for the record…that happens in all the books too…so its more of a “what about harry potter” instead of just the films
IRKS: I absolutely hate the decision to spell Moony as Mooney on the map in the third film. I know it was to pay tribute to some graphic design dude or something, but if a movie is going to completely gut out my favorite chunk of exposition in the the book, then the makers should at least have the kindness to keep the canon spelling.
And as if it wasn’t bad enough to gut the backstory and mess around with spelling, the werewolf was all wrong. It’s canon that Lupin-as-a-wolf is almost identical to a real wolf. One of the few distinguishing differences is length of snout! Instead the design team decided to go with a Mexican-style werewolf, to honor the director. I didn’t mind the eagle-and-snake fountain. Heck, it could even work as a Ravenclaw/Slytherin metaphor. But a Mexican werewolf is NOT what Moony is.
I actually like most of the third movie. I just wish that what they did to Lupin (oh, and the 'stache. Ew.) would go away.
Leaving out Hermione’s potion logic in the first film was hugely frustrating- I knew that scene wouldn’t work very well on screen, but at the same time, I wanted to see it so much.
In every film, in essentially any scene with Harry or James Potter: What’s up with this neat hair thing? Can our hero not keep his hair as written?
PLEASING:
Neville. Anything and everything about him. He hasn’t gotten everything that the books give him, but it’s okay because the actor makes it work.
Luna’s earrings: I love that they were homemade by the actress- and that the actress is a bigger Potter dork than me in real life.
Umbridge’s kitten plates. Brilliant art direction.
(Quidditch actually has an explanation for its insane scoring system. The original game was just getting the ball into the goal area. Then the position of Beater appeared, probably due to a combination of a Scottish game/feat of strength in which you strap a cauldron to your head and collect boulders falling from the sky and the original game from Queer Ditch Marsh. The game went on like that for a very long time. Then, at an important game, a man promised 150 Galleons to the man who could catch the Golden Snidget he released into the field. The Golden Snidget is a tiny fictional bird, and super rare in that world. After years of copy cat stunts, someone invented the metal version, and the point value of 150 was chosen in honor of that 150 Galleon reward. You can win the game without catching the Snitch- you just need to be up by 160 points! It’s happened at least once in the books.)
I only watch the movies once, though, except if they’re on TV I might watch a little while flipping channels, so most of the stuff that would bug me if I watched the films a lot doesn’t get me.
I agree re the kitten plates. They are not canon, but they are wonderful. Ditto the shrunken head Night Bus rearview mirror tchocke. And the shrunken heads in the doorway of the 3 Broomsticks.
I like the way Hogsmeade is depicted in film 5.
Also, kudos to Drago for bringing a touch of humanity to an unsavory character–he and Lucius play off one another very well. I like the way Drago contemptuously bops Harry with a rolled up newspaper as they depart the train. Nice touch.
At the end of Goblet of Fire, Hermione says “Everything’s going to change now, isn’t it?” in this upbeat, cheery voice. I thought, why do they have to end this movie on such an artificially upbeat note when Cedric just got killed? Say what you will about George Lucas, but you’ve got to admit that the end of Episodes II and III are appropriately depressing with just a spark of hope.
Also, Harry mentions his wand connecting with Voldemort’s, and Dumbledore says “Priori Incantatem.” Then, the director says “Cut!” and moves on to the end of the movie. Why even mention Priori Incantatem if you’re not going to explain it at all? To me, that says the filmmakers have abandoned all pretense of making a stand-alone film and are basically saying, “You’ve read the books. Look it up.”
However, there is one thing the Goblet of Fire film did much better than the book: the part where Voldemort meets with the Death Eaters. In the book, Voldemort is like: “I guess you’re wondering why I’ve called you all here. Well, it all started 13 years ago, in the little town of Godric’s Hollow…” and then proceeds to give a summary of the entire plot to date. In the movie, they didn’t have the time to waste, so they just got to the point.
And, of course, there’s: “Oh, Harry. I’d almost forgotten you were here!” (“D’OH!”)
and: “If they speak of you at all, they’ll speak of how you begged for death, and I, being a merciful lord… obliged.”
WHAT is my problem today?
I meant DRACO. D.R.A.C.O.
I need to lie down. (lay? lie? Auggghhhhh!)
Yes–another reason I don’t care for Gambon: he mutters the best lines. Prior incantatum is not a throwaway line.
More irks:
The ending to film 4 and film 5. Hate, hate, hate the dialogue. So much so in film 5, that I mute the final scene.
Forgot the most major irk of all:
Who the hell is Nigel? He gets more screen time than Nevill, Luna or Ginny! WTF?
Ran out of time for edit.
I know who Nigel is supposed to be (funny how you never see Colin Creavey, his older brother anymore). But even in the final scene of film 5, there he is–the little redheaded git. Blech.
Nitpick: The kittens are canon. In the book, Harry is mesmerized by how foul they are the first time he arrives at Umbridge’s office for detention. Later on, when Umbridge has him in there trying to trick him into drinking Veritaserum, he stops himself from drinking it just in time when he catches sight of a blue-eyed kitten plate; the blue eyes remind him of Mad-Eye Moody, and what Moody’s reaction would be if he heard that Harry drank something offered by a known enemy.
Irks: GoF Moody. He was a lot twitchier in the movie than he was described in the book; about halfway through I was wondering why Dumbledore wasn’t already suspicious.
The whole Lupin/Marauder’s Map/Prongs/Unregistered Animagus thing. I miss it in the movie.
The way everyone sits on their broomsticks. They either have invisible bicycle seats mounted to the handles, or the broomsticks are firmly wedged between their buttcheeks.
No garden gnomes.
Pleases: GoF is my favorite movie, mainly because of all the little scenes of the kids being kids. Ron making his crack about Eloise Midgen’s zits, and then being mortified when Professor McGonagall calls him up to demonstrate dancing, and Harry snickering about it with Fred and George; and when Professor M. calls on everyone to choose a partner, all the girls jump up eagerly while the boys try to sink further into their chairs.
Harry wondering why the girls all have to travel in packs.
Two words: Alan Rickman.
I love how Ron is about to flip off Fred and George before Professor M grabs his arm. I always laugh at that part.
This is a good time for my first post on the Dope. There is a large continuity flaw in the third movie (HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban,) but it pertains to the time travel aspect of the movie rather than the typical continuity error like clothes changing from one camera cut to another. I’ve not heard anyone else address, but then I don’t read HP forums and the like. I hope I’m able to explain the flaw in a way that makes sense.
In the scene where the kids are consoling Haggard prior to the execution of Buckbeak, two stones fly into the window one striking Harry, the other breaking a jar on the table. The kids look out the window, see the execution party approaching and sneak out the back way. They then creep through the yard and make their way up the hill towards the school. Next the kids turn and watch what must be the actual execution of Buckbeak.
Now jump forward in the movie to the scene where Hermione takes Harry back in time. Eventually they end up watching themselves in Haggard’s hut and notice the execution party approaching. Hermione (the time travelling one) is the person that throws the stones into the hut and then disappear back into the woods to wait for the kids from the hut to sneak out the back. Once the kids from the hut go back towards the school and the adults go inside the hut the time travelling pair help Buckbeak escape.
The problem is that in the first scene there are elements of the time travel scene, namely the stones, but the escape of Buckbeak doesn’t happen as the kids seemingly watch him being killed. In the second scene we have the stones being thrown, but no execution for the kids to watch.
Surely I can’t be the only person to have noticed this. My only question is does this same set of scenes happen the same way in the book? It’s been some time since I last read it and can’t recall.
The kittens are IN the book? Well, I never. I remember Harry thinking that, but not what triggered his thought. I’ll have to reread them soon. Thanks!
I also like the kids being kids. I like Emma Watson’s performance in film 3 (PoA) very much. I wish that director would come back, but that is not to be.
Spoiler alert!
I’m not sure what you’re getting at. The first visit to Hagrid shows all 3 kids in the hut, and stones just fly into the window-the first one breaking the jar, the second one hitting Harry in the head. The source of those stones is never explained–but we then see Hermione throwing them to speed the 3 on their way. There is also another pucker (or whathaveyou) in time when we hear the howl of the wolf, which distracts Lupin/werewolf away from Harry confronting him over Sirius. Again, it’s Hermione howling and she says, “I’m saving your life”. And the last one is the patronus, which Harry at first believes is from his dad and then he “gets it” and performs it himself.
All of these are to show how time loops back on itself and how the wizards can travel through it. I don’t pretend to understand it on an intellectual level (got a D in physics), but it makes sense to me on an intuitive level–unless I try to think logically about it. Perhaps they are stuck in some kind of endless loop… perhaps we all are, but don’t know it.
The WHOLE purpose of Harry and Hermione going back in time was to save Buckbeak and by doing so, Sirius. It’s not a continuity issue. It’s played out that way in the book as well (AFAIR).
These are the kinds of things I used to like to think about while high. Maybe it all makes better sense then! 
I think I see what you’re saying. In the first scene, the kids don’t actually watch the execution; they’re standing on a hill, their view of where Buckbeak was lying is obscured, and what they think is the killing of Buckbeak is actually the executioner swinging his axe at a pumpkin - which we see in the second scene. It plays out pretty much the same way in the book, except there the kids hear Hagrid howling - at first they think in despair, but later we find out it’s from happiness that Buckbeak escaped.
Thinking of the executioner reminds me of another irk - almost all the Dark wizards are exceptionally grimy or ratty or deformed or snaggle-toothed or sleazy-looking in some way. You’d think that would make it a lot easier to round them up.
Oh, I get it now. All we see are the crows rising and cawing. I just figured that was for the PG rating–little kids being spared having to witness the execution. But it’s not a continuity issue.
Thanks for the input. Now that y’all mention the other aspects I see where my thinking was off. Clever writers. I’ll have to watch the scenes again and more closely this time.
I’d forgotten about the fact they left out that Umbridge sent the Dementors to Harry. I can’t believe they cut that!
By the way, I really like the film’s ending to Goblet of Fire. However, when Voldemort and Harry engage each other in the book, don’t they start rising into the air? I know it might have looked cheesy, but I expected them to rise off the ground. Did that happen in the book?
But Colin’s little brother is Dennis. I think Nigel was there so that no one could complain “Why is a second-year in Hogsmeade?” even though we’re talking about students who have access to an Invisibility Cloak and multiple secret passages so JK Rowling’s mistake (she’s admitted it) can be handwaved. I forgot about Nigel; I hate him and wish Colin and Dennis were there.
And Marlitharn: broomsticks have a cushioning charm over the sitting area, so really they should never be touching the actual stick at all with their “sit bones” unless they moved way up or down the stick.
Whoa–hold up there. Rowling admitted what? It never occurred to me that Nigel was only a second year and therefore ineligible to go to Hogsmeade (I knew of the ban from the books, but I didn’t put it together). Another reason to hate him! There is NO reason for him to be there. Hogwarts is crawling with kids–no need to add another character and put him in every frigging scene. I am convinced he is the director’s nephew or son.
True enough re Colin’s lil bro. So, that makes it worse: truly a random kid with red hair (which is reserved in the books to Weasley’s and Lilly). Gah. Stoopit kid.
Book irk: something as major as a wizarding village should have been mentioned in books one and two–IMO, it’s awkward when it suddenly pops up like that. The twins would have teased Ron about it, if nothing else.
Cutting the hospital wing scene from the end of Goblet of Fire irked me no end. So many little important things happened in that scene.
Rowling admitted that Dennis shouldn’t have been at the DA meeting in Hogsmeade. It’s part of her “bad with math” problem.
The invented Nigel person is listed as “Nigel second year” on IMDB, so he shouldn’t have been there either. He’s in the Goblet of Fire movie too- I’d forgotten that.
Shit–the next film will be Nigel and the Half Blood Prince. THAT’S why they pushed it back…
Thanks for the Rowling stuff. And curse them for cutting all of St Mungo’s out. We get Grawp but no gum wrappers or spattergroit? Bah.
Slight annoyance with the GoF graveyard scene. In the book, Wormtail is told by Voldemort to cut off his hand and throw it in the pot. Wormtail is terrified to do it, but more terrified to disobey - so he does it anyhow, writhing in agony until Voldemort deigns to replace the hand. Powerful, gruesome.
In the movie, meh.