Janazz

No longer a disney magic kingdom Hogwarts, but a mystical place of the imagination. Not a rote by the numbers read along with the story film, but a cinematic vision of the book. Of course there are more differences but the spirit is truer. It will get harder and harder to keep all the details of each book as the books get longer and longer. This director took the bull by the horns, wrestled with it, and put his stamp on it. I find myself so enthralled with his vision that yesterday I just had to visit Hogwarts again and took an extended lunch hour to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the 4th time. Went back to work humming Double Trouble. I do think that the Mauraders Map and the relationship of Prongs, et al. especially with the shape of the Patronus could have been explicated in just a few more lines with Sirius and the final Lupin scene, and needed to be. But when I compare how rote the other films were, especially the 2nd, and I think of Buck Beak dragging his claw in the loche and the four seasons of the whomping willow, Harry's talks with Lupin, all the details that just melt into the affectionate yet dangerous landscape, well I just sigh with happiness that there is finally a HP movie that I like as much of the books. I had almost given up. Gets a 92 from me!

Tits and Ass shots abound while seemingly addressing "serious" dual career couple issues. Plays like a bad TV sitcom. Only one scene in the whole film was real, the one where you enter back into your real life and problems after a vacation. Otherwise, seriously insulting and stupid. Worse than a romance novel.

made entirely of longshots of 2-4 minutes in duration. Layers of symbolism in poetic images. It's not a movie, it's not entertainment. It's film, and you have to engage and ask questions about what you are seeing. Why did only 2 people saw the whale? What was the significance of that? How did the riots get started? Who were the insiders and who were the outsiders? How could you tell? Why the hospital? Why do humans always need a causation? Why was the Prince's speech in a different language? What did the Prince represent? What did the Whale? A viewer may not want to be taxed with these questions but given the way the world is, these questions are worth thinking about. I've only seen one other "contemplative film" which is Angelopoulos' Ulyssey's Gaze, which I deeply cherish. This didn't get to me as deeply as it's images weren't as evocative to me. This is probably due to my being able access the cultural symbols of Angelopoulos more easily (though that film isn't "easy" either,it's just that I have more background in modern Greek poetry, etc.). Recommend this film as a unique chance to think of an alternative use of celloid, don't be intimidated.