Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One

I just saw the latest Harry Potter movie in a second-run pub theater.  Great company, good food, but the movie didn't work very well for me.  I'd read a little about pacing issues, so I didn't go in with high expectations.  Even with that in mind, though, I had serious trouble with the way the story moved.  The elements were mostly there--fine actors, beautiful special effects that didn't distract from the story, etc.  But I kept wondering what happened to the dialogue, to the ideas, and most of all, to the charm.

I was charmed by the books, and I was charmed by many of the movies.  I don't think it was a case of no-surprises.  I enjoyed watching the story I knew come to life on the big screen in the other Harry Potter movies, as well as other movie-from-book films I'd seen.  But life is precisely what was missing here, at least for me.  

For example, I delighted in the derigible plums.  At that point I reveled in that little taste of what had been omnipresent in the books and most of the other films--the color, the environment, the quirky things that belonged there despite their often unusual character, and the sometimes awe-inspiring beauty.  These things convinced me of the existence of another world as marvelous and complex as the real one we live in every day.  I had little to nothing except those plums to convince me of another world this time.

There's an important lesson here for storytellers everywhere.  The 'telling' details often mentioned in writing courses and critiques and in criticism are really important.  They ought to be called the 'showing' details, though.  Because they show us so much, without saying a word.

Bravo to actors, special effects folks, camera men, makeup artists, costumers ... and bravo to the writers, director, producer, etc. for all the hard work, but alas, I can't recommend this movie, and I'm likely to buy it only on discount in order to complete the set after the next movie has come out, assuming this next, and last, movie doesn't do the same or worse as its brother.

The Big Picture

I did it.  I called around, and discovered that the beautiful LCD TV I'd been looking at for the past several months at Costco is over $100 cheaper than the least expensive television of the exact same size at the place advertised as saying "shop around, but if you don't shop at XXXXX XXXX, you'll be sorry!"  I guess I won't be sorry.  

At first I'd planned on waiting until February 15th, and then when the government extended the HD deadline (um, why are we waiting?  Television is not exactly a crucial service, hello!  But I guess I'm being insensitive,) I thought what the heck, I'll wait until June.  But then I went by my daughter this afternoon sitting a couple of feet away from her brother's laptop, watching what should have been a horrific pageant of a war display (Braveheart) but was instead a cute miniature action scene, and I wondered about what waiting would really buy me.  I'd hoped a lot of saved money with the advent of plummeting sales, but the TV I wanted was already half the price of the least expensive big TVs and the prices hadn't budged on President's Day like I expected them to.  

I bet the 'big' TVs I think about are average in most people's minds.  Yikes.  To me, those 50" things are as big as I want to imagine, and those would fill up half our living room (and not in a nice way.)  Our brand new, gorgeous television is 32" and it looks plenty big to me.  Not bulky--it's smaller and lighter than our big box, but the screen is actually larger, and clearer.  I have a hard time imagining one of those monstrosities in the main aisle looming in our living room.  Actually, I take that back.  I can perfectly imagine it, more intrusive than Darth Vader and more obnoxious than Jerry Lewis.  [ducking to avoid protests thrown by Jerry Lewis fans] 

Yeah, yeah, I'm going into raptures over a dumb appliance.  Still, it's good to have our family tradition of the TV dinner theater not just return to its former glory, but exceed it.  Since we go out to the big screen theater maybe once or twice a year, don't have the television turned on from morning to night, don't watch Saturday cartoons, or late night SciFi, and we might catch the news only once a month, the TV was never about mindless passage of time, flipping channels and enduring commercials.  It's about entertainment, and culture (and because I have family members who enjoy that sort of thing, the eye-gouging 'humor' that is Robot Chicken.)  It's about storytelling, and art, and fun for a couple of hours.  With the occasional weekend marathon of our favorite TV series.  I love those.

It'll be fun exploring our DVD collection all over again.  How does The Dark Knight look?  How about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?  Pride and Prejudice?  Phantom of the Opera?

I'll enjoy finding out.  Now I'm totally motivated to clear off our dining table and turn it into the center of our social lives again.  We can see the big picture from there.  Crystal clear.

Exceptional Films

Steve Barnes recently posed a question on his blog.  I started to get wordy with my response, so I decided to crop it and continue my thoughts here.

The question was:  What would be your vote for Greatest Movie, especially from the perspective of studying film?

You all know me.  I have lots of favorites, which means I'd have lots of votes and so it would be really hard to pin down one.  I ultimately went with Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)

Someone posted Secondhand Lions.  So I responded--

Secondhand Lions would be close to the top of my list too! Really excellent writing and acting in that one. Casablanca has also already been mentioned. Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) with Depardieu is masterful on so many levels--character focus, sets, lighting, acting, music, extras, choreography -- even the level of craft in the subtitles is incredible. I've probably watched it a hundred times and it amazes me every time. Curse of the Golden Flower--except I felt the spilled poison on the tapestry end wasn't quite right. Maybe I'm too western to appreciate it. It just wasn't quite enough. Galaxy Quest. A lot of excellent elements came together to make this one of the most appreciated genre films out there. Part of its genius is that it knows its audience and plays both the positive and negative sides of the culture to its complete advantage. And, I hate to say it, but Dude, Where's My Car from both an entertainment and craft perspective is scarily amazing. I was very resistant to watching it the first time and sat down in total resignation. And was blown away. I dunno. Maybe my expectations were so low ... someone tell me I'm crazy! It was particularly masterful with its reveals and the level of plot acceleration. Chocolat, Forrest Gump, Kung Fu Hustle and Spirited Away are also amazing and I think they teach a lot about storytelling and visual presentation.  

There are six other films that stand out very strongly in my mind, but I believe it's mainly due to subject matter although craft certainly played a role. The LotRs trilogy, Schindler's List, Braveheart and Lion in Winter. Since the subject matter is so compelling to me I can't look at these films rationally.  

Schindler's List and Braveheart fall into a separate category with Pillow Book of films I love but can't rewatch. Actually, I rewatched Braveheart on DVD when we bought it, didn't regret it, but still can't make myself watch it again. It's too hard. I can't even own Schindler's List or Pillow Book. I'm such a wuss.

On the flip side, there's a film everyone loves and I could barely sit through it. The only reason I did was because it was part of a double feature and Casablanca was the second feature. (It was worth it.) That's Fargo. Ugh. No, double ugh.  In my mind it had no redeeming qualities. None.

I'm more in the norm with considering Brokeback Mountain not all it was cracked up to be. It was groundbreaking but not an exceptional film. Lots of missed opportunities in dialogue, storytelling, and overall film craft. I'm glad it made a splash, but I've seen much, much better on equally difficult subjects and I don't think it deserved most of the awards it got. If there was an award for "Should Have Been Mainstream A Long Time Ago" then it should have won that one, hands down. I fear that future generations will consider all the awards given to Brokeback Mountain the cinematic award equivalent of a pity f*ck.

So how 'bout it? From not just a good time perspective or made me cry perspective or made me rewind it three times because I couldn't believe what I was seeing perspective but that critical craftsmanship perspective where, if it's not perfect you can see perfection easily within its grasp--what's your list of outstanding films? Any recent ones, like The Dark Knight stands out for me, that stand out for you?