I found some things missing or wrong in the movie.
- In the book Harry learns of Teddy Lupin at Shell Cottage, and becomes
Teddy's godfather. None of this is mentioned in the movie.
- Harry talks a bit more to Mr. Olivander about wands.
- Harry uses the Imperius curse on two people.
- Griphook does not try to lock them in the vault.
- In Gringotts, Hermione presents Bellatrix's wand as a new one.
- Shell Cottage also had a Fidelius Charm laid upon it.
- At the castle, Harry has to go to Ravenclaw tower to see the diadem.
In the tower he meets one of the Carrows, and McGonagall is supposed
to come to the rescue. Snape confronts her, and THEN he jumps out of
a window.
- When Harry goes to die, he tells Neville to kill the snake.
- Harry sees Ginny comforting another student as he walks out under the
invisibility cloak.
- Harry witnesses Fred's death.
- Percy cries over Fred's body.
- Ginny is also hidden in the Room of Requirement.
- When Harry is 'dead', he talks quite a bit more to Dumbledore. During
their conversation, we learn more about Dumbledore's mysterious past.
- When Harry is carried back, he is laid at Voldemort's feet, and
Voldemort monologues quite a bit.
- Voldemort's silencing charms don't work because of Harry's sacrifice.
- Neville has the sorting hat forced on his head and then it is set on
fire, so when he thrusts it off, he pulls the Sword of Godric
Griffindor out of the hat and chops off Nagini's head in one fluid
movement.
- A lot of important dialogue is cut out, including the very important
final conversation between Harry and Voldemort, and the final battle
between Death Eaters and Hogwart students.
- Grawp is supposed to attack the other giants.
- There was no 'giant bubble' protecting Hogwarts
- Snape's memories were much more complex.
This is a lot of differences, but actually there are a lot more. However, I'm sure you're getting tired of me droning on and on, so let me just say, READ THE BOOK BEFORE YOU WATCH THE MOVIES!!!!!! :) Anyway, they also get some stuff right, but I think if you read the book, I won't have to waste paper and you can just READ THE BOOK ALREADY! DON'T GET LAZY AND READ IT!!!!!!! All the books are excellent, so I just want to say, if you read the books, you will cry at the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It really touched me.
So, sorry I didn't give you all the details, but if you read the book for yourselves, you won't need me to tell you what's wrong. Ciao!
Mary
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
HP 7 P 2 - Deb's Review
There are several things that are missing or incorrect in the final episode of the Harry Potter movie series. First, the movie did not show that Percy came back after leaving the family and fought with them; second, the movie showed that Ginny was the only Hogwarts student to protest when Harry was 'dead'; third, the movie did not even show that Harry asks if Voldemort ever has any remorse for what he's done.
In the book, after the Room of Requirement scene, Fred and Percy are fighting the Death Eaters, Thicknesse (the minister of magic) and someone else when Percy jokes about resigning from the ministry. Fred is shocked that he actually made a joke. Smiling at the joke is last thing he does, because immediately afterward, something explodes the wall. Harry recovers and we find Ron and Percy weeping over dead Fred, still smiling, so Harry saw Fred die, not just his dead body as in the movie.
In the book, Ginny was not the only one to protest the 'death' of Harry; Neville did, too. When Voldemort asks the assembled students to join his army. Neville answers, “When hell freezes over!” and shouts, “Dumbledore's Army!”
In the book, during the final duel between Harry and Voldemort, Harry tells him that he can still save himself if he will only show some remorse. The movie doesn't even mention the word; it appears that Voldemort is killed merely because he loses the battle with Harry.
One last thing: In the book, Harry uses the Elder Wand to fix his Phoenix-feather wand and then replaces the Elder Wand in the tomb with Dumbledore's body; in the movie, he snaps the Elder Wand in half and throws it off a bridge like in the movie.
So you see? The movie wasn't very accurate, but if you don't really care, it was a great film. For the book fans however, it will always be a kind of disappointment. Anyway, the book usually is better, right? So go read the series and most importantly, read the Deathly Hallows. I missed some stuff, but you'll find it.
By: Deb Meyer
edited for content
In the book, after the Room of Requirement scene, Fred and Percy are fighting the Death Eaters, Thicknesse (the minister of magic) and someone else when Percy jokes about resigning from the ministry. Fred is shocked that he actually made a joke. Smiling at the joke is last thing he does, because immediately afterward, something explodes the wall. Harry recovers and we find Ron and Percy weeping over dead Fred, still smiling, so Harry saw Fred die, not just his dead body as in the movie.
In the book, Ginny was not the only one to protest the 'death' of Harry; Neville did, too. When Voldemort asks the assembled students to join his army. Neville answers, “When hell freezes over!” and shouts, “Dumbledore's Army!”
In the book, during the final duel between Harry and Voldemort, Harry tells him that he can still save himself if he will only show some remorse. The movie doesn't even mention the word; it appears that Voldemort is killed merely because he loses the battle with Harry.
One last thing: In the book, Harry uses the Elder Wand to fix his Phoenix-feather wand and then replaces the Elder Wand in the tomb with Dumbledore's body; in the movie, he snaps the Elder Wand in half and throws it off a bridge like in the movie.
So you see? The movie wasn't very accurate, but if you don't really care, it was a great film. For the book fans however, it will always be a kind of disappointment. Anyway, the book usually is better, right? So go read the series and most importantly, read the Deathly Hallows. I missed some stuff, but you'll find it.
By: Deb Meyer
edited for content
Sunday, July 17, 2011
HP 7 P 2 - Adam's Review
First, from our Guest Reviewer, Adam.
Overall, this was an excellent movie. Most of the action scenes were well done, and the whole thing is certainly worth watching at least once. Seeing the stone knights battling Death Eaters and giants was amazing, as was McGonagall's fiery duel with Snape. The only action that lacked something was the duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix LaStrange, which consisted of about ten seconds of wand waving and special effects, and ended just as it was getting good. (However, at least they included the most epic line of the book, “not my daughter, you b****!”) Perhaps unexpectedly for such a serious action movie, the humor sprinkled throughout was also well done.
If you judge the movies based on how closely they followed the book, it did rather well. It must be admitted, however, that a few scenes, and very many conversations, were cut. Particular among these were the ones referring to Dumbledore's early life, and his friendship with Grindelwald.
It was not the departures from the book that irked me, however. There were four aspects of the movie that pulled it down from “great and amazing” to just “good”.
First, the entire story seemed to be entirely about the Elder Wand, the first of the Deathly Hallows. In fact, the movie should have been called “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2”. In virtually every scene, I mentally shouted for the Invisibility Cloak, but it was mentioned very little, and used only once (when they entered Gringotts).
At least the Resurrection Stone got its own scene, although it should have gotten more time than it did. Wasn't the point of the Hallows to contrast the fearful power of the Elder Wand with the quiet humility of the Invisibility Cloak? Yet we saw much of the former, and none of the latter.
Additionally, the final scenes between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville against Nagini and Voldemort contained too much action, action which should have been in the main battle for Hogwarts. The biggest disappointment here was when Neville pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor and then was suddenly (and anticlimactically) thrown backwards by Voldemort into the ruins of the school. It took another ten minutes of Nagini chasing Harry and Ron and Hermione before Neville finally got to cut off her head. The book had a much more epic conclusion for the snake.
Harry's speech to Voldemort was the climax of the book. The entires book series culminated in that one scene. But not in the movie. Instead, Voldemort chases Harry to the astronomy tower, then the pair of them run (or fly) around Hogwarts, fighting and merging (which was really interesting to see, until I remembered that it shouldn't have been happening, since the horcrux in Harry had been killed, and Harry's link to him had been severed), then finally they return to the courtyard where they attempt the priori incantatem line again, which is only supposed to happen between shared-core wands (but seems to happen in every major duel in the movie series. Oh well.) The priori incantatem line is not the main issue; the problem is that the entire point of the duel is lost. Harry triumphs over Voldemort not because he is more skilled in dueling - which is what the movie seems to be trying to emphasize - but because he can love, and Voldemort cannot.
This fundamental shift results in a loss of emphasis on the intangibles. The duel between Harry and Voldemort was just one place where the emphasis was lost. Another occurred in the King's Cross Station “Dream”, where instead of talking about how Harry has become “Master of Death” and how love conquers all, there is instead a mere re-coining of a phrase from The Chamber of Secrets episode: “Help at Hogwarts will always be given to those who deserve it.” What on earth is that supposed to mean? How is it even relevant? The only possible connection is when Neville pulls the sword out of the hat. But that has nothing to do with Harry’s journey; that only deals with the destruction of the final horcrux.
The final issue is a personal one. If the epilogue for the book was bad - and I'm not convinced it is - then the epilogue in the movie was worse. It was well done, but none of the characters looked a day older than they had in any other portion of the film (except perhaps Ginny) although the scene was supposed to take place nineteen years after the final battle. This made the whole scene awkward. However, as I said, this is just personal.
I would definitely recommend this movie, but more for the fact that it is the last in the Harry Potter series than because of its substance. At its worst, it is a mediocre visual representation of a fantastic novel. At its best, it is just a fun action flick.
Score: 7.5/10
Overall, this was an excellent movie. Most of the action scenes were well done, and the whole thing is certainly worth watching at least once. Seeing the stone knights battling Death Eaters and giants was amazing, as was McGonagall's fiery duel with Snape. The only action that lacked something was the duel between Molly Weasley and Bellatrix LaStrange, which consisted of about ten seconds of wand waving and special effects, and ended just as it was getting good. (However, at least they included the most epic line of the book, “not my daughter, you b****!”) Perhaps unexpectedly for such a serious action movie, the humor sprinkled throughout was also well done.
If you judge the movies based on how closely they followed the book, it did rather well. It must be admitted, however, that a few scenes, and very many conversations, were cut. Particular among these were the ones referring to Dumbledore's early life, and his friendship with Grindelwald.
It was not the departures from the book that irked me, however. There were four aspects of the movie that pulled it down from “great and amazing” to just “good”.
First, the entire story seemed to be entirely about the Elder Wand, the first of the Deathly Hallows. In fact, the movie should have been called “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Part 2”. In virtually every scene, I mentally shouted for the Invisibility Cloak, but it was mentioned very little, and used only once (when they entered Gringotts).
At least the Resurrection Stone got its own scene, although it should have gotten more time than it did. Wasn't the point of the Hallows to contrast the fearful power of the Elder Wand with the quiet humility of the Invisibility Cloak? Yet we saw much of the former, and none of the latter.
Additionally, the final scenes between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville against Nagini and Voldemort contained too much action, action which should have been in the main battle for Hogwarts. The biggest disappointment here was when Neville pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor and then was suddenly (and anticlimactically) thrown backwards by Voldemort into the ruins of the school. It took another ten minutes of Nagini chasing Harry and Ron and Hermione before Neville finally got to cut off her head. The book had a much more epic conclusion for the snake.
Harry's speech to Voldemort was the climax of the book. The entires book series culminated in that one scene. But not in the movie. Instead, Voldemort chases Harry to the astronomy tower, then the pair of them run (or fly) around Hogwarts, fighting and merging (which was really interesting to see, until I remembered that it shouldn't have been happening, since the horcrux in Harry had been killed, and Harry's link to him had been severed), then finally they return to the courtyard where they attempt the priori incantatem line again, which is only supposed to happen between shared-core wands (but seems to happen in every major duel in the movie series. Oh well.) The priori incantatem line is not the main issue; the problem is that the entire point of the duel is lost. Harry triumphs over Voldemort not because he is more skilled in dueling - which is what the movie seems to be trying to emphasize - but because he can love, and Voldemort cannot.
This fundamental shift results in a loss of emphasis on the intangibles. The duel between Harry and Voldemort was just one place where the emphasis was lost. Another occurred in the King's Cross Station “Dream”, where instead of talking about how Harry has become “Master of Death” and how love conquers all, there is instead a mere re-coining of a phrase from The Chamber of Secrets episode: “Help at Hogwarts will always be given to those who deserve it.” What on earth is that supposed to mean? How is it even relevant? The only possible connection is when Neville pulls the sword out of the hat. But that has nothing to do with Harry’s journey; that only deals with the destruction of the final horcrux.
The final issue is a personal one. If the epilogue for the book was bad - and I'm not convinced it is - then the epilogue in the movie was worse. It was well done, but none of the characters looked a day older than they had in any other portion of the film (except perhaps Ginny) although the scene was supposed to take place nineteen years after the final battle. This made the whole scene awkward. However, as I said, this is just personal.
I would definitely recommend this movie, but more for the fact that it is the last in the Harry Potter series than because of its substance. At its worst, it is a mediocre visual representation of a fantastic novel. At its best, it is just a fun action flick.
Score: 7.5/10
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Fruits of our Labors
Well, they're not quite ready to harvest yet, but there are definitely fruits on the vines!
Fried Finger 3
It's really starting to look much better, but it's taken on a very strange "twist". There's a bit of a valley in the middle of the wound, and it's filled up with dried blood or raw skin or something - I'm really not sure what - so that it looks kinda weird.
Whaddya think?
Yeah, yeah, it's gross. But it's still cool!
Whaddya think?
Yeah, yeah, it's gross. But it's still cool!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Fried Finger 2
WARNING - PICTURES OF INFINITE GROSSNESS - NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART
Some of us are just fascinated by the design of our bodies, the way they are built to repair themselves. Even when the original wound is gross and disgusting, there's something infinitely wonderful about watching the living body heal itself.
(Yes, I said design. I'm an engineer, fascinated by the work of The Engineer.)
It's been a few days now, and the finger has been covered with a Band-Aid for most of the time. I'm curious to see what it looks like now that the blister has popped and the repair work is underway.
Shall we take a look?
Of course!
Cool, huh? I find that endlessly fascinating, especially since (apparently) the nerve endings are starting to work again and I can feel the skin starting to pull back together; and even though it hurts, the fact that it will soon be back in one piece makes me feel great about it - about the Designer who put it all together.
Now if He could just do something about all those aching bones and drippy sinuses...
Monday, July 11, 2011
2011 Family Reunion in Indiana
It was a whirlwind trip this time, owing to the fact that we had to be back in GR by Saturday night in order to be in church on Sunday morning so I could teach my Sunday School class.
James got home from his beach trip right on schedule, so after he'd spent an hour or so on the road already, we tossed him into the van and made him spend another five hours on the road getting down to Bloomington. His discomfort was probably mitigated by the fact that his girlfriend, Bayli, came down on the trip with us. She handled it all very well, considering all the crazy relatives she met. But then they weren't quite as crazy as they have been in the past. In fact, there weren't quite as many as there has been in the past, which may explain why the whole event was rather quiet, subdued.
So far as I was concerned, it was a fantastic reunion because my brother, Craig, was there, and my sister, Judy, was there, and my folks were there, and we got to go hiking together (except Mom, who was busy catching up on family stories). And the cousins - my kids and Judy's kids - got to go swimming in the pool. And we got to have our traditional home-made ice cream.
Still, it was far too quick of a visit, and it just made me yearn for more time with everyone. We're probably going to need to have a family reunion down in Texas pretty soon so all the Meyer clan can get together. And we'll have to drop in on the crazy cousins in Huntsville on the way down. Maybe even get out to San Antonio to visit some more with cousin Dale.
But we're rapidly running out of summer, and we had already run out of money, so we're gonna hafta lay low for a while and see what happens next around here first.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Whiny the Pooh and the Blistery Finger
I can't say that this has been a particularly painful interlude, this blistered finger. That seems to be the nature of things when the nerves beneath the skin have been so utterly destroyed or crippled that they can no longer convey the appropriate level of damage to the central nervous system. So while the wound looked painful, in reality it felt like nothing at all.
Like any toy balloon, of course, it does not handle stress well. Too much touching, poking, prodding, scraping, rubbing or tapping will cause it to break; and a break will lead to leaking; and leaking leads to the inevitable infusion of harmful bacteria; and harmful bacteria move into the interior of the continent and get the natives all upset.
So on the third day of the recovery period, it begins to deflate. And to ache. So a generous amount of anti-bacterial lotion is applied, and a Band-Aid is wrapped around it to hold the precious liquid in place, and we begin the Discomfort Phase.
We went to the pool yesterday. I was a bit hesitant to bring along my wounded finger, but had no place else in which to leave it, so it was foced to come. The Band-Aid, alas, could not resist the siren call of the chlorinated water, and quickly fell away, leaving the poor finger bereft of protection, alone and un-aided. But the chlorine probably cleaned it out nicely, killing off any bacteria which survived the antibaterial lotion's onslaught.
Now the aching begins in earnest. The tender skin beneath the flapping blister's tent sends tendrilistic nerve shoots up to the surface, seeking to re-establish contact with the Outer World; sadly, the Outer World has naught but pain and infection to offer. Yet the growth continues, and eventually a new layer of skin will replace that which has been lost, and the nerve endings will be covered once again, and peace and prosperity will reign in the Universe again.
Until the next time hot solder drips on my fingers.
Like any toy balloon, of course, it does not handle stress well. Too much touching, poking, prodding, scraping, rubbing or tapping will cause it to break; and a break will lead to leaking; and leaking leads to the inevitable infusion of harmful bacteria; and harmful bacteria move into the interior of the continent and get the natives all upset.
So on the third day of the recovery period, it begins to deflate. And to ache. So a generous amount of anti-bacterial lotion is applied, and a Band-Aid is wrapped around it to hold the precious liquid in place, and we begin the Discomfort Phase.
We went to the pool yesterday. I was a bit hesitant to bring along my wounded finger, but had no place else in which to leave it, so it was foced to come. The Band-Aid, alas, could not resist the siren call of the chlorinated water, and quickly fell away, leaving the poor finger bereft of protection, alone and un-aided. But the chlorine probably cleaned it out nicely, killing off any bacteria which survived the antibaterial lotion's onslaught.
Now the aching begins in earnest. The tender skin beneath the flapping blister's tent sends tendrilistic nerve shoots up to the surface, seeking to re-establish contact with the Outer World; sadly, the Outer World has naught but pain and infection to offer. Yet the growth continues, and eventually a new layer of skin will replace that which has been lost, and the nerve endings will be covered once again, and peace and prosperity will reign in the Universe again.
Until the next time hot solder drips on my fingers.
(In)Fertile Ground
When we first set up the gardening boxes and filled them with good soil, I foolishly assumed that this good soil was chock-full of nutrients and supplements to make growth a surety.
But I was wrong.
We tested the soil today using our handy-dandy Premium Soil Tester (only $14 from the local hardware store) and discovered, much to our dismay, that while our pH is perfectly balanced, the level of nutrients (potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorous) is appallingly low.
So "good soil" apparently means "will not harm plants", not "will make plants grow at a phenomonal rate".
Now we must research the appropriate levels of fertilizer to add so that the plants are happy. Or at least growing.
But I was wrong.
We tested the soil today using our handy-dandy Premium Soil Tester (only $14 from the local hardware store) and discovered, much to our dismay, that while our pH is perfectly balanced, the level of nutrients (potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorous) is appallingly low.
So "good soil" apparently means "will not harm plants", not "will make plants grow at a phenomonal rate".
Now we must research the appropriate levels of fertilizer to add so that the plants are happy. Or at least growing.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Fried Finger
WARNING -- GRAPHIC CONTENT -- MAY CAUSE TUMMY UPSET
This is what happens when one is stupid enough to attempt a plumbing repair from underneath a floor joist, when the pipe on which one is working, is directly over one's hand. You know, the hand which is holding on to the propane torch. And one must continue to hold on to the propane torch even when a piece of very hot solder has dropped from the pipe onto the finger and is burning a hole it. One is not allowed to yelp! and then drop the torch, because that would be a bad thing. Neither is one allowed to yelp! and rotate the torch in order to immediately extricate the solder from one's hand.
No, one is supposed to carefully place the propane torch on the floor before attempting any removal of said solder. Which, by that time, has burned some serious skin.
Ouch!
The worst part is, the stupid pipe is still leaking. Just a pin-hole, but that's enough to keep me from declaring victory just yet.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Broken Things
I was at the library the other day and found it in the "Used - For Sale" section for only two dollars. I thought it was a real steal - two dollars for a copy of the dual-disk, wide screen version of Gladiator! And it was a great deal. And it worked great the first time when I put it into my laptop and watched it all the way through one night. But apparently it was only good enough to work the first time.
We were going to watch it today as part of our relaxing Sunday afternoon, so I took the DVD out of the box where it had been resting quietly since the last time I played it in my laptop, and placed it carefully in the DVD player.
"Read" "Read" "Read" went the display.
And then ...
"Unsupported".
Huh?
That didn't make any sense. I know the DVD was working. So I tried resetting it a couple times, but the same thing happened. Then to check my own sanity, I pulled it out of the DVD player and placed it carefully in the laptop (my Linux laptop). But the default Movie Player application didn't pop up. Odd. I checked the System menu, which normally lists all the available drives. And it wasn't listing the DVD. Odder still. I started my alternate DVD player application (VLC) and it actually started to play the intro on the disk ... but then stalled out when I tried to get it to play the actual movie.
Just for fun, I took it out of the Linux laptop and placed it (carefully) in the Windows laptop. And started the tried-and-true DVD player application, whose name escapes me at the moment. And it worked! It actually kicked up the main menu and we were able to start up the movie.
The only problem with the Windows laptop is the built-in security timer that throws the computer into lock mode if you don't touch the keyboard or mouse for five or six minutes. So we were supposed to tap the Shift key every so often just to keep that from happening. But we still managed to get locked out twice. The first time, I was able to log in and get it going again. But the second time, it wouldn't restart. The disk refused to be read. I spent nearly an hour trying various things to get it to restart. Arg!
Out of sheer frustration, I took a good, close look at the disk itself and discovered two things.
First, the inner ring is cracked. Badly. Not sure if that is an issue or not.
Second, the disk is discolored around the inner ring, which seems to indicate that the inner foil has become detached from the plastic and is probably mangled. I pressed on it with my fingers and almost got it back to the original color, but that didn't help it inside the DVD player. It still won't play.
The kids were disappointed that they couldn't finish it. They were almost done. Now we'll have to go find another copy somewhere. It's definitely one of those movies we'll watch over and over again. (I've already seen it at least half a dozen times.)
But the day wasn't over yet. There was more failure to come!
As if our trouble with the DVD wasn't enough, Deb's flash drive - the one on which she keeps all her stories and notes - apparently stopped working today. No reason, just stopped working. When it's plugged into the computer, the little LED inside doesn't light, and the computer doesn't recognize anything plugged in.
I took it apart to see if there was anything obvious wrong with it - broken wires, loose components, anything like that. But the only thing I found was an input pin which was supposed to have a resistor soldered onto it, but it appeared that no resistor had ever been placed there. So that didn't make any sense.
Luckily, we were able to find all her stories on various other computers, and I let her use my flash drive.
But this is just weirdly coincidental, having two things go bad on the same day. Especially when they were working fine yesterday.
If it weren't for the fact that all our troubles are so trivial, I might start thinking that we were being tortured by leprechauns.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)