Potter Wednesdays: The Goblet of Fire

Oops! The Hogwarts Express has been slightly delayed today due to unforseen circumstances, but better late than never, right? ;o)

So some of you will be lucky enough to see the Half-Blood Prince tonight! (or to have already seen it like my kiwi sister who is ahead by a dozen hours and so already had her big quidditch 3-D experience... grrrrr!!!)

I'll just have to contain my impatience by continuing to watch these kids grow up on my small screen at home, reliving the magic, and getting ready to hit the movie theatre as soon as I set foot in London! (I could go see it tonight also, but do I really want to watch it dubbed just for the sake of not waiting 10 days? nah! But if some friends suggest an outing I might cave to the pressure... and then just go see it again in English! lol!)

But back to the task at hand:
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire!
don't you just love these titles?! ;o)

First thoughts when this movie comes to mind:

• no quidditch?! :s
• dragons!!! :o)
• cute (teenage crushes)
• sad... :o( (the first shocking -and sudden- death in the saga -if we don't count Harry's parents-)

For this instalment of Potter Wednesdays I figured I'd share the thoughts that popped into my head while watching the movie:

• Quidditch world cup -> too short!

Plus all wrong the seating of the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione! They should have been with the Minister of Magic and the Malfoys! (and Croutch's house elf)
Wrong dark mark sequence! Should be in the forest, should be with Harry's wand that he missplaced...

• New characters:

Mad Eye Moody - excellent!
Rita Skeeter not nasty enough and what about being an animagus (the secret to her secrets)?!
Mme Maxime and Karkaroff... boff!
Cedric Diggory - scrumptious!
Cho - featherbrained

• Continuity error: when Harry talks to Sirius in the fire place, and they talk about his dream, Sirius says "you saw Wormtail and Voldemort in the dream" but how does Harry know who Wormtail is? They never explained the Maurauder's Map in the previous movie or the names Wormtail, Padfoot, Moony and Prongs.

• Loved Malfoy the ferret! wonderful!

• I missed the summoning lessons between Harry and Hermione (and all the other sessions with just her or with Ron as well when they're helping Harry learn new spells or master old ones to help him through the tasks! All necessary stuff for movie 5!). The dragon isn't supposed to escape but it does add some of that tension you could feel when reading the book.

• Those BEARDS!!! The twins are such wonderful comic relief! I can't wait to see how they take on Umbridge in next week's movie!!!

• Prof MacGonagall's dance lessons: "babbling bumbling band of baboons!" and the girls jump up ready to dance while the boys are totally dreading it!

• Teen angst what with boys starting to look at girls in a different way (the dance etc), Harry and (specially) Ron finally realising that Hermione's a girl! (she looks gorgeous by the way!). And Hermione frustrated crying at the end...

• Why's Neville helping Harry instead of Dobby?! That was Moody's original plan but it didn't work and so he inspired Dobby to steal the gillyweed and it to Harry at the last minute. Did love the effects after he ate the gillyweed though, looked v cool! Not that I really miss the House Elf plotline... Dobby was really annoying in Chamber of Secrets! Just wondering how that will impact the final movie...

• I'm cold just thinking of the water in that lake!

• The pensieve is cool! Am looking forward to seeing more of it in the new movie!

• That Maze is AWESOME!!! Wish I could explore one like it! (but without the monsters) But I wanted to see the Sphinx!!! They didn't show enough of the monsters! The Boggart, the spider...
  

• The suddenness of that death in the graveyard still shocks me! The whole graveyard sequence is so well done what with Harry walking out from behind the tombstone to face Voldemort (whom we finally see!)... the reverse wand effect "priori incantatum", the appearance of the dearly departed... talk about bittersweet moments!

Final thoughts:

• It's a pity the movie concentrated almost exclusively on the Tournament leaving so much of the school life out... particularly Harry's practice spell sessions which are what helped him get through the first and third tasks! And where was Percy?! And Bill and Mrs Weasly (for the 1st task)?
• Loved the looks and glances... they managed to convey so much! Krum's look at Hermione when he put his name in the Goblet of Fire, Ron's glare when Harry's name pops out of it...
• Not enough Snape! He says almost nothing throughout the film, but when he's there he sure as hell makes his presence known! (such as when he smacked Ron and Harry several times over the head when they were discussing dance partners in study hall) ;o)
• Smooth ending!