Reactions to PoA (the film) Re: On to other issues

[Carol]

"Cat" wrote:
>
> OH Lizzie!
> 
> You are absolutely right IMO regarding Curan! If I am not mistaken, 
> Curan was quoted in an interview that he was proud of the fact that 
> he never read one of the HP books and had not seen a HP movie....THIS 
> IS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF????? Yes, it was supposed to be a darker
movie but he really went out of his way to elliminate some really nice
sublties that JKR had put in and put in some very odd things in no way
progressed the story line, they were just inane. . .The Shrunken
Head????? The choir with frogs??? The complete rearrangement of
Hogwarts? Poor Professor Fliwick?!? He turned my favorite book into my
least favorite movie. Newell probably thought that he would continue
with some of the changes that Curan had made because the damage had
already been done.<shrug> 
> I am still flabergasted by the viewers that came out and said it was
the best HP movie so far ... I always wondered if they had read the
books, seen the other movies or even seen that one? And I am with you
in being very grateful that they didn't mess with Snape!

Carol responds:

Wasn't it Michael Gambon who said that he hadn't read the books
(though he's heard rumors that his character dies in HBP)? I do hope
that someone gives him a synopsis of "The Prince's Tale" before he
plays that scene under the delusion that Snape has betrayed DD!

I have mixed feelings about PoA (the film). I actually liked the
(uncanonical) chorus, complete with toads, because of the explicit
link to Shakespeare. (The lyrics, I'm sure you know, are straight out
of Macbeth, if not verbatim at least very close to the song of the
Three Witches as Macbeth approaches.)

I didn't like Gambon!DD's drab robes or the changes to Flitwick or the
shrunken heads (mercifully removed from any following films) or the
Muggle clothes worn by the students outside of class (but once Cuaron
or his wardrobe department had made that change, there was no going
back). For that matter, I didn't think that Lupin's werewolf form was
well done, either. But I did like the scene of Snape protecting the
kids from the werewolf; uncanonical or not, it showed that the
screenwriter, Steve Kloves, understood where Snape's loyalties lie.

As for changing Snape, they wouldn't dare. He'd give them detention or
turn them into something unnatural (as Sam Gamgee would say). Oops. I
guess Alan Rickman doesn't have that power, but in costume, he looks
as if he does. Nope. They can't mess with Snape's appearance (though I
do wish there were some way to make Alan Rickman look twenty or so
years younger to fit the part).

Carol, now wondering what effect, if any, JKR's announcement will have
on the HBP film (not counting the excision of that remark about a girl
DD once knew)