Stewart's must see saturday movie(Oct.28th)

[SFG75]

You can't miss it.

Anyone else besides Stewart planning on watching it?

Based on the third of J.K. Rowling's phenomenally popular children's novels, the live action family adventure "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" continues the magical saga of a boy whose life is now in more danger than ever. While attending his third year at Hogwarts, Harry learns that the infamous Sirius Black, who had been accused of aiding in the murder of Harry's parents and is practicing as a dark wizard, has escaped from Azkaban Fortress - the wizards' prison -- and is believed to be after Harry. Things are thrown into chaos as hundreds of supernatural Dementors are sent to protect Hogwarts, while Harry continues his quest for the truth, both about Sirius Black and about his own family.

In addition to Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" stars Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, Warwick Davis as Professor Flitwick, Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney, Julie Christie as Madame Rosmerta, Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon, Michael Gambon as Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Alan Rickman as Professor Snape, Fiona Shaw as Aunt Petunia, Dame Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall and Julie Walters as Mrs. Weasley.

Just teasing Stewart-I post this knowing how much of a fan you are of Rowling and old Harry.

 

[Stewart]

Just teasing Stewart-I post this knowing how much of a fan you are of Rowling and old Harry.

It's not that I'm for or against Rowling and her Potter invention, it's just that I don't undersand adults reading them.

 

[ions]

It's not that I'm for or against Rowling and her Potter invention, it's just that I don't undersand adults reading them.

Escapism. My reason anyway.

 

[Lily]

Not to get preachy or anything, but there are TONS of books in both the Juvenile fiction and Young Adult sections that are worth a read (or reread) for us grownups. Those that pop to mind, besides Harry Potter, are Eragon and Eldest by Paolini, the Narnia books, the Artemis Fowl books, and anything by Robin McKinley...Also Patricia Wrede has a little series that I can't remember the name of right offhand... but all of those book titles end in ...with Dragons. Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Trilogy was well worth the time as well.

I guess all I'm trying to say is don't underestimate the 'kid books'.. especially if you consider yourself a fantasy fan. Westerfeld tends to have a wide range that he writes in, but the books mentioned above are actually more of a scifi thing than anything.
*gets off the soapbox*

 

[Stewart]

Come on, Lily. Eragon was written by a thirteen year old. How is that going to be enjoyable to an adult?

 

[Lily]

Come on, Lily. Eragon was written by a thirteen year old. How is that going to be enjoyable to an adult?

did you try it? do you tend to like or hate fantasy?

the thing is, if you aren't a fantasy fan, you'd need to steer clear of this one, regardless how old the author is. However, I've put this book in the hands of more adult patrons than I have teens. and I've not had one of them who didn't tell me they liked it and requested the sequel. I even have several 'grownups' who are kinda ticked that the third hasn't been released yet.

the ONLY gripe I have about Paolini's stuff is that he tried WAY too hard to come up with exotic names for places and people, it's damn near impossible to figure out how most of it is pronounced. In that, he showed his inexperience.

at 31, I'd be thrilled to be able to write a story like that.

I just think that by categorically denying yourself 'the kid stuff' you are denying yourself the possibility of finding one you'd enjoy. It's sort of silly, IMO.
(HA. this coming from a chick who tends to not read books with pink covers, as a general rule, but there ya go )

 

[Jeanne-Marie]

Harry Potter is no different from reading Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings. It's a complex epic about good and evil. Many get hung up on the fact that he starts out as a child(*13) in the first book. This is not a kids book. As the years go by Harry gets older. Situations get more complex and scary. young elementary school aged kids really shouldn't be reading them. They are very dark and have very serious undertones. On the surface it's a boy who goes to a school to learn magic and plays quidditch. But when you really look into the story you see the complex world of good vs. evil. The same story told through many great epics. ANd to think that she can keep all these hundreds of characters, storylines, histories and spells straight is just amazing.

 

[Stewart]

did you try it? do you tend to like or hate fantasy?

I don't read fantasy, though that doesn't mean I hate it. I certainly did not try Eragon. And from what I've read, I am right not to.

the ONLY gripe I have about Paolini's stuff is that he tried WAY too hard to come up with exotic names for places and people, it's damn near impossible to figure out how most of it is pronounced. In that, he showed his inexperience.

Looking at this list on Wikipedia, I don't see any that should really cause much problem. There's a post here, somewhere, where the similarities between character names in Eragon and The Lord of the Rings are highlighted. Also the complete lifting of the Star Wars plot.

I've put this book in the hands of more adult patrons than I have teens. and I've not had one of them who didn't tell me they liked it and requested the sequel.

That double negative hurts my head.

I just think that by categorically denying yourself 'the kid stuff' you are denying yourself the possibility of finding one you'd enjoy. It's sort of silly, IMO.

Many say that, but if I deny myself the kid stuff it's only because there's much more adult stuff that has a greater appeal. I'm past the growing pains stage and don't need some pubescent character to identify with. And, believe it or not, there was a time when I would have enjoyed such stuff: when I was a kid.

 

[Concetta]

Stewart, Have you taken a look at The Book Thief (Markus Zusak- sp.) - it is just lovely and considered YA.


(By the way, Stewart, perhaps you shouldn't be taking advice from me - I tried to read Eco and couldn't get past the first 10 pages - I am "literature challenged". )

 

[Stewart]

This [Harry Potter] is not a kids book.

I can't help but think you are deluded over this point, Jeanne-Marie.

Take, for example, the cover of the first in the series: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Here's its cover:



Aside from looking like a 'Where's Wally-No-Mates' it is so obviously a book intended for children. After all, as you can see, it won the Nestlé Smarties Gold Award in 1997. That award just happens to be "an annual award given to children's books written in the previous year by a UK citizen or resident." Futhermore, this award has three categories: 0-5, 6-8, and 9-11.

As the years go by Harry gets older. Situations get more complex and scary. young elementary school aged kids really shouldn't be reading them. They are very dark and have very serious undertones.

Oh come on. Kids love to be scared. Are they really to be expected to pick up on the undertones other than it be a fun read for them? That other nonsense The Lord Of The Rings is, to all intents and purposes, a book for children too and has serious undertones. It doesn't stop kids reading it. (And they shouldn't be censored in doing so.)

But I'm stil intrigued by the bizarre notion that you would consider the text below to be from anything other than a kids' book:

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious,
because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made
drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did
have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had
nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she
spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the
neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their
opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and
their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't
think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs.
Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years;
in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her
sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was
possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would
say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the
Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy
was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want
Dudley mixing with a child like that.

When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story
starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that
strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the
country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for
work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming
Dudley into his high chair.

None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.

Have you taken a look at The Book Thief (Markus Zusak- sp.) - it is just lovely and considered YA.

Just looked at his website now. But no thanks.

Which Eco book did you abandon?

 

[Lily]

That double negative hurts my head.

sorry about that. I'm not going to bother rephrasing, though. It's obvious at this point that you'd rather argue.. I'd rather not.

 

[SFG75]

Well, it aired last night, but we rented BTK, so we chose to watch that instead. It was a good thing the kids retired to bed early.

 

[Concetta]

Which Eco book did you abandon?

The Name of the Rose - I really wanted to read it, but it was so hard for me. The story sounds so interesting.

 

[SFG75]

The Name of the Rose - I really wanted to read it, but it was so hard for me. The story sounds so interesting.

Absolutely loved it!. You are right though, it's one where you have to re-read and do some homework in order to catch a lot of the references. The varying splinter monastic groups, not to mention the cool cadaver synod event were quite interesting. Don't forget, if you want to tackle it again, we do have a thread dedicated to it and sure some other folks wouldn't mind reading it again.