Potterdom Film/Score Series Thread

[Justin 2]

Die hard Tolkien fans prefer a movie just like the book as opposed to a good movie. I find all the changes in LOTR to be improvments save a few. And Chris Lee thinks that too and he is a die hard Tolkien fan.

Justin -Who loves all 3 films. Best films I've ever seen in theaters.

[Ren 75]

I hear you Justin, I think most of the changes they made were good ones.

[Morlock 11]

I think the books are slightly pretentious and more than a little overrated. So I didn't mind the changes from the book, I only minded what felt fake to me. Like the Shire and the hobbits.

[Justin 2]

Uh, okay.

Justin -Who ain't gonna lose sleep over it.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

I also feel the books are overrated, but I gotta admit Jackson certainly managed to select all of the right material to use to create a generally enjoyable series of films.

The guy clearly managed to rummage through the LOTR books (which are MUNDO long winded) to create storylines that moves along at a much more brisk pacing.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Seven. Each book covers one year of education at Hogwarts. Students graduate at the end of their seventh year. Ye Gods Rogue! Get reading already.

- Marc

Nah! I am alread too far behind and I will never catch up.

I will watch the movies. Its sort of like cheating and reading "Herry Potter Cliffs Notes".

[HPFAN_2 0]

No it's not. The movie can't even be considered cliff notes to the book. If you want to experience Harry Potter READ THE BOOKS!

[Justin 2]

You know I would think that too but I bet you can read all 5 of them before June. Seriously I find I have to force myself to eat...sleep...breath when I'm reading them. Most books it's like "Oh I'll read my book...." with Potter it's like "Oh....right 3 A.M. time to get some sleep."

Justin -Who thinks Rogue will seriously miss out if he doesn't even try and read them.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Damn! Has EVERYONE on this forum read the HP books?

It seems like as if like me and two other people on this forum have not read the HP novels.

-Rogue Leader feeling ostrocized

[King Mark 3,626]

You know I would think that too but I bet you can read all 5 of them before June. Seriously I find I have to force myself to eat...sleep...breath when I'm reading them. Most books it's like "Oh I'll read my book...." with Potter it's like "Oh....right 3 A.M. time to get some sleep."

Justin

So true.

I read the books because:

1-John Williams read them and scored the movies

2-Everyone here has read them

3-I was banned for a week

[Ren 75]

3-I was banned for a week

LOL

And justin, you are so right about the 3 AM thing. I hate it when that happens.

[QMM 4]

I listened to all the books on tape

[Morlock 11]

I must admit- the books are gripping. Not in a dramatic way, but they just keep you coming back. Although they weren't as gripping as Conversations with Wilder by Cameron Crowe, Hitchcock by Truffaut, or the Mafia Encyclopedia by Carl Sifakis

Morlock- who'll read anything on film or gangsters

[HPFAN_2 0]

I remember seeing my family the outside of my room, the bathroom, and the kitchen two or three times over the span of three days due to Order Of The Phoenix

HPFAN_2 - Who never knew that Williams read the books. I wonder if i liked them.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Thats why John pushed to do the scores

[diskobolus 3]

Damn! Has EVERYONE on this forum read the HP books?  

It seems like as if like me and two other people on this forum have not read the HP novels.  

-Rogue Leader feeling ostrocized

Yes.

PS - 10+ times

CS/POA - ~7 times

GOF - ~5 times

OOTP - 3 times

[Rogue_Leader 2]

I listened to all the books on tape

Ahhhh! Thats the way to do it!!!

I was pondering how I could solve the dilemma of reading the book's the lazy man's way. You have just provided me with the solution.

I owe you one buddy!

[Rogue_Leader 2]

BTW John Williams actually read the books?

I am amazed he had the time to do so.

-Rogue Leader who wonders if Williams felt awkward as an elderly man reading what many would call "kids books".

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Shush, Rogue. Please just read them. Don't be taken aback by the hyping and the crappy merchandising frenzy. Three words: Read. The. Books. There is so much more to the books than just the superficial "story about a wizard boy". There's all kinds of things that make these books great. You really should read them, and then give a new opinion. If you don't like them after you've read them, fair enough, but I really think you should give them a try. Forget the casettes. Read them. There so good, you'll have finished them in no time.

- Marc,

[Morlock 11]

Williams and Richard Harris did the movies because of their grandchildren.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Rogue Leader who wonders if Williams felt awkward as an elderly man reading what many would call "kids books".

somehow I suspect that John Williams is made of tougher stuff, than to be embarrassed by reading a kid's book

[Ren 75]

I think the books are amazingly written and are worth the time it take to read them. It's amazing how time flies when you are reading them.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I don't really see them as kids books. When I first read Philosopher's Stone it was just before it became really popular (before PoA was even published), and I thought it seemed pretty kiddy. But as the books progressed and eventually Azkaban came out they developed and became more mature, along with their audiences. It's really worth reading the books now, I'm reading Order of the Phoenix for only the second time since it came out, but I haven't been able to put it down, even knowing what will happen next. I've nearly finished it and I've only been reading it for the last three days.

Oh, and a little off-topic here, is there a way to log in permanently on my computer? I know there was a problem about it way back, but I didn't know if it was rectified or whatever. I tick the option to log in automatically, and I have cookies enabled but it just doesn't seem to want to stay. Then when I type a long message after I have logged in it logs me out and I lose the entire message. I've been reading these forums for well over a year, been a member for a bit less but I hardly ever post (if you haven't noticed) because of this problem. Any help would be welcome!

[Ren 75]

try logging in then logging out, then loggin in again.

[King Mark 3,626]

Login at the bottom left of the page.If I log in at the message prompt i don't stay logged in

K.M.

[QMM 4]

Ahhhh! Thats the way to do it!!!  

I was pondering how I could solve the dilemma of reading the book's the lazy man's way. You have just provided me with the solution.  

I owe you one buddy!

No prob

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Excellent, thanks a lot K.M. and Ren. Get ready for a whole lot more replies from me! Don't worry, I was just joking...

Thanks again!

[Lurker 5]

Excellent, thanks a lot K.M. and Stefan.

Believe it or not, that wasn't Stefan. Look very closely.

Neil

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Look I dont doubt the quality of the books. I am just not sure if I want to allot that huge amount of time I would need to read all the books that I could spend doing others things.

Up until now I've just been watching the movies. I figured that would give me the gist of what this whole Potter thing was about.

You folks saying the movies aren't good anymore? That they don't properly convey the tones and themes of the books?

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Damn picture! Curse you Ren!

Oh, and Rogue, you won't care about other things you'd rather be doing when you read those books; you won't be able to put them down. The movies are okay, but so far Columbus hasn't been able to capture the magic of the books. I'm hoping the new director will be able to do better, and by the looks of things he will.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Damn picture! Curse you Ren!

Hey I made the same mistake briefly the first time I saw it so don't feel too bad.

[Bart 0]

There's a new article in the Los Angeles Times.

I'm sure someone here can open it and post the full article, specially because Cuaron stated somewhere in the article that he wanted to hire someone else for the music. (My guess? Patrick Doyle)

From TLC:

GLENCOE, SCOTLAND ? Daniel Radcliffe, or Harry Potter to you, isn't talking about casting spells or Lord Voldemort. Instead, the 14-year-old is lusting after Cameron Diaz. "I could fly to Los Angeles and introduce myself," Radcliffe says on the set of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." "I heard that she just broke up with her boyfriend."

...and goes on to talk about Dan talking about his favorite bands of the moment (Blur and the Darkness).

"Rather than just idle banter, the offscreen "Harry Potter" conversations are really about what's going on in "The Prisoner of Azkaban," which, if you strip away its Quidditch games and Patronus charms, is what it's like to become a teen."

The article notes that the kids are growing faster than the characters they depict, and that GoF might be their last film - but TLC says it also might not. It's still 50/50.

"Radcliffe and Watson are not only taller but also handsome and beautiful, even under all the mud produced by a steady Scottish drizzle. 'It's wet and dirty and the kids are wet and dirty,' Cuarón says. 'Don't they look sexy?'

It talks about the choice of Cuarón as director, which is risky for a big budget studio like Warner Bros., especially when the movie will be released among summer blockbusters. It also says JKR had a personal petition to hire Brazil's Terry Gilliam to direct PS/SS.

Alan Horn, president of WB, on Cuarón's A Little Princess:

"That movie confirmed to me that he could live in the world of fantasy and children and not be treacly and also be a little bit dark...And in 'Y Tu Mamá,' he got such performances out of those two young boys. Now our protagonists in 'Harry Potter' are 13, entering puberty, and he understands that. The question was: Could he handle something of this size? It can be daunting."

Cuarón on taking the Harry Potter gig:

"I have to confess, I was a bit ignorant about the Harry Potter thing...Then they started to talk about it, and I was like, 'Yeah, well ... I don't know.' Then someone said, 'Please, look at the material, because I really want you to give an answer.' So I read [screenwriter] Steve Kloves' script. And it was great. And then I immediately read the book. And I was, frankly, amazed by the book and the script."

Cuarón on directing in an established series:

"Everything is established, so I don't need to do exposition...Chris crafted with [production designer] Stuart Craig a really eloquent universe. And Chris already established all the rules, so pretty much I don't have to get into the matter of 'OK, Hogwarts is this. And you're a Muggle. And you're a wizard.'...By not having to do all this exposition, I can concentrate on character and the psychology of the characters."

It goes on for a while talking about how Cuarón couldn't recast lead roles or hire a new composer, etc., because the films were already established.

Columbus on producing PoA:

"I wanted to make sure that the film didn't stray too far from the world that the audience and the fans have sort of fallen in love with over the course of the first two movies...It's like putting nipples on the 'Batman' suit: It can get a little strange and a little weird to the audience?. If [the fans] have to adjust to too much change, they could have been turned off by the film."

Cuarón talked to filmmaking friend Guillermo del Toro for guidance before taking on the film:

"Guillermo had just finished directing 'Blade 2,' ... And he said, 'Man, if you do it, I have only one piece of advice to give you: Don't try to do an Alfonso Cuarón movie. Try to serve the franchise. And by serving the franchise, you may end up doing an Alfonso Cuarón movie.' "

The article says the kids are united in holding Prisoner of Azkaban as their favorite book (at the point in production at which the interview was done, book five was not yet released).

More Cuarón:

"Harry goes through a journey where he realizes that demons aren't just things that go bump in the night but also can be painful emotions, worries about family, friends, the future, the monsters that lie within. And that's a classic teenage issue."

Dan Radcliffe on Harry:

"There's a lot of teenage angst in this one, probably more than the book...It's much more of an internal journey for the children, especially for Harry. And he's much more comfortable with confrontation, especially with [Professor Severus] Snape. He's a lot angrier. If you had all this stuff happening to you in real life, you'd be pretty angry too."

Emma Watson:

"Hermione's becoming a rebel...She's had enough of being pushed around and she's not going to take it anymore. There's a lot more girl power in the film."

David Heyman:

"I think the audience will see it as a relative of the first two but as a very distinct piece of work.

Columbus re: modern clothes in the movie:

"Jo Rowling had always intended the characters to be wearing contemporary clothes under the cloaks...When we first tried that on the first film, it looked like a bad Halloween costume, like they were going trick-or-treating. Alfonso wanted to try something else. It will be interesting. It certainly was Jo's original intent, so he's being a little bit more faithful than I was."

Production designer Stuart Craig:

"[Cuarón is] very interested in eccentric detail...Hagrid's hut, for example, is now peopled with 100 strange animals. Some of them are magical and bizarre, and some of them are bats and lizards. So Alfonso has taken on what already existed and was well established and it's been embellished with these extra riches of detail. The Leaky Cauldron in the first two movies looked like a period movie; it was a very antiquated and a bit Dickensian. [The Leaky editors rejoice! Sorry.] Now there is a range of characters there, in more contemporary clothes, and there's a dart board."

The article explains Cuarón's long tracking shots that will show more of Hogwarts then in the other movies, including long shots as the kids move from the Great Hall to their common rooms; it also says the filming in Scotland was aimed at better establishing the Hp world.

Michael Gambon on Cuarón:

"He reminds me of a kid, his enthusiasm, his mannerisms, his energy...He's always laughing around the set."

The article reveals that the budget swelled to $200 million, and that Y Tu Mama had only $5m to work with.

Cuarón:

"No matter how much money you have, you are always 20 percent short...You can be on a low-budget movie or a big-budget movie, but you always wish you had 20 percent more. There was a point where you just dream, do whatever you want to do. And working with Steve Kloves was about dreaming. And then there was the window of frustration, where you are told, 'This is the budget, and you can't do that.' But it was always about figuring out which movie we wanted to do with these resources and trying to fit everything into what I must say is a very healthy budget.

"It has been insane, but it has been good...These kinds of films are not so much about filmmaking. They are about endurance. They just go on forever. And you have to keep up the pace all the time. If you fall behind in editing, it affects all the other departments. It's like a marathon. Sometimes you're in a zone. But sometimes, all of your tendons ache.

"The whole goal of taking a franchise in a new direction is what keeps them alive....Jo Rowling said to me, 'Don't be literal. Just be faithful to the spirit.' You might have hits and misses. But it's always going to be fresh."

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Hmm, that's interesting...

I'm glad he couldn't have hired someone new, not only would it be rather insulting to John, I just can't imagine anyone else picking up where he left off. Then again, he couldn't change anyway because all these things were established already. He probably would have if he'd started the series.

[HPFAN_2 0]

It didn't say he wanted to hire a new composer it just said he couldn't. But either way who would want to past up the chance to work with John Williams!?

[Ren 75]

I read an article where he said something to the tune of. . .blah blah working with kids all day. . .tiresome. . .someone have sex already. LOL

I think he's going to do a fantastic job.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

So do I. I really get tired of people who stop breathing over things like the new uniforms and Draco sending a paper crane to Harry.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

I wonder how much this Potter film will make.

The last one made like what? About 262 million according to most sources. The first one made 317. I wonder if the third HP film will make more of less than the 2nd one.

[Morlock 11]

I think more. It's been getting a lot of good buzz. And, it's widely concidered the best of the boks (so far).

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Plus it's going to appeal to a lot more people now, some people previously afraid of seeing what's dubbed as a "kid's movie" will be able to go see a dark and suspensful film, without humiliation.

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Maybe I will actually see this one in theatres. Possibly! Assuming I can sneak in without anyone noticing me.

[Morlock 11]

Plus there are a lot of Garry Oldman fans.

Morlock- very proud to call himself a fan of the most versatile actor of the age

[Rogue_Leader 2]

Plus there are a lot of Garry Oldman fans.

 Morlock- very proud to call himself a fan of the most versatile actor of the age

Although Oldman is a incredibly gifted actor I feel Anthony Hopkins is still superior.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Just read an interview with Mike Newell, director of Goblet of Fire. He says it will be the most expensive movie ever made. That tells me we wont be stuck with a 2 and 1/2 hour film trying to tell the story.

[Morlock 11]

Plus there are a lot of Garry Oldman fans.

 Morlock- very proud to call himself a fan of the most versatile actor of the age

Although Oldman is a incredibly gifted actor I feel Anthony Hopkins is still superior.

They have different pluses, but Oldman is definately the most versatile of the two. I think just The Contender, True Romance and Air Force One are enough, but there are at least a dozen more examples.

Hopkins is always Hopkins. And although that means he's always great, I havn't really been surprised by him since Nixon. He's still as great as usual, The Human Stain illustrates that. I loved him saying "....The Sheer hutzpah!"

[fommes 153]

Just read an interview with Mike Newell, director of Goblet of Fire.

Are they actually going to try to bring out a Harry Potter movie each year? So that they won't have to switch actors? I know some of you don't like Radcliffe and the like, but he doesn't bother me, he's even quite good and suits the role perfectly in my humble opinion. I would like to see the same actors, I guess for continuity's sake.

(Thought it was a pity too that Shue didn't act in Back to the Future Part I.)

Greetings!

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

Just read an interview with Mike Newell, director of Goblet of Fire.  He says it will be the most expensive movie ever made.  That tells me we wont be stuck with a 2 and 1/2 hour film trying to tell the story.

Bigger than Titanic? Bigger than The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy? That sounds like one big movie.

I'm getting amped to see pt. 3. I've been fooling around a bit with the PS and CoS DVD's over the weekend, and I'm playing the HP soundtracks again. I've got high hopes for this third film.

- Marc, wants a new teaser trailer. :spiny:

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Certainly this film is not gonna cost more then the 350 million spend on LOTR, which were 3 films.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

I understood that. It's just the director bragging, of course. :spiny:

- Marc,

[HPFAN_2 0]

I think they are under paying those kids. A movie that makes 80 to 90 million in it's first three days should give it's lead role more that 800 grand.

[QMM 4]

They're just gonna waste on stuff that'll rot their teeth and their minds LOL