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Posted by Carlo - 31/07/07 at 04:07:40 pm

Here we are with something different: some photos I’ve taken are strange, beautiful or ugly enough to be “different”. I will post them here, under the “Photo” category! Enjoy!

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass

Posted by Carlo - 31/07/07 at 03:07:13 pm

In these last months the trilogy “His Dark Materials” has been one of the best I’ve read. The books are very well written and the story is so strange to be intriguing!

Now the time has come for Hollywood to take care of this books, even if I do not think that they will produce the entire trilogy. It is mostly because I fear that the subjects of the third book are not suitable for a film.

Take a look at the trailer: I think that the chosen actors are Perfect for the roles!!!

Some cool-headed thoughts about The Order of the Phoenix film

Posted by Carlo - 25/07/07 at 11:07:48 am

I got a lot of thoughts about Harry Potter in these days. The emptiness inside is still big with the seventh book, but today I want to focus on the fifth film: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

In the end I think that this fifth film has been the worst of those produced. Too many things have been left out of the screenplay, too many details have been changed without a specific reason.  I will be over critic, but can someone tell me why the second film (Harry Potter and the Chambers of Secrets) was longer than this one (161 minutes against 138)? I think this has been a wrong move.

I will point out only the negative things in this post. I will NOT praise the good parts, I will not tell what is nice. This review is for the book lovers like me, those who fears every new film release. Personally I would have loved a four hours film for The Order of the Phoenix, but I would have waited longer instead of watching this… thing. This is NOT the book I’ve loved!

Well, I have to admit that this screenplay wasn’t good enough. At least not for me!

What is missing?

Harry’s interview for the Quibbler. Hey! What has happened? In the film Seamus tells Harry he is sorry for his behavior. Why? If there wouldn’t have been an article on the Quibbler, why Harry’s reputation would have changed? It is a very important point that highlight how the news are manipulated by the Ministry of Magic. Luna Lovegood is important also because she is the link to the Quibbler!

The list is not short, however at the top of the list there is Harry’s rage. I don’t think Daniel Radcliffe has been good enough in expressing it. During the final chat between Harry and Dumbledore, the young wizard smashes a lot of things in the headmaster’s office. In the film it is quite different, isn’t it? And talking about the explanations, the film has shrinked it too much.

Obviously, talking about Dumbledore’s explanations… well it is one of the most important points of the book. A lot of things have been disclosed in that moment. Five minutes wouldn’t have hurt anyone!

Do you remember Sirius’s mirror? Not only it is an important object for Harry’s sense of guilt for Sirius death, but it will be an important object in future books.

Ordinary Wizarding Levels. Do you know them? Every Hogwarts student know about them and fear them… in the film they have been minimized too much.

Umbridge: she is a bitch in the film, but it wasn’t able to portrait her well enough. In the book I hated her, for the continuous things she does. The readers get mad at her, wishing her the worst jinxes. In the film she is not bitch enough!

We can go on with Quiddich. Maybe it is not so important in the story, but I missed “Weasly is our King”. Obviously this is also part of the lack of strength in Umbridge’s character: Harry receives a life-ban from quiddich, as well as George and Fred. The entire book is based on angry, of both Harry and the reader, and that was one of the key passages!

The careers advice does not exists. Obviously it is a secondary traits in the film. No one will care, but one of the main friction points between Umbridge and McGonnagal is exactly on that point: “‘Potter,’ she said in ringing tones, ‘I will assist you to become an Auror if it is the last thing I do! If I have to coach you nightly, I will make sure you achieve the required results!’”

What has been changed?

Sirius Black’s psychological status. How could have they missed it? His life in the last two years, his death and Harry’s reaction in the sixth year are all based on Sirius’s psychological status. Blocked in a cage he hates, without the possibility to do anything. He was going mad and for him the death was a relief. Did anyone understand this from the film?  By the way: Bellatrix Lestrange DID NOT kill Sirius Black with the killing curse! No “Avada Kedavra“, just the fall through the archway! “…Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix’s jet of red light: he was laughing at her. ‘Come on, you can do better than that!’ he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room. The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.” JK Rowling writes of “Red” lights, but we all knew that the Avada Kedavra is green! It is clear that the archway is something dark, but I think that it has been set in the film just to enhance the special effects list.

The second thing that comes through my mind is Chow Chang. The question is: where is Marietta? Where is the real traitor of Dumbledore’s Army? Where s the fantastic curse of Hermione and the writing “SNEAK” on Marietta’s face? IT would have taken few minutes to do it properly.

Fred and George’s exit has been rewritten. In the book there is the triumph of the freedom, you want to have the Ride of the Valkyries (like this one) as background. You laugh when Dolores Umbridge tries to stop their fireworks or when they plant a swamp on the fifth floor. Definitely the film does not give anything like this!

Kreacher is not a character. I bet that those who did not read the book did not understand who he (it?) is. Moreover the Blacks’ house elf is the cause of Sirius Black. Did anyone remember this?

What is remaining after the Deathly Hallows?

Posted by Carlo - 23/07/07 at 10:07:03 am

Yesterday has been a very strange days. I finished the last J K Rowling’s book the night before, and the entire Sunday has gone thinking back at the happenings of the Book 7. Sometimes I felt sad because of the knowledge that the saga is over; the same sadness I still experience.

Please note that I will write some “light” spoiler, so if you will proceed in the reading, be warned!

Continue reading What is remaining after the Deathly Hallows?…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Posted by Carlo - 22/07/07 at 12:07:05 am

And now the long story is over. I’ve just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and I’ve Love it!

I still don’t know if the Deathly Hallows was better than the others, but for sure it ended something important. I didn’t know if I would have read it very slowly or if I would have drank it like a thirsty man; I’ve chosen the second, submerging myself in the world JK Rowling has so masterfully created.

I will not comment anything or write any spoilers for now, even if I think that this book cannot be defined by the simple fact if Harry lives or dies. It’s the whole, it’s the magic that this book recreates.

Very well… now I can feel myself gloomy because of the end of such a great saga!

PS: For those who wants to know… yes, we have been in the bookstore at midnight, yesterday!

Deathly Hallows: is it ready or is it already gone?

Posted by Carlo - 20/07/07 at 09:07:29 am

The official launch date is 21st July 2007 at 00:01 GMT. It means that in this moment the wait is less than 15 hours.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the most awaited book in the history: millions of copies have already been sold in pre order and people are queuing from yesterday in front of Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus.

But is it ready or is it already been sold? Well, the news over the net are quite clear, and you don’t need to be a hacker to find and download the ebook: the american version has already been leaked! Personally I don’t think this will ruin the number of book that will be sold, on the contrary I think that this is creating more and more attention on the event.

I will wait for the real book, this night in Charing Cross Road, but not because I am against the eBook, on the contrary I think they will be the future, but because of some factors. First of all the book that has leaked is not told to be the correct one, and I don’t want to ruin the end of a saga risking to read spoilers and nothing more; then I think that a series like Harry Potter is great, and the author deserve what she is getting, so buying the book, in this case is fair. No, I don’t think that 17£ (25€, 34$) is a fair price for a book, and I will not support Bloomsbury in any other way.

On another side I have to admit that I was interested by the eBook, but after having known that the thieves (Bloomsbury) ask 75£ for it, I think that I won’t buy it. In a few weeks someone will sell it used at half the price, and then, in a month or so, the same will be sold for a quarter of the price, and then the price would be fair.

…great day today…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: avoiding spoilers

Posted by Carlo - 18/07/07 at 09:07:22 pm

Today I’ve seen that a lot of sites are offering too many spoilers on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I’m looking forward to reading the last book, so I would be very disappointed in reading anything before.

I’ve blocked some RSS I usually read and I have warned some friends not to spoil.

From one point of view I would like the Deathly Hallows to last for weeks, but from another I am hungry to read the end of one of the best stories the literature has produced in the last years.

We have planned to go to buy our copy at midnight on friday at Borders in Tottenham Court Road. If the weather will be good we are also thinking to take the saturday on the ocean, to read.

PS: If this weekend we won’t be available don’t worry… we will be well, but we will be too busy for anything else!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

Posted by Carlo - 16/07/07 at 09:07:03 am

I have seen it, what were you thinking? Do you really believe that I would have lost the fifth film, don’t you? I was there not precisely at midnight the first night, but just few hours later.

I have to admit that after few minutes in the film I already noticed the many differences between the script and the book. The Order of the Phoenix is my favorite (for now) and  I know it quite well. After other few minutes I thought that the film was too short indeed: two hours would have never been enough to support the huge 700 pages long book.

The film in itself is good, not the masterpiece the book is, but enjoyable. The newest character, Professor Umbridge, has been portrayed extremely well by Imelda Staunton,  but the small time dedicated to some parts of the film were unable to render justice to the literary character. The hate I had for Dolores Umbridge while reading the book was so devastating I muttered sometimes, cursing her and her action. The film has not been able of recreating the same feeling in the spectators.Overall the film was good, even if I am asking myself how many things that has been left out were necessary to deeply understand the story. I fear that some people, amongst those who didn’t read the book, were not able to understand everything; nevertheless the cut was good and the script have removed only the “non-vital” parts.No quiddich in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” means no “Weasley is our King” chorus and other funny parts.Personally I would have loved a three-hours-long film, but I don’t think the public would have too. For the previous harry potter Hollywood adaptation the DVD were exactly the same film seen on the big screen, but this time an “Extended Edition” would have been great! Am I the only one who feel like an exact adaptation of it? 

How to tell RTFM without being unpolite…

Posted by Carlo - 11/07/07 at 03:07:18 pm

While you’re waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It’s a Spanish story about a guy named ‘Manual.’

- Dilbert

Mr CSS (Eric Meyer)in London for a workshop

Posted by Carlo - 10/07/07 at 03:07:04 pm

Eric Meyer, one of the CSS guru, will be in London for an interesting workshop in August. The advance registration has a 100£ discount, but it remains quite high at 695£ for two days!

If you are a web designer, this is one of those things you should not miss. I’m not a designer, but I would be glad if someone pays me the fees :)

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Carlo Nicora is at home in London.