the doors to the school flung open and he appeared, but what followed next was a pale imitation of the original. As Firenze failed to appear and Dumbledore strode about not doing much of anything, the excitement in the theatre ebbed and eventually fell flat.
These are just a few more things I wish we’d have seen. In all, the acting, directing, CGI, and music was fantastic. It’s just the little things that let us down, it wouldn’t have taken much to delight us, just a crumb here or there.
It appears the director needs to be reminded that it’s the little things that endeared us to Harry in the first place, and if you leave them out, well notice and wonder, “Why?”
There are three maybe four movies that I've looked forward to seeing this summer. First Pirates of the Caribbean, At world's End, Ocean's 13, The Bourne Ultimatum, with Harry Potter 5 bringing up the rear. I'm counting Casino Royale as a spring release.
Ocean's 13 was great, loved it. I can't wait for The Bourne Ultimatum, and as for Harry Potter, I've already purchased my ticket for Wednesday night July 11th at 7:30.
Which leaves us Pirates of the Caribbean. I absolutely loved the first two movies, saw them multiple times in the theaters and bought them both on DVD as soon as they were out. Swashbuckling adventure, comedy, and a little romance mixed in. What more could you ask for? Awesome tech toys, yes, but they didn't make them back in those days. Fancy compasses and unsinkable ships, yes, but electronic gizmos, no.
I looked forward to Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End so much that I counted down the days until I could see it, then ran down to purchase a ticket on my lunch break a couple days in advance. My coworkers and I talked about it at least twice a day, and we googled it online. We played around on the Pirates website, and talked about how soon we all would see it. Okay, well, scratch the we on that last part. I harassed everyone to see it ASAP.
Which brings me to a comment that Lanie, of my coworkers, made to me late last week. She couldn't believe that I hadn't blogged about it yet.
"I haven't?" flittered across my brain before I responded, "Oh." I don't remember my exact response, but the conclusion was that I would correct the situation as soon as possible. So here it is, my thoughts on Pirates of the Caribbean, At Worlds End.
It was FABULOUS.
It was so fabulous in fact that I saw it five times in the space of four days. It would have been perhaps as much as seven times,-- shhhh don't tell anyone, people might think I'm weird,-- but the shows were sold out and I couldn't get tickets. I even traveled down to Times Square because one of the theaters down there was showing it non-stop.
It was Friday night when I saw it the first time. I got off work a few minutes late, ran down to Lincoln Center, but made it just in time to slip in to catch one of the first showings of the night. The place was packed. But since I came alone, I was able to find a place up front, but not too close. Just how I like it.
The theater lights dimmed and everyone cheered and clapped. Excitement and energy hummed through the hall, and I smiled in anticipation. I swear, there is something about crowds that go to movies on opening night. It was great. After the previews and a little more cheering, everyone quieted down and the movie began.
Many critics didn't like this film, I think they're idiots. The trick with the third installment of Pirates is that you actually have to pay attention during the show. I think they were probably lazy.
Before you see At World's End, I know you want to, make sure to watch the first and second movies, or you'll miss a lot of the sub-plots. Boy, are there sub-plots. All the story threads weaving in and out were one of the main reasons why I saw it so many times in a row. I am a savvy watcher, but I still picked up new things on the fifth time through.
Have you ever read a book more than once, and on the second time through picked up foreshadowing and clues that you'd missed before? Well At World's End, is exactly like that. Once I knew how it ended, it was fascinating to watch each character and how they interacted with the others.
I was riveted from the first moment until the last. I laughed, I cried, I was shocked and completely blindsided twice (which rarely happens to me), and I felt sad. There were poignant moments and thrilling scenes, epic battles and wry twists on words.
Geoffrey Rush gave an excellent performance as Captain Barbosa, a few of my very favorite moments in the movie are of him calling out orders while at the helm and while swaggering through the hold of his ship.
Orlando Bloom gave a great performance as Will Turner, in what I would say was a challenging roll, this time around Will's character is more behind the scenes. It's a crucial role, but the first time through I wasn't quite sure what he was up to. Most of the fun I had while re-watching the movie, happened while I tried to figure out exactly what Will was up to, what he knew, and when.
It's too bad Orlando Bloom isn't a pirate in real life, even though he's single. I think I could fall quite hard for a guy like Will Turner, along with pretty much every other female in the world...actually now that I think of it, it's probably a good thing he's not a pirate.
And Bill Nighy, once more shows that it doesn't matter how much make-up you have on. A convincing emotional performance is possible, even when your face is underneath thick layers of latex.
The rest of the crew gave brilliant performances in all! I just wanted to highlight a couple favorites.
There's not too much more I can say about At World's End without giving away any spoilers, so I'll wrap up now by saying, make sure to stay until the end of the credits. There's a thing at the end. It's a long wait, but worth it. Of course, I'm one of those people who sit through the credits anyway, so take it for what it's worth, about 2 cents.
Report back after you've seen it. -Bitter
Here are a few Youtube clips I found, Harry Potter Style, Star Wars style, and a cartoon.
