Prisoner of Azkaban

I saw the movie with Emily, of course, and she said the same thing.

I agree. This made me think Waston and Grint might have a future in acting. Radcliffe not so much, and I don’t know if he’ll ever get out from under that character.

The new Dumbledor does not have The Voice. Many of Richard Harris’ lines were just as silly but his readings— and that voice— made them seem more mystical than silly. Michael Gambon looks a lot like Richard Harris’ Dumbledor but, IMO, he didn’t have the presence.

The movie didn’t need more Snape. I just wish there was more.

Nice film, but there’s one thing (well, one thing in particular) that bugs me:

Why didn’t Harry get in trouble for attacking Snape in the Shrieking Shack? I’d think that’s worth at least an expulsion – but it was never mentioned again!

Not just you! My wife and I each came up with this - looked at each other, and mouthed “I’m king of the world!” at that point. Heh.

I havn’t seen the movie yet… but I LOVE the scene in the trailer where Snape strides down the middle of the classroom, magically slamming each window’s shutter as he passes. Perfectly in character and sets the atmosphere beautifully.

If only I didn’t keep remembering that Snape’s classes are held in a dungeon…

Don’t worry, that scene with Snape is factually correct. You’ll see.

Has anyone noticed that the kids appear a little old for their years? In this installment, the students in Harry’s class are all about 13. According to www.imdb.com, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) was born in 1989, Rupert Grint (Ron) in 1988, Emma Watson (Hermione) in 1990 – average age, 15. When the first movie, Sorceror’s Stone, was released in 2001, they were about 12 – just as in the book. The problem is, in the book series the kids age at a rate of one year for each book, and they can’t make the movies quite that fast.

Or is it a problem? “Teen movies” are frequently made with actors in their early 20s anyway, presumably because it’s so hard to find teenage actors who can really act. If you don’t believe me, rent a video of the low-budget slasher film Sleepaway Camp and compare it to, say, Nightmare on Elm Street. The difference: In Sleepaway Camp, it’s obvious they made the highly unusual choice of casting 14- or 15-year old actors to play 14- or 15-year-old characters.

In any case, at this rate we might expect the seventh film of the series (if they film all seven books, including the two Rowling has projected but not yet written) to come out in 2011 or 2012, and the actors will be 22- or 23-year-olds playing 18-year-old characters – which is manageable, and there’s plenty of precedent.

I think this would have been easy to manage–a montage with dissolves or two, holding just long enough for us to see the students in different clasrooms with voice-over professors going on about something, Neville making something explode in potions, etc. This is essentially how time was shown to pass (passing seasons). This absence contributed to the sense of rushing/choppy editing that has been mentioned already. I did like how little clunky exposition there was as compared to the first two films. I’m still trying to decide if I liked the film overall, though. I’ll have to see it again so I can concentrate on it as a film rather than as an adaptation of a book.

Did you think Lupin was surreptitiously portrayed as a gay werewolf? I’m thinking particularly of his last scene with Harry, where IIRC he talked about the parents writing letters about “my kind” but didn’t actually say what kind that was. That, and the Victrola.

I saw the parallels (although that was all I thought it was, parallel/coincidence). Now I’m going to be wandering around all day trying to figure out what’s gay about a Victrola. :confused:

Woo-hoo!! I loved this movie! Hooray! I can’t wait to see it again.
My favorite parts-

Dawn French as the fat lady singing. So funny - I especially loved how all the paintings around her reacted. There was the knight in full armor who ran to see what was happening, like he thought something was under attack, and there was that woman trying to comfort her baby. Hehe :slight_smile:

The part right as the trio were leaving Hagrid’s hut when Buckbeak was going to be executed, and Harry tried to say something quick to comfort Hagrid, but there wasn’t time and there wasn’t really anything to say.

At the beginning when Harry’s leaving the Dursley’s, and we catch a quick glimpse of Aunt Marge floating away high in the sky.

I loved the part where a tree (I think it was the whomping willow) dropped one leaf and we watch it flutter down very slowly, and a second after it drops, all the other leaves drop in a hurry.

I loved when Harry was staying at the Leaky Cauldron and we see the housekeeper walk down the corridor, and after she knocks on one door, I forgot what exactly happens, but I think there was an explosion or a lot of light or something sounding angry, and she says sounding kind of tired, “I’ll come back later.” Tee-hee! All these small touches amuse me.

The part with Harry riding Buckbeak over the lake was great. Okay, I also thought of “I’m the king of the world!”, but otherwise it just looked beautiful with the scenery and the music. It reminded me of the part in A Little Princess when Sara opens her window in the attic and all the snow falls in.

And just in general, I loved how there was that swinging pendulum in the back of a lot of scenes and all the camera work through the clock’s gears. I think there were a few times when my American ears just couldn’t understand what the kids were saying. Anybody else notice this? It was mostly at the end when Harry and Hermione went back in time I think. I don’t have a lot of complaints. Like someone else said, I didn’t entirely buy Harry’s anger/sorrow after he found out Sirius betrayed his parents. I was disappointed that they didn’t show Snape finding out about Neville’s boggart - I was looking forward to that! Though I had a lot of fun imagining that day of filming when Alan Rickman stepped out of wardrobe. I thought the ending felt a bit rushed. It wasn’t as effective as the book in showing all the confusion Harry goes through trying to figure out if Sirius is good or bad.

Oh, but I thought Emma Thompson was fantastic. I especially loved how she said something about having “The sight!”, and then immediately tripped over a chair. And I liked the very last shot of Harry flying away, and then saying mischief managed, and how the credits were in the form of the Marauder’s Map. This was by far my favorite of the three movies. I haven’t read the book in awhile - what are some of the things that got left out?

Oh, I forgot to mention, about the time when Harry’s scar is on the wrong side - the only time I noticed this was in the scene of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class with the boggart, and in this case, the shot was clearly supposed to be the reflection in the mirror on that cabinet that held the boggart.

I suppose the biggest thing that was left out of the movie that happened in the book was the fact that it didnt show Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup, and it left out Oliver Wood, which means we wont see him at all again, unless they show the scene from GoF where Harry & Ron meet him at the World Cup. They also left out the week that Harry spent in Diagon Alley on his own. They also left out Ron & Hermiones argument over the firebolt, naturally. They left out how the kids helped Hagrid with Buckbeats appeal… but nothing major was left out.

Add two more people to that list of ‘King of the World’ Id completely forgotten about that until I saw it in here again.

I almost yelled out “I’m King of the World” during that bit. But my favorite theft was the Aliens bit with them map and Peter Pettigrew getting closer and closer.

This has been addressed by many people before now, in the press as well as on the SDMB.

The movie was filmed beginning over a year ago - average age: 14. Exactly as it should be.

I don’t know why people get worked up about things like this when it is the de-rigeur of movies to have people playing ages that they aren’t, and one or two years either side is not going to matter that much.

They are now filming the next one (Goblet of Fire) and they are still well within the range of age they need to be. Yes, they may be 17 when they film Order of the Phoenix (when in the book they’re 16) or they may be 20 when they film book seven (when they need to be 18) but that’s such a minor issue.

??? “King of the World”?

I saw it last night with Mr. Ujest. He knows zero about the story, so it was fun listening to him guessing along.

I didn’t read through everyone else’s replies and thoughts lest I forget what I came in here to say:

Hagrid’s Cottage has seemed to move. It use to be just off the grounds, now it seems to be down in a valley area.

The hippogriff was pretty cool.

The Whomping Willow seems to have relocated too, but I liked the effects of using it to show the change of seasons. That was very nice.

The guy who played Peter Pettigrew was perfectly cast.
I liked the Dementors and their big swirling feeding frenzy scene, excellent creepy effect.

Actually, the entire scene by the lake was extremely well done, IMHO.
I was disappointed in what Sirius Black’s dog looked like. Nothing like I imagined and the werewolvethere wolf-------> was absolutely nothing like I pictured. Werewolves pretty much look like Michael J. Fox, m’kay? :wink: [/size]

The ending surprised me. I expected the usual farewell at the station. It was upbeat.

People in the theater actually clapped with the scene with Herimone and Malfoy by the Big Rock and again at the end of the movie. I haven’t heard people clap in a film in awhile.

Best Harry Potter film yet. Had an entirely different feel.

I liked the bit where the Whomping Willow nailed the bird. It was a Shreckish tribute…

Is that what it did?

I was distacted for a second and I thought the bird blew up, leading me to beleive there was a force field around Hogwarts.

Have you ever seen a movie called Titanic?
I was refering to the Harry flying on Buckbeak over the pond and spreading his arms out.

OH and one other thing, I almost shouted when the ice started forming on the traing windows. “It’s the Day After Tomorrow!”