Reviews: isn't it odd...

[sophiamcl]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at yahoogroups.com, GulPlum <hp at p...> wrote:
> At 23:38 03/06/04 , Sophia wrote:

AAAAARGH! I spent a while writing a reply only to obliterate it with 
one false move...That is the one big drawback with electronic 
documents. They're just so fragile--constantly teetering on the brink 
of destruction, plus they require complicated apparatus if anyone is 
to read them. At least with a book all you need is eyes. (Although 
come to think of it, they are also complicated apparatus, but at 
least you don't need a socket to use them. Ah, wrong again...:-)Well, 
I'll give it one more go to reply.

> Putting aside all the reviews from people who don't know what 
they're talking about (i.e. people for whom a cute face and/or smile 
is enough to be smitten by a performance)

commence soul-searching sequence...processing...beep:To be fair, I 
can't swear to not being one of them, at least where Dan is 
concerned. You correctly guessed that it was the reviews of his 
performance that got me thinking in the first place, though Emma and 
Rupert are in the mix too. I think I can spot when an actor fails to 
give a grounded performance or when the delivery of a line rings fake 
or a gesture screams "stage-direction", but I can also enjoy a less-
than-perfect performance if I am charmed by a charming face. I could 
tell Dan didn't manage every scene equally well in PS, but that 
didn't keep me from walking out of the theatre wishing I could take 
him home with me and make sure he got a nice childhood, for I thought 
him the most charming little boy I had ever seen. Besides, at the 
time I was newly besotted with anything Potter, having only just 
discovered the delights of the WW.

I'll reserve my judgment on PoA until I've seen it, but chances are 
I'll be so delighted with just seeing everybody on screen again, I 
won't care about the performances--that'll come later when the dust 
has settled. I will say however, that I worry about Rupert. He was by 
far the best of the trio, I thought, in PS. He seemed completely 
natural to me, and his lines sounded like the came from Ron rather 
than from the script. (My favourite moment with him being when he 
says "shut-up, Harry" who's laughing at him for getting smacked by a 
broom. Rupert does this little embarrassed thing with his hands that 
seemed absolutely right.)Therefore, I was sorry to see how Ron's part 
was simplified (yes, it's the word of the day)and trivialized in the 
CoS script and possibly by Columbus's direction. Though I will say in 
Rupert's defence that he did everything that he was asked to do well. 
The only problem was that he was asked to do nothing more than make 
funny faces and act scared. The awkward moment with Hermione at the 
end though indicated, I thought that this boy is capable of much 
better. Which brings me to why I'm worried.

I had hoped that with a new director Rupert might get to come into 
his own. However the clips (again with the clips...as it's all I have 
to go by)I found that what littleI saw of Ron did not work so well 
for me. His line delivery rang with a jarring fake-ness to me. Also, 
he said in an interview that he found acting quite easy, which makes 
me think his heart isn't in it. Pity...Maybe he got tired of standing 
in Dan's towering shadow in the media and resigned himself to the 
backseat completely.

> spontaneous. In this respect, Emma in PoA was absolutely 
magnificent, 
> delivering her lines in an absolutely naturalistic fashion.
> 
Glad to hear it, I'll look forward to seeing her prformance, 
particularly since she's singled out in several reviews for her 
improvement. I thought her alright in PS and annoying in CoS. I 
didn't understand where she was going with the part at all, if 
anywhere, and coulnd't stand the ubiquitous lip-pouting. Which may 
perhaps be blamed in part on script and direction.

> cinema-going population, I was never particularly impressed with 
Haley Osment in "The Sixth Sense". I was, on the other hand, very 
pleasantly surprised by his turn in "A.I.", for which he was 
generally derided. 

I liked him in both and thought he was stunning in A.I.,which by the 
way I found a profoundly disturbing film. A Kubrik story with 
Speilberg sensibilities is absolutely torture. At least Kubrik has 
the sense to deliver his twisted stories with detachment. Speilberg 
is all heart and identification and it just doesn't work with Kubrik 
characters. I was truly horrified at the thought of Haley pining away 
for his mom to in that pod for 2000 years. My skin crawls writing of 
it. His quest was in every way heart-breaking.

> Now, I don't know other people's criteria, but for me (as a pretty 
crap actor), any film performance should be judged on four criteria 
(and I don't  make allowances for kids, which a lot of critics do): 
line delivery, movement, being a passive presence in a scene, and 
emotional "truth".

Good list. I'll have to remember that.
 
I'd like to say more, but I'll get back to it later. Have to bake a 
cake for a nice old man... 

Sophia