Deathly Hallows (and cleaning house)

[tielan]

So, I went last night with the Sydney NaNo group.

It was good. Very much like the last few movies, each of which had a strong sense of "if you haven't read the series, this is going to confuse the heck out of you", but the cinematic experience was good.

As always, I have a huge complaint about Steve Kloves' scripts, in that he makes Ron out to be a buffoon. Unfortunately, Deathly Hallows 1 isn't an exception. Even Ron's return is played up for the laughs and played down for the relieved return. Although the scene with the destruction of the locket is pretty intense. And yes, Emma Watson really went for it in the cut they finally used of Hermione and Harry kissing. I think you actually see Dan Radcliff going "Wha--? Mmph! Gnngh! Oh, okay," as the scene progresses.

A link to someone's awesome comment about Ron - the subtler things about the character.

I don't know what to talk about with this movie. Luna. I love Luna! I still love Luna and want her and Harry to get together and be adorably different! Yes, Ginny's a lovely girl and can give him that sense of family and groundedness, but Luna's just got such clarity to the world (even if it's not quite on the same wavelength as most people). I'm a huuuuuge Harry/Luna fan and always will be. And Evanna Lynch (the actress who plays Luna) is ninety-nine kinds of lovely and sweet.

Oh, the sequence about the three brothers was nicely done. I love the graphics of that sequence.

There were things left out of course - little things, but niggling. Kloves managed to excise Harry's "I think of her as a sister," declaration about Hermione, and we never got to see Kreacher's conversion with a little kindness from Harry (I liked that, myself - Kreacher was a miserable old bastard who contributed to Sirius' death, but he was also a bitter old elf poisoned by the Blacks and never really shown any kindness).

I guess I should talk up the action scenes. They were good. Nicely shot. (Eh, that's boring. I'd rather talk character.)

The twins are still awesome, wonderful, and hilarious, and I love them to bits in the movies. Especially George creeping past Harry and Ginny kissing, and then coughing to get their attention, and giving Harry the Eye.

NEVILLE! Neville gets to be awesome ahead of time. Just one line, but he PWNS it. And it's a great moment. I can't wait to see him being awesome in the next part.

Bill Nighy as the new Minister just didn't work for me. I don't know, he seemed...wrong. I preferred him as Viktor in Underworld - or the rock star in Love Actually. Now that was hilarious. Heck, even as Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbeanseries. On the other hand, Helena Bonham Carter does creepy like she was born to it. When she was young, she was all into Shakespearean heroines. And now she's the Creepy Dark Goth Woman Trying To Kill Everyone.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I'll go see it a second time with the sistren, but I'd rather settle in and read the book than watch any of the movies again. They've got some lovely cinematography

But I still ship Harry/Luna.

--

The quilt is finished. The lounge room is cleaned out and vacuumed. The sister mopped the living space floor, and I mopped the bathroom floor. The stairs are cleared so people can come down. We're doing the washing now, to hang out on the line.

I should go to the gym, but I'm kind of tired after cleaning all morning...

Comments

[scrollgirl]

There were things left out of course - little things, but niggling. Kloves managed to excise Harry's "I think of her as a sister," declaration about Hermione, and we never got to see Kreacher's conversion with a little kindness from Harry (I liked that, myself - Kreacher was a miserable old bastard who contributed to Sirius' death, but he was also a bitter old elf poisoned by the Blacks and never really shown any kindness).

I can live without Kreacher's redemption since we've never spent much time with the house elves in the movies anyway, but I'm soooo glad they cut the "I think of her as a sister" line. The HP movies have always had a hint of Harry/Hermione UST, even if we knew from the get-go Ron/Hermione was the canon pairing, so I appreciated the more ambiguous H/Hr moments.

I love Harry/Luna too, though. They've got an almost spiritual connection, I think, being able to see things other people can't. (And yet, wow, how much did I love her utter forthrightness at the wedding: "He doesn't want to talk to us right now, he's just too polite to say it.")

That said, Harry/Ginny is kind of cute too. I don't think Dan has a lot of chemistry with Bonnie, but she's got plenty of her own.

[tielan]

See, I don't make distinctions between the movies and the books. Although maybe I should.

On top of the dance scene between Harry and Hermione, and given that Steve Kloves doesn't really have anything nice to say about Ron as a character, I'm not particularly fond of the movie vibe between Harry and Hermione.

But then, I like Ron for being the 'everyman' - the ground.

[scrollgirl]

I got into Harry Potter through the PoA movie, so, you know, shipping Harry/Hermione wasn't that hard. Not that I actively ship them, but I adore their relationship and that dynamic of confidante/friend/sister/possibly more. It's ambiguous, which I prefer over not-ambiguous, I suppose. With the books themselves, I prefer gen--to see the kids as just kids without shipping them. The movies let me ship because of all the pretty--don't get me wrong, I like Ron/Hermione too. The piano scene was cute, and the almost-touching while sleeping.

I have no idea what Kloves says in interviews (or do you mean through the movies themselves?) but I thought Ron's been pretty good lately. I always thought his least flattering film was PoA. What part of his characterisation in OotP and HBP did you not like?

ETA: Ooh, my mistake. I didn't realise that Kloves had done the screenplays for all the movies except OotP. Hmm, I'm gonna have to go back to the books to compare.