Chris Columbus impressed with Cuaron
Chris Columbus, producer of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, told Sci Fi Wire that he's particularly impressed with how director Alfonso Cuaron, who assumed the director's chair from him following Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, has handled several key sequences in the new film. "As a director I've always been excited about sequences," Columbus said in an interview. "When I talk about my favorite films it's always certain moments in a film, certain sequences, whether it's Michael Corleone sitting in that restaurant right before he's about to shoot the sergeant or whether it's Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger in the back seat of the car in On the Waterfront."

Columbus, who said he's already seen Azkaban three times, added, "In Azkaban, that kind of scene for me is the first attack on the train by the Dementors. It's such a beautifully directed scene that Alfonso has done. I remember that scene immensely. And there's also Harry's (Daniel Radcliffe) first ride on the hippogryph, which is just magical and poetic. Those are the two scenes that really stick with me. I keep thinking about those scenes constantly and [also about] how proud I am to be involved in them, but mostly how wonderful a job Alfonso has done as a director." Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban opens June 4.