Day of Reckoning: Harry Potter Announcement

You see that picture above? That's a photograph from London of thousands of people camping out for the London premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. It premiered over there on July 7th (today!). I couldn't be there, so I am going to be doing the next best thing. If there's one thing I love more than Harry Potter, it's big, dumb elaborate stunts that test the very limits of my psyche. There is, perhaps, something incredibly appealing about the art of self destruction (this should be the title of the failed novel I attempt to write). It is with that mindset that I have decided to undertake what is, largely, an incredibly trying task. I am going to be watching all seven of the Harry Potter films back to back to back to back to back to back to back as a way to completely send one of my favorite series of all time out with a bang.

There'll Always Be A Few Things, Maybe Several Things, That Your Gonna Find Really Difficult To Forgive

Princess Mononoke (Miyazaki, 1997)

Well, I suppose it is about time that I get to Miyazaki's crown gem, or what I assume is his crown gem considering that Spirited Away is not nearly that great. Going into Princess Mononoke I had only the film's reputation to go on as I did not know anything of the film's plot. Of course as I gazed down at my Netflix sleeve to see that the run time was listed as two hours and fourteen minutes I found myself pretty worried that this film was going to be a bit too long for its own good, after all, the best Miyazaki films are the shorter ones. Oh yes, I was also pretty sure that I heard this film dealt with some environmentalism crap, and since I have made it my mission in life to personally see my own carbon footprint before I die I was pretty sure that any overtly environmentally friendly themes would end up pissing me off. But hey, I'm an open minded kind of guy, so bring on the Mononoke!

The first striking characteristic the film possesses, well aside from the visual aesthetic, is found in the form of the story. Now I do not use the word story in the sense that the word refers to plot, but rather I mean to say in the way the story is told. In many ways Princess Mononoke is a fairy tale, not unlike classic Disney films that focus on Princesses, albeit with much more characterization, as it possesses all the whimsy of a magical world existing in a mostly realistic setting. The world is really well established. The story is simple enough that it feels like it is being told instead of watched, a characteristic that is captured perfectly in the film, but I do not think designating Mononoke as a simple fairy tale completely does the film justice. In many ways Princess Mononoke feels more like a myth, lore passed down from generation to generation and being refined through each progressive telling of the tale. Now I'm sure I got this feeling because of the film's context, it does take place in historical Japan, I think, so the fact that it feels like a myth rather than a fairy tale is expected. However, what I found particularly fascinating was how it felt so culturally specific yet works so well for an audience member who is not a part of this culture. I think part of Miyazaki's ability is to craft and play with this universal magic without sacrificing the Japanese element of the film. In short, the way the story is presented is pretty wonderful.

Of course that is not to say that the film is all whimsy and child friendly. The content is rather mature, limbs fly all over the place and blood plays a hefty part in Mononoke, but it is all handled so gracefully. And there is that little environmental aspect, but the film handles it more as a reverence that is nicely disguised to work with the time instead of being something that hits the viewer over the head. Plus the film does not take the whole 'all technology is terrible' route either, so I can definitely appreciate that given the way Miyazaki openly says that both sides can coexist peacefully. The film works as an allegory alright, but as a straight up film it works as well. The opening sequence is riveting and really all of the action sequences are high energy filled thrill rides. On top of that the film mostly nails all of the sombre moments as well, so I am mostly confident when I say that the run time, despite being a little lengthy, is not a detriment to the film at all, though I did need to take a break during the run time for what that is worth. Actually though it is refreshing to see an animated film willing to stretch out the run to over two hours, as most great animated films I generally want to see more of, so having Mononoke take on a lengthier feel, which also enhances the mythological epic feeling, was a wise choice.

Speaking of animated films, all the technical aspects on display here are top notch. From character animation to the way scenes are drawn, the film is a visual power house. Obviously the imagination in the fantastic characters is going to stand out, Miyazaki has a way with designing these larger creatures that oozes originality, but the real strength is the way that he designs the worlds. The forests, the mountains, and the towns all have a believable beauty to them, not to mention that the traditionally drawn animals are incredible. However, to enhance these creatures, the ones that actually speak are voiced with an insane intensity that makes for numerous great voicing performances. Now I watched the film with subtitles so really all I could go on was how the lines were delivered, but even with this I found myself mostly swept away with the characters. A lot of effort apparently went into the dub as well, so I watched a few scenes with the American voice cast and I can mostly say that the quality of the voice acting there is at least on the level of the Japanese voices. The film, all around, sounds spectacular. Mix that with a brilliant score and the film records high marks in terms of technical quality as well.

So by now it should be pretty obvious that I loved my time with Princess Mononoke. The film is mature, complex, and pretty much a master piece. It avoids the pitfalls that plague some of Miyazaki's lesser works like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, and I would have to say that it rivals My Neighbor Totoro and possibly even Porco Rosso as the best Miyazaki film that I have seen. Okay, well maybe not Porco Rosso, but I certainly love it as much as Totoro. Any minor problems that I found with Princess Mononoke have quickly been forgotten in one night's time and I am left remembering all of the breath taking positives. On the whole, the film seems to capture what is great about animation, both Eastern and Western, and I think for that alone Princess Mononoke deserves to be championed as an artistic accomplishment. Truly one of the best films ever made.

A+ or 4.83748324623954163596159

Comments are welcome and, for anyone with a literary mind, I encourage checking out my poetry blog filled with all original works for your reading pleasure.

Also I am on the old Twitter thing so I guess you can follow me at twitter.com/FLYmeatwad.

Feel Like This Town's Gonna Put A Quick End To Me

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price (Yates, 2009)

I shall spare everyone an explanation of my elongated past with the Harry Potter franchise for the sanity of mind of every reader and shall instead offer this brief introduction. I really enjoy the franchise, the novels and the films, though the fifth film I felt was the only one to fall mostly flat in terms of just about everything, so I went into my viewing of The Half Blood Prince with a good bit of skepticism. Yates did not really impress me with the previous film and, it seemed to me, that he was not as capable of handling the franchise as many others had seemingly believed. Thankfully, things turned out differently and I really ended up enjoying my time with the newest Harry Potter film a fairly decent amount.

The first noticeable change, and I suppose it's not really the first but for the purposes of this article let's say that it is, comes in the form of the actors. While the franchise has always seemed to be cast near perfectly, and most of the core actors always showed flashes of brilliance, none of the elements ever seemed to come together quite like they do in this film. The main trio really handle the roles well and they are all given a chance to shine during the film, which is pretty damn impressive. I would have to say that Watson is likely the best of the three, but the difference is not incredibly enormous. Not surprisingly though, the supporting cast really compacts the talent and, ultimately, provide the best performances in the entire film. Felton makes the most of his limited screen time and turns in a great performance as Draco Malfoy, Rickman is great as Snape again, new addition Jim Broadbent is fantastic as Slughorn, and Helena Bonham Carter, who is once again stunningly attractive, provides easily the best performance in the film as she reprises her role as Bellatrix Lestrange. The acting one display in the film really is top notch.

Sadly, the acting cannot make up for the script's flaws. Suffering from the same problem as Watchmen, the film has so much material to cover in such a short time that we never get a chance to sit down and really know these characters. The whole thing is constantly driving toward the end. As a result many of the supporting characters have limited screen time and are unwillingly forced into generic category roles. The most noticeable victim is Lynch in the role of Luna Lovegood. Her only purpose in the entire film is to serve as comedic relief. This would not be a problem if it didn't effect the story, but when Ginny becomes a major love interest with little to no screen time or reasoning it really draws attention to the fact that the film's run time should have been expanded by about another hour at bare minimum.

Thankfully, the film is still mostly delightful to watch and a large reason for this comes from the direction and the cinematography. Yates has a way with shooting the out doors. Each scene that took place outside of a house or the castle was completely breathtaking and captured the world perfectly. The film possesses a quiet beauty at times that is juxtaposed nicely amidst the film's tone. Speaking of tone, the film mostly nails that aspect as well. Each scene has the mood established and enhanced perfectly, both through score and direction. As far as technical aspects go the film rarely, if ever, falters. At the start all the in door sequences feel really crammed and underwhelming, but even that is rectified as the film continues.

Once again, the major complain that I have is that the film is not nearly long enough to flesh out all of the ideas. While I feel that they left a good deal out of the novel that is not even really too big of a deal because the film is compelling on its own and has one Hell of a finale, but I am more referring to the underdeveloped ideas in film. Aside from the aforementioned romance between Harry and Ginny, the whole Half Blood Prince aspect is completely glossed over. What should be half of the plot's driving force and a source of intrigue and wonder throughout the film is under played and the book becomes so minimally used that Snape's reveal at the end comes off as unwarranted and ineffective. The film provides no reason for the audience to wonder who the Half Blood Prince was, so why even provide this cheap throw away explanation?

While my review implies that I had a ton of problems with the film, my only real major complaint is the script and how the narrative is handled. The film is serviceable enough as an adaptation, but as can likely be seen looking at the movie as an adaptation is not my goal and has not really changed my feelings one way or the other. The film likely is the best entry in the series and is probably the best summer blockbuster since Men in Black. In many ways the Half Blood Prince is everything that The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and countless other hyped up yet severely underwhelming films should be. The film is about as good as escapism can get and the technical prowess puts it a cut above most high profile films. Not a great film by any means, the damn script keeps that from happening, but really damn good and an excellent entry in the film series. Unlike coming out of the fifth film, I am incredibly excited for the next two installments in the franchise, especially since the elongated run time may allow Yates to rectify the story telling problems.

B+/A- or 4.0932189347214872318471208

Comments are welcome and, for anyone with a literary mind, I encourage checking out my poetry blog filled with all original works for your reading pleasure.

Also I am on the old Twitter thing so I guess you can follow me at twitter.com/FLYmeatwad.