HizzlePizzle and the Goblet of... Fizzle

The members of Club Heathen donned our magical Harry glasses Friday night and waited 2 hours to get (pretty shitty) seats at the new HP installment, the Goblet of Fire. I had a BLAST, but it was the experience of the book-come-to-life that I loved, not the film itself. Indeed, the movie is not without a myriad of flaws.

Paul Clinton of CNN.com says it well in this review:

"I'm not saying the magic is gone, but I've lost that loving feeling. Director Mike Newell and screenwriter Steve Kloves have attempted to make a movie that is part thriller, part action flick and part budding love story. None of the themes mesh together very well. The result feels somewhat clunky and disjointed.

...Indeed, I guess my biggest beef with the film is that many of the other characters we have grown to love and hate -- Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), his evil father Lucius (Jason Isaacs), Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), Professor Minerva McGonagall (Dame Maggie Smith) and Hogwarts Academy itself (which has become a character just as much as the human cast) -- are all given short shift. Even the interaction between Harry, Ron and Hermione has been trimmed down to almost nothing...

So I'm less than thrilled. No matter. Seeing a "Potter" film is generally worth it. There's much to appreciate here, and there will be many people to appreciate it.

And now, there's always that fifth film to look forward to."