Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer
If someone had told me seven years ago that the future movies would improve from those first two plodding, slow-as-molasses Chris Colombus-directed Harry Potter movies, I would have said “Bollocks!”
But here we are into the sixth one, and the teaser actually promises it’ll be good. Although I’ve read the books, I’m not particularly invested in seeing the movies reflect the books. What works on paper doesn’t always work on film, and the worst thing you can do to an adaptation is to get so invested in those tiny little details that you miss the overarching theme and arcs. Thus far, I’ve found the 3rd (the Alfonso Cuaran-directed Azkaban) and the 5th (the David Yates-directed Order of the Phoenix) to be the most compelling of the series. And hey, creepy little Voldemort (played by the nephew of Ralph Fiennes) looks to be as good a time as creepy big Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
Cheek by Jowl
I’ve always loved Vulture, but only recently started paying more attention to their regular features. My new favorite is Cheek by Jowl. The most recent entry compares LOTR to the Fountain, which is being developed by the same New Line guys (Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne) who backed LOTR. I’ve never read the Fountain, but based on this chart – no wonder why people call it the most impossible trilogy to develop into a script.
This Guy’s Going To Have Identity Issues
This was in Tara Ariano’s “Freak Animals” series, and it takes the cake. It’s a monkey? A piglet? An ape? A Guillermo Del Toro creation that he’ll use in his next movie? Oh, you know he would love any excuse to introduce something like this into The Hobbit prequel.
What Girls Do
ThingsWhatThings wrote a very interesting post today about “What Girls Do.” Or more specifically, how girls speak and behave as opposed to boys in the classroom, and how that social conditioning can echo throughout your life, your career. I especially like the discussion of the “I think/I believe/I feel” paradigm. While these aren’t landmark observations, but she frames her argument very persuasively. And it never hurts to reassess and remind ourselves just how deep gender prejudices run.
The SYSW Index
Clever chart from the Vulture crew detailing what makes a “Show You Should Watch.”
Estelle Getty, R.I.P. 7/23
As much as I enjoyed the other three Golden Girls, wisecracking Sophia Petrillo was always my favorite. Ah hell, who are we kidding, I hope I AM Sophia when I get old. The actress who played her, Estelle Getty, passed away at 84 yesterday and the comedienne got a really sweet, sad send-off from the Fug Girls and Defamer. I especially love this classic quote:
“Sophia : She was most famous for her green salve to cure earaches. One day, she gave some to Salvadore, the village idiot. He misunderstood the directions and put in on his pasta instead…The stuff tasted great, so Salvadore decided to market it. At first, things didn’t go so well. Ear Salve on Pasta wasn’t very appetizing-but once he changed the name to pesto sauce, it sold like hot cakes!
Dorothy: Ma, you’re making this up!
Sophia : So what? I’m old, I’m supposed to be colorful.”
Oh Estelle Getty, you will be dearly missed.
Bambi Has Six Legs?
This is so freaky you just have to see for yourself – Tara Ariano’s post about mutant animals. Conjoined barn swallows, six-legged deer, 96-tentacled octopus? Whoa.
Seth Green on Conan, Cue Hilarity
