[HPFGU-Movie] I LIKED IT (bracing for rotton fruit thrown)

[clshannon at aol.com]

Well, you won't have to dodge any fruit thrown by me ;-) 
I concur with everything you said in the post and thanks for putting it so 
concisely - my brain is rather fried lately ;-)
A few things I want to add - I never laughed so much during a HP movie - the 
humor was dry, well timed and perfectly performed. Even some background sight 
gag type humor had be laughing and believe me, I don't laugh out loud easily 
;) Example - Hagrid taking the whole carriage door off and then just standing 
there wondering what to do with it. I like subtle, dry humor and this was that 
- we aren't supposed to focus on him, there is other action going on, but 
there he is, off to the side of the frame, quietly pondering the door. not doing 
some slapsticky Jim Carrey thing with the door. Loved that sort of thing all 
thru-out the movie. 
Also, I don't think anyone's mentioned the music when Harry first starts his 
Buckbeak ride, while they are still on the ground. I must admit that I am 
notoriously deaf to music while watching movies. Often I buy the soundtrack and 
wonder where the heck all that music was when I had watched the movie ;-)
But that rousing drum beat, sounding almost like an angry tribe getting ready 
for war, was the perfect way to start the heart pumping. I felt like I was on 
the damn hippogriff, my heart pounding along with the music and when he 
finally takes off and the music changes, well...I was almost breathless. And of 
course, as others have said, the cgi work was flawless, incredible.

Anyway, wanted to chime in and agree with you about all the points you 
mentioned. I had been anticipating this movie for so long and was exhilariated when 
I left the theater - only to come home to wade thru quite a few negative 
posts, some bordering on downright nasty. Well, I had to step away from the 
messages for awhile. I wasn't going to let it ruin the joy I felt while watching the 
movie and afterwards.

On another note - watched Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper's review show and 
they both praised it quite highly - citing things like the improved look, 
acting, special effects. Roeper even went so far as to say that even if one hadn't 
read any of the books or seen the first two movies, this movie stands alone as 
a great movie   by itself. 
I was glad to hear them both say, chiefly Ebert, that he hopes the whole cast 
stays- he said that the kids would only be about 19 when the last movie was 
shot. He said he was used to the kids and would be interested to see how they 
mature and how they play the characters all the way through. Yea ;-)

Cindy


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