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Apparently Half-Blood Prince is Oscar Nomination Material?

by Alex Billington
July 3, 2009
Source: Hollywood.com

So says Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. I'm not supposed to tell you what I think of the new Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince just yet, but I can tell you I completely agree with what Paul said in his article. If you read my Twitter, then you probably already know what I thought of it. But let me use some of his quotes to explain. "The Potter-loving beast in me has been unleashed having witnessed a film that was not only exquisite in its production values, but was also charming, funny, scary, enchanting, moving (stop me, the adjectives could go on and on) and dare I say, sexy." Did I tell you that I wholly agree with him?

"Brilliantly directed by David Yates (he directed 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a tour-de-force that combines style and substance, special effects and heart and most importantly great performances from all of the actors young and not-so-young."

Paul speculates that with 10 Best Picture nomination slots, Harry Potter might have a chance. I absolutely loved Half-Blood Prince, potentially as my new favorite HP movie, but it's too early to tell (it needs time to soak in). And in case you think Paul is just another Potter fanboy, he actually says that before this one, they "were not my cup of tea." I really feel the exact same way about this one: "The cinematography, music, set design and costumes are all amazing, and the film has a truly rich look to it reminiscent of the best of the old-school Hollywood epics." So there you have it. On July 15th, you know exactly where you should be!

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Related categories: Discussion, Hype, Opinions

Itri

Spoilers I guess... Question (and I hope you can answer it Alex): Did they cut out Dumbledore's funeral from the movie? I really hope they didn't because that would be an amazing scene on-screen.
josh

finally. cuz the other ones blow i dont like any of the movies so far. i respect the books cuz they are beautifully written, but admit i never really got intot he stories. however, ALL of the movies were like made for tv production with no emotion and no ...art i am glad to hear that the new one will finally be worthy, hopefully, of the books' beauty
R2theL-O

#2 should not be able to leave anymore comments on this site.
Joshi

After hearing some bad things from people who attended a screening a few months back, I was slightly apprehensive about this. I'm happy to hear that you liked it this much. If it's as good as you say it is, hopefully Yates will being his A+ game to the final two films.
crumb

I agree with #3. The books are terribly written, no one denys that: it's the story and characters that sell it. I'm really excited for this movie. Even though I have to sneak into it, to get back at WB for pushing it back just to make some more money. That was BS.
Syphous

#5, you're so wrong. Those books were really well written.
Kevin

#5 must be thinking of the Twilight series...now THAT was some awful writing.
Cody

Stop arguing its all on opinion, you guys are acting like what you say about the books and movies is just pure fact. Also #3 theres been a slew of retarded ass people who shouldnt be able to post on this site and josh comes nowhere near them...stop acting like children. Personally I never really got into Harry Potter but I saw order of the phoenix with a friend and I was blown away by the FX might just rent me all of them and catch up on it.
Mark

Reading the 1st book to my son. I don't care for it (we're at Chapter 14), so far it seems like a kind of rip off of many prior (and better) stories I've read. The movie version of part one I have watched and thought it was lousy, so I never saw anything beyond that. I saw Harry Potter (with no prior exposure to the books) and Lord of the Rings: Fellowship within a month of one another when they came out in theatres. There was such an amazing difference in the quality and scope of the films, both from a script and cinematography standpoint, that I felt utterly repulsed by the Potter film by comparison. It's been explained to me that I should not compare the two films, for a myriad of reasons, but in the end they are both simply high-fantasy stories. And Tolkien's work is so much undeniably better, that the Potter story seems utterly redundant. It has been explained to me as well that the later Potter books are much more interesting than the first, so I do leave aside judgement there. But for me, when the 1st of 7 stories (or 8 in the case of the films) doesn't provide any compelling content, I don't normally make plans to invest in the remainder. Does anybody think I am really missing out?
NIce

Hey alex, did you see the "new" version of the film after the year of editing, and "fixing" it up, because i read some early reviews from last years pre screenings and these people hated it..... can you please comment on this
Kyle

Movie #3 was as close to a good movie as can be. See, my problem is that I expect adaptations to have some semblance to the book. I understand changes and tweaks. For example, I understood the use of mannequins in I am Legend to convey the mental state of Smith. But the ending of that movie completely and utterly had nothing to do with the book. I'd be hard pressed to say it could even be called an adaptation at that point. So it goes with the HP movies. I'm waiting for a good one and Yates didn't impress me with #5. It was better than #4 but a pile of steaming poo would be better than 4. In sum, I'm waiting for the remakes years from now. The ones directed by the kids who grew up reading it and not by those trying to cash in on the wave. Now, as for the writing quality of the books, I'm sure we'd all agree that Stephen King knows his stuff. Then I think it'd be important to point out that he has praised time and time again JK Rowling. On the other hand, he absolutely trashed Twilight.
Shige

#9 I really hope that you have actually read Tolkiens books. Even if Lotr movies are better you should have read the books because no matter how good the movies were (the first one game me some neck hair shrivels), books are just heavenly above anything a movie can possibly give a hint of. Tolkiens books have been voted for the best litterature piece of the 20th century for a reason. Potter is just a cash cow. Nothing more nothing less (PS I enjoyed HP but please... )
josh

(same Josh as above) Tolkien is my favorite author of all time. His writing is second to none. Potter is like an drop of ink that fell from Tolkien's pen and hit the dustly floor and was trampled over a bunch of times. In comparison to Tolkien, they are written poorly, but so it pretty much everything else. All I am saying is that they are written well for who she wants to read them. They captivate the reader. They interest him or her. That is all. That being said... the movies are awful. I hope this one is good.
josh

so is*
Al

i totally doubt that this is oscar material. the pictures that got everyone upset last year for being snubbed, were Wrestler, Walle, Dark Knight, Synecdoche New York, and Gran Torino. None of the Harry Potter films have ever reached such excellence as those pictures. Not even close.
http://hollywood.com Paul Dergarabedian

Thanks for digging my review. Let me know what you think after seeing the film. I get to see it again this week at the premiere in NYC. I am looking forward to it and hope my impressions are solidified on a second viewing...Paul
Narf

Movie number 3 is reference. Get Cuáron back, he's the man for the movies.
Duck Tape

I agree with #15. No chance for Potter - not even close! By the way - there are a lot of real good film adaptation based on books: "The Shawshank Redemption", "Stand by My", "To kill a mockingbird", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and so on. Of cause you have to shorten the storyline, you have to cut unnecessary characteres to press a whole book in a 2 hour movie. But the trick is to get the heart of the book. None of the Harry Potter films does that. The movies are not bad, not at all. They always had great visuals, nice music, good casting (most of characters) - but in the end I was always disapointed. I always had the strange feeling to watch just the synopsis of the book and not the actual book.
Bryan

I agree w/ #17 Alfonso Cuaron was seriously is the right man to direct the rest of the Potter franchise. I think it was really horrible the producers didn't invite him to come back. It would have saved us from the piece of shit that was HP5.
Fuelbot

Yates seems to have found the perfect middle ground between what Chris Columbus brought to life and Alfonso Cuaron brought to reality.
led display

I agree w/ #17
HARRY POTTER PAWNS ALL.

for all those who think the hp books are badly written, please go promptly suck an egg. they are amazing stories in amazing imaginative worlds with amazing characters and they are amazingly written. love the movies especially ootp and poa. but then again im a huge huge huge hp junkie so yeah.
Dylan

Um, Cuaron WAS invited to come back, he turned it down because he said he didn't want to do another one. Yates came back because he felt energized and loved the universe, and it's a damn good thing he did come back, as if there's a single director who understands these characters and stories, it's him.
Al

Yates misrepresents his film. In an entire he stated this one is all about, "Sex, magic, and rock and roll." I heavily doubt there will be sex in a PG wizard flick. So i am going out on a limb and saying Yates is a liar.
Dylan

No, he said "sex, drugs & rock 'n roll", which was a joke for the sensual content of the film, a potion that had a drug like effect on the user, and rock 'n roll for some of the general atmosphere surrounding certain characters that are reflected by the score of the film.
Al

Right, and then in that same statement he changed it to "magic." And of course its a joke, just not a very funny one.
viral

oscar or not i just want this movie to kick major ass... could this really be this years TDK? its got all the elements going for it... just saw the clip "attack on the burrow" and it is AMAZING... this movie is going to scare the living daylights out of most... or atleast i hope it will... the seventh book was kind of a lame let down... i want this movie to be the representative of the much loved harry potter series.
S

IMO, as someone who hasn't read the books, I've always felt like the movies aren't as fleshed out as they should be. I always feel like they assume if you're watching the movie you've read the books and it seems like there is a whole lot of backstory (probably covered in the books) that never makes it to the screen. And it's always struck me as weird that their whole world is going to shit but apparantly only while school is in. At the end of the movies they just go home on summer break! The last movie was the worst. I went and saw it in theaters (one of the hazards of dating a girl into these things) and walked out so f-ing confused. I almost borrowed the damn book just so I had some clue of what was happening. That being said, from the commercials it would seem that this movie will focus more on some of the backstory and help me understand the previous 5 movies.
Arcanus

Hasn't anyone heard the phrase "If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all"? If I don't start seeing comments that don't tear down what is being presented I will start bashing heads (meaning to start all out arguments). If someone has such 'high quality' taste then they should actually start watching how movies are made. A good number of the people who comment haven't spent 2 years or more of thier life working on the film, or even done the some of the smallest aspects that go into one. And heres the thing at critizing a movie, if you don't like or won't give it a chance, don't watch it. Skip the movie if you think you will be negative before or after it. To be a fair critic (which is almost absent now adays), do the background work and look up what you don't understand. If you don't want to your judging the movie based off what you understood from it and whether or not it was entertaining to you. Your say on the movie is purely opinion without facts from the movies original source. Listen, don't shout. "It pays to pay attention". Did I like the Harry Potter movies? Yes. Do I think they are incredible movies? No. Do I like them for thier elements? Yes. Do I hate or not like them? No. Good movies, not the best but better then the ones that never reach the theaters half the time. Not to mention better then a good number that do.