Latest / Houselights: A Film Director Podcast / Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - Alfonso Cuarón | Houselights #160

Transcript

Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - Alfonso Cuarón | Houselights #160 · Houselights: A Film Director Podcast

0:03
Welcome to the ned Palty. Hello, and welcome back to House Lights,
0:23
the podcast on the Nerd Party network that looks at the work of directors through
0:27
different various combinations of their careers, their franchises and all of those sorts of
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things. You are joining us here in the House of Quiron, where we
0:36
are looking at the works of Alfonso Quiron, and this brings us to a
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very special film in his filmography, arguably his big crossover success, Harry Potter
0:45
and The Prisoner of Azkaban. So hold on to your patronus and join us
0:49
on this magical journey through the wizarding world as we look at his contribution to
0:53
this film phenomenon. I'm Headmaster John Nelson. I'm joined by Defense against the
0:58
Dark Arts teacher Tristan dat Well and Divination teacher Darren Moser for this journey through
1:03
Hogwarts, Hogspeed Everywhere in the Dark Arts. You took it from me.
1:08
Not this year, Darren, not this year, next year, when I'm
1:12
gone all the crap subjects. Gosh, that's okay. Tristan's Baggert takes the
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form of me with a microphone, and I have to say that as we
1:23
go through this film, this, of course, this is Harry Potter was
1:29
a worldwide, unstoppable locomotive train of a phenomenon. They honestly could have just
1:36
released a movie that was two hours of the producers sitting there counting dollar bills,
1:42
and fans like a tailor swift concert would have said, well, that's
1:45
art, that's fantastic. But they decided to go for broke with the third
1:48
one, and they bring in Quarn And the first question, the inevitable question
1:53
before we get to the first time we saw the movie and all that sort
1:56
of thing, was were you two gentlemen, obleigatory, lifelong, dedicated,
2:01
tattooed fans of the Harry Potter fan club or was this more of a curio
2:07
that your parents made you watch on fast forward. I'm trying to think,
2:14
Darren, I don't know how big of a Harry Potter fan you are.
2:16
I know that I know where John stands, But Darren, how big of
2:21
a Harry Potter fan would you describe yourself? As? I'd say, We're
2:25
at peak Potter right now because of my kids. We're eating, sleeping,
2:30
drinking, and consuming all of Potter. We're listening to the audiobooks, we're
2:34
reading the books, We're watching the movies, we're dressing up, we're going
2:38
to Universal, we are in it. But no, actually, growing up,
2:43
I was not really into it. I remember it being I remember the
2:46
phenomenon though, because I remember the summers that I would work at summer camp
2:51
and people would be walking around like with their book and they would just read
2:55
it whenever they had a spare moment. I think it was I want to
3:00
say the big One. I know that doesn't explain it was. Which one
3:05
was it? I think it was half Blood and half flood Prints. I
3:10
think it was half flood Prints. But it was like it was a huge
3:13
book and they were walking around with it. So I actually, as we're
3:16
reading it to my kids, is the first time I've actually read the books.
3:21
Because I got deep enough into the franchise that I was, I kind
3:25
of decided I want to watch all the movies first and experience that for what
3:30
it is, and then eventually I'll read the books. And I mean,
3:34
because we all know the books have more. I mean that's just common knowledge
3:38
when you have adapting a source material like a book to a movie. So
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I wanted to kind of go into the movies just without that expectation to see
3:47
what they gave me. So yeah, So, I mean I enjoy Harry
3:52
Potter, but it was not really something I grew up with. I'm a
3:54
little bit past that age that it was really the thing. But I mean
4:00
as far as like this movie coming out in four, I mean, this
4:04
is also the first year after the Lord of the Rings was like dominating December
4:10
because Lord of the Rings was one O two oh three, So you were
4:14
just like it was cleared the way for this to just dominate. Although now
4:21
I'm seeing it came out in May, so I don't know anything. I
4:24
thought Harry Potter came out at Christmas time, but time as a flat circle,
4:29
you know, May and December or virtually virtually the same. But the
4:31
thing is, you probably think of December because a lot of people refer to
4:34
Harry Potter movies as Christmas movies because Christmas happens in them. Yeah. I
4:40
think in ABC Family or whatever the hell it's called now, the Family Channel,
4:45
then ABC Family, then free Form whatever the hell. Uh, they
4:48
would always do a Harry Potter marathon every Christmas, and so that kind of
4:53
like that really drilled into people that it was time to marathon the movies during
4:58
Christmas. I think I even did it Christmas at Hogwarts is what is a
5:01
great track. It's like one of my favorite tracks from the from the first
5:04
movie. And I will say that the Goblet of Fire, the movie after
5:10
this one, was the first date my wife and I went on to was
5:14
seen the midnight showing. Back when midnight showings were a thing. You didn't
5:17
have a guaranteed seat. Back in those days, you had to wait and
5:21
and you had to have a knife. You had to be ready to fight
5:25
for your seat elbow in the kidneys. Toilet paper was the trick. You
5:29
had a roll and when you got there, you just sh and there are
5:31
your simple people. Don't know what kind of friendly neighborhood you grew up in
5:36
I lived. I was going to say that that would have stopped anybody.
5:40
That's a great idea. You didn't need to have like tons of coats or
5:43
jackets. You just had to roll with toilet pop. I'd have been choked
5:46
to death with the toilet paper. It would have been difficult. But fortunately
5:48
now you can book your seat ahead of time and the toilet paper method has
5:53
been retired. This was the first This was the first Hair Potter film that
5:58
I saw in the theater. I didn't see Sorcerer's Stone or The Chamber of
6:03
Secrets in the theater. I wasn't really like my mother was the one who
6:09
was the Harry Potter fan in the family. Like she read the books and
6:13
loved them. She absolutely loved the books. And it's like she was day
6:15
one purchase for every single book. And so she she was the one who
6:20
was who went to the theater with my dad and got them on DVD.
6:25
And and we even had like a that deep that scene it. We had
6:30
that DVD game called seene It. We had we had the Harry Potter version
6:34
and uh. But it wasn't until this one, like because the first ones
6:41
I thought were like, hey, you know, they're fun, but it
6:43
was just it felt kind of like kiddie movies to me, you know,
6:45
Like I was just kind of like I wasn't like really part of the phenomenon.
6:48
Uh. But with with the third one, I saw it in theater
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and I was like, oh, this is this is way different from the
6:57
first two. And that's when I looked up director and I looked at his
7:00
previous works and I was like, oh, okay, that's why you know.
7:03
I I I sort of stumbled into being a Harry Potter fan because I
7:09
worked in a toy store for a time. When the Harry Potter thing exploded
7:14
and it was mandated, they said, here's we're taking this out of inventory.
7:18
Everybody's got to read this book so you can know what you're talking about.
7:21
And I was. I reluctantly read it. I was like, eh,
7:25
fine, and I read it and I was like, Oh, I
7:27
like this, this is pretty cute. This is a good ya book.
7:30
Second one I was like, oh, the success took them off guard.
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I still feel the same way where it's like it's sort of the same book,
7:38
just with some different trappings to it. And it was the third book
7:42
where my reaction was, oh, this is interesting now, Like I actually
7:46
got interested in the third book. I was like, this is starting,
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Like you can tell that's really where sort of the gears click and there's a
7:51
larger picture. You know, it's not just oh, people like this one
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thing, so I'm going to redo it over and over. It's it.
8:01
I mean, I consider Prisoner of Azkaband the first real sequel of the first
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book. I know that there are probably Harry Potter fans that are like,
8:07
oh no, the second one is great, but they're wrong. And what
8:13
was interesting was to your point tristed about the first two that Chris Columbus directed.
8:18
Honestly, that for me is an example of how you don't do an
8:22
adaptation, because it was so careful about what it wanted to do. And
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I even rewatched them recently and not relatively within the last year. And for
8:35
instance, I always go back to the very beginning when h McGonagall shows up
8:39
and takes the light out of the street lamps in the beginning, when they're
8:43
setting the scene. Double Doore takes the light out of the street lamps in
8:46
the beginning. Okayned in last month like I have, but yes, I
8:52
haven't seen it. Yes, and McGonagall show somebody with a wand does something,
8:56
but it's this one to light capture them. Did he have a wand
9:01
on him? He did? Did he use the wand? No? But
9:05
it was on. Let's let's continue, folks, No, No, let's
9:07
wallow in these details, because that really feels like a Harry Potter discussion to
9:11
me. But anyway, that when when they're taking the light out, it's
9:16
not done in a quick or a storytelling sort of way. It's like a,
9:22
oh, you read this in the book. I'm very carefully going to
9:24
show you what that looks like. And I don't. I completely disagree,
9:31
but I also disagree. Go ahead, I completely disagree because here's why,
9:33
John, here's why you're wrong. Okay please, So okay, So I
9:39
didn't read. I haven't read. Remember this is President of Askaban. We
9:41
do eventually want to talk about. We will get it. We'll get there.
9:45
We will get there. After this comment, uh So one thing that
9:50
I was really impressed with because I haven't read all the books. I'm not
9:54
a Harry Potter book fan. I'm a Harry Potter movie fan. That's just
9:56
what it is. You can call me what you want, call me a
9:58
filthy casual, I don't care. But it was I think probably twenty eleven
10:05
when I read Sorcerer's Stone for the first time, and as I was reading
10:11
it, I just kept getting more and more impressed with the movie and as
10:16
an adaptation, because I was like, holy crap, this screenwriter did such
10:24
an amazing job of reorganizing scene scenes, taking things out, moving things around,
10:31
and putting it in a two and a half hour window. I think
10:35
that Sorcerer's Stone is one of the best adaptations out there, at least from
10:39
a script standpoint, And I think that that's where I want to defend it,
10:45
because when you have a huge phenomenon like Harry Potter with a Sorcerer's Stone,
10:50
specifically the first one, and you have so much information packed into one
10:54
book, and then you're able to actually make a coherent adaptation that is true
10:58
to everything but doesn't include everything, that's when I'm really impressed. See the
11:03
thing is, I think we're the way I see it, and feel free
11:07
to dismiss it. I'd see it as two sides of the same coin sort
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of thing. The script is one thing, but it's just I I don't
11:16
think that Columbus was really infusing a lot of panache in it, and I
11:22
was just putting it together sort of thing. So sort of flip size of
11:26
the same coin. But of course Kairon comes on and he's one of a
11:30
long list of names to replace Columbus. Columbus steps down for no other reason
11:33
except he wants to spend time with his family. He was going to he
11:37
was originally going to do all of them. Yep, he was supposed to
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do all crazy to me. Yeah, but he stepped back because and I
11:46
have to respect this. He was like, you know what, my kids
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are only going to be kids for but so long I'll remain as a producer.
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And that way I can go home at night. And I can respect
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that very much. Let the actors can. Let they're entire lives be consumed
12:01
by this franchise for the next decades. Let the ones we are paying to
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play the actors, let them do their thing. One reason why I was
12:09
really excited about this podcast, specifically this episode, is because so many other
12:13
times when we talk about a movie, we'll talk about the movie at length,
12:18
the movie itself, you know, the story, the plot, scenes,
12:22
writing, everything like that, music and everything like that, and then
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we try to talk about, you know, the director's influence on what we're
12:28
seeing. Some directors are easier than others, like you know what we've talked
12:33
about, like with Fincher and Anderson, Wes Anderson and people like that,
12:35
it's very obvious what their influence is. Some directors are harder than others.
12:39
With this one, it's interesting because it's a part of such a huge franchise,
12:46
with so many movies we're talking eight movies and Quran brings his own specific
12:54
flavor to a franchise that's been established already with Christopher Columbus and then you know,
13:01
gets re established later on with David Yates. I think Mike Newell is
13:05
the next one. But it's just like when you take all of the movies
13:11
and then you look at Prisoner of Azkaban, you're like, that's the qual
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ron one. Oh, hands down, that absolutely true. I think that
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this is this stands out and I think it's really and some of the critical
13:24
responses speak to this. It's really noticeable that this is something where there is
13:31
real style put into it. And maybe that gets back to what I was
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talking about with Columbus. Columbus is obviously very accomplished, very good director,
13:37
very successful director. I take nothing away from him, but he has a
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very straightforward style. Whereas we come back to Hogwarts, and this is where
13:48
I give a lot of credit in all honesty to Rolling and the other producers,
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is they allow Quiron to redesign some things and a lot of things put
14:00
on Hillsides, reconfigure Hogwarts, redesign certain buildings, certain rooms, certain things
14:05
and nons and not be married to the idea that no, no, no,
14:11
this is the way it was. Like you take a franchise nowadays,
14:15
like Marvel, here's your template. That's what you're going to do, and
14:20
that is how you that's what you're gonna follow, and you're gonna color in
14:22
the lines and you gotta connect the dots, and that's what you do.
14:24
They could have very easily done that with this series, and instead they see
14:28
the opportunity to bring in Quaron and let him be him and he directs a
14:35
Harry Potter movie, but it's an Alfonso Quiron movie. And so that's a
14:41
really hard that's a hard line, man. I'm glad that you bring that
14:45
up, because it's still a Harry Potter movie. It's very much a Harry
14:46
Potter movie and a part of the series and a part of the franchise,
14:50
but it is still, at the same time, very much a Quoran film.
14:54
Yeah, he owns this everything about it. And but what's interesting,
14:58
and Darren, I want to ask you this. One of the directors originally
15:01
considered for this was Guiermo del Toro, but he apparently was going to go
15:07
a little too dark with it. Shocker, And I want to ask you
15:13
with Quaron's direction, do you feel in any way that this is just a
15:18
more family friendly sense of the macabre? Like, do you think that Quaron
15:24
successfully makes it more accessible or do you think it's just the material he's working
15:28
with, by its very nature, limits how far he can go with it.
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That's just I'll take easy questions for five hundred Alex. There you go.
15:41
Now, Yeah, I think it's a bit of both. Yeah,
15:43
I mean, having read the book recently, Yeah, I mean, you're
15:48
starting to get like the glow is kind of starting to fade for Harry.
15:54
It's like he's not It's it's kind of like he's getting still a lot of
15:58
attention. He kind of doesn't want the attention anymore, Like he wants to
16:02
just be a kid and is still having you know, you know, no
16:08
fun at at home, and you're you're starting to deal more with like the
16:14
extended family and and the past, like the main themes of the Harry Potter
16:18
books that come out or really starting to shine in this story. Not even
16:23
to mention the time travel. We'll get to the time travel, which is
16:26
one of the most amazing portrayals of time travel in a movie or book,
16:30
using the closed loop method. But yeah, but then as far as like
16:37
a tone, because yeah, I mean the Dementors, Man, the Dementors
16:41
are like scary as all get out, like they are. I wouldn't go
16:47
so far as to say like eighties nightmare fuel, but like they're definitely intense,
16:51
and the you know, every time he sees one, like he's afraid
16:57
of like dying, or he's hearing his mother, there's screams. So I
17:02
would I would guess I would answer it more in the fact that I could
17:04
not picture Corona doing like the first one, like I I as much as
17:11
you know you were saying, it didn't quite do it for you, John,
17:15
I feel like we all know it. We look at the first one
17:18
and it's it's a golden glow. If I had to describe that movie in
17:22
one sentence, like that is that movie, It's it's copper and brass and
17:29
Christmas and warmth. That is not this movie. This movie is silver and
17:33
gray and black and drab. It's a complete change. It's Harry growing up
17:40
more. It's you know, they're saying, I think it's one cool,
17:45
but they're doing more. They're they're they're saving a lot. I think that's
17:48
a beauty of the franchise is that it ages with the audience, which is
17:52
very it's very cool when you see that happen. Well, I definitely think
17:57
that there's an aspect and Tristan, I'll throw this to you where there's a
18:03
real opportunity as well for the visual effects to become more interesting. And so
18:11
what I want to ask you though, is not even comparing it to the
18:14
previous films coming to this film cold right, this is the first time I've
18:17
watched it in a while. Do you feel that the effects are successful?
18:22
Like like do they a lot of times with the franchises, they forget their
18:26
limits and they get greedy for the shots. Do you think that this do
18:32
you think that Quiron remembers to Does he manage restraint with the effects or does
18:37
he go too far? Is he pushed too far with the CG with all
18:41
of the different sort of things. Do you think this is a successful visual
18:45
effects film? I think it's successful mainly because we have a director who doesn't
18:51
want to go full CGI. You know, he behind the scenes, he's
18:55
trying to find ways to do things as practical as possible, and even you
18:59
know, shoot on location as much as possible. I mean think compared to
19:02
the first two, which were extremely you know, green screen heavy. He
19:07
actually would build partial sets and do certain shots on location in Scotland or in
19:14
London, and then shoot the rest that he that he absolutely had to in
19:18
front of a in front of a green screen. And like for the Dementors,
19:22
for example, he didn't want to make the Dementor's CGI. He wanted
19:26
to make them, you know, with with puppets. And then they started
19:30
doing some tests and they're like, okay, it's not really working. We
19:33
can't get the mobility with them. And then they even brought in some you
19:36
know, special puppeteers and they said like, oh what if you shoot them
19:38
underwater and shoot in a reverse and then maybe you could get that kind of
19:41
free flowing stuff. And they actually tried it. So they did all those
19:45
things just to see and show that, okay, no CGI is the way
19:48
to go. And that's when the director Lament, like a you know,
19:52
said like, okay, we'll do CGI. That's the kind of director that
19:55
I think is perfect for this kind of franchise because this is exactly the type
20:00
of franchise where you can lose yourself in CGI. Now there's tons of CGI
20:04
in Harry Potter, as there should be. I'm not knocking it, you
20:08
know, like this on the on this show, on House Lies, we
20:11
don't knock CGI. We just like it when it's well, well used.
20:15
And I think that Qoran was able to use like with the clock, that
20:19
clock was real, but when we do the flying effects through it, it's
20:22
CGI, So it's based off of reality. There's a lot of things that
20:26
he did where if he did do CGI, he tried to build it in
20:30
real life and just enhance it with CGI. And I think, yeah,
20:33
So to answer your question in a very long way, I think it's successful
20:37
and I like that Koran is a director who uses CGI only when he absolutely
20:42
has to. Yeah, I definitely think it shows. But Darren, you
20:48
know the flip side of that coin is there are things that we're never going
20:52
to be attainable with physical effects, although Quaron still makes an effort, and
20:57
specifically one of the central go ahead and say characters is buck Beak and the
21:06
Hippogriff, And I think specifically, just piggybacking off of what Tristan is saying
21:11
here, how successful do you think they are with the Buckbeak effects, Does
21:14
it sell it sufficiently for the audience to go along? Yeah, because I
21:21
mean I'd have to look at those scenes even even more to because I,
21:26
like you said, I think they pretty cgi it completely, Whereas it might
21:33
have been better to do a feathered you know, hump or whatever like that
21:38
they can touch and be close to, and then they're like extending that into
21:42
the face and the talons. But yeah, I mean, I don't know
21:49
how you would. It's so funny because I just watched Santa Claus the movie
21:55
from nineteen eighty five, and they went full puppet for the reindeer. Oh
22:00
they're they're obviously puppets. They're kind of carpety in texture and velvet, but
22:07
they work. They work for the type of look they're going for, and
22:11
you get a performance. I mean they're crying when Sanna is sad like it's
22:15
very cartoonish in that way. But Buck Beak, I don't think we were
22:21
there in O four too, Like you could have done a CG. Buck
22:26
Beak that like was like Planet of the Apes style realism and performance, But
22:33
I don't think we were there for the amount of money they had to dedicate
22:37
to Buck beak and O four, I'll say that, like, I think
22:41
it's a pass. It looks fine. I don't think it definitely doesn't look
22:45
fake. It looks like a CG magical creature. But if if it maybe
22:52
five years later, you know, we see even more advancement or maybe just
22:57
more budget allocation, I should say, yeah, I think that. I
23:02
think the buck beat is buckbeak is most successful when a person is not on
23:07
buckbeak. Yeah, because that that's the point, Because the thing is,
23:11
that's where you walk right into that uncanny valley of you can tell how a
23:15
person is supposed to move on an animal, and if buckbeak were flying alone,
23:19
you go along with it. But then Harry on trot and Harry like
23:22
pulls onto his back. It's very unnatural the physics in that shot. And
23:27
we know that we can tell, yes, and it's so it's very difficult.
23:33
But at the same time, I think I'm very forgiving because I understand
23:37
how like it's a weird bit of context to have with it, and I
23:41
always share the middle child of the household. There are times, and this
23:48
is this is I think one of those things whereas sort of like film obsessives
23:52
that we wind up losing some perspective because I questioned middle child one time about
24:00
you know, visual effects and CG and stuff like that, and people who
24:04
are younger than we who consume media, and I think maybe some other people
24:10
in our own age range they don't pay attention to it the way that we
24:14
do, and their their reactions like yeah, CG. Yeah, I figured
24:18
it would be it's fine. So it's like, it's weird because I agree
24:22
with what you're saying, and like we're obviously simpatico about Buckbeek, but it's
24:27
one of those things where I think so long as people are brought into it,
24:32
they don't care. I think Buckbeak is successful because you care what happens
24:38
to buck Beek later in the film. And that's more attribute to what Quaron
24:42
gets from his actors and actresses in this film, because I think that the
24:48
performances kick it up a notch with Quaron. Well. Sticking with monsters for
24:52
a second, I will say though, the way they did a Professor lupin
24:59
as a where was amazing. They did the right amount of he's far enough
25:04
away from the camera, he's kind of in the background, like when he's
25:08
stalking them. In the forest. It's actually kind of scary, like you
25:14
know, oh, the camera's looking around this side of the tree, so
25:17
he must be over on this side of the tree, like you know,
25:19
that's coming. But I think they did really good with that, which I'm
25:25
assuming is is still a fully cg character, but it looked way more real.
25:32
I don't know why, maybe because hippogriffs are just crazy, but I
25:37
think they did a really good job with that. Well, you also have
25:40
buck Beak was in the daytime, yeah, some night, Yeah, that's
25:44
true. That hides a lot of sins. Same with the dusturs. Like
25:49
I know, there are still shots where the dementors are like right up on
25:52
you, but for the most part, the dementors are at a distance or
25:56
they're I love how they're introduced where they're behind the frosted pain of the trolley
26:03
or the train door, because that's you know, letting your imagination fill in,
26:11
like what is this ghostly semi under water? Oh, what's that guy?
26:18
In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the later one they had the
26:22
one that he always had that underwater look, as if he was drippy.
26:26
It had that same kind of effect. I think it was better done in
26:30
Pirates, but that same effect on the Dementors with the ice thing. One
26:34
little tidbit of behind the scenes that I always thought was really funny is that
26:38
Quorn has a thick Mexican accent, and when he was telling the VFX guys
26:45
like, okay, like when the Dementors come to the train, I want
26:48
I want ice to be falling from the skies, and they're like, okay,
26:52
man, if this is what you want, this is what we're going
26:53
to do. And so before they get to work, you know, like
26:57
developing the CGI, they do some storyboards and they present them to Qoran and
27:03
it's a bunch of eyes falling from the sky, like human eyeballs falling from
27:11
the sky. This He's like, what the hell is this? He's like,
27:14
this is what you asked for. He's like, I said ice,
27:17
you dumbas? Yeah, that's I mean. Granted, the BFx people are
27:22
like, eh, it's Harry Potter movie. I've read them. I'm sure
27:25
this happened. Yeah, there's candles floating in the hall, fire hazard,
27:30
eyes falling from the sky. Sure, why not? Well I but but
27:36
the thing is, well, story that's great. Well, there might have
27:38
been that that that moment. I think that that Quoran I said this,
27:45
you know, a minute ago. But like I think, and Tristan,
27:48
I'll throw this to you. I think the performances and this you can't help
27:52
but have a comparison point here. I think the performances of our leads and
27:56
even of our supporting cast. Uh, they are stronger than they were in
28:03
the first two films. I'm not taking anything away from them in the first
28:04
two films. Oh, you have to recognize it. This is much more
28:10
of a teenage to adult film. The first two are very much for kids.
28:15
The story is very much more for kids. But they are also kids.
28:19
I mean, they're still kids in this one. But you know what
28:21
I'm saying, Like, you know, like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and
28:26
Rupert Grant, like they are kids and they act like kids, and their
28:30
acting ability is that of kids. Like are they great for their age?
28:33
Yes? But great for their age? With this one, you really see
28:37
their talents start to shine, where you see that they're doing the work,
28:41
they're getting better, they're evolving, they're maturing, and like this this is
28:48
the movie where you really start to feel this where the franchise is maturing.
28:55
The actors are maturing, and the story is maturing, and another behind the
29:00
scenes things that always makes me laugh. But this, you know, kind
29:03
of is you know, in line with what we're talking about. Is that
29:07
with Quran kind of stepping into Chris Columbus shoes because he was there for the
29:11
first two he's now coming in for the third. You know, he wanted
29:14
to get to know the actors and get to know the characters a little bit
29:17
better. So he gave them homework. He said, I want you to
29:19
write me a summary, you know, of an explanation of your character,
29:25
how you view your character. And so Emma Watson gave him sixteen pages of
29:30
what she thought about her about her character, and Daniel Radcliffe did a concise
29:34
one page summary, and Rupert Grant didn't turn it in, and when he
29:40
was asked he said, uh, he said, Ron wouldn't turn it in,
29:44
right, And and Quirn was impressed and said, yeah, okay,
29:47
you understand your character. So yeah, and that and that's the that's the
29:52
thing. But let's go right in. Let's embrace it. We have a
29:56
death in the cast before the third film, rid we need to talk about
30:02
it, and we bring in Michael Gambond to replace him, the great Michael
30:06
Gambond. He's a fantastic actor in his own right and he has a hell
30:11
of a career going up to this. But he's not Richard Harris. And
30:15
so here's the ask of the audience is do you now the two questions?
30:21
And Darren, I'll throw to you first, both of these questions. One,
30:25
do you like Michael Gambond? Do you believe that he is well utilized
30:27
in this film as him playing this character just in this film? And then
30:34
the inevitable comparison point, how do you compare him against Richard Harris? Oh,
30:41
man, I'll take more easy questions for four hundred, Alex, You're
30:45
welcome. So, yeah, I mean, he's not Richard Harris, but
30:52
I think he does a great Dumbledore. He steps into it for a lot
30:57
of people, like yeah, when they think of Dumble or they think of
31:00
him and his later performances, I always feel like, obviously, I think,
31:11
like many of us, we wish that Richard Harris had lived longer and
31:15
we had seen him throughout more of these movies, especially the scenes where it's
31:21
just Dumbledore and Harry, Like anytime you have them like directly communicating. Richard
31:26
Harridis is bringing just this softness, not even a fatherly He's bringing the grandfatherliness
31:33
to that role. And Michael Gammon does as well, but again and not
31:41
to knock him, but in a substitute teacher kind of way, like you
31:45
like your teacher, but this is you know, this is someone different.
31:49
I mean, I feel like I'm not even committing to the answer, but
31:55
yeah, I think he does. I can't imagine someone else, Like maybe
31:57
if you gave me a list of like the six other people that considered for
32:02
Dumbledore, I could pick that out. But for what we got, I
32:07
have no problems with Michael Tristan. I'll toss it to you after I drop
32:15
my own response to this here, because for my money, I like Gambon
32:22
better in the character, because I think that what he conveys, aside from
32:30
the love and care for Harry, now, I think they're very restrained in
32:34
how they use him here. I think that they they have a very measured
32:38
way to sort of let the audience gear shift into a different actor, so
32:45
they use them a little more. I think in a measured way, smart
32:49
calculated. But what I think Gambon brings along to speak to the softness that
32:54
you're talking about, Darren, is I believe Dumbledore is still capable of,
33:00
when necessary, you know, knocking some dark wizards down sort of thing.
33:07
There's a strength to his physicality and to the way he inhabits the character.
33:13
I think also just the way that they have him. They change his costuming
33:19
a little bit so that there's just a moral, there's a more. I'm
33:24
gentle because I choose to be nature too, Gambon, And I'm gentle because
33:31
I'm gonna yeah because a stiff wind could knock me in half sort of thing.
33:35
I think I do agree with that. But Tristan, you know,
33:37
I'll toss it to you. You know, where do you fall on the
33:40
Darren versus John scale of dumble dooorness? Isn't that every episode, Tristan?
33:47
I like. I like Richard Harris in the first two, and I like
33:50
Michael Gambon and the rest. I like them both. I think they both
33:55
bring great things to their respective stories. But I really enjoy how Michael Gammon
34:00
didn't just try to do a Richard Harrison personation. And I know he gets
34:06
a lot of flack with a lot of hardcore fans especially with Goblet of Fire,
34:10
because he acts way bigger than what the books say that he does.
34:15
And I don't care about that, but I understand he gets a lot.
34:19
I thought of that for you. Yeah no, but see, no,
34:23
I'm sorry to cut you off now, because the thing is, because the
34:27
thing is, like when you were talking about like you haven't read the books
34:29
and everything like that, I like that always drives me nuts with the hardcore
34:34
fans, because Gambon is his dumbled door, like he's the Dumbledore for the
34:39
film that he's in. And I think that's what you're trying to get at,
34:43
right, That is exactly what I'm trying to say. Yeah, that
34:45
is exactly what I'm trying to say. And that's the thing is that like
34:47
it's it's an adaptation. It's an adaptation, that's what it is. And
34:53
so Gammon is being the Dumbledore he wants to be that the directors and producers
34:59
want him to be the ones that he's allowed to be. And it's not
35:01
just page screen, it's you know, like if that's just how it is,
35:07
I mean, like it was Richard Harris more true to the style of
35:10
what a lot of people perceive Dumbledore to be in the novels. Absolutely,
35:15
but that doesn't mean that Michael Gammon is any less of a double door.
35:20
I think he has a lot of strength for what you know, with what
35:22
you talked about, John, I think that that is inherent, a lot
35:28
of a lot of strength that he brings to the role. And and Darren,
35:30
I personally really like the Gambon and Harry Potter one on one scenes more
35:40
than I did the Harris and Harry Potter scenes. But that's just personal preference.
35:45
I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm just saying that,
35:47
like I like those probably because I got more of them, we got
35:52
more of them, and also, like I didn't really start getting into Harry
35:55
Potter until Gambon took over, So you know, it's it's one of those
36:00
situations. It's like your two grandfathers from both sides of the family, Like
36:04
they're different, but they're both the same. Is a beautiful comparison. That
36:08
is a great way to do it. Absolutely, Yes, Okay, let's
36:14
move on because you can't you can't nail you nailed it and keying off of
36:17
the you know, the two grandfathers thing. We have a crazy uncle here
36:21
in Prisoner of Mastband and we get we get the the great, the great
36:29
Gary Oldman coming in. As the Harry Potter series gains momentum, we start
36:35
drawing in more and more actors, especially British actors, where it's like,
36:38
oh okay, yeah, it's mandatory that I appear in this series. The
36:44
Rings or Hair Potter. You got to be in one of them. Pull
36:47
off both if you can, right. It's a shame that Kenneth Brandaugh never
36:51
directed one of these films because that would have been like real hat trick territory.
36:57
But with uh, you know, with Gary Oldman coming in to this,
37:06
I think that there is an expectation with Oldman, especially at this point
37:09
in his career, that he's gonna he's going to bring something, if you'll
37:13
pardon me using the word magical to the performance. And I want to ask
37:17
you, when, when you finally get to the point where Sirius Black is
37:22
there in person, does Oldman sell it for you? Darren? Do you
37:28
believe in his character that this is a this is a guy that's been locked
37:32
in prison for a crime he didn't for twelve years. Yes, yeah,
37:37
No, Goldman brings it. I can't picture who else could do this role.
37:44
He does such an amazing job and and even more so now having read
37:50
the books and and the audio books, where yeah, I mean Serious is
37:53
a is a tortured creature, like he's had it rough. And I speaking
38:01
in the broader aspect of of the old men or not the old man character,
38:05
but in Serious Black. I like what this story does with expanding because
38:12
we're expanding into the past. We're learning about the Marauders, We're learning about
38:16
uh, you know, James and Lily and their friends and this kind of
38:21
previous generation and that we didn't really know of at all in the in the
38:25
previous books, and so Serious Is are linked to that loop into a degree.
38:30
But really Serious Is, you know, opening Harry's eyes to that previous
38:37
generation and uh, I love the It's so they they nailed the scene in
38:46
the Shrinking Shack where they're revealing Peter Pettigrew, because so easily that could be
38:52
one of those scenes where you're like, just just tell them, like why
38:57
why the subs are you? Like like this could be a five minute conversation
39:00
Like instead, it's like he's here in the room who murdered And it's like
39:06
but it works they just say your mother is captive. Just see it super
39:12
fast, just say your name is Martha, and it'll all be over.
39:16
But no, I think they they they do it and it works, and
39:22
that's hard to do, not even just in a book, but in a
39:24
movie. The the reveal the way that scene reveals the information to you,
39:32
to the characters, because the children the trio don't know, like they're like,
39:39
they're thinking he is the one who killed you know, Harry's parents.
39:45
Up until the last moment, they think their their teacher that they kind of
39:49
like has gone off the deep end, and then it all falls into place
39:52
beautifully and they're like, oh my gosh, like this, like honestly,
39:57
it's probably the biggest truth bomb on here in the franchise is that scene.
40:04
Well, and keying off of that scene, I want to ask you,
40:07
trist that if you agree with me that the two most thankless roles and unrecognized
40:16
performances in the entire franchise are Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew and David Thulis is
40:23
Remus Lupin. In this they are overshadowed by so much other stuff going on
40:29
around them that nobody talks about them really when they talk, they talk about
40:32
old men, they talk about Gambo and taking on the role of Dumbledore and
40:37
everything fuelus and Spall. Their performances are key, especially in that scene,
40:45
to what happens in the film and how the audience receives it. Do you
40:51
agree with me that there are victims of being in such a large, you
40:55
know, wonderful cast or do you think they get you know, the right
41:00
amount of spotlight Spall, yes, Thullis, No. I think Thulis gets
41:06
recognized because I really do. I think that. I think Lupin is a
41:09
beloved character and it was a very coveted role, and I think everybody likes
41:15
that character, and I think everybody likes him portraying that character. I've heard
41:19
nothing but good things about him, and I think it's I think it's even
41:21
Rowling's favorite character. And uh, what's Spall? I think is pretty Am
41:28
I saying Spall or Sprawl? Am I saying it right? I think it's
41:30
Spall spa l L So I say fall it Spall And I think that's a
41:37
pretty thankless job, like he always brings it. I love that actor.
41:39
I think he does a great job in almost everything that he does, and
41:43
I always think of him in the Last Samurai for some reason. I know
41:46
he's done a whole lot more than that, but that's where my brain listened
41:49
to. The Last Samurai is a great film. So okay, that's yeah,
41:52
we got to do a house as Wick sometime soon. That that'd be
41:55
the only reason why I would want to do. Yes, I don't even
41:59
know anything else. That guy, he's done. I'll phone it in for
42:00
the rest of them. Oh, I mean I phoned it every week anyway,
42:02
go on, go on, going on. But yeah, no,
42:05
I So that's that's where I think the cutoff is. I truly do Okay,
42:10
I mean that's fair. I mean, you know, every and everybody
42:15
loves Rickman as Snape and he's perfect casting. What I think becomes frustrating for
42:22
me, And I think as Prisoner of Azkaban is the first time where it
42:25
really sort of like gets at me. Is I don't think Snape. I
42:30
want Snape to have more to do in the films. I'm divorcing it completely
42:34
from the books. But every time Alan Rickman is on screen as Snape,
42:40
he's having a great time. I'm enjoying watching him and always from this point
42:46
forward at the end, except for of course Half Blood Prints. That's you
42:50
know, that's the exception obviously. But I'm always like, ah, kind
42:53
of want a little more of Snape, Darren. Do you think that's just
42:58
because I love Alan Rickman in the role. Or do you think it's a
43:01
fair criticism. It's not a criticism even it's just like he's so admit,
43:06
I want more of him. Yeah, I want more Alan Rickman, even
43:09
if I have to cave him into it with a spoon. Uh No,
43:15
I yeah, I think I would love more Snape, especially after reading the
43:19
books. Now, like I man, I would watch a Snape backstory,
43:23
I'd watch a Snape whatever because he is a really interesting character, and the
43:30
movies are tamer on him because he is like vile in the books, like
43:36
he is a terrible, terrible person to Harry in the books, but like
43:43
he's just everybody, he's just not a nice guy. But no, yeah,
43:45
Alan Rickman is amazing as a role. I think one other unsung as
43:51
we're going through the actors, Emma Thompson. You want to talk about someone
43:54
having fun in a role. She looks like she's chewing up that scenery every
44:00
and she's got the giant glasses and the Bengals, and you can just tell
44:05
like it's it's kind of a bit part almost like it's barely in the movie.
44:08
But she is one hundred and ten percent into that role and just milking
44:15
it, and I love I love it. I mean, I don't like
44:16
the character, she's a paint of the butt, but I her portrayal.
44:22
Oh great casting, great. Hold on, you don't like the character Trisian,
44:27
I'll toss this to you. Does not Trelawney seem like the exact kind
44:30
of teacher you would want? Because that seems like an easy a right,
44:34
Like it's like, oh, all right, I can nap through this class
44:36
and I'll still get nape plus cool. But is it worth it? I
44:39
say, who cares about worth it? You gotta tell me it's helping my
44:43
gpa? Who cares about worth it? Come on, what are you talking
44:45
about? Oh? I need to sleep off my hangover? Who used magic
44:51
to take extra classes? Dropped her class? Well, that's it. That's
44:57
a Hermione problem, Okaycause, like, not every class needs to be difficult,
45:01
right, Sometimes sometimes you need a nap. And Trelawney's class charms charms
45:07
seems like the easy a like, okay, just memorize and repeat. Yeah,
45:13
but see it's it's all yeah. But the thing is charms. You
45:15
have to stay awake like Trelawney. You know, you could just bs into
45:20
a hole like you just be like yeah, yeah. The teas say this
45:22
because I don't know, the wind blew Hagrid's body odor over it. That's
45:28
what they do in the books. They totally bs their finals and they like
45:31
get bees. That's exactly the teacher you want. Okay. I don't know
45:36
what kind of weird planet you guys are from, but that's exactly the teacher
45:38
I want teaching a class. But you know that's me. That's me,
45:44
so you know. But you know, as we close out the cast discussion,
45:47
the one thing I want to say is obviously Ian McKellen was considered.
45:52
He can't do it because of the Lord of the Rings conflict for filming and
45:55
everything like that. But one of the people consider for Dumbledore, and I
46:00
think this would have been a terrible mistake in all honestee, was chrispher Lee.
46:07
How terrified would everybody have been a dumbledoor like I would have trued?
46:13
You know, he could have shown up in the infirmary and been like,
46:15
well, you need to do this. I'd be like, I'm not quite
46:17
so sure I need to do what this guy's saying because seems a little weird
46:22
here. So I don't know, Yeah, I can't picture Christopher Lee.
46:28
And I know it had also been offered to Ian McKellen, who turned it
46:30
down just being too similar to Gandolf and other things. But I also read
46:38
in the wiki that I'm sure we're all looking at yes, that thu list
46:44
was also had previously auditioned for the quarrel role in the first movie. Yeah,
46:51
which is interesting. I am trying to wrap my head around what that
46:54
would have been. Like, I can totally see it, absolutely, absolutely,
47:00
but very grateful that he lost the role because I much prefer him to
47:04
this role. For sure. Great in this one, Absolutely great in this
47:06
one. So you know, as we're we love to use this phrase,
47:10
you know what, but I'm not going to say rounding third. I say,
47:14
as we're chasing the golden snitch, I want to mention the music because
47:21
we all know that I have a fetish for mentioning the music. This is
47:22
the last film in the series that John Williams works on, and he even
47:27
leans on Shakespeare to create the song that the children's choir is singing. They
47:34
even used it in the advertising material. Oh yeah, I thought it was
47:37
beautiful. Is this a a'll tell says to you first, Tristan. Is
47:45
this a great Williams score? Is this a good Williams score? Or is
47:50
this a he had a lot going on Williams score. I always like to
47:55
listen to this one. I think this is this is probably one of my
48:00
favorites to listen to in the background. Now. I don't know if that
48:02
means it's a great score, If it's a great background score, I don't
48:06
know, but I always really enjoyed. And one of the main reasons is
48:09
because of the double toil in Trouble One, which was Korn's idea and like
48:15
he pitched it to Williams's. Williams is like all right, and you know,
48:17
like the pr execs and the producers loved it so much they using the
48:21
advertise material. As we talked about, I think, like I want to
48:24
kind of pivot off of your question and just just really reiterate, like how
48:30
many great things that Qoran himself brought to the franchise. So many things that
48:36
he changed that they kept and they they that and they stuck with. Like
48:40
he brought in a costume designer that stayed for the rest of the franchise,
48:45
and you know, he redesigned not completely, but like you can't spend less
48:52
time in their robes, like they actually have their own clothes. He said
48:57
that he wanted to bring more individuality to the kids and it worked. And
49:00
he also said that the kids could basically wear the uniforms however they wanted,
49:05
so, like if they wanted to loose tie or untucked pants or you know,
49:07
like anything like that, just to make it feel modernized without being trendy.
49:13
And that's what I really appreciate. And also like where Haggart's hut is
49:17
and how it was designed and the womping willow and the locate like in this
49:22
movie, Hogwarts feels much more connected to itself as opposed to just here we
49:28
are here, here, we are here, here, we are there and
49:31
not that yeah, and not that jk Relly didn't have it laid out,
49:36
but it kind of yeah, it definitely feels like like, oh, you
49:39
know what, we should probably like actually map out where all the stuff is.
49:45
In the third movie, like actually have a plan, like not that
49:49
they didn't in the in the first two, but like it, like you
49:52
said, they it it clicked. It clicked in this movie in a different
49:59
way. What I really give this film credit for, and I'm not even
50:02
talking about it in the context of the franchise, but I'm talking about it
50:06
in the context of just a film in and of itself, is there's a
50:08
real sense of place. I know where I am in relation to other things
50:14
throughout the entire thing. I'm not even going to mention the first two films
50:16
or the films afterward or anything like that. I know where everything is.
50:21
I feel like I could walk around the grounds of Hogwarts and know where stuff
50:24
is after I watched this film, and there is that is a lot of
50:30
credits Quiron, and I think that also Quiron plugs in in his own way
50:38
to different things because the sixth book is being written while this is being filmed,
50:45
and I think that he plugs into the wavelength enough that That's why if
50:50
I were to point at a film where it feels like the vibe of what's
50:57
to come manifests itself, it's in this film. And I think it winds
51:02
up being just absolute lightning in a bottle. The Quiron, even though he
51:07
did not originally want to direct the film, winds up being the perfect director
51:13
to come in and just grab hold of it and turn it in the direction
51:16
it needs to go, because I think that it's going down a very specific
51:21
direction. As Columbus is at the helm and then they're boxed in, Columbus
51:29
is like, I don't want to direct anymore. They go through all these
51:30
names, they wind up with Quaron and he just it's just a synchronicity.
51:37
It's just absolutely perfect that he's the one that comes in and gives the driving
51:44
direction to the rest of the franchise. And Darren, I know you want
51:46
to say something I'm sorry for. No. No, yeah, I wanted
51:50
to transition like what you were saying about the sense of place. And I
51:53
think that also was very important because that lends itself to the time travel aspect,
52:01
because you know where you are, you know where you've been. You
52:06
know that when there's the moment when Harry and Harmione are kind of where those
52:13
rock pillars are looking down on Hagrid's hut, that only works because we know
52:17
that that is right there above where they were before and we've gone up and
52:22
down that path earlier in the film, and so yeah, to talk about
52:29
the time drive for a moment, this movie pulls it off so well.
52:34
And I love these kinds of movies. I don't know the exact term predestination
52:37
or whatever, but it's the kind of time travel where you don't actually change
52:43
the past. It's already happened. You've already gone through the past. We
52:46
just didn't see it as the observer of the audience. Harry and Harmione already
52:52
went back and they were there outside his hut, and they threw the shells
52:58
to alert themselves that already happened, but they had to do it anyway,
53:04
and it's I love that, and that is hard to pull off without it
53:07
being confusing, without losing where you are and then it all and it helps
53:15
you have Hermione along for the ride, being like no, no, you
53:16
can't go over there, or no, no, we have to be here
53:20
because you're over there right now and we're about to do this, like kind
53:23
of leading Harry our viewpoint as the audience through time travel, because she's obviously
53:30
an expert at this point. But Tristan, what did you think of the
53:35
closed time loop of Prisoner Azkaban. I feel like it it doesn't get enough
53:39
praise because it is such a great aspect of the film. I love it.
53:44
It's actually one of my favorite pieces in the entire franchise. I think
53:49
it's so well done. It's really interesting. It doesn't feel repetitive, even
53:52
if it is, because they do the perspective so well, and I love
53:57
I love that line and I love it even more noing that it was ad
54:00
libbed when Emma Watson says, is that what my hair looks like from the
54:04
back? Like? Apparently Kwan loved it so much that he kept it in
54:07
the film. And apparently Emma Watson and Quorn got along so well that she
54:13
like this is when Koran had long hair. She would like braid it and
54:17
and and play with it during between in between takes. And I just love
54:22
hearing those kind of stories because it's just nice when you hear a director and
54:25
a child actor get along so well. But No, I absolutely love it,
54:30
Darren, I really do. And I think it's it's really well done.
54:32
And I love the idea of closed loop time travel and movies when they
54:38
can really pull it off, because I think they there was one like in
54:43
the show TV show Lost, they really hit that home where they're like,
54:46
no, no, you don't understand we're going to do this. It's already
54:51
happened. We can't change time, even if we go back in time,
54:54
because we've already done it. You know. It's just like it's it's such
54:58
a you know, you know, like it screws with your head. I
55:00
love it. So we've spent a lot of time talking about what we love
55:07
about the film, and I get a sense of positivity having to do with
55:15
our reaction to it. So I'm not going to be labor it with an
55:19
extra question. But instead, Darren, you're going to be the first person
55:22
that I level my wand at and say expect to review them. And I
55:29
want to know, you know, naturally on a five star scale, which
55:34
will never change, It will never be outdated to say our five star scale.
55:38
There will never be another scale of film ever introduced. Where does Harry
55:45
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban fall? And while you're going along, any
55:51
negative things that we might have glossed over while we were talking about our praise
55:54
of the film, Yeah, I mean I give it a five. It's
56:00
I mean many people call it the best of the Harry Potter movies for all
56:05
the things we said about Quorn establishing things that would be far reaching even into
56:10
the books that were, you know, still being written at this point,
56:15
pulling off time travel, establishing new characters new to the part of the story,
56:22
like you know, and doing it well. It's it doesn't feel like
56:29
a sequel movie. It doesn't even feel like a Saga movie, because again,
56:32
here's someone who's coming in and making changes, but their fingerprints are all
56:37
over it. They made it their own, but we're still within the wheelhouse
56:40
to not be like, oh remember when that director came in and it was
56:44
like, boy, that was left field, like RoboCop three, It was
56:47
PG thirteen, Why did they think that would work? But yeah, but
56:53
as far as negatives, so I can't really think of he gave it a
56:59
five. Yeah, don't torture yourself when out here, twist yourself with the
57:05
knots here. It's fun to watch. Again, I didn't watch the credits.
57:10
Was this the one? This is the Marauders map one? Right?
57:14
Yes? Yes, okay, so I mean, gosh, just the mad
57:16
map, Like the visual effects of that are gorgeous and the credits are probably
57:22
the best in the franchise. I love the Marauder map credits. They're so
57:25
fun. Yeah, I think we need all all credits should be Marauder map
57:32
credits. So that's a five from Darren Tristan. Why are you going to
57:38
immediately spoil the chance of another five? Where do you land with Harry Potter
57:45
and The Prisoner of Azkaban? I give this a very, very solid and
57:51
respectable four stars. I think this is a great film. This is my
57:55
second favorite Harry Potter film, and I think it's extremely well done. For
58:00
all the reasons that we stated, I can't give it five stars because even
58:07
though I praised her in Your Heart, even though I even though I praise
58:13
the style and I praise Koran's direction, there are times when I think he
58:16
takes it too far. I think he takes his style too far. It's
58:20
funny because Gilmore del Toro is the one who convinced him to do it.
58:24
You know, when del Toro decided to do hell Boy instead, and they're
58:28
friends, and he said, he's like, He's like, go read the
58:30
books, go watch the other movies, just do it right now. And
58:34
then when Kworn accepted it, he said, He's like, okay, cool,
58:37
now do what you do, but tone it down. And I agree
58:43
that this is toned down, but not really. And and so there's certain
58:50
times when I'm like when I was watching the theater, I was just like,
58:52
really, we're gonna move the camera right now. We're gonna move the
58:55
camera right now. Okay, we're still moving it. We're still moving it.
59:00
Oh, you're gonna do an iris out Okay, all right, we're
59:02
doing an iris out again. Okay, all right, that's weird. Oh
59:06
we're gonna do a freeze frame for the last one, like a like an
59:09
eighties hero show. Okay, only negative part is the freeze frame at the
59:14
end. It is it is atrocious, but yes, okay, And so
59:19
I think that that's the thing, and that that's when I was kind of
59:23
like, Okay, no, this is a great film. I love this
59:25
movie, but it's not it's not five stars. Actually, none of the
59:29
Harry Potter films are five stars for me personally, Like I have four films
59:34
that are four stars in and the only one that's four and a half is
59:38
my favorite film, which is the last one, definitely Hallows Part two.
59:45
So that leaves me and as much as it pains me, I'm gonna have
59:51
to agree with Tristan that this is a four. But my perspective on why
59:54
it's a four is because I think the Quiron is shack Gold for lack of
1:00:00
meta word, from all the setup he has to do in the beginning.
1:00:04
I think that once everything gets going, Quorn the band he owns it and
1:00:10
this is his film, so like, if this was his third movie,
1:00:14
if he'd done the first two, he'd be like, yes, off the
1:00:16
charts. I agree, yes, Well, I think with all the movies,
1:00:20
I'm kind of like, let's just get to Hogwarts. Just get to
1:00:22
Hogwarts. That's all we want to do. Just get to Hogwarts. Yeah,
1:00:25
I will give him credit that of the three up to this point,
1:00:30
the time of the Dursleys, the Dursley's works in the books, and it's
1:00:36
always difficult for me in the films. And I'm not doing that to be
1:00:39
like, oh, well, the books are better sort of thing. It's
1:00:42
just there are times where I come back and I revisit these and I see
1:00:47
Harriet the Dursleys, and the Dursleys are detritus. They're terrible people. I
1:00:53
dislike them so much. That's why I thought it was so refreshing with Goblet
1:00:58
of Fire when we didn't get them at the beginning. Yes, we got
1:01:00
a completely different kind of opening. I was like, oh cool, all
1:01:02
right, nice film just works different than books. And I think that that
1:01:08
this is the best one of the first three openings where it's like spending time
1:01:14
with the Dursleys, because it does it in a fast enough manner but still
1:01:19
conveys what a holes they are and Harry has a sense of power about himself
1:01:25
in it. I really hate the way the second film opens this one.
1:01:30
I really like the whole idea that Harry is practicing magical in it, Like
1:01:35
there's so many there's very much a quirnish wink at the camera about what's going
1:01:40
on in that bedroom in the beginning, with Harry being an adolescent and stuff
1:01:45
like that with his like he's looking at a dirty magazine. Like there's a
1:01:50
very looking at a dirty magazine sort of thing. I think you're bringing your
1:01:53
own perspective. I'm not vibe because it didn't get it in the the whole
1:02:00
thing. I got like flashlight with a comic book thing, That's what I
1:02:04
got with a comic book. Okay, anyway, doing something you're not supposed
1:02:09
to do. After I'm I'm I'm, I'm I'm saved. I'm a Christian.
1:02:12
So I don't know about you, but you know, all of your
1:02:15
personal decisions mean nothing. But anyway, I give this a four, and
1:02:19
I go there and I give this a four. It's a very enjoyable four.
1:02:22
It's very good for but it really does. This is the part of
1:02:28
being part of a franchise where it doesn't serve Quiron is that he has to
1:02:34
go through all of the set up in the beginning. I think that that
1:02:38
is I want to watch first three all by Quiron. Oh my gosh,
1:02:43
that would be amazing. I would watch that. I think, Well,
1:02:45
you're said it earlier that he the Quiron he's not made for the first one.
1:02:51
I don't know, but no, I said he intended to make the
1:02:53
fourth one, which I think is really interesting. Oh yeah, that's true.
1:02:58
He intended to make the fourth one because the but he wanted apparently like
1:03:01
if you want to direct the next one, you can't focus on post production.
1:03:06
And he says, He's like, I can't not focus on post production.
1:03:08
He's like he had to see his film all the way to the end,
1:03:12
which of course, but you know with Chris Columbus when he did it,
1:03:15
when he did the first one to the second one, he was prepping
1:03:20
the second one. He couldn't focus on post production. The producers and the
1:03:22
editor did it. Yeah, I H well, either way we have a
1:03:30
four, a four and five. But Darren, because Tristan absolutely loves the
1:03:35
way that you lay out spells. What is it that we're going to view
1:03:39
next week here in the House of Quiron. Well, next week we'll be
1:03:44
going to two thousand and six with a little indie film you may have heard
1:03:47
of it called Children of Men. Here on house lights, Join the Revolution,
1:03:54
Join the net Party.