facts, oddities, pluses and whines, big and small

[Jenny from Ravenclaw]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., frantyck at y... wrote:
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> Despite all this whining, I loved bits of the film. Watch it as a 
> companion documentary to the books, not as an interpretation or a 
> complete story on its own.>

I felt that the movie truly captured the very things that excited me 
about the book.  Harry's dorm room was so perfect, it took my breath 
away.  Diagon Alley made me want to jump right in and walk down the 
street looking into the windows of all the shops.  Quidditch was 
quickening-pulse exciting - and I am not a big fan of Quidditch.  When 
Harry broke through platform 9 3/4, boy, did I get excited!  Damn, I 
want to go to Hogwarts.

My criticisms are more of the nitpicky variety.  Harry's blue eyes 
irritated me to no end.  Why couldn't something have been done with 
them?  I wasn't pleased that Hermione discovered who Nicolas Flamel 
was; it was a shining moment for Harry in the book that shows us he is 
clever, too.  I agree that some of the humor that we love so in the 
books was lacking in the film - "Are you a witch or what?" is one of 
the best lines, and Dumbledore's sock comment is noticeably missing.  
Neville's plight could have expanded on a bit more, as his 10 point 
award is such a treat in the book because we know how hard everything 
is for him.

Really, though, the movie was excellent.  It was darkly creepy in 
appropriate places - much too so for children, IMO (thus proving that 
these are not stories for children once again) and I left just aching 
to be even a muggle in Harry's world instead of a muggle here.

--jenny from ravenclaw, who is already planning her second viewing 
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