Braving Flood and flat tire (and possible car explosion)...

[Saitaina]

As you can tell by my subject, I had one hell of a time getting to the
theatre for Harry Potter and the SS.  After buying my ticket a week in
advance, going to bed early so that I get up on time...carefully selecting
my outfit to be the most impressive  (I lost to three Harry's who came in
full costume), I suffered a flooded street, a flat tire and my care smelling
like smoke to make it.

And I'm left wondering...was it worth it, all that just to stare at the
screen and wonder where the hell Draco's incisors went?  Yes mother it was
damnit!  The movie (viewed twice, once at close range) was the most
spectacular movie I have seen in a wile  *nose grows a foot*.  Okay, okay,
so I thought it went too fast and cut out WAY too much good stuff...and put
in a lot of rather stupid items...It was, over all...good.

Daniel Radcliffe...what can I say about the boy...besides that I wanted to
can him within the first few minutes of him being on screen.  I'm sorry, the
boy LOOKS like harry...but can't act worth a hell of beans.  He's just...off
for some reason and that drags down some of the scenes.  Now, don't get me
wrong, the kid's cute and adorable and there are some places he shines
(towards the end...you know what I mean), but there are some god awful
moments when I had to bury my head in my hands.

Emma, Rupert, the other few kids I can't put a name to-Emma was a bit..over
the top, but she's decent.  A bit more work and she'll shine like a
pearl...provided they fix her hair a bit :)  Rupert was a very lovely Ron,
believable without overdoing it.  "Neville", "Seamus", "Dean", names we all
know and barley see (and for the life of me I can't remember they're actor's
names) for they're parts and what they were given, I did adore them, though
"Seamus"'s accent is a bit hard to wade through, can't fault the boy.

"Percy"-I have one thing to say...leave him at home!  No wait, two
things...EYE CONTACT!  "Percy" spent more time staring off into space or at
the table then he did looking at who he was talking to.  I understand he may
have been scared out of his mind, and trying NOT to look at the
camera's..but please man, at least look at the actor who's sitting two
inches from your right!

Tom- *giggles madly till she falls over*  Sorry, attack of too much
cuteness.  I must say, He did...well for his role, though he squinted a lot
and really can't do upset.  This was a perfect casting though, right up
there with Hagrid, Ron, Snape and some others.  I have seen Draco Malfoy and
now bow down to the god that is sexy.  Right then, moving on before I drool
all over myself.  (still wondering where his incisors went...

The Adults-  Lumped together they make a wonderful cast that plays off each
other nicely, but singled out there are some shining stars...and some better
left behind.  Robbie Coltraine, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris,
Fiona Shaw (ms), The guy who played Filch, The ghosts, "Vernon Dursley" were
all wonderful in they're parts.  They played them well, (though some
disagree with me on Richard Harris), and brought to life those characters
that I sometimes couldn't picture.  Special mention here is for Richard
Harris.  Some say he was lacking, others say horrible, I say he was quite
good for a man that no one could really measure up to.  He took on a role
that to many, has become the greatest wizard known to man.  He played
Dumbledore with a warmth I had not expected from him, and gave life to
someone I had put on a pedestal.

The Plot-  Well...umm...what can I say about a plot that was minimized and
cut to pieces?  It was enjoyable...though not the book.  That about sums it
up.  Some parts were good, some were bad...some left me wondering what the
hell was going on.

Special Effects-What can I say, I'm a sucker for things like this.  I liked
the Quiddich scenes and adored every moment of it.  I followed it as if I
were reading a long, cheering for each Slytherin goal.  The game was
exciting and wonderful to watch and left me wishing they played all the
games they did in the books.  The troll was another part I enjoyed.  He was
stupidly cute and funny and a bit of lightness in the movie.  There are
other effects in the movie that were equally enjoyable..the chess match, the
Devil's Snare, Voldemort (yes Rita, I concede he's ugly...now if they only
showed the PROPER Voldemort....*sigh*), that I could all elaborate on
but..you saw if for yourself hopefully :)

Over all, not as good as I expected, not as bad as I expected...just
generally good in many ways, bad in many others, and fun for a few viewing.
After all, this is only the first movie based on a book that is a bit
lackluster after reading Goblet of Fire too many times...perhaps Chamber of
Secrets will live up to the dream...but even if it doesn't...it's nice to
watch your favorite character come to life and live out the story we've all
fallen in love with..


Special Correspondent,
Rita Skeeter
(who still wonders WHERE Draco's incisors went!)

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