yipes! cripes! gripes! pt2

[chanteuse thalia chaunacy]

[this is it, i promise]

IN GENERAL:
hit: the music (cheesy but enchanting)
hit: the boys' changing voices (well used in frightened!Ron scenes)
miss: house-elves (their abuse [self- and other] really gets on my 
nerves, not in the sense that they should be freed, but in the 
sense that they shouldn't have been invented, kinda like jar-jar)
neither: lack of Ginny's crush on harry
hit: Hogwarts! (stunningly beautiful, right down to the greenhouses)
hit: Daniel's eyes (i don't care if they're not green, they're *gorgeous*)
hit: Hermione always saving the day with the right spell
neither: the sound effects on the boneless arm (they were cheesy but they 
made everybody laugh)
miss: the dueling spells all doing the same un-original thing (not okay)
miss: parseltoungue being heard as another language.  (not okay *and* 
incredibly cheesy)
miss: the fact that harry's spectacles are useless pieces of metal with 
no lenses. (i know, i know, it's for lighting purposes, but it's so 
obvious!)
hit: the camerawork (mostly. dramatic but interesting)
miss: (but entertaining nonetheless) Draco's magic color-changing hair
miss: Christian Coulson.  no exceptions.  blech was he awful.
hit: the rest of the cast, noticably A.Rickman, M.Smith, whoever played 
Lucius, K.Branaugh, whoever played Crabb & Goyle, and D.Radcliffe

THE BIG THEORY
(and this ain't coming out of my ear; i started acting on stage at age 7 
and have taught theatre to many kids.)

*beautiful* casting but *sketchy* (dodgy, uneven) acting.  this is always 
a risk, especially when using un-experienced children.

casting was be based on personality *or* acting ability, but not both. 
with the kids, they used personality.  with the adults (once again noting 
boneheaded exception) they used acting ability.  and it worked.  the 
adults are all amazing actors that can fit themselves into the characters 
(CC being the noted boneheaded exception).  the kids are all amazing 
personalities that can act -- well, kind of.

that's where my gripe is.  chris columbus should have stuck to directing 
and hired an acting coach for the kids.  (if he did this, somebody 
correct me and i'll hide in a corner).  all of them, which the exception 
of whoever played crabb & goyle, tend to overact.  kids have so much 
energy, and doing the same five minutes twelve times tends to force the 
energy into the wrong places (ie useless/unnatural gesticulation, 
ridiculously expressive delivery).  i wish someone had been there 
specifically to coach Rupert on his hands and Tom on his enunciation.  
but when all is said and done, i still see the *essence* of Ron and Draco 
no matter how badly the lines are delivered.  and that's good casting.

geez-o
thanks to anybody that held on this long
thalia