Movie - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

[Rían]

Just got back from seeing HP movie - it's a very differently-paced movie, but I liked it overall. I liked the Luna character. Dolores Umbridge was suitably awful. Dumbledore was better than the last coupla movies, but I still miss the first Dumbledore (wasn't it Richard Harris?)

Anyone else seen it yet?

[brownjenkins]

I'm going to see it with the kids at the drive-in tomorrow. We'll see. :D

[Rían]

drive-in? Are there still drive-ins around?

Have fun!

[brownjenkins]

There's still a few up by me. Great for taking the kids since it's only $20 a car and you can bring your own food and drink. Also, instead of the old speaker-on-a-pole, you just tune into a radio station for the sound, so you can crank it up and sit on the grass.

My favorite place to see movies, on the rare occasions that I do.

[Miss Cassandra]

I'm going to see it with the kids at the drive-in tomorrow. We'll see. :D


Ohh,.. they just closed the drive-in where I live last year....
(They just had to put a super walmart there) :(
20$ seems a little steep, it was only 9 here the last time I went. LOTR was what they played, both FotR & TTT
I really wish they hadnt closed it down, good times.

[brownjenkins]

I live in Massachusetts where everything is steep. :D

$20 for a car-full isn't bad here, where theater tickets would be around $8 for kids and $10 for adults, each (which would come to about $54 for us, plus around $35-40 in food and drink :eek: )

[Miss Cassandra]

which would come to about $54 for us, plus around $35-40 in food and drink :eek:

Ahhh! Insane. A movie ticket here for adults is $9.50, and rising every weekend it seems!
And I always sneak in food and drink. Whats good about the drive in is you could bring as much stuff as you want, have the whole back seat filled with candy and popcorn.

[Rían]

yeah, the food is really where you would save in a drive-in! It would be fun to make a whole finger-food-type dinner and take that :)

[brownjenkins]

It was pretty good all and all. A bit more character detail than the previous movies, which was nice. Excellent dramatic scenes as well.

That said, some of the plot points seemed a bit forced. The idea that the ministry head could be completely oblivious too any kind of evil going on, considering the last four movies, seemed like a real stretch. And the Dumbledore ignoring Harry business was just silly.

Rowling seems to like to take the "adults are stupid, kids are smart" angle a bit too much. I would definitely have loved it when I was twelve, but it goes a bit too far plotwise to buy it all at my age.

[durinsbane2244]

i was thinking (as to the absence of my beloved cane-and-bag-o'-chalk scene), where on earth is peeves? in all of the films? any idea?

[HOBBIT]

This was entertaining. As a stand alone movie, though, this movie fails. Nothing is explained at all. It is just assumed that you know all of the characters and know what is going on. If you haven't read and remembered the books, you could be very confused.

[inked]

I liked the movie and thought it well done and different from the others. It would function as a stand alone, I think. But perhaps as film noir rather than a standard film? ;)

Assuming JKR has authorial control over the revelations in the plot points of the films as well as the texts, I found it extremely interesting that what seems to be a throw-away line exits Snape’s mouth as he leaves Umbridge’s office. He remarks to Umbridge that he cannot supply veritaserum as she has used it all. He then goes on to specify that the last of it was used upon Cho Chang. THAT IS THE SEEMINGLY THROW-AWAY LINE that literally jumped off the screen into my consciousness. It was emphasized by a panning shot to Hermione who grimacingly acknowledges her error of believing Cho betrayed the DA.

WHY? Why did Snape in the film make such reference to Cho? Within the context of the film, the mere use of veritaserum was explanation enough. There was no compelling plot need to have Snape say this - especially as there was no on-screen resolution of the mistaken belief of the trio towards Cho.

I think it was a clue to Snape’s ultimately redeemed character. Having lived with the suspicion of two sides regarding his true motivations and loyalties, Snape made a totally unnecessary but characteristically coverable disclosure that SPARED Cho a life fated to be as his own! That he did so in the context of the need for urgency to communicate with the Order about the situation at the MoM and Padfoot is telling. It is revelatory of the goodness that lies in the heart of Snape. It is - within the context of the films - a clue given in full view but likkely to be missed because of the drama of the situation in which it occurs.

But if JKR retains the story arc in its essentials in the films as she surely must, then this may be a major clue. I do not at present recall Snape acting in this manner in any other film - nor in the texts. I have re-read all the published texts again within the last three weeks (okay, I have been prepping for the final book!) and re-viewed all the movies. Snape simply has not done this type of thing elsewhere.

[caboose007]

The film was... how should I put this... less appetising then the book was. It took out large chunks that I believed were important to the characters development and the more difficult ideas of the plot.

I understand it was done to make a film which didn't cut off all the blood supply to the legs from sitting down for so long but I still think the books have been better then all the films.

Of course the actors and actresses in the film played their characters well and the bones of the plot was placed in, it still felt half made and lacked in minor explanations and still not one mention of Peeves the Poltergeist!

Mind you I still can't wait, and I'm sure you've all either heard or read it as literary minds, to see Dumbledor die. It will show the true colours of the characters and hopefully explain more instead of creating questions. It should explain some things from all the films and especially the whole prophecy thing in the last one.

[Istari]

What was left in the film from the book wasn't bad, but I feel it did need more Tonks, More Lupin, More Sirius and Dumbledore's Howler

[Unicorn_Princess]

great movie! i loved it! it had a different director than any of the others and i must say, this one really knew what he was doing. Bellatrix was genius and so was Luna. She was my favorite. And the snake of fire at the end was just great!

[mithrand1r]

great movie! i loved it! it had a different director than any of the others and i must say, this one really knew what he was doing. Bellatrix was genius and so was Luna. She was my favorite. And the snake of fire at the end was just great!

Welcome to entmoot, Unicorn_Princess.

I still need to go see the film, so I cannot comment on this yet.

There is a drive in theatre in Poughkeepsie, NY (http://www.pkny.info/).

Overlook Drive in Theatre (http://www.overlookdrivein.com/schedule/)

[sun-star]

I thought this was the best of the films to date - they managed to slim down the story without sacrificing too much subtlety and highlight character relationships without cutting too much of the plot. I particularly liked the way Sirius was portrayed, since I found him pretty disappointing in PoA, and the Weasleys (all of them) were enjoyable... All the child actors were good in this one, but I still don't like Michael Gambon as Dumbledore - he doesn't really seem to understand the character. The use of clips from previous films worked well given the importance of memories in OotP...

[Noble Elf Lord]

It really bugs me that they won´t make full movies out of any books, always cutting things off... and no Peeves is really bugging. And even though the duel between Voldy and Dumby was a fine one, I would have preferred one that would have been exactly like in the book. Luna had such sweet nature. It´s cute.