HP4... again

[tarotgal]

I wanted to go see RENT again, but my Dad felt like going to the movies, so I ended up taking my parents to see HP4 again. We went to see it at the theater that was just finished, just beyond the mall. It opened yesterday so everyone gets free popcorn when seeing a movie this weekend. Yay! That was nice. I never have the money to buy popcorn, so I never eat it there. It was a nice treat. The theater was nice- 16 theaters and its own connected parking deck! But the concessions (though huge) are not as nice as the place I usually go, and it's $0.50 more expensive. The place I like to go has two separate concession areas (one of which sells everything from candy to buffalo wings), a grand piano and comfy couches in the lobby, a separate dining area and gaming area, a director's hall for special showings, lots of computerized ticket machines so you can avoid lines, and shows during the day are $6.75. BUT sometimes they don't show all the movies I want to see (like Stay or Valient or Kingdom of Heaven) so hopefully (as they're run by different companies) this new place will have a better selection. It was neat to check it out today. And it was great to see HP4 again.

I still laughed. I still sobbed. I still loved it. And I noticed a number of things I missed the first time around. Working backwards, time-wise, 3 things I noticed this time around:

• Narcissa Malfoy. People said you could see her in the Death Eaters scene so I made a point to look for her second time around. It wasn't hard. There's a woman standing next to Lucius during nearly the entire scene after the demasking. She's got black hair (for some reason I always pictured her as a blond like son and husband but Sirius has black hair so it makes sense) and she's right there, easy to spot. So that was neat. I kept saying "Look! Cissy!" in my head during the scene, which totally destroyed the tension building... but I still cried when Ced and James and Lily came. *sob*
  
• After the second task, Seamus brings towels and wraps them around Harry and then rubs him warm and keeps his hand on Harry for, like, the entire scene. At least until Hermione arrives and gives him another towel. Heh heh. Go Seamus. *thinks slashy thoughts*
  
• In the up-beat dance scene during the ball, Crabbe, from behind, jumps onto one of the Durmstrang boys' backs. Heehee. First Draco Malfoy in his trousers and now he's humping boys in public? Goodness! *thinks especially slashy thoughts*
  

I also paid more attention to Viktor's boy toy (loved when he pounded his fists on Viki's chest) and, obviously, watched Cedric very closely. My GODS I'm in love with him. I love how humble he is... but also how much he really wants to bring honor to his house and school by winning the cup. I love the way he jumps into his friends' arms and lies about with them on the grounds. I love how nice and friendly and fair he is. I just love the boy.

Comments

[pixie--dusted.livejournal.com]

"Narcissa threw back her hood. She was so pale that she seemed to shine in the darkness; the long blonde hair streaming down her back gave her the look of a drowned person." (HBP, p. 22)

I'm almost positive that Narcissa Malfoy is not actually a Death Eater. The woman next to Lucius could possibly be the female Death Eater Alecto. When I first saw the woman I automatically thought of Bellatrix, but then realized she would have still been in Azkaban at that point.

[tarotgal]

Hmmmm really? It sounded to me in HBP like perhaps she was one... but I suppose there really are no facts to confirm that, only speculation (like how Harry confronts Malfoy about how his parents might be running around in masks during the world cup chaos).

Alecto, huh? I didn't even think about her. She was in the big battle in HP6 right? Good point indeed, that you make.

Yeah, everyone thinks it's Bella, which drives me crazy because I know she's in Azkaban until mid-HP5.

[pixie--dusted.livejournal.com]

Of course, it may have just been a randomy placed female - like the infamous female Slytherin Quidditch player.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm going to see GOF again in the morning with two friends, we've all seen it with our kids but wanted to see it again. So we're going to see it again in IMAX. I'm curious to see what I notice this time that I missed the first. I am very intent on Cedric watching.
Glad you had a good time,
Tina

[ladykorana.livejournal.com]

I respectfully have to disagree with you. I saw the woman both times I watched and I'm convinced she's not Narcissa Malfoy. She looked and behaved nothing like any characterization of her has ever suggested, and I don't believe they would so willfully ignore canon like that if they went so far as to deliberately place her there in the first place. Yes, there was the blue/pink dress issue, but that's minor compared to casting a woman to play Narcissa who is about as far from the book Narcissa in appearance as possible, except for the pale skin.

What's more, when summoned to the graveyard, this dark-haired, goth eye makeup-wearing woman apparated a good distance away from where Lucius did, and stood fairly far away from him in the circle of Death Eaters. Surely from reading the book, Newell knew about the two adjacent spots where the Lestranges would have apparated. I'm of the opinion that Lucius and Narcissa would apparate together; or at the very least, if they weren't in the same location when summoned, they would stand together in the circle and not have huge gaps in between them.

Finally, it comes down to personal preference. I'd rather not see Narcissa at all than have her cast as a random throwaway female with no lines, no action, no scenes with her son, and not a single significant glance or lingering camera shot that in any way makes her more than just a background extra. Narcissa has some meaty acting stuff coming up later, and I'd hoped they would take their time and carefully select the most appropriate woman to play Draco's mother.

I can definitely see how people might want to believe it was her. I've mentally associated book identities to some of the silent, background elves in the Council of Elrond, and Coronation scenes in FOTR and ROTK, but I would never consider them positively identified as such. Yes, I believe those elves sitting on either side of Elrond at the council could have been his sons, but I have no proof, so I can never say for certain...

So, if you see Narcissa in that woman in the graveyard, I certainly can't say you're wrong. I just choose to think it's not her unless proven otherwise. In fact I'd assigned the dark-haired woman a totally different, eccentric personality in my mind that I'm rather fond of and that might make a fun OC to fic, were I in the writing mood. Or heck, it'd be fun to write a fic watching Lucius deal with his wife's penchant for radical makeovers from time to time! To each his/her own! :)

[tarotgal]

Whoa! You're quite passionate about this subject, aren't you? :-)

pixie__dusted already called me on it above. She points out my mental image of Cissy was correct, and that it was possibly the Death Eater Alecto, who I had completely forgotten about. Or just a random woman, which is more than believable, given the way the movies work. *sigh*

So I completely agree with both of you- that it could not possibly be Narcissa. It doesn't make any sense. I just wish she hadn't been cut out of the movie completely. I guess we'll have to wait for movie 6 to see her.

And, hey, a reason to use my Oops icon. So that's yay! :-) There's got to be a good side for making stupid mistakes, right?