The Pensieve

First of all, this blog has lain dormant for too long. I can’t bring myself to delete it, as it does represent a lot of writing on a topic I’m in which I’m very interested and invested. The carnival proved to be too cumbersome and ultimately not rewarding, and I think finally the reason I decided not to continue is that I really didn’t feel like I was contributing anything. No new content. I really like HP fan art and HPL and similar sites because they create new content and are creative. With that in mind, I plan to use this blog to expound upon some feature or other in HP books or fandom. Perhaps the idea that I’m creating content that might be interesting or fun will entertain others, and that will be nice, but I also think it will be fun for me.

I saw the new HP movie today, and I liked it a lot. I feel that Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint in particular have come a long way as actors, and I felt both were very good in this film. Alan Rickman, as always, was great. I liked Michael Gambon as Dumbledore in this film more than in any of the others, but part of me really wishes Richard Harris had been able to do the entire series. It’s just a shame, as Gambon on the whole has not done the character of Dumbledore justice. I really enjoyed parts of the movie, but I was puzzled by the extraneous (i.e. non-book scenes) like the burning of the Burrow. Wouldn’t the action in the Astronomy Tower have been just as exciting as that scene that never occurred in the book? The script included most of the major details, which was good to see, but the movies never quite capture the books, and the minor characters are reduced to extras. Still, within the confines of the medium, I think they do a good job telling the story of the books. I really liked the two young actors who portrayed young Tom Riddle, too.

As a result of an analysis of Hogwarts teachers I wrote, I was invited to discuss the Hogwarts education on Sean Moncrieff’s show on Newstalk in Ireland. You can listen to it here:

Moncrieff interview of Dana Huff

If you haven’t seen Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yet, and you don’t like spoilery movie reviews, you might not want to read this post until you’ve seen it. You’ve been warned!

I think David Yates did a great job boiling down a long book to a tight storyline. For the most part, the changes made didn’t bother me. In fact, the movie moved at such a brisk pace, it was difficult for me to catch a breath. I thought Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge was excellent, and so was Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange. Once again, Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, and Alan Rickman as Severus Snape were particularly good.

If you want to see a real wizards’ duel, nothing beats the final showdown between Dumbledore and Voldemort, and I was pleased to see the bit when Dumbledore refers to Voldemort as Tom was left in. In fact, the entire battle at the Department of Mysteries was amazing to watch. The Death Eaters were frightening, and the scene in which Sirius dies was heartbreaking.

Some changes I didn’t mind:

• Harry seeing Snape’s Worst Memory not in the Pensieve, but during Occlumency lessons.
• Umbridge passing out the dumbed-down books.
• Tightening of scenes at 12 Grimmauld Place.
• Combinations of some scenes with Luna.
• Better effect with the Floo powder head-in-the-fireplace.
• Sirius giving Harry the picture of the Order.
• Sirius punching Lucius in the face. Yes!

Changes I didn’t really like:

• Harry wouldn’t really hand the prophecy to Lucius, would he? Wouldn’t he pretend to and then throw it instead?
• Neville’s heroism at the battle of the Department of Mysteries being scaled down. He’s pretty much reduced to one good curse.
• Cho being the traitor, even if it was under the influence of Veritaserum, although I suppose if you’re going to shrink the plot a bit, it makes some sense.
• Sirius’s death by Avada Kedavra instead of the more ambiguous one in the book.
• Nigel. Why can’t we just have Colin or Dennis?

Over all, however, I was pleased with the movie. It had some genuinely scary moments.

Technorati Tags: harry potter, order of the phoenix, ootp, review

Looks great!

I could be mistaken, and perhaps you can tell me if I am, but the release of GoF on DVD might mark the first time that fans had the option of buying just the movie or paying a little extra for the movie and the special features DVD.

Today was the first day I’ve had time to look over some of the special features. I have not tried to play the games; games aren’t really my thing. Maybe Sarah can test those out and we can post her reviews here later. I did check out the timeline and all the clips.

Additional Scenes

Nothing really earth-shattering was cut. When SS came out and we saw the restored scene with Harry’s first Potions class, I think we all wailed, “Why’d they cut that?” I felt the same way about some of the scenes on CoS. I know some folks who wished the scene in which Prof. McGonagall confronts the Gryffindors about the list of passwords Sir Cadogan mentioned had not been cut. I thought it was great in the book, but sort of stalled on film. In this movie, I didn’t see that any of the cut scenes added anything, although it was kind of cool to see the whole video for the Weird Sisters’ song.

Conversations with the Cast

I always enjoy these. What struck me most about this chat session was how down-to-earth and poised the kids seem. It would be so easy for them to become warped by Hollywood. I know the actors who work with them always say this about them, but it’s still refreshing to see it. Nothing earth-shattering revealed here, either.

Preparing for the Yule Ball

What a bundle of adolescent nerves! Who knew? It was charming to see how normal everyone was.

Reflections on the Fourth Film

What struck me most here was just how much the kids have grown. The montage played at the beginning of this clip really brings it home.

Dragon Arena, “Harry vs. the Horntail: The First Task,” “Meet the Champions”

It was interesting to learn why the choice to expand the scene as it was described in the book was made. I enjoyed the closeup of the other Triwizard Champions, too. Robert Pattinson comes off as completely charismatic. Stan Ianevski was much more likable than his character, but then, one would hope so. Interestingly however, so was Clémence Poésy.

Lake, “In Too Deep: The Second Task”

When I watched the scene in the movie, I was awed by the brilliance of it. Intuitively, I suppose I had to know a lot of work had gone into creating that effect, but I had no idea of the extent.

Maze, “The Maze: The Third Task,” “He Who Must Not Be Named”

I was one of the few folks I talked to who did think the maze was scary and didn’t need to addition of creatures (such as the skrewts or the sphinx) to make it more frightening. Possibly my favorite special features clip was “He Who Must Not Be Named.” Ralph Fiennes was such an excellent Voldemort, and I enjoyed seeing him describe how he was brought to life. I had no idea that his look was accomplished not with makeup but with CGI. Of course, it makes perfect sense after I watched the clip — it wouldn’t have looked like his own nose.

If I might express one bit of irritation… what is it with the notion that so many of the adult actors have that reading the books isn’t necessary? Perhaps Fiennes has since read them, but he makes a point of saying he was basically ignorant of the whole Potter world prior to getting the role, after which he quizzed nieces and nephews. Michael Gambon has made a point of saying reading the books is unnecessary. It shows in his case, because his portrayal of Dumbledore suffers from his lack of understanding for the character. I can’t say that’s true of the other adult characters, however, so maybe it’s not a big deal.

I just watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the first time.

Spoilery details follow…

I am finally in possession of a computer with a DVD-ROM. Wow! I’ve been missing out. I purchased the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban DVD last Tuesday, November 23. It was pouring out, and I went to three stores before I found it. No one can say I’m not dedicated! However, it wasn’t until tonight that I had the opportunity to check out the Special Features on Disc 2. Overall, I was pleased.

Divination Class

• Trelawney’s Crystal Ball — Additional Scenes: Unlike the first two movies, nothing new or interesting here. In fact, I can see why the scenes were cut. I will say, however, that the scenes in which the Fat Lady is discovered slashed and Sir Cadogan admits to letting Sirius in Gryffindor Tower were more faithful to the book, but felt as if they stopped the momentum of the film.
• Creating the Vision — Interview with J.K. Rowling and the Filmmakers: I thought this was only mildly interesting. To me, the biggest revelation was that Rowling (at least on camera, in front of the filmmakers) endorsed the “Shrunken Head” character. She noted that she wished she’d come up with it. I hated it, personally. Hmm.
• Head to Shrunken Head Interviews: This portion had interviews with most of the actors and the filmmakers. It was by far the most informative and interesting part of the Special Features. The Shrunken Head was annoying, but I thought the interviews were very good. I was glad to see that “the Dursleys” were interviewed. It would be easy to overlook them as minor characters, but they had very interesting things to say about their lives after Potter and the characters they play. I think I most enjoyed the interview with “The Heroes” — Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. In the course of the interviews, one will learn that “the Weasley twins,” James and Oliver Phelps, dyed their hair — they are originally brunettes. I didn’t know that before I saw the interview, though I suppose I should have guessed it.

Great Hall

• Catch Scabbers: A game. Maybe I’m just not one for games. Sarah will probably like it. To be quite honest, I couldn’t figure out how to make it work.
• Choir Practice: Essentially a music video/sing-along for the song the Hogwarts Choir sings — “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” I appreciated the Shakespeare reference, but this was, frankly, boring.
• The Quest of Sir Cadogan: Another game. Didn’t get this one figured out either, but it seemed more interesting.

Hogwarts Grounds

Hagrid’s Hut
• Care of Magical Creatures — Meet the Animal Trainers: I don’t think I realized exactly how much work it was to have so many animals in the film. Did it occur to you, for instance, that the bats shown for only a few seconds of film in Hagrid’s hut were trained bats? I didn’t even think about it. I guess that’s the idea — that we shouldn’t notice.
• Conjuring a Scene: This segment described the creation of Buckbeak and the Dementors. An incredible amount of work went into creating Buckbeak. I think most would have to agree that the filmmakers did a fantastic job there. I also have to say was interesting to learn how the Dementors were made. A lot of time went into both “creatures.”

Game Preview: Eh. I guess you’d have to be interested in the EA game to care much.

DVD-ROM
• Hogwarts Timeline: In my opinion, the most interesting part of the DVD-ROM features. There has been some debate about whether Hermione was a year older than Harry or a few months younger. The debate is settled here, if fans take this timeline as Rowling’s word. I think the film segments were well-chosen, perhaps with the exception of the First Year segment of the timeline. There were some more interesting segments (in some cases) that might have been selected. It had a very attractive interface. Here is a screen shot (click on the thumbnail for a larger view):

  

• Magical Trading Cards: Unless I’m mistaken, you can do this online without benefit of owning the DVD. Anyone know if this is, indeed, the case? My point being, is it really a special feature, then? Unless you consider the fact that you get a few cards to start with — cruddy ones, in my opinion (that is, unless the starter cards are all different). Do you get starter cards simply by registering at the website? Or do those only come with the DVD?

Tour Honeydukes

This was visually appealing, but not really interesting. It took me a few minutes to figure out the navigation. It had the same stilted sort of look you might recall from the tour of Diagon Alley in CoS. I guess there’s not a way around that when you’re trying to make it feel like you have 360-degree movement.

Defense Against the Dark Arts

• Magic You May Have Missed: A memory challenge game aimed at children. Only okay. Maybe the kids will like it better. I tried to do it while herding two toddlers. That made it considerably more challenging.
• Tour Lupin’s Classroom: Lots of close-ups of odd objects. Not much else really. I thought the tour of Diagon Alley on CoS was much better than the 360-degree tours on this disc. In fact, since we didn’t get to see much of Hogsmeade in the film, it would have been very cool to have a tour of all of Hogsmeade here. Maybe with GoF?

Personally, if they only had the interviews and timeline and left off the rest, I would have been satisfied. The other items were just fluff I’ll probably never look at again, but I imagine I will consult the timeline again, and the interviews were interesting enough to watch a few times.