Referendum on the Director

[cindysphynx]

Chris Columbus is directing CoS.  So far as I know, he has not signed 
on officially to direct PoA or GoF.  So it is still an open question.

And that is my question.  If you were the producer of PoA and GoF, 
and the only information you had to go on was his work in PS/SS, 
would you hire Columbus for PoA, GoF, both, or neither?

My own answer is that I would probably give Columbus his walking 
papers and hire someone else, although I think it is a close 
question.   My reasons are:

1.  I'm not fond of the idea of splitting GoF into two movies.  I 
just don't think it can work.

2.  I think he made far too many mistakes in PS/SS.  We've beaten 
this to death of course, but for me, the glaring blunders include the 
coaching of Emma Watson, Snape's sprint to the front of the class for 
his potions speech, the boring opening sequence, having all of the 
kids do a "Home Alone" scream in the troll Great Hall scene and again 
when they confront Fluffy.

3.  I think he showed an inability to combine scenes to save time 
that could be spent better elsewhere.  For instance, do we need 
several Mirror of Erised scenes, or could all of it have been 
accomplished in one scene?  Can't we combine the hut on the rock with 
Privet Drive, both to save time and to enhance continuity?

4.  He is not very good at deciding what to keep and what to cut, 
which will be critical in the next two films.  Keeping Norbert and 
the Troll wasn't wise given the important things that were deleted.  
If JKR "wouldn't let him" cut certain things, then we need a director 
who can be a bit more persuasive.

5.  He made the soundtrack too loud.  There's just no excuse for that.

6.  His mastery of special effects techniques is questionable.  When 
a character (Peeves) is cut not because the story requires it but 
because the special effects were poor, I think the director has to 
take responsibility.  I'm not even going to mention the centaur.

7.  My biggest overall gripe about the movie was the lack of 
continuity.  Since PoA and GoF are much bigger books, I would think 
the continuity problems will be much more pronounced if Columbus also 
brings them to the screen.  In other words, if he can't do PS/SS as a 
movie that stands up on its own merits without knowledge of the 
books, then how can he possibly do it with books that are hundreds of 
pages longer?

That said, it is still definitely a close question.  The movie could 
have been badly botched, and it wasn't.  It was, after all, a smash 
success.  But given that for PoA and GoF, we are starting with good 
stories, a proven cast (for the ones who return), and established set 
design and costume design, I think we need someone who is more adept 
at telling a story with continuity.  So Mr. Columbus gets a gold 
watch and free tickets to PoA and GoF from me, but not the directing 
nod.

Cindy (who doesn't mean to be overly harsh, but it is always harsh 
when you fire someone)