Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991)

I used to love this film, well, bits of it. And those bits I found I do still love! But my god, what a boring overly long film it is! Still better than Russell Crowe but nowhere near as good as the Disney version.
Christ! All these Americans! Ending with a wink to the camera?! Jesus! Self-righteous American tosh! And then, every twenty minutes or so you get this really quite different, darkly comic British pantomime, Alan Rickman arrives and you wake up and you find you're enjoying the film all of a sudden! He's camp but he's scary, he's funny but fucking weird! That bit when he talks to that kid "I had a very troubled childhood, I'll tell you about it sometime..." then he stops an seems to remember he's in the middle of being a professional sheriff, he's not, he's a fucking nutbar! And he plays it so well. You can bet your bottom dollar that it's because of his performance in this dreadful film that got him every other job he's ever had.
Sometimes I think it's a shame he got that Harry Potter job. Yes I'm in the minority that think he's completely miscast, but I really do think that comedy is where his talent really lies, that in Robin Hood and Galaxy Quest he is simply brilliant, and perhaps if he hadn't done Harry Potter he might have had better roles and made some better films! Who knows.
Tim Roth would have been a great Snape. He turned it down apparently. Imagine! Imagine if Tim Roth was Snape! Lily, James, Lupin and Sirius would have been better cast as well, they would have cast them around Roth! Cast them the right age! Had them all in their forties rather than their sixties! Ridiculous.

The Woman in Black (2012)

Celia and I had a tv day, we had a tub of celebrations and we had a whole load of other yums. We watched Something Wicked This Way Comes, a favourite of mine from way back, young Jonathan Pryce, you are super lovely and scary as fuck. We watched the first House of Cards and Celia fell in love with Urquhart just as I had, oh FU, you creepy calculating charmer! We also went and bought the Woman in Black and watched it. It was GREAT! YES, you heard me! I enjoyed it! I thought it was a good old fashioned make-you-jump Hammer horror film. when they relied on shadows and half seen things out the corner of your eye it was a hundred times scarier than anything graphic or gruesome! Daniel Radcliffe was best when he didn't speak, he's good at acting scared so he was good in the part. I also liked the dog and was glad it didn't get hurt! Fun times!

Intermission

Ok, I've been terrible, I have five plays to write about before I forget them completely. I will do it tonight. I'm off to London next week to see Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and then the week after that I'm in Edinburgh Fringing it up. Until later please enjoy these pictures of DanRads in The Woman in Black and Richard Armitage in North and South. or is it the other way around...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (2010)

Bill Nighy!! Guy Henry!! Rhys Ifans!! Dave Coaches!! Sophie Thompson!! The guy Harry turns into at the Ministry!! And that guy playing the lead snatcher who is doing an obvious impression of Russell Brand!!
Yes, it's Harry Potter time. So phone up some more British actors!
My sister's review of the new Potter film sings it's praises more clearly than I ever could: "It was the first one that didn't disappoint me."
Yes it was good. The new lot of supporting actors (see my list above) were good, the actors who are always there acted within their respective ranges and the actors who treat it as a children's film didn't feature heavily so they didn't fuck it up (Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall I'm talking about you).
Yes, DanRads, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were all good in this film, Emma in particular I found surprisingly good, she is usually the worst, but all she had to do in this film was look worried and she did it well- it's when she has to do unnatural things such as laughing and joking that she is dreadful, turns out pain and anguish is something she does quite well! Rupert is always good and DanRads was his usual.
I said it was good because the campier actors didn't feature heavily, there was only one Snape scene so Rickers wasn't there to camp it up like he usually does and I don't think Timothy Spall had any lines - he still managed to make me cringe though with an "amusing" noise as he was cursed by a house elf (the only real change from the book- and possibly for the best), while this is happening Hermione is being tortured and I just don't think it's appropriate to have a bit of comedy thrown in to lighten the mood, Timothy Spall has always done this with his character and it's always bothered me, Wormtail is not a comic role, he's the right hand man of a fucking evil psycho! Tim Spall is one of my favourite actors, best in comedic roles but very real in pathetic roles as well so why he chose to play the part like Barry from Auf Wiedersehen Pet is beyond me when actors around him are playing their parts so straight! (I tell a lie, Barry is much more realistic- and my favourite character)

Dobby and Kreacher were there, who knows where they've been all this time, not getting makeovers unfortunately, the animators are still shite. Kreacher is a better, a more convincing design for a CGI character because he doesn't have stupid cartoon eyes like Dobby but I never liked Dobby in the books either so I suppose he worked well too, sort of. Pointless cuteness in a film full of horror and holocaust references.

That's what was done well in the film. The feeling of everything being disgustingly wrong- especially at the ministry. And the isolation and paranoia with the trio camping in the woods losing their minds, I was waiting for Harry to snap and murder the other two. Good soundtrack and good camera work for those bits- also, not nearly as boring as in the book!!

So they changed Wormtail's death, maybe now he'll use that silver hand of his to kill his werewolf ex-buddy like we all asumed he would when JK Rowling wrote that in. Or maybe not. The only other major change was the exclusion of the Lupin/Tonks storyline but no big surprises there, they always cut those bits. I'm glad though, Lupin is the only character I had cast in my mind before the films, I like that no one but Paul McGann has acted out those parts in my head, David Thewlis is ok, but Lupin is such a well loved character that I don't think he lives up to anyone's expectations. But yeah, in general it was a really good adaptation.

Oh yeah, before I go... Why are Lucius and Draco Malfoy now being played by Mad Men's Don Draper and Pete Campbell?!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

We (all six of us) went to see HP6 yesterday afternoon, Anna and I are seeing it again tomorrow morning before the schools break up. The reason we have to see it again is because as well as being quite exhausted from the non-stop entertaining, dinner-making and day-tripping we've been doing this week while we had guests (not to mention me sleeping on "the brown" for four nights), the film was so damn exciting and full of "good bits" that I really don't think I took them all in in one viewing!!

Yes, those who know me (which I assume is all who read this blog) know that Harry Potter is high up on the list of Amy's interests, if she was to go on Mastermind then Harry Potter would probably be at least second choice for specialist subject- if not first. Harry Potter is my life. Harry Potter has been my life for ten years. Sure, I might also say that Drop the Dead Donkey is my life- and I frequently dream entirely new episodes and wake up convinced that they resurrected it, and I watched it. Anyway, every time I go on the internet I check (a)my emails, (b)the Jonathan Pryce Appreciation Society message board and (c)The Leaky Cauldron- ie Harry Potter News. So in short, I've been looking forward to this film for AGES.

And oh my god, everyone, almost EVERYONE has suddenly learned how to act!! Even Alan Rickman has learned how to act!! I was so happy! I say I'm a fan of Harry Potter, that doesn't mean I think the films are great- I do think they're great, but I think there's tons of things wrong with them; I can't stand Emma Watson's eyebrow-acting, I didn't like Daniel Radcliffe, I hate how everyone is cast around the mis-casting of Alan Rickman as the 60-year-old Snape, I don't like how certain characters and certain actors are given less screen time than everyone else, and I obviously hate the appalling CGI. BUT I love changes that have been made for the better plot-wise, I love certain kid-actors in them (Neville, Draco, Luna, etc.) I adore Michael Gambon's Dumbledore, I love most of the casting- the mad British ensemble, and I love the running commentaries that me and Kirandeep or me and Anna have developed over the years. The films are fun, but I don't expect good acting or good adaptations after all these years.

The Half-Blood Prince was obviously as good an adaptation as any other Potter film, nice little changes, and big ones!- burning down a significant building to get out of the fact they omitted certain characters that were extremely important to the final book's opening! No building- no wedding! Changing Ginny's character to adapt to Bonnie Wright's flat and uninspired performance, ho hum, it had to be done. She can't be feisty and passionate when the actress is so blah (This pains me to say btw, I've always liked Bonnie's face and was convinced that she'd be great as soon as they let her have some lines, turns out she's the worst and I desperately missed Neville and Luna who were practically cameos). The only thing I really missed from this one is that Uncy Morphin was omitted, he was comedy gold, surely?!

I'm too excited about seeing it again to even try and review this properly, so I'm concentrating on performances- the film as a story was jam-packed and the kids' romances were most entertaining, hilarious, excellent and heartwarming (Ron's and Hermione's anyway) the only criticism I have of the Half-Blood Prince was that when the HBP's identity was revealed I forgot I was supposed to care, because in the book it's all you want to know! Who is he? What is this mystery?! But in the film because so many other exciting things were happening I forgot I was supposed to be wondering who the Half-Blood Prince was. Could have done with a couple more scenes: one of Harry sprouting theories like "maybe it's my mum!" "maybe it's Voldemort!" "Maybe it's Sirius!" whoever, and later a scene of Hermione saying: "Yeah Snape's mum's maiden name," so that people don't leave the cinema thinking, "Snape is royalty!?"

I don't like Emma Watson in any of the film, over acting eyebrows spring to mind, so I wasn't expecting much, but I adored her!! I couldn't believe it! I had tears in my eyes! I felt so bad for Hermione! She was so cute and funny and not stuck-up or anything that Hermione usually is!! They gave her scenes where she wasn't up-herself and in control, she was normal and vulnerable and sad! I thought she was great! Much more like book-Hermione!

Rupert Grint was as usual great, my favourite line after the first viewing was when Harry asks what Ginny sees in Dean and Ron says as though it's obvious: "He's brilliant!" Not enough Luna, though good that they changed some things so she got more screen-time. Fuck-all Neville! Good comic relief though, they'll make sure he's great in the last film. Jessie Cave's Lav-lav was super cute, I loved her scenes but Cormac McClaggen was the fucking BOMB, that guy was brilliant, never before has quidditch been exciting or funny, but he was genius (so was Ron) on a broom, and genius in all his skin-crawling slimy scenes pursuing Hermione.

Draco, who has been my favourite since it began- best child actor, well, I was disappointed that he didn't get more lines, but at least he was there. At least he was always acting in the background, and when he did get to do some acting it was excellent. I didn't like it when he was crying, it made me sad, some girls in the front row laughed and I wanted to shout "Shut up!" it's a shame they didn't keep in Moaning Myrtle, didn't show enough of Draco's human side that he was always on his own crying. The boys playing young Mr Riddle were fab, both really creepy, the little one was scary and the middle-sized one was terrifying!

Now to Radcliffe. There's no doubt he has improved in every film, and no doubt that off-screen he is a charming (though intense and mad) young man, well, suddenly Harry was a charming young man. In fact, when Radcliffe does comedy he is at his best (which is a shame considering all the bad shit that happens to Harry) lots of scenes with Ron- and the scenes with Slughorn when Harry is "high" were fucking hilarious. He was much more Daniel Radcliffe than Harry Potter and I loved it. Luckily though Radcliffe is also good at "pain" and the action scenes were great.

Slughorn may look the complete opposite of his on-page description but it didn't matter, Jim Broadbent played Jim Broadbent as always and was just fine. Helen McCrory wasn't in it enough for me to care about how awful her hair was, Tonks and Remus were cute but not in it enough. As per usual it is down to Rickers to ruin the film with his dramatic pauses and inappropriate hamming.

Will update tomorrow. It was great, but especially if you know the book (and so understand everything they don't explain)- and if you don't know the book by now, why the hell are you going to see the film?!