(no subject)
i just need to start off by saying that order of the pheonix is, by far, my favourite book in the harry potter series
and i know that stuff needs to be cut out of a 900 page book when it's being made into a 218 minute movie
but...
first off, i feel like someone who hasn't read the book would be confused. i went with janna, who hasn't read the books but has been faithfully watching the movies, and felt myself trying to correct the movie to book standards in whispers. "it was cho's friend who ratted them out... dumbledore's not supposed to be so... agile (i guess that's michael gamdon's fault though)... etc. etc" after the movie she admitted to being a little confused at some parts -- the characters tended to speak very quickly and not annunciate much, so it was hard to hear what was going on over people laughing and/or while getting the plot at the same time.
at the beginning, because lupin doesn't go to harry's house (And, um, break into his bedroom while harry's sleeping? and where are the dursleys? still bringing dudley to the hospital because he's gone retarded?) for a few moments I thought he wasn't going to be in the movie. I'm glad that he was but I was dissappointed overall beacuse everything i loved about book five was taken out (except for the emphasis on Sirius. I could have died when he said "When all this is over we'll be a proper family." I dont bite my nails. I was biting them through the entire movie. Fuck. I dont want to see Sirius dying TWICE. PS did anyone noticed that Bellatrix used AK, which is NOT the spell she used to kill Sirius in the book.... because in the book there was a purple light. I also thought his death was a little dramatic... the way he got stood there looking then got sucked into the veil...). Anyway, I love seeing the families interacting, people hanging out at 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry having a home other than Hogwarts and the Dursley's. Not much of that was in the movie....
Now, at first I felt as if the movie was taking kind of an indie appeal.... from the very first scene when Harry's just sitting there on the swings... and the scene happened very rapidly. Something was said. Then the next scene it happened. (For example Fred and George leaving. I know in the book it's all one scene anyway, but it changed scenes between them announcing they're done and it happening. It wasn't really clear they were actually leaving Hogwarts -- another thing I explained to Janna).
I do have to point out though, that they captured Harry's anger very, very well. And they also progressed time well, showing flashes of things that happened, the decree's going up, etc. I enjoyed the Filtch scenes where he sat outside the room of requirement waiting for them. Did anyone notice they like to make Neville do Dobby's jobs in the movies? Like letting them know about the room he found.... Luna was PERFECT. Well, maybe she was a little too spacy, but by a little, i mean a hair, if that. I expected to see her roaring Griffendor hat but remembered there was no Quidditch in the movie. (WTF? Okay I guess Quidditch could be left out... especially beacuse I dont even like watching the matches anyway...).
So overall I'm still not sure how I felt about the movie. I didn't leave the movie wanting to see it again, but I woke up this morning with that similiar dull, kind of depressed feeling I usually have when I finished the book. I can't wait for book seven, but seriously, hanson could not have hated me more by placing those dates there. I'll probably be dead by Saturday night. But itll be okay because I'll have seen Hanson AND know who lives and who dies and everything else that fills the pages of Deathly Hallows.
opinions?