A Viewer's Guide to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I don't really review movies here at Nerd World. We have an actual critic who does that. I more barf out a series of thoughts that occur to me while I watch them, which form an MST3K-like running commentary. I tend to post them relatively late, since they're only fun if you have just seen, or are just about to see, the movie in question. And sometimes not even then!
So if you haven't seen Half-Blood Prince yet, come back to this post. There are major spoilers in it. Or you could print it out and take it with you, to refer to during the course of the movie. It's hours of fun for the whole family. Just tear along the dotted line at the edge of your screen.
A Viewer's Guide to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince:
1. The first frames of a Harry Potter movie are always tense, since you're kind of wondering what weird post-pubescent form Daniel Radcliffe et al will have morphed into next. (I remember the beginning of Order of the Phoenix as the first time I noticed he had stubble.) Here he just seems to have morphed into a good actor. All the heavy stuff that went down at the end of Phoenix is just hanging off his face here. You can see it all. Beautiful sequence.
2. First shot of Ginny. My goodness, she's gotten winsome. Makes you wonder what would have happened if she'd been cast as Hermione: she's more sweet and real-looking than the waspish, glacially pretty Emma Watson.
3. Now whenever I see Hogsmeade I think of that Remus Lupins song “Loosen Your Tie.” They should have licensed it for the soundtrack.
4. I wonder what the actors are really drinking when they drink butterbeer. It does look authentically butterscotchy.
5. Oh no! The cursing of Katie Bell in Hogsmeade, which looked so creepy in the trailer, turns out to be sorta unintentionally funny.
6. Man, Jim Broadbent is working hard to make Slughorn funny. You want to tell him to calm down a bit. Take it down a notch. He's not a young man anymore.
7. Tonks can metamorph to look however she wants, right? So why did she morph into Pat Benatar?
8. Holy Crow, that kid who plays Tom Riddle is creepy. That's nice work there, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin. Even creepier than the Tom Riddle of Chamber of Secrets. Yes, I went there! (And yes, Ralph Fiennes is his uncle.)
9. Hang on -- Death Eaters attacking the Weasley house? (Flips frantically through copy of Half-Blood Prince)
10. Also, does nobody know a spell for putting out fires? Snuffiarmus or some such?
11. You know who else is working hard? Jessie Cave, aka Lavender Brown. And I'm kind of loving it. That's a tough role, since it's not written especially wittily, but she's killing it. Forget Ron! Snog me, Lavender! Snog me!
12. The Quidditch stuff is just so, so great. Though now it's as if I hear Brad Neely's voice faintly in the background -- "Harry throws his leg over his steed, and rips the air a new one ... " [scroll to 2:15 or so ... ]
13. Warner Brothers had good luck with Draco. That kid just looked averagely creepy eight years ago, when he was, what, 14? But now he looks interesting too, which is exactly the arc of the character. So that all worked out. You really get this sense of him and Harry as being two kids who aren't that different at heart, but who got caught up in this massive conflict which is using them for its own ends, and in the process tearing them both to pieces in different ways.
14. Wait, Felix Felicis is clear? No! It's supposed to be gold-colored! (Takes off hat, stamps on it.)
15. I just realized something: this movie is hilarious. Same actors, same director, same screenwriter, but the comic timing is suddenly killer. My fave is Harry's randomly peppy “hi!” after he drinks the Felix Felicis. He is so high right now!
16. And there's something generally very confident and assured about this movie, too. The pacing is very steady and measured, in a good way.
17. Wait, Hagrid is in this movie? Oh, OK. Bye again.
18. The Big Cave Scene. Here I just have to recuse myself from thinking or feeling anything, because I never quite believed in this scene in the book. I don't know why. I just find something slightly funny about Harry helping Dumbledore chug the evil potion. It's like that scene in The Sure Thing where John Cusack teaches his girlfriend to shotgun a beer. It's just hard for me to get into. Next slide.
19. Hm. I was a little jarred that Harry isn't invisible and paralyzed like he is in the book, when Snape does the deed. It puts a slightly different spin on Harry's reluctance to act in Dumbledore's defense. Not that it's not believable. Just different.
20. I can't believe they soft-pedaled the bad-ass running battle that's supposed to be going on between the Death Eaters and the Hogwarts students! I wanted to see some heavy duty charmage! Instead Bellatrix just kicks over some glasses. At least Helena Bonham Carter's having a good time.
21. OK, now I'm a little peeved. I really can't believe they didn't give Snape a big speech at the end. He didn't even explain why he called himself the Half-Blood Prince! If there's one thing I learned from all my years as a famous film director in Hollywood, it's that when you get the chance to add more Alan Rickman to a movie, you add it.
All in all: much to enjoy. Great performances all round. I just had a bit of a problem with some of the liberties the screenwriter took towards the end. They didn't bother me -- as they did a lot of people -- in Order of the Phoenix. But they bothered me here.
And IMDB lists Daniel Radcliffe and Bonnie Wright (Ginny) both at 5'6”. Not sure I buy that. I think he's standing on something.
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1
I find myself wanting to dance around in a craze fangirl type fashion while squeeing at top of lungs. But alas, that is probably highly inappropriate behavior for a (cough) mature person...
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1.1
There's only one legitimate place I've found to watch it, the rest seem like scams :-/ You can see it over here though: http://freeonlinemovies.us/watch28015.html
They make you do a little survey but after that it's good to go
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Cylons! Angels! The Secret Six! The Twelve Colonies! That douchebag with the long hair! The old guy with the eye patch! The Lords of Kobold!
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3
Emma is glacial!!! Is that a compliment? When we meet up at CCI I'll have to indoctrinate you into the cult of Watson!
LOL!!I really liked your review. HBP is my least favorite of books . . . in the English language . . . so I'm glad they were able to make good on the film version. We'll be talking about that at the panel, our own opinions as to its quality.
Was there a Harry/Ginny breakup scene at the end like there was in the book? That scene was so overwrought and melodramatic, I also destroyed my copy right there, but I was afraid I might accidentally turn it into a Horcrux, thereby binding me to it forever!!! This is a "Problem Book" in the Potter oeuvre like "All's Well that Ends Well" and the late comedies are with Shakespeare (so much that I'm thinking of starting a cult, the "Anti-Rowlings," to prove that she either never wrote HBP or was under some Imperius curse by Ginny/Harry and Hermione/Ron fanboys/girls. There's so much to love, in so much crap! LOL!
I'm eagerly looking forward to meeting up with you at CCI. Please E-mail me back!! Lots to talk about beforehand!!
Eric Bowling
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3.1
Indeed. I've always despised the character of Ginny but I've got nothing against Bonnie Wright. However I'm by far an Emma Watson supporter and I have to say I disagree with #2! Emma is the perfect Hermionie!
Oh and Eric, if you get that cult started let me know! For me, the series ended at book 5 and I'm quite content to fill in the rest myself!
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[...] [SPOILERS] Pequena resenha despretensiosa do blog Nerd Time sobre o novo filme do Harry Potter: http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2009…; . [SPOILERS] 4 minutes [...]
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"If there's one thing I learned from all my years as a famous film director in Hollywood, it's that when you get the chance to add more Alan Rickman to a movie, you add it."
Amen. And thank you. Amen.
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I just got home from seeing the movie and have to agree completely with Lev's thinking about the movie's ending. I was in such anticipation of seeing the final battle in Hogwarts after Dumbledore's death, and I couldn't believe they left out the entire sequence - and also left out everything about D'dore's funeral, Ginny & Harry's breakup...
But I guessed earlier in the film (when Harry consumed ALL of the Felix, instead of saving some to give his friends for the final battle) that they were going to short-change the ending.
All in all, however, I'm pleased with the movie, will see it again, and can not wait for the final two. -
7
10. Aguamenti?
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard from a few people that it's their favorite by far. I was one of those that was bothered by the ending of Order of the Phoenix, so I'm not sure what to expect about the ending of this one, though if the rest of the movie is well done, I'm sure I'll get over it.
One of my biggest HP movie pet peeves is when they directly go against the basic principles of the HP universe for the sake of the movie. The best example is that whole scene where the Order arrives to take Harry to HQ, and they all line up in the middle of the street in wide open view, then they fly through London in plain sight. Wizarding secrecy? Anyone? I'm all for making adaptations because movies are different than books, but that's right up there with Viktor Krum for me. Argh.
Now you've gone and put me on a soapbox, Lev. Now I need to wait a week before I can settle down and watch the movie and hope to enjoy it.
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[...] A Viewer’s Guide to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince I don't really review movies here at Nerd World. We have an actual critic who does that. I more barf out a series of [...] [...]
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9
I wrote a whole facebook rant about it. Here's all the things I noticed:
It should have started at the Dursley's.
The random 'burn the Burrow' scene was just stupid.
They cut out the final battle, which means the other death eaters showed up for no reason.
The Millenium Bridge was opened in 2000. HP6 is set in 1996/97. Therefore, it could not have been destroyed by the death eaters.
Death eaters shouldn't be able to fly without brooms. It's going to be like, in the next movie, "You-know-who can fly!" "Yeah, so what?"
They still treat Quidditch like Calvinball on brooms.
You can't block a spell without your wand.
They cut out all of Dumbledore's laments while he drinks the potion.
Harry won't be able to find the diadem of Ravenclaw because Ginny hid his book instead of him, and didn't place the diadem on top of the plaster statue.
Less snogging, more Voldemort flashbacks, is what is needed here.
Dumbledore never told Harry "The locket, the cup, the snake, something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's".
They left out Scrimgeour.
They ALSO left out the U-NO-POO poster.
Harry does a lot more hiding behind walls than is strictly necessary for someone who has an invisibilty cloak.
Slughorn should have mustache.
The room of hidden things doesn't look big enough.
Going third-person omniscient made it so the big mystery was being explained all along.
The protective charms around Hogwarts should NOT work like energy fields in Star Wars.
Luna finding him implies that wrackspurts exist. Which they don't. And why is she still on the train anyways?
They totally left out the funeral. And any mention of Bill and Fleur's wedding (which will presumably be held at the pile of ashes where the Burrow used to be.)
There's still no mention of the prophecy, and it has never been recited in it's entirety, so why is Harry so sure that he's the chosen one?
After the greenhouse scene, it's suddenly like, "What the hell? A dead giant spider? Where the hell did that come from? Oh, it's Aragog. Ok. Wait. When did Aragog die, exactly?"
And those are just the things that I could remember from the midnight showing, which I watched semi-awake with my obnoxious cousins sitting by me.
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9.1
Just because I love arguing about things, I'm going to reply point-for-point with everything you said
1) Starting at the Dursleys - it would have been nice to see them, but I can't hold it against them to go with a shorter intro.
2) Burrow burning - I agree. Yes, life is dangerous, we get it. Did we need to put that scene in?
3) No final battle - I was disappointed with the entire ending. The lack of battle didn't bug me as much as other things, but it was pretty dumb just to be like, "Hey, we're Death Eaters!"
4) Millenium Bridge - It's already HP precedent that the timeline doesn't match up with that of the real world (see: Dudley's PlayStation). The fact that it was the Millenium Bridge didn't bug me as much as the lameness of the scene, and...
5) Flying Death Eaters - This really bugged me in Order of the Phoenix, and it still bugs me.
6) Quidditch - I thought this was the best Quidditch match yet. The Ron theatrics were hilarious, and it actually looked like how I'd imagine Quidditch being played. I'd love to see a good multiplayer video game based on Quidditch, to see what strategies would evolve from real human competition, not just creative minds.
7) You can't block a spell without your wand - I'm pretty sure you can't block a spell with your wand either. In fact, I'm pretty sure you can't cast a spell by just flicking your wrist... you actually have to cast something.
They cut out all of Dumbledore's laments while he drinks the potion - They put a couple in, but it was a lot more tame. In all honesty, it really didn't bug me.9) Diadem - I'm sure they'll find a lame way to resolve this in the end. I wish they had let Ginny side with Harry against Hermione, though.
10) Snogging/Voldemort - I thought the snogging/romance side was perfectly done, and the Voldemort history was done as well as I could have hoped (the movies have never been notorious for lore strength).
11) No Horcrux details - I'm wondering how they will resolve this in 7-1, but I'm assuming it will be worked out just as poorly as the Diadem will be.
12) Scrimgeour - As poorly as Fudge has been written/played in the past, I'm not disappointed that they de-emphasized the Ministry. Nothing was better than something done poorly, IMO.
13) No U-NO-POO - a detail they could have easily left in, but it would have had to lead to the conversation about how lightly the twins are taking things, and that would have taken up time. An unfortunate casualty, but nothing I lost sleep over.
14) Harry the Rogue - this bugged me a lot.
15) No Slughorn mustache - Slughorn was my far and away favorite part of the movie. I'll take a brilliant actor without a mustache over a mediocre actor with a mustache.
16) The room of hidden things doesn't look big enough - I was surprised at how close to my mind's eye the movie was. Didn't bug me... *shrug*
17) Going third-person omniscient made it so the big mystery was being explained all along - yeah, but I think it was necessary to tell Draco's story well. Movies and books just have to tell stories differently sometimes.
18) The protective charms around Hogwarts should NOT work like energy fields in Star Wars - having DD able to apparate out bugged me more than the behavior of the charms, but yes, this seemed like it was exploited for cheap laughs.
19) Luna stuff - I'm always happy to see Luna, but they just had to invent a way to keep the Order out of the movie. Making not-real characters real is dumb, but just an unfortunate side-effect of it being a movie.
20) Funeral/set-up stuff - Like I said earlier, I was disappointed with the whole ending. I'm assuming they're going to invent another way for the Big Three (or Four, since Harry never broke up with Ginny???) to get on the run.
21) Prophecy/Chosen One - Yeah, this was something I was surprised about. For a movie series where they're so adamant that the movies shouldn't be compared to the books or dependent on the books, that's kind of a big detail for viewers to have to know from the books.
22) Aragog - This didn't bug me at all. In fact, I loved the scene. It didn't need the extra screentime of Harry getting a note from Hagrid.
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Epilogue: The only thing more fun than nerdraging is trying to diffuse nerdraging with rational arguments
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[...] in the latest picture “vitally important to the overall arc of the story.” Time’s Nerd World blog ogled, “She’s more sweet and real-looking than the waspish, glacially pretty Emma [...]
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11
I saved this post till after I saw the movie and I was kind of afraid you were going to point out all the bad stuff and make me change my mind about liking it. Glad you didn't.
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For possibly the first time ever in my life when dealing with an adaptation (especially HP), I whole-heartedly approve of the changes at the end of this. The whole lit wands scene was so much nicer of a tribute than everyone in the hospital wing not seeming to care that Dumbledore just died. It was a good way to wrap up without including the funeral, too. I also didn't mind too much that the fight was missing, though I'm looking forward to seeing a few characters kick ass in the next film. It would have messed with the pacing and strung it out too long at the end.
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Now I'm interested to see how they're gonna get two films out of DH. I hope it means there's time to showcase the heroics of some of the minor characters toward the end.-
11.1
I'm thinking that the break will be when Ron leaves. That's as good of a natural cliffhanger in the book as I can imagine.
Then again, I don't want to try to guess what they'll change/leave out, so maybe the cliffhanger will be when Ginny dies or something. (Joke. I think.)
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12
i had to explain to my girlfriend that when Harry takes the Felix Felicis he acts like he just dropped some ecstacy. then i had to explain what taking ecstacy was like. she's so cute and innocent : )
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[...] in the latest picture “vitally important to the overall arc of the story.” Time’s Nerd World blog ogled, “She’s more sweet and real-looking than the waspish, glacially pretty Emma [...]
- leverus @nebka it's in the works, from the great French publisher l'Atalante - http://l-atalante.com/ - 22 hours ago
- leverus @clarely p.s. that green band is in place to restrain the 3D treebranch that pokes out of the cover. suddenly it looks ridiculously phallic. - 22 hours ago
- leverus @clarely you're a huge dork! no DIE MAGIER yet. (it probably won't be called that. you can copyright titles in Germany, and MAGIER's taken.) - 22 hours ago
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