MuggleCast EP13 Transcript
Intro
Andrew [Show Intro with music in background]: This is MuggleCast – Episode 13 for October 30, 2005.
[Everybody makes scary noises]
Eric: Oooh. Halloween.
Andrew: [In creepy voice] Episode 13.
[More scary noises]
Andrew: [In creepy voice] Of MuggleCast.
[More scary noises]
Andrew: Wow! That was great!
[More scary noises]
Andrew: It took us two hours to rehearse for that. Welcome to the show everyone. Episode 13 – that is conveniently placed right on Halloween. Well, not right on. If you’re listening on Monday, it’s Halloween, and you’re thinking right now, “Wow! Episode 13 right on Halloween. That’s an unlucky number.” I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: [making weird noise] I’m Eric Scull.
Laura:: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: And I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Andrew: This is show where we bring you the latest in Harry Potter news, theories, discussions, cooking recipes, Acne treatments – it’s all here! But before we get to anything else, first, let’s go over to Micah for the past week’s top news stories.
News
Micah:
Thanks, Andrew.
All 24 tracks from the fourth Harry Potter movie soundtrack have been posted up on AOL Music. Additionally, WB has launched a great website dedicated to the Goblet of Fire soundtrack. Composer Patrick Doyle said: “I’m particularly proud of my score for Harry Potter because it’s the biggest commercial picture I’ve ever done.”
As part of their promotion for the upcoming film, several of the cast will be appearing on a variety of talk shows in the upcoming weeks. Here’s the rundown:
The Ellen DeGeneres Show on October 31st. New Goblet of Fire footage will air.
GMTV on ITV1, October 31st, 7:00 – 8:35 AM. Appearances by: Harry Potter “teen stars” and new Goblet of Fire footage will there air as well.
Dan Radcliffe will appear by himself on the following shows:
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on BBC One, November 4th at 10:35 PM,
Live with Regis & Kelly on ABC, November 10th, and
Total Request Live on MTV, November 11th.
Finally, taped interviews with the cast will air on The Today Show on NBC, November 11th. Check local listings if no time or channel has been specified.
For all the new interviews (including the Goblet of Fire press junket from last Saturday), pictures, poster scans, and video clips, log on to MuggleNet’s Main Page. Additionally, the Yule Ball mini-site has opened over at GobletofFire.com and TLC has a special access link to the Dark Mark mini-site, not yet open to the public.
Moving from the silver screen to the courtroom, in September, little-known Winnipeg folk group The Wyrd Sisters filed a lawsuit (seeking over $40 million in compensation) against Warner Bros. The same lawsuit affected the people who play in the Yule Ball band. They did so believing the Goblet of Fire movie contains a scene featuring this band with the same name as theirs. It was announced yesterday that the group have now secured a November 4th court date where they hope to have the film barred from distribution across Canada.
The Polvadore family in Nacogdoches, Texas have spent the last few days constructing a real-life Dark Mark. The model, which looks great at night, is four by five feet and was made out of green rope lights. They have positioned the eerie Mark seven feet above their house.
Finally, wrapping up the news the blue Ford Anglia that was used in the second Harry Potter movie has been stolen, reports BBC News. Apparently, the car had been moved to the South West Film Studios in St Agnes for an exhibition. Police believe the car was towed or trailer-lifted from the scene as it cannot be driven. Quite the contrary, the car drives just fine. Oops! Did I say that out loud?
Well, anyway, before we go, a very Happy Birthday to MuggleNet staffer Catherine who celebrated her birthday on Friday.
That’s all the news from our News center in New York for this October 30, 2005, Halloween edition of MuggleCast. Back to you guys!
Andrew: Thank you, Micah.
Announcements
Andrew: We have tons of stuff to bring to you this week. So much. Isn’t that right, my fellow MuggleCasters?
Laura:: Righto.
Eric: That’s correct, Andrew.
Andrew: We’re going to talk some HP Halloween, but first let’s cover a few announcements. First of all, Micah, Eric, Laura…Eric, I think you’ve done it. We’ve all done it. We’ve signed up for our Frappr! map.
Laura:: Yeah.
Eric: Yes.
Micah: Yes.
Andrew: Yes?
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: Yay! Hey! Our Frappr!… [Can’t pronounce Frappr! Map]
I found this map service the other day, right after Episode 12 came out that lets you set up a Google map that your listeners or anyone you want, can put their little, put a little pin on this map that shows you where you are. And, I put this on the MuggleCast Page and you can get to it by clicking on “Tell Us Where You Live.” And everybody has been tell us where they live in the U.S. and actually in the world. Isn’t that cool?
Laura:: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Now, we know where everyone lives and actually it is quite intimidating because…
Laura:: Yeah!
Andrew: We’re now…we’re surrounded by people. It’s kind of like, “Ehhh!”
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: I didn’t know people listened to this show.
[Micah laughs]
Laura:: Yeah, it’s kind of weird to look at the map and see someone 30 minutes away from you.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura:: Listens to you on their iPod. [Laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, really. There are still a couple of states we haven’t conquered yet, but we’re getting there.
Eric: Like North Dakota.
Andrew: There’s only…we have about 270ish people right now that have joined into it, but if you want to join in, just go to MuggleCast.com, then click on “Tell Us Where You Live.” And, you can include a photo and comments, and I think one person said it best. They said, “Oh good. Now I know where everybody lives in case I have to move out of my house.” So, now we can all network together and we can just go to each other’s houses.
Last week we asked you to help us out by voting for us on Yahoo! Podcasts and also vote for us on Podcast Alley. A couple of updates there. First of all we’re No. 1 on Yahoo! Podcasts highly-rated section, thanks to you guys!
Laura:: Yahoo!
Eric: Yahoo!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, really. Yahoo!
[Eric makes Yahoo! noise from commercial]
Andrew: Also, on Podcast Alley we need a new vote from each of you every month because they reset their votes at the beginning of each month. So, November is right around the corner. If it’s November already, go to Podcast…go to MuggleCast.com and click on “Vote for us on Podcast Alley!”
So, since this is our Halloween Episode, we sent Jamie and Ben out trick-or-treating. That’s what we are going to use as our excuse and none of you can stop us. Oh, I’d also like to clear something up. There’s been rumors going around.
Eric: Again.
Andrew: We don’t hate Ben.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: Speak for yourself, Andrew. Speak for yourself.
Andrew: No, we really don’t.
Eric: No, I love Ben. Ben’s…
Andrew: I’ve been a bad host. We’ve been sort of acting like we don’t like him because just the way we would say that, and people were thinking “Oh! How do you…if he’s a co-host then why do you have him on if you hate him?” And, blah, blah, blah. But no, we don’t hate him.
Eric: Ben is my…
Andrew: Right, guys?
Eric: Ben is my favorite Kansan.
Andrew: Yeah. He’s going to be living with me for a week. So, I have to like him.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I’m forced to do this. I have no choice. [Whispers] Someone get me out of here.
[All laugh]
Eric: I’ll drive to New Jersey and I’ll pick you up. No, we’ll pick you up on our bus ride to New York.
Andrew: Episode 12 – a lot of you were having problems with it stopping at 30:49. I did make a news post, but apparently still a lot of people missed it. I think the error most likely occurred in iTunes. If you’re downloading it and it cuts out at 30:49, go to MuggleCast.com and click on “Downloads/Episodes”. [Transcriber’s note: He means “Subscribe/Download”] and in there, there is a new version of the show. It’s the same exact show. It is just that it has the entire file. So, if you want to go back and listen to it, because 30 minutes of us is not enough. You got to get the full thing.
Laura:: Definitely.
Eric: Yeah, but if it’s 30:48, that is completely not our fault.
Andrew: Oh, that’s completely normal.
Laura:: Ha ha.
Eric: If it… Yeah. If it cuts out at 30:48, I mean…
Andrew: No, but anything shorter than an hour…
Eric: An hour…
Andrew: …something…1:14:00? I think. I don’t know.
Eric: Something like that. It was a long show, but you know what was funny? Was that we were all talking about, Laura was saying how we don’t get closure in life with death.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: And we were all like, “Yeah, you know, kids really don’t get closure when their relatives and things die” and then BAM!
[Laura laughs]
Eric: The episode shuts off and everybody checks their little iTunes thing, or their little iPod, and they’re like, “Huh? What?”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: “Closure? What?”
Andrew: We wanted to demonstrate what we really meant. We wanted to give you the full feel.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Yeah, that’s what it is.
Andrew: But, no the entire show is on MuggleCast.com just click on “Downloads/Episodes.” [Transcriber’s note: Again, he means “Subscribe/Download”]
PowWows.com
Andrew: And as some of you might know, November is Native American Month and some of you might have projects for school or just may be interested in the Native American culture. For this reason, the next few shows will be sponsored by PowWows.com. On the site, you can find a forum, a photo and video gallery, information about Pow Wows, a calendar of Pow Wows and much, much more. To visit the site go to PowWows.com/mugglenet or just go to MuggleCast.com and we’ll have a link right there on the Main Page. I was on the site the other day and I’ll tell you what, it is a great site for research because it has dancing styles, singing, grand entries, Pow Wow etiquette, and much more! So visit it today, PowWows.com/mugglenet.
Mobilcast
Andrew: And, finally one last note. We’re growing guys. We’re growing. We’re growing. We’re growing.
Eric: I have grown three inches since I have started MuggleCast.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: You bombed! But anyway, we are now in a partnership with Mobilcast, which is a mobile podcasting service that is a service that goes on to your cell phone, and then you can listen to and download podcasts right there on your cell phone. And, one of those podcasts that you can download and listen to on your cell phone is…
Laura:: MuggleCast!
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: No, PotterCast!
Micah: What’s PotterCast?
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: No, it is MuggleCast! So, Mobilcast is a great new feature. We’re not getting paid by them. We’re not paying them. We’re doing…we’re partnering with them to help each other promote one another, and I really think that this mobile… Right now, we have podcasting. You put it on your iPod, you listen to it on your computer, blah, blah, blah. But, what does everyone have? Not everyone has a cell phone.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Eric: Andrew, you ruined that.
Andrew: I mean, not everyone has an iPod. Everyone does have a computer, but what if you want to listen to it on the go? And, that’s why this new service – I really think has potential because now everyone can listen to it while they are on the road.
Eric: Andrew, I have a question.
Andrew: What?
Eric: So, I have a Nokia 3120 phone and I was wondering if all phones are really compatible because our shows are pretty long, they are like an 1:15:00.
Andrew: Well, right now this is only compatible with a few phones.
Eric: I see.
Andrew: You want me to go through them real quick? They are the Motorola Razor, which every person has almost, not every person, but a lot of people have.
Eric: I know what you mean.
Andrew: The Motorola Rocker, which also supports iTunes now, but you can’t download podcast to that. The Nokia 6620, 6630, and 6682, the Sony Ericsson k700, and the Sony Ericsson s710. So, if anyone has those phones, Mobilcast is a free service. For more information just to go to MuggleCast.com and click on the button that says “Mobilcast.”
Main Topic – Halloween in the Harry Potter Series
Andrew: And the main topic for this week is Lu…no wait. We aren’t going to be doing Lupin this week because, we’ll be honest. We announced what character we’re going to be discussing on this show too late and we were expecting a lot of voicemails, but we actually got none because we didn’t give people enough time, I don’t think. So, at the end of each show starting with this show, we’ll be telling you which character we are going to be talking about a week ahead. So, if you want to get on the show with your voicemails, with your questions, they have to be voicemails. Please don’t e-mail them. We appreciate the e-mails, but we can’t air e-mails, and we like being able to play people’s voices. So, if you have a question regarding to next week’s character, just listen towards the end of the show, we’ll tell you what character, and…okay! But, right, instead of talking about Lupin this week, we are going to cover Halloween first off, then we’ve got a little more stuff to talk about. Some more stuff to talk about. Halloween, it is has been such an important part in the Harry Potter books. There has been a lot of events that have happened on Halloween. Anyone want to start with some? Eric, you want to go over them?
Eric: Sure. We’ll go chronologically.
Andrew: The first one would be what?
Eric: So, the first one would be Harry’s parents’ murder.
Laura:: Yeah.
Eric: I guess. Unless we know something before that. Okay. Okay. So, the attack on Harry’s parents by Lord Voldemort. And you know what? It’s kind of a bad thing to start off on because not only was Halloween a terribly bad thing, but that was the fall of You-Know-Who. So, it is kind of a good thing, but generally speaking, Halloween has not been too happy for Harry. There was his parents’ murder and in the first year there was the troll in the dungeon, which we are going to play an audio clip of somewhere in this show.
Andrew: Second?
Eric: Second year was the what…Death Day? Oh, first attack.
Laura:: Death Day Party. Yeah.
Eric: The first attack on the wall. The writing on the wall, Mrs. Norris, which was funny, but a bad thing anyway because everybody suspected him.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: Micah, do you remember what happened in Book 3?
Laura:: Wasn’t that when Sirius Black like…
Eric: Oh, Sirius Black…
Laura:: …broke in to the Common Room.
Eric: Got it. And in Book 4, which is a really important one, was the Goblet ceremony, as Micah pointed out to me earlier. The Goblet of Fire where Harry found out that he was sentenced, more or less, to be put through trials and suffering.
Andrew: And, we’re going to move on to that in a minute, but first of all, is it worth discussing that JK Rowling puts all these things on Halloween? I mean there hasn’t been any Halloween events in the past two books, probably because there is better stuff going on than to really mention Halloween, but is there any really question here? Why she does it?
Eric: I think that is really a good question because in Book 5 and 6, I think somebody said that Harry’s first detention was on Halloween or something like that. So, there might still be some kind of connection that we are missing, but I don’t think the Halloweens are as pronounced as they used to be anymore in the last two books. So, that is a good question.
Laura:: I really always took it, didn’t she that Halloween was her favorite holiday? So, it wouldn’t surprise me that she would try to make it more prominent because of that.
Andrew: You mean in recent books?
Laura:: I’m talking about when she…
Eric: Did it to begin with.
Laura:: When she started the series, how Halloween was far more prominent in the books, and she talked about how Halloween was her favorite holiday. So…
Eric: Well, Halloween has really evolved, I think. It’s got a lot of decor to it. You know? You think…when you think of Halloween, you think of pumpkins and ghouls and demons and…
Laura:: Candy!
Eric: Candy and…
[Laura laughs]
Eric: You know?
Andrew: And witches…
Eric: Witches.
Andrew: And I guess wizards.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: But, so it only makes sense. Personally, I think something should have…Halloween should have been mentioned in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, but it didn’t happen and…
Eric: I’m sorry. I think they were too busy snogging in Book 6 too much.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Laura:: It’s true!
Eric: Okay, according to Floo Network, Floo Network.org, it states that Molly Weasley’s birthday, Mrs. Weasley was actually born on October 30th, which is probably from JKR’s site. So, Mrs. Weasley was born the day before Halloween, which is interesting. Could she possibly meet a bad fate in the future? Guys?
Laura:: Hmmm. It’s possible, but at this point I think, and we discussed this last time. No one is safe.
Eric: Yeah. Good point.
Laura:: They’re all doomed.
Eric: Also, Angelina Johnson. Oh, that’s interesting. Angelina Johnson was born the last week of October. They don’t know the exact date, but she got attacked in Book 6 and nearly died.
Andrew: But, here’s a good question to ask ourselves. Why hasn’t Harry made a bigger deal of Halloween? Because it was the day that his parents both died.
Eric: Question… Well, first of all, excellent question, but does he know it was on Halloween? Has anybody actually… He does?
Andrew: Yes. Didn’t Hagrid tell him so in Sorcerer’s Stone?
Laura:: I don’t seem to remember that Hagrid was terribly precise about the day, but knowing my luck, I am totally wrong and the comments are going to overflow with people yelling that I should be moved off of the podcast. So, I’m shutting up now.
Eric: Oh come on. We’ve all had our mistakes in discussing.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Andrew: How did we find out about it in the books then?
Eric: Well no, the question is…
Laura:: Hagrid told Harry.
Eric: Yeah, Andrew. The thing is…
Andrew: Yeah, so Harry does know.
Eric: Right, between… Between the books…
Laura:: Well, I don’t think he told him what date though.
Andrew: Oh!
Eric: Between the books and the movies, there are a lot of things, and in the first book, Hagrid tells Harry almost everything, even the Voldemort thing right in front of the Dursleys. Like right in front of them in the books. And, that’s not in the movies. He tells him in the Leaky Cauldron in the movies. So, there is a significant deal more that Hagrid actually tells Harry in front of the Dursleys, and I think that is important. What I don’t know… I don’t think it is answered in either the books or the movies is how Harry knows his birthday? Because I don’t know how the Dursleys would know. And Dumbledore might have told him, but why would the Dursleys tell Harry his birthday. That would give him something to look forward to.
Laura:: Not if they wanted to use it as a reason to…
Eric: To torment him.
Laura:: …to torment him.
Eric: Right, but, I mean…
Andrew: Because if he knows when his birthday is, why would he be looking forward to it if he is living with the Dursleys? Pre…
Laura:: And all he is going to get, is like, a sock.
Andrew: Pre-Hogwarts. Right. Exactly.
Eric: Well…
Andrew: So, what is he looking forward to?
Eric: I guess. But, he was looking forward to it. You know? He was looking forward to being eleven, and even though it was crap, it said, “It is not everyday that you turn eleven.” So, he’s…
Laura:: Yeah. That’s true.
Eric: I mean I just don’t know how he knew it because it seemed like an obscure thing for him to know is all I am saying because I don’t think they would tell him.
Laura:: Well, I could see the Dursleys using it as…
Eric: Torment. Right.
Laura:: Just another thing to make him more miserable, but what I don’t think they count on is how optimistic Harry is.
Eric: That’s true.
Micah: And to go back to the Hogwarts Halloween thing for just a moment. I mean perhaps it’s made into such a big deal just because when you think of witches and wizards, you think of Halloween. So, wouldn’t that be a holiday that should just be celebrated naturally in that type of situation?
Eric: Environment or genre?
Micah: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, I think that’s, that’s great.
Laura:: Now, here’s a question. This just came to mind. Okay, for Halloween, all we Muggles, we dress up as witches and wizards. Do you think that witches and wizards dress up as Muggles?
Andrew: Do they dress up in the first place?
Laura:: Well…
Micah: I bet Arthur Weasley does.
[Laura and Eric laugh]
Eric: It’s Muggle Day! Yeah, I’d love see to the Ministry of Magic employing a “Muggle Appreciation Month.” You know?
[Laura laughs]
Eric: With the Prime Minister coming over. I don’t really think that that happens. So… But, they should have “Muggle Appreciation Month” and maybe they can learn something and stop dressing like scarlet women.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Eric: At all these Quidditch Cup events..
Main Topic – Goblet of Fire
Andrew: So, we did mention that on Halloween, the Goblet pulling, name-calling, whatever you want to call it…
Eric: The ceremony.
Andrew: …did occur.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: And…
Eric: Cedric…
Andrew: It just so happens, Goblet of Fire is coming out in a couple of weeks.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: How’s that for a crazy conspiracy? Anyone want to crack that one?
Eric: Sure.
Andrew: We going to see an editorial on that one in another week?
[All laugh]
Eric: Well, I think Halloween…
Andrew: But, we’ve seen, we’ve seen so much of the movie lately – new videos!
Laura: Yeah!
Eric: We really have.
Andrew: Does it change your impressions at all? I know for one that it changes mine, and I completely understand why it is not a PG-13 movie.
Laura: Yeah, same. [Laughs]
Andrew: Why it is a PG-13 movie. It just differs so much from the other books, from the other movies, and I think Mike Newell is to credit for all of this.
Eric: Ferret Malfoy down Goyle’s pants.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: That’s a PG-13 moment.
Laura: I was curious as to what everyone else thought of that? [Laughs]
Eric: That’s…
Laura: That’s like the scene that launched 1,000 bad fan fictions. [Laughs]
Eric: Yeah. Laura, Laura, you know Mike Newell…
Laura: No really. Looking, watching all these videos, I’m very impressed because the acting skills. When you compare the acting skills we’ve seen in these scenes to the Sorcerer’s Stone movie, it is amazing how much more in tune the actors are!
Eric: And intense. You know?
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: They’re portraying much more intense characters and I think they are doing it right.
Andrew: And, it’s just the humor is there in this movie. Obviously, it is a bit more scarier. One of the clips, even though it is not really a big deal to us, there’s more cursing in here. Harry, you see Dan Radcliffe playing an older, more frustrated Harry.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah, it’s the ferret scene. You see Harry say, “I don’t give a *BEEP* what your father thinks!”
Laura: Yep.
Andrew: Right.
Eric: But he doesn’t say *BEEP*.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Eric: “I don’t give a *BEEP* what your father thinks, Malfoy!”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: I don’t give a flip. Oooh!
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Eric: All right, anyway. About the movies. I think we’re seeing too much.
Laura: I…
Andrew: Yeah, I called this a couple of shows ago.
Micah: Yeah, you did.
Eric: Yeah. There’s…
Andrew: I think Warner Bros. is overdoing it a bit this time.
Eric: A little bit just because we didn’t get this much of Prisoner of Azkaban and now we’re getting like the best scenes, you know? The most anticipated scenes, the ones we really wanted to see including the first and only classroom scene. We’re seeing that. We’re seeing the Yule Ball. We’re seeing Harry and Ron’s fight, which I want to talk about in a few minutes, but we are seeing all this stuff, and I want to wait for the movie.
Laura: I know.
Eric: You know?
Laura: And, I felt like they were overdoing it with Prisoner of Azkaban because I remember before that came out there were so many pictures. I made a screensaver out of it, and it is just hundreds upon hundreds of pictures that were released before that movie, and now we’re seeing so many Goblet of Fire pictures not to mention all these clips. I mean we’ve practically seen it. [Laughs]
Eric: It’s strange. Harry Potter doesn’t need promotion.
Laura: Exactly.
Eric: I think that’s the last thing that does. I mean if they would have kept the original trailer, I think people would be tired of the original trailer, but at the same time they would still be just as excited. And, you know the pictures…
Andrew: But, you know what? Warner Bros. has nothing to lose because everyone is going to go see either anyway.
Laura: Mhm.
Eric: Right. And I think…
Andrew: They are not afraid of putting too much out and then some people coming to the conclusion of, “Oh, this movie stinks! I’m not seeing it.”
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Because it is Harry Potter.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: It’s great. Everyone is going to see it.
Eric: It is great. It is good. This looks like the best movie.
Gambon as Dumbledore
Micah: Well, the one thing I really didn’t like was the whole scene with Dumbledore basically shaking Harry to death after his name came out of the Goblet.
Eric: Okay, yeah. All right, what’s up? Okay, Michael Gambon. Michael Gambon “?”
Micah: Yeah, I don’t like him as Dumbledore.
Eric: That’s what we’re talking about because…
Andrew: Oh, come on.
Laura: I liked Gambon in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Eric: No.
Laura: I really, I sincerely liked him. I thought he did a wonderful job.
Andrew: Yep.
Laura: But, now that I am seeing… I’m a little… I’m not going to throw out a full-on judgement because I haven’t seen the whole movie, but Dumbledore was very calm in the book when Harry’s name came out of the cup. He didn’t yell or anything. He just said, “Harry Potter!” And then he said, you know, “Go!”
Eric: In this one he backs him up into the big trophy and he goes [in loud voice] “Did you put your name in the Goblet?” Shaking him. Shaking him. And he’s like, “No, sir. I swear I don’t.” And he says, “Swear to me! Swear to me you did not!”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: This is the Dumbledore that I have been waiting for.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Come on.
Laura: Well, I think…
Eric: But, he’s not that way to Harry. That’s the thing with Dumbledore! He understands things and as Laura said he was calm. When things happen, when complete…
Andrew: He’s too calm!
Eric: No. No.
Andrew: I mean, I’m sorry. I respect Richard Harris, okay?
Laura: I actually like Gambon better.
Andrew: I’m sorry that he passed on.
Eric: I’m not saying I like Richard Harris.
Andrew: Me too. Me too.
Eric: I’m not saying I like Richard Harris. I think Richard Harris was a little too calm, but Michael Gambon is more too violent I think because…
Andrew: He’s a powerful Dumbledore. This is how Dumbledore is supposed to be.
Eric: But, he’s powerful to the wrong people.
Andrew: I like the feisty Dumbledore because he’s the Head of Hogwarts.
Eric: But, he’s feisty…
Andrew: He should be angry. He should be yelling.
Eric: Not at Harry!
Laura: You know what I think they are doing though?
Eric: Not at Harry! He’s feisty, but to the wrong people! You know? When Dumbledore has to take down the Ministry people, yes, he’s feisty. That’s the Michael Gambon Dumbledore I want to see, but not towards Harry.
Andrew: Good, so you’ll see it in a future movie. Do you want to see Richard Harris doing the final battle? In Book…
Laura: Well, we won’t.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Well, I mean, could you…
Eric: Do you want…
Andrew: Could… [Laughs]
Eric: But, do you want to see…
Andrew: Could you picture, could you picture Richard Harris doing…
Eric: Absolutely not! But, do you want Michael Gambon to sit there in Book 5 and say, “Harry, I was an idiot. I held off telling you everything.”
Andrew: Yes, because he can do mood swings.
Eric: No, he can’t do mood swings.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Richard Harris wasn’t…
Eric: Everything is angry.
Andrew: …he couldn’t get mad.
Eric: Everything…
Andrew: I don’t think he… You’re…
Laura: What I think they are trying to do. I actually remember reading an interview with I believe Alfonso Cuaron, but don’t quote me on that though that they were trying in Prisoner of Azkaban channel more of the anger that we saw in Order of the Phoenix from Harry. So, that there was a little bit of character development there. I think that might be what they are doing with Dumbledore as well.
Eric: But, I think Dumbledore…
Andrew: Developing the character?
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: But, when stuff goes down, Dumbledore is usually calm unless he has to fight off the bad people. I mean here he is shaking Harry and making him swear things. I think it is very important that we see this lighter side of Michael Gambon because when he does confess everything to Harry, it is going to seem like he’s really yelling at him more. You know? And, really he blames himself and Dumbledore is a very self-blaming person, but I don’t think…
Andrew: But, first we have to ask ourselves was this Mike Newell’s decision to have him shake Harry? To do a little bit more yelling? Did Alfonso and Mike both take advantage of Michael Gambon being the new actor by making Dumbledore a little more feistier? Being a little bit more angry?
Eric: I like the idea that what Micah said was that they are adding more contrast to Harry by changing Dumbledore. And, I actually did like Richard Harris.
Andrew: Yeah, that works.
Laura: Mhm.
Eric: And Richard Harris in Prisoner of Azkaban…
Andrew: He means Michael Gambon.
Eric: …I did like. I didn’t think there was enough of him, but I did like the whole…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: With the Time Turner scene and him going, “Goodnight!” and just leaving them there.
Laura: Oh, that was perfect.
Eric: That was funny, but I do think he is a little too forceful. You know? A little bit, especially to the wrong people.
Andrew: You know, Eric? I don’t agree with you.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Eric: Okay. Fine! But, no. I think he’s… He should be forceful, but not to Harry, not to the wrong people. You know? I mean Michael Gambon can kick serious butt. He really can and I want him to, but not Harry’s. That’s all I am saying.
Andrew: I said this before and I’ll say it again. Warner Bros. does what they want to do to make the movie more interesting. They are not going to keep Michael Gambon being a Richard Harris.
Eric: By putting child abuse?
Andrew: They want to take advantage of this new actor by changing it up, by changing the character of Dumbledore. And yeah, I agree too that it does also affect Harry because you have this new actor who is putting a different perspective on it.
The Rules Are Absolute
Micah: I think there was a lot of just actor abuse in this movie, especially if you look at “The Rules Are Absolute” clip where Snape just continually slaps Harry and Ron on the back of the head with a book. What’s up with that?
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Yeah. It’s an underlying theme of child abuse.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: That’s what makes it so funny. It’s not child abuse. Don’t even try it.
Eric: No, the guy who reviewed our thing said that it was a scene that was completely out of Snape’s character. And, although it might have been funny, it was out of character. It was a good scene for Alan Rickman he wrote, but he just didn’t like it because it was not in Snape’s character to actually hit somebody. And, I agree. I don’t think it is. So, I don’t know what is quite going on with Gambon shaking Harry and Snape beating Ron and Harry over the head, and just forcefully shoving their head forward into their books. What’s going on?
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Eric: Does Mike Newell, was he abused in the boarding school he went to by these teachers?
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Eric: I mean, I’m think Pink Floyd here. I really am thinking Pink Floyd.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Oh man.
Eric: It’s like the meat grinder when they’re walking and they jump in the meat grinder.
[Micah and Laura laugh]
Eric: It’s terrible. British schools, are British schools that bad? Please, Brits of the world, e-mail me and tell me if your boarding school was this cruel to you as Michael Gambon is to Harry.
Andrew: This is Hogwarts, Eric. The rules are changed. Anything can happen.
Eric: So, Dumbledore can abuse his students because it is Hogwarts?
Andrew: Yes.
[Eric laughs]
Miranda Richardson
Andrew: But, moving along here.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: My personal pick for this movie is Miranda Richardson.
Eric: I love that.
[Laura gasps]
Andrew: Forty-seven years old.
Laura: I love her.
Eric: Ohhh! Brilliant!
Andrew: She’s… I’m just… This is going to the actor… Like there’s always one actor in the movie that I feel just takes command and really is the one you always get excited about seeing in each scene. This is going to be her. The clips that we’ve seen so far. I remember reading that her…in the…oh, what was it called? That thing that Warner Bros. put out a couple of weeks ago.
Eric: The press thing.
Micah: That 51-page thing. Is that what you’re talking about?
Andrew: Right. What was that called?
Micah: I don’t remember.
Laura: Me neither.
Andrew: I remember reading in a document released by WB talking about how they dressed Miranda Richardson in the Rita Skeeter, you know? She had the hair. But, in each different scene depending on what she was reporting on, she wears a different outfit, and it relates to that.
Eric: Cool!
Laura: Oh, that’s neat.
Eric: Cool!
Andrew: So, I think… Yeah. There’s going to be this theme with her each time. Each time you see her, you know what I mean?
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s really…I’m going to like it.
Laura: I love Miranda Richardson! She’s very funny.
Eric: I’d love her Harry-bashing outfit. If she has a Harry-bashing outfit.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: And has little lightening bolts all over it.
Andrew: Right.
[Laura and Andrew laugh]
Andrew: If only.
Eric: Lightening bolts stilettos.
Micah: I think she’s just…
Laura: Ewww!
Micah: She’s just one of those people, like Andrew said, that, you know, when you read the books, that is exactly how you picture her, the way she came up on film.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: She’s perfect.
Eric: She really is. I like that.
Imelda Staunton
Andrew: How about the rumors swirling about the new actress for Umbridge? I’m trying to look up her name.
Micah: Imelda Staunton.
Eric: Oh that’s…Imelda Staunton, I think…I haven’t seen…I don’t think I’ve seen…
Laura: I looked at her picture and actually, well you know, she’s not obviously not all made up in the picture, but just her facial expression and the way…
Andrew: Has a… Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing how she turns out because her facial expressions just look exactly like I imagined Umbridge to. So, I mean, I’m not trying to insult her but…
Eric: No. [Laughs] That’s the biggest insult, but no, that’s the thing. When you walk to somebody and you would say, you make a great, you know, evil person or you’re the perfect evil monster, you know, its not very, it’s not a compliment but at the same…
Andrew: I think in Order of the Phoenix, she’s going to be that actress who everyone is going to be looking forward to.
Eric: Yeah.
Laura: Mhm.
Andrew: Seeing in each…because you know, especially when I was reading that book, the Umbridge scenes – you got afraid…you were…
Eric: Oh yeah. Umbridge…
Andrew: And you just had a hate for her.
Laura: And at the same time you looked forward to them too, in a way.
Eric: Because you knew she was going to meet a sticky end.
Andrew: That’s a good question. When I was reading Book 5, every time Umbridge did something, you know, one of those new orders, I was literally…
Laura: I got so mad, yeah.
Andrew: …furious.
Eric: No, Umbridge…
Andrew: Is that…it would be a good movie if this Imelda Staunton will be able to portray the same character and make us feel the same way as we did with the books.
Laura: Mhm.
Eric: Yes. Umbridge…
Andrew: That is when we’ll know if she’s successful.
Eric: Yeah. Umbridge was the only character that I ever recall actually beating my pillow after reading a scene with her.
[All laugh]
Andrew: Everyone had a hate for her, it was amazing how J. K. Rowling could write this.
Laura: Ohhh!
Eric: It was a genuine…
Andrew: So people will…yeah!
Eric: Hatred!
Andrew: It was a genuine hate.
Eric: It was the only character that I really, I mean…I don’t like you know, Fudge and stuff and Scrimgeour is an idiot.
Laura: But. I hated Umbridge.
Eric: But Umbridge. Umbridge was…
Laura: I hated her.
Eric: And her ‘hem-hem,’ ‘hem-hem.’
Laura: Urgh!
Eric: Every time she did that and I have the audio book to that and its [puts on high pitched voice] “hem-hem, hem-hem.”
[All laugh]
Eric: Oh my god! You just want to beat her face in and be like [fighting noise] and she’d go…
Andrew: That’s probably a fun one to listen to.
Eric: [In high-pitched voice] “hem-hem, hem-hem” [Makes swish swish noise] “Die, shut up!” Sorry. Please cut that out, Andrew.
Laura: It’s too bad Harry didn’t know Sectumsempra then.
Eric: [Groans] Somebody write a fanfic where he just meets up with Umbridge and Sectumsempras her. Zzzz-zzz-zzz [assumingly a Sectumsempra slashing noise!]. I don’t know.
Andrew: Ugh, yeah.
Eric: I don’t know. Please, I don’t want to be that forceful on the actual cast, but I really did hate Umbridge.
Laura: Oh, I thought it was good. [Laughs]
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: Okay.
Harry and Ron’s Fight
Eric: Harry and Ron’s fight, can we talk about that, in Goblet of Fire? Because we do have the clip where it supposedly starts, but I have to say for one that I was disappointed in the way…it seems that Ron, you know, he’s upset with Harry but in the scene where he confronts him it’s not necessarily very forceful or as forceful as it should be because then we see the other three or four clips I think there is, where like the repercussions of their fight happens, and it seems really drawn out and it seems like there wasn’t that big of a bang to support Ron, you know, not talking to Harry and Hermione having to be their owl between them like you know, in the other scenes. I don’t think that the fight was that big, the actual scene where they’re in the dormitory.
Laura: See that scene, it was all right to me, but the scene that really bothered me was where Hermione was playing messenger girl.
Eric: I think that’s cute.
Laura: I didn’t like it because in the book, Ron is just flat out ignoring Harry. He’s not going to come and tell him “Hagrid’s looking for you.” He didn’t want anything to do with him.
Eric: No, but it was…
Laura: So I feel like, I feel like in a way he wouldn’t want to give Harry that. He wouldn’t want to help him, especially since in the other clip that we see, in the movie, it looks as though Ron knows about the dragons.
Eric: Well, I don’t think…
Laura: I don’t think he did in the book, did he?
Eric: I’m not sure.
Laura: So he would obviously in the movie, theoretically, know that Hagrid was going to show Harry the dragons and since he’s so mad at Harry about the tournament, why would he want to…
Eric: It was taunting.
Laura: Why would he want to come and give him that information?
Eric: But it was taunting him, it wasn’t helping him. It was more like “I know something you don’t but since you’re the almighty, powerful king who hoodwinked the Goblet, you might as well know this too.” And I think you know, the whole, the whole fact that…I think Ron just wanted to tick Harry off and let Harry know that he was still upset with him by getting Hermione to say that because you know, you know what I’m trying to say? I mean I guess…
Laura: I do, but also I can’t see Hermione…
Eric: Supporting that.
Laura: Doing that either, especially when they’re standing 15 feet apart because wasn’t, it seems like there was one point in the book where Harry said…was walking around the lake with Hermione and said, “Well, you can tell him.” And Hermione was like “No, I’m not going to tell him anything, you tell him yourself.”
Eric: Yeah. That’s true. She is supportive of them in getting, you know, back together and talking to each other so she probably wouldn’t. What I paid more attention to and I think that’s probably why the scene played the way it did was Emma’s acting. A few episodes back I said I wanted to see more a book smarts Hermione and I actually think that we are getting a little bit more of that because the scene with Hermione and Harry on the bridge, where she’s explaining, you know, Victor as this physical person she uses some kind of big word that I don’t even know what it is.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: And I know some words. But so, she’s using this and displaying her knowledge and I think the whole owl thing was a great simile, even if you didn’t like the scene, the whole “I’m not an owl.” She is sending messages just like an owl, so I thought it was a great, you know, it shows a little more smarts on her part. So, I was happy. That’s what I paid attention to in that scene, was Emma.
Micah: I agree with you Eric, I don’t think the scene was as powerful as it should have been because it’s really the first fight that we see between these two friends essentially.
Eric: And it’s supposed to last the whole… I mean a long time and it, the resolution, is supposed to be crazy-good.
Micah: Right.
Eric: And for Ron, Ron just sits down in bed and he goes to sleep. He’s like “Harry…”
Laura: He comes off as being more hurt than anything.
Eric: Yeah, than, angry hurt.
Micah: It’s too toned down, that’s what I think.
Eric: And I don’t think Harry…
Andrew: Well, this is another victim of what we like to call Goblet of Fire lasting 147 minutes. Or was it 43?
Eric: No, but the fight could have lasted…well, what could have happened is…
Andrew: No, that’s the point! They can’t make it last on these time restrictions where they have to cut things down.
Eric: Then they should have made it that Ron goes up to his, you know, the dorm and slams the door in Harry’s face and he doesn’t get to defend himself. You know? Something like that. What happened was, Ron lays down and he says that thing to Harry and Harry has time to defend himself. He actually sits there going “Ron, you’re wrong. I never did this and I never did that,” and Ron just looks at him in that ‘Hurt Ron Face’ and he lays down and goes to bed. And Harry feels like he has been treated an injustice, but I just don’t think it’s powerful. I think they could have done a more powerful scene in a shorter amount of time.
Laura: I agree. I really think that the scene in the book was very powerful because you have, Harry was standing there struggling to try and get that banner that they’d tied around his neck off and Ron just sits there and watches him. And that just…I mean I can’t imagine the kind of pressure that you have, even…it is your best friend, but you have to realize when they’re not getting up to try and help you and they’re just sitting there and watching you with this…just this look of…
Eric: It’s terrible.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: And here Ron is giving him time to explain himself and not believing a word. And it is an injustice still but at the same time, I think it would have been much more effective if he just came up and said “Oh, you know, you wouldn’t tell your best friend,” and then that would, you know, spark Harry into arguing, you know, fighting back. I don’t think there was that much for him to fight back to. I mean it was wrong, but it wasn’t like Ron wasn’t hurt, like angry hurt.
Laura: Mhm.
Eric: He was just hurt.
Laura: Well, in the book Ron just wouldn’t listen, he…
Eric: Yeah.
Laura: Snapped his curtains shut. [Laughs]
Eric: Exactly, which was, you know, completely like unfair and in his face but this one wasn’t, it was in Harry’s face but it wasn’t that powerful. So, I don’t know if the friendship thing will actually be up to par or up to believability because you know, Ron has to go ignore Harry and there’s that whole scene with Hermione and the owl and all that stuff, but I don’t think if that’s the only really big confrontation they have…you know what? I want to know if they have that scar comment in, where you know, Harry says…
Laura: Oh that was…
Eric: It’s what you want anyway.
Laura: Oh I hope.
Eric: Because that is what I think, that’s going to be the only thing that might bring their fight up to believability if they have that big…that’s a big line clash, that’s the thing.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: So if that happens, I’ll be happy, but I’m worried that it won’t be believable.
Micah: No, I agree with you. Like you said, it wasn’t powerful enough and maybe there is something after that point that we didn’t see that will lead to a little bit more of an argument, but…
Eric: Otherwise, I think it will dwindle.
Micah: Exactly.
Other Goblet of Fire Scenes
Eric: We have the Unforgivable Curse, beginning of that one.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: The classroom which was…
Laura: Ah, where the trio are in the library.
Eric: Oh yes. That’s interesting. But there’s…I saw that one right after I saw Dumbledore shaking Harry so…
[All laugh]
Eric: Then he comes to tell them, no wait, who comes to tell them to get in the…? I don’t know, I don’t remember.
Laura: Moody.
Eric: Because I was so shook up about Dumbledore. I was like “Oh my god, everybody is against Harry, even the good guys.” So, there’s the scene where Barty Crouch Jr. casts the Dark Mark, but I didn’t like it because what happened was, it was, the fires had been extinguished and there was nothing left of the campground, and then, you know, Harry is dazed and confused and stuff and he doesn’t have his glasses on, but so what happens is, Barty Crouch Jr. just walks up and there’s nobody around and he walks up, and he lifts it up into the air, and says Morsmordre and then it comes out, and that was the end of the clip. But, I thought it was very atypical and different from the book because in the book…
Laura: Wow!
Eric: In the book so much is happening and, you know, it’s this big, you know, it’s this big thing where nobody knows who anybody, where anybody is, and it’s this big hustle and bustle but in the movie, nobody’s around and he just comes up and…
Laura: Not to mention if he does it in front of Harry then there’s not going to be any doubt whatsoever as to it not being Winky.
Eric: No, yeah, right.
Laura: Because…
Eric: Well, Winky is cut out of the movie and Harry didn’t have his glasses on so he doesn’t see who actually conjures it. But, my problem was that he conjured it so calmly and not really in revenge. Like…and what I don’t think happened is that I don’t think it scared the Death Eaters off because from the look of the scene, they were long gone.
Laura: Hmmm.
Eric: Which is really a shame because the Dark Mark was used to proclaim his, you know, loyalty to Voldemort and from the look of things, the fires were long gone and so were the Death Eaters.
Micah: Now…
Laura: It’s kind of disappointing.
Micah: Along those same lines, you just mentioned Winky not being in the movie, have we heard anything about Dobby being there or not being there?
Eric: No. No, no elves at all.
Micah: Not at all?
Eric: Yeah, one of the reviews we got on MuggleNet that we posted said that there were no elves whatsoever. Which is one thing I should bring up I guess, because we didn’t… I would… Have we seen any effects from the first two movies in the Third or the Fourth Movie? You know, we’ve seen some of the same actors but as far as the effects, we didn’t see… I would like to see Dobby again because it’s a good tie between the Fourth and the Second Movie.
Laura: Yeah.
Micah: Well he was instrumental in the Second Task.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: He was, but then they made that Neville, so that’s okay. But, my problem is that I don’t think that the films kind of blend together as films anymore because we stopped having John Williams doing the…the, you know, the sound, the music?
Andrew: Yeah, but don’t even say that that’s going to affect it. That’s not going to. Do you really think that John Williams not composing the music is going to affect the film?
Eric: No, I like the new music but what I was saying, Andrew, was that we haven’t seen, we don’t get to see Dobby again. So, there’s really no tie besides the actors to the first two movies of…
Andrew: Oh, I see what you mean.
Eric: Yeah. So, that was my only like… I believe the Marauder’s Map isn’t in Movie 4 either, so there’s no tie, like prop tie or creature tie. You know, Hogwarts has changed and there’s just no, besides the actors, there’s nothing similar about the movies it seems.
Andrew: Well this is what happens when there is director switches.
Laura: Yeah when…
Andrew: And there’s the problem of time constraints where…
Laura: They change directors like underwear.
[All laugh]
Eric: Like underwear! Well I hope they change their underwear more than once every two years!
Laura: [Laughs] You know what I meant!
Eric: I know what you mean. Well…
Eric: Steve Kloves, how often do you change your underwear? Well, I change it like I change movies.
[Laura giggles]
Prisoner of Azkaban Revisited
Andrew: Does anybody want Alfonso to direct…
Laura: Yes!
Andrew: …another Potter movie?
Laura: Oh yes!
Andrew: Really?
Eric: Really?
Andrew: Really?
Laura: I do.
Eric: Really?
Laura: I loved Alfonso!
Eric: Really?
Laura: I loved him.
Andrew: I give him credit, all the credit in the world for finally making that switch with the actors to, from the cloaks all the time and being all perfect and [squeaky voice] “Wizards!” to, now he turned them into regular, average teenagers.
Eric: He did that, and I will credit him with that.
Andrew: Which was good.
Eric: But, I thought he did it a book, I thought he did it a book too early. I think we needed love because Book 3 is all about love. I thought he did it. He did do it though, which is why I think Goblet of Fire will be such a great movie as now that, you know, they can all act as regular teenagers. But, I’d kind of lose faith in Movie 5 if he was directing because who knows how many scenes from Book 5 would be cut out and he’d still be doing things like that the bird into the Whomping Willow.
Laura: What I liked about Alfonso was that, and this is totally just me, but now when I watch Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, I fall asleep. I get bored.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: I get bored.
Andrew: Yep.
Laura: And when I watch Prisoner of Azkaban, I don’t get bored. And what I credit him with is he really made the movie a good movie. It’s not…he’s…honestly I would love to see someone like Terry Gilliam get a hold of a Harry Potter movie, that would just please me to no end.
Eric: Sorry, Terry Gilliam?
Laura: What?
Eric: Terry Gilliam?
Laura: Yes.
Eric: Who is Terry Gilliam?
Laura: He is one of the Pythons, Monty Python?
Eric: Okay, cut that out, I should have known that!
[All laugh]
Eric: I’m sorry. Okay, wait a minute.
Laura: No, he’s directed some, just…I love Gilliam.
Eric: Okay.
Laura: I also think that he really got the actors just…they really…
Eric: Well, I think I know what you mean. I mean the actors, like Kenneth Branagh is an awesome actor, and he did such a great job in Chamber of Secrets and it’s that you know, the actors were able to act different ways for both Chris Columbus and for Alfonso, for Alfonso. And I mean I… I think that’s cool. And I do like Prisoner of Azkaban, I think it’s…but I treat it as a different movie and I treat it as art and I think Alfonso really wants us to, to treat his film as art because it really is.
Laura: Mhm. I agree. As a film, I love it as a film. Obviously there…it wasn’t 100% true to the book. Of course not. There are a couple of scenes about it that bothered me, I thought the Buckbeak subplot was just very rushed.
Eric: King of the world!!!
[All laugh]
Andrew: Corny!
Laura: Yeah, that was pretty corny.
Andrew: Do you guys want to hear a funny story?
Eric: Yeah, sure.
Laura: Sure.
Micah: Sure.
Andrew: So, I went to see the movie the day it came out, Prisoner of Azkaban. And, first of all I was kind of disappointed by this movie and so…
Laura: Ah, you suck.
Andrew: About, I might say, well, it was towards the end, little did I know. So, I went to the bathroom, and I came back and the credits were rolling, and I was like “NO! I missed the end!”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: And it was the most depressing thing.
Eric: Then when you saw the end and you were like “Oh my god, why did I cry over that!”
Andrew: So just a month ago, I finally saw the end of it, because I haven’t watched it since and I got all excited because I’d never seen the…and I had forgotten that I had missed the end. And when I saw it, I was like “Wait a second, was that a deleted scene?” Should I post this on MuggleNet? It was…
Eric: Should I post because…no it ends with him smearing across the screen.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Blood splat.
Laura: Can you imagine what it must have been like to be in the front row for that?
Andrew: First of all, let me just say. I had an overwhelming disappointment with when I came back and the movie was over and I had missed the ending. Because what was especially disappointing is that it ended so suddenly, the ending was not good. I don’t think.
Laura: I think the ending could have been better. As a whole…
Eric: The Firebolt…
Laura: I liked Prisoner of Azkaban, the movie, far more than the first two.
Eric: I didn’t. I liked, I mean one of the things, I think one of the things that makes it easy to be treated as an art film is because the third book had all the really cool CGI and the art effects. Like they had Buckbeak, they had the Marauders’ Map which was then turned into the credits and we kind of see that Mike Newell now, with the review that we got on MuggleNet that he says the credits of Goblet of Fire are actually stuff flying out of the Goblet. Like little papers flying out of the Goblet.
Andrew: Is it?
Laura: That’s cool.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Well, that would explain why it lasts 15 minutes.
[All laugh]
Eric: Well, I think, I think it’s cool, you know, that they do that but…because they’re taking off of what Alfonso did, which was great, but Movie 3 really did have a lot of all the…like the werewolf and the Whomping Willow and the Marauders’ Map.
Laura: I didn’t like the werewolf.
Eric: I didn’t personally either, but the fact is…
Laura: I thought it looked like…
Eric: It did.
Laura: Like a hairless Chihuahua or something.
[All laugh]
Eric: Yo quiero la Taco Bell!
Eric: Oh, okay. But they did have all the…and the Knight Bus and, you know, all that stuff. It was a very artsy film, so I think it was very…
Laura: It was.
Eric: It was very appropriate for Alfonso to turn it into that because of all the special effects but we did lose story in there.
Laura: Oh we did, definitely. And I think the most disappointing part about Prisoner of Azkaban was the fact that we didn’t find out all that much about the Marauders. And I read somewhere that that was…they were planning on revealing more of that in Goblet of Fire, but if there’s no Marauders’ Map…
Eric: Which is…yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: I think if there’s…I think in Book 5, or Movie 5 sorry, what they need to do to bring the movie series together, is in Book 5 have a really good scene with Harry and Sirius and Lupin.
Laura: Mhm.
Eric: I think that’s like…there should…and I hope they do the Pensieve scene with Snape. The thing that they need to do, and I think it’s very important is to, in order for them to include the part about Harry and his family, in order to include his love for them at all, they must do the Pensieve scene with Snape and Lily and all the Marauders as kids.
Laura: Yeah.
Eric: And they need to have Harry confront Sirius and Remus in the future and say, “What was my father like?” because I think that’s so important. Harry’s love for his parents is so important and they don’t have it in the movies.
Laura: It is.
Eric: And its…they’re running out of opportunities. They really are running out of opportunities.
Micah: My biggest problem, sorry.
Eric: No, keep going, Micah.
Micah: Was exactly what Laura said, with Prisoner of Azkaban, definitely the whole Marauders being left out because I think if you look at it, it’s kind of like well how did Lupin know how to use the map after he took it from Harry? You know what I mean?
Eric: It’s a problem.
Micah: How did he know, how did he know what it was, how did he know it did when he was explaining it to him in the Defense Against The Dark Arts classroom after he took it away.
Eric: Right. Not only is it not mentioned but it’s now a plothole because of that.
Micah: Right.
Eric: Because they still made him, you know, do that. So…
Laura: I think the thing is, Prisoner of Azkaban especially was definitely a film geared more towards the fans and the people who knew why everything was happening that was happening because I will admit there were people in my theater who were totally bewildered. There was one girl sitting behind me when Hermione punched Draco and she was like “Why is she so mad at him?” and I just wanted to turn around and be like “Well duh, he’s Draco Malfoy!”
Eric: Well it’s funny…
Laura: But, obviously she hadn’t read the books!
Eric: Well, it’s funny because Laura, you say that it was a movie geared towards the fans because they didn’t have to include the Marauders subplot and stuff, but other people say that it’s a movie geared towards the non-fans who didn’t see the, or didn’t read the books because it’s a sit-through movie with none of that back story.
Laura: I think it’s geared towards non-fans in the, in the fashion that I think for instance like I said, the first two movies put me to sleep now. But I think it was definitely…[sighs]…a better film to keep people’s attention, but I do think that in the sense that fans knew why all of what was happening was happening. In that sense it was geared towards fans.
Micah: I had to watch this movie more than once before I actually appreciated it. And I mean I don’t know why that was, but the first time I watched it, I was just…I just didn’t like it, but the more and more I watched it, the more and more I enjoyed it. And I mean, that’s just something I can’t explain I guess.
Eric: I think Chris Columbus’ films have a built-in sense of enjoyment to them that’s very powerful and strong and I think Chris really as a director uses his actors to give him that like, you know, Kenneth Branagh. You can sit and watch that scene and Kenneth just does a great job because he’s such a great actor and it really feels…
Laura: Exactly.
Eric: …the scene in the movie and it keeps it going and there is a happy story to it, so it’s a lighter type of mood, and I think with Alfonso he had the, he had the humor with Aunt Marge. You know…
Laura: Mhm.
Eric: …floating and when Harry gets his trunk and he walks out and she’s still floating.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: That was…and I missed that! In the movie I missed it, it was so funny because everybody was cracking up laughing and I missed, I didn’t see her floating and I had to ask everybody “What just happened?” And then they told me “Oh my god, Aunt Marge was there.” And I was like “Oh my god, that’s so funny!”
[All laugh]
Eric: So, he did have humor and you know but it was slightly different, it’s a different kind of humor than what Chris Columbus had. You know, it was more, it was more built into the feel of the movie.
Micah: Right. The first time I saw it, I was just kind of like “Huh?” You know, “What just happened?”
[All laugh]
Micah: It’s because it’s like you guys said, there’s so many things that are missing if you read the books and you know, you know, that they’re not there in the film that I really did have to go back and watch it a couple more times.
Eric: But it is an art film and it is…
Laura: Definitely.
Andrew: Well, on that note, I think it is time to wrap it up.
Laura: Awww!
Andrew: For this part of the discussion.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: See how long have we been going for? Oh geez…one hour.
Laura: 1:16:00.
Eric: 1:17:00.
Micah: I’m glad I got that new transcriber!
[All laugh]
Andrew: Okay well, so… We’re all bored of Goblet of Fire now.
Spy on Spartz
Andrew: All right so now it’s time to get to our weekly segments that we do produce here each week on MuggleCast. They make the issue shine. First off, “Spy on Spartz!”
Laura: Dun-dun-dun.
Eric: Woooooh! Woooooh!
Andrew: Looking at AIM right now, we will find that Emerson is costume shopping.
Laura: Let’s take bets on what he’s going to be.
Andrew: Oooooh!
Eric: Napoleon Dynamite.
Andrew: Oooh, I second that. That’s a great idea.
Laura: Yeah. [Laughs]
Eric: I say Napoleon Dynamite. But he’s been gone for like three hours now so if he can’t find a Dynamite costume, I don’t now. Maybe he’s actually…no, you know what, he’s tailor-fitting the golden suit, or whatever that…you know the golden brown that… Nevermind.
Andrew: Right. We got you.
Eric: No, he’s at a dance instructor learning how to do the dance.
[All laugh]
Eric: That’s what he’s doing. He has his wig.
Andrew’s Listener Challenge
Andrew: Okay, well that was fun. And still on the topic of Halloween, I’m going to continue my weekly challenge to you. It’s now a three-week weekly challenge to you. Which is to dress up as one of us, whether it’s Micah, Laura, Eric, Ben, Jamie, Kevin or even myself. We have a big group of MuggleCasters, I just realized.
Eric: Yeah, we do.
Laura: If you dress up as me, I’m so sorry.
[All laugh]
Andrew: You only got one picture, right? You only got one girl who sent something in.
Laura: Yeah, one person and I’m just, I’m sorry if you really want to be me for Halloween.
Andrew: We’re going to…one important thing here is to take pictures, take lots of pictures if you dress up as one of us. I’ve already got a few emails, people saying they’re going to dress up as me.
[All laugh]
Andrew: I sincerely, apologies in advance because nobody is going to know who you are. Except for your friends, I guess. So, take your pictures then email them to challenge at staff dot mugglenet dot com and then we will post them in a photo gallery, so everyone can see them. So be forewarned, they are going to be posted online so by sending us the photos, you do agree to having them posted online. Unless you email me and say or well, email challenge at staff dot mugglenet dot com and say, “Hey, don’t post my photos but here, you guys can check them out.” We have to see them to get points. Ahhh!
Eric: Okay, actually I have a listener challenge. Since Halloween has really brought this thing into perspective, the Goblet of Fire just around the horizon, I was thinking that if you are coming to the premiere in New York City, if you could possibly make a shirt, a T-shirt about MuggleCast to wear to the Barnes & Noble. If you could do that, that would be really cool. Because I know everybody really has a…everybody’s got to have this costume, I mean sorry this T-shirt shop, custom T-shirt shop in their hometown. Just make one with a quote on it or something. The best thing you love about MuggleCast.
Andrew: Right, and if you can maybe you want to make one or two extras for us, give them to us.
Eric: Oh yes, by all means, give us your T-shirts.
Andrew: We’d wear them.
Eric: Yes, I will wear, if I get 365 MuggleCast T-shirts made from you fans, I will wear one every day of the year.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Awwww!
Andrew:: That’s so nice.
Eric: And it doesn’t even have to be about me, it can be a quote from Ben or something and it doesn’t matter.
[All laugh]
Eric: I will wear it.
Andrew: We are still working on some things for the show.
Eric: I’m a medium by the way. An adult medium.
Andrew: Oh yeah. Same here.
Eric: Sorry, Andrew, go ahead! Just keep moving on, sorry.
Andrew: So anyway we are looking into…well for one, now that we have sponsorships and such, we are going to start spending a little more money on the show because it’s all for you guys.
[Andrew sings “All for you”]
Andrew: Except for that singing. We are going to start upgrading some stuff, we’re going to be looking into a toll-free number so anyone can send us a voicemail.
Eric: And call in.
Andrew: We’ll play them on the air.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: It will be nice and easy. And then also, we’re looking into a PO box. Because we like free stuff, so by creating a PO box that you guys can mail stuff to, for us, you can do it easily. We don’t want to give out your home addresses. Our home addresses. We trust you but we don’t trust that other guy.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Yeah that one in the corner, outside the window.
Micah: He’s out there again?
[All laugh]
Andrew: I know, tell me about it!
Eric: Micah, beat him up. Beat him up, Micah.
Micah: All right.
Andrew: So on that note, one last reminder, our Lego contest in partnership with MillionairePlayboy.com is still running. All you have to do is go to MuggleCast.com and in the “Show Notes,” we have a link to information about the contest, basically what you do is you build your own Lego scene from…related to Half-Blood Prince and the winner will receive two Lego sets. The contest runs through November 4th and the winners will be announced on our live show on Episode 15.
Eric: You know what’s really funny, Andrew?
Andrew: What’s that?
Eric: I’m going to take my Ron Lego and a girl Lego and I’m going to glue their faces together and that’s going to be Ron and Lavender.
[All laugh]
Laura: Ewww!
Eric: Think hot glue will work.
Show Close
Andrew [Show Close with music in background]: Excellent. Excellent. And don’t forget everyone to sign up or add yourself to our Frappr! Map. Once again go to MuggleCast.com, click on “Tell Us Where You Live.” And don’t forget PowWows.com is an excellent site for Native American information.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: Most importantly Pow Wows.
Laura: Yes.
Andrew: We’ve been talking about them throughout the month. So, next week we will get back to our regular character discussions where we look at one specific character in-depth. Next week we will be talking about Ginny Weasley. So send in your Ginny Whizzley…Ginny Whizzley…
Eric: Ginny Whezzley?
Andrew: So, send in your Ginny Wheez… Oh my god!
[All laugh]
Eric: Ginny Whizzey. Ginny Whizzey.
Andrew: So, send in your Ginny Weasley questions to voice at staff dot mugglenet dot com. Please send in voicemail questions and keep them under 30 seconds. Or if you have any other questions relating to any other Harry Potter books or maybe a theory or discussion, send those in to the same address, voice at staff dot mugglenet dot com. But, it is important to keep them under 30 seconds.
Andrew: That wraps up the show once again, I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: And I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Andrew: We’ll see you next week for Episode 14.
Remixes
Andrew: Here now is another remix sent in by Ralph.
Remix by Ralph coming soon!
Bloopers
[Eric makes weird Halloween noises] and then transitions into…
[Eric sings the theme from “Doug”]
———————–
Written by: Micah and Jess