Good grief, *finally*!...

[goldenkey26 at yahoo.com]

...I've gotten to see the movie.  I *was* going to watch it 
Thanksgiving weekend as an early birthday present, but then I got the 
flu-shot flu and then I got some other unidentified thing, and I 
don't want to go into it (except it involved the ER, Benadryl, and an 
annoying male nurse), so suffice to say I was very disappointed.  I 
couldn't even answer the poll on OTChatter because there wasn't an 
entry that said "Haven't watched it yet but intend to".  Boo!

*ahem* Anyway.  I loved the movie.  I thought the changes they made 
were the right changes, though if I'd been younger I'd've had the 
same reaction I did to The Black Stallion when it came out.  Which 
was utter abjuration and disgust -- but I've learned better now.  I 
look forward to the director's cut, if and when it is published.

Some of the things delighted me so much I wish they'd actually been 
in the book:  like the glass reappearing and trapping Dudley in the 
snake habitat (!) and Harry doing a flip to catch the Remembrall 
right in front of McGonagall's window (that one's negligible, but it 
was very effective visually), and (also negligible) Wood's reassuring 
Harry before the Quidditch match with the story of *his* first game 
in which he took a Bludger to the head and woke up in hospital a week 
later...  (And did that moment remind you of preludes to bullfighting 
scenes?)

The Quidditch ruled.  I wanted there to be more of it.

Snape ruled too, and I wanted more of him as well.  And yes, Helen, I 
thought it funny when he stormed into the Potions classroom the first 
day -- it gave emphasis to Quirrell's "so useful to have him swooping 
around like an overgrown bat" (too bad that line wasn't in there -- 
or did I miss it?  I'm going back.).  I also liked the moment when 
Ron's broomstick hit him in the face and he said "Shut up, Harry!" 
when Harry laughed.

I found it really curious that they decided to alter the trapdoor 
sequence to remove Hermione's particular heroism in the Potion Logic 
Trap, and rework Devil's Snare to have her save the day there.  Was 
it a time-saving attempt to give each of them a chance to show their 
Gryffindor colors?  Hmmm....  

I watched the CGI stuff with Luke's apposite criticisms in mind, and 
found that I could live with the effects okay (great informative 
stuff, Luke, by the way.).

Well, there's my initial bubbling over.

:)

Lisa