[HPFGU-Movie] My comments on CoS

[artsylynda at aol.com]

Rickelle:

> 3. Harry's hesitation before entering when he sees Aunt Petunia working on 
> the pudding.  Like he really wasn't in the mood to get in more trouble than 
> he was already in.

Yes, this was so perfect!  And his reaction to the pudding flying and then 
falling -- and when he clouted Dobby on the head, that looked so real, as if 
Dobby was really there to get clouted!

> 
> 4. Dudley's deliberate bumping into Harry when he walked past.  Nice touch, 
> very in character for Dudley.
> 
> 5. Harry's brilliantly delivered "I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise 
> and pretending I don't exist." Exquisite.
> 
> 6. The entire Dobby scene in Harry's bedroom.  I really didn't expect to 
> like him.  I didn't like him in the book.  But he was so much better than 
> certain other CGI characters it was believable.  I loved the lamp part, 
> where Dobby's hitting himself with it and Harry's trying to wrestle it away 
> from him.  Very realistic.  And the wardrobe door coming open while Harry's 
> talking to Uncle Vernon.  Everything was good.  Except for Harry's lunge at 
> Dobby before he runs from the room, it was quite a bit high!
> 
> 7. Uncle Vernon's "I'm so sorry.  It's my nephew . . .  he's disturbed . . 
> . "  Great delivery there.
> 
> 8. The pure irony that the locks Uncle Vernon put on Harry's door to keep 
> him in the room were what kept him from getting inside in time to stop 
> Harry from escaping.
> 

I am constantly amazed that, as much as Uncle Vernon can't stand Harry, he's 
always trying to keep him home!  Why?!  (I know, for some reason he enjoys 
making poor Harry miserable, but he's making his own family miserable in the 
process -- not very logical, is he?)  Vernon doesn't want Harry going to 
visit his friends, he doesn't want him going to the World Quidditch Cup, he 
makes him sit in the room when Aunt Marge is there, etc.  If he hates him so 
much, why not make him stay in his room all the time, and give him permission 
to leave whenever there's the chance?!  Oh, gee, that would be too logical 
for Vernon, wouldn't it?  And it would spoil the story, so we'll just go 
along with it, I reckon!  heehee  But Vernon grabbing Harry's ankle as Harry 
leaps into the car -- priceless scene!

> 9. The Burrow.  Everything about it.  Harry's fascination with everything 
> was well done, even though only a short time was devoted to it.  Loved 
> Arthur Weasley, especially when he finally noticed Harry.  Ginny's reaction 
> to Harry's "Hello."  And Harry's "What did I do?"  The only thing I didn't 
> like was Molly's "Only one place we can find all of this . . . Diagon 
> Alley."  Sounds like a commercial for Diagon Alley.

Yes, that was really odd, wasn't it?  It did sound like a commercial.  A 
wizarding family would KNOW Diagon Alley is the only place to get that stuff, 
especially since they've had so many kids go through Hogwart's already.  That 
was just odd.  But maybe it was to establish something about Molly's 
character.  She is such a "typical" mom-type, that stating the obvious 
(obvious to everyone but herself) may just be the way she is.  Some moms are 
like that -- no matter how old their kids get, they never stop explaining 
things at the simplest level, as if the kids were still little.

> *snip*
> 
> 14. Ugh, Hermione's "Fear of a name increases the fear of the thing itself" 
> line was awful.   Since when is Hermione a substitute for Dumbledore?  If 
> she'd have been there when he said it, sure, but she wasn't.
> 

That was odd, wasn't it?

> 15. The Whomping Willow was great, not as I pictured it, but well done 
> still.  I liked Ron's "My wand!  Look at my wand!"  And Harry's "Be 
> thankful it's not your neck."  I also love it when the car throws them out. 
>  Along with the luggage.

Yeah, and then the car goes off in a huff!  LOL!

> *snip*
> 
> 17. I loved Colin, he was so cute.  Not enough of him, but he was cute.
> 
> 18. If it's so easy to immobilize Cornish Pixies, why didn't Hermione do it 
> in the first place?  I did like Neville's "Why is it always me?" line.

Colin really was cute, and I enjoyed what we saw of him.  The actor fit with 
the image I got from the book quite well (and yes, I saw the movie before I 
read the book, but some actors fit their parts like gloves, while others 
still don't appear in my mind's eye when I read the books).

> *snip*
> 
> 21. The bludger. Amazing how after Harry caught the Snitch no teacher could 
> think to get rid of the Bludger, but Hermione could.

Yes, this bothered me.  They're surrounded by full-grown Wizards, and a 
school girl is the one who stops the curse?  Same thing bothered me in SS, 
but in that case, maybe Hermione *was* the only one who saw Snape casting the 
spell (yes, I know it was really Quirrel).


22. This is through no fault of Maggie Smith's, I'm crazy about her and 
> McGonagall, but what an awful line. "I think he's been petrified."  Duh.

Yes, sometimes you have to wonder what the writer was thinking!

> 
> 23. The entire dueling club scene was great, spell problems aside 
> (expelliarmus, etc.), Snape was great.  I loved it when he shoved Malfoy 
> back out into the duel.

The dueling scene was wonderful, but far too short to suit me.  Snape said 
they should teach the kids blocking spells first, and then they toss Harry 
and Malfoy in the "ring" together without teaching them *anything*!  A simply 
*huge* gap in logic there (and in teaching methods!).  I wanted that scene to 
go on longer -- it was such fun, and could've been drawn out a bit more 
without losing anything.  In the book, it was fun to read about the kids 
trying to duel and making an awful mess of it.  Too bad they cut that part 
out.
> 
> 24. Hagrid rushing into Dumbledore's office. It would've been perfect if 
> they'd left in the deleted scene (which according to the BBFC is all of 52 
> seconds).
> 
> 25. Wingardium Leviosa--I loved Harry's "Ron, maybe I should do it."
> 
> 26. Draco's "I didn't know you could read!" to Goyle/Harry was perfect.
> 
> 27. Harry/Goyle's "You're wrong!" to Malfoy's Dumbledore comment, followed 
> by "Harry Potter." (as the worst thing that ever happened to Hogwart's.)
> 
> 28. The flashback/diary scene, except for the end, with Harry's "Hagrid" 
> scream.
> 
> 29. Hagrid walking up behind the trio in time to hear "mad and hairy."
> 
> 30. Fred's (or George's) comment about the Hufflepuff team being scared 
> that Harry would petrify them.
> 
> 31. The scene in Hagrid's hut, especially Dumbledore looking right 
> "through" the cloak at Ron and Harry.
> 
> 32. Ron's "Follow the butterflies" line was priceless.
> 
> 33. The spider scene, I especially liked Harry's "What!?" to Ron as he 
> continues to interrupt in the middle of his conversation with Aragog.  I 
> also loved Harry's ever polite, though nervous "Well, thank you, we'll just 
> go."
> 
> 34. I loved Ron's line "If Hagrid ever gets out of Azkaban, I'll kill him!"
> 
> 35. Amusing--Harry's reasoning that Nearly Headless Nick couldn't die 
> again, since he's a ghost.  No kidding.
> 
> 36. Harry and Ron running straight to the 2nd floor corridor (where the 
> teachers were supposed to be going).  How typical. :)
> 
> 37. Snape's "Your moment has come at last" and McGonagall's "That's settled 
> . . . your skills, after all, are legend." Those comments to Lockhart were 
> wonderfully delivered.


All of the above -- priceless!  (gee, I'll have to take notes next time I 
watch it -- this is great fun!)

> *snip*
> 40. Moaning Myrtle's "Hello, Harry." in the bathroom.  Loved it.


Watching her flirt with Harry is pretty darned cute -- "if you die, you can 
share my toilet" (not an exact quote, probably) -- LOL!

*snip*
> 43. Harry had his wand in his left hand when he entered the chamber. He's 
> right handed.  

Ah-ha!  This brings up a *big* point in my mind.  Why do you suppose Harry 
and Draco held their arms and wands differently from each other?  Snape and 
Lockhart did, as well.  I see no logic for one wizard to be pointing his wand 
at his opponent and the other to have his wand above his head as if he's 
winding up for a pitch (although that's exactly what Snape and Malfoy did, 
right?)  Any thoughts on the "whys and wherefores" of arm/wand position in 
duelling?


> 44. Riddle.  I loved Riddle.  Well, at least he was appealing to look at.  

Yup, a handsome guy.  Too bad he (Voldemort) looks like a snake now!  What a 
waste!  :-D

> 
> 45. The Basilisk was awesome.  However, don't snakes smell with their 
> tongues?  Shouldn't the Basilisk have been able to smell Harry rather than 
> turn away to follow the sound of the rock? I'm no snake expert, though.

I found it interesting that the basilisk looked nearly exactly like a moray 
eel, not like a snake.  (Look at it's head -- moray eel).  I don't know if 
eels smell things the way snakes do, since they live in the water.  I have no 
idea what they were thinking when they made the basilisk look like that 
(unless it looks like some kind of European or British snake I'm not familiar 
with).

> 
> 46. Just a note, how in the world did Harry get down off the top of the 
> statue of Slytherin, holding both the sword and the fang and being poisoned 
> by the venom from the Basilisk?

By climbing down, then sliding, then jumping the rest of the way, I suspect, 
but mostly sliding (with lots of pain and anguish and possible cuts from the 
sword as he went).  He'd pretty much have to hold onto the statue with his 
elbows with the sword and fang in his hands -- so maybe he tossed down the 
fang (it wouldn't make as much noise as the sword would when it landed) and 
picked it up after he got down.  I guess we'll never know for sure.  

> 
> 47. I loved Harry's "Thanks" to Fawkes.  Understatement of the year, but I 
> loved it.  It was a very natural thing for a 12 year old to say.  (none of 
> this mushy "I would've died if it weren't for you" stuff, just a plain and 
> simple "Thanks.")  I also loved Harry's line "It's over.  It's just a 
> memory."

Yes, and "mushy" stuff like that would be out of character for Harry anyway.  
The line was perfectly delivered, Harry tense, weary, grateful but with no 
way to express what needs to be said -- "Thanks" is plenty.  I think Harry's 
going to be one of those wizards who has a phoenix, he has such a good 
relationship with Fawkes.  I expect to see one appear in a future book, maybe 
book 7 -- wonder what Hedwig will think?  She'll probably go "humph" and 
ruffle her feathers, then turn away.  (I love that Hedwig has so much 
personality.)

> *snip*
> 49. Harry and Ron's expressions in Dumbledore's office were great.  They 
> looked like they'd just been caught stealing candy, not saving the school. 
> :)

Exactly!!!  That was perfect!

> *snip*
> 
> 51. Kind of comical, a sword sharp enough to kill a 60 foot Basilisk with a 
> single stab, yet Harry easily handles it by the blade.  Interesting (i.e. 
> bad directing!).

Yup, I thought that it was quite odd that Harry would handle the sword by the 
blade like that.  But to kill the Basilisk, it only needed to be sharp at the 
tip -- a real sword like that would be sharp all along the sides, and if 
Harry grasped it in his hands as he did, he'd be taking a huge chance on 
cutting his hands badly.  They should have consulted with Alan Rickman on the 
sword handling -- he was awesome in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" 
especially in the duelling scene.  He knows his way around a sword!  

> 
> 52. The hug/no hug part.  Ron saved it, that's all I'll say.
> 
> 53. Hermione's "Oh, no!" when exams were canceled, very in character.
> 
> 54. The applause for Hagrid.  Ugh.  Let me just say, this is Harry Potter, 
> not a Walt Disney fairy tale!  I did like the part where Crabbe got caught 
> up in it and started to applaud, only to have Draco grab him and shove him 
> back down into his seat.  Still, I could've thought of a number of ways to 
> end it better!

Yup!  All of the above.

> *snip*

> Just a few last comments about the actors, Daniel Radcliffe never ceases to 
> amaze me, he was absolutely incredible.  I can see problems in SS/PS, even 
> though I thought he did great, but here he was brilliant.  Rupert is 
> incredible, especially considering what he had to work with.  Emma, well, 
> it's not her fault what lines they gave her!
> 
I agree.  All the kids have grown in their acting skills, particularly Dan 
and Rupert.  Emma just doesn't get a break, with the lines she gets and the 
personality of Hermione.  I think her part will get better as the movies 
progress.  Dan is already terrific and if he keeps improving from movie to 
movie as he has from teh first to the second one, he'll be up for major 
awards by the time the last movies come out.  ;-> 

Lynda 
* * *
"Don't let  the Muggles get you down." Ron Weasley PoA


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