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cloudsinveniceI'm becoming a cliche of myself with all this "I'll post more often/*weeks of tumbleweeds*" stuff, but I've been both busy and run-down, which is always a sucky combination. In happier news, though, I've finally seen the last three Harry Potter movies. Yeah, I know, but better late than never. :P
I haven't read the books since Deathly Hallows was published, so I figure I'm not going to notice everything that changed/went missing, but there were certain character moments I was happy to see done justice (Dumbledore and Harry going after that Horcrux, for instance - one of the more disturbing moments in canon and very well played in the film), and others I was equally happy to see skipped (that business with the Dursleys at the start of HBP always struck me as mean; it's no loss).
I did chafe (as I have since seeing OotP) at the lack of Snape flashbacks. It just doesn't work to have Snape go, "I'M the Half Blood Prince!" at the end, you know? Especially when it never gets explained what that means, and the reveal was a high point of the book. They just barely skimmed the thing with Lily and it would've been nice to see further into the origins of Snape's odd, resentful nature, and the connections between him and the Potters.
The other major omission, to my mind, was the backstory about Dumbledore. Maybe I missed something, but they seem to have barely mentioned Grindlewald/his life-defining relationship with Dumbledore, and the whole Dark Side of Dumbledore got reduced to a brief mention of his sister without really explaining how he could be said to have let her down. I did very much enjoy the argument between Snape and Dumbledore over the latter's "fattening Harry for slaughter"(?). Maybe the filmmakers felt this alone served the "Dumbledore should be seen to have flaws" need, but I felt this was more about his ruthlessness and less about the things from his past that were guilt-inducingly formative.
Anyway, I really want to re-watch the series again, and above all to re-read the books. I only had the full HP fandom experience in the run-up to/after the publication of OotP, and I feel a combination of that "OMG HARRY POTTER IS OVER AND I AM TEAR-STAINED" thing that swept fandom last year, and the desire to have HP discussions with more people. It seems like HP meta has pretty much died except for the odd thread on f-fa, but if there was a re-read going on, a la the vc_media Vampire Chronicles re-read, I'd love to be in on it....
There were lots of little funny (nice change after the grimness of OotP), sweet and badass character moments, and
I haven't read the books since Deathly Hallows was published, so I figure I'm not going to notice everything that changed/went missing, but there were certain character moments I was happy to see done justice (Dumbledore and Harry going after that Horcrux, for instance - one of the more disturbing moments in canon and very well played in the film), and others I was equally happy to see skipped (that business with the Dursleys at the start of HBP always struck me as mean; it's no loss).
I did chafe (as I have since seeing OotP) at the lack of Snape flashbacks. It just doesn't work to have Snape go, "I'M the Half Blood Prince!" at the end, you know? Especially when it never gets explained what that means, and the reveal was a high point of the book. They just barely skimmed the thing with Lily and it would've been nice to see further into the origins of Snape's odd, resentful nature, and the connections between him and the Potters.
The other major omission, to my mind, was the backstory about Dumbledore. Maybe I missed something, but they seem to have barely mentioned Grindlewald/his life-defining relationship with Dumbledore, and the whole Dark Side of Dumbledore got reduced to a brief mention of his sister without really explaining how he could be said to have let her down. I did very much enjoy the argument between Snape and Dumbledore over the latter's "fattening Harry for slaughter"(?). Maybe the filmmakers felt this alone served the "Dumbledore should be seen to have flaws" need, but I felt this was more about his ruthlessness and less about the things from his past that were guilt-inducingly formative.
Anyway, I really want to re-watch the series again, and above all to re-read the books. I only had the full HP fandom experience in the run-up to/after the publication of OotP, and I feel a combination of that "OMG HARRY POTTER IS OVER AND I AM TEAR-STAINED" thing that swept fandom last year, and the desire to have HP discussions with more people. It seems like HP meta has pretty much died except for the odd thread on f-fa, but if there was a re-read going on, a la the vc_media Vampire Chronicles re-read, I'd love to be in on it....
There were lots of little funny (nice change after the grimness of OotP), sweet and badass character moments, and
