Harry Potter: Damn Good

Jackie Mason | November 17, 2002
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Matthew Preston | November 17, 2002
I will agree that it was a good movie, worth going to see, and that it was better than Chamber of Secrets. It seemed more mature and a bit more serious.
 
My cousin insisted that we see it opening day, so I insisted that we see it at the earliest possible showing (11am). By the time it started, it was packed with children... children that should have been in school. Seeing the 11am showing was my reasoning for not having to sit through it with kids. So what happened? THEY BUSSED THEM IN FOR A FIELD TRIP! What the hell?! Not once did I get this cool of a field trip througout my school career. I feel totally cheated. The best I ever got didn't come until junior year of high school.... a trip to Great America for Physics class.... and that still involved taking measurement on the rides, etc. Sheesh.
 
I also find it funny that the government is so obsessed with keeping religion out of schools, and Harry Potter is being blasted by some religions as satanic.

Anna Gregoline | November 17, 2002
I feel cheated too. Since when does a field trip involve going to the movies?!? I find that a little sick. I bet parents hastily signed permission slips though, then THEY didn't have to go.

Jackie Mason | November 17, 2002
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Anna Gregoline | November 17, 2002
Performing at least has some merit. My high school had a Great America field trip for seniors, but you had to have a good grade point average. And Washington DC is educational, mostly.

Scott Hardie | November 18, 2002
Will comment on the movie after I see it...

The field trips aren't completely out of line. Kids of all ages watch movies in class when the teacher gets lazy, and going to the theater to see it is better than on those crappy old TV-carts anyway. :-) I read that they were doing these same field trips last year for the first movie, and it's because so many kids were going to stay home "sick" to go to the movie with their parents, so the schools just decided to take everybody on a field trip. Wouldn't it be great if a kid cut school to see it, and wound up in the same theater as the rest of his class on the field trip? :-)

Btw Matt, why did your cousin insist on seeing this movie on opening day? This movie doesn't sound like him. Unless I'm thinking of the wrong cousin.

Matthew Preston | November 18, 2002
Same cousin you are thinking of. He is dazzled by special effects is all I can figure. He was really into it. I enjoyed the day out because this to me is the beginning of the holiday movie season. So many films I am looking forward too.

K. R. | November 18, 2002
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Scott Hardie | November 18, 2002
Heh. I'm surprised my American History teacher didn't make us sit through Ken Burns's "The Civil War" to blow an entire month. :-)

Anna Gregoline | November 19, 2002
I think I win. I had a teacher in high school who showed excerpts of "Fievel Goes West" in American History class, to teach the Western Expansion. No joke.

Scott Hardie | November 23, 2002
Okay, now that I've finally seen the movie... Was it just me or was this movie too slow? Many parts seemed to just drag on unnecessarily. For a movie that's 2 hours and 40 minutes, not a whole lot actually happens. Jackie, if you liked this, then I recommend you see the first film; it fit much more movie into fewer minutes. It was more juvenile, yes, but a lot more fun. If a movie has to be serious, it should at least be thrilling, but this one just seemed to me to be flat and boring. The sets, costumes, and special effects were all good, though, and the acting was surprisingly good. Kenneth Branagh rules.

Btw, just to gripe: I sat in front of a group of kids, one of whom had read the book and at the start of every scene, told her friends what was about to happen. She ignored me when I told her to shut up, but her friends finally succeeded about halfway through. It still deflated the first half of the movie for me, though. Why did I avoid all spoilers in advance just to get them in my seat in the theater?

Jackie Mason | November 23, 2002
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Scott Hardie | November 30, 2002
Dude, Harry Potter got old. Soon he'll be doing Boost Mobile commercials.

Jackie Mason | December 4, 2002
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