MOVIE and VF: Whew!

[cynthiaanncoe at home.com]

I am so relieved to see the pictures in VF.  I had earlier expressed 
some concern that Dan doesn't look right as Harry, that his smile is 
cheesy, etc.  You all said I was wrong, and you were so right!

Dan looks great.  Even the cover picture doesn't bother me.  It's 
funny how a tiny thumbnail on the internet just doesn't do these 
photos justice.

A few questions/observations:

In the cupboard pic, what is that thing hanging to the right of 
Harry's head?  What is the stuff under the bed (looks like a rice 
cooker)?  The dustpan is a nice touch.  Is that also a thermostat on  
the wall?

In the student photo, I really like the fire.  Really cool, and more 
dramatic than I had imagined.

In the picture of Flitwick, what do we know about this actor?  Is he 
a child?  And why is Madam Hooch's cape apparently blowing in the 
wind if they are inside (or am I missing something?)

Oh, the picture of the ghosts is so unfortunate.  I don't like the 
blood, either.  Most non-book readers wouldn't understand that silver 
blood is blood, so I think I would have left his clothing clean like 
the other ghosts and left it there.  It is the only grotesque thing 
in the pics, and it just ruins the fantasy for me.  I'm going to 
reserve opinion on John Cleese for now.  

Quiddich photo -- someone restrain me!  There are two black girls on 
the team, and I thought it was only one.  Yippee!  More racial 
diversity never hurts -- was this done for the movie, or did JKR say 
somewhere in canon that Alicia Spinnet is black?  Oliver Wood should 
be a lot bigger, though.  Heck, I could get a quaffle past that 
little wisp of a thing.  And for once, Harry isn't smiling!

Finally, the photo of Ron on horseback is great.  The chess scene 
didn't come to life for me much in the books, but it sure does in 
this picture.  Could the movie actually turn out to be better than 
the book?  Hmmmm.

Cindy