Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows (Part 1)

Directed by: David Yates
Written by: Steve Kloves and R.K. Rowling
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Alan Rickman
Synopsis: With Voldemort rising to power, Harry, Ron, and Hermoine go searching for
the Horcruxes, artifcats infused with Voldemort's soul, in an attempt to finally stop him.

Javi-So what did you think of the movie?

Jonesy- This movie is the Potter’s fan dream! Since the filmmakers broke it up into two movies, they’re able to put so much detail, and spend the time to delve into scenes that they’ve never been able to do with any of the other movies. The books are so rich, full of story and characters, and situations that they have always had to cut out a lot of it. Even though I would love a five hour Harry Potter movie, most people aren’t willing to sit that long.

Javi- I agree there’s a lot of details that you couldn’t have done with any of the other movies, but because of the fact you haven’t been able to do that before, I feel there’s a lot of plotlines that were just mentioned almost too briefly. For example, there was Bill Weasley, who is one of Ron’s older brothers, who has never been introduced in the movies, and there is a lot of back-story to him in previous Harry Potter books. If they would have introduced him in a previous movie, that would have made his character more cohesive, but he was shoved in here very messily. I would almost forgive David Yates for that if it weren’t his 3^rd Harry Potter movie. But I do agree it’s better paced, and that allows for more character exploration.

Jonesy- I can understand what you mean with saying there’re random characters that seem thrown in.　 And in reading the 7^th book, there are a lot of people and ideas that get mentioned, and they seem to come out of nowhere. There are little hints here and there like the Invisibility Cloak, which we’ve seen throughout the series, but you never understand the weight of it until this the final movie. As an outsider, I can completely understand that the movie could be hard to follow,　which could be one of the downfalls of the movies.　
Javi- Some might argue that Doby the elf’s appearance in the movie is random. He just pops up in this movie after being absent for so long. I don’t agree, but I just don’t think that everyone watching this movie is a Harry Potter novice.　
 　
Jonesy- I will say that I give credit to the writer, Steve Kloves. He has worked with Rowling since the first movie to make sure that if someone just watches the movies, there will be a coherent story line and have the same catharsis at the end, but with the books, obviously, you would get more of the details.
Javi- With looking back at all of the movies, I start to get a bit frustrated with Harry Potter in general.　 I feel, to an extent, you’re always playing “Pokemon” in this world. You always have to catch that one magical artifact. Then I remember reading from a film site (sorry that I can’t remember which one) that said the reason most people, who aren’t the super, hardcore fans to the Harry Potter world, are drawn to both Prisoner of Azkaban and Half Blood Prince movies because of the great character moments that occur, and there’s not such a huge focus on a magical year-long quest that has to be completed by the end of the school year. This movie has an even balance of searching for the Horcruxes and character moments. Now, it had the potential to mess it all up and just focus on the quest of finding the Horcruxes, but it doesn’t, and I like it.　 The middle scenes where they’re running through the forest had the potential to suck. I’ll admit that I was bored through most of those camping scenes, which you have said is a common complaint, but I appreciated seeing the characters just interact with each other. It made it more endearing seeing their relationships/friendships grow. You get nostalgic thinking of them in the first movie and thinking of their development through the years. And I’m glad that they managed to get those scenes right even though they didn’t move the plot along as much.
　
Jonesy- I agree with the Pokemon statement because that’s the same problem I had with the first two books; they go to school, there’s a problem, they solve the problem, and defeat a form of Voldemort and then they go home. I agree that the middle parts of the movie can get a bit tedious, but I think that’s the point David Yates was going for; they’re fugitives on the run, and they have no time for awesome adventure each day. They might go weeks without knowing what to do or where they’re going. That sense of frustration is really well represented here. You get to see them in their highest points and their lowest points, and it made us care about them more than we did already.
　
Javi- I will say I don’t agree with your perception about them being fugitives because I never felt the weight of their situation. I remember the book gave me such a sense of paranoia, despair, and restlessness, and I didn’t feel that way during the movie.

Jonesy- The tone seemed more of being on the run than living in fear.

Javi- I didn’t feel they were in any danger. There was one scene with the Snatchers, but that was not enough to make me feel tense. I just didn’t get the feeling of their world being turned upside down and growing darker. I did enjoy the scenes where they had the radio that called out the name of the missing people during their cross-country trek, that was very artsy touch and I really appreciated it.　
Jonesy- There was a few characters that only had a few lines that I cannot wait to see in the next one, like Neville and the Carrow siblings, two of the Death Eaters that take over teaching jobs at Hogwarts. A lot of the characters that weren’t focused on in the first part will be amazing in the second.

Javi- I will say I wish they had shown something of Snape being the Headmaster just a little bit.

Jonesy- That would’ve been nice to flash to Hogwarts once or twice, but they wanted to keep him a bit mysterious

Javi- I will say I’m disappointed there was nothing that showed the conflict within Draco Malfoy in this one.　 If we’re separating the book and movie and if we think of how Malfoy was dealt with as a very conflicted guy in movie six, then it’s a shame that they chose to just show him hanging out with mommy and daddy. He needed more face time.　　

Jonesy- I’m so glad they showed Hermoine leaving her parents. It was talked about in the book in passing but not shown explicitly like that. It was brilliant.

Javi- It sets such a tragic tone from the beginning.
　　
Jonesy- I cannot say enough about this movie. I absolutely loved it, and I know I’m being totally biased being a fan of the books for so long. This is my favorite movie in the series, until, I’m sure, July comes around. Both parts together will make a great ending to the series.
　
Javi- My initial reaction was to be really annoyed with this movie. It wasn’t until I thought about it more that I was able to get over my frustrations with the middle parts and find the subtleties, so I ended up liking it better after thinking about it. Not sure how I would rank it with the others because I can only think of it as a part of a whole; otherwise, part one would be horrible.

Jonesy- Last note: they split the movie at a perfect point, and they left enough time to flesh out how it needs to, and the audience is just drooling and cannot wait for the next one. Go see it!
　





Best Worst Movie/Troll 2-He Said

Ever since I started to listen to the /filmcast podcast and reading up on movie sites, I discovered the lovely world of “good” bad movies. Jonesy and I have our favorites, Step Up 2 being the top one, but then there are others we’d never heard about until recently: The Room, Birdemic, and Troll 2. Thankfully, we have the amazing Inwood Theater, in Dallas, having their Midnight Madness showings, which has everything from cult classics, B-movies, and even oldies like Tim Burton’s Batman. We were treated to a special screening of Best Worst Movie hosted by our friends over at Gordon And The Whale with a Q&A following with George Hardy, the star of Troll 2. Best Worst Movie, directed by Troll 2 child star Michael Stephenson, is the story of the eventual cult following that the horrible Troll 2 managed to amass over its 20 years of existence.

　Hopefully Killers NEVER gets a cult following

Waiting for the screening, we were amazed at the sheer number of people waiting for Best Worst Movie; there were people chatting around us with weird T-shirts that had slogans we couldn’t understand…yet. Having been to a showing of another “good” bad movie, The Room, we expected some hardcore fans, and there were people dressed up in groups, taking pictures and having a grand old time.

Shot of the full lobby, where the line went all the way upstairs

I must say that Best Worst Movie is yet another example of how great documentaries can be. It starts of with George Hardy going off on his daily routines as dentist. Mr. Hardy is such a nice and charismatic man; he rarely frowns at all during the movie, and even if he is trying to put a positive spin on a subject, he doesn’t sound fake about it. The editing in the first part of the film was amazing as it set a funny, almost campy tone to the movie. As the movie continues, we see a bit of Michael Stephenson’s history as the over-acting child star. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t delve too much into his side of the story as much as George’s, which is a shame given how infamous they both became after the movie.

The movie continues as George slowly but surely figures out that Troll 2 has become a bit of a phenomenon, and completely flabbergasted, he goes on to seek out people that are holding Troll 2 screenings, and in the process, he becomes a minor celebrity in the B-movie circuit. As much as this is Troll 2 and George’s story, Stephenson tracks down and interviews many of his former cast mates, some who are doing well, while others, such as Margo Prey who played the mother, are just downright depressing.

The highlight of this bunch is Troll 2 director Claudio Fragasso, and much like Ed Wood and Tommy Wiseau, he is a man that has a vision, and he could give a crap whether someone likes his work of art. I find these types of people fascinating because they see the world in a different way that it’s almost sad how out of touch with reality they are, and yet they might border on genius (not this guy though). Logic seems to evade Claudio, and when George asks him about an issue he had about a particular scene, his response, “Logic doesn’t matter!”

Overall, this movie was so good that I felt Troll 2 was hyped up a bit TOO much.

　George Hardy w/the Gordon and the Whale

After the movie, George Hardy came up with the good lookin’ fellas from Gordon and the Whale to do a brief Q&A. George was as charming as ever with his friendly demeanor lighting up the stage as he was answering various questions. Even with this whole movie basically being about the last few years of his life, the man is down to earth, recognizing some old friends of his from the area. I wish that Stephenson had been here, but the man was busy having a baby! So congrats to him. There had been things I was interested in asking him, like the lack of focus of his own post-Troll 2 story.  After the Q&A ended, we got treated to the midnight screening of Troll 2, which Jonesy and I were excited to see given our previous experiences at the Inwood. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the movie quite as much as I though I would.

Before I talk about it, let me give you a background of my B-movie experiences. The best experience I had was at the Inwood while we watched The Room. The crowd was interactive and added to how accentuate how bad this movie was. Even before I went to the midnight showing, I saw it at home, and I laughed at the awful dialogue.

I’m not sure if watching Best Worst Movie and the cult-like hype that surrounds Troll 2 as the optimal way to watch it. Keep in mind that most of the audience that I saw this with had not seen Troll 2 as well, so there’s that factor to take in to account. Overall it was really bad movie in the best sense with its nonsensical plot, horribly written dialogue, and cheap costumes; yes, it is potentially as bad as people make it out to be. For people that love bad movies, this should have been obligatory watching, but for those that are not initiated yet, it is worth watching.

This was yet another great evening spent at the Inwood, which is becoming my favorite theater more and more given the great midnight screenings. As for the movies, like I said, Best Worst Movie was one of the best movie I have seen this year, which is shaping up to be the year of the documentaries for me. Troll 2 will definitely need another watching to get a true feel for it.

Best Worst Movie/Troll 2-She Said

There’s something to be said for bad movies. There are bad movies, and then there are BAAADDDDDD movies. Movies that are soooo bad, that you feel the need to tell everyone about it. It’s so bad that you actually recommend people watch it. The best part about these movies isn’t the actual movie, but the experience in seeing it with a group of people and laughing until it hurts. Troll 2 is the ultimate bad movie. What’s even worse is that it has nothing to do with the first Troll; in fact, there aren’t even trolls in Troll 2.

But something odd happened over the last 20 years, Troll 2 became a cult classic. It became one of those movies that you loved because it was ridiculous, and it was fun sharing the ridiculousness with friends and more friends. Eventually, Michael Stephenson, who played the little boy in Troll 2, decided to take it upon himself and make a documentary about the worst movie ever made, thus Best Worst Movie came about. Michael first finds George Hardy, who played his dad, and finds out he is a dentist. George becomes kind of the center of the documentary and travels with Michael to find all the other old co-stars.

Where Michael lacked in acting skills in Troll 2, he makes up for as a filmmaker. His documentary is insightful, funny, poignant, and charming. It makes you want to watch Troll 2, if you’ve never seen it, to see what all the fuss is about. As he researched and interviewed people for the movie, he found this almost underground cult following of the movie. There were Troll 2 watching parties across the country, and people began screening the movie in theatres to sold out crowds. George eventually begins going to some of these screenings and becomes completely engrossed in this sub-culture.

The documentary isn’t all fun and games. There’s a point where Michael and George go and visit Margo, who played the mother, and it’s heartbreaking to watch where her life has taken her since making Troll 2. They also go visit the men who played the Grandpa and shop owner, and those visits also twinge on the heartstrings. Michael takes treats these visits with great respect. He never makes these people out to be crazy; he just shots the honest truth.

Michael is a brilliant filmmaker, and he captures the phenomenon of this cult classic. After watching Best Worst Movie, I was so excited to watch Troll 2. But first we were treated with an amazing Q&A by the guys at Gordonandthewhale.com with George Hardy! He was actually as every bit as energetic and charming as he was in the movie. He appeared to be having the time of his life in Dallas, and he seem to have all the time in the world for the audience. We were even lucky to get a reenactment of his famous line live!

After the Q&A, we were treated to a midnight showing of Troll 2. Now, I’ve been to a few awesomely bad movie premieres before, and I was insanely excited for this one. The movie itself is absolutely horrific. It’s bad in every sense. I mean there is literally no redeeming quality in it. However, the point is not to enjoy the movie, but to enjoy the experience of seeing it with people who dig bad movies.

Now, this experience was fun, but it wasn’t as “involved” as other screenings I’ve been to, such as The Room (where people yell at the screen and throw spoons) and Rocky Horror (need I say more about this one?). Most at the screening had never actually seen Troll 2, including myself, so we were interested in what made the movie so bad. It’s a lot more fun to see it with an audience who has seen it and laugh at all the jokes coming up. Maybe the mojo in the audience wasn’t flowing that night or maybe I wasn‘t in on the joke, but I would go back now that I’ve seen it. For awesomely bad movies, it’s always better to suffer through it beforehand so you know what to expect. Therefore, you can enjoy the inside joke of what’s going on in the movie with an interactive audience