An HP and LOTR Discussion

...between myself and , cut for potential spoilers...

: So...why are we not talking about Harry Potter?
: I don't know! LOL. I'm typing out my thoughts about it right now. And, um, basically saying I love Cuaron more than I love RotK!Jackson, which makes me bad.
: Why is that bad? I agree, though it's hard to say if it's fair, since Cuaron directed a third installment of a franchise and Jackson directed all three. I mean, if Cuaron had directed ROTK and had made the kind of cuts in ROTK that he made in HP, I suspect people would be calling for blood.
: Oh, it doesn't make me bad? Oh good. You know something? I can forgive virtually all of Cuaron's cuts more than I can forgive the RotK cuts.
: I had three scenes in POA that Cuaron absolutely had to get right, and he nailed all three. I had three scenes in ROTK that Jackson had to get right and he cut two of them right out of the movie. But I keep thinking, what if I had not read POA recently? My mother called me in confusion trying to remember who wrote the Marauder's Map.
: Which were the three scenes? For Jackson.
: Aragorn and Faramir in the Houses of Healing, Eowyn and Faramir on the walls, and Arwen and Aragorn's reunion.
: Ahhhh. Yes, 2/3. Sigh.
: If Ron was my priority, I would be pissed about what Cuaron (and the screenwriter) did to him. But he isn't. I think I just got lucky in that Cuaron's sensibilities are really close to mine, whereas Jackson's clearly are not.
: YES that is it exactly.
: *looks shifty-eyed and kidnaps Cuaron* "The spiders! They want me to tapdance! I don't want to tapdance!" "You tell those spiders, Ron." I'm sorry. I am going to be quoting that forever.
: It's okay. It is very amusing.
: It's funny -- I do adore Ron. I utterly adore him. And yet I don't think he's been treated unfairly because I think he is just utterly fucking adorable. In a OH MY GOSH can I hug you now? Please? sort of way.
: I agree with the people though who said it was unclear why he's Harry's best friend.
: Oh. Hm. I never thought of it that way, really -- guess I still have too much of the book!Ron in my head or something.
: He was almost not a character in the movie, I thought. Now, in truth, I did not really care -- other than Hermione, I don't care what they do with his entire generation. (And I agree with I think it was who said that Hermione had a few moments where I felt like I was watching not a witch with an attitude, but Emma Watson showing her own attitude, which is bad.)
: Remus -- David Thewlis was, admittedly, not my Remus. But, honestly, not a single actor that has graced the screen as any of my favourite (or not-favourite!) characters from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were MY versions, so what's the point in moaning about it? Anywho! I love this Remus. I want to take him home and cuddle him and keep him as my very own. If, er, Sirius would let me. He was magical and wonderful and such a scene-stealer. And just wonderfully cute in a...wonderfully cute sort of way.
: Thewlis was actually more Lupin for me than any of my mental Lupins have ever been. I have recast him a few times in my head and liked Thewlis better, which very rarely happens.
: This has happened to me twice -- Boromir, and Remus.
: *loves them both to pieces*
: I never had Boromir cast in my head at all. Now, Sirius was not spot-on my Sirius, but I love Sirius mostly in relation to Remus and Harry; it's the chemistry that has to work. And it did, magnificently.
: Oh, yes, yes yes. I haven't read a single person say anything about Emma Thompson, which makes me curious.
: I've read quite a bit of ewwww Trelawney but it seems to be more about the character than the acting; I mean, I have read people calling her over-the-top but when they give examples it's all stuff I saw the same way in the book.
: Yes -- I thought she portrayed her perfectly.
: I imagined her voice a little more wavery and ethereal, I think, but it was not like it was jarring. With her, as with the rest of them, she had to be old enough to be believable as Snape's contemporary.
: Yeah, it's not a huge gripe.
: All the adults are like the way kids see adults -- whether you're 30 or 50 you are ANCIENT (and asexual!)
: Remus & Sirius: *naughty giggle* Oh, uh HUH!

Note: My three POA scenes were Remus teaching Harry to conjure the Patronus, the entire Shrieking Shack sequence, and Remus' explanation of why he resigned. All of those were better than I ever imagined. The scene where Sirius tries to stop Remus from turning into a werewolf through love and will and words was also better than anything I ever dreamed up or read in fanfic.