[PKIDelirium]

The time is approaching...

I'm going to the midnight showing. I just got my tickets from Fandango. The Regal 20 here has SEVEN midnight showings, and when I got my tickets a few minutes ago, five of them were sold out. Good thing I didn't wait till I got there!

Anyone else heading out for the midnight showtimes?

[Brad]

My wife preordered midnight tickets a week or two ago and we picked them up over the weekend. We'll be heading out within the next half hour.

She's been trying to quickly assemble a movie-style costume, but is just a few hours short of being able to complete it. She knit a whole sweater from scratch! (pictures up shortly)

[PKIDelirium]

Alright I'm heading out now so I don't get pwned in finding a decent seat. Badass.

[Brad]

Knit socks, sewn pleated skirt, and 95% of a knit sweater, all made by hand. The sweater won't make it for tonight, unfortunately, but can be reused for the final book release or Halloween.

Oh, and I cobbled together a wand of sorts from a wooden dowel and some Sculpey.

[World Leader Pretend]

Who is this "Harry Potter"?

Hmm? Never heard of him or his "Phoenix"

[Robo]

Losers.

All the real fans are waiting until the book to dress up.

I'm seeing the movie on the 19th.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Roboman All the real fans are waiting until the book to dress up.

What? You don't think she'll be dressing up for that event too? Real fans dress up for every major release.

My immediate impressions:

The movie was pretty good. Acting and script were well done for the genre. Effects were pretty good and not over-the-top. I was a little disappointed in the score; there didn't seem to be any new memorable themes (or any major themes at all, short of the original Hedwig's theme).

[PKIDelirium]

OMFG.

Give whoever casted Luna and Umbridge a fucking medal.

Kick. Ass.

That is all for tonight, I'm freaking tired. Theater was jammed and was a VERY involved, kick ass audience.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium Give whoever casted Luna and Umbridge a fucking medal.

Seconded. Umbridge was perfect. Every second on the screen, I wanted to reach out and strangle her, which I believe is the desired effect.

[iFerret]

Originally Posted by Brad Seconded. Umbridge was perfect. Every second on the screen, I wanted to reach out and strangle her, which I believe is the desired effect.

Amen. We saw it at 11.00 am this morning (first screening in my city) and it was pretty good. I liked it.

[Robo]

Brad:

I'm seeing the movie on the 19th so that a friend can Cali can fly in for Potter week. Here's our itinerary:

Sunday: Read Sorcerer's Stone, watch Sorcerer's Stone, discuss.
Monday: Read Chamber of Secrets, watch Chamber of Secrets, discuss.
Tuesday: Read Prisoner of Azkaban, watch Prisoner of Azkaban, discuss.
Wednesday: Read Goblet of Fire, watch Goblet of Fire, discuss.
Thursday: Read Order of the Phoenix, watch Order of the Phoenix, discuss.
Friday: Read Half-Blood Prince, discuss, attend party at Barnes & Noble.
Saturday: Read Deathly Hallows, discuss, find new meaning for life.

Just try telling me I'm not a real fan.

[Dave]

I'm not sure I could read the whole book in one day. You guys are fast.

[psmith2.0]

Holy smokes, Robo...I don't know whether to admire you or be a little scared of you.

You've got dedication, I'll say that. You throw yourself into something, it's thrown!

[PKIDelirium]

OK, my thoughts now that I'm conscious.

1. It kicked ass. IMO, it's the best Potter movie so far. I thought it was a better adaptation that Goblet of Fire, which had an assload of glaring omissions and plot holes.

2. Luna and Umbridge, as said last night before I crashed, totally kicked ass.

3. The score. Yeah, that was lacking.

4. The audience here was awesome. Very involved, lots of applause.

5. I'm glad I remembered the book well enough that I could run for a quick piss break before the big finale.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium OK, my thoughts now that I'm conscious. 1. It kicked ass. IMO, it's the best Potter movie so far. I thought it was a better adaptation that Goblet of Fire, which had an assload of glaring omissions and plot holes.

That's very good to hear. I thought the Goblet of Fire was a fine enough movie, but one of the worst adaptations I'd seen in a long time.

[mattf]

Originally Posted by Roboman Sunday: Read Sorcerer's Stone, watch Sorcerer's Stone, discuss.

This reminds me of a question I had when watching the first film the other day. During the US release of the first film, do the kids talk about "The Philosopher's Stone", or have they dubbed in "Sorcerer's Stone" during those segments?

Just wondering...

[Dave]

Originally Posted by mattf This reminds me of a question I had when watching the first film the other day. During the US release of the first film, do the kids talk about "The Philosopher's Stone", or have they dubbed in "Sorcerer's Stone" during those segments? Just wondering...

They say "Sorcerer's Stone". It doesn't seem dubbed, though.

[Engine Joe]

Originally Posted by Dave They say "Sorcerer's Stone". It doesn't seem dubbed, though.

It isn't dubbed - I recall reading several articles at the time they were doing press for the film, and they talked about how they shot all those scenes -- or at least shots twice. Usually it was just a quick insert shot here and there.

[PKIDelirium]

They recorded two versions of those scenes for the US release, one for each version of the dialog.

Edit: Beat!

[Capella]

I wonder why they bothered, and didn't just use Philosopher's Stone and make Americans just deal with it?

Can't comment on the movie yet- seeing it this Saturday- but I'm really excited to go.

[Foj]

Originally Posted by Brad Seconded. Umbridge was perfect. Every second on the screen, I wanted to reach out and strangle her, which I believe is the desired effect.

It is. I felt the same way while reading the book.

[Robo]

I saw it today, as promised.

The Potter geek approves.

We caught a one-o'-clock matinee, and we entered the theatre twenty minutes early - with the intentions of avoiding crowds. It was to no avail - the theatre was already packed when we entered. Luckily, there was a group of perfect seats in the middle of the theatre that were inexplicably unoccupied. It was like...magic.

We saw it in IMAX, so we got to see the "explosive finale" in 3D. I haven't seen a movie in IMAX in a long time, and it was the first IMAX 3D movie I had ever seen. I really liked it, but at the same time I'm glad the entire movie wasn't 3D - I think it would have given me a headache.

I don't know if I've just made peace with the HP films or not (I hated the previous ones), but I think this one was the best one yet. The book is even longer than Goblet of Fire was, but the pace doesn't feel nearly as rushed as that film was. The cuts were less obvious, too. Well...

The scene at the Department of Mysteries is probably my single favorite part of the books, and they cut a lot of it out. They basically reduced the department to two rooms, and they completely ommitted a rather important one. Oh wells.

But overall, it was well done. Coming from me - both an incredibly picky HP fanboy and an incredibly picky future filmmaker - that means a lot, I think.

I think you can measure how much I enjoyed a movie by how much soda is left in my cup afterwards. If I actually leave the theatre to get a refill, I hated the movie. If I empty my cup, it was okay. But if I completely forget that my soda exists ten minutes into the film, that means it was probably alright.

OotP was one of those "why the hell did I spend $5.50 on a large" movies.

[Foj]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium Give whoever casted Luna and Umbridge a fucking medal.

Hear, hear! I liked Luna in the movie.

I know they couldn't put everything 2 and half hours, but I wouldn't have minded if they had added a little bit more.

I felt they could have added a scene about seeing Neville visiting his parents at the hospital instead of Harry and Neville just talking about them at school. I think it would have had a greater affect on the audience. I thought the parts about Hagrid's brother and when Fred and George left could have been expanded a bit too.

Overall I liked it.

Oh, and........

Tonks = rawr!

[Wrao]

I saw it twice. Once the day after opening and again about a week later. It is probably my 2nd favorite of the movies, right behind The Prisoner of Azkaban(which I think is brilliant). In fact, as far as I'm concerned there are only 2 Harry Potter movies worth watching, This one and Prisoner of Azkaban. The rest are pretty lame.

[Fahrenheit]

From the moment we had that saturated introduction, the depressing sound of the swing and the feeling of the heat of the summer, I could tell that this movie was going to be considerably better.

The casting in this film was just superb, from Mrs. Figg (who's backstory had been completely ignored, thus making her introduction slightly abrupt) to Helena Bonham-Carter playing a perfect Bellatrix.

One of my favourite moments was

During Harry's trial, when Fudge asks her to describe the dementors, and she says "One was large, and one was quite skinny", and Fudge interrupts her and says "Not the boys; The Dementors!"

Oh yeh, did anyone feel the sexual chemistry between Tonks and HP at the beginning!?

[rasmits]

I didn't like it. It's a freaking big ass book so I knew the movie would be compact, but I felt like a million critical plot points were just flying right over my head and I was introduced several dozen things that were never adequately explained. What? Snape was teased in school by Harry's dad? Wait, what was that about the O.W.L.S.? What the hell is this 'room of prophecies'? Haggrid has a giant brother? blah blah blah

Harry is a jackass the entire film, Hermione and Ron are basically irrelevant, and the cast is so large at this point it's hard to remember who I should even care about.

I will say this - Umbridge was a good character. I loooved her office with all the cats, It was perfect.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by rasmits I didn't like it. It's a freaking big ass book so I knew the movie would be compact, but I felt like a million critical plot points were just flying right over my head and I was introduced several dozen things that were never adequately explained. What? Snape was teased in school by Harry's dad? Wait, what was that about the O.W.L.S.? What the hell is this 'room of prophecies'? Haggrid has a giant brother? blah blah blah Harry is a jackass the entire film, Hermione and Ron are basically irrelevant, and the cast is so large at this point it's hard to remember who I should even care about. I will say this - Umbridge was a good character. I loooved her office with all the cats, It was perfect.

Well, I've read the books, but it's been a while. 've kinda forgotten when we get introduced to everything, so I might've assumed that some of that stuff was explained in the prior movie. For someone who already knows what happens and just wants to watch a movie instead of read a book, I thought it was great. I'll have to go back and re-read book five before declaring it to be a good adaption.

[rasmits]

I didn't read book five.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by rasmits It's a freaking big ass book so I knew the movie would be compact, but I felt like a million critical plot points were just flying right over my head and I was introduced several dozen things that were never adequately explained. What? Snape was teased in school by Harry's dad? Wait, what was that about the O.W.L.S.? What the hell is this 'room of prophecies'? Haggrid has a giant brother? blah blah blah

Agreed. I had several questions for my wife (the only one of the two of us to read the whole series) when the film was over. However, it wasn't enough for me to dislike the movie as a whole.

I think from here on out the movies will have to just be considered "supplemental material" for people who have already read the books. The later books and plot are so much longer and more complex and there's no way the filmmakers can squeeze the content into a two hour block. Unless they're willing to make the movies a bit longer (LotR:RotK extended version is nearly four hours, for example), the filmmakers will undoubtedly continue to confuse and lose the non-readers in the audience due to the amount of cut material.

Maybe there will be a DVD extended edition that fills in the gaps? I seriously doubt it, but it sure would be nice.

On the other hand, when the filmmaker blows screen time on

a long and dramatic kissing scene that has its own song on the score when it was supposed to be just a little peck

, one loses even more confidence that they know what's best for representing the series.

[Fahrenheit]

Oh yeh, I forgot a bit I loved, when Snape is looking in Harry's mind during oclumency (sp!), and there is an emotional bit, and Snape just appears and says "I may vomit"

Classic comedic timing.