HP+HBP

[cactuswatcher]

I'm not sure whether it's better to be lost because of not rereading the book as ponygirl2000 mentioned or to have reread it recently and be continually wondering 'Why in the world did they change that little bit?'

Overall it's pretty good, but it seemed like things were done to keep all the actors on board rather than to make sense. Why for instance would Luna be loitering on the train? Tonks is in the movie. Why not give the scene to her as it is in the book? Why is Harry standing below with his finger up his nose when Malfoy is trying to get up the courage to kill Dumbledore at the end? Is Harry in the house of the brave or the house of the duffers? Doesn't it make more sense to have Harry know he's not responsible by having Dumbledore immobilize him as he did in the book? Was the director such a pacifist that there was no battle on the stairs to the tower, but lots and lots of shots of Lavender all over Ron?

Not all the changes are bad, far from it.

Some random thoughts
Family behind us brought a child about five, not the greatest idea.
I was glad the first two chapters of the book were disposed of fairly quickly.
It was very odd to switch the eagerness to ensure Snape would help Draco from Narcissa to Bellatrix.
I dearly missed seeing Dumbledore tell off the Dursleys.
Ah, Maggie Smith looked so frail.
Fleur and all the petty whining about her was not missed,
Apparating to and from the school made sense even if Dumbledore couldn't do it in the book.
I think the scenes with Malfoy and the cabinet in the movie made a heck of a lot more sense than simply having Harry constantly unsuccessfully trying to spy on him, as the book did.
Having Malfoy say he'd die if he didn't kill Dumbledore instead of saying his family would die was an unneccessary change and a mistake, I think.
Ginny has grown up nicely hasn't she? It's easier to see why Harry likes movie Ginny than it is with book Ginny. (Either way she looks a bit too much like Lily Evans Potter, if you know what I mean.)
They are really going to split the last book and make two movies from it? I don't know what would be appropriate to close the first of them with. Ron leaving? Godrick's Hollow?

Comments

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I really agree with your points. I had decided not to reread (mostly because it wasn't easily available), and really wasn't lost. I'm not sure what it was like for people who'd never read it all--it seemed to me that the half-blood prince mystery was very down-played, with very little of the book's hints that the prince was Tom Riddle.I especially agree that changing Malfoy's problem was a mistake, and the attempts to make him seem torn and sympathetic didn't quite work, though I thought the actor did a good job with it--it just wasn't clearly motivated.

On the whole, though, I liked the way all the characters have grown up, and thought the whole teen-aged hormones thing was well done. And it still looks like it ought to look. So I wasn't sorry I went.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Also, went to an afternoon show expecting to be irritated by the talking of kids, but turned out to be irritated by the texting of teenagers. Do they not have a clue that bright screens are just as disruptive as ringing phones?

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

We had an adult talking to somebody on his cellphone in the middle, but fortunately not for long.