MOVIE: Trailer (John's Musings)

[John Walton]

No: HPFGUIDX 21736

Okay, some random musings here. Went to see AI tonight. Good film, but a
little unsatisfying in places. Aaaaanyway...

[The lights dim. The what-I-call "HP Christmas Music" starts playing. A
chorus of excited whispers echo around the theatre. "Harry Potter!"]

1) Robbie Coltrane's Somerset Accent:

Appalling! Dreadful! He sounds Scottish, not Westcountry! URGH! Not like! V.
Bad! Naughty moviemaking people! Far too many exclamation points in this
section! ::grin::

2) The Music:

I like. I really like. Williams has done a fantastic job. Now all I can do
is sit back and hope that the rumor of Celine Dion doing The Harry Potter
Song is false. (Caius, you've found your niche...)

3) Maggie Smith's McGonagall:

Superb! Even though I have always envisaged Judi Dench as McG, Maggie
Smith's is absolutely excellent.

4) The Swinging-Around Staircase:

Completely different from my mental picture of Hogwarts' staircases. (NB:
This is not necessarily a completely bad thing.) I always envisaged them
like the stairways at school, which weren't "flying", but were set into
stone, like in a proper castle (one assumes so that people inside weren't
hit with arrows...). But I loved the effects.

5) The Train Carriage internal shot:

Also different from my mental picture. I had envisaged a much
"older-looking" train carriage -- browning, perhaps cracked leather seats,
no armrests, and definitely no fabric headrests.

6) Diagon Alley:

Is anyone else somewhat surprised to see snow falling in Diagon Alley on
July 31st? ::scratches head:: Ermmmmm...

7) Arrival of the broomstick via owl:

I liked it. Had I not read earlier posts about there being a box, I wouldn't
have remembered. Apart from my Great Hall being differently shaped to the
one in Oxford, though, I did like this.

8) The Broomstick Scene, part 1: They're all on the ground and are saying
"Up!"

Excellent! Exactly how I envisaged it. I really enjoyed all of this.

9) TBS, part 2: Harry & Draco

Also good -- really liked Draco throwing it forwards rather than just
dropping it, plus Dan Radcliffe's look of determination as he darts forward

10) The Snitch:

Great touch to have the wings made of magic -- really liked how they snapped
out. Different to the book (mentions beating wings, also ?white wings?), but
I liked.

11) The Wand:

I was surprised to see how thick and firm it was -- looked about an inch or
3/4 of an inch in diameter, and tapered. I was expecting 1/2 an inch or
less. Liked scene; however, I think I recall red stars shooting out the end
in the book. In the movie, did he not just get an aura instead? ::frown::
Hmm...

12) Richard Harris as Dumbledore & Rickman as Snape:

I like. I like a lot.

13) Zoe Wanamaker's (Madam Hooch's) EYES:

"Duuuuuuude...what happened to your eyes?" Totally weird, but good in that
"Oh look, magical folk are different to normal folk."

14) The Troll:

Surely it looked like an ogre more than a troll? The first thing I heard in
my mind was Mike Myers' Shrek going "I'm an O-GRRRRR!"

15) Hermione/Ron:

Rupert Grint & Emma Watson are great. I like Ron's slightly London-y twang
(but LOVE the fact that Harry speaks with a boarding school RP accent!),
especially when he goes "She REALLY needs to sort her priorities out!".
Hermione's just fab. Like like like.

16) Quirrell:

Whoever the actor playing Quirrell is, he's very good. That fainting was
really in character.

== == == == == == ==

In general, I preferred the trailer to AI. Might go back tomorrow just for
the trailer. ::cackle:: Perhaps they could just show the trailer for 145
minutes instead of AI? ::hopeful look::

I seriously welcome comments on this -- fire away :D

--Ioan, off to claim 1 movie ticket, a SuperGiantMega-size coke & popcorn
and a big bag of Milk Duds on the HPFGU-Moderators expense account ::grin::
________________________________

John Walton -- john at walton.to

"Prick us. Do we not bleed?
Tickle us. Do we not laugh?
Poison us. Do we not die?"

"Nope. That's what *immortal* means."
-John
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