×

17.5k
17.5k

❓ TriviaIn Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), you can see sugar skulls and candy skeletons at Honeydukes. These treats were added by the Prop Department as a reference to the Mexican heritage of director Alfonso Cuarón. (i.redd.it)

submitted by Numerous-Lemon2

all 137 comments
sorted by:
best (suggested)
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]QualityVote[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Hi! This is our new Moviedetailsmodbot!

If this post fits /r/MovieDetails, UPVOTE this comment!!

If this post does not fit /r/MovieDetails, DOWNVOTE This comment!

If this post breaks the rules, DOWNVOTE this comment and REPORT the post!

[–]LupoNerro 98 points99 points  (5 children)

It's gunna be BOOMPY RIDEEE

[–]whatisabaggins55 22 points23 points  (2 children)

Ey guys, guys... why de long faces? EH-HE-HE-HAA!

[–]ScaldingAnus 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Ernie! Liddle ol’ lady at twelve o’clock!

[–]Southern_Radio5943 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nearly there nearly there

[–]ArcadianBlueRogue 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Knight Bus is so much better in the movies. Books have it supposed to be crazy, but movies take it to another level.

[–]RBDibP -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Eeehhh... nah the shrunken heads were annoying and a slightly bit racist.

[–]notcorey 475 points476 points  (33 children)

Cuarón is one of the most interesting and talented directors working today. He also made Gravity, Y Tu Mama Tambien, and of course Children Of Men.

[–]duaneap 184 points185 points  (2 children)

Can’t be leaving out Roma from that list.

Plus, he made one of my favourite films from my childhood A Little Princess.

[–]LadyPhantom74 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Roma is simply a piece of unadulterated art. It transported me to my childhood in a way I can’t explain.

[–]MrPotatoMan5000 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

That movie sucks, so overrated, didn’t deserve the Oscar or any praise at all.

[–]P10_WRC 80 points81 points  (24 children)

Children of Men might be the best sci-fi movie ever made.

[–]skangno 10 points11 points  (12 children)

Are their other movies as good?

[–]Pristine_Nothing 24 points25 points  (9 children)

Roma is. Gravity is not but is still excellent.

I’ve been saving A Little Princess and *Y Tu Mama También.”

[–]lemon_jelo 8 points9 points  (1 child)

Y tu mamá también is a classic. I feel like it’s a very Mexican film in the dialog and the story, so even though I speak Spanish I possibly missed some of the cultural elements, but it’s still really good.

That and Babel are probably Luna/Bernal’s best movies IMO

[–]skangno 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Appreciate that. I’ll check them out.

[–]NozakiMufasa 8 points9 points  (8 children)

I hesitate to call it that because Children of Men isnt really scifi. It gets called scifi the same way the Mad Max films are and that just doesn’t sit right with me. Its more so a social thriller, a realistic dystopia if you ask me.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Pull my finger.

[–]Robertmaniac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

LOL someone downvoted you, probably missed the joke.

[–]gamewizard123 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I watched y tu mama tambien in movie club not too long ago. Interesting experience

[–]SneakySnakeSneakers 385 points386 points  (23 children)

That movie is full of mexican details, from national symbols, to scene transitions, is a delight to watch that movie and notice all that stuff.

[–]Nikittele 153 points154 points  (22 children)

Now I'm genuinely curious. What would make a scene transition Mexican by nature?

[–]NozakiMufasa 17 points18 points  (0 children)

If you watch Mexican cinema - and I mean Mexican films made by Mexican directors and studios not Mexican American films (altho theres some overlap there’s huge difference than say an LA coproduction and Robert Rodriguez’ movies) - youd see film techniques, film transitions, character roles and more thag originated in Mexican cinema. For me I always think back to how Hollywood “top tier” actresses get portrayed and glorified really owing a lot to stars like Maria Felix and Dolores del Rio. Or look at how comedies and westerns took nods from Mexican acts. Cuaron’s influences tho are much more modern Mexico / Mexican media.

[–]SneakySnakeSneakers 168 points169 points  (15 children)

Remember how the old Looney Tunes cartoons transitioned with a circule closing and open?

Is close to that, there was a transition used in the classic al movies where, fron the center of the screen, the next scene will just open from the previos one in the shape of a circle with the edges mixing both images, let me look for an example to share it with you.

[–]ALEXC_23 93 points94 points  (1 child)

This editing technique threw me off at first. Specially since the first previous movies don’t feature that and somehow it’s the most Harry Potter thing ever and I’m ashamed they never used it again

[–]Jrook 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I legit thought I was watching a bootleg copy. In theaters.

[–]HereForTOMT2 42 points43 points  (9 children)

That’s a Mexican thing? I always associate it with star wars

[–]SneakySnakeSneakers 26 points27 points  (0 children)

It was in the 40s

[–]Ahab_Ali 5 points6 points  (7 children)

Where was it used in any Star Wars film?

[–]patmcdoughnut 20 points21 points  (3 children)

Maybe they're thinking of the transition to the end credits?

https://youtu.be/zXbwQHql3aQ&t=104

[–]Ahab_Ali 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Forgot that one. Of course!

[–]Phillip_Spidermen 13 points14 points  (1 child)

There are actually a few circular wipes in each Star Wars movie, but they're vastly outnumbered by linear wipes

edit: ah wait, mb, you're not actually refering to iris shots

[–]CaptainCupcakez 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Anyone managed to find an example yet? I've watched that film so many times but I can't remember what the transitions were like.

[–]thegreyxephos 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure he's talking about the iris shots that happen multiple times throughout PoA like this in the last few seconds of the clip

[–]Synyzy 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Link an example when you’ve found one lmao

[–]duaneap 4 points5 points  (1 child)

They’re speedier.

[–]Nikittele 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see what you did there (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

[–]CringeOverseer 94 points95 points  (6 children)

It still surprises me that Cuarón made this movie.

[–]Hoenirson 73 points74 points  (5 children)

It's less surprising when you know he directed A Little Princess. That movie has so many similarities to Harry Potter in story, style, and spirit. Even the soundtrack is at times reminiscent of Harry Potter's.

If you're both a Cuaron and Harry Potter fan, it's worth a watch.

[–]nutmegtell 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Its an amazing film.

[–]oliveoilcrisis 9 points10 points  (3 children)

Wonderful film. My favorite adaption. Everyone should skip the recent-ish one with Colin Firth. Terrible.

[–]Hoenirson 10 points11 points  (1 child)

I think you might be confusing A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. The Colin Firth movie you're talking about is The Secret Garden while the Cuaron film I'm talking about is A Little Princess.

They're both based on books by the same author so the confusion is understandable.

[–]oliveoilcrisis 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’re right, whoops. I like them both a lot. Great stories

[–]lemon_jelo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve only seen The Secret Garden with Maggie Smith, and that movie terrified me as a child. It’s stuck with me forever

[–]RaynSideways 92 points93 points  (1 child)

Cuarón was basically the perfect director for this particular film. It was a transitional period for the films going from the wide-eyed optimism and wonder of the first two, into the more dark, serious, and emotional mood of the later films. He blended the two styles into such a beautifully unique film.

[–]dizyalice 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It is SUCH a beautifully unique film. It’s the best stand alone film in the series imo

[–]zarrovertv 63 points64 points  (1 child)

It's not the only nod to Mexico, there are few in that film, for example the statues at the entrance resemble an eagle eating a snake, the Mexican flag

[–]NozakiMufasa 14 points15 points  (0 children)

And our culture story of how the Aztecs first settled Tenochitlan. They were told to wander for hundreds of years until they saw an eagle eating a snake above a cactus. It was over the lake and thats where they built their city. Today we call it Mexico city.

[–]backjox 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I'm still not over what they did to that fireplace in next one

[–]_Doomer1996_ 147 points148 points  (11 children)

And it's the Best from the franchise. I wish Alfonso Cuarón had directed the following sequels.

[–]reclaimer130 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It's probably the only one I could happily watch over and over. The way it's shot and the way some scenes move is just so beautiful. And there's rarely a dull moment.

[–]StuffThingsMoreStuff 27 points28 points  (1 child)

100% this.

It's the only movie that, to me, properly capture the magic system and how prevelant it is in its usage.

Brilliantly done.

[–]moobiemovie 28 points29 points  (4 children)

Nerdwriter1 on YouTube agrees with you.

[–]aYakAttack 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haven’t seen that channel before! Instant sub for me, thanks for the link!! :)

[–]supers0nic 3 points4 points  (0 children)

He set the tone for the rest of the series. Imagine if the tone stayed the same lol. Definitely one of the best HP movies.

[–]no_way_am_i_batman 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Fun bit of trivia - I worked at a primary school where his daughter was a student (I even got to set some AV up for him on a careers day). One year for Day of the Dead they had made sugar skulls for all the staff and brought them in. It was very nice.

[–][deleted] 111 points112 points  (11 children)

Prisoner of Azkaban is by far the best Harry Potter film. To me, anyway. Imagine if we got book-accurate adaptations but with the Cuaron aesthetic

[–]ireland1988 45 points46 points  (8 children)

Would love to see him do Order of the Phoenix. After reading the book that film really feels like one of the worst adaptations imo.

[–]whiskeyandtea 8 points9 points  (6 children)

To be fair, OOTP is the worst book

[–]kennytucson 26 points27 points  (3 children)

That’s how I felt when it came out, but now that 15 years or so have passed it’s become one of my favorites. It’s really dense and a bit of a slog the first time, especially if you’re a young reader, but I appreciate it much more now.

[–]Jorgwalther 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I read it when it first came out when I was around that age and I appreciated how much of it was just the regular school year but it was my least favorite then. I re-read it for the first time again last year and while it was better, it was definitely still a slog.

[–]whiskeyandtea 9 points10 points  (1 child)

It wasn't the length. I love long books. I did even at the time. It just felt meandering and overly angsty. Even in my angsty teens I thought Harry was obnoxious in that book. The end waa good though. It had a good climax.

[–]RBDibP 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think Harry was perfectly written in the way that he was just at the beginning of the trauma he would experience from the end of the forth year on. He saw a classmate die (in his head because of him) in front of his eyes and was then used to revive one of the worst people in history of this universe while experiencing immense pain and fear.

We could cut him some slack, I think. He had his short little talk with Dumbledore in the end of the book, but was then sent back to his abusive family. Dumbledor then tasks everyone Harry knows NOT to contact him really or to tell him what's going on. Harry also never has gotten any time to really grieve or talk to someone about his experience.

What we see is a TRAUMATIZED teenager in his angsty years.

[–]warpvector 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's the last one I ever read... or, started reading. It was the first one to come out after the movies started so I was all hype for it. But by then I was growing out of the genre and tired of the franchise. I didn't even go to the Midnight pre-order party my local book store was throwing. My mom took my siblings even though my name was on the preorder. They brought the book home to me and I gave it a few chapters before I set it down one day and never picked it up again.

[–]ireland1988 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It has some slow parts but it really fills out the lore and background. Plus it has one of the best fights.

[–]Pristine_Nothing 10 points11 points  (1 child)

The films after Azkaban look much more like the Cuarón aesthetic than they looked like the first two.

[–]reclaimer130 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's more that he helped the series transition from the child-like wonder and curiosity to the darker and more serious themes the books had as they went on.

[–]Imreallynotgarycolem 39 points40 points  (7 children)

I've always been curious about the wizarding world outside of US and UK. Honestly that what FBAWTFT should have been a globe trotting adventure with their respective antagonists. Kind of like fast and furious or Mission Impossible. But had to shoe horn the voldemort stand in, probably for fan service reasons - I never read the books

[–]HaileSelassieII 20 points21 points  (4 children)

I've been thinking about that recently, I'd love to see a fantasy series do a side-series/project that doesn't interact with the main plot at all. It's kind of dumb to create a whole universe and then only use a small sliver of it, and/or just end the main story and then it just kind of ends

[–]ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN 13 points14 points  (3 children)

Its one of the things which bugs me about the Star Wars franchise. Everything eventually ties back in some fashion to the Skywalker saga. Even Mandalorian does it a bit.

I can't help but feel that it makes the Star Wars universe just a little smaller each time.

I kinda wish that Fantastic Beasts had been very much its own thing but set in the Potter world. Instead we've got the Lestrange family, Nagini, and of course Dumbledore.

[–]CluelessAtol 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I’ve always disliked that about the Star Wars franchise. Like yes, a lot of stuff was taken care of by the end of RoTJ, but the Universe doesn’t just stop having problems. There was stuff in the extended universe but I feel like the stuff I’ve seen wasn’t to focused on post-RoTJ outside of Luke. The sequels were there and I was glad they were doing stuff after that but obviously we know how that turned out.

[–]ASK_IF_IM_PENGUIN 2 points3 points  (1 child)

I get some stick for this, but I still think the sequels had a huge amount of squandered potential. I can forgive The Force Awakens for being a bit of a rehash - it had to appeal to old fans and get new ones on board. It needed a simple story, and A New Hope is at the end of the day a very simple story.

I probably also have something of a soft spot for it as the filmed a sizeable part of it at one of my favourite places.

But more to the point it finishes making sure there were threads to be pulled on about what would happen next.

I actually really liked The Last Jedi. I liked that it went in a different direction to how you might expect. Luke isn't perfect, Snoke is defeated. The casino bit was unnecessary but it was still fun. I know people don't like the Space Leia bit but there are much more worse things in these films... They're never exactly high art. More to the point though it also set up so many different places for the final film to go.

But Rise of Skywalker didn't just go in an unexpected direction, it simply ignored all of the threads left for it and did it's own thing. Reintroduced a character which were long dead with no real explanation or build up.

I have no doubt that TLJ is not the film that JJ would have made, and that RoS was roughly what he would have wanted from the start, but it doesn't gel with its predecessor and feels ham fisted.

I strongly feel that Johnson should have finished the trilogy, or that JJ should have made them all. What we ended up with were three films with very different agendas which don't quite match up.

[–]nalydpsycho 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Johnson cut a lot of threads as well. The whole thing is a perfect example of how not to make a trilogy.

[–]RicardoMayo_ 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Arent the Fantastic Beasts... movies original scripts? I remember there's a Fantastic Beasts book, but it's like a text book describing animals in the HP universe (same as the Quidditch book describing the history of Quidditch).

[–]Futerarutha 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly I can’t fight a good cinema nap

[–]Bilbo_nubbins 6 points7 points  (1 child)

ANYTHING FROM THE TROLLEY?!?

[–]Kelseycutieee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

it always bothers me that she asks “anything from the trolley” then she proceeds to leave instantly after.

she literally waited no time and just leaves.

[–]Ohnezone 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Also know as, the best Harry Potter film

[–]PancakeParty98 14 points15 points  (0 children)

My favorite part of this film was that they did the uniforms realistically. Told the actors what they had to wear but left how they wore it up to them.

My favorite joke is calling this the prisoner of hair porn (because everyone’s got boy band level hair) and calling the next one the goblet of no fucking haircuts (because everyone had shaggy hair)

[–]PheenixFly 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The best 1 in the series and also the one that had the most diverse cast of extras and minor characters. It’s the only HP that I watched as a young POC that made me think “oh hey other black & brown people also go to Hogwarts!”

[–]franska5 2 points3 points  (2 children)

¿Me da mi calaverita?

[–]chemicallyburnt 1 point2 points  (1 child)

es, "¿me da para mi calaverita?" no?

[–]franska5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No sé, yo solo repito lo que decían en las caricaturas

[–]Numerous-Lemon[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Source: Harry Potter – The Artifact Vault

From Waterstones: Harry Potter: The Artifact Vault takes fans behind the scenes to explore the creation of the thousands of enchanted objects that make the magic of Harry Potter come to life. Across the eight films a host of designers, costumiers, graphic artists and craftspeople were tasked with animating the wizarding world in extraordinary detail.

Here is the page from the book confirming this detail, albeit in French

[–]mister_atoms 11 points12 points  (8 children)

I know a lot of people think of this as the best Harry Potter movie. I don’t agree. I think 3 is the best book, and as a movie it was such a big improvement on its predecessors, but I really think movies 4, 5, 6, and 8 have a lot going for them. I don’t think Movie #3 really captured the tragic father/son-ish relationship between Harry and Lupin. I remember reading Prisoner Of Azkaban and being devastated when Lupin left Hogwarts. It was Harry losing his first real father figure, after having lost his actual father. That never really came across in the films

[–]ireland1988 12 points13 points  (4 children)

I think Order of the Phoenix is hands down the worst adaptation after reading the books. Ive been reading them for the first time and re watching the films after and that one straight made me mad after I finished watching it. This is the best film hands down. I think there's some things it could have done better but it sets the tone and style for all the other films moving forward and I think nailed it. One of the greatest directors.

[–]RicardoMayo_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My least favorite adaptation is book 6

[–]Alexb2143211 -1 points0 points  (2 children)

It did have the best wizard battle

[–]ireland1988 1 point2 points  (1 child)

But when you read that battle in the book... they really blew it. Could have been way doper.

[–]Alexb2143211 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like all of the magic could've been better

[–]CaptainAsshat 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think 3 is one of the best books, but it might be the sloppiest movie. They stuff they changed and left out just don't make sense, and while the costuming and design are much better, the directors and writers seemed to miss a lot of important beats and invented a lot of perplexing ones.

[–]SithLord_Bot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

mister_atoms, I am your father.

[–]kingkalm 5 points6 points  (3 children)

And the director was promptly replaced after he changed the entire tone and continuity from the previous movies.

[–]Shagster2008 54 points55 points  (1 child)

No. They asked him to direct the Goblet of Fire but he turned it down to do Children of Men instead

[–]ALEXC_23 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Best trade in the history of trades ever

[–]The_River_Is_Still 15 points16 points  (0 children)

That movie is when the tone started getting better.

[–]apocolypticbosmer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And it’s the best film in the franchise.

[–]t67443 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Still the best movie out of all the 10 made so far.

[–]Scout-camper-canoer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If only he also directed the shambles that was Goblet of Fire, he could have salvaged a good film

[–]ClobetasolRelief -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

So tired of HP

[–]xobybr -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I wish he had done more of the HP movies. This one still stands out as my favorite of them all because yeah it was a big change from the last two but also it just felt right. The following movies were still good but yeah they all were just missing something that this one had.

[–]3nyder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's also this scene with a lot more sugar skulls: https://youtu.be/vNc43oKqQzg?t=124

[–]Bellynore 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anyone else watching this film right now on itv2?

[–]thelix 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's amazing!! Thx for sharing.

[–]whatsbobgonnado 0 points1 point  (0 children)

also when the shrunken head on the knight bus is counting down he actually counts back up when he says 3½ and it's annoying as fuck

[–]Happyhour2to5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the characters didn’t touch them, they are not props but set dec.

[–]xxpow3llxx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What a big thank you

[–]happyfoam -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

That... Sounds like a load of horseshit. This is the type of shit that a language arts teacher would make up.

[–]NozakiMufasa -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I feel like I have to wait till JK Rowling is dead if I ever want the chance to tell a dope Wizarding World story that featured Mexico & Mexican people. I know shed wanna put her grubby hands on it or tie it into Voldemort or some shit. Fuck that.

[–]huoyuanjiaa -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

OMG such culture and heritage!!!! White people don't have this. Did you guys see the little skeleton candy??? Wow. I'm so glad he embraced all of that and did this as the culture/heritage/and race matters so much!

[–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

A reference to Día De Los Muertos, or "Mexican Halloween," not to be confused with the sexual position.

edit: I see we don't get that reference.