Which Hogwarts house do you belong to?

[Silverbullet]

Book five , to my mind, was the best written of all of them. I have felt for some time that it was Ghosted. The writing improved so much. Book four probably was as bad or worse than book three. Of course, I am not a Critic or Editor so what do I know.

[Alelou]

Ghosted?

No way. Edited, maybe.

[crystalswolf]

I've found that parents get sucked into books when they have to listen to their kids talk about them incessantly. Then you have parents that read a book before their younger children get their hands on it *raises hand*

I had no problem accepting the Ron/Hermione combo because my daughter used to look like Hermione, light-medium brown hair, VERY long and ALWAYS frizzy. Can you guess what her best Halloween costume used to be. People familiar with the books loved it. And she's always had a soft spot for red heads.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Well, I don't have kids, but after many years I started to wonder what all the fuss was about, and why everyone was talking incessantly about Harry Potter. I had seen a couple of the first movies but that was it (and frankly I didn't remember much). Then late last year I thought I'd check it out and bought the whole book set and began to read. And not too soon afterwards I got all the movies on DVD. I have "cheated" that way - watching the movies before reading the books. At least now I won't get disappointed that much about how the movies deviates from the books.

But I must say that the casting is spot on. Everyone is just as how they should be.

[crystalswolf]

But I must say that the casting is spot on. Everyone is just as how they should be.

I agree for the most part. But there's Luna. I pictured her gangly and bug-eyed. The one they chose for the movies just widens her eyes and seems too stocky.

And then you have the Lavender Brown controversy.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Well, since I saw the movie where Luna appeared first before reading the book, I had no preconceived notions about how she'd look.

Um, what Lavender Brown controversy?

(I'm only at the beginning of The Order of the Phoenix now.)

But I understand that there are some HP fans that thought Emma Watson was much too beautiful to play Hermione. I dunno, I don't recall any explicit mention in the books that said she was supposed to be ugly or ordinary looking (apart from her front teeth or something). But it was a bit hard to be awed at the Yule Ball when she was supposed to have been all prettied up. Eh, she looked pretty before that event...

[crystalswolf]

The Lavender Brown controversy became a thing because there were two opposing camps with preconceived notions of her "ethnicity". When she became prominent in the last movie, the arguments heated up. It didn't help that she was cast one way in this last movie and a completely different in the (I think) first movie. The fireworks were very interesting and entertaining!

They made the mistake of not dressing Emma Watson down for most of the movies causing her Ball debut scene to seem less dramatic a change. Also, Hermione wasn't very interested in makeup and hair styling

SPOILER!!!:

(in the books a big deal was made about having to do that stuff for the special occasion).

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I never paid much notice of Lavender Brown one way or the other. She seemed more like a named extra. So I had no opinion about her ethnicity. And while I haven't read The Half-Blood Prince yet, I hated the silly romantic (sub-)plot with her and Ron in the movie that took up some much time that could've been better spent on other things.

As far as dressing down Emma, well, it is a bit hard to dress down (and up) someone who mostly wears a school uniform.

Speaking of school uniforms, I noticed a change in their appearance between the second and the third movie. They look a bit simpler in the beginning (like broad stripes for the ties, later ties had more discreet stripes). But in the flashback scenes with Tom Riddle, he's seen wearing the later version, so there's a discontinuity,

[honeybee]

I remember way back in the first film thinking Emma Watson was a bit too pretty to play Hermione - that she was a little more awkward that Emma Watson and then transformed into a beauty later in the books - after her teeth were fixed and she dressed up.

I thought the casting of the two boys was pitch perfect, though.

[crystalswolf]

As far as dressing down Emma, well, it is a bit hard to dress down (and up) someone who mostly wears a school uniform.

Speaking of school uniforms, I noticed a change in their appearance between the second and the third movie. They look a bit simpler in the beginning (like broad stripes for the ties, later ties had more discreet stripes). But in the flashback scenes with Tom Riddle, he's seen wearing the later version, so there's a discontinuity,

You'd be surprised how plain the prettiest faces can come across on screen with little to no makeup. All strong, attractive features wash out. At least I've been told.

The discontinuity was more than a little annoying as different directors changed things to suit their vision of the books. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, it seems the director of the last movie has his hands on the rest.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

Seeing the movies first didn't make me have any preconceived notions about Hermione's looks. So now I naturally think Emma Watson is perfect for it.

It's actually remarkable how the actors are very much like their characters not just in looks. I saw one of those DVD extras that had an interview with Daniel, Rupert and Emma and lo and behold, Daniel was very Harry Potter-like. Rupert felt much like Ron, not the brightest bulb (he even said he had dropped out of school whereas the others had tutors and took classes). And Emma was a real smart and intellectual gal (I think she's enrolled at university now). It was jarring I tell you.

Re: discontinuity. The thing that bugged me most was how Hogwarts changed. For example, Hagrid's cabin suddenly ended up on a slope instead of on even ground next to the Forbidden Forest. Still, I must say I like the later appearances of things better.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

An interesting article:

How “Real” is Hogwarts?

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

The First Trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

[honeybee]

Slate has an unhappy review of the new Harry Potter theme park.

The detail that got me was the $30 price tag for wands at Olivanders - I wonder if parents are warned. It would be awfully hard to tell a kid who had a wand pick them out at Olivanders that Mom & Dad can't afford the $30 for the wand.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

^ So apparently I didn't miss out on much...