polychrome

Yeah, well, Goldsmith is dead. *cries*

Cuaron's a double-edged sword. The extremes of the argument would be that he was either a genius, or he ripped the series apart. With me, it was a little of both. Cuaron made some OBVIOUS improvements, but at the same time, ditched a lot of continuity, which is a problem, as this movie is part of a series. What WB should have done from the start was made sure they had a cast and crew that would be available for the entire series, because, as it is, WB isn't even sure if it can keep the actors playing the trio for the entire project. They also should have made sure that whoever they hired for the crew would treat the movies as one single, big project, rather than many little ones. (For example, Peter Jackson's work on Lord of the Rings.) This is where Cuaron failed big time. Many people (me included) were expecting this series to be sort of like a new Star Wars or Indiana Jones, filling in the void left behind by our lost 70s/80s childhoods. (Like it or not, even Star Wars is ending.) John Williams was a big part of fitting that mood. But an even bigger part was the continuity. The familiarity with the series. With the constant changes of the production crew, this familiarity is waning, and the movies (good as they are) are looking like individual movies, rather than a series, as they should be. I'm just glad the books will stay true to themselves. We at least have them. My greatest aspiration (dunno if I'll actually fill it) was to work for Cartoon Network someday. Obviously, I have my own ideas that I'd like to pitch to the network, (got this idea about a series about where the Roswell Aliens came from) but for about a year, I've been pondering whether Harry Potter would have done better as a TV series. This pondering became a very strong thought process when I saw the series, .hack//sign, which in some ways, really reminds me of Harry Potter. I almost think the episodic, slice of life style of the books would be better interpreted in small chunks rather than 2.5 hour movies. A few decades after the movies are done, will the world be ready for a fresh interpretation? I'm hoping yes. And if for some reason I get that chance, I'll do what I can to make sure it is treated as one big project, rather than many individual ones. But then, it may just be a silly dream.

I dunno about you guys, but to me, this is (as one poster said) the same as getting an entire new composer for something like "Return of the Jedi". See how some people are complaining just because they switched the left and right speakers... Imagine what this is like for me, and frankly, a lot of fans out there. A trend I've started to notice from Prisoner of Azkaban, and some of the rumors surrounding Goblet of Fire, is the individual directors are chucking continuity out the window in favor of what they consider their own artistic designs. If these books were separate entities, I wouldn't mind, but this is a series, and the audience needs that same sense of continuity and familiarity that they get from the books, and yes, even Star Wars. (Which I still enjoy, even the new stuff.) At least George Lucas ATTEMPTS to keep continuity! I will not say Curaron is not a great director. He whipped the kids into shape like many did not believe, and has an outdoorsy sense that gave the films an oddly familiar sense of kids away from their family at an extra long summer camp, which oddly enough, worked. But he changed a lot of props that didn't need it, redid a lot of locations, turned Dumbledore into a hippie, etc. I won't make judgements on Newell until I see Goblet of Fire, but frankly, even though I know it'll be a good movie, I know there will be even more changes ripping the leftover continuity to shreds. WB isn't even sure it can keep the same actors for the entire series. The loss of John Williams, for me, is the final blow. I've lost all faith in the movies ever really being even partially as cleanly knit together as the books. I was so looking forward to hearing the music of the Phoenix for the Priori Incantatem scene. Now I fear this music, obviously intended to be reborn in multiple movies like the phoenix itself, will be lost forever. If it had to be anybody else, I personally would have picked Akira Yamaoka, my all-time favorite composer. His sad and longing, yet mysterious and beautiful pieces would have been perfect for many things in Harry Potter. I don't know much about Patrick Doyle, so I can't say I feel any attachment to him. Sure, Akira Yamaoka's style is vastly different from John Williams, but what the hey? Continuity's already gone to hell, right? As for Harry Potter being too "dark" for John Williams, Chamber of Secrets is not a fluffy story, despite its fairytale imagery towards the end. And Order of the Phoenix, despite having an anxious, angsty plot, is universally considered the funniest thing J.K. Rowling has put into print. My co-workers compare it to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I'd even go as far as saying Jackie Chan could direct it. Some things in there would be right up his alley.