Harry Potter. 'Nsync. And "The Simpsons."
Nov. 18th, 2002 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eruthrosThoughts on Harry Potter. And 'Nsync. Oh, yah, watch eruthros make the weird connections.
Overall impressions of the new HP movie:
Typical Chris Columbus work: too much time spent on people going "ahh" and nearly getting killed by trains or spiders, not enough focus on the character development stuff. In some ways, the choices of what got screentime were very disappointing; we don't get much about Harry's worry that he should be in Slytherin, and his personal identity crisis, until the end. We don't get much of the trio's anguish about Hagrid's imprisonment. We don't get Harry's hatred of the publicity-machine part of Lockhart and his hatred of being "The Boy Who Lived." We don't get much of Harry's feeling of being all alone, left without a support mechanism, when the school thinks he's an evil bastard, Dumbledore's gone, Hagrid's gone, and Hermione's stunned. And then, when the rock slide separates him from Ron? They don't play it for a reaction at all. His fear that he's hearing voices? That he's involved somehow? Not even touched on. Classes? As if. No one learns anything at this school, apparently. I missed all that, and could have about ten minutes less each of in-car-nearly-killed-by-train-and-whomping-willow, in-forest-nearly-killed-by-spiders, and in-drain-roller-coaster-screaming-madly. That's fear, but not audience tension; where's the audience tension, damn it? Where's Harry's look of scared, tormented, and isolated strength? That would lead to tension. Also, a lot of "awwws" from the audience, because Harry is still an adorable little kid.
So. More fun stuff.
Draco. Taller now. Still an adorable baby Spike -- the widdle baby villain. Awwwwww.
Lucius Malfoy. Tendency to look out-of-place and like he belongs in an American Revolution movie.
Snape. Hilarious. Interesting and fabulous. I like my villains or ambiguous folks complex and funny, thank you.
Hermione. Different hair, but she still has the perfect vocal tone.
Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart. Just perfect for the role. His flair for the dramatic was perfect, his facial expressions were perfect, his costuming was fabulous -- especially in the dueling scene with Snape. The contrast of the dark, brooding, dramatic but competent Snape and the flamboyant Lockhart really focuses your attention on Lockhart's ridiculousness. And Branagh's such a total ham! (Which we knew already from his performances in Shakespeare stuff, but still.) I think I respect him more after seeing this -- it seems to indicate a certain sense of perspective. Like, he's a ham, but he knows he's a ham. And he can mock his own hammy goodness.
This is where my mind hops, skips, and jumps to the 'Nsync episode of The Simpsons. Seeing that they could make fun of themselves blew my respect for them up tremendously. The NASA sound tech that makes their voices fabulous. The fruit basket they take to the Party Posse when they start getting big. "Word." "And close with a Matrix." "Dudes, we've gotta go. Our clothes are getting a little out of date. To the bandana republic!" "Y'know, we've had a lot of fun tonight at the expense of the U.S. Navy. But they're out there every day protecting us from Godzilla." "And don't forget pirates." "And Jellyfish." "Those whack invertebrates will sting you, old school." Heh. I mean, they mock themselves. They not only know how much of a media creation they are, they make fun of it. Word.
Also: I think that the characters in the books are all terribly misled about what it takes to be a Slytherin. Not determination, sneakiness, or any of that; no, it takes a willingness to be an OTT Drama Queen. Think about it: you read about Snape, Draco, Voldemort/Tom Riddle, and Lucius Malfoy in the books, and they don't seem that overly-dramatic, but the instant you see someone actually do what Rowling has them doing in the book -- my god. Draco's eye-rolling and eyebrow-action: such a drama queen. "See you at school" is a line that one would think would be not exceptional; delivered by a Slytherin, there's enough storming around, face-making, and eyebrow-rising to make it notable. Lucius storms around, bursts into rooms, does funny things with his eyebrows, menacing things with his voice, and wants All Eyes On Him. Snape is a dark drama queen, all whipping his dark robe around, making hysterical faces, stalking around, and basically needing to be the center of attention (in a way totally unlike Lockhart's). Tom Riddle? Oh, please. We don't even need to talk about it: drama, drama, center of attention, my muggle mother, you will die, and so on.
And let's face it: it's hard to get more drama-queen (in a passive-aggressive way) than Salazar Slytherin, founder of the house Slytherin. I mean, basically what it comes down to is: "Well, fine, if you don't agree with me then I'm just going to build a secret chamber with excessive ornamentation including large snake statues and scary pipes and a giant bust of me containing a monster but I won't tell you where it is because I'm obviously the most brilliant, and utterly right-thinking, person in the world, and you're just all big meaniebootses. And then after I'm dead it'll come out and fix everything and you'll be sorry."
Overall impressions of the new HP movie:
Typical Chris Columbus work: too much time spent on people going "ahh" and nearly getting killed by trains or spiders, not enough focus on the character development stuff. In some ways, the choices of what got screentime were very disappointing; we don't get much about Harry's worry that he should be in Slytherin, and his personal identity crisis, until the end. We don't get much of the trio's anguish about Hagrid's imprisonment. We don't get Harry's hatred of the publicity-machine part of Lockhart and his hatred of being "The Boy Who Lived." We don't get much of Harry's feeling of being all alone, left without a support mechanism, when the school thinks he's an evil bastard, Dumbledore's gone, Hagrid's gone, and Hermione's stunned. And then, when the rock slide separates him from Ron? They don't play it for a reaction at all. His fear that he's hearing voices? That he's involved somehow? Not even touched on. Classes? As if. No one learns anything at this school, apparently. I missed all that, and could have about ten minutes less each of in-car-nearly-killed-by-train-and-whomping-willow, in-forest-nearly-killed-by-spiders, and in-drain-roller-coaster-screaming-madly. That's fear, but not audience tension; where's the audience tension, damn it? Where's Harry's look of scared, tormented, and isolated strength? That would lead to tension. Also, a lot of "awwws" from the audience, because Harry is still an adorable little kid.
So. More fun stuff.
Draco. Taller now. Still an adorable baby Spike -- the widdle baby villain. Awwwwww.
Lucius Malfoy. Tendency to look out-of-place and like he belongs in an American Revolution movie.
Snape. Hilarious. Interesting and fabulous. I like my villains or ambiguous folks complex and funny, thank you.
Hermione. Different hair, but she still has the perfect vocal tone.
Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart. Just perfect for the role. His flair for the dramatic was perfect, his facial expressions were perfect, his costuming was fabulous -- especially in the dueling scene with Snape. The contrast of the dark, brooding, dramatic but competent Snape and the flamboyant Lockhart really focuses your attention on Lockhart's ridiculousness. And Branagh's such a total ham! (Which we knew already from his performances in Shakespeare stuff, but still.) I think I respect him more after seeing this -- it seems to indicate a certain sense of perspective. Like, he's a ham, but he knows he's a ham. And he can mock his own hammy goodness.
This is where my mind hops, skips, and jumps to the 'Nsync episode of The Simpsons. Seeing that they could make fun of themselves blew my respect for them up tremendously. The NASA sound tech that makes their voices fabulous. The fruit basket they take to the Party Posse when they start getting big. "Word." "And close with a Matrix." "Dudes, we've gotta go. Our clothes are getting a little out of date. To the bandana republic!" "Y'know, we've had a lot of fun tonight at the expense of the U.S. Navy. But they're out there every day protecting us from Godzilla." "And don't forget pirates." "And Jellyfish." "Those whack invertebrates will sting you, old school." Heh. I mean, they mock themselves. They not only know how much of a media creation they are, they make fun of it. Word.
Also: I think that the characters in the books are all terribly misled about what it takes to be a Slytherin. Not determination, sneakiness, or any of that; no, it takes a willingness to be an OTT Drama Queen. Think about it: you read about Snape, Draco, Voldemort/Tom Riddle, and Lucius Malfoy in the books, and they don't seem that overly-dramatic, but the instant you see someone actually do what Rowling has them doing in the book -- my god. Draco's eye-rolling and eyebrow-action: such a drama queen. "See you at school" is a line that one would think would be not exceptional; delivered by a Slytherin, there's enough storming around, face-making, and eyebrow-rising to make it notable. Lucius storms around, bursts into rooms, does funny things with his eyebrows, menacing things with his voice, and wants All Eyes On Him. Snape is a dark drama queen, all whipping his dark robe around, making hysterical faces, stalking around, and basically needing to be the center of attention (in a way totally unlike Lockhart's). Tom Riddle? Oh, please. We don't even need to talk about it: drama, drama, center of attention, my muggle mother, you will die, and so on.
And let's face it: it's hard to get more drama-queen (in a passive-aggressive way) than Salazar Slytherin, founder of the house Slytherin. I mean, basically what it comes down to is: "Well, fine, if you don't agree with me then I'm just going to build a secret chamber with excessive ornamentation including large snake statues and scary pipes and a giant bust of me containing a monster but I won't tell you where it is because I'm obviously the most brilliant, and utterly right-thinking, person in the world, and you're just all big meaniebootses. And then after I'm dead it'll come out and fix everything and you'll be sorry."
no subject
Date: 2002-11-20 07:54 pm (UTC)