5 posts tagged “harry potter”
Yesterday I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Sadly, the film did not live up to my expectations. Maybe I had my hopes up too high but too much of the movie seemed to fall flat. Don't get me wrong there were some great scenes and I thought all of the new cast did a very good job. Maybe a run-though would be in order, as much as I can remember from one viewing. Unlike Goblet of Fire which I saw 2-3 times the first weekend, I will not be seeing this one again by myself. I will take my oldest daughter to it later in IMAX.
Opening music and theme...ok I expect to hear the basic theme of the series, gray smoke/mist works for me but does nothing to particularly excite me.
Harry at the playground. This does not look much like I imagined it, there seems to be way too much bare field and grass, like they are in Nebraska or something, not that I have been to Surrey or Nebraska myself. I was glad that I could see the houses, it made me feel as if I wasn't completely crazy and I was indeed watching Harry Potter.
Dudley and his gang were ok, I like that they kept several lines from the film in there, not sure if I like his entire gang being present when Harry pulls his wand, that's just asking for trouble. Storm coming in was a nice effect, got it dark and foreboding. If the other boys think that Harry started the storm, well there is another huge problem.
The tunnel...didn't look the way I envisioned an alley at Wisteria Drive to look at all. Maybe those kind of things are all over England and I just didn't know about them, but I though it looked a bit science-fictionish to me, futuristic and bizarre. I liked the big dementer jump (scare, noone ever looks up, I'm told), not sure about how the dementors looked now, it really happened too fast to see much of.
I wanted Dudley to be sick, I wanted the questioning by Uncle Vernon to last for at least a little bit. I didn't like the one "howler" they sent expelling Harry without the follow up owls and Uncle Vernon wanting to kick Harry out of the house and the real howler from Dumbledore saying "Remember my last." They ended with taking Dudley out of the house in the car, which I suppose worked for time constraints.
The Order arrives and no one gets a proper introduction, Lupin was supposed to have been with them, make Harry prove that he's not a death eater in disguise. I think that they may have left out that "never got around to much teaching" part from Moody which I found to be funny. I liked Kingsley Shacklebolt, but I don't know if the witch was supposed to be Hestia Jones or Emmeline Vance. Not that it really matters but if Harry is not supposed to call her Nymphadora, what is he supposed to call her because they never say the word Tonks. There was no packing of Harry's belongings and was he flying his own broom or one that they brought with them?
Flying was good, it might have gone on a bit long, the music did nothing for me, it was just background noise. Why were they flying so close to the ground/river, don't they know they could be spotted by muggles?
Grimmauld place. I don't mind that it popped out of the wall, but could Harry be let in on the secret please? Just show him the scrap of paper with the address and burn it, is it asking too much? Otherwise it looks like any wizard who hits his staff a few times on the ground could have the same effect. It didn't look entirely as I would envision the house of black to look but not totally off the mark. I envisioned the family tree tapestry to cover one wall and have smaller writing, but I don't mind that they blew it up into a wall paper type thing so you could try to read some of the names.
Kreacher was good I thought, but there wasn't much of a role for him, I think they just put him in because JK said that they'd be sorry if they didn't later, probably pertaining to book 7. Hermione attacking Harry with a hug as soon as he enters was very sudden but that's ok, it turns it into a "jump" kind of moment. Ron and Hermione don't really have much to say in this movie. I wish they would have left in the prefect badges and Harry's jealousy.
Going to Hogwarts, I liked Luna Lovegood, I thought she was great. Hermione introducing her as "Looney" seemed a bit wrong for her to make that mistake, and where did they meet before anyways? Ginny should have introduced her and maybe have some Sytherins walk by and yell, "hey Looney" or something like that.
Feast in the great hall, I was glad to see the house tables back again, I don't remember them clearly (maybe I should re-watch my dvd of 4 to confirm) in the past couple of movies. To be honest, I can't remember Professor Grubbly-Plank's face but I suppose that it doesn't matter since you never see her again in the film. Umbridge was right on I think. Poison wrapped in pink with a really annoying, perky "hem hem" instead of her fake cough but I liked it and thought that it worked.
The middle part of the film is sort of muddled to me, this is where I started wishing that I hadn't drunk the medium sized (movie theater drinks are huge and just as well since I paid $4 for it) soda. The scenes didn't seem to flow well, it was choppy and episodic and I couldn't tell you the real order to them. I know the story very well from the book but it seemed like there were some good scenes mixed in with some botched scenes. I'd have to do a rewatch to be more specific.
Ron and Hermione's roles are greatly reduced in this movie. They are used for looking at Harry when he's going off (he could go off a bit more maybe), they convince him to start Dumbledore's Army, they are there for the reaction to the kiss, and they fight with him at the ministry. Hermione gets to meet Grawp who is definately tall enough, maybe too tall, but what did they do to his face? Computer graphics can do anything you want them to do now a days and someone decided on that face? Weird. I have a similar complaint about the centaurs. They look all muddled about the heads, they don't look like men's bodies and horses put together, they looked like badly formed modeling clay. I'm not very artistic, but I strongly suspect that I could make a better centaur just by using real actors for the tops and computer generating the bottoms (I would need help for this part since I've never done anything like it.)
Flashing back a little, I thought that Harry's dreams were mostly ok, I don't get the Voldemort in the black suit at the station but I liked the head/neck posturing that Harry later imitated. The ministry of magic doesn't look much like I envisioned it. His trial does not take place at the department of mysteries either. They seem to walk though the floo network. They left in the paper airplane memos and the explanation of them. Why? Maybe someone thought that it was funny. The Wizengamot members were wearing different colors, for what purpose? Did some have different ranks then other's does it mean something? Percy was there but wasn't introduced as a scribe or assistant. Mrs. Figg totally fell flat for me and where was Mundungus Fletcher? I wanted her to say "I hope Dumbledore murders him!" They never say that she is a squib either.
I'm running out of steam now, I might come back and put some ending on this or add a part two after I see it in IMAX but that won't be until August or so.
Waiting for Book 7, and that will hopefully not disappoint.
Well I was very excited to find out Thursday evening that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released on July 21st, 2007!
I celebrated by wearing my Harry Potter shirt to school (work) that day (casual Friday) and had Harry Potter Day with my chorus students. I had a bag of hard wrapped candies and I would ask students Harry Potter trivia questions and then throw them a candy. I made up questions ranging from very easy for those who hadn't read the books to moderately hard.
How are your Harry Potter trivia skills?
What is the American title of the first book?
What is the British title of the first book? (none of my students knew that one)
Who is Harry's arch-nemesis?
What is Harry's middle name?
What is Harry's mother's name (maiden)?
What is the spell to make an object float in the air?
What does the Mirror of Erised show you?
What obstacle did Harry have to face in the second book (title)?
What creature do spiders flee from?
What is Hagrid's first name?
What is You-Know-Who's real name?
What school does Harry go to?
Who is the headmaster?
Who is the Prizoner of Azkaban?
What is the name of the large body of water on the school grounds?
What is the name of the really big spider?
What kind of creature is that spider?
Who is the defense against the arts teacher in year 3? (full name)
Who is the D.A.D.A. teachers supposedly in year 4?
Who is it really?
What tournament is Harry forced to participate in in year 4?
What is the spell to summon an object?
What does Harry have to get in the first task?
Name each of the contestants and what they would miss most.
Who dies in book 4?
What is the spell for a patronus?
What form does Harry's Patronus take?
What form does Hermione's patronus take?
What form does Ron's patronus take (you'd have to read the interview with Rowling, Emerson and Mellissa as posted on mugglenet.com)?
Where has Harry's Godfather been hiding in book 5?
Name four (or more) members of the Order of the Phoenix.
What is Dumbledore's full name?
What is Sirius' brother's name?
What is the name of the group that Harry helps form to study defense?
Who dies in book 5?
Who is the Half-Blood Prince?
Who dies in book 6?
Name 4 (or more) Death Eaters.
Who gets bitten by a werewolf?
Name the unforgivable curses and an example of each being used on a character in one of the books.
How many birthday cakes does Harry receive in the first 6 books?
How many staircases are there at Harry's school?
Enjoy!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix trailer is out! I would like to put it here but I can't figure it out yet. I could post the movie clip but the copy paste doesn't work.....
Why is there no cut and paste option?????
Well, it's only been a few weeks since I started reading blogs and now I'm starting one of my own.
Thanks to my wonderful niece, Erin!
Things I want to write posts on and will do as I find time:
Harry Potter theories and editorials. I've always wanted to write some but wondered what I would do with them, especially if rejected by Mugglenet. I love reading the editorials there.
Overview of several low-carb plans published, I own the books, time to write my own reviews.
World of Warcraft...maybe some screenshots or fun little characters and stories about things that have happened.
Links to important sites I like.
Other book reviews.
Recipies.
Anything that strikes me...how's that?
Usually I don't have any time but there are some vacations coming up and I'll want to do some writing.
In January, February and March part of my job as a music teacher involves the school musical. This year we are doing the Getting To Know Once Upon A Mattress. I netflixed the 2005 movie with Carol Burnett and really liked it. Click on link for description.
Beth
