Audience of One is the weblog of Matthew Weston, a UK student, Christian, technophile and musician.

The Goblet of Fire

Of my predictions for this film, I feel I have been vindicated (again). This was the first Harry Potter film that I didn’t come away from thinking of the cheesy bits that annoyed me; I came away thinking of the good bits which I enjoyed. A definite improvement. I predicted a Lord of the Rings feel, which didn’t really emerge, but never mind.

So, to the film. Now, of course bits were missed out as they couldn’t hope to fit the whole book in – but some things were also changed completely. Sometimes this was good, sometimes it was bad. (If you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to stop reading now.)

An example of a good change would be Rita Skeeter appearing in the champions tent before the first task just as Hermione hugs Harry. That was quite a clever way of introducing Hermione’s dislike of Skeeter, and made for an amusing scene. However they’d cut out Hermione’s revenge completely, making the whole character of Skeeter seem a bit pointless, or at least added on to the plot and not quite fitting in.

Crouch Junior also featured in Harry’s dream of the Riddle House at the beginning, meaning that he recognised him in the Pensieve. Of course, this leads to a much simpler denouement, but I felt it lacked power as it was abbreviated so much.

Daniel Radcliffe was improved from the last film, though not as improved as Rupert Grint (who was excellent). Emma Watson also improved, but as of the third film she was the strongest of the three anyway. I’m not sure I like Michael Gambon’s Dumbledore so much, but the other teachers have always been very good. The best actors in the entire film though were, of course, Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway of Radiohead as members of the Weird Sisters. David Tennant was very good as Crouch Junior, however I couldn’t help but think of Doctor Who.

After thinking about it a bit, I felt that what they chose to include and get rid of was, on the whole, wise – however I would have preferred to have Crouch Junior not present in the dream. The whole mystery over who Voldemort’s servant at Hogwarts is wasn’t developed at all (we hear about Karkaroff from Sirius but he’s not mentioned again really) and the ending did seem a bit weak. (Also, I’m not sure whether Harry being left in the wilderness at the World Cup worked, but it’s not so much an issue.)

All in all (what a terrible phrase – forgive me) it was a very enjoyable film, the best Harry Potter film yet, though not without its flaws – but then they are to be expected in any adaptation of a book. If you understand the Potter universe (whether or not you’re a fan) it’s a good film and worth seeing.

Matthew @ 20:47, November 20, 2005 to Reviews | Permalink | Comments (5)

Condoning sin?

On Friday I had a conversation with a homeless guy I know. He sells Big Issues on a road I travel down on my way into work, and I’ve got to know him a bit over the past couple of months. On Friday we talked about how he became homeless – about how his parents, “supposedly Christians”, had turned him out because he’d got his girlfriend pregnant.

We talked about John 8:3-11, the story of the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees bring Jesus this woman, trying to trick him. If he lets her go, he is ignoring the Law (capital L, given to Israelites a couple of millennia back by God) and they’ve got him nailed (possibly not the best term, considering his future) as a false teacher. On the other hand, if he agrees they should stone her, he won’t be popular with the people.

What Jesus does is brilliant. He shows that, as humans, we cannot justly judge. Only God can do that as only God is perfect. Disowning a family member who sins is wrong – no-one is blameless.

Are we condoning sin in this attitude? Well, that was one of the outcomes Jesus was facing in the above situation. If he let the woman off, he would be condoning her actions. Does he let the woman off?

He doesn’t condemn her there and then, certainly, and in that we should follow his attitude. However he is also the Judge of all mankind, and in that role will judge the woman at the end of time. We don’t know the eternal fate of the woman, but that is not what should concern us. It is for God to judge, not us. Jesus wasn’t letting the woman off – he was giving her a chance to turn to him. He knew what she was doing was wrong, but loved her anyway and wanted her to turn her back on it.

If we accept people like this woman into the church, it doesn’t mean that we’re condoning what they do, because we’re all in the same situation – and this is what makes the Christian gospel so powerful. All of us, however hard we try, cannot stop doing wrong. We have all rejected God – but we can all regain the relationship with him we were meant to have. God provided a way for us to be forgiven. God can’t ignore our rebellion – so he punished the perfect Jesus in our place, so that we could know him. The church is made for sinners to come into and be saved! Condoning sin? No. Accepting sinners? Yes. We can love the sinner and still hate the sin. We can encourage others to change – as Jesus does at the end: “Go and sin no more”.

There’s so many theological issues that come out of this passage, and I could write for weeks on it, but I don’t have the time or the expertise to do it well. It’s terrible though how those who profess to be Christians so often ignore Christ.

Matthew @ 16:59, November 20, 2005 to Discussions | Permalink | Comments (4)

Goblet of Fire, before

Last time a Harry Potter film was released, I posted my comments on what I expected to see in it beforehand. As far as I can remember (as I’m struggling to find what I wrote) I was vindicated almost completely.

So, putting my predictive skills to use again, I announce that the following things will happen in the Goblet of Fire film (which I am seeing this evening):

To be honest I don’t think I have much to predict. It looks darker, it looks better, it looks more interesting than the previous ones. Regular readers (from way, way back) know that I enjoyed the third film quite a lot, but thought the first one dire and the second one not much better. Perhaps I had too high expectations that the universal appeal would continue with the films. Anyway, as the books get darker and more adult, so will the films, and that in my opinion can only be a good thing.

Matthew @ 07:22, November 18, 2005 to Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (8)

Musical Education, first selection

The qualifying albums were:

Other albums were discounted as people already had entries in… and anyway as two people voted for it I decided to pick the Cure anyway. Tune in next week for my write-up!

Currently listening to Freuet euch des Herren, ihr Gerechten – Heinrich Schütz

Matthew @ 17:04, November 12, 2005 to Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (2)

Reading list

Matthew @ 12:59, November 7, 2005 to Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (8)

Musical Education

Given my recent endeavours into new music fueled by free CD rentals, and recommendations from my readers, I’ve decided to take some of your recommendations up. What I will attempt to do is this: every two weeks or so I will rent one of your recommendations and post a write-up here.

Everyone gets one vote for an album – but the album must fit one criterion – that being, the library must have one in stock (or you own it and can lend it to me). The library catalogue is online, and we can transfer CDs in from any of the branches so it doesn’t matter where it is or whether it’s currently being borrowed. If you can’t be bothered to check, say as much and I’ll check. Each fortnight or so I will pick a recommendation randomly and listen to it frequently for at least a week.

After each selection if your album isn’t chosen you are able to change your choice. If your album is chosen, you have to sit out of the next round of selections.

This is the chance you’ve been waiting for! Educate me in the ways of your music tastes! The first album selection process begins… now.

Matthew @ 11:31, November 6, 2005 to Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (14)

Transatlanticism

“You should really listen to some Death Cab for Cutie, Matthew.” I think my initial reaction to this advice was “What was that band name again?” Death Cab for Cutie is apparantly a name of a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, but is also used as the name of an indie rock band recently signed to Atlantic Records. I wasn’t encouraged by their name, it has to be said. Still, I decided to take the advice, and rented a couple of their albums from the library.

Transatlanticism is quite hard to describe. It’s also an excellent album, lyrically and musically. Maybe you’ve had the same experience I’ve had – listening to a song and not having the first idea what they’re going on about. “Title and Registration” was one such song for me:

The glove compartment is inaccurately named
And everybody knows it
So I’m proposing a swift orderly change,
‘Cause behind its door there’s nothing to keep my fingers warm
And all I find are souvenirs from better times

It confused me at first. This was a song about regret:

There’s no blame for how our love did slowly fade
And now that it’s gone it’s like it wasn’t there at all
And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide
Lying awake at night

What did the glove compartment have to do with anything? Then I realised exactly what it was on about, realised that I could empathise completely with the sentiments and it was, in fact, incredibly clever. It’s quite a nice feeling that, so I’ll leave you to figure it out yourselves, if you haven’t got it already.

So, lyrically I could understand the sentiments (for once) – and musically it was fantastic as well. I have a particular penchant for glockenspiel solos, so perhaps I’m biased. The instrumentation, riffs, hooks and tunes all combine to leave the songs on my brain for hours and days after listening to them – and for once, I don’t mind having them stuck there.

If you watch the O.C., apparently songs from this album have featured on the soundtrack. Having never seen it myself, this was my first experience of Death Cab for Cutie, and it’s left me wanting to find more.

Currently listening to Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles

Matthew @ 11:10, November 6, 2005 to Reviews | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sagacious advice, number three

When choosing an evening to listen to a long piece of classical music, don’t choose bonfire night

Matthew @ 20:44, November 5, 2005 to Advice | Permalink | Comments (3)

Ways to lose your job

  1. When giving a stack of boxes to a colleague, assume she’s going to hold onto all of them so that when you let go the bottom two fall on her foot.
  2. Forget to lock a cabinet leading to the theft of digital cameras.
  3. Forget your login card on the day the Area Manager turns up.
  4. Drop a three-hundred pound camera while showing it to someone.
  5. Drop a two-hundred pound camera belonging to a customer.

Matthew @ 07:47, November 5, 2005 to Top Five | Permalink | Comments (2)

An end to overtime

After today, life becomes sane again! (Possibly.) Next week a new manager and a new sales assistant start at the camera shop, so I can go back to my original hours. Suddenly, I will have time on my hands. This is good news for everything but my bank balance.

The extra time created will now be taken up with:

I leave school, get a year off from study before university, and what do I do?

Matthew @ 18:42, November 4, 2005 to Diary | Permalink | Comments (5)

Sagacious advice, number two

Having watched a BBC adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel, don’t dwell on the names of the characters. Last night I dreamt of badgers.

Matthew @ 08:00, November 4, 2005 to Advice | Permalink | Comments (0)