yeah sorry after I posted it, I found the Harry Potter EW article and yes, as mllefoo pointed out the whole experience "exhausted him and he wanted to take a break".

Yeah seriously. I've never heard of a director getting fired for making a movie that 1) opens bigger than it's predecessors, 2) receives much better reviews and critical acclaim than the first two and 3) is the author's personal favorite of the three feature films. Yeah, sounds like a good reason to fire him.

Seriously, Harry Potter movies are turned out rather quickly...they were doing preproduction on goblet of fire and are probably filming or prepping to film it now. So not only would it have been exhausting, but also overlapping productions.

I've got to give Columbus credit for turning out hte first two back to back like that.

Production of GoF did overlap post PoA so it would have been a big task. lets see how the next director handles it.

So I take it Truffaut's 400 Blows is on your "shit-list"?

Freeze frame used right are different then Potter with a mouth open midflight. uggh, that is just one awful freeze frame.

I noticed it right away!

It was on the opposite side because it was the mirror's reflection. Lupin sends the balloon back into the mirror cabinet and the camera follows and zooms into the image.

But I think it was a transition "effect" That is the reality but it wasn't supposed to be a reflection. I thought it was really well done and is an example of how Cuaron really is a good director.










of course there are numerous other examples as to why he could have done much better on the movie.

couldn't resist

Keyword, Jack, is barely . It's impossible not to compare when I have both in my mind.

I liked that he patted Ron's foot. He obviously did it on purpose, and he knew he really wasn't hurting him, it was just a bit of a joke. Ron was really exagerrating his injury (IIRC), Dumbledore was there to put him in his place. Ron's okay, I laughed, mission accomplished.

Just got back from seeing the movie this morning, finally. By now I'm sure there's not much else one could add to the discussion. Just wanted to say I agree this was the least faithful adaptation of the three by far.

Oh, and it's also the only Harry Potter movie worth giving a damn about. Unlike the first two, I'll be getting this DVD.

Peace out.

Yes PoA is the worst of the movies as a book, but definitely the best movie. The intimate focus on the kids made them seem much more like real teenagers. Plus the change in direction adds to the sense that Harry and friends are growing up. And the freeze frame at the end is glorious.

You mean PoA was the worst book out of the three books thus far made into movies? I don't quite follow...

I think that's what he meant.

I really enjoy PoA as a movie, but my wife dislike it b/c alot of details are missing from the book. I didn't mind, that's why you read the book, I suppose. It is definitely more intriguing than the last two, and the acting for the 3 kids are getting better (esp Daniel and Emma).

I think he meant it was the worst adaptation but the best standalone movie.

No, he just means PoA doesn't follow the book as closely as the first two movies did. And the first two movies suck in comparison. This has made some Potter fans uneasy(not me). Kinda like how many die-hard Tolkienites felt when LOTR came out: "They left out this and this and this and that!!"

The movie I saw ended with the map closing and the light going out. The freeze frame was long before the end.

I'm glad I haven't read the books, I can enjoy the movies more that way I think.

Personally I think Peter Jackson did a better job and LOTR definately flowed better.

Plus I think most fans were able to forgive the slight grievances in exchange for the movie.

Harry Potter left out many more details that are more essential to the story. I don't care if he left out almost all of the Quidditch matches, even though it isn't essential to the story. A lot of other details were.

Sorry, that is the movie's credits. While it was pretty to look at it wasn't the films ending. the ending was a god awful freeze frame.

Ignorance is bliss I suppose. I would suggest reading the book to get a whole lot more meaning out of the film because you are really missing out on a lot without it.

you would certainly know about that. I happen to like the ending very much and know plenty others who prefer it over the drawn out drag-ass finale's of the first two.


MORE FREEZE FRAMES IN GoF!!!!

this part of the comment seems insulting and doesn't really relate to your point

Everyone has different opinions on how they'd like to see certain shots. I didn't like the freeze frame either, does that make me ignorant too?

The fact is the film ended with a freeze frame. Sorry, but the map is not part of the films story, it's part of the films closing credits. Different worlds. While it looked nice, was not part of the films ending.

The ignorance is bliss is a comment about this statement:
This is like me saying "I'm glad I never saw Matrix Revolution, I can enjoy the first two more that way." Even though I enjoy it, I don't know the resolution of the story nor do I know the full details of said story. I see the story with some blinders not getting all of it. The guy hasent read the book and is glad he didn't. While I agree that can be of help to new viewers, they will be missing a lot of the details that made this one of my favorite books.

Now for the freeze frame, I didn't like it, that's not to say I didn't like the film. I loved it, but somethings didn't work well because they were missing. Saying the old catch phrase "Ignorance is bliss" is MUCH different than calling someone ignorant. That I wasn't doing. You on the ohter hand were. see the difference?

I finally saw it and I thought it was pretty damn good - probably my favorite do to Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman and David Thewlis. I'd give **** out of *****. Out of the three kids, the girl is definitely the best actor of the bunch.

Really liked the movie when I saw it opening night. For reference, I saw the first two movies, read the first book last week when I needed something to read at work, and read PoA this week.

I'll echo what everyone has basically said about what was left out. I guess I have a different perspective than most, since I saw the movie and then read the book. Obviously, many things make much more sense now, but it was a pleasure to get MORE out of the book than LESS out of a movie.

The placement of the firebolt being delivered has already been discussed, but I wish there was a way Sirius' note could have been included in the way it was described in the book (unless it was included and I fell asleep for a minute ).

I'll spoiler this just in case anyone would like to read PoA after seeing the movie.

needed more sirius.

Nope, you're wrong. It's the end of the narrative... but the film still went on for, what, another 7 minutes or so? It's true.

Just cross this over with past threads about staying through the closing credits. IMO a film isn't over until the last frame has been projected.