# Harry Potter Movie questions/opinions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182 "2004-04-09T15:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/41 "2004-05-15T01:33:09Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I was a little less that thrilled at the thought of Gary Oldman as Sirius (not that I don’t like Gary Oldman, I just didn’t think he was right for the part), but having seen pictures, he looks _perfect_. Is there a white-male part he isn’t right for? I’ve heard Gary Oldman described as “the disappearing actor.” Meaning, he’s just the opposite of actors like Clint Eastwood or Michael J. Fox, who spend their entire careers playing the same character with different names. Oldman has played Dracula, Lee Harvey Oswald, and a lot of other roles, with such skill that you wouldn’t know it was the same actor if you didn’t see the credits. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/42 "2004-05-15T04:16:36Z")
Anyone else wonder if they’re paying Ray Bradbury to use “Something Wicked This Way Comes” as their tag line? ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/43 "2004-05-15T04:26:29Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Anyone else wonder if they’re paying Ray Bradbury to use “Something Wicked This Way Comes” as their tag line? No need: he stole it from Shakespeare. 😉 (Indeed, if you listen closely to what the choir kids in the trailer are singing, it’s that passage from _Macbeth_: “Double, double, toil and trouble,” and so forth.) > [@Draelin](#): > > Sampiro, Joanna Lumley is exactly who I pictured as Rita! And I would like to see Michael Palin show up as Fudge, myself (or possibly Christopher Ryan). Somewhere in my head, I have a list of British actors I’m just dying to see show up somewhere in the HP movies. I’m unable to access it at the moment, however. Fudge turned up in the second movie, though – he’s played by Robert Hardy. (Though I could totally imagine Michael Palin in the role!) And Joanna Lumley would be _perfect_ as Rita. And I’m thrilled that they got Emma Thompson to play Trelawney – it’s quite astonishing how many of my favorite British actors have turned up in these films (and _Lord of the Rings_ has pretty much filled in the rest… ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/44 "2004-05-15T05:23:36Z")
**BrainGlutton** – I agree – I think Gary Oldman is quite versatile. Surprisingly so, if a person has only seen one or two of his roles. I think he’ll make a good choice for Sirius Black. On the other hand, I’m not so sure I’m crazy about David Thewlis as R.J. Lupin. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised, but he just doesn’t fit my mental image of Lupin very well. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/45 "2004-05-15T05:30:03Z")
> [@Katisha](#): > > No need: he stole it from Shakespeare. 😉 By the pricking of my thumbs, I knew that, but I figured The Bard’s work was a part of the public record and not subject to copyright law, and wondered if perhaps Bradbury’s book and the movie based upon it might have some copyright claim, being of far more recent vintage. Open, locks, whoever knocks! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/46 "2004-05-15T06:05:21Z")
Apple trailer link seems to have died ( for me at least) Here is an alternative link from Warner Bros [Prisoner of Azkaban Trailer](http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/web/hogwarts/dailyprophet/media_archive.jsp) ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/47 "2004-05-15T06:27:40Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I can’t picture Russell Crowe Squeeing. > Though, I’d pay a dollar to see Alec Baldwin Squee. I bet he squeed when he got beaten up by that woman. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/48 "2004-05-15T07:31:04Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > (_snip_)and maybe even remove the Rita Skeeter subplot entirely (difficult but not impossible). If they take out Rita Skeeter, I, for one, will be ticked. I love to hate her, and I love what Hermione does to her. But I don’t think they can leave her out; she plays an integral role in OotP. I’ll be in Florida visiting my sister when PoA opens, and she’s already been informed that we ARE going to the movies that night. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/49 "2004-05-27T03:26:44Z")
Since it’s a Warner Bros. movie, HBO has one of their “First Look” docs on this. It’s very good, and doesn’t give much away. The director is a real character. The kids do look really old and tall though. And Emma Watson seemed very happy she got to wear jeans. ---
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/50 "2004-05-27T18:34:42Z")
I bought my tickets yesterday–\*_Izzybella_ and my husband and I are catching the 11:59 showing next Thursdsay evening. Squee! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/51 "2004-05-28T00:06:46Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That’s gotta be a joke. Wasn’t there an Onion article that had an almost identical picture? I don’t have access to their archives, but I do remember that article. Apparently it was entitled “Children, Creepy Middle-Aged Weirdos Swept Up In Harry Potter Craze” and appeared in the Dec. 5, 2001 issue. I’m pretty sure that picture was featured in that article (very funny, IIRC). The “Countdown to Hermione Granger’s 18th birthday” site must be a parody site. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/52 "2004-05-29T06:06:07Z")
Okay, but for the 5th book, how about Kathy Kinney (Mimi Bobeck on Drew Carey) as Umbridge? ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182/53 "2004-05-30T19:53:28Z")
> [@N. Sane](#): > > I bought my tickets yesterday–\*_Izzybella_ and my husband and I are catching the 11:59 showing next Thursdsay evening. Squee! 😃 I would have gone with one of my Harry Potter fan friends, but I can only think of 3, and they’re all out of the country for the summer or at the other side of the country. So my boyfriend has reluctantly agreed to go with me. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-movie-questions-opinions/239182.md?page=2)