Alfonso Cuarón

Overall a pretty fun way to bring a classic book to the big screen in the story of a rich but sweet and kind girl who's struck by horrible misfortune and does her best to stay afloat and optimistic.

Eighteen short films about love of various kinds in Paris (and by extension, love for the city itself). Some are much quirkier than others but which you prefer is likely to be a matter of personal taste. Some are quite thort-provoking and none are juist tourist stauff. The shortness of the films (max 10 minutes, some less) keeps the pace up and even if you don't care for some segments, it's never boring.

I bought the 8-disc Blu-ray set and I love it. My favorite of the extras is the deleted scenes, so I was happy with everything this included. As for the movies themselves, seen one after the other they let the viewer see the progression through the years. The movies slowly get darker, although Delores Umbridge is the one who sends cold chills down my back.

The movies have enduring themes of the value of friendship, finding courage when needed, and standing up to wrongdoers. They are well show more worth watching more than once. show less

This was a much more visual film than the first two. There seemed to be huge swathes of the book left out; but although I'm quite familiar with the book, I was - mostly - able to watch the film in its own merit.

However I found it disturbing that there was so little dialogue, and that the film felt rather short with an abrupt ending. Despite this there were rather over-long visual scenes of (for instance) Harry flying on the hippogriff, or Quidditch games, which added nothing to the show more storyline.

Some critics have said that this film was 'darker' than the first two; perhaps it is, but then so is the book. I didn't have a problem with that. But I would have preferred more action and speech and considerably less of the visual side. Had I not been aware of the overall plot, I'm not sure I would have followed it.

Still, well worth seeing as part of the series.

Latest full review: https://suesdvdreviews.blogspot.com/2023/10/harry-potter-and-prisoner-of-azkaban... show less