The Prisoner of Azkaban

Like with the last post, intuition should tell me to love this movie, that this is one of the best Harry Potter films, that this was directed by auteur Alfonso Cuaron and that this film is atmospheric and dark, unfortunately i don't feel like this, i don't particularly like this movie, much as i didn't particulraly love the book it was based on, and i find this film to be utterly unlinked to the rest of the series.

Despite my qualms about this film, this movie was one of the most influential of the franchise, the film guided the direction of all subsequent Harry Potter films, making them dark, more cinematic and more character driven. The director made many changes to the environment and atmosphere of Hogwarts, rather than the school being a series of disparate locations filmed at some to the most iconic british tourist attractions, CGI was used in order to link these locations together, making the universe of Hogwarts a real lived in environment. Locations were also widened, enlarged or enhanced in function of what the story needs,  creating a real floorplan for the school, a floorplan that will be changed as needed, given Hogwarts magical secrets.

Changes were also made to the characterizations of the students, the pupils were removed from the voluminous capes which hid their personalities and were put into more casual wear, they were encouraged to personalize their uniforms much as real students do. Because of all these things the film has a far larger sense of personality and the school feels far more diverse as a result.The film takes on a darker tone from it's predecessors, there is a continuous sense of impending doom and we can sense that something is brewing, the film has an influence over the rest of the series, and is responsible for starting a visual narrative that will be continued throughout the franchise.

Whilst the storytelling and visual world are both complex, unfortunately the entire film is a little disconnected, Voldemort doesn't appear in this series, and nothing we really learn about in this story is relevent to the rest of the series, few new characters are introduced, no one dies, and the whole of the climax is about saving a hippogrif that is about to be executed. Of course, i have these same qualms about the book, and i find the story too disjointed and simplistic to care about it.

Despite the flaws of it's plot, Cuaron does a fantastic job of crafting a complex visual story from the least interesting of the Potter novels, and although i feel that this film by itself is only mediocre, it's influence on the rest of the series and the way in which it sets up such a complex world for the stories to inhabit cannot be understated. Rating: B-

Ten Years Of Mean Girls

Is it really possible? The seminal high school comedy written by Tina Fey and directed by Mark Waters was released a decade ago today. I don't think i need to explain the plot to you, but in case some of you have been living under a rock for the past ten years, i will. Cady Heron who was previously home schooled arrives in a new school after moving from africa to the united states. She makes friends with two art students, and they convince her to infiltrate a group of popular girls, named The Plastics and usurp their status. The film was written by SNL alumnus Tina Fey, who also played Mrs Norburry, in her feature film debut.

The film starred a young and talented cast, who have gone on to manage their careers with differing success. Lindsay Lohan starred as Cady Heron, and has gone on to crash and burn, entering rehab six times, and has recently starring in a reality show docu-series on OWN. Rachel McAdams went on to star in many films such as About Time, Morning Glory and To The Wonder. Lizzy Caplan disappeared from public consciousness for a while, and recently resurfaced, starring in showtime's Masters Of Sex, while Daniel Franzese, Lacey Chabert and Jonathan Bennett all slipped from the public eye and have yet to resurface. Meanwhile Tina Fey herself went on to parody Sarah Palin and won the public's heart, finally Amanda Seyfried went on to star in Mamma Mia, Les Miserables and Lovelace.

The film quickly garnered a strong cult following around people of my generation, and is infinitely quotable. Mariah Carey wrote the song "Obsessed", inspired by this movie, and Jennifer Lawrence referenced the film at the People's Choice Awards. The film inspired many a meme, You Go Glen Coco perhaps being the most iconic. Fetch sort of did happen for a while, on social media anyway, and the film even spawned a semi-sequel released direct to dvd that no-one saw or cared about.

Ten years on the film is as current as ever, it's depiction of female friendship and rivalry is as accurate and uncanny as ever. This Tina Fey penned comedy serves not only as a reminder of how talented Lindsay Lohan really is, but also how irreverent and funny Tina Fey is as a screenwriter. So to commemorate 10 years of mean, lets really make fetch happen shall we?

Regina: Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!