HP does not better in the summer than Fall

[Carol]

elfnorc at ... wrote:
 
> I really like all of these movies but I still don't think the first 2 HP moives were the best.  Other people have said it better than I did but I think the phrase "straight forward regurgitation" as just posteb by someone else says it best for me.  I don't need the movie to be an exact replica of the book but I do need it to be alive.

Carol responds:

I think that the main problem with the first two movies was the acting by the three kids (Dan, Emma, Rupert)--three unknown, untrained, inexperienced child actors. We have the same script writer as for POA and GOF (also the three not-yet-seen films, but we can't judge by them yet). We also have a brand-new franchise in which no one (script writer, director, producer, set designers, costume designers) is likely to veer too far from the source material.

Then we have PoA zooming off in the opposite direction, especially with Flitwick and the CGI device that must not be named, but the costuming and the 1930s setting for Hogwarts came out of nowhere. and what was with those candles that looked like backbones? made Lupin look like a Dark Wizard. The worst part, for me, was letting Harry's Boggart show up, having Lupin whisk it away, and then having him say later that he thought it would turn into Lord Voldemort. Hello, Lupin. You just saw it turn into a Dementor and you saw Harry react to a real Dementor on the Hogwarts Express. Why would you think it would turn into Voldemort after that? They should have handled that scene as it was in the book. (I did think that Gran!Snape was funny, though, even though Snape is my favorite character.)

Anyway, sure; the kids are less than brilliant in the first two films. Dan's performance isn't particularly memorable, Rupert emphasizes some words oddly, and Emma is just stiff. Her acting has become more natural, but she's *harder* to understand now (to my American ears) because she speaks so quickly. Rupert is much better now--quite funny and not so exaggerated in his expressions. Dan--well--the only really bad moment (IM)) is the crying in PoA, but that's the script and the director, too. But Hogwarts looked as Hogwarts is supposed to look, and the kids and teachers dressed as they're supposed to dress. No electric trains, Victrolas, or other oddities. the later directors have taken more liberties with the films (the extra-long first task and the completely altered third task in GoF; the substitution of Cho for Marietta and the use of real Veritaserum on all the students in OoP, just to name a few).

If I could have the faithfulness to the books of the first two films with the great special effects and improved acting of the last three (and Emma being a little less hysterical and easier to understand), I'd be perfectly happy with the films. Well, almost. There's always something that I would do differently if I were in charge, but I think that's true for all of us.

Carol, now wondering if anyone knows where to find the percentage of film profits from DVD sales for each film