OoP omitted scenes (spoilers)

[justcarol67]

Carol earlier:
> > Spoiler space. Don't read this post if you haven't read the
reviews and don't want to know what will and won't be in the OoP film.
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> > <snip>
> Julie:
> I will miss these scenes too. I agree that the Sirius/Snape
> confrontation is important in the books, though in the movies
> there has been much less personal antagonism between Snape
> and Harry than in the books. It makes me wonder how--or if--
> Harry's hatred of Snape will come across in the HBP movie--
> or will his hatred suddenly erupt at the moment Snape "kills"
> Dumbledore? 

Carol again:
Looks like it will have to come from the Occlumency scenes. That and
the Padfoot communication in Umbridge's office appears to be all the
onscreen time they'll have together. (I do hope the fake Veritaserum
gets mentioned, not that it will help the problem you're pointing out,
but it's a good indicator of Snape's opposition to Umbridge and
therefore his support of dumbledore, even though it's only indirectly
related to Voldemort.)


> Julie:
> I don't like this change [omitting the Pensieve excursion] either.
In the books Harry is at least partially responsible for the
Occlumency lessons ending, while in the movie Snape apparently ends
the lessons in a snit after Harry sees this "worst memory."
Unfortunately the movies simply aren't able to portray the same
character complexity as the books, and it shows strongly in
movie!Snape, who has been pretty much defanged through GOF, and in
OotP it sounds like he may just come off as petulant. (Even though I
love Alan Rickman in the role, I still think movie!Snape and
book!Snape bear almost no resemblance--except I do imagine them both
having that same beautifully silky voice!)

Carol:
Well, at least GoF did show him helping to deal with Barty Crouch Jr.
and holding a wand on him--a pretty good indication that Steve Kloves
still views him as DDm. I don't know about this new script writer,
Michael Goldenberg, though. He's an unknown quantity. I can only hope
that David Heyman and JKR (to the extent that she can) are making sure
that the characterization is consistent. Rickman has not just the
voice but the mannerisms and facial expressions down. I love the way
he curls his lip in a sardonic half-smile and sweeps out of a room.
That's Snape to me. Too bad he's twenty years too old for the part and
showing it more in each subsequent film. The voiceover about "easy
prey for the Dark Lord" and the half-hissed, half-spat "Then prove
it!" sound pretty Snapelike to me. I'm just afraid of the influence of
HBP on the film. Far from being defanged, he may end up being depicted
as a traitor in the making. (But did you see the photos of the young
Wormtail? 
http://www.harrymedia.com/img/details.php?image_id=23013&sessionid=fbbb9a7a072c7f3de63c4f886968d23b&sessionid=fbbb9a7a072c7f3de63c4f886968d23b
(link may not work)
He does look like a perfect junior version of Spall!Wormtail, but
would MPP have trusted him if they had seen that expression on his
face? But then, he's appreciating the tormenting of Severus Snape.
Maybe they'd think it was only shared hatred of a common enemy.) 
> 
Julie:
> Additionally, in this worst memory, while Lily is present,
> she does not defend Snape, nor does he call her a mudblood.
> Which makes me wonder how much input JKR had. I know
> she has asked in the past for scenes to be altered to 
> reflect canon (or canon in upcoming books). If she had
> oversight here and found Lily's noninvolvement unproblematic,
> then one must assume this memory being Snape's worst (or
> one of his worst) has no relation to Lily defending him
> while he's in such a humiliating position, nor him calling
> her a mudblood. At least in the movie, this worst memory
> appears to be all about James and Sirius, and not Lily.

Carol:
I may be wrong, but I've always thought Snape/James was more important
than Snape/Lily. But I'm not at all sure that the "worst memory" is
really Snape's worst, any more than I'm sure that Snape is really
"victorious" in HBP's "Snape Victorious." So much of it is Harry's
perspective. And even "Snape's Grudge" (against James) is overplayed,
masking what is IMO his real concern that Black and his werewolf
accomplice are trying to murder Harry. IMO, the PoA movie got that
right. Note that JKR didn't complain about Snape protecting HRH from
the werewolf. I guess it stood in for the less dramatic and memorable
conjuring of stretchers.
>> 
> Julie:
> I could have done without Grawp too, though perhaps he has 
> a role to play in DH, necessitating his presence in the OotP
> movie. Or it could just be the director's choice for a visual
> medium, figuring the special effects laden monster would
> play better for the general audience than small moments like
> Neville visiting his parents or Snape and Sirius spitting at
> each other, or even Molly seeing her children all dead. I 
> suspect the latter is actually the case.

Carol:
Or they needed a deus ex machina to rescue H/H from the centaurs just
as in the book. But, yes, without dragons or hippogriffs and with only
a new house-elf for CGI effects, I suspect they wanted to keep Grawp
in. Maybe someday, after the books have become classics, we'll get a
more faithful remake. Can't imagine anyone else as Snape, though.

> 
> Julie, still deterimined to enjoy the movies for what they are
> and as a completely separate entity from the books.
>
Carol:
Yes. That's a lesson I've had to learn the hard way, with everything
from "Pride and Prejudice" to LOTR and the HP films. They're too
different media, and not only will your favorite scenes be cut and
uncanonical ones added, lines will be given to the wrong people and
even the retained scenes will be altered. Different audience,
different expectations, different techniques. None of which keeps me
from hoping that the scenes and lines that are retained will be at
least recognizable.

But, based on the trailer, it's going to be a great ride. Too bad
Umbridge looks insufficiently toadlike. I think I'll like Natalia
Tenya as Tonks, though, and Helena-Bonham Carter should make a
wonderfully sadistic, melodramatic, over-the-top Bellatrix.

Carol, hoping that someone will force Michael Gambon to read at least
one HP book so he can understand Dumbledore better (even if he's stuck
with that stupid grey robe)