I couldn't find a way to fit what I wanted to say in the topic title, so let me say that when I say cutscenes I am referring to the moments when control is taken away from the player. 
 
My friend recently bought Portal 2, after buying Portal 1 and loving it. He's a huge Valve fan, but he couldn't get around to getting the Portal games until recently. 
 
I was discussing the game with him, and the topic went on to how Portal 2 had more big moments than the first, he brought up two big complaints of his: 
 
1) He complained that Portal 2 had cutscenes. For example, when Wheatley took over GLaDOS' body, he didn't like that control was taken away from him. He said that Valve, as a company, has always been concentrated on putting the player in the shoes of the protagonist, and that taking away control made the player realize that they were, indeed, playing a game. He felt ripped off and he was very disappointed that it happened a couple times, so he was very against that. 
 
2) He brought up load screens, and he had an interesting take on how they, in particular, bothered him. He didn't like simply that they were there. Others have said that they were too often, or that they were too long, but he simply didn't like that they existed. In the same vein as the 'cutscene' moments, he said that it reminded the player they were in the game. He mentioned that he would have rather have the screen pause rather than have an entirely new screen come up.  
 
Personally, I feel that the big moments were worth taking away control, just as the end of Half-life Ep. 2 did at the end. If the payoff is big enough, you can afford a moment of non-control. As for the loading screens, the animations they included were much more entertaining than a paused screen and actually helped the game flow. 
 
So, my question to you: how do you feel about the inclusion of 'cutscene' moments, and do you prefer the Half-life-style loading screens, or Portal 2-style loading screens? (Please, nothing about how often they come up or how long they may be.)

For the cutscenes, I think they're just fine in Portal 2. On the example you brought up, you were standing in a tight elevator so it's not like you're going to be exploring the world anyways. Half Life 2 did a similar thing when you where in those prisoner pods. As for the loading, I actually liked the way Valve did it. As you progress through the story, they're constantly changing to show signs of progress. Also, I prefer the fade in and out of those cutscenes rather than the abrupt pause you usually get in Half Life. Either is fine though, when I think of a game the last thing I remember from it is the load screens.

About the cutscenes, i didn't mind them.. It was fun seeing such pre-rendered parts in a Valve game, and either way, the source engine is getting old and they probably couldn't pull off those huge cutscenes as playable parts 
 
And about the loading screens, if your friend has beaten Portal 2 and he still doesn't get how brilliant those loading screens are, he needs to look into it.

Sometimes (such as when you have been smacked by a giant robot and are flying across the room) you do not have control of your body, so I was OK with that. I was also bothered by the loading screens however.