Second Time Around...

[Ebony]

...and I *loved* it!  It was SO much better than my first viewing... 
and best of all, I saw one of the kids I'd introduced to the books in 
the theatre.

Everything I've wanted to say has already been said... Heidi in 
particular echoed my thoughts exactly.

I thought all of the kids were cool.  I'm with Heidi; no casting 
changes unless there's a RL issue that prevents that particular 
little actor from continuing.  Rupert was PHENOMENAL--I utterly and 
totally fell in love with Ron all over again--he reminded me of all 
the reasons that endeared me to the character at the beginning of the 
series.  Tom was GREAT as Draco and I kept getting nudged--"Ms. 
Thomas, you're not supposed to be giggling!  Malfoy's an evil brat!"  
Yeah, but an evil brat with the face of an angel.

Emma's major fault IMO wasn't her acting at all; it's just that she's 
far too adorable of a kid to play Hermione.  As a huge Hermione fan 
(well, most of you guys know that!) I found it distracting when all 
the first years were about to be Sorted and she was by far the cutest 
little girl in her year.  As I told someone after my second viewing, 
it'll render the Yule Ball CinderHermione issue quite irrelevant.  
Which, since they'll have to cut down GoF substantially may be a Good 
Thing.

Dan was very good too.  As so many have said, the impossible was 
asked of a 12 year old kid and I think he pulled it off as well as 
anyone could.  I certainly bought him as Harry... it never jarred for 
me.  And now I am looking forward to CoS, most of our least favorite 
of the books... after the first viewing yesterday, I stayed up most 
of the nigh and re-read the whole thing.  I do think that it'll be as 
good and probably better than this one for two reasons:  1) a more 
cinematic plot, if quite a bit darker, and 2) Dan has repeatedly said 
this is his favorite book, so I think he'll put a lot into the 
performance.

Loved Maggie Smith and Robbie Coltrane.  And all you Alan Rickman 
fans were SO right... he is Snape and his performance made me see the 
character in a completely different light.  I look forward to re-
reading canon and seeing where I began to really get uncomfortable 
with him.

My favorite CGI was Quidditch.  Absolutely stunning.  I loved the 
teams' uniforms.  I loved the unique stands.  I loved the pillars.  
It was so much more than I'd imagined... and I winced when Angelina 
and Oliver hit the ground.  And I kept thinking, "I *so* want to be a 
pro Quidditch player... why isn't this a real game?"

More later... thanks to that marathon CoS read, I'm getting sleepy!  

--Ebony AKA AngieJ