Harry Potter and the Bucket of Popcorn
Posted on | November 27, 2005 at 12:54 pm | 7 Comments
As alluded to earlier, I went with the family to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Thanksgiving Day. I really liked it and I give it an Again! on my movie rating scale. I’m sure it was tremendously difficult to adapt such a huge book, but they wisely confined it to one movie instead of two (they considered splitting it at one point) and ditched some subplots that would’ve weighed it down, like Hermione’s quest to liberate the Hogwarts house elves. The downside of that is that Hermione (and Ron) didn’t get much to do in this installment. Pretty much every scene had to forward the main plot. So there weren’t a lot of classroom scenes, for example (I think I counted two). It felt like there was a lot less filler than some of the other movies, but it still would’ve been nice to have it slow down a bit for more character moments. They could’ve also explained some things a bit better, especially at the end, like the book did.
Stylistically, director Mike Newell pretty much continued on with what Alfonso Cuarón started with the last movie. Hogwarts looks good and whimsical, and there’s always something interesting going on in the background. The general tone is darker and scarier, with more dashes of something real being at stake. The actors are growing into their parts, but they’re growing a little too fast – Harry looks older than 14 to me. And Ron is sure getting tall.
The showing we went to was an early evening one at a local megaplex. Unfortunately, it was in one of the small auditoriums instead of the big ones. We got in the theater about 20 minutes before the movie started, but obviously that wasn’t early enough, as our group of 11 people had to spread out some. There was a long row in the back with only a few people in it, and those people were trying to reserve the whole row for their family/friends that hadn’t shown up yet. I didn’t see exactly what happened, but at some point a fight broke out up there, which seemed to involve yelling and the throwing of popcorn buckets and such. I believe it had something to do with latecomers objecting to the reserving of the seats (rightfully so, in my opinion). Several members of the theater staff had to come in and break things up. It all seemed to get resolved peacefully though, and they gave everyone a free re-admission pass. So it was essentially a free showing.
As I’ve repeatedly remarked in this blog, and in comments on other blogs, the drop in civility of theater patrons has really put me off attending first run flicks. Which is why I haven’t seen many theater movies lately. If there’s not a problem with the guests, then there’s some technical problem with the film or theater. With the movie-to-DVD window so short these days, it really doesn’t pay to see something in the theater unless you really can’t wait. Admittedly, my almost-4-year-old niece, though pretty well behaved, was not exactly non-disruptive at this showing, and I should shoulder some blame if she caused other moviegoers to not have an enjoyable experience. Four year olds really don’t have a lot of interest in watching a movie on the big screen, especially a 2.5 hour one with such a complicated plot. But I sympathize with the families who want to see it and can’t leave the little ones at home.
So, go see it on the big screen if you like (it is worth it), but be sure to be mindful of the other people in the theater. There is also something to be said for the communal movie-going experience. I did enjoy watching some of the younger children practically jump out of their seats during the scary scenes.
Latre.
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7 Responses to “Harry Potter and the Bucket of Popcorn”
November 28th, 2005 @ 11:02 am
I know this may sound amazing, but I can go the length of an entire movie without my feet touching the chair in front of me.
I must have special powers because I’ve never sat in front of anyone who also had this truly unique ability.
Anyhow, I don’t go to theaters since the “incident”.
November 28th, 2005 @ 11:39 am
I hear ya – I don’t think I’ve ever gotten through a movie where someone was sitting in back of me and didn’t kick the seat at least once or twice. And I never even let my foot touch the seat in front of me. At HP, I had to keep telling my 8-year old nephew to stop putting his feet on the seat in front of him (which luckily held his dad and not some non-relative).
Doug, you must tell us about the “incident”…
November 28th, 2005 @ 6:08 pm
Well, since you asked….
Years ago, my wife and I went to see one of the Batman movies. There was a small group of women sitting directly behind us. All during the pre-movie festivities, ads, previews, etc., this group was chattering away as if they were in their living room watching TV.
I figured I’d let them carry on until the movie started, assuming they clam up at that point. As you can imagine, they didn’t.
My first mistake was letting them blab as long as I did, because after about 45 minutes the stress built up and my anger finally could not be contained.
As you know, the Batman franchises are typically dark affairs, so you could imagine that when I finally did stand up and turn around to slap these bitches down, I couldn’t see a damn thing. As I yelled “WOULD YOU PEOPLE SHUT THE HELL UP!!!”, the screen lit up and provided enough ambient light for me to make out the frail, harmless forms of three of the nicest old ladies I’d ever laid my eyes upon.
Needless to say, none of us enjoyed much more of the film.
November 28th, 2005 @ 9:56 pm
Little old ladies? Heck, they deserved it. Just remember, they got the senior discount and you didn’t.
November 29th, 2005 @ 10:50 am
How young were “some of the younger children”, Rog? We’ve already advised B. that he cannot see this movie until he’s 8. He had pretty serious nightmares about the Lupin -> werewolf scene in HP3, and I just know (haven’t snuck out to see it yet) this pup’s all the scarier.
But you had an almost-4-year-old niece on premises. Hm. Was she supposed to be napping during the movie? Cause let me tell you, we took then-2-year-old B. to HP1 in the theatre, expecting nappage, and he sat straight up for 2.5 hours, then asked to see the “owl movie” again for months afterward.
November 29th, 2005 @ 11:32 am
We thought the almost-4-year old would nap, but she didn’t. Mostly she ate popcorn & candy, and wandered back and forth between her seat and her dad’s. I don’t think she was paying all that much attention to the movie, but she was definitely not scared or crying or anything.
We had a 5-year-old boy with the group, whom we thought would be scared. But he actually paid full attention, was a bit scared at some points, and really loved it when it was all over. A kid sitting next to me looked to be about 5 or 6 – he jumped out of his seat a few times, but looked like he was happy. My 8-yead-old nephew was just fine.
But of course I don’t know if any of these kids went home that night and had nightmares…
November 29th, 2005 @ 6:07 pm
I fondly remember Mr. B at HP1 – that was amusing! There are some scary parts…although I think 3 was probably scarier. (My theory on why HP4 got a PG-13 rather than a PG? “Damn” and “piss”: that’s all.) As I pointed out in my bloggo, though, there’s a bit more human peril – depending on how empathetic the young ones might be, that might get to them more than the scary.