It's great

[foxmoth at qnet.com]

    Okay, put me in the "loved it" category. Rupert was great: I fell 
in love with Ron all over again. (My husband's reaction: Where'd 
they get Mickey Rooney?" ) Snape is the reason I can't wait for 
the DVD. I loved the castle and all the sets. I was terribly afraid 
they were going to look stagy or overproduced (think Hook!) and 
they didn't.  I thought Dan and Emma were just fine in their parts, 
along with the rest of the cast
the only character I didn't buy was 
the centaur. I'm not sure whether it was the make up or the 
effects, but it just didn't work.
     Yeah, there was some stuff that didn't work. The unicorn 
looked wrong
like a stuffed animal. Things got choppy between 
the visit to Hagrid's cabin and the chess match. But I don't think 
leaving out Norbert would be the answer. The lady beside me 
said "No Peeves!" in a wounded sort of voice, so I can imagine 
how everyone would have screamed if they'd left out Norbert (not 
to mention WB missing a chance to sell cute stuffed dragons) 
Besides, Hagrid's beard catching fire was a nice touch. I don't 
object to the "Should'n't've told yeh that" running gag at all. For 
one thing it made Hagrid's blabbing about Fluffy more credible.         
Thinking it over, most of the stuff that wasn't there I didn't notice 
until after the movie was over, which to me is a sign that they got 
it right.
   It's too soon to tell whether the movie will be a classic in its 
own right, like The Wizard of Oz. It's certainly one of the better 
adaptations of a literary fantasy to the screen I've seen. 

Pippin