Movies | Amy C. Shaw

Double Book & Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

February 1, 2015 • 17 Comments

As you may recall, I am reading Harry Potter FOR THE FIRST TIME and then watching the corresponding movie after each book. So far, I really enjoyed books 1 & 3, thought 2 was decent but felt it suffered from being formulaic, and that I have not been overly thrilled with any of the movie adaptations, but the third has been my least favorite of those so far.

Now I have great news: So far, The Goblet of Fire is my favorite Harry Potter book AND movie!

The Book

This is when the books start getting long, 700+ pages, and I can’t deny that it was intimidating (my longest read last year was 562 pages). However, I hoped with a longer book we would get a lot more details and action. I won’t say that 700+ pages delivered significantly more than the previous books with only 300ish pages in terms of how much happened (well, before the really intense stuff, obviously), but the pacing was usually on point (I did find it lagging or sort of odd in a few spots), and I did like the development. And just like Azkaban, those last few chapters were like OMGOMGOMG for me. I mean seriously, when a certain person met a certain fate and crap was going down I’m pretty sure I said something out loud, like WHAT, or ARE YOU SERIOUS, or who knows what, but the point is I was really into it. It was the point I feel I have been waiting for, that turning point in the series everyone talks about. The book has some flaws, but I really loved this story and just devoured that ending.

Also, Hermione is still my favorite. She’s so much more reasonable than everyone else.

The Movie

Thank goodness, finally, the script didn’t feel strange! There were several added lines that were seriously funny, I liked the addition of more Neville, the omission of the house elves and their subplot, and the things that were changed or condensed actually made sense this time (except I think we could have used a few more minutes of The World Cup and The Dark Mark stuff at the beginning. I like that we skipped the Dursleys entirely though!).

You know what else didn’t feel strange? The directing! I think maybe only once I thought someone was staged awkwardly, and it was far less egregious than the previous movies. I mean seriously, despite my production background, I only think about the direction of a movie/show if it truly stands out, either for being awful or for being great, and the Harry Potter movies have made me think way too much about directing in a not good way. Until now, finally. I know the director changes yet again so I hope I will be as happy with the last few films as I was with this one. At the very least, maybe the screenwriter is finally getting the hang of adapting the books to script.

I will say that this movie gets a 4 for being a worthy adaptation, but I feel I can’t give it higher since it can’t replace the book and I don’t know how many times I would rewatch it on its own.Alright, The Order of the Phoenix is next, about an extra 100 pages, and I know stuff is just going to keep going down. Bring on the action, the drama, and the teenage angst (seriously, these kids are starting to get moody)!

What are your thoughts on The Goblet of Fire (book and/or movie)?

My Top Ten 2014 Movies

January 15, 2015 • 6 Comments

I saw 13 movies that were released in 2014, and there are still a few I really want to see that might have made this list had I already seen them, but I was ready to write this post before 2014 seemed too far gone.

10. Divergent

This was a pretty decent adaptation of a book that I enjoyed. It does not stand out greatly for me, but only garnered a few small complaints from me, the biggest being the lack of character development for Caleb.

#9 on My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

9. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The last film of the Hobbit trilogy just confirmed our suspicions that one book really did not need to be stretched thin into three movies. There was a LOT of action in this film, some of which was really interesting, but did it warrant a whole entire movie unto itself? Not really. The-Hobbit-Five-Armies #6 on My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

*Tie* 8. Non-Stop

This was a Redbox rental that ended up really surprising me. It was almost literally non-stop with action and intensity that had me hooked all the way through.

Did not make My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

*Tie* 8. Guardians of the Galaxy

I had low expectations for this movie, despite the fact that it was Marvel, because honestly, the trailer seemed to be aimed towards 10 year old boys. I was surprised that I grew to care about this group of misfits-turned-unlikely-heroes and that my favorite characters ended up being a tree and a raccoon. Also, the space shots were very epic. Not a new favorite, but worth a watch.

Did not make My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

I rated Non-Stop higher than Guardians of the Galaxy, but the latter has the rewatchable factor going for it, which is why I decided to declare it a tie between the two.

6. How To Train Your Dragon 2

I actually haven’t completely forgiven this movie for getting so dang dark. I mean, it’s supposed to be a kid’s movie! I did LOVE seeing Hiccup and Astrid more grown up and being back in their world, but yeah, I just feel it got way too dramatic. Dang sequels.

#3 on My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

5. Edge of Tomorrow

This was another Redbox rental that surprised me. I was worried this one might get a little too repetitive like I felt Vantage Point did, but instead I was engaged the whole time and came to care about their characters. I don’t know how much I want to rewatch it, but I did really enjoy it.

Did not make My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

4. X-Men: Days of Future Past

This storyline is slightly convoluted, but I forgive it because I love seeing the old and new meet. Days of Future Past and First Class have really been head and shoulders above the previous three X-Men movies.

#7 on My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

The Three-Way Tie For #1 (Seriously, Don’t Make Me Choose)

Most Rewatchable: Captain America: The Winter Solider

Watching Agents of SHIELD up to the point of The Winter Soldier, watching this movie, and then watching Agents of SHIELD since then has been a really cool experience. Never before have I known of a movie to build up to something that would happen in a movie, and then for the repressions to immediately continue the next week on the TV show. That, my friends, is taking great advantage of various storytelling avenues.

But The Winter Soldier also stands well apart from the show as a part of the Marvel cinematic universe, and I have no doubt what we saw there will lead to Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since I rewatch the Marvel movies pretty frequently, there’s no doubt I will watch this one again many more times, and as of now, it’s definitely one of my favorites of the franchise.

#2 on My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

Most Profound: Interstellar

This is one of those movies that makes you think about life on levels that you just don’t normally go to. That’s why I love Christopher Nolan’s films in general, and he really took it to a whole new level with Interstellar. I have some small complaints about how much the story flirted way too much with the fine line between interesting sci-fi and a little-too-far-out-there sci-fi, but all-in-all, this movie was an experience. The visuals were beautiful, the acting was incredible, and oh how it gave me feels.

(Also, as a follow-up on my comments on my Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 post about this movie, I did really like Topher Grace in this movie, but I did also discover after that post but before watching this movie that I didn’t dislike Topher so much when I watched That 70’s Show, for whatever reason.)

#5 on My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

Best Mix of Rewatchable & Profoundness: Mockingjay Part One

While I wouldn’t consider Mockingjay quite as rewatchable as The Winter Solider or nearly as profound as Interstellar, it does have a good mix of these factors. It’s not as action-packed as the previous Hunger Games installments; it feels much more quiet as it explores the depths of Katniss’s PTSD in a way that I honestly didn’t connect with quite as deeply in the book. I have mad respect for Francis Lawrence taking what I feel is the weakest book of the trilogy and turning the material into a really poignant film, and I believe he will do the same again for Part Two.

#1 on My Most Anticipated Movies of 2014 list

What were you favorite movie releases of 2014?

Movie Reviews: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies & Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

January 5, 2015 • 4 Comments

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

The Hobbit simply should not have been made into three movies. One would have sufficed, two at most. Three was just ridiculous.

I had some big problems with the second movie, mainly the overly-dramatic and poorly produced barrel escape scene and the ridiculous “cliffhanger” ending that cut the movie off before a climax even hit. The third movie is just a continuation of the overblown nature of the trilogy, but at least it does not have as many frustrating moments.

The movie begins with what easily could have been and should have been the ending of the second movie. Within 10 to 15 minutes, we finally see Smaug meet his demise. And then the rest of the movie carries on with a completely different tone. Dear Editor of The Hobbit Trilogy, why in the heck couldn’t you have cut a few minutes from movie 2 and included the first 10 minutes of this movie at the end of the last movie? Signed, Everyone. It makes no sense.

I feel at least an hour and a half (but possibly more) of this 144 minute long movie was battle sequences. I usually get bored with non-stop action/fighting sequences within 20 minutes, so kudos to Peter Jackson for actually keeping me engaged in these fighting sequences, but I have to say I would be surprised if I will retain such interest upon a rewatch of the film.

And then there’e that dang love triangle again that is crazy ridiculous…

And in the end, this movie did not leave me with the same satisfaction as The Return of the King. It was just a showy display of CGI (it’s not as bad in this movie as it was in the second, but the LOTR movies seriously look better than The Hobbit movies do) and drawn-out storytelling. It has its good moments, but for the love of New Zealand and second breakfast, don’t do this to us again, Peter Jackson.

Rating: I gave this one 3.5 stars on Letterboxd, but I think I felt obligated to do so because that’s what I rated the second one and this one made me less upset. I’ll have to rewatch both before I can determine if both ratings hold up.

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban

Though at first I thought this book felt too much like the first two (especially considering everyone said this was the book where the series got better), the ending certainly set-up for something more promising. I was less than impressed with the way the first two movies adapted the book, and was hoping with the change in direction would come a better adaptation. Um, not so much. If anything, the direction was MORE awkward. And the screenplay was again very awkward in which parts were omitted from the film (like there is no zero explanation about Buckbeak’s trial, Hagrid just suddenly talks about it).

And while I think Gary Oldman is a great actor, his portrayal of Sirius Black felt way off base. I was very unhappy with the way he came off, and the epic stand-off in the book fell so flat in the movie. Then there was the movie ending on a ridiculous freeze frame of Harry… that alone deserves at least half a star knocked off the rating.

And what was up with The Knight Bus sequence? It felt totally bizarre and nothing like the book. And all those shrunken heads? Where the heck did that come from?!

I don’t hate everything about this movie… I still like our main three characters in the movie, particularly Hermione. I just really hope with the next movie and another change in director, maybe Goblet of Fire will launch a better era in Harry Potter adaptations? (Just looked at the next director’s resume… hmmm… not sure about that either…)

Rating: 3 stars

What are your thoughts on the ending of The Hobbit Trilogy? How do you feel about how The Prisoner of Azkaban was adapted?

The Famous People Tag!

December 27, 2014 • 6 Comments

Charlene @ Bookish Whimsy tagged me to do this Famous People Tag (like a million years ago, ha), created by Naomi @ Wonderland Creek.

The Rules:

Put up the ‘famous people tag button’ and link back to the person who tagged you
Answer the questions
Tag the ten last people who commented on your blog (excluding anonymytes or the person who tagged you) (NOTE: I personally also excluded people who are not frequent readers of my blog or that don’t have their own blog. This was also the last 4 commenters who fit the above criteria as of 9 PM CST on Christmas night. Did I just say 4? Yes, because I’m lazy. But seriously, you can do this even if you aren’t “officially” tagged!)

1. Who’s your favorite singer/group?

My all-time fave (meaning they’ve been my fave for YEARS) is Switchfoot. I’ve been listening to them since high school, and my husband and I go see them every chance we get (which is usually about once every other year). Their music really just speaks to me in a way I can’t fully express.

I also have a couple of newer favorites that I’m really into these days, particularly Needtobreathe and Phillip Phillips. The latter’s second album, which released back in May, gets so much play time in my car because I just love every single song so much. His songs make me want to go on road trips and write great books.

2. If your favorite male actor was in the same room as you right now, what would your reaction be?

First, I’m trying to decide who my favorite male actor is… probably Christian Bale. So, it would probably take me several minutes to psych myself up to talk to him, freaking out silently to myself, “Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, it’s Christian Bale, I have to speak to him, breathebreathebreathe.” Then I would hopefully have succeeded in psyching myself up enough to approach him, casually introduce myself (though I would probably be really shaky with nerves!), let him know how much I love him in Nolan’s films and Little Women (ha ha), and ask for a picture. And then I would probably die after it was all over.

3. Is there a famous person you used to love but (due to something they have done in their life) you’ve suddenly changed your mind?

I do sometimes like celebrities a little less when I learn things about them, but I learned well over a decade ago to not put any human being on a pedestal, because they will disappoint you. So yes, there was a time when that happened, but not recently, and not with anyone super famous.

4. Name a famous person you like who’s name starts with a V.

Vin Diesel? First person to come to mind… don’t love him but I like him well enough.

vin-diesel-6a — He is Groot. (couldn’t resist)

5. What’s one of your favorite red-carpet dresses?

Like Charlene I had to do a search, and I rediscovered this classic beauty of a dress that Emma Watson wore that I remember seeing before. The back of the dress is my favorite part.

6. Who’s your favorite Royal person?

Could it be anyone other than Kate? Maybe little George; he’s cute. But I love Kate. She’s like the epitome of every girl’s dream.

7. Who’s your favorite child actor/actress?

This is a hard question because you think someone is a child, you blink, and suddenly they’re not a child anymore! As far as someone who was a child actress, I thought Dakota Fanning was always amazing as she was growing up on screen. For someone who is a child now, well, I don’t actually know, but I’ll go with Mackenzie Foy who played 10 year old Murph in Interstellar because she was great. Oh, or the little girl who played Cossette in Les Mis. Adorbs.

8. Are there any actors/actresses whose private lives you like?

I don’t think I know of any of their lives well enough to have much thoughts about them, though it looks like RDJ has fun with Tony Stark-esque cars.

9. Do you think that the actors/actresses have improved these last 100 years?

I’m just going to quote Charlene’s answer because I think she said it well: “Like Maggie talked about in her post, I think our perception of the quality of acting has changed over the years as our perception of quality writing and production values have changed. What was amazing back then, wouldn’t cut it now, but it was still quality at the time. And actors are still wielding the same kind of skills, but it might come across differently now. There is subtlety and nuance in performances regardless of time.”

10. What’s the weirdest famous-people name?

A lot of famous people give their kids weird names, but one of the weirdest names of a celebrity him/herself that stands out to be is Topher Grace. I mean, his name sounds like Gopher. Apparently his name is actually Christopher but he didn’t want to go by that or Chris so… there you go. Actually, now that I think about it, the weirdest is Ochocinco. Really, dude?

11. Do you think you look like a famous person? Which one(s)?

Not really.

12. Share your favorite famous-person quote.

Does C.S. Lewis count? He said so many of my favorite things. I don’t think I can choose just one.

13. Who’s your favorite dancer?

I’m afraid I don’t have a favorite famous dancer…

14. Why is your favorite actress your favorite one? When did you decide that she was your favorite?

Looks like I’m deciding right now, because I’m not sure who to pick, HA. *Thinks* *Puts this post in drafts* *Opens post and thinks more* I stil l don’t know, honestly. It used to be Keira Knightley, largely because of Pride and Prejudice. I still like her pretty well, I just feel I don’t watch many of her newer movies these days. Lately I have been liking Hayley Atwell, or basically just Peggy Carter. 🙂

15. Have you ever met/seen/been close to a famous person?

Did you see my Leigh Bardugo post?! That was exciting! I’ve been to some Star Trek conventions so I’ve met/seen/been close to some Star Trek actors, the most well-known being William Shatner (though I did not meet him). And I met a well-known Christian artist, Michael W. Smith, at a wedding once! That was a neat experience because it was so unexpected.

The last 4 people who have commented on my blog and met the above criteria, and thus are tagged, are Kayla @ The Thousand Lives, Kelley @ Oh the Books, Alise @ Picture Us Reading & Those Who Geek, and Val @ Innocent Smiley. And anyone who is interested! If you feel so inclined, fill this out and share it on your blog!

My Top 10 Movie Anticipations for 2015

December 19, 2014 • 17 Comments

Hopefully early next month I’ll be ready to reveal the rankings of the movies I saw this year (it looks like so far I’ve seen 10 2014 releases, but I want to squeeze in a few more before I make that post), but for now I want to continue my tradition of sharing my most anticipated films for the upcoming year. It’s interesting to go back and look at the lists; my most anticipated films do tend to be ones I see and enjoy, but sometimes I end up not seeing something, being disappointed, or end up enjoying a movie I was unaware of when I made the list. But based on what I know now, here’s what I look forward to seeing in 2015…

10. Tomorrowland, Coming May 2015

This one looks interesting and it’s directed by Brad Bird, and I love not only his work with Pixar but also Mission: Impossible 4, so I’m hoping it’ll be good!

9. Kingsman: The Secret Service, Coming February 2015

This movie just looks like fun to me, and feels like it could be the premise of a YA novel.

8. The Jungle Book, Coming October 2015

So I was gonna be all like… “OMG, this movie’s going to be awesome because Benedict Cumberbatch is voicing Shere Khan!” and then I checked the IMDB page and found out it’s actually Idris Elba. Don’t get me wrong, I like Idris Elba and I think he’ll do a great job, but where did that come from? Was the Benny (I have no idea why I just typed that as his name) thing a rumor? Did he drop out? Did I just make that up in my head? Well, whatever, I’m still looking forward to seeing more about this one. Jon Favreau is directing (he did the first two Iron Man films) so that’ll be interesting.

*EDIT* I have been informed there is a 2017 Jungle Book with Benedict Cumberbatch and Christian Bale and Andy Serkis and Cate Blanchett so now that is really the one I am looking forward to! But hopefully this one will still be good. Though why two Jungle Book movies in two years?

7. Ant-Man, Coming July 2015

About all I know is that Paul Rudd is playing a character named Ant-Man and this is a Marvel movie so yeah… I’m hoping it will be great, but I would like more details! (Oh, and Peggy Carter’s in it! That’s always a win!)

6. Mission: Impossible 5, Coming December 2015

There is no revealed plot for this movie yet, but I really, really liked M:I 4, way more than the first three M:I movies (though I do like them fine, some more than others), and I’m hoping this one will be just as strong. At least Jeremy Renner’s character is back (and Luther and Benji!), yay!

5. Peanuts, Coming June 2015

As long as I can remember I have had a deep love for the Peanuts so yes, I will be watching this, and I will probably (hopefully) love it.

4. Inside Out, Coming June 2015

First off, thanks to Maggie @ Macaroons & Paperbacks to tipping me off on this film before I started seeing stuff about it on Facebook, but FINALLY we’re getting a Pixar film that isn’t a freaking sequel! I just hope it turns out better than Brave… not my favorite.

3. Mockingjay: Part Two, Coming November 2015

I will probably cry all the tears, but I need to see Peeta be OK and Katniss finally love him.

2. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Coming December 2015

Um, because it’s Star Wars. I think this will be good. Allow me to be nerdy here for a moment… I’m just a tiny bit mad at JJ for what he did with the Star Trek timeline, though it IS an alternate universe and the films have a very wide appeal, both which I am grateful for, but also I do think it was rude of him to kill the Star Wars extended universe because of this film. But really, do you think this will be worse than Jar Jar? No, it won’t. I think it looks interesting (hello fun droids and strange lightsabers and helmetless Stormtroopers!) I’m looking forward to it!

1. Avengers: Age of Ultron, Coming May 2015

I have no words for this. I need to see this movie now.

Honorable Mentions: Insurgent (does the trailer make anyone else question if this is actually based off the book or not?) and Cinderella. I’m also mildly curious about Minions, Jupiter Ascending, Pan, and Jurassic World. I know everyone’s freaking out about seeing Chris Pratt with dinosaurs but I’m not particularly in love with either. Besides, I’ve only seen about 85% of one of the Jurassic Park movies and I don’t even know which one it was.

What 2015 movies are you eagerly anticipating?

Category Archives: Movies

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