Saturday, June 5, 2004

Yesterday, I went to the movies to see Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban at the Towson Commons. I saw the 3:45 show. At first I was afraid that the theater would be over run by parents with small children. But as I looked around the theater was primarily filled with teenage girls. There was one odd man out other than me and that was this guy who came there with his 3-4 year old asian son. I think that the dad was more interested in seeing the movie than his son. You take a kid that age to a movie like Shrek not Harry Potter.

First off I have to say this is the first Harry Potter film I’ve ever seen in a movie theater. The first two Potter movies I saw were rented from Blockbuster. I did this because I doubted the capability of Chris Columbus’ directing ability and I wanted to avoid a theater filled with children. I found the two previous Potter movies followed the books a little too much. The main reason I was excited to see this particular Potter movie is because it is directed by Alfonso Cuaron, a director I admire. I loved the Little Princess so much that I own it. I adored the breath taking imaginary in it. I feel that this movie was a big improvement on the previous Potter movies. It was more imaginative and it did not follow the books word by word scene by scene. It was a true film translation of a book. It added dimensions and layers that were not in the book.

Two problems I have with the film one was that there were not enough scenes with Alan Rickman as Professor Snape or Gary Oldman as Sirius Black. I love Rickman when he plays bad. I also love Oldman when he plays bad too. I was expecting more and it just wasn’t there. Yea, I know the movie is not called the Professor Snape story but I just love that character as depicted in the book. Teased relentlessly in childhood by Potter’s father for being a bit of a geek then meets his son and despises him on sight because he looks so much like his former tormentor. I absolutely love the fact that Potter’s father was not goody goody as a teenager but was basically a troublemaker and a bully. James Potter, Harry’s father was a very complicated individual. It’s not the typical story set up. I love the gray areas that occasionally creep into the world of Harry Potter. Also from the books I get the impression that everyone loved and had a bit of a crush on Lily, Potter’s mother. I can’t find a single bad comment about her.

Back to the movie.....I hadn't heard of David Thewlis prior to the movie. I felt he did a pretty decent job bringing Professor Lupin to life. A character that listens to big band music can’t be bad in my book. Thewlis brought a certain warmth to the character. If memory serves right he should be back in the 5th movie.

Since no one is reading this blog I thought I’d reveal that Professor Lupin is as his name would imply a werewolf. Since he’s outed as a werewolf at the end of the movie he has to leave the school because who wants there kids taught by a werewolf, even if he is kind hearted. In the book it is still kept hanging whether or not Snape is a vampire. If ever there was a candidate for character most likely to be a vampire he would win. Also we learn that Ron’s pet rat is none other than the once thought dead Peter Pettigrew who betrayed Harry Potter’s parents and framed Sirius Black for a murders he did not commit. This news of course comes as a bit of a shock to Ron who had no idea his pet was a fugitive who found a unique way to hide . Also Sirius Black is Harry Potter’s godfather.

In other news....Little David called he needs his birthday money by Wednesday. It turns out he needs it for a trip. He didn't say where he was going. I guess I’ll drop off the money on Monday at my father’s house.