The last two Harry Potter films have been totally solid (though I still think Prisoner of Azkaban is the best). Clearly, this is because they have been directed by actual directors, as opposed to Chris Columbus, who made the first two.
Now, the Potter obsessives of The Leaky Couldron are reporting that Terry Gilliam may be directing the sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which would come out in the Summer of 2008. (Next summer will bring Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). This, if true, completely rules.
"IMDB has updated their site to list Terry Gilliam as the director for 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'. Readers will remember that in the past Mr. Gilliam has expressed interest in directing a Harry Potter film. While this editor would be thrilled if this were indeed the case, please remember everyone, this is still very early in the going, and this should very much remain in the rumor category for now."
For a while there, it had been rumored Gilliam was going to direct the first film. I believe he was J.K. Rowling's original choice, or some such thing, before the studio opted to give the franchise over to the genius what brung you Bicentennial Man. (In all fairness to CC, he is a better writer than director, having penned not one but two bonafide 80's classics: The Goonies and Gremlins. And, you know...Chrismas with the Kranks.)
Anyway, it's totally obvious, because who has a better feel for creepy, strange, special effects-laden children's fantasies than the director of Time Bandits? No one. And as the later Potter adventures just keep getting darker and more sinister, Gilliam's really going to get to indulge his gothic visual imagination.
Let's just hope it turns out better than Brothers Grimm. And that the Hogwarts set isn't destroyed by falling debris from space or whatever 2 weeks into shooting, thus putting the project in permanent development hell along with The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and The Defective Detective and all his other unfinished or never-produced projects.
With his track record, I wouldn't give Terry Gilliam $2 to pick up a loaf of bread at a store two blocks away. No doubt he'd lose the money during the walk there.
ReplyDeleteThis could be the thing that actually makes me go and see a Harry Potter movie.
ReplyDeleteStill no motivation to read a Harry Potter, book, however.
And it's not that Terry Gilliam would lose the $2, dear Anonymous, but that Viking genetic engineers from Bavaria in the year 2012 would probably show up with form DZ-015, authorizing them to steal it.
I read only through Book 4, so as of now, I'm all caught up, film-to-bookwise. They were a diverting read while I worked in a book store, but not exactly the sort of thing I'd say you need to rush to one in order to pick up.
ReplyDeleteThe third and fourth movies, however, are a lot of fun...and you could probably figure them out without even bothering with the first two, which are mainly forgettable kid's movies.
Congratulations Lons on a blog where you openly celebrate your commitment to remain forever dateless and celibate. Job well done!
ReplyDeleteMan, it has been an abusive day for blog comments. I've got RH telling me why I can't get work as a professional writer and now Steve harping on me for liking Harry Potter and Terry Gilliam films.
ReplyDeleteHaven't you guys ever heard the old adage about having something nice to say?
If bloggers followed the old addage about having something nice to say, the blogosphere would disappear faster than a pretty white girl in the Carribean.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason I don't do stand up.
If you don't have anything mean to say, then why say anything at all? P.S. I think RH secretly has a crush on you.
ReplyDeleteI think Lons has a secret crush on Tom Cruise. That MI3 review was a little TOO glowing. You know, Lons, you can reach OT4 without being such a suck-up. Maybe you shouldn't have auditing sessions right after you watch some disturbing old noir film.
ReplyDeleteIs the M:I3 review really "glowing"? I would have categorized it as "tough, but fair." I rip apart the dialogue and the action scenes, which are a big part of the movie.
ReplyDeleteAnd, obviously, I've been OT4 for, like, whatever, six months or something already. I run this entire blog using only the power of my mind.
Sometimes a nice phrase is merely a matter wording: Lonnie, I find your committment to praising star-crossed fantasy/sci-fi directors on an on-line diary, even to the point of sacrificing female companionship to be, um, both touching and poignant. See?
ReplyDeleteIn other news, we're having our first public screening of our movie in about two months. I don't know if we'll be done or anything, but that's when we're showing it. Also, our cinematographer just got commissioned by Jay Roach to direct a documentary on the nature of happiness. Of course, his budget is about 5 times larger than what we have to work with.
I don't know..."sacrificing" female relationships for the blog? Doesn't exactly go down that way.
ReplyDeleteHard though it may be to believe, I'm not actually passing on hot group European model sex to come and write about Harry Potter.
It's more like, with the possibilities of hot group European model sex already at record-low levels for this week, I have resigned myself to reading articles about upcoming "Harry Potter" films to pass the time.