I think the difference in John's opinion and Darren's definitely has to do with having previously read the the Harry Potter 4 book.

I've been reading the Harry Potter books basically a bit before their movies come out (well, I skipped the second book since I disliked that film and wanted to get on with it), but this time I made the mistake of reading the fourth book too close to the film's opening.

It just made it that much harder to not to think of all the differences between the two. I did, however, really enjoy the film and am betting that when I will like it more when I see it again on DVD . The film felt very quickly paced (no doubt partly because I had the book in my mind, like it or not); it's amazing to think that the glacial Harry Potter 2 film was _longer_ than this one. (Really, watch the second film again if you think it's better than film 3, John.)

To all those fans who complain about changes, I would recommend they remember that the movies don't make the books disappear. We can already read the books; let's see what the movies do (even if its a bit different).

P.S. I hope Darren's not suggesting they should've put the house elf stuff in. That plot was tedious enough in the book. (The SPEW stuff worked only as a one scene joke.)

P.P.S. I doubt anyone listening won't have seen the movie yet, but you might consider adding the spoiler warning to this.

Oh, actually I should mention that I've actually been listening to the Harry Potter books (the audio books with Jim Dale). The books are written in a brisk enough writing style that they make good listening material, if anyone needs something for the commute.

1) I'm not a fan of Harry Potter, books or films. So I'm not really going to comment on them that much, except in the comments regarding adaptations. Books will always be better, your mind can cast it any way you want.

2) Alan Rickman is a terrific actor. But then again, "Die Hard" "Galaxy Quest" and "Quigley Down Under" are three of my favorite movies, so I'm biased. There was this one film he did with Emma Thompson (where the heck are you, Em?!) called "Judas Kiss" where they had convincing American accents...and of course, the voice of Rickman turned up in the hilarious "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" last spring.

3) Brendan Gleeson, "Braveheart". Check. "28 Days Later" check. Yeah, great actor.

4) I already commented on Chris Tucker in the other thread. I do disagree, however, that anyone could have played Ruby in 'Fifth Element'. Uh...okay, maybe Dave Chappelle. No matter. Tucker hasn't had a film since "Rush Hour 2" right? He hasn't opened a film on his own, right? I'd go to see antoher Shanghai with Chan and Owen Wilson before I would see another Rush Hour with the overpaid Tucker. I don't think "Rush Hour 3" will make as much as the previous films, should it be made. But yeah, the film would be in the red big time.

Besides, I'm still waiting for that Jackie Chan-Jet Li project....did that get dumped?

5) What do you mean "Jim Carrey in his prime'? Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind was the best work he's done. Bruce Almighty! Truman Show! Jim Carrey is still in his prime.
Freakin' Lemony Snickets, people!

-Sealer out.

John, you forgot to put the Spoiler Warning in your post.

Oppss... I did. I'll go correct that. Thanks guys.

John, You mentioned that no film could be directly adapted from a comic book. What about Sin City!!!?

I was talking about "in his prime" regarding money. Sealey does he still make around 20 mil a film? I think it has dropped off but I could be wrong.

Jim Carrey's role in lemony snickets is, I think, the best I have ever seen him. It showcased his zany-ness, while remaining focused. Miles liked that a ton.

Please talk more about Walk the Line. Why was it overhyped?

You are all crazy.

Harry Potter Goblet was dumb.

45 minutes focussing on the stupid dance and asking each other out, but only about 10 minutes of screen time each for the three tasks?
Boring. The maze was sooo dumb. They made it look so cool in th trailer and everything was so much smaller than it should've been.

The quidditch match isn't even shown, after teasing us with the grandioseness of the arena.

And you're right. MORE ALAN RICKMAN.

I was thoroughly disappointed by this film; then again, I've thought all the movies are pretty dumb. I just don't "get it."

I won't see the next one.

-Drewbacca
www.moviepatron.com

"Walk the Line" is not over-hyped.

Maybe if you're not a Cash fan it might not be so great, but this film was way better than "Ray."

Yeah that's right, better than "Ray."
If Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix are not nominated for Oscars, I will never watch the Academy Awards again.

-Drewbacca
www.moviepatron.com

People say that empty threat all the time. You'll keep watching:)

This morning I left a plain ol' ordinary comment to this post and it was rejected for "objectionable content." The only thing I saw that it could have pegged was a word that is a synonym for "gender." Was that it? The filter message made it sound like the comment would be reviewed and posted if the filter was over-zealous. Do I need to do anything on my end? I enjoy your site a lot and don't wanna be blocked out.....

good audio edition, and Darren, you saved this one!

I would imagine if it was just Doug and John, it wouldn't have been as good.

Sack Doug! Sack Doug!

john,

there is a third Look WHo's talking movie, called Look Who's Talking, Now.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0107438/

And, comic books are much easier to translate into film since they are both visual. Biggest problem with comic book adaptations is that there are so many versions of comic book series and the 100 of issues in each series usually. Saying a film translated the comic correctly is almost a moot point. There are plenty of comic book characters that have their character stories change with each series. So when you say they translated the comic book correctly or staying faithful to the comic book, i think it's a strange statement to make.

No, Doug, it (Carrey's salary) hasn't dropped off, although he is one of these actors, who, if finding a challenging project that's indie, will lower his price to get the role. This is what happened with "Eternal Sunshine".

The most terrifying prospect for a movie based on a book that I've heard of in recent years is the eternally on again - off again tale of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" script.

While part of me would be thrilled to see a talented director and graphics company express their vision of the battle room, I know that a movie could ONLY focus on the action aspect of the book and neglect the introspection and human story that makes the novel incredible.

I look forward to "walk the line". i enjoyed "ray", Foxx did deserve the Oscar, however that movie wasnt Oscar nomination worthy as a whole. Poorly directed

According to the IMDb, Rush Hour 2 made almost 350 million Worldwide! Thats why they are giving Chris Tucker whatever he wants... Plus, he received 20 million already for the Rush Hour 2... It´s f.... crazy!

***good audio edition, and Darren, you saved this one!

I would imagine if it was just Doug and John, it wouldn't have been as good. ***

I have to agree with that comment. Darren indeed did save this because if it was just Doug and John it would be mostly slobbering and no other perspectives. Darren gave an intelligent and knowledgable perspective that the other guys couldn't because he actually knew the source material. Its always good to have someone provide the "nerds eye view" at a roundtable.

As for the movies. The 1st two were slow and boring, the 3rd book was fantastic but the 3rd movie was "meh" and the 4th book had an incredible start but fell apart halfway. So i didn't follow the 4th movie at all until i watched it last week. Wow, it blew my socks off. Sure, it chopped up the book but what they cut was acceptable since they eliminated Dobby, the jar-jar of the harry potter world.

You really need to get Darren on more. And when you do have these round table discussions then QUIT FREAKIN WORRYING ABOUT THE TIME!!!!! Let the damn conversations end on their own momentum because theyre much more enjoyable if you don't force a subject change every 2 minutes. Who cares if its an hour long show once in a while?

One thing i wanted to comment on with the movie/book were the challenges. They were just plain stupid. The 3 challenges were supposed to be stuff that would rise you above all other wizards but did these actually prove anything?

Challenge 1: Outsmart a dragon (not necessarily fight him). Sure its dangerous but outsmarting an animal doesnt sound like a real challenge.

Challenge 2: Rescue someone underwater. Again, not too tough for a wizard. Where was the danger? Two people used the same trick and two used magic to give them gills. And are you even proving anything if you're getting help from friends?

Challenge 3: Go through a maze.. Um. Huh???? In the movie its not even a wicked maze and the biggest threat was a zombie student. C'mon, blast through the bushes, call your broomstick to fly over the maze, run until you find the end. This just another challenge ANY student could do.

And my biggest complaint. Who the hell would attend one of these? This is the equivelent to watching a baseball game from a helicopter with the dome closed. What the hell are you watching?

Anyway, after reading it in the book i was curious to see how they'd handle it in the movie. Apparently they didnt do anything. No hexfield viewscreen, no GPS for slaves like in Episode I podrace. Just the assumption that people love to stare at sky, water and bushes.

finally, someone agrees with me!

another thing i dislike is when people make statements like "The 3rd Harry Potter flick was a bag of shit!" "It sucked!" "which was a big piece of crap!" things like that and actually believe that has any meaning at all.

Well.. here is some speculation about how the show would've turned out if Darren wasn't there. Doug had a chance to talk about the movie in the first 4 minutes, before John talks to Darren. So, instead of going to Darren, John would've talked for most of the show. And I feel in general Doug doesn't have much of interest to say, and tends to make the show feel dead.

Hey Darren, very keen insight you've got there, I hope to hear more of you in the future Audio Editions.

This jack guy is full of prunes.

Doug Nagy I salute you!