Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Watched this with Tammy.

I have the book in my ten linear feet of unread books.  Everything I hear is that the books are really good.

I was somewhat distracted during the movie, so I know I missed a lot.  Also, I'm sure they had to cut like crazy to fit it into a movie.

The kid actors were very good.  In fact, I guess because they had bigger parts, they seemed less stiff than most of the adults.  Even some of the really good actors.   Most of the adults were just there to fill utilitarian roles.  Various administrative positions, etc.  They really didn't have time to flesh them out much at all.

Generally, the story was very good.  But they did have to pack a lot in, which made some sections a bit perfunctory.

For example, the sport scenes.  The description of the rules were pretty vague.   And Harry's supposed intuitive mastery of the broom is a bit... convenient.  I know the sporting event is really a vehicle to implicate Alan Rickman's character.   But it still came across as a bit contrived that Harry is the sports hero in his very first game.

I dunno.  Maybe there was more passage of time that I didn't catch because I wasn't paying close attention.

As usual with a fantasy setting, there was a lot of exposition.  Though, of course, in a school setting they were able to get away with a lot of it. Still, it felt a bit much at times.  They had to tell us about how wands work, about the game, introduce all the characters, the different halls, how they get split up into the halls, how each spell works, the history of Harry's family, the mirror, and of course, the Sorcerer's Stone.  And there's more besides that.  They just kept having to stop the story to explain something.  They managed to make it work, in the end.

The special effects were mostly pretty good.  They didn't always get the lighting correct.  Maybe it only stood out on tape and not on film.

On my brother's Total Movie Value Scale, Rental with Dinner. Fun story.  Had to pack too much into a movie.  Maybe some bits were a bits contrived.

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