Harry Potter! Also the Today programme.

[usuallyhats]

On this morning's Today programme -
Presenter*: When was the last time the army were brought in for something like this?
Alex Salmond: ...Monday.

Well, it made me laugh, anyway.

*I am not awake enough at that time in the morning to remember which one it was.

~

I went to see Deathly Hallows (with amicu and Rhiannon)! IT WAS AWESOME. If a little bleak. OK, very bleak. But in a good way. That montage of the trio walking through various bleak locations, with the radio playing the names of the missing over the top? D: Harry and Hermione dancing actually made me cry a little - they were so desperate and sad. D: again. I really really loved their friendship, though: it was beautiful and platonic and I have many ♥s for it. And I thought Ron's jealousy was very well done - it was obvious why he would think there was something going on, but equally it was obvious that it hadn't occurred to Harry and Hermione that their actions could be misinterpreted.

Some other things:

• The Bathilda Bagshotte sequence was another particularly grim bit.


• I thought the actors playing the Polyjuiced trio were great, especially Polyjuiced Harry. (Also, imagine being able to mention that off hand. "Oh, yes, I'm in the next Harry Potter film. Who am I playing? Oh, just HARRY. sort of.")


• I WANT TO BE HERMIONE GRANGER WHEN I GROW UP.


• Hee, the imaginary Harry/Hermione looked just like a bad manip.


• So much care and attention has obviously gone into the background detail: props, stuff lying around, minor characters/extras... it was really great. It felt like a properly consistent world.


• The attack on Xenophilus Lovegood's house broke my heart a little. Also, Luna! She is wonderful. Evanna Lynch gives her this lovely self contained air that stops her feyness from slipping over into being irritating.


• It was just ALL SO SAD. No happy things! Ever again! Though that being said, all the comedy moments that they did have were brilliant. Especially any time when Hermione and Ron were having a Moment and Harry was just standing there going "...awkward."


• The tale of the three brothers was done beautifully. I loved the animation and it worked so well, the switch to it from live action was seamless.


• Seeing Tonks made me sad, too. I really hate what happens to her. And also how bad her hair is now.


• I was surprised how fast it went: I only looked at my watch once, about two hours in.


• Now I really want to reread all the books and/or rewatch all the films.


• DOBBY. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:

Comments

[lunarwolfik]

I WANT TO BE HERMIONE GRANGER WHEN I GROW UP.

Don't we all? :D

The polyjuiced trio were adorable and I really adored Polyjuice!Hermione's outfit for some reason.

That one little snippet of Tonks was not nearly enough, and the way they almost but not quite said they were having a kid was cute, but at the same time heart-wrenching knowing what's to come.

Oh Luna, she was brilliant too. Actually, everyone was pretty brilliant. And as you said, bleak. Bleak but beautifully shot!

[usuallyhats]

Don't we all? :D
:D True, but even more so now!

Actually, everyone was pretty brilliant.
They really were. It had such a great cast, and not just in terms of the big names.

[platoapproved.livejournal.com]

Pretty much I agree with all of your points about Deathly Hallows. I love the platonic friendship between Harry and Hermoine when Ron left, precisely BECAUSE it's so obvious they aren't interested in one another and won't be, but still love each other and are affectionate in their own way. There's this strange tendency in movies and films not to show platonic friendships between guys and girls - everything is romance or same-sex friendships (or in cases of opposite sex friendships, it is always with exes or there is unrequited love involved).

Also, Harry trying to cheer Hermoine up made me happy because it gave him a chance to be really sweet, in his own awkward way. That's something I think I've missed a lot from the books that the movies haven't really captured - how really heartbreakingly sweet Harry can be, and how desperately he wants to make other people happy.

For me, the saddest moments in the movie were both at the beginning - Hermoine doing the memory charm on her parents and then just walking out, and the tiny scene of the empty house in Privet Drive, and Harry going to look in the tiny room under the stairs. I was so glad they added the first, and kept the latter, from the books.

[usuallyhats]

There's this strange tendency in movies and films not to show platonic friendships between guys and girls - everything is romance or same-sex friendships (or in cases of opposite sex friendships, it is always with exes or there is unrequited love involved).
Yes! It was so nice to see something different for a change - there wasn't even a hint of romance between them, not even in the dancing scene.

Oh, yes, those two scenes were heartbreaking. They set the tone really well.

[sparra.livejournal.com]

Just remind me what happens to Tonks and where you see her in this film? The gaps between me reading the books and watching the film are so big I can't actually remember much about her character at all! I should reread them all as well!

[usuallyhats]

She pops up at the beginning with the Order of the Phoenix, when they come to rescue Harry. And then next film she dies. :( (I assume you've seen this one? Did you like it?)

[sparra.livejournal.com]

Ok - so at what point do you see her in this film if she dies in the previous one? Think I'm getting confused!

Yes we've seen it... I did kind of like it, although I'd forgotten a lot of what happens in it and wasn't expecting it to be quite so bleak! Thought it was all nicely acted and shot though :)

[usuallyhats]

(late reply is late, sorry!)

Oh, whoops, I have accidentally spoiled you! She dies in the next one, and I am being sad about the fact that it is going to have happened. Sorry!

It really was beautiful, wasn't it?