Quaggy's Year of Movies Part 1
Jun. 3rd, 2012 01:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quaggy
So I've been seeing a surprising number of films since I moved over here, both as a social activity with the others in my program and on my own as a break from writing and general PhD stuff. I've already put this off long enough that I have to break these into two parts! So let's start with the movie I saw in January and work our way forward...
The Artist
What can I say about this film? (Yes, there's a slight pun in there, considering it's about a silent film star.) The only thing that really sort of threw me out of it was that the lead actress too thin for a popular 1920s era flapper. But I totally get why she was cast. She was totally wonderful and you have to have a lot of charisma if you're going to be playing opposite Jean Dujardin, who definitely deserved that Oscar! So even that gets a pass in my book. The cast (including the dog!) was fabulous, but the real star was sound itself. There are three times when the introduction of sound actually made me jump. It shows you how powerful sound really is and why the talkies did take over.
Ponya
Finally sat down to watch this after having the DVD for 2 years. You think I would be first in line for a new Studio Ghibli film, but the mixed reviews cooled my enthusiasm. Honestly, I see where they are coming from. A dear friend called Ponya "Little Mermaid with five year olds" which is really the main problem with this movie. Not because the target audience is five... But because a five year old boy is asked to love someone forever, with complete wedding overtones. I think there's an age cut-off for being able to make true love declarations. I think 10-year-old Chihiro from Spirited Away *points to icon* is just about as young as you can reasonably get... And even then it helped that she wasn't the one making the True Love declarations. It was the adults who identified her actions as such. Though, I suppose to a parent it might feel like their 25 year old has shed two decades when they talk about walk down the aisle *cue the classic clip from Steve Martin's Father of the Bride* but it's just wrong when you see it happening in a non-metaphorical sense. Seriously, even if they made them both 8, I could have probably tolerated it. Been weird, but I could have tolerated it. That said, it wasn't a bad film. But not one I plan on watching again unless/until I have a five year old of my own!
MirrorMask
It probably took me even longer to see this film than it did to see Ponya, but I had a totally different reaction when I was through. Namely that I am an idiot for not watching this film sooner!! So apparently Jim Henson Studios realized that Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, so twenty years later they decided to create another fantasy film. Normally this would be a recipe for disaster... except they did everything right. They got Neil freakin' Gaiman to write the script and his long-time collaborator Dave McKean directed. The plot was tight and the actors were wonderful. They even hit the prefect amount of shippy-ness, which the other two movies cannot claim, in my opinion. It was a little strange to see a Jim Henson Studio production that CGI instead of puppetry, but I got over it. In many ways the computer animation is completely dated... but a lot of it feels deliberate.They even said on the commentary track that they were trying to make it look like you had stepped into one of Dave McKean (or rather the main character Helena's) drawings. So that works actually very well. It's definitely become one of my favorite movies.
Now there's one movie I have yet to give an opinion on, but I didn't see it this year. I actually saw it last summer, so normally I'd say that I've past the statute of limitation to post about it. But since I've talked about each and every movie in the series since I've created this LJ, I think I need to say something. I'm, of course, taking about....
Harry Potter
So the series has finally come to an end. My brother was in 8th grade when we started seeing the films together. He's now getting a master's in architecture. He's now older than I was when movie 1 was released! By a couple of years!! It truly is the end of an era. It's hard to even look at the film as independent from all of that, because there's no way it can be. Heck, it's a Part 2 film, so it's not even like it carries it's own story arch!! But let's give it a go, okay?
If you know me, I bet you can guess what I didn't like. The last scene was useless. Unless you liked the Epilogue to begin with and then I'm sure it was fantastic, but for the rest of us, it was just a pointless exercise. That was actually the major complaint that my brother, who you might remember has stopped reading the books early on, had when he left the theater. (Reason 60500937 why I love my brother.) It's because the scene on the bridge feels like the true and proper end to the films. All in all, I'm taking my Avatar: Last Airbender solution and applying it to this by pretending that the Epilogue is really just Harry imagining what the future might be like. What actually happens is up to us. 'Cause you all know who I think he should have ended up with. :-P
But seriously, went into this knowing this was Ron/Hermione's film and that I was going to have to be happy with the Harry/Hermione moments in movies past. But then there was Hermione's "I'll go with you", perfect and heartbreaking all at the same time. But, even with that unexpected bonus, my favorite movie ship was actually overshadowed by another absolutely-unexpected-totally-wonderful-even-if-it's-ONLY-in-the-movies ship. Even though JK Rowling later said that Neville and Luna marry other people, I love that the movie series said "Okay, enough. It's not in the books, but it's not NOT int the books. This one is ours!" And it was fabulous! I can't say I was a Neville/Luna shipper in the books. (Or even in the movies, because while the actress who played Ginny didn't have any chemistry with Dan Rupert, I always thought she did with the actor who played Neville.) But a couple years ago,
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
unoriginal_liz asked me for a Neville/Luna drabble and the pairing suddenly grew on me. So, by the time the movie happened, I was a big bundle of goo when I actually got to see them happen! So thank you, Liz!! It was such a wonderful scene too, with both of them sitting on the stairs together. It's impossible for me to now picture Neville or Luna with other people.As for the non-shippy stuff, I have to say, I really think the did an excellent job all the way around. The action sequences were both fun and exciting, with Neville being a large reason to why. Actually, Neville was pretty grand in most of this movie, full stop. And Maggie Smith as McGonagall was stellar as always. Frankly, it's hard imagining the fact that there won't be able more moments with McGonagall, Hagrid, Dumbledore and all the rest. It's hard to believe this train has finally come to an end.
So that's it. Or rather (ignoring Harry Potter) those were only the movies I saw the first two months of the year. Stay tuned for Part 2 when I bring things up to date. :-)
So, goodbye, Harry (and Hermione and Ron and everyone else)! I'm going to miss you!
So that's it. Or rather (ignoring Harry Potter) those were only the movies I saw the first two months of the year. Stay tuned for Part 2 when I bring things up to date. :-)
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Date: 2012-06-03 03:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-03 04:17 am (UTC)You mean, beside being the director's wife?
/sarcasm.
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Date: 2012-06-03 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-03 12:25 pm (UTC)As a side note, I also think it's hilarious that Neville wound up growing up to physically look more like the book version of Harry Potter than Daniel Radcliffe does!
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Date: 2012-06-03 12:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-03 06:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-03 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-03 10:38 pm (UTC)Ouch. Well, I guess that's one way to keep success in check. I'm woefully ignorant of French cinema, so all of this is news to me. Though I did say that it would be interesting to see what they do next, not to go to see what they do next. ;-) As much as I enjoyed his performance in The Artist, I don't feel any need to go back and see their James Bond spoofs.
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Date: 2012-06-03 10:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-03 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-04 07:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-04 01:37 pm (UTC)But I have to say, I thought that Neville/Luna was a stroke of genius too. They're both so dreamy/dippy, in perfectly complementary ways. And I was in love with the way that Neville turned into a quiet hero. He kind of fell into being rock-solid, surprisingly enough. Which complements Luna's knowingness.
I suppose I can see why you'd ship Harry/Hermione...but they didn't strike me as an OTP, really. (And even though the dancing scene was sweet, I didn't get 'chemistry' out of it.) And I do like Ron/Hermione. I agree that Harry/Ginny doesn't really make sense, and yeah, the actors kind of had horrible chemistry with each other. That's tough, though, when you're casting ten-year-olds for things that are going to happen 8-10 years later. You're kind of stuck with what you've got.
I enjoyed them, but it was hard to get really into them, since I'm not a hard-core book lover or anything like that. I really like them more for the movie magic, and the world it creates, I think. I am dying to take the set tour, if I ever get over that way.
As for The Artist, I really liked it. It hit just the right note, no pun intended. I was actually looking for Artist fanfic after I saw it, or fanvids. It just seems like they'd go well.
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Date: 2012-06-04 10:32 pm (UTC)Well, ultimately it's because they're not. Everyone knew fairly early on that Hermione was going to be with Ron and Harry with Ginny. But I do think the actors have good chemistry and have had since, like, the third movie. Maybe it's just the combination of being good friends in real life and that their acting styles are complimentary. But I've always enjoyed their interaction.
That's tough, though, when you're casting ten-year-olds for things that are going to happen 8-10 years later. You're kind of stuck with what you've got.
Yes, that's totally true. Like the fact that Harry in the books is very tall and his actor wound up being much shorter than the other guys in the cast. The reason that Luna is so perfectly cast is because she's the only major character that didn't show up until the fifth book, so they weren't stuck with a girl who was perfect when she was 10, but wasn't so much when she was 14.
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Date: 2012-06-10 10:16 am (UTC)It's because the scene on the bridge feels like the true and proper end to the films.
Yeah - everything that happened in the epilogue (ships, kids, Hogwarts: The Next Generation) you could extrapolate from the last chapter...but it still left things open enough that you could play in that universe. (I think JK Rowling just mentioned Luna/Neville in an interview...it wasn't in the epilogue, was it? Shows how often I've read that part, huh?) The epilogue just kind of...closed everything off. Eh :/ And like you said, it just wasn't necessary! It almost takes from the lovely last chapter, which would've made a really strong ending.
All in all, I'm taking my Avatar: Last Airbender solution and applying it to this by pretending that the Epilogue is really just Harry imagining what the future might be like. What actually happens is up to us. 'Cause you all know who I think he should have ended up with. :-P
Good solution! I pretty much see the movie/books as separate entities too...and the Harry/Hermione dance and the LUNA/NEVILLE stuff was just gorgeous.
It was such a wonderful scene too, with both of them sitting on the stairs together. It's impossible for me to now picture Neville or Luna with other people.
I know! Me too! I love that the movie really just went, "...yeah, these two kids need to be together." And your Luna/Neville story is completely and totally my canon :)
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Date: 2012-06-16 10:20 pm (UTC)No JK said that Neville married Hannah Abbot and Luna married someone we never even "met". So yeah, it was totally a movie thing. And not reading the epilogue is good for your health.
I pretty much see the movie/books as separate entities too...and the Harry/Hermione dance and the LUNA/NEVILLE stuff was just gorgeous.
Yes, the movies really did become their own thing towards the end, so I was faced with the strange situation that as my enthusiasm for the series waned with later books... it ramped up with the release of the latter movies. Go figure.
And I need a Neville/Luna icon. :-D
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Date: 2012-06-16 10:39 pm (UTC)Oh, I know Neville/Luna didn't get together :) I just meant that that's not explained in the epilogue, is it? JK Rowling came along and explained it all afterwards, didn't she? But you find out Neville's a professor, but nothing else in the actual text, right? (Or am I wrong and Neville/Hannah Abbot is explicit in the text?). Anyway, the movie is separate!
Yes, the movies really did become their own thing towards the end, so I was faced with the strange situation that as my enthusiasm for the series waned with later books... it ramped up with the release of the latter movies. Go figure.
Yeah, I never quite felt the same about the books after Sirius died. Even though I still really enjoyed the later books.
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Date: 2012-06-16 10:52 pm (UTC)No, you're right. All we found out is that Neville's a professor. I'm not sure Luna is mentioned in the actual text of the epilogue at all. Silly archaic epilogue!
Yeah, I never quite felt the same about the books after Sirius died.
See it was never one thing for me... I just started enjoying them less and less. Probably because they became so bloody long. And the camping trip from hell. Still feel cheated that I got a camping trip from hell when I was expecting an epic quest adventure!
Oh any because I nearly forgot...
And your Luna/Neville story is completely and totally my canon :)
Thank you! Not bad considering that it was only a 100 word drabble! Though I really do have to write that movie-verse post-series fic. (Which, by the way, was going to include Neville/Luna pairing... and now I'm completely justified because it's canon!)
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Date: 2012-06-16 11:01 pm (UTC)Thank you! Not bad considering that it was only a 100 word drabble! Though I really do have to write that movie-verse post-series fic. (Which, by the way, was going to include Neville/Luna pairing... and now I'm completely justified because it's canon!)
Yay! I'm really looking forward to this :)
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Date: 2012-07-14 01:12 am (UTC)I saw it in the theater for Talk Cinema before it was released. I can say the entire audience had that reaction.
And then another when the handsome lead actor spoke.
I adored that movie.
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Date: 2012-07-15 06:20 pm (UTC)I was already spoiled about the French accent, unfortunately. I wonder if they meant for that to have the significance that it did.