Thoughts on Goblet of Fire

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I'm so behind on reading my flist (I'm down to the last day and a half, but I've still got at least 100 posts to go through; whee!), but I really want to get my thoughts down about the movie. Yes, I took notes during the movie (in one of those journal-sized notebooks, nearly two pages, front and back!), so I could do this later, but they probably won't make as much sense to me later. So, here I go. Lots of spoilers here, which I hope is obvious from this point on, but in case it isn't... spoilers ahead. :)

I want more Cedric.

Yes, I actually wrote that in my notes. A couple times. Gee, I fangirl as much as Ron Weasley fanboys. :) *uses Cedric icon for the pretty as a memorial*

Overall, I thought it was great. It seemed to really move along at a steady clip. Not much extra stuff there. I really think this is the best of the bunch. It seriously had everything: humor, action, romance, mystery, horror. The performances were all great (though Daniel Radcliffe has this tick sometimes when he's acting-talking, but he's had that since the first movie, so we'll just assume it's an conscious acting choice). I particularly liked Brendon Gleason as Moody; I can't wait to see him (hopefully) as the real Moody. And, I'd already decided that Cho is adorable, and Cedric's nice, too. *g* It'll be interesting to see Fleur in HBP (assuming that subplot makes the screenplay); she really didn't have much to do here. Actually, most everyone but Harry had little to do in this one. It was very Harry-centric, and understandably so. Even if I wanted to see more of other characters, he's the titular character; he should have the most screen time. If only he'd lose that weird tick when he talks.

I could write paragraphs with my thoughts, but I think I'll just go through my notes, copying them from my notebook and giving commentary; that'll be the easiest way for me (plus it'll give you a reason to laugh at me, which I'm cool with *g*). I fully and wholeheartedly admit that most of my notes are stupid, but I don't really care. :) Plus, they're chronological, so it's not really jumping around in the film; it's almost recappy in that respect. So, enjoy my notes.

• Nagini ?!!: The opening shot was of Nagini slithering through the graveyard and to the Riddle House.


• Riddle House and cottage: This just convinced me that, yes, that was Nagini.


• Frank is adorable: Which I had already decided when I saw the picture of him, but I like repeating myself to... myself.


• Ron is great; Cannons!: I loved Ron being such a teenager, not wanting to get up and, indeed, going back to sleep. And, of course, his Cannons (go boom!!!!!) blanket.


• *squee* @ Cedric: Yes, I actually wrote that. Um, yeah. Hufflepuff. Cedric. Such a nice chap.


• Ginny and Hermione share a 'Cedric's cute' glance: There was this moment, when Amos and Arthur are talking, Arthur saying something about "this must be Cedric," when they cut to the girls, who are both clearly enjoying the pretty. *g*


• Boot portkey: I liked that they kept canon with this.


• Portkey running is hilarious: Oh, my goodness. While the underage wizards have fallen like lead balloons to the ground (they were told to let go of the portkey during the trip), Arthur, Amos and Cedric do this weird running thing out of the sky! So awesome, in that bad sort of way.


• "I love magic." You're just now realizing that?: This is when they go into the tent at the Quidditch World Cup. There's a great overhead shot, showing how small the tent is. Then, Harry goes in and sees how roomy it is, and says that line. I'm sorry, but I think Harry has already realized the OTPness of himself and magic.


• Troy! Mullet! Moran!: The Irish chasers were mentioned by name, which made me happy (since it's a Quidditch question). Plus, I think they were mentioned in that order, and the cheering hats in the books mentioned them in that order, too.


• Were those omnioculars?: When the Quidditch teams were being introduced, Ron was looking at the proceedings through... something. I think they were supposed to be omnioculars, but I'm not sure.


• No Cup action, good. And post game Ron Krum!drunkenness? Funny.: Yeah, the only real thing we saw at the Quidditch World Cup was the huge stadium (which impressed my mom) and Krum. Sure, we run into Draco and Lucius, telling us that they were in the Minister's box. Which is where the Weasleys should have been, but weren't. They were more in the nosebleeds, I think. And I think the Diggorys were in that section, too. And Hermione looks a wee bit interested in Krum when his image is on the big screen... thingy. And, instead of Bagman announcing, we have Fudge doing that (and his Sonorus charm &mdash I guess that's what it was - involved him keeping his wand at his throat, which I found weird, but whatever), but I knew we weren't going to have Bagman there. But basically, the match coverage was simply to show us Krum.


• Action!Arthur: Just commenting on Arthur when the Death Eaters show up. And, later on, when the Ministry officials think Harry shot up the Dark Mark, Arthur's quick reaction was pretty cool. Yay, Arthur!


• Older Trolley lady: Noting that the trolley lady on the Hogwarts Express is a different one than before. Totally not important. But the Cho and Harry sidelong glances were cute. And the older trolley lady asking Harry if he wanted something sweet was amusing.


• Wow, jumping right to the other schools arrival, first day and all.: It makes sense, I suppose, but it just seemed weird to me, but that's mostly because I'm so locked into the book timeline. It was also weird since it was presumably the same day all the Hogwarts students got there (since the trio were all in the same outfits they were wearing on the train), but it was light out. *shrug*


• Filch running!: With an exclamation point, no less. Seriously, though, it was great comedic running.


• Still don't get the butterflies: With the Beauxbatons (that's Bo-b&601;-toh(n) in my rough phonetic spelling, not Bo"-ba'-t&601;ns, like Dumbledore says) girls entrance. Seriously, I don't get it. Sure, they're magical, but they're just weird. Loved how Ron was totally checking out the girls bums, though.


• Ron's such a fanboy.: He totally is. His reaction to Krum being there was fantastic.


• Ooh, similar Barty, Jr. and Moody shots: For their entrances. Well, for Moody's entrance, anyway, outside of Hogwarts. You see him from behind. And, when Barty is going through the campsite on the night of the Quidditch World Cup, there's a remarkably similar shot. A nicely subtle visual clue to connect the two.


• Dean talks!: He talked again, but, really, of the three other canon Gryffindor boys in Harry's year, poor Dean gets the short end of the stick in terms of screen (and page) time. I mean, Seamus doesn't do much, but he won't freakin' shut up. Which is cool and all, but give Dean some love, y'all.


• Barty, Sr. is weird at Hogwarts, speaking-wise: Ah, crappy note. But, particularly when he's talking about the Tournament and the whole binding magical contract thing later on, he just sounds weird.


• Cho sitting by Roger?: *shrug* Maybe. I knew that Fleur was sitting near Cho, from one of the publicity pictures. But, there's a boy sitting next to Cho, and I think it's the same boy who's Fleur's date to the Yule Ball. Which would ostensibly make him Roger Davies, which makes sense, since he and Cho should at least be friendly because of Quidditch.


• Laying on the Karkaroff suspicion early for putting Harry's name in the Goblet: Well, with Karkaroff going into the room with the Goblet, all by his onesies, and closing the door, yeah, that's called misdirection, folks.


• Moody = "Ministry malcontent": In the first class, that's part of his introduction. Something like "Ex-Auror. Ministry malcontent." I liked that.


• Moody's scans are great.: Um, sure. *doesn't remember specifically what this was in reference to, but obviously something from the class scene*


• Patils aren't both Gryffs: Yeah, both Padma and Parvati are both in Gryffindor robers, and are shown several times walking together through the Gryffindor Common Room. Not on! Poor Ravenclaw needs more love.


• Neville *hugs* Making me want to cry.: In the DADA class, with the demonstration of the Cruciatus Curse. Poor Neville. I really loved him in this movie. And Moody taking the spider to Hermione's desk, since she called out for him to stop torturing the spider (how canon!), and killing it there? Intense, dude.


• Ron's a Cedric fanboy, too!: When Cedric's name came out of the Goblet, Ron looked so, so pleased about that. (And can I just say that the "Yay, I'm the Hogwarts champion!" smile from Cedric, while very pretty on the computer screen in the trailer, was so much lovelier on the big screen? 'Cause it was.)


• Pissy Ron: As soon as Harry's name is called out, Ron's so pissy. It's great.


• Dumbledore is freakin' out.: In the Trophy Room. Totally flippin' out. Though, I'm glad that when Harry's name came out of the Goblet, he read the name aloud, fairly quiet-like, twice before yelling, which isn't the way the trailers portrayed that. (Trailers are fake, yo.)


• Barty Sr. is weird at Hogwarts 'cause of the Imperius (how it's played): Yes, I know they took out that subplot, but I do think that... whatever his name is who played Barty, Sr. ... played him weirdly in these bits because of the book Imperius. Or, at least it can be used as an explanation for what goes on in the book. Maybe there could have been a way for Harry not to compete, but Imperiused!Crouch couldn't tell them of that loophole because Voldemort wanted Harry to compete. Why no one would really question that, I dunno, but, um... yeah. Moving on.


• Rita is great!: Yes, another dumb comment, but I loved Rita in all her canonness. She sounded just right, and she looked right, and was just perfect.


• Sirius said "Voldemor'".: I think he did, anyway. Even though that's the way Jo says it, no one in the movies has ever said it that way, and the movies being far more pervasive than Jo soundclips, I tend to look at the pronunciations there as pretty accurate (Beauxbatons notwithstanding, simply because there's no way the actual students or teachers of that school would pronounce it the weird way Dumbledore does). I just thought that was interesting. And, I liked that Sirius at least got to have a voice-over, too; if he had only been the face in the ashes, 'twould have been sad indeed.


• Ron's pajama pants, too short!: Lots of exclamation points in my notes. I liked that canon detail for Ron.


• No common room Ron and Harry fight: Sad, but that's okay; there was still angst between them, so it's all good.


• Hagrid/Madame Maxime OTP!: They were adorable! That is all.


• Support Cedric buttons: I really like the animation on them; that was very much like I thought they should be. I hadn't imagined the different colored backgrounds or the more handwritten look of them, but overall, they were great.


• Cedric in a tree > Draco in a tree: The ferret scene starts with Draco in a tree, taunting Harry. Now, I don't remember if we actually see Cedric in the tree in the the movie, but I don't care; my formula still holds. *g*


• Moody in the chest!: The real Moody, that is. When Crouch!Moody gives Harry the advice of playing to his strengths, the big trunk/chest thingy is bouncing around. It's the real Moody!


• Too much H/Hr.: Not a fan of that, so... yeah.


• Champions look SCARED!: In the tent before the first task, they've got that whole omygodimfacingadragoninaminuteaaaaaahimgonnadie thing going on.


• AKIO: That's a phonetic spelling of "Accio," the way Daniel Radcliffe said it. It's one of those spells I've never been able to settle on a pronunciation for, and now I've got one. Thank you, movie.


• The dragon broke the chain? Dude.: No, my notes aren't particularly articulate, but that's okay. I heard about the whole fight over the grounds, but I never thought of the chain breaking, which is stupid. Then again, I didn't really think about a chain being there. I just have to wonder why the chains in the first place, if they're breakable like that; how is that protecting everyone?


• Harry working the crowd, ha!: In the common room after the first task. They've got him on their shoulders, and he's all, "Do you want me to open it? Do you want me to open it?" trying to get them to cheer more. For someone who doesn't want eternal glory, he sure knows how to whip up a crowd. ;)


• Harry and Ron, yay!: They made up and are friends again! Happiness!


• I like Harry and Ron sounding very matter-of-fact.: Same scene. One of the things I liked in PoA and in this is how Daniel Radcliffe can say certain lines so they don't sound scripted. Honestly, it doesn't happen all that often, but when it does, I really like it. In PoA, the line that comes to mind is on the Hogwarts Express, telling Ron and Hermione about Aunt Marge, Hermione saying something about how he could have gotten expelled, and him retorting about being arrested. The way he delivers that line is so natural. Well, the whole reconciliation scene with Ron has that same sound to it, which I really loved.


• Nigel? Where're the Creeveys?: Actually, I saw someone else mention this, but I still agree. Why couldn't Nigel have been Colin or Dennis? I loved Colin in CoS. *sigh* Oh, well.


• Ginny's "It's ghastly.": I just like the way she said that. She didn't have a lot of lines in this movie, but more than she had in the last one. She just seemed very... matter-of-fact or something. Whatever it was, I liked it.


• Neville is love!: The dancing. Neville practicing dancing in his room when he thinks no one's looking. My goodness, I love Neville in this movie.


• Study hall Snape = awesome: Seriously, when he adjusted his sleeves in preparation to... give Ron and Harry noogies, or whatever it was he did? That was so weird and awesome.


• Ron asking Fleur aftermath: Just a nice, enjoyable scene. Very canon, too.


• Hogwarts bathroom; toothbrush!: This movie had not one, but two bathrooms! Well, at least I assume Harry was coming out of a bathroom, since he had a toothbrush in hand. Just because people, sometimes jokingly, sometimes not, question how often Hogwarts students bathe, since there's only one known bathroom (like actual bath bathroom; I don't the Myrtle's bathroom has a bath or a shower or anything, though I could be wrong), I found this kind of funny.


• Great Aunt Tessy: Or is it Tessie? Either way, I don't know if book Ron actually has a relative named Tessy, but I thought I'd jot it down anyway.
  
• Harry dancing is awesomely bad.: As much as I like watching Astaire or Kelly or O'Connor dance, sometimes I like watching, say, Bing Crosby dance, because it's more than a bit awkward, which I find incredibly endearing. Harry's dancing with Parvati was one of these cases. Just brilliant. :)


• Filch-Mrs. Norris OTP: Another OTP for the movie. But Filch dancing with his cat? I loved that, and not just because I used to do that with my cat when I was in high school (what? I had to hold him upright like a baby anyway, so it was really easy to hold him in a dance-like position and waltz around the living room to "Bolero"). Dang, this movie made me like Filch.


• Hermione crying because Ron didn't ask her: Even though it wasn't in the common room, that the fight was included was nice. I don't think Hermione in the books was upset to the point of tears, but it added a nice touch to the scene. Ron's missing the whole point comment was delivered perfectly, too. And, after Harry and Ron left, Hermione sitting down on the steps, crying, saying that Ron ruins everything, and taking off her shoes, that was sad, since she had been having a great time with Viktor.


• I want more Cedric!: Well, I need hardly explain that. *fangirls a bit* *continues with the notes*


• Cedric's clue to Harry? Awesome.: Well, I got my wish here. Cedric talking to Harry, giving him the egg clue bit with the bathroom business, I found that incredibly funny. Don't know if it was supposed to be funny, though, but I thought it was.


• Harry covering himself with bubbles: In the prefects' bathroom. Myrtle was so funny here. The way she kept sidling over to Harry, and Harry trying to keep the bubbles strategically placed, that, again, was funny. Like I said before, this movie had a lot of humor.


• I heart Neville in this.: (Yes, I wrote "heart." Shut up.) Seriously, Neville, in this movie, is so adorable. Geeking out at Harry about Herbology, thinking he killed Harry with the gillyweed.... I can't wait to see him in OotP.


• Bubble Head Charm not as cool: In the book, the Bubble Head Charm is a full-on bubble over one's entire head (it's described like a fish bowl over people's heads). Here, it's a bubble over the mouth and nose; not as cool... or visually striking. But shark!Krum was pretty awesome.


• Why does Ron have no towel on the stand?: Sure, Hermione brings Harry a towel, but not Ron. He's just standing there, dripping wet, in his school things. Okay, so he's got more clothes on than Harry, but he's still all wet. At least he has a towel as they're leaving the lake. Poor neglected Ron.


• So they're making Barty Sr. figure out it's Barty Jr.: There was a little confrontation between Crouch!Moody and Crouch, and Moody says something to Crouch that obviously is something Moody shouldn't know, but young Barty would (but do I remember what that something was? Nope). Then Crouch is all deadified in the woods. Since the whole Imperiused Crouch plot was cut, this was a neat way to get Crouch killed.


• What's Dumbledore's candy? Whatsnap?: Dumbledore had some wizard candy or other, which he offered to Harry for while he waited in his office. I didn't catch the name of it, though. Whatever it was, it was convenient, since it sent Harry flying about the room, trying to shake off the biting things, which is how he discovered the Pensieve. If the candy hadn't needed to bite Harry, it would have been nice for it to have been a Muggle sweet.


• So I say Pensieve the way Gambon does! Whee!: This is another Potterword that I've never been sure of. Well, I've had a definite way of saying it, but it's not the way the Scholastic site has it. So, even being wrong, at least I'm wrong with the movie.


• Karkaroff Dark Mark: So, even if we don't see Snape teaching, we see Karkaroff showing the Dark Mark to him, and Harry oversees this. Of course, Harry (and the audience) by now know that both he and Snape were Death Eaters, but... *shrug* It leads to the introduction of the Veritaserum, so that's handy. As is the mention of the Polyjuice (another mention, really, since Myrtle (?) mentions it, too).


• Hogwarts Band!: An extension of the Hogwarts choir and chamber ensemble from last time. Still with Flitwick leading them. Really, I like the idea of Hogwarts has some sort of official music stuff happening. We've got a choir, a small chamber ensemble (for early music), a string orchestra (at the Yule Ball) and a marching band. Hurrah!


• Beauxbatons do the Macarena?: Seriously, the girls were doing this Macarena-type dance. It was weird.


• Poor Amos.: Seeing Amos so happy about Cedric being a champion, so proud of his son... *sad* Poor guy.


• I still want more Cedric. =): Well, since the end is coming, I need as much Cedric as possible.


• Viktor's eyes were all creepy.: The maze was apparently supposed to make people get weird? Or something? I know in the book, Krum attacked Cedric because Crouch!Moody Imperiused him, but... I don't remember if that was the case here. If it was, um, why was knowing whether or not a person was acting under the Imperius Curse so hard to tell? So, I'm guessing that it's some wacky property of the movie maze.


• Cedric =( So honorable.: Cedric's dead. But he was went down fighting, as best he could.


• Voldemort Ew birth: I'm so glad that the shot of Voldemort we saw in the trailer wasn't fully reborn Voldemort, but, dude, that rebirthing process was gross. At least in the book, it was all in the cauldron. Here, the cauldron vanished in flames and Voldemort was levitating and going through some sort of primal evolution or something. Ick.


• Voldemort reborn is so canon.: That is to say, his appearance. It was just utterly, canonically brilliant... and sufficiently creepy. I mean, the deathly pale skin, the snakelike nose, even the super-long fingers. I could totally see those hands being described as giant white spiders. Kudos, design team.


• The silver hand.: *was silvery*


• Voldemort foot? Get off of Cedric!: Don't put your nasty, newly-reborn unclad foot on the pretty face of the innocent Cedric! Meanie.


• The dome!: From the wands connecting. I didn't really catch any phoenix song (I would have really liked to hear strains of Fawkes' theme from CoS - it's one of my top three HP musical themes), but the dome was still there. I wish they'd spent a bit more time with that, but I get why they didn't. But, the dome was there.


• Take my body back. =(: That? Made me cry. Cedric's actual death didn't (so much), but his not-ghost asking for his body to be taken back did. As did the whole return itself, with the body, and Harry's not wanting to lose physical contact with it. And Amos! Really had me crying. And that wide-eyed stare of dead Cedric's? More tears.


• Polyjuice didn't use to be that gross.: When Moody!Crouch was losing the Moody! part, it was really much more gross than Harry becoming Goyle in CoS. Like, I think a lower eyelid was drooping off, it was that sort of thing. *shudder*


• Dumbledore's book speech was better.: Still, the movie speech to the whole school got the job done.


• But his talk with Harry was good.: Even though I totally didn't mind the absence of the big wrap-up conversation between Harry and Dumbledore at the end of PoA, I'm glad there was a little something in this one. And, I get why the right vs. easy bit was taken out of the whole-school speech and put into his conversation with Harry; at least it was in there. Still, I wish they'd have had the last bit of Dumbledore's speech from the book.


• Dumbledore set bed curtains on fire in fourth year, funny.: A little Dumbledore anecdote about how he hated the bed curtains and had accidentally set them on fire during his fourth year. I thought it was a nice touch to lighten the otherwise somber mood.


• Weird ending on a cheerfulish note, with cheers and stuff.: That somber mood didn't last long. The one real bother I had with the movie was this. I mean, I understand why they did this (so it can stand on its own and have a sense of closure), but, c'mon, a student just died. Cheering and stuff didn't feel quite appropriate. And, while the last scene with the trio was nice (Ron totally won't write over the summer and freely admits this *g*), I didn't get the same sense of stoic, stiff-upper-lipped resolve as I got from the end of the book, with Hagrid's little talk about what's coming will come and we'll meet it when it does. But, for the movie, it was needed, so I'm not going to complain too badly about it.


• Credits out of the Goblet, fun.: My final note is about the credits, which we didn't watch to the bitter end. Like PoA, they were creative with the credits, but, instead of the Marauder's Map, they used parchment as shot out of the Goblet of Fire. I thought that was pretty neat.

So, that's what I wrote down. Fun, eh?

I really want to see this movie again; I'm not sure I'll get to see it anytime soon, though. I'll probably just have to f.i.p. it, though, if I can find it. Maybe it'll be up in a week or two. *hopes* *is awful*

Oh, at the theater, I bought my mom some M&Ms, and I realized as we were eating them, you can totally have a handful of Hogwarts houses with them (and then some orange and brown, too)! M&Ms, the official candy of house unity. *g*

Wow, I've been at this for at least three and a half hours. That's longer than the movie itself! At least it doesn't take that long to read the post. *goes now*