Date: Sunday, November 4 2018
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Time: 11:35am
Party: 3 (my mom, sister & I)
Directors: Lasse Hallström (in addition to movies like Cider House Rules and Chocoloat, he also did a bunch of ABBA videos... wow!... definitely explains why this movie is so colorful) and Joe Johnston (of "Captain America" fame- the first movie specificially)
Writer: Ashleigh Powell (screenwriter)
Composers: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (of course for the original Nutcracker ballet) and James Newton Howard (for everything else... he's composed so many movies I love, it's hard to figure which ones to list- just check out his imdb profile :P)
Notable Cast:
Clara- Mackenzie Foy (who I hadn't seen since she played Renesme in "Breaking Dawn")
Fritz, Clara's little brother- Tom Sweet
Louise, Clara's older sister- Ellie Bamber (only credit I recognize- she was one of the Bennett sisters in "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies")
Mr. Stahlbaum, Clara's father- Matthew Macfayden (one of those actors who looks familiar but I really hadn't seen his role. Interestingly, he played Mr. Darcy to Keira's Elizabeth Bennett back in 2005- one of many version I never saw)
Drosselmeyer, Clara's godfather- Morgan Freeman
Nutcracker Soldier Philip- Jayden Fowora-Knight (his only other credit is "Ready Player One")
Sugar Plum Fairy from the Land of Sweets- Keira Knightley
Mother Ginger from the Land of Amusements Fourth Realm- Helen Mirren
Hawthorne from the Realm of Flowers- Eugenio Derbez
Shiver from the Realm of Snowflakes- Richard E. Grant
Ballerina Princess- Misty Copeland
Duration: 99 minutes (+7 trailers... it's always 7 at this theater...)
Write-up:
Introduction:
It was my sister's birthday on the 7th and seeing this movie was part of a weekend celebrating her birthday (the previous night, we had an amazing dinner at the Frogtown Chophouse in Swiftwater).
One funny thing I realized when sitting down to see this movie... it's been so overwhelming with all the political ads... I realized that as soon as they go away, a million Christmas commercials were waiting in the wings to take their place. I mean, I love Christmas, don't get me wrong... but I don't want to see any trace of it before December 1. Christmas is a special time of year, but it becomes less special when it's overwhelmed by two solid months of commercialism. I may not be in love with Thanksgiving, but I feel for it being overlooked in favor of all the Christmas stuff. Maybe it's the OCD in me that wants everything to be in their place, in order. It also goes back to college where I was so stooped in studying for finals to make sure I aced my classes (and 4 out of 5 times, I did) that I couldn't afford myself to get excited about Christmas until winter break.
This is also funny because I realized this in theater and not even a second later, they had a commercial for Hallmark movie channel doing a Christmas movie-thon. I swear, I shielded my face like a vampire trying to hide from the sun :P
And of course... it's funny because The Nutcracker is technically a Christmas movie... and I honestly didn't mind making a concession for that.
Trailers:
It's always 7... and the theme continues... oddly enough, a bunch of these movies looked like ones I wanted to see. But I highly doubt I'd get myself to a theater to see them all. Only one is an absolute definite and it'll be the next one.
A Dog's Way Home- I haven't seen "A Dog's Purpose" but I heard it was a bit of a tearjerker. Almost any time there's a movie centering around a dog, it's a tearjerker cuz they often die in the end. I refuse to see "Old Yeller" out of principle for that reason alone. This movie is about a dog named Bella and her owner, how he's gone all the time and she misses him. Then she somehow runs away, gets lost and [spoiler alert] she comes back at the end. They showed the whole movie practically in 2 minutes. But I was happy that they did get together in the end.
Fantastic Beasts: The Trials of Grindewalld- definitely seeing this one. I have no idea how many times I'd seen this trailer, but I feel like I get more out of it each time. I absorb more of what's going on. But I couldn't repeat everything if you asked me to :P I'd be here forever.
Instant Family- there's been a lot of promo for this Mark Wahlberg/Rose Byrne movie where they want a foster kid and the one they want has two siblings so they get three kids. It looks like a sweet movie. They had a new scene where one kid says "thanks Daddy" and the mom goes after her asking if she wants help with anything cuz she wants some of that action and the kid's like "No." So cute.
The Kid Who Would be King- instead of a Kid being in King Arthur's Court, the world of Camelot comes into reality. A bullied kid in a private school finds Excalibur, pulls it from the stone and it brings all kinds of havoc into reality that he and his classmates have to defend their world. It looks like fun, but part of me also thinks the movie might wind up being crap and they glossed up the trailer and edited it to make it look amazing.
The Grinch- there's definitely been a lot of lead up to this and I want to see it eventually. Maybe not buy a movie ticket. Benedict Cumberbatch will be great in this role, although they might have made it a little too comical. Then again, they can't do any worse than Jim Carrey in the live action version. I'd barely seen any of it and I could really do without it. Whoever thought live action Dr. Seuss movies were a good idea should be work in show business cuz it's practically nightmare fuel, seeing the actors' faces in these beloved children's book characters. Not to mention all the idiotic rude humor involved.
Wreck-It Ralph Breaks the Internet- this one looks like a lot of fun. And this trailer finally gave me an idea of what the movie's about. Vanellope's video game, Sugar Rush broke down and she's worried about not having a place in the world. "If I'm not a racer, then what I am?" so she and Ralph go into the Internet to find a part to fix her game. The scene with her and all the Disney princesses looks like so much fun. I just hope we get more out of it than just 5 minutes.
Aladdin- I cannot wait to get more than just this same teaser trailer they showed during a football game a few weeks ago. We just have Iago flying over the desert and Agrabah, the Cave of Wonders opening up and Aladdin reaching for the lamp. The big question mark for me is the Genie. Who's going to play him? Will it be an attempt to pay homage to Robin Williams' version or will it be something different? Robin Williams totally made that movie, which, fun fact, was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. My dad took me to see it. I don't remember much about it other than being really worried during the scene where Jafar throws Aladdin into the ocean to drown. Cannot wait to see and review that one, all while recollecting the original. We got way back ;)
...Somehow the previews always have a way of making me forget what I came to see... it still isn't fair that they show the concession stand ad AT THE END... it makes you hungry and thirsty and chances are, you can't get out in time to get anything. Also, I can't remember the last time I had theater popcorn.
The Main Event:
early Oscar buzz
I can't give everything away, obviously, but for starters, this movie was AMAZING. For sure, it's going to win some Oscars, most likely for Art Direction/Production Design and Visual Effects. I'd like it to be nominated and win for costumes too. Just looking at the makeup job on Mother Ginger, that's another possibility as well.
Originals and Adaptations
As everyone knows, The Nutcracker is a story that's been around for a long time. "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" was written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816. Alexander Dumas (of "Three Muskteers" and "Count of Monte Cristo" fame) adapted it, the main difference changing the heroine's name from Marie to Clara. And Dumas' version was the version Tchaikovsky adapted into the well-known 1892 Russian ballet.
A couple of years ago, my favorite figure skater, Evgeni Plushenko orchestrated his own Nutcracker show. After he withdrew from the Sochi Olympics for back issues and had surgery (he broke a screw supporting a plastic disc in his back), sometime later, he had a dream about doing an ice show for the Snow Queen... of course, changing the gender of the character so he could play the main role. I'd seen various scenes on YouTube, but never the entire show... the people in Russia and Japan were so lucky to see it. (It looks AMAZING!!) In 2015, he did it again, but this time, he did his own Nutcracker. I'm not entirely sure what character he played. It wasn't the main role. But it started with at Christmas with a big tree and Clara gets a Nutcracker for Christmas. Then I think she goes to sleep and dreams about being in the realm where he comes to life. And there were multiple realms. The whole show was on YouTube and it lasted at least 2 hours. My attention wasn't held the entire time, admittedly, but the production looked amazing. He'd been busy with his new skating school (I'd only seen a handful of his students compete so far... ok, just two), but last I heard, he's been working with his 5 year old son, Sasha to learn skating and he's working on his next show- Swan Lake.
The Task at Hand
Now for THIS version... and they did a really good job making this old story brand new again.
First of all, you get swept into the fantasy of it within the first couple minutes. There's an owl flying over London at Christmas time and it's snowing... enough said. Breathtaking!
Clara's family is still dealing with their mother's death. Clara's coping by doing little science experiments in the attic and not hanging around with people. Something her father wants to change as he gathers the siblings to go to a local Christmas party. Conversely, Clara's under the impression that he cares more about keeping up appearances than their mom. Right off the bat, this movie has this theme about family. Which is a pretty big deal around Christmas time. And it's kinda rough when it's the first Christmas without someone you're close with. And also when family members are fighting.
Just before they go to the party, their dad gives them all gifts their mom left to them. Clara's sister got one of their mom's dresses, I forget what her brother got, but Clara got a metallic egg with a keyhole, but no key. Then she deduces who created the egg in the first place.
So they go to the party and it's at the house of Morgan Freeman's character. I'm not sure how he and her mother came to know each other, but Clara refers to him as her godfather. So he did at least look after her mom when she was a kid. She shows him the egg he made and wonders if he has the key. More on this later...
Clara and her father have one last fight and everything comes out. All her father asked of her was to not to disappear, to spend time with other people (I thought her being in the crowd during the ballet performance counted!) and to dance with him. But she doesn't want to dance and they don't leave each other on the best terms.
I thought the next scene was really cool. The godfather announces it's time for everyone to get their gifts. So all of them have a piece of string with their names on them and they followed them throughout the house (the house is huge, btw, and you see little hints of wht Clara will see in the four realms if you pay attention) to find them. Obviously, Clara's leads to the key... but in the process, the movie borrows from Narnia and she goes through a hallway in the house that takes her into fantasy land.
And it goes without saying... unfortunately (and this really annoyed me, what can I say, I get impatient about these things)... that it's not as simple as Clara getting the key and opening the egg... a mouse steals the key. And she comes upon the Nutcracker shortly after. Apparently, her mom discovered these realms when she was younger and by assocation, Clara is being treated like royalty. Does she abuse her power? Maybe, a little bit... in the beginning. She and the Nutcracker try, and fail, to get the key back from the Mouse King (which is a bunch of mice coming together to form a huge monster mice). So they have to retreat to the castle where they meet the leaders of three of the Realms.
The story is that Mother Ginger, of the Fourth Realm, threatened to take over all the realms, so she was banished. And everyone else in the kingdom is forbidden to travel there. And Clara is treated to a ballet that teaches her the history of all the realms. Which is where Misty Copeland comes in and does what she does so well. (She's also a big reason why you should stick around to watch the end credits).
The production on stage is small when you compare it to the four realms, but they use all that space to full advantage, including various intricate set pieces and the floor that lights up with various shapes and colors.
By the end of the movie, I said "all of those people who said Misty couldn't be a great ballerina because she was too old (she didn't start training until she was 13) or she's of color... look at her now!" I mean, they have to be eating their words. She's out of this world. And I'm not just saying that cuz she has a Prince connection- according to Wikipedia, she was in his "Crimson & Clover" video and was at his Welcome 2 America tour (had I gotten tickets to shows at the Meadowlands or MSG, I could have seen both of them in person-- still regretting it cuz that was my one chance to see him, the one time he came close to me from 2007 to 2016). But before I knew who she was, I saw her name in print in an article about him. And I saw them together on the Geoge Lopez show- he performed "The Beautiful Ones" and she was dancing on the piano... their stage chemistry worked really well with that song. Funny thing- I watched this performance for the first time since it aired in 2011 and I wondered out loud if that was her... and sure enough, it was.
She was also a guest judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" and she gave really good critiques without being overly harsh.
Anyway, the story progresses when Clara gets an army to get the key back and she does eventually find what's inside the egg. It initially came with a note that read "everything you need is inside." It doesn't seem like it's worth this trouble at first, but it serves a couple of purposes that does make it so.
Kinda like the egg- in this movie, not everything is what it appears to be and that goes on to affect the plot and some of the characters. It's a good twist, but at the same time, it was something I kinda saw coming.
There isn't a lot of focus on the other realms and we see the other realms briefly in a montage where Clara visits them all and is showered with gifts. We spend the most time in the kingdom with the Nutcracker, the Sugar Plum Fairy and Mother Ginger. Definitely a great cast. Keira Knightley is almost unrecognizable as the Sugar Plum Fairy. I wondered if that was her voice cuz it sounds way too high to sound like it came from her. If it was, I wondered if her voice was sore after filming or it took a while for her to remember how to speak normally. Mother Ginger looked very familiar, so I guess it wasn't surprising to find out it was Helen Mirren. She's really good in anything she does. And both of these women kick butt in the movie.
And of course there's bound to be a little talk about someone of color playing the Nutcracker. There's been so much talk about making movies more diverse, but a lot of time it feels forced. Just having a token person of color so Hollywood isn't accused over being racist or whitewashing everything seems a bit much... my opinion is that a cast shouldn't be diverse for the sake of it. It should be because the actors are right for the parts. And in the case of "This is Us," writing good roles for people of color is a move in the right direction.
In the case of this Nutcracker, Jayden is really good job of it. The character is a soldier so he's made to follow orders. But the nutcracker himself is a character that's always there for Clara to support her and be her friend and this is where he shines. The two of them have really good chemistry on screen.
Even though things stop after Clara's disappointed with the contents of the egg and the villain gets the upper hand, the gloominess doesn't last long. There's a lot of action in the third act. And Clara finally returns home and make things right with her dad...
between the warm & fuzzies, the Christmas stuff and the music... it's another tearjerker of a movie, but they're very happy tears. We had to cheer at the end and everyone else in theater eventaully joined in. (It was an empty theater at first, but by curtains, it got a decent amount of people. A lot of families with kids too. I was half afraid they'd talk through the whole movie or someone would be kicking my seat the whole time... neither came to pass, so it was a good experience overall)
Grade: A
Director: Chris Weitz
Writers: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay), Stephenie Meyer (based on her novel)
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Returning Cast:
Bella Swan- Kristen Stewart
Edward Cullen- Robert Pattinson
Jacob Black- Taylor Lautner
Carlisle Cullen- Peter Facinelli
Chef Charlie Swan- Billy Burke
Billy Black- Gil Birmingham
Mike Newton- Michael Welch
Jessica Stanley- Anna Kendrick
Eric- Justin Chon
Angela Webber- Christian Serratos
Alice Cullen- Ashley Green
Jasper Cullen- Jackson Rathbone
Emmett Cullen- Kellen Lutz
Rosalie Cullen- Nikki Reed
Esme Cullen- Elizabeth Reaser
Victoria- Rachelle Lefevre
Laurent- Edi Gathegi
Newcomers:
Aro- Michael Sheen
Caius- Jamie Campbell Bowyer (who later played a younger Grindewald in Deathly Hollows part 1, Antony in Sweeney Todd, and Jace in the movie version of The Mortal Instruments... the guy was busy...)
Marcus- Christopher Heyerdahl
Jane- Dakota Fanning
Quill Atera- Tyson Houseman
Embry Call- Kiowa Gordon
Sam Uley- Chaske Spencer
Harry Clearwater- Graham Greene
Emily- Tinsel Korey
Write-up:
Ok, less of a nerd this time around... I had to look up a bunch of these names for the new cast members. Kinda what Jacob says to Bella when he wants her to remember their conversation in the previous film... of course, the vampires are part of the story she remembers, and the vampires are the cast members I remember the most. But also the Cullens... the Volturi are another matter (aside from Jane and Caius cuz I'd seen them in other places).
Personal History
First things first... this is one of those rare occasions where the movie is a lot better than the book. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" was a similiar story for me in that the book was so depressing to get through that it was nice to have the movie streamline all of that. Not to mention they didn't have Logan Lerman crying hilariously in every chapter of the movie like he did in the book. It also didn't help I was reading that book during a rough time in my life that lasted 2011-early 2014... and also like Bella at the end of New Moon, I block out that period like it never happened. Although I do take things away from it that made me smile. And with what work has been like over the past year where I've become more integral to another area of our department,.. it hasn't been easy, but it makes me feel like I'd really gotten past that old feeling of worthlessness I had during that time. And to be honest, I'm still not 100% happy in every part of my life... but I have more going for me that makes me feel valuable, which is rare.
Ok, rant over... but there are more to come on other topics. That's the whole reason I didn't sleep in on the day we turned the clocks back like I enjoy doing. I couldn't sleep this morning cuz I had to get this up and finished so I can get past this part of the series.
I got New Moon and Eclipse for Christmas in 2008... I started reading New Moon and inevitably wound up devouring the book in two days. Not because I fell head over heels like I did with Twilight. But I just wanted to finish it because it made me so depressed. In retrospect, I guess I could have skipped to the end of the book (which I never do, no matter how many times I'd read it) or I could have at least read the book jacket for Eclipse to ease my pain. Both would have told me that Edward was coming back and I didn't have to spend the whole book mourning the fact he'd left. Both nights I read the book, I actually cried myself to sleep because I felt the same as Bella. How could he leave? What's this story going to become without him? And there was that whole feeling of just not being good enough for him...
In truth, I think I've read this book all the way through 2-3 times ever. There was at least one other time since the first time, plus there was a time (don't remember what my motivation was for this) I read through it up to the point Edward leaves and I just stopped. Don't remember if I was planning to pick it back up or skip to the end or what... and over this past week, Monday to Saturday, I read it again for the first time in years.
It was really hard to spend a week on it just cuz I didn't have the time to devour it in two days... not cuz it's difficult to read or I hate reading it... but Bella is a character where I put myself in her shoes (something I do when I write my own stories- I try to get inside the minds of my characters) and I feel everything she does... it's hard living with that degree of depression for such a long time. And she did for months and I barely managed a week.
Unlike Twilight, where I'd read the book through so many times that I can feel the familiar quotes coming or I can picture myself in the story as it's going and I can take the book and movie seperate from each other and enjoy both for different things (cuz they certainly aren't identical)...
with New Moon, I was reading it and it felt like the first time since I'd seen the movie. Because I didn't realize how many quotes from the movie actually came from the book... Jacob commenting about Mike at the movies "what a marshmallow"... that got a real laugh in the theaters, but I forgot it was something Stephenie had written. There were others, but that's the one I immediately remember.
And I'd actually seen the movie more times than I read the book... you can maybe guess why that might be. And of all the movies in the series, I was sure that this would be where Kristen Stewart would play Bella than in any other installment of the series. And I was right. She was pretty experienced with a lot of dramatic roles. Her first breakthrough role was "Speak," based on a book about a high school girl who becomes "a selective mute" after she's raped at a party. I saw the movie once, it was pretty rough, but she acts it out really well. This movie kinda goes into that territory and if it suffers in any parts, it's the script more than anything else.
And there was actually one time where I watched this movie on 9/11... Robert Pattinson is in a movie where he dies at the end (he dies at the end of a lot of his movies... or in this case, he's already dead technically) in the attacks... and because "Remember Me" doesn't get shown on TV every year on 9/11 (as it should cuz it is a good movie up until the end), I thought the best option was to watch New Moon. Cuz at least he comes back at the end... there's just an hour or so of movie where he's completely MIA. Also, after seeing "Remember Me" in the theater, and I was a complete mess afterwards, I bought New Moon on DVD that same day as a way of coping/grieving. Not to say I wasn't planning on getting the movie at all, but I was delaying it.
So I do know this movie rather well... but it doesn't mean I enjoy breaking it out all the time.
Bella's Depression
From seeing the movie in the theater, I remember my heart beating out of my chest when the title screen came on. The beginning of the movie where they showed Bella running through Volterra to find Edward, I think I had a dream that the movie would start with that scene to foreshadow. The dream where she sees her grandma and in the end becomes her, I didn't quite pick that up when I read the book so it was really well done.
Of course I was dreading the break-up scene and seeing how Bella's four months of nothingness would be portrayed. Basically when Edward leaves, saying he doesn't want her anymore, she goes into a deep depression and has nightmares every night. In the book, I was wondering what we were going to do and how she was going to react. I was so disappointed when I found three blank pages with nothing but October, November and December written on them... I felt completely lost and I didn't know what was going on or what to make of it. The movie basically did a montage of her sitting in her room staring out the window as the seasons change. There's a constant narrative throughout the movie where she's talking to Alice, sending emails that never get delivered... as a movie device to pass time, it makes sense. But to me, I really didn't like it cuz the book had nothing about that. Of course, the book had NOTHING to work with for these months... and of course there are nightmares where she's screaming and it shows how Charlie used to check on her and after a while, he just stopped. There are some parts of this that the movie really did well and they got right and I was pleased with. How Billy Burke does the scene where he tells Bella he's sending her to Jacksonville because he thinks she'll get better there... it just reaffirmed how much I love him playing Charlie. He did the role so well that I can't imagine him in the book without him. He's very calm about the situation, but he tries to be sensitive and stern at the same time. In the book, he just yells at her to wake up and stop moping. I'm sure the book version would be a lot closer to what my dad would have done to me if I went through that same situation. To sum up the whole series, there is no way my dad would let me date anyone like Edward. Not cuz he's a vampire, but because of everything else. Charlie tried to deter her from being with him, but he eventually gave up. My dad would just put a restraining order against him...
But speaking more on the "zombie Bella" part of the story... there were some hints in the book of things that happened or things Bella did during that time... I wished the movie had addressed those rather than just giving us the montage treatment. There's a scene where Alice asks Charlie about what happened after they left and he says that she was catatonic for a week, threw a fit when he and her movie threatened to send her to Florida and she wound up crying... then after that, she returned to everyday life, but her eyes were lifeless and she'd only talk to people when they asked her questions.
Heck, part of me wants to write to Stephenie and ask her if she'd ever written a novella or something about those movies, but from perspectives from everyone around Bella... that way, I could get a better picture.
There's also a comment Charlie says to Alice- something like "she wasn't acting like someone left her, she was acting like somebody died"...
I remembered this particular quote from the book really well because it completely summed up the situation. (Although I still wish for more to go on than "Bella was depressed and was a zombie for four months..." cuz in all honesty, that's where the criticism over her character comes from. That and the adrenaline junkie stuff... more on that later).
But I am leading to one particular point... if it were me in that situation, I think I would have moved on after a point. I'd be depressed over it for a week, maybe a month at most. But eventually I'd say "screw him' and move on. Plus I'm so self-conscious about what people think of me that I'd move on so they don't judge me or think I'm weak for feeling that way.
I also had somewhat of an epiphany a few months ago that correlated this with something in my own life. What Bella went through, I was through something similar when Prince passed away in 2016. There was actually a part in the book where Bella is driving home from work and she pulls to the side of the road to catch her breath... there were a couple times where that almost happened to me. Except I didn't stop. After getting the news about him on April 21st, I actually forced myself to drive home. Whether it was concentrating on the songs on the radio playing for him or listening to the album in my car that day (funny enough it was one of his cuz I really wasn't listening to him for a while), it was a struggle, but I didn't want anyone thinking less of me if I had not left work right away or pulled to the side of the road to cry my eyes out... 1999 was the first song on the radio after the news fully sunk in and I vowed I would celebrate him rather than be sad about him suddenly passing away. That's been the story of my life when it came to him. Some people had trouble listening to him; I had no choice but to listen to him because I wanted to remember him for how he lived, not how he died. The only things I'd ever let myself really grieve about him... watching Purple Rain or listening to certain songs or albums. But there were a couple times where I listened to podcasts where they discussed his death or talked how he was someone people had to see live (which I never got to) where I almost got too emotional about. But I always kept driving cuz I saw no other choice. I just had to fight through it and eventually my mind would get preoccupied with something else.
And the whole New Moon concept where Bella felt like a satellite whose planet exploded... it was like that for me as well. Prince had become such a part of who am I as a person that losing him felt just like Edward leaving. And sometimes, I'd worry I'd forget about him or wonder if he existed at all. As if he was a mythical creature I imagined. When his music would come on again, I'd inhale like I'd forgotten how to breathe. But I found a way to keep his spirit alive and move on. Unlike Bella, I'd keep reminders of him around when I can so I don't forget him and I also fight to forget that he'd passed away cuz completely accepting he had is something I don't feel like I can survive even though I'd been aware of that fact since it happened... Bella simply tried to keep some sort of reminder of him, but never really moved on. Although with Jacob, I think she would have if more time had passed.
Team Jacob
Now that THAT rant is over... here's another one...
Stephenie talked about how Jacob became his own character over time. How he was merely a plot device that told Bella about the Cullens being vampires. But more material started coming up and he became integral to the story.
I did start to really like Jacob as this book really started picking up post-Edward. He was fun to be around and Bella felt better with him. And some may argue the book became more bearable to read after that point... that is kinda true for me, but I'll just say the book was more fun to read, not decrying or being negative.
It was kinda funny thinking how Taylor Lautner almost didn't get to reprise the role because he wasn't bulky enough. Dang did he work for it- and totally deserved to keep the role. Someone as important to the story as Jacob, you had to keep at least some continuity and as a general role, I HATE recasts. And the wig he wears in this movie suits him a lot better than the last one did, so I see him being "sort of beautiful"...
But for me, all hell breaks loose after he becomes a werewolf and he cuts his hair off. At least this time watching the movie again, I tried to see the same person in his eyes. Whereas every other time, he cuts his hair off and he's someone I really don't like.
The whole story for me... I can easily be Team Jacob cuz he's a nice guy and I love wolves... but him hating on Edward and vampires completely negates it for me. Everytime he'd insult vampires or call him blood-suckers or whatever else, I just want to punch him or want nothing to do with him. In poltics, it's almost the same story for me... I can see both sides, but I cannot stand it where they're constantly insulting each other or saying people that swing their votes towards certain people must be idiots. You just cannot assume the worst of people just because of who they vote for. (Ok, maybe it's not quite the same thing, but close enough).
And my history with Jacob... and it is very complicated... will continue on in the other movies/books
Adrenaline Junkie
I highly doubt I'd ever get to the point where I'd do extreme sports just to experience hallucinations. I thought those scenes were really well done in the movie. They even added the benefit of Edward being on screen instead of Bella just hearing his voice.
The scene with Jessica after the movies... they did it really well. Reading the book this time around really didn't do it justice just cuz I'm so used to Anna Kendrick ranting about why zombie movies are lame. And also her saying about the biker dudes "well, they look great, can we go now?"
But the whole cliff-diving thing... it's a bit much... and of course it doesn't look good no matter whose perspective you come from: Alice's visions or her relaying to this other people... I could never do that. And I can see it up to a point... up until Bella is drowning and she gives up fighting because it's a peaceful way to go. I just hate all the criticism over her, saying how she was suicidal or she wanted to kill herself because her boyfriend left her... Shailene Woodley who later played Tris in the Divergent series was one of those critics. And I think all those people are overgeneralizing the situation.
I think the criticism that annoys me the most is that Bella is uninteresting because she's introverted and really doesn't have any hobbies aside from reading... why do all protagonists have to be extroverts? Introverts like me need some representation in fiction. Not to mention she's brunete with brown eyes and I am as well. Still think I should have auditioned for that role and I'd have done it better. But the script isn't always perfect.
Final Comments
In the movie, she tells Jacob she loves him, but "it's always been him" meaning Edward. SHE DOES NOT TELL HIM SHE LOVES HIM IN NEW MOON. In Eclipse, maybe... I'll have to read the book again.
The whole break-up scene with Jacob where she says something about him breaking up with her... dude, YOU WERE NEVER TOGETHER... the script is just completely wrong for that scene. Sure, she doesn't want to lose his friendship, but everything that alludes to anything beyond that... there's nothing like that in this part of the story.
This franchise also doesn't get a lot credit for being diverse. I mean, reading the book I never imagined Eric being Asian and Tyler being black. But they had a really diverse cast for the humans. As for the werewolves, because they're Quilette Indians in the books, Stephenie Meyer insisted all of the werewolf actors have Native American roots. More credit that's due, especially in a time where there's a lot of talk about adding diversity to the entertainment industry.
I will say the Volturi were well cast. Michael Sheen was so good as Aro. Very enthusiastic, but equally sinster at the same time. Dakota Fanning is creepy as Jane, like she was born to play that role.
I've always loved Alice, but I feel like she's really become my favorite character in these movies. I'd love to have her as my best friend. Even if she does a lot of things over to top...
Bella complaining about turning 18, worrying about gray hairs, that was pretty funny. The book needed more light moments like that. And of course Jacob doesn't show up at her school on her birthday... but I get why they did it for the movie, to satisfy the fan base, and it does work really well in the context of the story.
I guess it was kinda nice to give Harry Clearater more screen time in the movie because he does pass away and it'd be nice to get to know him so we can care that he dies.
The rendering of the werewolves, it still makes my jaw drop seeing them on screen. If there were no vampires in this movie/series, I'd totally run with those werewolves :P
I'm sure there are more things, but I'll add them later when I remember them. I just really wanted to finish this up before going to the movies again later today...
And I didn't want to keep on going in this state of mind either... it doesn't feel good... again, not criticizing the material itself. But I just wanted to give it more of a chance than everyone else seems to. Like it or not, it is part of the story. And ultimately how Jacob fits into things... he does annoy me every now and then, but he has a lot of good qualities and moments to.
Funny thing is that Jacob is one of my favorite names. My first crush was named Jacob. So you'd think he'd totally be my guy in this franchise. Unfortunately, we all met Edward first. And as much as I think I might switch sides, especailly with the whole Christian Grey thing... that's something that's not going to chance.
#TeamEdward4Life
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Writers: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay), Stephenie Meyer (based on her novel)
Composer: Carter Burwell (he also did the music for the Colin Farrell movie "In Bruges"... one of those rare movies where Colin Farrell isn't hiding his native Irish accent to sound American for a specific role)
Cast:
Bella Swan- Kristen Stewart
Edward Cullen- Robert Pattinson
Jacob Black- Taylor Lautner
Carlisle Cullen- Peter Facinelli
Chef Charlie Swan- Billy Burke
Billy Black- Gil Birmingham
Mike Newton- Michael Welch
Jessica Stanley- Anna Kendrick
Eric- Justin Chon
Angela Webber- Christian Serratos
Tyler Crowley- Gregory Tyree Boyce
Alice Cullen- Ashley Green
Jasper Cullen- Jackson Rathbone
Emmett Cullen- Kellen Lutz
Rosalie Cullen- Nikki Reed
Esme Cullen- Elizabeth Reaser
Reneé Swan- Sarah Chalke
James- Cam Giganget
Victoria- Rachelle Lefevre
Laurent- Edi Gathegi
Write-up:
It should be noted... I am such a nerd about this series that I barely had to look at the credits to remember the names of everyone in the cast. At least everyone notable of mentioning.
First thing things first, I am a Twi-hard. I love this series. The books a lot more than the movies, of course. But of all the YA books series I got into after Harry Potter got me excited about reading fiction (no joke, when we had library as a class in elementary school, I borrowed more non-fiction than fiction because I didn't get into a lot of fiction books... I started reading Harry Potter in 2002 shortly before the movie came out and I was 16... that should give you some idea).
I remember reading an article about Twilight in the paper back in 2007 and it said that it was putting a twist on horror movie monsters. The story was about a teenage girl who had a boyfriend who was a vampire and her best friend was a werewolf. My memory is fuzzy, but I think it was something I had in the back of my mind and I remembered I wanted to read it when I saw the book when I went to Target in the spring of 2008 when I was home from college. I remember when I first started reading it and it sucked me in and I'd loved it since. (And yes, I realize there was an easy pun there... I didn't mean it as a pun, that's actually true).
And I remember when they first showed the trailer for this and I knew immediately what it was and I was floored to see these characters on my TV and they're going to be in a movie.
It was such a big deal that when our animé club in college suggested a trip for us to do a midnight showing the night it premiered... normally I'd see these movies with my mom, but I had to jump at this chance because it was a big deal. And it was my chance to be part of a phenomenon. When certain characters appeared on the screen for the first time, the crowd cheered for them. It was absolutely crazy and I loved every minute of it. And of course I didn't mind going to see this at the movies a second time. The only other time I saw a movie in theaters twice... the first Harry Potter movie...
I'm not just doing this entry now because the movie came out 10 years ago this year... it's been a long time since I'd read through this series and saw the movies and I thought it was time to revisit this world.
I can't remember the last time I read the book. But obviously it's the most of any of the series. Heck, my paperback is pretty beat-up. I had to tape the spine because it was starting to rip. I'm pretty sure I hadn't read it more than 10 times. But it's been so much that I can anticipate some lines before they come up. My eyes will sometimes scroll further down and see some lines before I get there. Which is a sign I've read something too much... it happened a few times with my favorite Animorphs books (the only fictional series I really got into before Harry Potter and Twiilght happened).
It was also interesting because I'm interpreting some stuff differently than I had before. Some of it had to do with being older and more time passing. But also reading the gender-swapped version called "Life & Death"... a lot of it was identical, but the differences were interesting to take into account. Notably, the ending... and it really made me think harder about the choice at the crux of this story. I'd always been VERY Team Edward. Not to the point where I would start a cat fight with someone else who was Team Jacob. But to the point where I am very angry with Jacob when I read the books in those scenes where he's very anti-Edward. But I'll go more into that with the later books/movies... there's a lot more on that.
And after going through all three 50 Shades books and movies, which were originally Twilight fanfiction... it's hard not to see some of that coming on. Like in those instances where Edward is clearly stalking, the red flags are going off in my mind. That didn't happen before. But that may also because I'm a bit older now and I'm seeing the difference. Not that I'd personally experienced any of that myself... I'm not more experienced in that particular realm than I was 10 years ago.
I will say, though, that the reason I relate so strongly to these books... I am Bella. Not the point where I hate birthdays or that we have similar family backgrounds or vocabularies, but I read the words on the page and I related immediately. I'd react to these situations the same way she would. So naturally the fact she's constantly criticizied for being an inactive protagonist or being overly involved with her boyfriend... it's hard not to take offense to that. She's very flawed, but none of us are perfect either. And while I'm not a hopeless klutz (although my mom does have the klutz gene and I have my klutzy moments that are getting worse with age), I am as much an introvert as she is and I find that refreshing to have in a protagonist.
I'll also add: as good as Kristen Stewart is as Bella in certain aspects of the character, I'm still convinced to this day I could have done a better job and I have zero acting expereince. Heck, I took three semesters of drama and never received a call-back for anything I ever auditioned for in high school...can't say I didn't try! Admittedly, I am bitter to this day that I was never cast in anything I tried for and the same kids always got cast in our productions. Despite all that, I could have been better. CinemaSins on YouTube, I think even kept a tally going of how many times she took in breath or gasped or stuttered before saying a line. You can chalk some of it to Edward being very disarming to be around and what teenage girl is able to talk intelligibly to the guy she finds attractive... but after a point, I admit its too much.
Really, the biggest flaws about these movies is how Bella is portrayed. Read the books and you see she can be funny, she can take charge of situations... because she was often the parent in the situation between her and her mom, she takes care of chores AND she cooks a lot. The movies never showed her cook-- there was one time in all of the movies... more on that later. A lot of Kristen's performance is one note and it goes between two extremes... either there's not a lot of humor or expression involved or she's stuttering through her dialogue where it's cringe-worthy. Given the right role, I really like her a lot and I'd seen her plenty of times after these movies.
On the other hand, when I first saw the movie, I was really surprised with her in this role and how much I thought she worked within it. But as time went on and I read the books more, I really imprinted on the material to the point I feel like I'd be better suited for it. At least I'd love the opportunity- even if I'm twice the age of the character by this point. (I'm still getting carded when I order drinks in restaurants- that should count for something, right?)
I make this comment because as happy as I was that the actor playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter (and I actually cried my eyes out in the theater when he got killed... wouldn't be the first time for this actor), I didn't like Robert Pattinson as Edward. I'm still not 100% sold on it... I'm maybe 80% sold at best. I hate the fact he's British and he has to do an American accent for this role. I mean, Edward is technically from Chicago originally, but still... Robert Pattinson doing an American accent doesn't do it for me. In fact, there are very few Brits that can sell me on their American accents... the one exception might be Andrew Garfield in "Hacksaw Ridge"...
This is a stupid issue to have with the movies, but I can't help it... I hate that they're not direct adaptations from the book. For the sake of making a movie, they had to include other scenes with the nomad vampires to foreshadow their arrival later in the movie... but in the book, there was no hint of them until later on, a chapter before they arrive. I get that Stephenie Meyer wrote the book from a dream and Chapter 13 was the dream and she wrote it to the end before working backwards. A lot of people might not think it works in a movie-- just suddenly introducing the bad guys towards the end. But as much as there's some cringe-worthy stuff, I'd rather spend more time with Bella and Edward than foreshadowing and backstory stuff not from the book.
I will forgive them introducing Jacob when they did because he has his own fanbase and they had introduce him early to incite interest. And it really does work.
Probably the one thing I really hated about the adaptation process... the biology lab chapter "Blood Type" was completely scrapped and changed to a field trip. I can see why they did it. Bella almost got killed in a car accident that Edward saved her from, so adding on a scene where she faints in Biology when they're doing blood typing would be making her seem like a real wimp... but that is my favorite chapter in the whole book. I am not joking! It's a fun chapter I always look forward to reading. She's faint and Mike volunteers to take her to the nurse's office and Edward interprets her on the way there, because of course he does. But there's a lot of humor in that chapter. I have fun reading it. He says something like "I thought Newton was dragging your corpse to bury in the woods and that I'd have to avenge your death"... it's dry dark humor, but it's funny. And I miss it.
Also-- there's all this "build-up" to Bella finding out Edward is a vampire. Jacob doesn't even say the words "werewolf" or "vampire" in the "Scary Story" scene in the movie. And then it all leads up to this scene from the trailers where Bella says "vampire" to Edward in the middle of the woods. All of us watching the movies know where the hell it's going, so why not just say the words and stop teasing us with them?
I agree there's only so much you can do with this source material. It could be the best written script in the world and have the best actors for the roles and it could still be miscontrused by people who make it all out to be a big joke.
I know it's not perfect, but it's hard for me not to take offense to people making fun of Twilight and Bella in particular. Kinda like the people who give Taylor Swift a hard time. These people are a mirror of how I see myself and to criticize them feels like a personal attack on me even though these people don't even know me and I don't know them.
Ok... I think I've done enough negativity and to focus on the positives.
Everyone else in the cast is great, perfect in their roles. Heck, some didn't register the same way in the books and their portrayal in the movies made me look at them in a way that informed the rest of my reading of the books.
Billy Burke as Charlie. He didn't look anything like I pictured him to be and he's so much better. He's the typical dad dealing with a teenager daughter and he has that awkwardness about it. But he also has subtle dry sense of humor. As I understand it, he also gained his own fanbase out of the movies.
Ashley Greene as Alice... I always loved Alice, but I loved her even more after seeing her in the movies. She really embraced that character.
Anna Kendrick as Jessica... this movie introduced a lot of us to Anna Kendrick. And I followed to her so many movies after this. Heck, she's the only one associated with these movies that got an Oscar buzz. I didn't think too much of Jessica reading the books. Not that I hated her, but Bella spoke about her like she was a girl who craved the attention of being in her company than her actual company. Anna Kendrick playing her was a perfect fit and it's hard to separate the two a lot of the time.
It was also interesting after the fact seeing Mike in "Joan of Arcadia"... a completely different character than he is in these movies. And it was nice to have that sense of familarity. (Although I already knew Amber Tamblyn from the Sisterhood of the Pants and the actor who played her boyfriend Adam from that movie Fanboys).
All of the Cullens were cast really well to where it felt like these character had come to life right off the page. And that's really made these movies so fun to watch. Even if some of the source material got skewered in the process.
The soundtrack is full of a lot of indie artists I don't really know. I'd heard of Muse and Paramore and Linkin Park, but not many of the others. Stephenie Meyer knew a lot of indie bands and had their music throughout the movies. And they were also part of her personal soundtrack of music she was listening to while writing the books. (Admittedly, I didn't get the soundtrack until maybe 2012... and it was because the songs showed up in Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance... Colton Dixon did that Paramore song "Decode" on American Idol and it was when I first really took notice of him and followed him to a couple of his albums. "Eyes on Fire" was danced to on SYTYCD and Kayla and Kupono nailed the vampire personas- I was annoyed when Nigel Lythgoe mentioned Twilight and True Blood in the same breath... both series were big at that time, but that song was from Twilight ALONE and True Blood is completely different-- it's a lot more violent and sexual for starters, which is why I couldn't get into watching it like my family did. I think the trigger was when they used it on Dancing with the Stars and their cast of singers ruined the song... that's the one thing I really didn't like about Dancing with the Stars. Aside from them never using any actual stars, and they're still going despite being out of legit celebrities, I hated how they had their own singers instead of actually using the songs from the recordings... unless it's the actual singers, it never sounds good to me to have cover artists).
As much as she has a lot of fans, there are so many haters who criticized and ripped her apart for being "a bad writer" that she can't maintain any sort of social media presence. Nothing's more than E.L. James being more or less bullied off of Twitter when she tried to do a Q&A session about 50 Shades and nearly all of the comments she received were criticizing her material. Criticism that is deserved to a point, but it's a really sad situation when so many people are on the attack to where there's no way they can get answers to their questions. At least not the answers they want to hear. But I'd love to write Stephenie one of these days and say how much I loved these movies and books. Moreso the books.
I actually attempted to rewrite the screenplay a few years ago to make it more of a play by play of the book... but I got lost around the middle. It's not as easy as it looks. But I at least would have kept "Blood Type" in the script and have given Alice and Emmett... even Jasper more screen time. They add a little more to the scenes they're in within the book and it gives another great point of focus to expand on situations. Like Jasper controlling the mood when he and Alice are trying to keep Bella safe in Phoenix and Bella trying to fight against that. Or Emmett and Alice both trying to convince Edward to think through the situation when they're trying to get away from James.
One final positive: Carter Burwell is really good at composing. When I recognized that main piano piece as Bella's Lullaby... it was another of those mind-blowing book-come-to-life situations. I can play it to a point, but not as well as he did.
I could do a play by play of the whole movie and the book with all of my likes, dislikes, nods of approval and so on... but I think I got most of it done here. I don't need to write 500 pages on that on its own :P
I will say it was interesting to read the book again and getting more of a handle on Edward's perspective. Why he reacted so badly to Bella when they first met. How she was perfectly made to be his kryponite- him not being able to read her mind, the fact her smell sings to him stronger than anyone else's, and how there were a few times where he almost killed her because the temptation was too much.
Stephenie Meyer actually posted part of her manuscript to "Midnight Sun"- Twilight from Edward's perspective online... a choice she ultimately made because some jerk had to leak her manuscript and is singlehandedly responsible for the fact she vowed never to release it in full in any form... haters just had to ruin it for everyone who gave a damn... I downloaded what she put online, but I have actually yet to read it. I keep meaning to, but just keep putting it off. Maybe someday.
And I'll admit I was annoyed she published Life & Death instead... and another movie called Midnight Sun (based off an unrelated book) got released... That book is most identical and it's a little weird dealing with some of these characters with different genders. But like I said, it was enlightening to get this other version of it and see these characters in a different light. And also that ending...
And after seeing the movie, I'm starting to wonder if I'm still as Team Edward as I used to be. If there's potential for me to convert to being Team Jacob... or will I get to a point in the literature or the movies where I just revert back and I wind up hating Jacob again and I stay Team Edward for the rest of my life.
But it is oddly to a point where I'm thinking to myself... maybe she is rushing to spend all of her eternity with him.
Anyway... there'll be more of this to come. I'll try to do one book at a time, then watch the movie and do my write-up... just as I did with the Harry Potter series. Except this time... it's a little more personal.
Director: David Yates
Writers: J.K. Rowling (novel), Steve Kloves (screenplay)Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Cast:
[returning cast]
Harry Potter- Daniel Radcliffe
Ron Weasley- Rupert Grint
Hermione Granger- Emma Watson
Draco Malfoy- Tom Felton
Professor Snape- Alan Rickman (RIP 2016)
Bellatrix Lestrange- Helena Bonham Carter
Narcissa Malfoy- Helen McCrory
Voldemort- Ralph Fiennes
Ollivander- John Hurt (RIP 2017)
Luna Lovegood- Evanna Lynch
Matthew Lewis- Neville Longbottom
Albus Dumbledore- Michael Gambon
Professor McGonagall- Maggie Smith
[newcomers]
Aberforth Dumbledore- Ciarán Hinds
Helena Ravenclaw- Kelly Macdonald
Again... so many actors... I hope I got all of the most notable characters in this movie.
Oscar Nominations:
Best Make-Up
Best Visual Effects
Best Art Direction
Write-up:
The Start of an Unfortunate Trend
Well, finally coming to the end of all these movies... it's been a long time coming.
I mentioned in my post on the last part that I'd only read through the book maybe three times ever... and my mom refuses to watch the first part unless there's a promise to watch this movie in the immediate future, whether it's within a week or the same day. (No joke- there was one time we watched the movies back to back with a brief intermission in the middle)
Although they could have easily turned the last Harry Potter book into one movie (nothing really happens for much of it...), it was ultimately good that they split this into two movies. It's conducive to the plot and the characters. Emphasizing how impossible it was to find the Horcruxes to destroy and ultimately beat the villain of the whole franchise, Voldemort.
Unfortunately, this kicked off a really annoying trend in Hollywood... splitting the final installment EVERY YA film series into two movies.
Breaking Dawn (Twilight) could have probably have been handled in one movie, but ultimately, it worked out that it was split into two movies.
But with the Hunger Games... bleck... I really liked the first two books in the series, but I didn't like Mockingjay at all. Part 1 was kinda like part 1 of the Deathly Hallows... very little happened... Katniss did propaganda videos and they rescued Peeta, but Peeta is now a mindless killing machine. At least things happened in the second part... but I just wasn't a fan. It could have been done in one movie easily...
And the whole Divergent series got hi-jacked, doing what was nothing short of a money grab that failed miserably. It got compared to The Hunger Games a lot when the two franchises are completely different and by this point, apparently there was a lot of "fatigue" involving YA adaptations. In other words, they tried to split the last book of a trilogy into two movies and the first movie did so badly in the box office that they never did a part two... then they were going to do it as a TV movie and all of the main actors said they weren't doing it... I don't know if it's still happening, but why bother without the main cast? No Shailene Woodley, no Theo James, not even Miles Tiller wants anything to do with it anymore.
I mean, the book was a really disappointing ending. Confusing and I died inside as I was reading it. So maybe that was all for the best....
At least 50 Shades Freed didn't get split into 2 movies... but I don't think anyone wanted any more of those movies than were necessary. (Although that technically wasn't an Young Adult book series... and neither is the Avengers series, Infinity War being the first of two parts).
Adaptation
Because I'd only read this book maybe three times, I can't say too much on how well it was adapted. But from what I remembered from the book, they nailed it.
one final SPOILER ALERT... if you read the books, you'd already know this, but so you're warned..
There was one part of the book that really confused me and seeing it on the big screen really helped explain it. There was this hunt for the Horcruxes, items where Voldemort stashed pieces of his soul. It goes back to the big question about the series ever since the prophecy was revealed in The Order of the Phoenix- "Neither can live while the other survives"... meaning Harry or Voldemort dies at the end of the series. And I thought for sure that Harry would live and things would be fine. But then Voldemort uses the Killing Curse on Harry and Harry dies... and then he's actually still alive. Reading the book in this part was so confusing: how could Harry get killed but still live...
Dumbledore more or less explained that Harry was the final Horcrux Voldemort never intended to make. Killing people rips away part of your soul, so when Voledmort killed Harry's parents, part of his soul was ripped from him and somehow attached itself to Harry. And the killing curse killed *it* instead of Harry himself.
That's about as out there as "of course, this is happening inside your head, Harry, but why should that mean it isn't real?"
Harry lives in the end, so there's nothing to really question. But it was pretty cool how they did that part of the movie.
As a film, it was really well paced. The first couple of times I watched it, the movie went so fast. The first part is getting another Horcrux, which happens to be the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange- explaining why she was extra mean in the previous movie when she thought that they had been in her vault. So they break into the Gringotts with the help of Griphook the Goblin... and of course stuff happens and it's not as easy as it seems at first.
But the bulk of the movie is spent in Hogwarts- as it should be- trying to find the final Horcruxes. And all the Death Eaters and Voldemort are there. It's a very intense situation, how much the school had changed since they moved in and Snape is the new Headmaster.
In fact, the pacing of the movie makes it feel like all of this is happening in real life. Particularly the scenes in Hogwarts- it feels like it's within a single night and that gives it a different feel than the movies before it. I can't quite put it into words, but it gives the movie a cool vibe I really like. Makes things seem more real and serious- as if they weren't already, taking everything into account.
Character Appreciation
Another thing I liked about this movie was that they show us more about our favorite characters that we hadn't gotten to see.
It wasn't in the book, but McGonagal does an epic spell to help protect the school from the impending invasion of the Death Eaters and almost bursting with pride, face all aglow, she says "I've always wanted to use that spell."
But there is one notable thing in this movie and the book in general... a point that has been often discussed and debated for the duration of the series. Whether or not we can trust Snape. My mom had said for years that he's being made out to be the bad guy, but he really isn't. I thought for sure the fact Snape killed Dumbledore and left the school with the Death Eaters at the end of the Half-Blood Prince was all the proof we needed.
Apparently, she was right this whole time... and I had to admit it.
Plain and simple: the story arc with Snape, his entire life and what ultimately happens to him... that was the biggest motivation for me to watch through the movies and read through the books again, almost as soon as the last movie came out. Not the fact that the whole thing was over and there was nothing left to do (except wait for the last Twilight movie, I think at that time)... I wanted to read through the books and see the movies again purely to watch Snape and reanalyze all of his actions with his motivations finally clear.
The short version: Snape was in love with Harry's mom and he knew her before they went to Hogwarts. And he hated Harry's dad because they ended up together and also because his dad and his friends bullied him all the time. He was working with Voldemort, a former Death Eater, but he turned spy for the Order of the Phoenix when he discovered the Potters were going to be killed. And in the memory of Harry's mom, Snape watched over Harry. Which wasn't the easiest thing because he saw too much of his father in him. But in the end, he was redeemed.
[I'm sorry, I know I said that was the short version... but I just couldn't manage that]
Probably the coolest part was learning that J.K. Rowling actually told Alan Rickman what was going to happen with his character and he acted accordingly. The fact he brought that much to the character... just wow...
On a smaller scale, it was kinda cool that Neville and Luna got to go above and beyond. I think J.K. Rowling also told Matthew Lewis that big things were in store for Neville. Luna has this reputation for being a little extraordinary, thinking in different ways and she says a lot of things that aren't taken completely seriously. Not only is she right about who to ask about the last Horcrux, but she demands that Harry listen to her and damn- does he take notice.
Also- Helena Ravenclaw, aka the Grey Lady aka daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of the Ravenclaw house... she's played by the actress who did the voice of Meirida in "Brave"... I just found that out and that blew my mind.
...I'm trying to think if there were any storylines within this movie that I missed before addressing something that wasn't done justice.
The movie ends with Harry and his friends sending their kids to Hogwarts. While I understand why the kids were named what they were... I just thought it was kinda lame. Harry naming two of his kids after his parents... Once Upon a Time did something similiar, where Snow White and Prince Charming named their second child after Neal, Emma's boyfriend who did something that ultimately saved Storybrooke (for the third time, I think, by that point)... and Zelena named her baby Robin after Robin Hood... give me a break :roll: the homage is nice, but it makes it seem like the writers really weren't that creative.
And Harry naming another after two Headmasters of Hogwarts... dude... if this wasn't Hogwarts and his dad wasn't The Boy Who Lived and defeated Voldemort, his kid would have gotten beat up so bad for having such a silly sounding name.
One thing I didn't like about the movie... there were a lot of casualities... that goes without saying... but all of the significant deaths of good guys in the movie were shown in a montage with really sad music on the top.
Fred Weasley dies and we briefly see that.
Lavender Brown, I think, was attacked by Fenrir Greyback.
Then there's Lupin and Tonks... I think I said this in a previous post... I do not get how they were a couple or why they were a couple. It did not make sense.
And there was a storyline in this book that was almost completely overlooked... Lupin and Tonks were having a baby and Lupin was very uneasy about it. It was at the point where he visited Harry, Ron and Hermione at Grimmauld Place and asked to come with them to find the Horcruxes and Harry told him he had to be with Tonks and (paraphrasing here) stop being such a wuss about it. He was nervous about it because he's a werewolf and he was afraid that gene would be passed forward.
Anyway, both of them are killed in the Battle of Hogwarts and Harry only mentions they had a son in passing, telling this to Lupin's ghost that came out of the Resurrection Stone- oh yeah, the stone was what was inside of the Golden Snitch Harry got from Dumbledore's Will. If anything is to be learned from the Harry Potter world, all of the legends are true. Including the legend of the Deathly Hallows.
I don't know why, but it just annoyed me how that storyline was never really addressed in the movie. Almost like the movie was meant to be a companion piece to the books rather than an adaptation of it... but it wasn't like they got everything right all the time. My posts have addressed this.
It's a minor detail... but another change in the movie... there's a scene where Harry goes into the Room of Requirement to find another Horcrux and he's found out by Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. And Crabbe triggers a curse that not only burns down the room, but leads to his death.
Well, because the actor that played Crabbe got in trouble because he caught smoking marijuana and he was fired from the movies, instead of recasting him, they just gave this role to Goyle. I know it's very minor, but it still kinda bugs me that they made that change.
Going back to the positives... it's nice that the Malfoys do get a little repreive. They aren't the nicest people, but Voldemort really put them through hell. And because Harry has the decency (Ron might call it idiocy, considering they almost died doing so) of saving Draco, Narcissa Malfoy lied to Voldemort about Harry being alive. And the Malfoys, once reunited, discretely sneak into the back before all hell breaks loose upon the discovery that Harry's still alive. Like with Snape, the audience was predisposed (hope I'm using that right) to dislike Draco Malfoy and Lucius Malfoy based on the actions they did in the movies. But with Narcissa Malfoy, we saw so little of her in the movies. The first time was in the Half-Blood Prince where she asks Snape to make the Unbreakable Vow to watch over Draco. And only a few things since then... but we see that even though her family is full of Death Eaters and she's one herself, she's a mom underneath all that and that's ultimately the motivation of her character. She couldn't have been any more different from her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange.
By the way, her death scene... maybe even more satisfying than Voldemort's death despite the fact we waited the whole series for it to happen... if anything, I found it anti-climatic.
And there wasn't even a celebration scene at the end of the movie... after EIGHT movies, I at least expected something like Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. There weren't even any fireworks.
There was also a moment in the book where Harry used the Elder Wand to repair his old wand with the Phoenix tailfeather that broke in Godric's Hollow... unless he did it offscreen...
I know these things are a bit out of order from the headings, but I'm making this up as I go... as I often do.
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And that's all of the Harry Potter movies...all that's left is to look forward to the next Fantastic Beasts movie... and based on the trailers, it looks like it's a lot of ground to cover.
