Just Saw it. It was bad(? or !)

[vincentjh]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., "Steve" <bboy_mn at y...> wrote:
> I just returned from the late afternoon matinee (only $5.00).
> 
> No serious spoilers here. I really don't talk about the details of 
the
> move; all generalizations.
> 
> First I have to respond to the movie complainers.... oh no wait,
> that's movie critics.
> 
> Of course, the movie had it's failing in that they tried to condense
> hours and hours and hours of reading into minutes of movie. The plot
> moves fast and if you've read the books then the plot leaps are 
huge. 
> 
> BUT NONE THE LESS, the movie does hold together on it own merit.
> 
> I think we see this massive plot compression because some executive 
at
> WB, an executive who see all his movie in a private suite rather 
than
> in a theater with REAL people, decided that mere mortals and
> substantial idiots like ourselves and our children are so hopelessly
> addled that we couldn't possibly sit through a movie longer than the
> standard 2 hours and 30 minutes, or in this case 2hrs 40 minutes. 
> 

Steve,

Just a quick note to clarify some points. It's not the length of the 
movie that bothered me (and some others). The problem is, longer 
isn't better. There're ways of compressing the plots into the same 
160-minute movie without making it seem disconnected. Not being able 
to do it shows the short-comings of Columbus & Co. But instead of 
finding ways to compress the storyline and make it accessible to 
those who havn't read the books, they simply use the length as an 
excuse. I'd watch a 4-hour movie if things are done well. But with 
this script and Columbus' direction, I'd say 140-150 minutes are well 
enough to fit everything (and more) in.

VJH