Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 Review - Part 2

This post is a continuation of last week's post. If you didn't read it, please go here.

SO. I saw the film for a third time since I wrote Part One (the people running the mission trip decided to give us a break from the boiling hot sun & hard labor & sweat, so they took us to the only movie theater in the county where the water bottles cost like seven dollars) and this time it was in 3D.

Now, I should start off by saying that I don't like 3D movies in general. The 3D-ness always seems to pull me away from the movie itself, because there are certain bits that are more noticeably 3D than others. This was exactly the problem that I had with the 3D version of Harry Potter - it just takes away from the *escaping* aspect of watching the movie. There were also green-screen effect bits that seemed to be much more obvious because of the way the 3D had been shot. Also, those glasses are annoying, especially when you have to put them over actual glasses. 

Overall, the 3D was pretty well-done, but I liked the 2D version better.

Moving on with the actual review.... I left off in Gringotts. The escape scene was cool (great music!) and I loved the shots of the expressions on the goblins' faces as the dragon crashed straight through the lobby. The thing with the chandelier shaking right before all hell breaks loose - what a classic Harry Potter scene! That scene gets an A+ :)


The flash-vision Voldemort/Horcruxes bit while Harry was in the water - that was nice put together. It gave all of the necessary information without over-explaining things. It was weird how after they jumped in the water and swam to shore, they felt the need to walk all the way up the hill before they started changing clothes. That whole scene was so awkward! Shirtless!Rupert was a nice treat, but he and Dan spent ages struggling with those sweaters, and it was awkward how Hermione didn't put on dry clothes. I realize that nudity isn't allowed in PG-13 movies, but she could have at least put on a dry jumper or something. OR they could have just used that Air-dry charm that Dumbledore does to dry off Harry's clothes in the sixth book.  










The Caterwauling Charm when they Apparate into Hogsmeade was well-done. I liked the way Aberforth was first introduced - you could hardly see him there in the doorway - and then you find out who he is, and he goes into his "don't trust Albus" rant. It kind of bothered me how resiliently trustful of Dumbledore Harry seemed throughout both movies. He has serious doubt in the book, but I guess they just didn't have time to insert the entire subplot into the movie. Still, there was a short time on July 21, 2007 when I think every Harry Potter fan doubted his or her own trust in Albus Dumbledore, and that feeling just wasn't replicated on screen.

They didn't go into as much detail with the Dumbledores' story as I would have liked, but Ariana's portrait was nicely done. Then... NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM! This is the part when the movie starts being amazing: the moment Matthew Lewis walks on screen. HE'S MY HERO. I love how he leads them up to the Room of Requirement, says a little something, and then just steps aside with a smug look on his face to reveal Harry Potter. Lightning has struck! I repeat, lightning has struck! That line made me laugh.


I'm SO SORRY I couldn't finish this review in two parts, because I have to hop on a plane soon. This will automatically post tomorrow, and then I'm not sure if I'll be able to write a post next week, but I'll definitely finish my review when I get back. 


Love,
Virgil

I'M BACK! DID YOU MISS ME?

I'M BACK I'M BACK I'M BACK!!! OH MY GOODNESS, I'M SO HAPPY, I'M BACK!!!! *kisses the computer* YES!!!!!!!! LYNDA IS BACK IN THE LAND OF TECHNOLOGY! WOOHOO!


*cough*


ah, yes....


Anyways, so, I've been gone for about...2 and a half weeks? idk. MISSED ME? CUZ I SURE AS HECK MISSED Y'ALL!!!


Speaking of missing:


MOMO IS BACK! SHE'S BACK FROM GERMANLAND!!! WELCOME BACK TO THE LAND OF THE CURLY FRIES!


AND THAAAAAAAAANKKKKK YOU FOR MY LOVELY PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Please excuse me while I go and squeal....


Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


They're soooooooooo sparkly!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEM!!!!


And...nomnomnomnom...if  when I gain 10  20 pounds from these DELICIOUS foodstuffs....I blame you :) Thassokay, cuz I love you anyways :)


In other news:


I'm currently more than halfway through my APUSH textbook. I anticipate that by the next time I post, I shall be done with it. And perhaps halfway through Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. *sigh* I'm lurnin' in the summer....


My edification is glorious.


Also in other news:


Today I read the name "Colonel Robert Gould Shaw" in chapter 24 (or was it 25?) of the APUSH textbook. For those of you don't know, Colonel Shaw and I, *cough* we have some history between us. (read: I LOVED YOU, COLONEL SHAW!!! WHY DID YOU DIE???? WHY????) So naturally, I started freaking out. Picture me, sitting in a laboratory, and hyperventilating. Now add in a couple of staring people... *sigh* Now my dad's lab thinks I'm more deranged than before....(that time I started sobbing from seeing a HPDH Part 2 video)


OTHER NEWS:


OH MY GOODNESS I SAW THE LAST HARRY POTTER MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!


SKDGJHADLKSJHFGLHWESLITUH aeskltHGLSGDRHLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


OHHHHHH, how I CRIED....SNAPE! He was...he was... *sob* holding *wail* her *weep* in *cry* his *sniffle* armmmmmmmmsssss!!!! *WAIL SOB WAIL WEEP WAILLLLLL*




That was emotional.


Anyways, hope this made your night a bit nicer!


Until next time,
Lynda

Woof. I am a potato.

Hai! Today was incredibly eventful. :)

My daddy came to visit me at my grandparents' house and we went to our legendary mall from when I was little. That was a lot of fun. I think Father-Daughter bonding time is the best. :3 Then, after that I went to Sonic for the first time!!!! It was amazing. That was the best cheeseburger I have ever digested. :)

After that we came home and then went next door to visit the neighbor's family who was up from Florida. And ended up staying for 3 hours. :P My grandma had to come and bring us home. Teehee.

It rained a lot today. AND LAST NIGHT WAS THE FIRST NIGHT THAT I ACTUALLY GOT 12 HOURS OF SLEEP!!!!! :D I'm soooo happpyyyy. I haven't been able to sleep in allllll summer. It was horrible. D: But then I did, and it was amazing!

okay. bai!
DFTBA!♥

Smiles, hugs, and lots of love,
Carrie

aggggh I nearly forgot to post

So how's life? Lovely, I hope.

(Today's post is going to be rather short and rambly, because I didn't plan it in the least.) 

I volunteered today in the children's garden of the Curly Fries' botanical garden as per usual, and it was pretty fun. I got to spend most of the time indoors in the blessed AC dumping soil into flowerpots (apparently it's for tomorrow's "fairy workshop," which I think involves small children [mostly girls] dressed in fairy-like costumes and planting cute little plants in the pots I worked so hard to fill up), and although that was a rather messy task, it was indoors, which basically makes up for everything. Today wasn't as hot as yesterday, but the sun was still rather terrible. It did rain, though, so at the moment it's quite cool (and humid) out. :)


Um. And then I started on a Phantom-Tollbooth-inspired bit of art that I haven't started coloring yet, though I will sometime soon.


Speaking of art, THIS is my entry for the Splashlife/HP Alliance Imagine Better art contest (it has my real-life first name it it, gasp). I guess voting on it opens tomorrow (?), and so if you want me to win lots of money (why would you? :|a), please go vote or like it or something. I dunno.


Okay, that's all for today.


xiy

Nothing Really...

Only 3 more days until I come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a little sad to be leaving [especially since I'll miss the last week of school (a.k.a. field trips)] and probably won't see my friends here again, but I'm also excited to come home.

When I get back, Virgil is leaving for Scotland (which stinks for me) and we're going to have breakfast together. Does anyone else want to come? It'll be early, so I think we can assume House won't come. :P

I also bought all of y'all presents, so we have to gather at some point so I can give thems to you. 

How's the whether over there? It's still rainy and cold here. Blech.

Guess what we did in school today? In first period we did these number puzzles that are sort of like soduku (sudoko? soduku? sudidhfivbu ofhbuig) and are really fun. Then we had some 11th graders talk to us about trash (which was definitely not as exciting) and I ended up making a mosaic with my dried up white out. Then we had two periods of art and I arted a pretty picture. Then we had the option of watching people crash cars or watching Harry Potter. I chose Harry Potter. And then we went home.

I wish school was always like that. 

I am going to go read now!! BYE.

moMo

bfruig bruigrhbgvijgb vfjvifbrigvböcv aöipüä+ß i0 gr7t9p qob jcmf

OMG! Also, there is this boy in my class, Tobi, and he was humming songs from AVPM and I was like "OHMYGOSHILOVEYOUDOYOUWANTTOMARRYME?!?!?!" and he was like "?" and then we were talking about how awesome AVPM is and I asked him if he'd seen AVPS and he hadn't and I told him that he just had to watch it and now he will. I changed a life.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 Review - Part 1

I didn't have time to write a full review, so I'm splitting it into parts. 

;) 

I'm going to talk about the soundtrack first, since I listened to it before seeing the film (it was released two days previously).

It was phenomenal. I was a bit worried because Desplat's score for Pt. 1 received merely an Exceeds Expectations from me, but this score was much better. Naturally, it's tough to fill the shoes of great wizards like John Williams, Patrick Doyle, and Nicholas Hooper. There were quite a few parts of the movie that were completely silent, and I think they were well-chosen, although I wish there had been some music during the conversion with Ollivander, because the absence of any music at all made it seem rather dry to those of us who already know the information.

More specifically - I think that Desplat's strong suite is in huge, epic battle-songs rather than the subtle romantic stuff of Hooper fame. Tracks like "Dragon Flight" and "Broomsticks and Fire" and "Showdown" were much more musically impressive than the slow background music during less violent scenes. I didn’t like the over-usage of that female vocalist – the theme with that vocal at the beginning (“Lily’s Theme”) was really good for a start, and I understand that he wanted to re-introduce it when Sev/Lily cropped up, but I just don’t like solo vocals in movie scores.

The music in the Epilogue was its only redeeming factor. I think they took it straight from the John Williams score of the first movie. What a great way to bring the series full circle.

The opening shots were good choices. A quick recap of the last scene from Part 1, but not too long as to seem like a “What you missed in the last episode of Harry Potter!” type feel. Then Snape’s regime at Hogwarts, then Dobby’s grave, and Shell Cottage! Already, the pace is going well. I was disappointed when a couple key scenes from Shell Cottage were left out, most importantly Dobby’s funeral, which was implied to have already happened seeing as the gravestone was already carved. The other scene that I wished were there, even though I understand why they saw fit to cut it, was the announcement of Teddy Lupin’s birth. I just wanted to see the look on Harry’s face when Lupin tells him that he’s the godfather.

Ollivander and Griphook were both good. They changed the things that Ollivander knew (in the book, he doesn’t know what the Deathly Hallows are, only the Elder Wand) but that wasn’t a big deal because the Hallows needed to be re-explained for those annoying people who don’t read the books. Warwick Davis was an excellent Griphook, just like before.

The moment when Hermione holds up Bellatrix’s hair and says “positive” – that really got to me. Remember that shot in Part 1 when the hair fell upon her freshly-carved arm? Then, of course, Helena Bonham Carter did a fantastic job showing Hermione’s mannerisms. The awkward high-heels walk was a nice touch. The dialogue when Travers points out that Bellatrix’s wand was stolen – it isn’t there. I think we’re meant to assume that the whispering goblins also knew this.

The idea of “the wandless” – beggars roaming the streets, no longer accepted in society – was completely glossed over! I think that part was very important in the book, because it showed how terrible Voldemort’s bigotry really was, and it reinforced a belief in why they should be fighting against him. The line that should have been in the film: “How did it offend you?” – spoken by Travers in the chapter “Gringotts” – because he’s referring to an injured beggar as “it.” 

The way they shot the Gringotts lobby at first kind of made me seasick, and the lighting made it all seem a bit surreal. Either I’m going crazy, or it looked different from the Gringotts in the first film. But then the roller-coaster cart ride was epic, epic filming and epic music, and the way they did the Thief’s Downfall was just how I had imagined it in the book! Oh, and that poor, poor dragon. The paleness and the scars and the chains and those wretched clankers! It was all illustrated so tragically.

And then the scene inside the vault – it was all quite good; although I don’t think they portrayed that the multiplying treasure was also scorching hot! Maybe they decided that the Golden Trio wouldn’t look attractive enough for battle when they were all covered in burns. 

Now I'm off to Harlan! I'll set this to post itself on Tuesday. See ya! 

<3

Virgil

(this is not lynda)

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond her control, Lynda is going to be (involuntarily) away from the Internet and thus this blog for an unspecified amount of time.

So I'm just here to tell you that Lynda told me to notify you guys; it's not her fault she hasn't been posting.

Now go back to doing whatever you've been doing with your summer. ♥