HP and the HBP and assorted upcoming films

[dslartoo]

Went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night with datalopez and my mother. Good film with some very effective scenes, but (as with the previous five films) not as good as the books. There are some book-to-movie adaptations that I prefer the movie over the books, but the HP series hasn't been one of those. They just seem rushed and horribly compressed, a result of trying to cram a 700+ page book into a two-hour movie. They suffer for it. At least the final book will be split over two films.

The trailers beforehand were also a curiously mixed bunch. A clearly-aimed-at-kids film called Shorts from Robert Rodriguez that looks like garbage. A reimagined Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. that looks -- ehh. I like some reimaginings but I don't think Holmes should be an action hero and don't like this idea.

The next three, though, were definitely right up my alley. The first was a big ol' disaster film from the modern-day czar of disaster films, Roland Emmerich. It looks like this latest one, 2012, is going to be full of explodey CGI end-of-the-world doomy fun. I can tell it'll be a fun popcorn film.

The second, the latest from Tim Burton, is a curious and twisted-looking piece called simply 9. Burton's dark and demented design is very much in evidence and the story looks like more post-apocalyptic fun. This looks like it has the potential to be very interesting and the animation seemed top-notch.

The third is a remake of one of my favorite books, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. I wasn't keen on the idea of this one when I first heard about it but it looks like Spike Jonze has done a fine job reimagining this classic, sticking very close to the look and feel of the original but expanding it to movie length. We shall see how it is received...

Anyway, a good night out, with one good movie seen and the promise of at least three more interesting ones to come soon. At least, it was good until I got a speeding ticket on the way home. Ah well. Play with fire, get burnt...

-- END OF LINE --

[[The Oracle would like to know what your first pet was.]]

Comments

2012

[mpceccato.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised Samuel L Bronkowitz (or ZAZ) hasn't sued Roland Emmerich over 2012 as it looks way too similar to That's Armageddon! I guess he didn't cast Donald Sutherland as "the clumsy waiter", so they aren't seeking attention.

[reannon.livejournal.com]

My problem with WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is that they felt the need to give Max a reason for his temper tantrum: he's clearly suffering from parental neglect! Mom has a *gasp* boyfriend over! Max therefore is a victim of the Terrible Single Mother, an archetype I'm getting very damn sick of. In the book, Max was being a twerp because sometimes little boys are twerps and need a time-out. At the end, he comes back from the land of the Wild Things because he knew his mother loved him and forgave him for being a twerp. I will go see the movie, because it's hard to judge from a promo and because Kiddo will insist. But I dearly hope it is more the latter than the former.

[dslartoo.livejournal.com]

Whoops. I hadn't heard that. Not so good. Well, I look forward to your review, then.

cheers,
Phil

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

I was worried about that, too. But kids can be twerps because they don't want anyone to "replace" the other parent, even if there is no parental neglect. So I'm hoping it's more like that.

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

I really want to see 9 and Where the Wild Things Are, too. And I agree with you on HBP. I think Deathly Hallows was the wrong book to split, though - you could more easily make that in a single movie than HBP. Hopefully it will be good, though.