The Prisoner

[huntergreen_3]

Susan McGee wrote:
>>Was anyone able to read the title of the book that was being read by
a customer in the Leaky Cauldron at the beginning?<<

I'm sure many others will answer this, but it was 'A Brief History of 
Time'.

>>I liked the "casual" use of magic throughout the film..(in the
Cauldron seeing tea being stirred, Lupin's closing up of his
luggage)...<<

Not to mention the ghosts doing the 'headless hunt' in the background 
several times, and the portraits in the hallway being upset about the 
wandlight. Magic seemed a lot more integrated into this film than in 
the others.

>>I loved Lupin and I thought I would NOT like him at all.<<

I was VERY unsure about him. I like Lupin a lot, and for some reason 
I always imagined him with sort of quiet good looks, even though the 
books never specify such a thing, and that was hard to get past. I 
did have faith in the casting department though, since they've been 
dead-on with the other characters, and I forced myself to keep an 
open mind. I spent the first half of the movie watching/judging his 
performance carefully, and then got so into the plot that I forgot 
about it until the very end when he was packing up. That scene, along 
with the shrieking shack, were very 'Lupin' to me, and now its hard 
to imagine anyone else in the role. He was excellent. I particularily 
liked the forties vibe they gave to his character, it seemed to fit 
for some reason.

>> I thought Alan Rickman DID have a lot of space in this movie and 
it was great..I loved him in Grandma Longbottom's clothes.<<

I adore Alan Rickman. The boggart scene was fantastic just for the 
sheer amount of time he spent standing there looking vaguely confused 
(and clutching that purse).

>>I loved the way he protected the kids from the WereWolf (despite 
how much he hates Harry -- a foreshadowing of how Dumbledore does 
trust him and how I reluctantly must agree he must be on our side<<

My take on the Snape/Harry relationship is that Snape wouldn't be 
upset at all if Harry happened to die, but he wouldn't stand by and 
let it happen. I think its sort of an unwritten rule that the 
teachers are supposed to protect the students from any 'dangers' 
(that don't befall other schools), and Snape sees it as his 
responsibility to protect any students around him, whether or not he 
DESTESTS the student in question. Its sort of how Harry saved Dudley 
from the dementers (and we all know how they feel about each other).


>>Gary Oldman was superb! He brought the goodness, the madness and the
violence of Sirius Black to life <<
Yes he was, he blew away my rather high expectations. I got chills 
when he shouted about spending 12 years in Azkaban. I especially 
liked the moment when Lupin first bursts in and they have 
the 'madness within' conversation and the hug. It really seemed like 
Lupin had actually been Sirius' friend all along (despite knowing he 
hadn't).

>>..the scene with Lupin turning into
the werewolf was wonderful (the second time I heard Lupin
whimpering "Padfoot...."<<

Is that where he says it? Several people have mentioned 
Sirius/Lupin/Peter using their nicknames in the movie, and I didn't 
hear a single usuage either time I saw the movie. Can someone tell me 
where the other times were? Or will I just have to wait for the DVD?

>>Timothy Spawl as Peter Pettigrew is absolutely brilliant<<

His rat-like body language was fantastic! As was the way he kept 
running for the door (although it bothered me that neither Sirius or 
Lupin thought to SHUT the door).

>>I was terribly pleased to see Hermione (Emma Watson) have more of a
role. <<

I've heard from a lot of people who would disagree with that, but I 
didn't really think she was exactly SUPER!Hermione myself. But she 
wasn't as bookish either, and she wasn't exhausted and stressed out 
like the Hermione of the book. She was more in the middle, which is 
not a bad thing unless she goes further away from bookish in GoF. I 
did enjoy how they gave her more to do in the time-turner sequence, 
and the non-fans I've talked to (including this unfortunate girl 
whose friends dragged her to a midnight showing on her birthday of 
all days) all mentioned that scene as being their favorite. It was 
much better done than I expected, the time-turner part of the book 
was always my least-favorite part of PoA.


-Rebecca