POA Spoilers (Long & might tick a few ppl off but that's life!)

[Gary Sapp & Karen J.S.]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Melody" <Malady579 at h...>
wrote:

snip  I adore Prisoner of Azkaban.  With beyond a passion.  It is my
> favorite book, because of the twists and deepness of emotion and
> history within it.  All those twist that I love, all that insight to
> the series, all the build up, makes this movie the hardest for
Warner Bros to sell to me.  I almost can't take a movie that does not
have the intricacies of the book.  I will of course watch it, but I
know, already I will be disappointed. 

I am with you here.  POA is my absolute favorite and I never get tired
of it.  I can't tell from your post if you have already seen the movie
or not?  But I know what you mean about disappointment.  Believe me, I
was all ready to be majorly upset; first it was no Oliver Wood, then
the casting of Gary Oldham as Sirius, to the clothing changes, the
loss of Richard Harris (an unintended change obviously).  I just
didn't think I could enjoy it at all.

I have to say I was more than pleasantly surprised, the feel of this
film is much better suited to the story, dark and mysterious.  I have
to say the clips I saw of it beforehand had me feeling optimistic
about it, so perhaps that colored my perceptions.  But I really loved
the way it portrayed magic in the wizarding world, it was natural and
matter of fact.  The headless hunt, the crazy pictures antics and so
on...it mesmerized me.

> 
> In my mind, they *can't* improve PoA by cutting things.  It is
> brilliant as it is.  Maybe, Warner Bros should have done Harry
Potter the television series, not the movie.  It is the only
semi-purest way of doing it.
> 

I can't disagree with you more on this point.  Dull and dreary tv,
with endless commercials?  Even on HBO, it wouldn't be like being
there since I don't have HDTV.  I have read some other posts on other 
lists that say this truly was a film rather than a motion picture as
the other two were...


> But having babbled a bit I do agree with you.  Our expectations
might be high.  And we are doomed to be hurt.  But please allow us to
mourn a bit of the loss.  We post here for a sympathetic ear. 

I can understand your sadness but I do think we need to get a grip, it
can't be like the book in every aspect.  We will always have the book
to enjoy, this film brings people into the magical world JKR created
that would never read a "children's" book or any book for that matter.
I see this film as a companion piece, not a replacement for the book.
 I have things imagined in my mind that probably won't correspond with
any movie version so I know that I can always go back and enjoy them
on my own.  Besides, if JKR says she views this as Cuaron's vision and
it is his baby, no problem.  She was delighted with it and felt that
he read some foreshadowings she hadn't told him about.  I was willing
to give it a chance and I am glad that I did. 

I plan on viewing it several more times because it was so intricate in
the action at times, I know I didn't see everything.  Not to mention
that we had to leave the theater for about 10 minutes because some
dolt set off the fire alarm not to mention the jerks who left their
cell phones on!!!

Here is my own little rant in closing:

People are complaining about sitting through the credits because they
heard something like Lockhart's funny scene was supposed to be there
and they didn't "see" anything.  I don't understand people getting up
and running out of the theater so fast anyway, I always sit and watch
the credits, maybe it is because I am old fashioned or because I like
trivia (who wrote the music, performed it etc.) I think it is rude to
jump up and stand and talk about the movie, blocking my view while
they do it.  And the movie staff, running around like loons, sweeping
and cleaning up-that's one for another rant on its own!

Trust me, it is worth sitting through, there is a lovely use of the
map graphics with funny bits in it that is quite clever.  I think it
is worth it gang. Go and try to suspend your doubts and see if you
don't find it entertaining, even if it doesn't duplicate the book to
the nth degree.  I truly believe it is the best of three.


Karen