MuggleCast 160 Transcript
Andrew’s Disclaimer
Andrew: Hey everyone, this is Andrew, and as you all know by now, the Half-Blood Prince international trailer leaked online this morning, Sunday, October 26th. And so we did a live show, and it went great. The only problem was, we lost – well, we didn’t lose – but I had audio problems. I stupidly put the output into the input and vice versa on the computer that was streaming the stream, so we were having these weird audio problems. But the show did turn out okay, other than it being really low, and that was the problem. That was why it was all messed up, because two wires were crisscrossed the wrong way. So I’m a complete idiot; I admit it. Anyway, so the first couple minutes of the show did not turn out because of how I stupidly set it up – accidentally set it up. The music was too loud… [laughs] …over our voices. And so we’re going to cut into the show just a minute or two in. You didn’t really miss anything in the beginning. It’s just us introducing the co-hosts, and that’s all. But I am going to play the intro music and all that to pretend like nothing ever happened. Although I just spoiled it for you now. Anyway, so that’s why there will be a cut into the show. I’ve talked long enough, so enjoy.
Show Intro
[Intro music plays]
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MuggleCast Live is just 60 seconds away.
[Music continues]
Special Effects
Eric: No, I’m talking about special effects. One of you guys talking about special effects in this trailer being weird.
Laura: You know, the ones that look like they were made in iMovie.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Andrew: Well, no, there’s one that really stood out. I don’t know if Laura said it specifically, but it was the one where McGonagall is sending the lightning bolt up into the air.
Eric: I see.
Andrew: That’s the one, right?
Laura: Yeah, it looked really bad.
Andrew: Yeah. It was weird. So, yeah, that was – that was strange.
Eric: I see. Is there any others that stick out as being…
Matt: What is so bad about it? It looks like a lightning bolt.
Eric: And, I mean, I’m looking at this trailer, and I’m seeing Slughorn pulling out his memory, I’m seeing Harry getting covered by Draco with the Invisibility Cloak, all those other crazy stuff that’s really cool, like – even the waves, because, remember, I saw this movie when the effects weren’t anywhere near completed, and the opening cave scene in this international trailer is definitely very, very beautiful, and you guys might not realize, but that’s CGI. That’s pretty much all CGI, so…
Matt: Really?
Eric: Yeah. I have to say that…
Matt: It’s not real?
Eric: …it looks great to me.
Matt: Oh, my God. I thought it was all real. I thought it was real magic.
Eric: The front – I would say the closer you get to the cave, the more it’s actually CGI, because it was completely blue-ed out, or green-ed out, [unintelligible] of the film, so I guess maybe I’m bias, but I’ve seen what they look like uncompleted, that I’m all happy. But Dumbledore battling the fire. You guys want to bitch about that at all?
Andrew: No. That was fine.
Laura: We’re not sitting here saying that every effect in the trailer was terrible. We’re saying there was specific ones that look unfinished. Particularly the lightning one.
Matt: Well, everything…
Laura: I don’t know, I even thought that the whole bit where Slughorn was pulling the memory out, I even thought that looked a little weird. Not that it’s going to be a bad effect when the movie comes out, but I’m saying that I think this trailer wasn’t completed.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Before it was leaked.
Andrew: Micah, and lastly we’ll get to you, what about your thoughts?
Micah: Well, I didn’t even notice the special effects stuff, to be honest with you. I don’t usually pick up on that.
Andrew: Were you just checking out Hermione or something?
The “Chosen One” Scene
Micah: Yeah. Actually, more Lavender Brown, but that’s besides the point right now. The one thing I will say, though, and I’m sure we’ll talk about this a little bit later on, because it’s at the very end of the trailer – I felt that the end of the trailer had absolutely no connection to the rest of the stuff that was going on before it. And it was just a really weird moment to include. It was – it’s kind of an attempt at humor, but the whole trailer leading up to that had nothing to do with humor at all, so that’s just my initial thought on it.
Andrew: Well, here’s the thing. Here’s why I think that the the effects suck. This trailer – well, okay, maybe that’s a little harsh, you don’t suck. But why – first of all, that one cheesy lightning bolt effect, but also the end where it says it’s coming this year.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: This trailer must have been made months ago. It must have been sitting around WB for months. And somebody…
Eric: It’s very mysterious.
Andrew: Somebody who had a hold of it, maybe somebody within WB, said – I mean, look at the amount of news lately in the Harry Potter fandom. There’s nothing. This has seriously been the slowest news period ever. So they – somebody leaks this to put a little, you know, spark into the fandom. Because it’s been dead! There’s been nothing going on. Don’t you guys agree?
Micah: Oh, I don’t agree with that. We have our Ministry of Magic election. [laughs]
Andrew: Well, that – that’s very exciting, but…
Micah: No, I know what you mean. I know what you mean.
Andrew: Yeah. So that’s – that’s what I think.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: What other – Micah, you said you took some notes. What else do you want to talk about related to this?
Micah: Well, I guess we could start at the end, actually, because I still think it – maybe it has to do with the fact that it’s been sitting around WB for so long, perhaps, but I just didn’t feel like that scene at the end with Hermione and Harry and, Eric, you can maybe clue us in to whether this is actually in the real film, but it was, to me, almost like that moment that – and, Laura, I think this is you who always brings this up, but in Goblet of Fire when he walks into the tent and he says, “I love magic.” And for him to be calling himself the Chosen One in kind of a joking way, I just feel like it is one of those lines they just felt they had to throw in there but really does nothing overall to, I guess, advance the plot. I don’t know.
Eric: Yeah. I mean, I think it’s very interesting that you felt that this scene – well, not interesting but it’s cool that you felt that this scene was so out of place in comparison with the rest of the trailer. That’s a good remark that I appreciate and respect. It’s very – it’s, you know – you’re kind of right there, because they even got the voice over guy in on this trailer.
Andrew: He was really in on this trailer. [laughs]
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: [laughs] I don’t recall them doing that in previous trailers with the voice over guy, so that’s really interesting. Even with that and then to have this scene at the end. But as for the scene itself, I think it – I was thinking about it in the hour we had to prep for this show, and I think that it’s moments like that, especially in this movie, are not only okay but important. Because the humor moments, there are more of them, like more – not more “I love magic” moments, because that has a very negative connotation, but there is a relationship – the whole thing is about this girl liking Harry and Harry, you know, starting to clue in on that kind of stuff. And it is a pretty big plot of the book to have the relationships and the romance, and it did kind of get snuck into the end of this trailer alone, which is kind of something I appreciate, but at the same time Micah was right, that it seems out of place. Now, just finally here, the – Harry is accepting his role as the Chosen One, which is what I like about that statement, which is in the movie – that I saw is in the movie, and it was just a moment where it kind of replaces those paragraphs in the book where it’s like, “Harry knew what must be done,” this and that, this and that, angst, death, he must sacrifice himself, etc. He is speaking with Hermione and Hermione alone. He wouldn’t go around Hogwarts, surely, shouting out, “I am the Chosen One!” He’s just with Hermione and says, “Well, but I am the chosen one.” And she slaps him on the head. It’s funny. There was a lot of slapstick in this movie I think, but we’ll get into that later.
Andrew: Yeah. I was – that was really the first time that you see Harry be like, “Yeah, I’m the Chosen One. What’s up? What are you going to do about it?”
Matt: Mhm. I’m going to slap you in the face.
Andrew: Yeah, I really liked that. I thought that was pretty funny.
Matt: Yeah. That was our first time we got to see Romilda Vane.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Matt: Is that who you guys really thought Romilda Vane looked like? Because I thought – I mean, the actress who plays Romilda Vane, she looks – she looks pretty attractive.
Andrew: I never wasted my time trying to picture what she looks like.
Eric: You mean Romilda or Lavender?
Matt: Well, I mean – you mean you never wasted your time picturing the characters you’re reading?
Andrew: Oh yeah, Lavender. Don’t you mean Lavender?
Matt: No, Romilda Vane. The one he’s looking at when he says, “I’m the Chosen One.”
Andrew: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, that’s not Lavender, Eric.
Eric: Oh! Oh, right.
Laura: She plays such a minimal role anyway. Like, I never really …
Matt: Well, she sort of…
Laura: …put much thought into what she looked like.
Matt: …poisons Ron, so to speak.
Eric: Oh, I don’t think that’s Romilda Vane.
Laura: Eh.
Matt: You don’t think so?
Eric: I actually – I actually don’t. I remember…
Matt: I could have thought I saw a picture of her…
Andrew: It’s not Lavender.
Matt: I didn’t say Lavender.
Andrew: I know, I’m talking to Eric.
Matt: Oh.
Eric: No.
Matt: That’s not – it’s definitely not Lavender.
Eric: It’s not Lavender, but I don’t think it’s Romilda Vane either. I think that was sort of an offhand, pretty, secure girl for this scene. I don’t think it was actually Romilda Vane, because Romilda Vane shows up at some other point. Not in the trailer. But yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think that’s her. But she’s very pretty.
Andrew: Now, Matt, what do you think Hermione slapping him was?
Matt: I think it was the Marauders Map.
Andrew: I’m looking at that now. I mean, why do you think that? It’s not like…
Matt: Because it’s the shape of it.
Andrew: So? Anyone can fold a paper into thirds and be like, “Here’s my Marauders Map.” I don’t think it is.
Matt: Fine. You know what? Just – fine. You didn’t even ask me, you just wanted to…
Laura: And they would say it just like that too.
Matt: You just wanted to – yeah.
Andrew: I just wanted to anger – say you’re wrong.
Matt: Discredit me in front of all the people listening?
Andrew: Yes, exactly.
Matt: Yeah. Shut up.
Dumbledore’s Character
Andrew: Vol – we also see more of Dumbledore talking in here, and he’s saying “I got to ask too much of you again,” and he still has a different tone for me in this movie. Because we talked about this a lot about this with the first teaser trailer. We were saying how – I was saying how he was – something about Dumbledore. He’s just a little extra spark in his – in the tone of his voice. Does any one else agree with that?
Matt: No.
Andrew: Oh.
Matt: I wasn’t really listening to you.
Laura: No.
Kevin: No, I don’t really…
Eric: Sorry, what, Andrew?
Andrew: I was saying that Volde – or Dumbledore seems to have a little extra spark in his – in his tone when he’s talking. It just – it just feels different from past Potter films.
Matt: Hmm.
Eric: I think Michael Gambon read the book on this one.
Andrew: [laughs] Maybe. Somebody should ask him that come premiere time. Did you read the book? Nope! Goodbye. Hmm?
Micah: He’s different than in past films. And it goes back to what Ben was saying, though. You only really have, what, thirty seconds of him in this trailer? To gauge any sort of acting change from the past couple of films?
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: I don’t really know. I’ll have to see him not have one of his moments where he shook Harry or says something about students going to do his homework. But again, that’s not him. He’s just doing what he’s being told to do by the director, so…
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: You can’t really blame Gambon, I guess.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: No, Gambon’s just being Gambon.
Cave Scene
Andrew: What do you think of the exterior for the cave? I mean, that just screams straight out of the book.
Matt: What?
Micah: I think it’s CGI.
Laura: I think it looks fantastic.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: It really does.
Matt: Mhm.
Kevin: Yeah, I think it was [unintelligible].
Theme of Trailer: Everything is Set on Fire
Matt: What was with the whole trailer – I mean, the theme of this whole trailer seems to be “everything is set on fire.”
Andrew: There is a lot of – yeah.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Everything’s fire, this movie.
Matt: [laughs] Everything’s up in flames.
Andrew: Yeah. Just to give urgency. That’s true, there’s, like, three different things in this film…
Matt: You see…
Andrew: Or four.
Matt: You see the Burrow on fire like, what, three times?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: And then you see, you know, McGonagall casting a lightning storm, and then you see Hagrid’s Hut being set on fire. And then Dumbledore casting the fire around him.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Just fire, fire, fire.
Theory Continues: Trailer Not Ready for Release
Eric: I’ve been watching this lighting scene that you guys say about McGonagall, and actually, I kind of agree with you here on the lightning effects shot. I kind of wonder – and you guys mentioned the Slughorn pulling the memory thing too – I kind of wonder which of these scenes aren’t – I mean, that was sort of a close up on McGonagall’s hand shooting the lightning. I don’t think that was in the movie. I mean, certainly not as sped up and as fast as it goes by. That’s a very – not slow, but a very impacting scene. It’s not – I think the trailer is definitely – they may have modified some of these shots that you guys are saying is a little bit messed up, because that lightning shot – yeah, you’re right. I totally see where you guys are coming from.
Matt: I – well, see, it doesn’t even look like – I mean, the fact that it looks so fake is probably not really what’s going to come out of her wand in the movie. I think they just added that just because they’re not done with the special effects.
Andrew: Well, I think that’s another sign that this – this trailer was not ready to be released yet. It just screams leak. I mean, that – they don’t have the corny titles like they did with that other teaser trailer.
Kevin: And the date.
Andrew: And the date. That’s huge!
Matt: This year. This year, which is in two months.
Andrew: Here’s the other brilliant thing about this.
Eric: They do have…
Kevin: Unless…
Eric: Okay, go ahead.
Kevin: Unless they meant to release it after December.
Matt: Well, that’s what they mean.
Kevin: I mean, it only says “this year,” right? Yeah, so…
Andrew: Well, yeah. It does, but I don’t know.
Kevin: Were you thinking that they had made it prior to…
Andrew: The delay.
Kevin: …the date being moved?
Andrew: Oh, are you saying they’re planning on releasing it this year?
Kevin: Because I would say that…
Andrew: I mean, they were releasing it next year?
Kevin: Yes, after December. Probably January, yes.
Andrew: Yeah, but see, remember…
Kevin: You don’t agree? Because it would be perfect for a Christmas release, this trailer.
Andrew: Remember that…
Eric: I do agree with Kevin here.
Andrew: Remember, though, that when the trailer initially came out in the U.K. – the first trailer initially came out – in the U.K. it said “this year.” When the first trailer came out initially in the U.K., it said “this year.” It didn’t say “November,” it said “this year.” So…
Kevin: Yeah, but it seems as though knowing what Eric knows about the film, and seeing as they replaced a lot of the CG in the film with this trailer…
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: It seems as though, you know, it’s been made since that point – you know, since they had those screenings.
Eric: It does kind of seem like a later thing. You’re right.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: And the other thing I noticed they had that they didn’t have before, as far as I recognized, was their take on “Hedwig’s Theme” here. Like the special Movie 6 part of “Hedwig’s Theme.” Unless we’ve heard that particular rendition before, I thought it had a little bit more strings this time around, just at the end of the trailer when “Hedwig’s Theme” was playing. I didn’t think that that was a particular piece of music that had been inserted in the film at that time. I think they were using – David Heyman and them had said they were sort of using other things from previous movies to fill it in until they finalized the score, etc. And I think that particular part of “Hedwig’s Theme” that plays in this trailer is either new or more of the recent [unintelligible]. Or maybe they just put it into this trailer. Regardless, I think I’m with Kevin here that this trailer isn’t actually eight months old as much as it would be just more new, but not to be released yet.
Andrew: Yeah. The other brilliant thing about this…
Micah: I actually agree with Kevin.
Andrew: What? Go ahead, Micah.
Micah: When I first saw the trailer, what I initially thought was that it was being released for next year. And that’s what we were to expect it to maybe come out, like he said, around Christmastime or something like that. I didn’t even think that it was an older piece that had been sitting somewhere in WB Studios.
Andrew: Oh, I think it must have been. Because, it just – it doesn’t feel like the effects are finished. And here’s the other brilliant thing about this: this came out today, Sunday. Whenever something leaks online, whether it’s a picture – we’ve never had something as big as a trailer leak before on the weekend – but when it does leak online, WB doesn’t say anything, because they’re all at home. And so that’s why these things always leak on Friday nights or weekends. Like, I don’t know if everyone remembers, but there was a time where a picture – a new Half-Blood Prince picture was coming out every Friday. And it comes out – it was coming – my guess is it was coming out every Friday because WB doesn’t do anything about it when it’s on the weekend. So, we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I have a feeling – do you guys think they’re going to make everyone take it down?
Will WB Make Them Take it Down?
Kevin: No.
Eric: Probably.
Matt: No, probably not.
Andrew: Probably not?
Laura: I don’t know.
Eric: Everyone who’s seen it is going to see it. Or everyone who’s going to see it has seen it.
Andrew: Yeah, but, you know…
Eric: Or people save it. Everybody save it to your computer.
Andrew: Yeah, I’ve already got it saved. It’s already on YouTube. The wonderful UStream folks added a permanent link to it in the chat so people…
Matt: Yeah, that was really cool.
Andrew: …can reference it. That was cool. Thanks to those guys.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: So… [laughs] …I just don’t know what to think about this.
Matt: Hey, does anybody think that the cliffs remind you a little bit of the opening of The Two Towers in Lord of the Rings when you go through the mountains? Because that’s what I thought when I first saw the trailer.
Kevin: Not really.
Matt: You don’t think so?
Kevin: I didn’t – no, I didn’t really…
Matt: When you kind of go up the mountains?
Kevin: …make the connection.
Matt: Oh, okay. [whispers] Damn.
Eric: It’s been years since I’ve seen the teaser for The Two Towers.
Matt: No, it’s the film itself.
Kevin: The opening of the film itself. Yeah.
Eric: Oh, the film itself? Okay.
Kevin: The opening scene of the movie.
Andrew: Yeah. Micah, I have a question for you.
Eric: Kevin, what was your favorite part of this trailer? Oh, yeah, sorry.
Kevin: I actually…
[Eric laughs]
The Field Scene
Kevin: Well, the scene when they’re running through the field towards the burning hut, is that CG?
Eric: Yeah.
Kevin: Because that’s – when you look at the grass actually moving, it’s impressive.
Eric: Oh.
Kevin: I had a hard time telling…
Eric: Yeah, I…
Kevin: …whether it was real or not.
Eric: The – you mean Harry running through the, what, the field of the Burrow?
Kevin: Yeah. Right.
Eric: Yeah, when he’s running through the grass. Yeah. He’s…
Kevin: Is that, like, 35 seconds?
Eric: He’s running through – I think it’s either – yeah, it’s either a cornfield or something. Let me actually take a look at that. I noticed that too, especially in this trailer. In the movie, he actually does it – in the movie, it lasts longer than that. You see him pretty much just running through. And, yeah, it’s really well done. I don’t know if this particular shot is CG or not. I know it was completed when we saw the movie. But it’s really cool, that sequence, and it’s really well shot. So yeah, I do like it, but I’m not sure if it’s CG. I actually – I want to say it isn’t, because that’s just the feel I get from seeing it.
Andrew: I’m kind of afraid…
Micah: Not to change the subjects real fast…
Andrew: Go ahead.
Micah: Go ahead.
Andrew: I just think – real quick – I just think there’s too much emphasis on this new scene that they added. Like, we’ve seen it, and it’s like half the pictures that come out are the attack on the Burrow. With the – what I am I trying to say? With this new trailer, there’s a few more shots from the Burrow. And it’s just annoying to me.
Matt: Why?
Laura: Yeah, they really have…
Eric: It’s like a…
Laura: …sort of been…
Eric: …big beacon of “Look what we did!” which is kind of uncommon.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. “Look! We have a new scene, and Jo approved it, so it’s awesome!”
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Matt: I mean…
Eric: Well, and I think it’s to remember your own words too, Andrew, that WB has released next to nothing. It has been leaked. And so all these images and stuff from the Burrow that we’ve seen, and all these new trailers that have the Burrow scene in it, I think part of your discomfort has to be due to the leaks, because if Warner Bros. – if we only had what Warner Bros. released, we’d have a lot less stuff, but perhaps it wouldn’t be as “Look at this”-y as it seems.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Because we did see all those shots. Like the individual promo pics of them standing in the doorway and looking out into oblivion…
Andrew: Right.
Eric: …and all that.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: It is pretty – it’s just, we’ve had so little actual official stills released and everything.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew is Obsessed with Leaks
Andrew: Yeah. I’m just – like, you – I can’t – sorry, I keep going back to this, but I’m really obsessed with how this leaked. I love leaks. I just don’t think that – what am I trying to say?
Matt: I don’t know.
Andrew: I just – WB had better keep it online. But I have a really strong feeling that we’re going to get an e-mail first thing tomorrow morning that says, “Take it down.” But – okay, whoever released this, though, I think is just a genius. Because there’s nothing going on right now, and the Harry Potter fans needed something. And Alan Horn, in an interview with – I think it was the LA Times – he even admitted. He’s like, “Yeah, we’re going to have to keep the fans excited. We’re going to have to throw them a few extra bones.” But I just – I have a feeling they’ll take this down. Because it may not be up to WB’s standards, this trailer.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: So.
Eric: So, wait, Kevin. What’s your favorite point of this trailer?
Kevin: I don’t really know. I mean, see, I sort of judge the trailer as a whole. I wouldn’t say there’s a favorite particular scene, just because we’ve never saw a single scene long enough to….
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: …say, “Oh, that’s amazing.”
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: It would be insulting to try and choose one and then have it turn out to be terrible in the film.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Kevin: Because, of course, they’re going to show you what they consider is the best piece of the scene. So you’re sort of misled.
Eric: The most fitting, yeah.
Quidditch in the Film
Matt: Is anybody excited about seeing Quidditch in this movie now…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: …that we’ve actually seen it?
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: There’s a quick glimpse.
Matt: Because it looks pretty cool. It looks more up-scale. Like you only saw a second of it, but just they way it looks, it looks like they put more into it.
Andrew: Yeah. Well, I mean they’ve had a couple years now to develop the CG technology for this, so hopefully, you know, with today’s advances in technology, it’s better looking Quidditch than ever.
Eric: You’re not watching sort of a kid’s movie with Quidditch in it, but you’re watching a more teenage movie or adult movie with Quidditch in it, and the whole tone of the movie being – you know, it’s good to have Quidditch back. It really is. And with the new effects and everything, you know, the newest and most up-to-date take on that sport, and it’s good to have a back. It looked great.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: And, you know, with the – the Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets Quidditch was good, but it always bothered me how you could see the blue from the blue screen – or it was green – reflecting off their faces. Wasn’t it really obvious?
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: And I’d love to get that on Blu-Ray, because it would be even more obvious that – yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: So bad. Am I right or am I right?
Matt: You mean when Harry’s sitting on the floor in the grass and then everybody runs in the studio?
Andrew: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. [laughs] Yeah, runs in the studio.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. So hopefully that should be improved. And that’s something they should really hype up with this film, because people like coming to movies to see action like Quidditch.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: You know how every year they’re always hyping up the [with a British accent] “Oh it’s darker than ever. I know I say this year, but it’s our best one yet.”
Matt: Why’d you use – who are you making fun of?
Andrew: It’s basically any Harry Potter actor.
Matt: Oh, okay.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Micah, what other notes do you have from the thing? Or anyone, for that matter? Is there anything that really tickled your funny bone?
Dumbledore’s Hand
Micah: I was going to say, what did you guys think about – and it looked to me like it was messed up – Dumbledore’s hand, when he was working it on the cave wall?
Andrew: Working it on the cave wall? Is that what you said?
Matt: Well, wasn’t he smearing blood on it though? Isn’t that what was kind of awkward?
Eric: Yeah, let me take a look here.
Micah: No, no. His hand looks like is has some sort of deterioration on it.
Matt: Oh.
Eric: Oh yeah, that is his hand that he does. Yeah, that’s an effect. That’s an effect.
Micah: So is that supposed to be his black hand?
Andrew: Yeah, must be.
Laura: Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Eric: Well, you see it better in the beginning of the movie.
Matt: It’s his right or left hand?
Eric: It’s his right hand, which is why, when they’re…
Andrew: Is it?
Eric: …side-along Apparating in this trailer, he’s holding out his left hand.
Matt: Right.
Eric: Yeah, that’s his – that’s his messed up hand.
Kevin: Oh yeah. You can – when he’s making the fire you can sort of see it as well. That’s his right hand as well.
Memories are Painful to Pull Out
Matt: Why do they make it always so painful to pull out a memory for the Pensieve?
Andrew: To make it look more interesting!
Matt: I know, but, I mean, Jim Broadband looks like he’s giving birth or something when he’s pulling out the memory…
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: “Oh my God! Oh!”
[Laura laughs]
Eric: Maybe Slughorn’s multitalented there.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Maybe he can do two things at once. He’s concentrating.
Matt: “I pulled the wrong one!” [laughs]
Andrew: Well, when something’s leaving…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: …your body, no matter what it is, you can’t help but, you know. Or is that just me?
Matt: No.
Andrew: And Jim Broadband.
Eric: It’s just you.
Laura: Wow, Andrew. I think you need to stop.
Andrew: You can’t help but – okay. Maybe too much. TMI.
Laura: Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Oh, I didn’t even hear what you said and I said it was just you, so if that was disgusting, I take it back.
WB Closes its Doors on the Weekends
Andrew: For anyone just joining us, there is close to 600 people listening right now. It’s 1:30 and we’re talking about the just released, international Harry Potter Half-Blood Prince trailer that leaked. And we’ll be offline quickly and swiftly tomorrow with a statement from WB. This is going to be in the press tomorrow. You guys realize that, right?
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: No.
Andrew: “Trailer leaks, fans react.”
Eric: It’s amazing that we have…
Micah: I don’t see what the big deal is.
Matt: I mean, the fact that they haven’t taken it down from the website yet and it’s been up for, what…
Andrew: Because it’s the weekend. This is the brilliance.
Eric: Oh, come on. They have 24-hour e-mail.
Andrew: No, they don’t. They don’t.
Matt: They close the doors, the entire company.
Andrew: I am telling you, whenever a picture or something leaks, they don’t react until Monday. That’s why this stuff comes out on the weekends, so they don’t take it down.
Eric: But we haven’t seen them react.
Andrew: What?
Matt: But if a major…
Andrew: Hold on.
Matt: …film is leaked, and the trailer is leaked, no one’s going to run the office and…
Andrew: Yeah, they’re all going to be like…
Matt: It’s like, oh my God, this is leaked! Okay, but tomorrow I’m going to tell them.
Kevin: What do you do on the weekends? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m not on my work computer…
Andrew: Exactly!
Kevin: …watching what’s going on.
Andrew: They’re not going to drive into work, sit down, and be like, you know…
Kevin: The last thing they’re going to want to look at is stuff involving their trade, because they’ve just spent five days doing that.
Andrew: Five days…
Micah: Don’t you think they have offices open on the weekends? Somewhere Warner Brothers has an office open right now.
Eric: I’m sure…
Matt: This is stupid to think that they don’t right now, have somebody in that office on the weekends, just taking phone calls or something.
Andrew: I am telling you, we will see something about this tomorrow but not today. Guarantee you.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Just based on what has happened.
Micah: Let’s get back to the trailer.
Matt: Yeah, okay. All right.
Andrew: I’m sorry. I’m obsessed with this whole thing.
Micah: I have a question.
Andrew: What?
Draco Scene
Micah: I actually have a couple of questions about this trailer, but the first one was, what is Draco pulling that sheet off of? Is that…
Matt: I think that’s the cabinet. I think it might be the cabinet.
Eric: You got a time stamp for me, Micah?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Because I was thinking that too.
Micah: You actually have to get it just right, because it’s like a flash scene; it goes really quick.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: What’s the time code?
Micah: I don’t know. It’s right where – maybe a scene…
Matt: Oh, it’s 42 seconds.
Micah: Or at 42 seconds.
Matt: Yeah. It’s so – it’s so Chronicles of Narnia too. “I’m just going to pull this drape very angrily – pull it down.”
Andrew: I don’t – I don’t see it at 42 seconds. At 42 seconds?
Micah: It’s very soon after they show Draco in front of the Room of Requirement saying something about evil.
Matt: It’s so at 42 seconds! You guys just have to look.
Eric: Yeah, it – at first I thought it was Voldemort coming down somewhere, but it is the curtain on the wardrobe that he’s…
Kevin: Oh, I see. Yeah.
Eric: It’s the curtain of the – the thing that has twins.
Micah: Vanishing Cabinet?
Eric: Yeah, thank you.
[Eric and Kevin]
Eric: The Vanishing Cabinet.
Andrew: So yeah, that’s probably the Vanishing Cabinet. Matt’s trying to show it to me. Forget it, it’s okay. I must have a different trailer.
Matt: Yours is different.
Andrew: I think I have the third trailer. Okay, what else? What else?
The Flashbacks
Micah: Were you guys kind of upset with the Voldemort flashbacks? I know none of us were really big on flashbacks…
Andrew: Again? [laughs]
Matt: Well, yeah, this is like their thing.
Laura: Haven’t we done this like three times now?
Andrew: Yeah. Laura…
Eric: It’s because Voldemort’s not in this movie.
Matt: Yeah, but what’s with the snake? The snake coming at you and attacking you. Did you see that?
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Matt: Nagini just turning around and going “Ahh!”
Eric: Goodness!
Andrew: Yeah, there’s the snake from Order of the Phoenix, I think.
Matt: Yeah, it’s the fiery snake, and then right after it the real snake coming out…
Andrew: The real snake.
Matt: I seem to think it might be Harry recollecting what Horcruxes Dumbledore is telling him. Like every time he says it, there’s this little thing all by itself, and then comes Nagini, and then she attacks, and it’s just – or not.
Andrew: One thing I just really – got to me about Order of the Phoenix, and I’ve said it before, is the flashbacks. Laura do they bother you too? Are you concerned?
Laura: Yeah, they – I just remember, I think it was when the Order of the Phoenix trailer came out, and we were like pausing it frame-by-frame and finding all the Goblet of Fire flashbacks…
Andrew: Yeah.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: So it’s like, come on, guys.
Eric: Yeah, there was a scene from the graveyard that was in that one. I – but it’s good because I think it – I think that people know that the flashbacks upset people.
Matt: They didn’t use as much, though, in this one.
Eric: There is not flashbacks in Movie 6. I mean, there is not these – and there’s not – like montages is the other thing I said. Like during Dumbledore’s Army in Movie 5, you know how they had the passage of time through montages?
Andrew: Yes.
Eric: That is done differently in this movie. There aren’t those sort of things with giddy music playing.
Andrew: From newspaper to newspaper and like zooming in and out.
Eric: Yeah, so it’s same director and different sort of techniques employed here. There is some really good – like Kevin mentioned in the cornfield, Harry running through the field, there is some of those really cool shots just to look at, and one of them is when Harry first arrives at the Burrow. There’s a great, in my opinion, what looks like a great shot, but – I won’t say more, but there are some really cool visuals in this movie that don’t necessarily have to do with the special effects.
Andrew: Yeah.
Scene Pays Homage to U.S. Book Cover
Matt: There’s this one clip in the trailer that I thought was really cool, because it was kind of like an homage to the book cover – the U.S. book cover in Half-Blood Prince – is when Ron and Hermione are looking up together. They’re looking up at something, and it looks – it’s almost exactly like the way the drawings of Ron and Hermione are looking up in the back cover.
Laura: Oh, yeah!
Andrew: What?
Matt: You know what I’m talking about, Laura?
Laura: Yeah, you’re right. There’s – on the back of the Half-Blood Prince cover, there’s…
Matt: It’s 39 seconds in the teaser.
Laura: …Ron, Hermione and Ginny. And they’re all looking up.
Matt: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah! It’s almost exactly the same. I didn’t even notice that.
Matt: Yeah, I just paused it, and then it looks right – I just saw it.
Kevin: What’s the time?
Andrew: It’s – see…
Matt: 39 seconds.
Andrew: See, it’s not 39. This frame you’re talking about right?
Matt: No.
Andrew: Oh.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Oh, but – that’s not from the – come on!
Matt: Yeah – no it does!
Andrew: Come on!
Laura: It does look like it.
Matt: I love it how I have a revelation or something, and Andrew always tries to mark it down because he didn’t think of it first.
Andrew: I could go…
Matt: “No, it’s not true! No, you’re stupid.”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: I could go through the first five movies and show thirty million more times where they’re looking up like that.
Matt: Okay. I expect to see them at the end of the day.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Oh. Someone do that for me, please, thank you.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Okay, I see what you mean. I see what you mean. They’re just ripping off Twilight now. Robert Pattinson [unintelligible] the apple with his hands. [laughs]
Matt: Don’t bring this up! Don’t. Don’t bring this up at all. I swear.
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: Okay, so what else? Micah or Laura?
Laura: Um…
Andrew: I didn’t really have time to take notes. I was preparing for the show.
Overall, Laura is Appreciative
Laura: I don’t know. I just really appreciate seeing more of the cave.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Seeing the exterior, I was pretty impressed by that. And also seeing Dumbledore’s hand was really great, and just like, as the wall fell away sort of, as he was – as he was touching it. It was exactly as I imagined it from the book.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Or what little we’ve seen of it, so I’m pretty impressed by that.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah. Yeah.
In the Cave
Micah: What about that scene where Harry is firing a spell…
Matt: I was just going to say that! In the cave?
Micah: Yeah. What was that?
Eric: I’m looking now.
Matt: Isn’t that when he says, “Accio” or something? And then one of the Inferi go up inside – you know, arise out of the lake and then go back down?
Eric: Do you have a time stamp?
Matt: [whispers] No, I don’t.
Andrew: Do you have a time stamp?
Micah: I just took notes. I didn’t pay any attention to the time stamp.
Andrew: Oh, yeah. Well, that’s important too. [laughs] But sort of going off what Laura was saying, it’s more clear than ever that, no pun intended, that he’s standing on ice, it seems, when he’s at the…
Eric: Crystals, not ice.
Laura: No, not ice.
Eric: Not ice at all.
Andrew: Okay, crystals.
Laura: They’re crystals.
Eric: It looks more like – it’s crystals. It’s a crystal cave.
Andrew: You’re a crystal cave.
Micah: Aren’t they called – aren’t there specific names for things like that…
Andrew: Kryptonite?
Micah: …in top of caves, or that come up from the bottom?
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: Stalactites and stalagmites…
Laura: Stalagmite.
Eric: The difference is that stalagmite’s got an “m” in it. But, yeah, no. They are different than that. They aren’t – stalactites and stalagmites are made from like deposits…
Kevin: Oh, and the time is 57.
Eric: 50 seconds for what?
Kevin: 57 seconds for Harry firing off that spell.
Eric: Oh, thank you. I’ll take a look at that.
Kevin: And it shows the crystals as well.
Micah: Well, we might as well ask our own expert who’s seen the film so he can tell us exactly what…
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: …I’m asking about.
Matt: Eric? At a minute and like nine seconds into the trailer, right before you see the Harry Potter logo, you see Harry look shocked or something. Is that when he witnesses Dumbledore dying?
Eric: Hang on. Okay, first…
Matt: Oh, it’s a minute and ten seconds.
Eric: Harry throwing the – the 57 seconds – Harry throwing the spell.
Matt: No, no, no, no. At a minute and ten – oh sorry. Are you talking about something else?
Eric: I’m talking about the first thing that you mentioned. Yeah, that is him casting – I believe it’s lumos, actually, like he’s trying to see what’s over there. Or it’s accio. But he is – I’m pretty sure it’s one of those two. But yeah, that scene casting a spell is very well done too, because you see, in that shot that they show part of here, you see how deep the cave is, which is a really cool effect. Now, what is it? 1:10?
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: Oh. That is around that scene that you guessed.
Matt: That I guessed? Oh geez. We don’t want to spoil people.
Eric: That’s around that scene.
Bellatrix Dancing
Andrew: Hey, I just found something I thought was really cool. At a minute three. My time codes are messed up, but when they’re – when the fire’s on Hagrid’s hut, Bellatrix is like dancing up and down.
Matt: Yeah. Raising her arms up, conjuring it.
Laura: You know what? It kind of reminded me of Twilight a little bit.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: [gasps] Don’t bring it up!
Laura: I hate to bring that in, but…
Andrew: Why? Why does it remind you of it?
Laura: Wasn’t there that one part where they had the vampires, and they were sort of dancing around something that was on fire?
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Laura: I remember a clip and I was like, “Oh my God. Why? Why?”
Andrew: That’s just really cool, because Bellatrix is just crazy like that. And that reminds me of in Order of the Phoenix when she’s running through the corridor of the Ministry of Magic just going, “I killed Sirius,” or whatever.
Matt: Mhm.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: That’s just her craziness right there shining through again.
Eric: She is dancing up and down.
Andrew: I can’t wait to see that.
Matt: It’s going to be awesome seeing Bellatrix act all crazy with fire in her eyes.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: There was another shot of her in this trailer, too, though. She looked like she was fighting on the grounds of Hogwarts.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: In an attack…
Matt: I think she was in the Great Hall, I think.
Andrew: Where was that? What’s the time code?
Eric: It looks like it’s in the Great Hall.
Matt: Well, there’s a photo of her doing that, too.
Andrew: Oh, I see that. Yeah, that’s definitely the Great Hall.
Matt: Why is she in the Great Hall?
Eric: But her jumping up and down in front of Hagrid’s hut is hilarious.
Matt: Well, they have a photo of her on top of a table like shouting and laughing, too.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: So maybe she’s fighting somebody in the Great Hall. I mean, there is a scene in the book. It’s kind of a big scene where she is fighting.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Of course, apparently, they’re cutting it.
Back to the Burrow Scene
Andrew: Is like the only action at the Burrow? Because it’s just all this Burrow stuff. It’s like Burrow, Burrow, Burrow.
Eric: No, the Burrow’s not the only scene of action.
Matt: There is snogging.
Eric: The Burrow, if anything – to be honest, the Burrow is an interesting scene, but it’s not one of the biggest scenes in the movie. I mean, it’s not – as far as the interesting things in the movie, the Burrow scene is not sort of what they put all their money into. It’s very interesting that they constructed the scene. It serves several different purposes, but, yeah, it’s not like the big fight scene or anything like that.
MuggleCast 160 Transcript (continued)
Draco/Harry Train Scene
Matt: Mhm. You know, I’ve been noticing – is it just me or when Draco throws the Invisible Cloak over Harry, the Cloak seems a lot more lighter than that fifty pound cloak that he’s had in the previous films.
Eric: Yeah.
Matt: Because it looks more silhouette and satin.
Eric: And part of that is, too, because the thing’s in high speed, too, but…
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: …that is a little bit high speed. But I like that they had that, because the Draco – actually, the Draco/Harry train scene is one of the completely completed scenes as far as I could tell from the movie when I was watching it, and that’s just a great scene with Harry and Draco on the train. I remember reading that and thinking it was going to be so great. And in the movie it is.
Matt: Well, it was one of the first scenes that they shot. I mean, we got that as a teaser back in November of last year, I think it was.
Eric: Aha.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah. It went with the Order of the Phoenix extra behind the scenes of the Half-Blood Prince stuff. It was like Quidditch and this scene right here.
Eric: Oh yeah. I got that third disc because Mikey B. told me where to get it, and I got it.
Matt: Mhm. At Target. Always get your DVDs at Target.
Eric: At Target, yeah.
Matt: Right, Laura?
Laura: Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Go ahead, Micah.
Snape and Greyback Scenes Combined?
Micah: Well, one of the other things I had down here was it seems like they combined two scenes when Harry says, “Fight back, you coward.”
Matt: Uh-huh.
Micah: It looks like the first part of the scene he’s chasing after, what I assume, would be Snape and Draco in a forest area, but then it immediately switches over to the Burrow…
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: …when it looks like Ginny’s being attacked by Greyback. And the way that they did it, it looks like the phrase comes out of his mouth during the Burrow scene as opposed to when he’s chasing…
Eric: Oh yeah.
Micah: …Snape.
Eric: That’s incredible notes. No. Yeah, that’s incredible notes, and they did montage that just in this trailer.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: They combined it, because they’re trying to show so many things at once. When he says, “Fight back, you coward,” that is from the end of the movie when he’s chasing Snape. It’s not from the Burrow scene when he’s defending Ginny. That’s – they are two separate scenes. They’re not – it doesn’t happen at the same time. But it looks like it does, because…
Micah: Does he say it twice, or is it just the way that they did it?
Eric: No, he doesn’t say it twice. Just the way they did it, they’ve taken – they show you the Burrow scene – I’m taking a look here. They show the wardrobe going up in flames, Snape going through the Great Hall, Harry running down the hill saying, “Fight back, you coward,” from the end of the film, and then they immediately show at one minute and five seconds – it’s about right after the minute – this whole thing happens. They show him running through the field casting a spell to protect Ginny against Fenrir Greyback, I believe that is, but I’m not sure. I’m not sure about that.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: You saw the film.
Eric: I know.
[Matt laughs]
Eric: But I…
Micah: [laughs] How are you not sure?
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Eric: They make it clear in the movie, but I’m – where I have it paused at the moment isn’t lit up at all.
Greyback
Micah: Well, I was going to ask you about him too, because he didn’t really look like how I pictured Fenrir Greyback.
Eric: The actor, or do you mean like a promo pic that you saw?
Micah: No, in this trailer.
Andrew: In this trailer, yeah.
Eric: Oh, if that is him, or…
Andrew: No that’s him.
Micah: Yeah.
Eric: Okay.
Andrew: He’s just saying, it doesn’t look like how he pictured, right? I thought he looked better in the first trailer, but maybe it’s just the shot, because we’re kind of far away from him in this trailer. Isn’t that right, Micah?
Eric: And it’s head on, so you don’t see his hair or anything like that.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: I can’t see his hair. It could be the shot.
Time of Day for Cave Scene
Matt: Hey, is it me – I don’t remember this – what time of the day it happened, but wasn’t the cave scene a little darker when they – outside, wasn’t it a little later in the day, or was it still daylight outside?
Eric: No, in the book it was – it was sunset, dusk. Wait, dusk?
Matt: Yeah, because it seems like it’s one in the afternoon when we see the clip.
Eric: This is interesting because in the – in the – [laughs] You forgot to account for Daylight Savings Time.
Matt: Oh, that’s right, yeah. Seven hours forward and six hours back, or something like that, right?
Eric: Yeah. Actually, that’s interesting. This is – you know what? You guys are totally right here. This is a day shot – daytime shot of the cave. In the movie, the shot – hang on, let me watch this. Let me watch the crawling towards the – wow! There is a…
[Andrew laugh]
Eric: It’s definitely darker in the movie.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: It’s darker in there.
Matt: You think they just added it just to put an effect on it to make it look night outside?
Eric: This seems like – hang on. Yeah, this seems like a daytime shot, but when they go, it is dusk when they are heading there at night, so that’s really interesting, because it looks like they did this shot just for the trailer or…
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: Oh wait! Wait, I could be wrong. There is a daytime shot of the cave, but…
Andrew: Yeah, duh.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Thanks to Kristen for the tip! LOL.
Eric: Well, yeah, but regardless, when they do go to the cave…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: When Dumbledore and Harry do go to the cave, it’s at night.
Andrew: I see.
Back to the Lightning Bolt
Matt: Oh, nevermind on that thing I said about McGonagall’s lightning thing was just an add in. It’s actually in the movie. I forgot.
Micah: Can I…
Matt: Because you can see the lightning going in the sky in the previous shot.
Micah: I know I’m a really bad trailer watcher, obviously… [laughs] …but I thought it was Hagrid that was doing that.
Matt: You know, I thought it at first, and then I slowly…
Eric: Looks like it.
Matt: …looked at it…
Andrew: Doing what?
Matt: …frame-by-frame.
Andrew: Doing what? The lightning bolt?
Matt: The lightning bolt, yeah.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Matt: Yeah, it’s on 16 seconds.
Eric: You guys didn’t really talk about that with the shot being weird, because, like…
Micah: Is that in the movie?
Eric: No. It’s – I mean, what do you mean?
Matt: The lightning going in the sky from McGonagall?
Andrew: What is she doing there? Is she casting a spell on the clouds over the Great Hall or something?
Eric: No. Yeah, I don’t think that scene is in the movie. Just the way the camera…
Andrew: Oh, that’s good. I’m glad they played it in the trailer.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Eric: It’s something – I mean, honestly, that particular shot, I thought it was zoomed in. I thought it was something else. It’s just messed up, the way it looks a little bit different. But no, that’s not anything I can think of.
Andrew: Maybe you blinked while it happened in the movie, because it is pretty quick.
Eric: Dude, that scene in the movie where they’re all together on the grounds of Hogwarts is, like, five minutes long; I didn’t blink.
Matt: Mhm. Maybe she was just destroying the Death Mark in the sky.
Andrew: Dark Mark?
Matt: Yeah, that’s what I said. Did I say Death Mark? Yeah, Dark Mark, sorry.
Andrew: Yeah. So, what else, guys? What else?
Matt: Well, I mean…
Andrew: We’re going to pick this apart until there’s nothing…
Eric: Micah had a ton of notes. That was good.
Andrew: Oh, Micah, do you still have more, or what?
Micah: No. I mean, I think we really hit the main questions that I had and talked about some of the stuff that I had written down, so…
That Dumbledore Quote
Matt: That quote that Dumbledore keeps saying, “I must ask too much of you, Harry.”
Andrew: Yeah, what’s up with that? I mean…
Matt: I don’t know. “I must ask to much of you, Harry. I need you to go to Lens Crafters and get my glasses, because I seem to have forgotten them.”
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: “My half-moon spectacles need new lenses.”
Laura: But they always do that with these movies.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: They always do that. They always pick one…
Eric: [as Dumbledore] “Eternal glory!”
Laura: …phrase.
Matt: [as Harry] “But I am the Chosen One.”
Laura: And they repeat it over and over again.
Eric: [as Dumbledore] “Incontrovertible.” “Eternal glory!”
Andrew: I kind of wish he was around in Movie 7, just so he could be like, “Seriously, this time I’m going to ask way too much of you, but just bear with me.”
[Eric laughs]
Matt: “I’m seriously going to tell you everything, I swear. It’s the last time I’m going to talk to you.”
Dumbledore’s Place in Movie 7: Part I and II
Eric: Just from, like, all the stuff that they have to show about Dumbledore in Movie 7, it’s going to be pretty cool. Like, I mean, Michael Gambon, it’s not just they’re going to cast him back for one scene. I’m pretty sure that they’ll show lots of Michael Gambon in Movie 7. Don’t you guys think? I mean…
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: …with all the back story with Dumbledore being the overlying theme, don’t you think they’ll show a few more scenes than just the Kings Cross? I think Michael Gambon will appear plenty.
Micah: They have so much they need to fit in that I don’t know if there’s going to be time for flashbacks.
Eric: They have two movies.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: Yeah, but they still have a lot to fit in those two movies. That’s my point.
Matt: They do, actually.
Eric: Yep.
Matt: It’s going to be too much. So what do you guys think of his haircut? [laughs]
Laura: [laughs] Really, Matt?
Matt: Sorry, I was trying to change the subject.
Micah: Who are we talking about even?
Matt: Oh, I was talking about Harry.
Micah: Oh.
The Burrow’s Location
Matt: Does it seem just a little bit weird that the Burrow – has it changed its location at all from Movie 2 that we’ve seen?
Laura: Yeah, it is different. Or at least the scenery around it is different.
Matt: Like the aerial shot of the Burrow up in flames. Like how…
Laura: Because I don’t remember it being in the middle of a cornfield. [laughs]
Micah: [laughs] Yeah.
Andrew: I didn’t either.
Matt: How are they going to make it – are they going to show them fixing the Burrow at the end of the movie or something, like in Batman Begins? Because they go to the Burrow…
Laura: No. The Weasleys are homeless now, Matt.
Matt: Huh?
Laura: The Weasleys are homeless now. It’s gone.
Matt: All right. Yeah, the Weasleys are homeless. Do they have a wizard Y.M.C.A.?
Laura: Oh my God.
Eric: I think the Burrow was always in a fielded area, just perhaps not with – like, I think this is…
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: …a different side of the house, perhaps, because they’ve got the…
Laura: But the whole thing is surrounded.
Eric: But it looks like the greenhouse…
Micah: Well, wasn’t the point so that it could allow for the Death Eaters to sneak up on it? Isn’t that why they created more of that cornfield-like surrounding?
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, I think so.
Trailer Created by Pyros
Matt: I’m just so ticked off they burnt the house.
Micah: Man, this trailer is like a pyro’s…
Laura: Yeah. And remember…
Matt: I know, seriously. Someone really liked fire during this trailer.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: Someone had a lighter or something with them. “Ooh, fire. Ooh, do we have any more fire scenes? I just want to add just a couple more. Just a couple more. Because the fire looks so good.”
Andrew: There will [makes swooshing sound] be [makes swooshing sound] fire [makes swooshing sound]!
Matt: Fire!
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: That’s Laura’s joke. I just stole it from her.
Laura: Aw, thanks for crediting me.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: No, I was…
Eric: I think the code name for this show was Incendio.
Andrew: What, Laura?
Back to the Burrow
Laura: Right. I was going to say, in regards to the change in scenery around the Burrow, this isn’t the first time they’ve done this. I mean, remember they moved Hagrid’s hut and completely changed how that looked between the second and third film.
Andrew: Mhm. We asked them that at the…
Kevin: It’s because they can’t agree on it.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: The third and fourth and fourth and fifth.
Kevin: We tried it your way. Now let’s put the Burrow in a field.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s like they draw out of a hat each time. We asked them…
Eric: I think it’s recognizable though.
Andrew: We asked them…
Laura: It looks like Kansas.
Andrew: [laughs] We asked them at the Order of the Phoenix premiere why they changed it, and I think it was David Heyman who gave us an answer, but now I’m forgetting what it was. [laughs]
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: It was something about they just…
Laura: It was probably B.S.
Andrew: It’s just one of those things, I think, with filming locations and what kind of filming locations they’re working with, with that film in particular.
Matt: Yeah.
Micah: The only thing that would make sense, though, would be that they moved it because – at least in Prisoner of Azkaban – you had to have a way that they could get back to the hut through time without sort of really running into each other or anybody else.
Andrew: Yeah. So it depends on some of the film. Right?
Micah: You know what I mean?
Andrew: Yeah, totally.
Micah: Because if they had left it where it was, it would seem almost impossible that they wouldn’t run into anybody else going across that courtyard.
Andrew: That’s very good point.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, because it was like a straight, flat-grounded courtyard with no overgrowth or anything, and…
Micah: Right.
Eric: I mean, you guys brought up the point, too, that, yeah, as of the third movie there was a lot of – a lot more terrain, actually, involved in the whole thing, which made a lot of sense and also complemented some of the filming locations they had for…
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: …all the different, you know – Hagrid’s hut was on a hill in Glencoe, or whatever. And they had to show the trio walking down the steps as part of the sequence of getting there…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …as opposed to just walking, you know, through a tunnel.
Andrew: Wouldn’t it be funny if, in Movie 7, Parts I and II had different locations for Hagrid’s hut? [laughs]
Eric: Sure. That’d be funny.
Andrew: But yeah, Micah, I think you bring up a good point. And actually, the location in Prisoner of Azkaban kind of made it even scarier, that it was so open. Because they were like, “Oh my God. Somebody must see them.”
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: That was just my humble opinion.
Matt: Yeah. Mhm. Okay, yeah.
Andrew: So. Should we start taking calls now? Because we’re fifty minutes in, we’re here live.
Matt: Yeah!
Andrew: I want to go to Disney today…
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: …and see the new High School Musical parade. So…
Laura: Oh my God. You are a tool.
Micah: Yeah.
Andrew: Whoa! Hey!
[Micah laughs]
Matt: Yes. I love you, Laura.
Andrew: Whoa. That’s mean. Let’s give everyone the number. The number should be working, although surprisingly, I haven’t seen any phone calls. We want your questions from, you know, relating to the Half-Blood Prince trailer. If there’s anything you saw in it. We’ll take questions for a few minutes and then we’ll wrap things up for today. Let’s take the first call now from – oh. Or not. And that’s what happens when you hang up as soon as – hold on. There we go. Getting a call now. See, this is what happens. I should’ve just said – oh, and there goes Skype. So, Matt, why don’t you do a dance for us while I re-launch Skype?
Matt: All right. [singing] High School Musical sucks, High School Musical sucks. How’s that?
Andrew: That’s good.
Matt: Okay. All right, so – wait. What happened? Why is it only us?
Andrew: Skype crashed.
Matt: Oh. Skype crashed. Oh, beautiful Skype. I love you, Skype.
Call 1: Dumbledore’s Hand
Andrew: It’s coming back up now. Skype should really – let’s take a call now. Oh, did they go away? Skype really needs to come up with a good podcasting program. Hello, John.
Matt: John?
Caller: Yeah?
Andrew: John Rogan. Hi, you’re on MuggleCast Live. What’s up?
Caller: Oh.
Andrew: How about that?
Caller: Nothing.
Matt: Yeah.
Caller: How are you? [laughs]
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: I’m good, how are you? Were you expecting us to answer your call?
Caller: No.
Andrew: Okay. [laughs]
Caller: No, this is a little – a little weird.
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Matt: You got a question or something, John?
Caller: [laughs] Not really. I always get mad at people when they call in and they don’t have a question, but…
Andrew: Oh.
Caller: …I called in, and I don’t really have a question.
Matt: Well…
Andrew: Karma. It’s something, isn’t it?
Matt: …what do you think about the trailer?
Andrew: Yeah, what are your thoughts? As a fan? As a fan? What are your thoughts?
Caller: You know, I thought it was pretty nice. You know, everything looked pretty cool, like the cave. I really liked that, except for Dumbledore’s hand…
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: …is kind of weird.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah, the hand is kind of weird. It’s kind of black.
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: Yeah, it wasn’t how I pictured it.
Andrew: No, most definitely not.
Caller: I kind of pictured it as a Dumbledore hand.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Mhm.
Caller: Or, not as a Dumbledore hand, as a – like a Dementor hand.
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: Black like that.
Matt: Oh, like skeletal?
Eric: Ooh, that’s really necrosed.
Andrew: Maybe it was for Halloween when they planned on this coming out for November.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Oh, owned. I need to think – we need to do something on MuggleNet on the day it was supposed to come out. Like, sort of like a…
Eric: Yeah, what, advertise Twilight?
Andrew: …a funeral in a ways. Huh? No, no, no. No.
Laura: Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea. Let’s do it.
Andrew: [laughs] Advertise Twilight? No. No, just sort of like a – I don’t know, something clever, like a – not a funeral, but – I don’t know. It should just be “Watch an HP Movie Day,” or something like that.
Matt: Yeah.
[Eric laughs]
Laura: Or we should put up a fake news story saying the entire film has leaked.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Matt: Well, now it’s – now we can’t.
Eric: That would be – yeah. Are we hurting or helping the fandom if we do that?
Matt: Mmm.
Andrew: Mmm.
Matt: Let’s just make a spoof.
Andrew: Saddening.
Matt: Let’s make a spoof video of the movie.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Let’s just all fly out to England and just make one.
Andrew: Okay. Cool. All right, well, John, thank you for calling. We have lots of people calling in, so we’re going to get to some other questions.
Caller: Can I ask another question?
Andrew and Matt: Sure.
Caller: Are you going to have any other MuggleCasters on tonight?
Andrew: No…
Matt: No.
Andrew: …I’m afraid. No. Who are you looking for?
Caller: I don’t know. Maybe Jamie, maybe Ben.
Andrew: Jamie or Ben. Hmm.
Matt: Who is Jamie and Ben?
Andrew: Well, we can try giving them a call in a little bit, I guess. Ben was actually on MuggleCast Episode 160 that we recorded last weekend. However…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: …we are having audio problems with one of the audio files right now, and we’re anxiously awaiting receiving that audio file. It wasn’t Ben’s fault. He was actually here in the MuggleCast studio with me, and it was fun. So we’ll have that episode out eventually, but yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Caller: Okay, and one more thing…
Andrew: Okay.
Caller: …if it’s okay.
Andrew: Yeah, go ahead.
Caller: Do you need – are you going to be using – need transcribers for Imprint?
Andrew: Maybe, but you know what? E-mail us and we’ll let you know.
Matt: Yeah. We don’t really know yet.
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: All right.
Andrew: All right. Thank you, John.
Caller: All right, thank you for taking my call.
Andrew: No problem. Goodbye.
Matt: Bye.
Call 2: Scene at End of Trailer
Andrew: There’s John, who had some questions about Imprint and several other things. We’re taking a call now from Sylvie. Hello, Sylvie.
Andrew and Matt: Sylvie?
Andrew: Am I pronouncing your name right?
Caller: Yup. I was just wondering what you guys thought about the scene at the end. I don’t know if you talked about it right now, because I just joined a while ago.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: What about it? Its comicalness?
Caller: Well, yeah. And what the significance of that at the end was.
Andrew: I just think it’s – you know, in trailers, they like to end on funny moments.
Matt: Yeah. I mean, they definitely need to end on a lighter note, because everything was on fire and people were dying and jumping…
[Eric and Laura laugh]
Matt: I think it was…
Andrew: That’s true. [laughs]
Matt: Just – they wanted the audience to know – well, you know, there is some lightheartedness in this movie. Not everybody’s going to be on the verge of death the entire time.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Caller: Yeah, because then it would be really depressing.
Andrew: Laura?
Laura: I was going to say, this is really the first time we’ve seen any evidence of the humor they keep going on about. Every interview, they’re like, “Oh, this one’s…”
Andrew: Oh, yeah. [laughs]
Laura: “…a lot more calming.”
Laura: And it’s like, really?
Andrew: Fire, fire.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Andrew: That’s true.
Kevin: So they showed us the only scene that had humor.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, that’s the one scene.
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: The one scene that has humor in it.
Andrew: I’ve got to say that…
Eric: Yeah.
Laura: The one scene you’re allowed to laugh at.
Andrew: …that humor – that type of humor was – I don’t think we’ve really seen that before…
Matt: We haven’t.
Andrew: …in a Harry Potter film.
Matt: Well, like…
Andrew: It’s cocky Harry, essentially. [laughs]
Matt: Well, like Eric said, there’s a lot more slapstick, and there hasn’t been slapstick, really, in the Harry Potter films as much.
Eric: There’s been slapstick, but it hasn’t been funny. Like Snape whacking…
Matt: Yeah, hitting – yeah, you’re right.
Eric: …Harry and Ron with it. Like, what was that?
Andrew: That was funny.
Eric: I think…
Matt: Well, that was the first one that we’ve seen, though. I mean, initial…
Eric: Yeah.
Matt: …definition of slapstick, and that was from David Yates, too.
Eric: No, that was not – that was Movie 4. Wasn’t it? Goblet of Fire…
Matt: No.
Eric: …where he slapped his…
Laura: Yeah, it was.
Matt: Oh, Goblet where he slapped him, but he did it in Order of the Phoenix, too.
Andrew: Hmm. I don’t think so.
Matt: He slapped Ron in the head.
Laura: Yeah. He did.
Andrew: Oh.
Eric: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, see, I don’t think this whole thing with Harry is cocky, though. Like him saying, “Well, I am the Chosen One.”
Andrew: “I am the Chosen One.”
Eric: I just thought it was funny.
Matt: He’s a guy!
Andrew: It’s cocky funny.
Matt: He’s getting attention from girls.
Andrew: It’s like when I say, “I’m Toots.” Or, “I’m the best host.” It’s true.
[Eric laughs]
Matt: That’s cocky.
Andrew: No.
Matt: That’s bigheadedness.
Andrew: But it’s true. No. Whatever. Okay.
Matt: That’s delusion.
Caller: Just before I go, can I make a shout out to my friend Nikki, whose birthday is today?
Andrew: Aw, Happy Birthday, Nikki.
Matt: Happy Birthday, Nikki.
Caller: Thanks.
Andrew: We have a lot of birthdays today.
Caller: Yeah, she’s been saying that it was her birthday present from Warner Bros., this trailer.
Matt: Aw, that’s so sweet.
Andrew: Aw, that’s so – well, somebody in Warner Bros. [laughs] Not everyone’s happy with us.
Matt: [laughs] I don’t think it was Warner Bros.
Andrew: Yeah. But all right. Thank you, Sylvie.
Caller: Okay, bye!
Andrew: Happy Birthday to her. You know, it’s my sister’s birthday as well. And I kind of wanted to call her here on the show, but…
Matt: Do it.
Call 3: Movie 5 Scene Used in Trailer
Andrew: Do it? No, maybe later. Noah, you’re on MuggleCast Live. What’s up?
Matt: Noah?
Andrew: Noah.
Caller: Am I on?
Andrew: Yeah, you’re on.
Caller: Oh! That’s weird. I didn’t expect to be on. Cool.
Andrew: There you go, man. What’s going on?
Caller: Oh, nothing much. I just noticed in second 42 of the trailer that they just basically have the fire snake again from the Ministry of Magic scene from Movie 5.
Andrew: Yeah, we were talking about that a little earlier. There’s a lot of – can you mute your feed? We’re getting a lot of feedback.
Caller: Okay, sorry about that. The show actually cut out, so…
Andrew: Oh, okay. I had to let him go because the feedback’s killing me. Yeah, we were saying earlier that they’re using some scenes from the previous movie, which is also what they did in Order of the Phoenix.
Matt: Uh-huh.
Andrew: So.
Matt: Mmm. Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I have to say, though, there’s something about these repeated – like, do you have any ideas why they do that?
Matt: I think it’s basically – I want to say, I think it’s just filler. I mean…
Andrew: Because everything’s not completed?
Matt: …it’s a snake on fire. I mean, they had enough fire scenes in the trailer, they just probably thought “Well, in the last movie we had some fire, so let’s just add it in.”
Call 4: …is from South Africa
Andrew: Yeah. [sighs] Lauren, you’re on MuggleCast Live. Hello.
Caller: Hello?
Andrew: Hi, how are you?
Matt: Hi!
Caller: Hi! Oh wow. I got through.
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: That’s weird.
[Andrew and Caller laugh]
Caller: Hi. This is all the way from South Africa, so hi.
Andrew: South Africa? Hello!
Caller: Yes, hi.
Matt: Geez. Is it daytime?
Caller: It is now 11:00 at night, and I am studying.
Andrew: Oh wow. Nice. So, what questions do you have?
Caller: Well, I’ve only seen the trailer once because I’m running out of bandwidth, because we have very limited bandwidth down here, so… [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. It sucks living outside of the U.S., doesn’t it?
Caller: So, my question was – yeah, there’s a lot of fire. It’s weird.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: And I was just listening to Imprint like half an hour ago, and I was like, “Oh wait! MuggleCast is on, so I’ve got to check what they’re talking about.”
Matt: Yeah, yeah, yeah, MuggleCast.
Caller: So I’ve missed most of it.
Andrew: Yeah. Do you have any other questions pertaining to the trailer?
Caller: Questions about the trailer? Hmm, I don’t know. I missed most of your chat, so I can’t really say anything. Otherwise I’ll just sound stupid, right?
Andrew: Oh, no.
Matt: Oh, no.
Andrew: No, no. We love all our listeners. But hey, let me let you go, because there’s other people calling and I think they have some questions.
Caller: Cool.
Andrew: Thank you.
Caller: Thanks for taking my call.
Eric: Nice talking to you!
Caller: Okay. Goodbye!
Andrew: Bye. There’s Lauren from South Africa. Time for a PSA, guys: if you’re going to call, please call in with a question.
Matt: Yeah, please.
Andrew: A question about the film.
Eric: And mute your stream.
Call 5: Comedy vs. Seriousness in Movie 6
Andrew: And mute your stream, for God’s sakes. Terrance, you’re on MuggleCast Live. Hello!
Caller: Hey, what’s going on, guys?
Andrew: What’s going?
Matt: Hey.
Andrew: This is Terrance from Hogwarts Radio…
Matt: Oh! Terrance.
Andrew: …a popular Harry Potter podcast.
Caller: [laughs] Thanks.
Eric: Terrance! How’s it going, buddy?
Caller: Thanks for plugging us, Andrew.
Andrew: No problem. [laughs]
Caller: Thanks for taking my call, guys. I just was like, wow, and I didn’t expect you guys to do that. But anyway, didn’t call in with a question, really, but I called in just for couple of comments. I’ve been listening to the show. Great job, by the way.
Andrew: Thank you.
Caller: But you guys were saying something about the slapstick humor. We were originally told that this movie would be more comedic than serious, is that correct?
Andrew: Well, they were sort of like, “it’s the sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll of Harry Potter.”
Matt: They did say there was going to be more slapstick in the film, but I don’t think they said it was more slapstick than seriousness. Because I think they said there was too much seriousness in it, so they added more slapstick.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I think that’s what…
Caller: Yeah, because the two trailers that have come out so far, they’ve been – you know – they’ve had that darker, deeper tone.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Mhm. Well, it’s a darker, deeper story.
Caller: Of course.
[Matt laughs]
Caller: And even the fire – I mean, the fire – the intensity. I mean, come on. It’s…
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: …a really dark film.
Andrew: I think – maybe with the next real trailer, they’ll put emphasis on the funny. Because I think they try to balance different themes with each trailer, and it’s probably hard to mix it all.
Matt: Yeah, this one’s fire. The theme is fire in this trailer.
Eric: [laughs] Well, the last one was the…
Andrew: And the first one was memories.
Eric: …young Tom Riddle.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah, the memories. So there’s a certain theme to all these, I think, and I think with TV spots especially, they like to emphasize the funny.
Matt: Mhm.
Eric: Mmm.
Matt: Yeah. Well, TV spots…
Eric: Yeah, I’m just glad…
Matt: Oh, I’m sorry.
Eric: Yeah. I’m glad they didn’t come out with the funny relationship stuff first, because that was my biggest fear, was that they were only going to focus on teenage Harry Potter with hormones, this and that, in this movie.
Matt: Well, that’s what they did…
Eric: Which is originally what I thought they were going to do.
Matt: Well, they did that with Order of the Phoenix and the Cho kiss with Harry. I mean, they advertised the crap out of that. The whole, “Love is in the air, Harry and – Harry gets love, a kiss.”
Andrew: Mhm.
Micah: You know, I felt like that end scene of the trailer was almost like a moment where the director is saying to the parents watching, “It’s okay for your children to go see this movie.” Because fire, fire, fire, fire, destruction, fire, people…
Matt: Fire, fire, fire, slap in the face.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: …shooting each other with spells. “Oh, there’s humor, don’t worry, your kids can go see this.”
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Yeah, I still think it’s – I would limit the age to thirteen. I would say children under thirteen might be – I’d be worried about seeing this movie…
Andrew: Really?
Eric: …to be perfectly honest. Yeah, to be perfectly honest. That’s what PG-13 is supposed to mean anyway!
Andrew: [laughs] But who follows that these days?
Laura: Yeah, but I feel like someone says that about every single one of these movies, and I feel like with every single one of them it’s not true.
Eric: Well, like Chamber of Secrets being, what, PG for scary monsters, or whatever, being Aragog the spider, or what do you mean?
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: Well, just like in general, I always read these reviews where it’s like, “I wouldn’t suggest taking anyone under the age of thirteen,” and it’s like, come on, guys. Please.
Eric: Yeah, but this is me saying it, Laura. The film – the film is morbid.
Laura: Yeah, but no. No, I don’t think it’s – I mean, clearly it’s dark…
Matt: Well, with the spiders, people have phobias about that. They had to say about scary monsters because a lot of people are scared of spiders.
Eric: Well, I know people who say the Basilisk scene really creeps their kids out, too.
Andrew: Yeah, and I’ll always remember – I don’t know why I remember this, but when I was – when I remember telling my mom when I was like twelve, about the Chamber of Secrets, and I was like, [funny nasal voice] “I don’t know if Ryan will be able to go to this one, because there’s a Basilisk. And the knife goes through his head. And I’m not sure if Ryan will really like this. Might be scary.”
[Everyone laughs]
Caller: Also the fang. Also, the fang goes through Harry’s arm.
Andrew: Yeah. It was pretty brutal.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: WB must have paid them to give it a – no, I’m just kidding. That’s probably the wrong thing to say [laughs].
Eric: Certain things too. Even Voldemort on the back of Quirrell’s head creeps people out. I know it’s kind of creepy still for me to watch. It’s really above and beyond creepy compared to the rest of the movie.
Matt: Well, each film has its own creepiness.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, but this movie – the other thing in the trailer that I just thought of is the Side-Along Apparition, which is – again, this scene in this trailer, everything’s sped up a little bit – but if you look carefully when Harry grabs Dumbledore’s hand and they Side-Along Apparate, there’s this twisting sort of thing…
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: It actually – it looks awesome, and the effect in the movie is – I was so happy with it when I saw it, because it conveys in a split second almost everything – almost perfectly what the book was writing about, in that…
Matt: It does look like a siphoning, or like someone takes a straw and just sucking them all up.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: It was really – it was really cool.
Andrew: Mmm.
Eric: It was really cool.
Caller: Do you guys think Dumbledore looks more tired in this film than he does in the other ones?
Matt: Well, he’s dying. I mean…
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: [singing] Knock, knock, knockin’ on Heaven’s door! [makes guitar sounds] I don’t know. I think – again, I just think he has a little extra spring in his step when it comes to his voice.
Matt: But also in the book, he does seem more frail. It does say that. It does say that Harry notices that Dumbledore is a lot more frail.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: I’m glad Gambon toned it down, too. That’s why I said I think he read the book on this one. Because he’s really – a little bit more personable, actually. The whole movie around, he’s getting along with other people and stuff, and that’s just – that’s really interesting, you know. It’s not just start-of-term announcements, where he relates to other people. He’s actually sort of even relating to Slughorn in the beginning, in the Slughorn scene, which is amazing in the movie. It’s really funny. Yeah. It’s good stuff, and, yeah, so he’s…
Matt: Well, I mean, everything’s happening to the teachers, this movie. I mean, Dumbledore’s dying from his hand being black, and McGonagall’s conjuring lightning, and Slughorn’s giving birth to memories.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: All right, Terrance, thank you…
Caller: No problem.
Andrew: …for calling.
Caller: Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot, you guys, nice show.
Andrew: No problem. Terrance from Hogwarts Radio. An example of a good caller. Someone who speaks clearly, audibly, you are able to understand what he’s saying, there’s no background, there’s no feedback, there’s no B.S. Straight up call! That’s what all calls should be like.
Matt: Geez.
Laura: Speaking of which, if you’re going call, you need to call the MuggleCast Hotline, so please stop calling me.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: I’ll call you, Laura!
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: Yeah, me too.
Eric: We’re not going mention names yet, but if…
Andrew: Oh, I’m sorry, I just cut off Eric because I was taking another call. Sorry. Say that again, Eric.
Eric: Oh, yeah. If you call us – now that we’ve made the announcement, if you call us personally, we are going to mention names. And you will be shunned.
Matt: That’s probably what they want, Eric.
Andrew: Yeah. Don’t you think they want shout-outs? [laughs]
Eric: Oh, oh, oh. Okay, we won’t mention your names then.
Matt: Yeah.
[Small crashing noise]
Kevin: Either that or…
Matt: Oh, did somebody fall down?
Andrew: No…
Eric: Yes. Sounded like gates crashed.
Andrew: No, I answered a call and I think he passed out from…
[Matt laughs]
MuggleCast 160 Transcript (continued)
Call 6: …is lost
Andrew: Maria, you’re on MuggleCast Live. Hello.
Matt: Maria?
Caller: Hello?
Andrew: Hello. You’re on MuggleCast Live.
Caller: Hi, it’s Isabel, by the way.
Andrew: Isabel.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: Sorry, we’re going off your Skype name. You know.
Matt: Oh.
Caller: Yeah.
Andrew: [laughs] What’s going on? You have any questions about the trailer?
Caller: Yeah, actually, I was wondering, why do you guys… [laughs] Okay.
Andrew: Go ahead. Hello? Don’t listen to your stream. See, this is the thing. People listen to the stream and they think it’s live, when actually there’s a delay there. I’m going pick up Terrance again. Let’s just keep talking to him.
[Matt laughs]
Call 7: The Music
Andrew: I’m just kidding. Amy, you’re on MuggleCast Live. Hello.
Caller: Oh my…
Matt: Oh my?
Andrew: Amy?
Laura: Hello?
Andrew: Hi.
Caller: Hi, hi.
[Eric laughs]
Caller: Can you hear me?
Andrew: Yes, we can.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: What kind of question do you have today?
Caller: Sorry, I’ve got to mute my stream. One sec.
Matt: Okay.
Andrew: Oh, thank you. There’s a concerned caller who knows we’re all about quality here on MuggleCast Live.
Matt: God, okay, we get it, Andrew. Geez.
Caller: I’m really – sorry – I’m really happy. Okay, so I wanted to ask, what did you think of the music?
Andrew: Matt, go ahead, start with you. You’re a big music…
Matt: Well actually, I immediately recognized the music from the beginning of the trailer, and it was a rip-off of the X-Men trailer. And I was actually kind of disappointed with the music in this trailer.
Eric: Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Rip-off of the what? What?
Andrew: Not rip-off. They used the same music, you mean.
Eric: No, they – what?
Matt: Yeah, they use the same exact music from the X-Men trailer.
Eric: I’m a fan of the X-Men trailer. Let me see this. Let me listen to this.
Matt: Okay, it’s X-Men 3, the trailer. It’s the very beginning. Okay…
Eric: Oh, X-Men 3? The movie X-Men 3 teasers ripped off Pirates of the Caribbean, so it’s some sick chain. But let’s see in a second.
Matt: No – Well, yeah. But not the song I’m thinking of – I’m talking about. But I was actually kind of disappointed, because I just didn’t think it was the best song for the trailer.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Oh hey, you’re right, Matt. You’re totally right. This is from X3: The Last Stand.
Matt: [laughs] You act like you’re surprised, Eric.
Eric: No. I mean…
Matt: I’m just kidding.
Eric: …as far as X3 goes, because that wasn’t – I mean, yeah. That’s…
Andrew: I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t really listen to the music in this trailer. Does anyone else have thoughts about it?
Micah: Me neither. I didn’t pay any attention to it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: It’s preliminary. It enhances the scene.
Laura: Yeah, I didn’t really pay that much attention either.
Andrew: But, the thing about the music in the trailers, I love the music in the trailers, because they always get you really pumped up and excited.
Matt: Mhm.
Andrew: But the problem is, is that this music doesn’t come into the movie. So when you see a scene that you saw in the trailer, you’re kind of expecting that music and that extra oomph.
Matt: Yeah, there’s no oomph in this.
Andrew: Yeah. My favorite was… [starts humming song from trailer]
Matt: Yeah, that was awesome.
Andrew: And it’d be great if they use this kind of thing in the movie, but I guess it just doesn’t work.
Matt: Well, this is also the international trailer. It’s not – it’s – usually the ones for the U.S. are actually the best music for the trailers.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.
Matt: Because they have to re-dub the language, that’s why. So they don’t want too much interaction with the music.
Call 8: Trailer Released “This Year”
Andrew: Sean, you’re on MuggleCast Live. Hello.
Caller: Hi!
Andrew: What’s going on, Sean?
Caller: Not much. I was just wondering, why would it say “this year”? Could it be that it was an older trailer and that they haven’t updated it yet?
Andrew: Didn’t – you didn’t see that they actually moved the release date back to November 21st?
Caller: No, I – What? What?!
Andrew: Yeah. You didn’t see that?
[Laura laughs]
Caller: Oh my God! No, they didn’t, they didn’t. Don’t go there. Don’t go there.
Andrew: No they…
Eric: Don’t start that rumor, man.
Caller: Yeah.
Eric: You’re just opening up a wound, man, seriously.
Andrew: [laughs] That reaction was worth it though.
Eric: It’s in the air. Okay, okay, okay. We got – hang on.
Matt: What just happened?
Andrew: No, nothing. I was just messing with our caller, Sean. No, well, like we were discussing earlier in the program, there seems to be – my personal opinion is that this trailer actually leaked early – oh sorry – was created a few months ago. And, you know…
Eric: Before the release date was pushed back.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: But other people think – Micah, myself and Kevin included, and maybe Laura – that this was an early leak, meaning the trailer was meant to be released sometime in the very beginning of next year, which would mean that this year, you know, works there too.
Andrew: I think that’s a very good theory, but I’m trying to figure out what – when does WB decide – well, what makes them think, Oh, we’ll put “this year,” as opposed to, Oh, we’ll put “July 17th”? You know what I mean?
Eric: You know, I don’t know.
Laura: Well, generally…
Eric: The whole marketing for this movie has been off. Like completely weird.
Micah: Well, because you don’t hear, “On July 17th,” you know?
Andrew: No, but they didn’t say “this year.”
Laura: No, they just had the text.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: I’ve noticed that they tend to be more vague when they’re farther out from the release date.
Matt: Yeah.
Kevin: And also…
Laura: So I don’t know. I’m somewhat moderate on this issue. I feel like it could’ve gone either way, so…
Micah: You could say “this year.”
Andrew: Kevin?
Kevin: You’ve also got to remember it’s an international trailer, as well. So it’s not necessarily…
Eric: So they are extra safe?
Matt: Yeah, they have to deal with all the time zones. It’s already next year in some of the countries.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: No, no. He’s saying that not every place is going to have the same release date.
Matt: Yeah, that’s true. But they could say “this summer.”
Kevin: But maybe not that, you know, everyone applies, I suppose.
Eric: It would be winter in Australia.
Matt: But who cares?
Andrew: Oh, that’s true. But this is for the U.K., because it’s HarryPotter.co.uk. And remember – remember what I said. When this trailer leaked online – no sorry, no. When the first trailer leaked online, it appeared on MSN, and it was an international version, because it said “.co.uk,” and it also said “this year.” So that’s why I feel like this came out – this was done a few months ago. Plus, they must have had this trailer completed a few months ago, because they were planning on it coming out in November.
Matt: Yeah!
Andrew: And that trailer wasn’t a full trailer. It was really a teaser trailer. It’s only a minute and a half. Guys, I’m just so right, okay? Just admit it. Well, thank you, Sean, for calling.
Caller: It’s such an honor. It is.
Andrew: Well, it’s an honor to have you and an honor to prank you. So thank you.
[Matt laughs]
Caller: Bye, guys.
Andrew: Bye. Bye. There’s Sean, who I convinced momentarily that, in fact, the movie was coming out this year.
Matt: [imitating Sean] “What?! What?!”
Andrew: “What?!”
[Everyone laughs]
Call 9: Michael Gambon
Andrew: Wonder if every Harry Potter fan did that. Hello, Colin, you’re on MuggleCast Live.
Matt: Colin?
Andrew: Colin. Hello.
Caller: Let me mute my feed.
Andrew: Oh. Thank you.
Caller: Oh my god! I’m on MuggleCast Live. I did not expect this.
Andrew: Colin, I’m sorry. We’ve breaking news: the – WB just announced the movie is coming out in November. Your reaction?
Eric: Oh shut up, Andrew Sims.
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: Stop it.
Caller: Don’t even try that, Andrew.
Andrew: What’s going on, Colin? What’s your question?
Caller: I just joined in MuggleCast Live a couple of minutes ago to hear Terrance. So I’m not entirely sure of everything that you guys touched on.
Andrew: Okay.
Matt: Okay.
Caller: One thing: I’ve never been a huge fan of Michael Gambon before.
Andrew: Yeah.
Caller: In this trailer, I have faith in him. I don’t know why, but I just like him a lot more.
Andrew: Well, was it something he said?
[Matt laughs]
Caller: I don’t know. It just – he seemed a lot more calm than he was in the past, especially in Order of the Phoenix. “Did you” – oh, not Order of the Phoenix, Goblet of Fire – “Did you put the name in the Goblet of Fire!?”
Andrew: Right.
Caller: I don’t know. I liked him a lot more.
Andrew: Yeah. I agree. I agree.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: I had that general feeling, too, in the entire movie, that he is really toned down. And not only toned down, but respectable, almost likable.
Matt: They should have…
Andrew: Almost like-able. [laughs]
Kevin: Yeah, don’t go that far, Eric.
Matt: They should’ve killed Dumbledore a little earlier in the books so we had a better Dumbledore from Gambon. Because it just seems…
Andrew: As he gets closer…
Matt: …that we just have to – take him down a peg, yeah. You have to be less – you have to be dying a little bit, Gambon. You understand?
Eric: Add more death! Add more death!
Matt: Add more death, yes.
Andrew: Laura and Micah, do you feel like Gambon has changed in this trailer? Does it change your opinion?
Laura: No, and I’ve said this before…
[Micah laughs]
Laura: …I really don’t see a difference.
Micah: She likes him, so…
Laura: I like Michael Gambon!
Andrew: So do I.
Micah: I don’t like Michael Gambon, and I’ve never liked him in the movies, you know, since Richard Harris passed away. But again, I think it’s a hard role to fill. You can’t replace somebody like that. But in this particular trailer, I said it even with the teaser trailer that came out a couple months ago, I felt like he does look
better, in terms of how he’s portraying Dumbledore. Just the tone of his voice. It seems like he’s into the role a little bit more. I don’t know why that is.
Matt: He needs glasses!
Micah: Yeah, that too.
Laura: Okay, but you guys…
Micah: Maybe…
Laura: You make it sound like he screams through the whole movie. You make it… [laughs]
Eric: He does!
Laura: …sound like every line…
Eric: He does!
Laura: No, he doesn’t.
Micah: Even if he does…
Kevin: I think what gets me about him is that you watch the previous movies and think that he hasn’t read the books.
Andrew: Mhm.
Kevin: He just completely mischaracterizes Dumbledore.
Caller: Michael Gambon didn’t [unintelligible].
Kevin: You sort of lose faith in his ability, I suppose.
Eric: Okay, I’m going to say – to Kevin’s thing, I’m going to quick say, though, that – oh wait, Laura, just continue.
Laura: No, I was just going to say that I think he plays a different aspect of Dumbledore’s personality. Like, I feel that Richard Harris really sort of encompassed that
very calming essence that Dumbledore has, and I feel that Michael Gambon sort of plays more on the quirky side, which is the side of Dumbledore that I really like, so of course I’m going to like Gambon.
Micah: But I think it also matters – it also matters who the director is. I think when you deal with Chris Columbus, in the first two films, you were dealing with films that were more geared towards children, and it had more of that calming effect of sort of a grandfather figure.
Eric: Ah, phoenixes…
Micah: [laughs] Whereas, you know, once you hit Prisoner of Azkaban and Movie 4, again, and I’ve said it many times on the show, obviously Richard Harris didn’t have that chance to take on a more serious role. But just bringing in Michael Gambon, and from the
start, not having that more compassionate, older guy type feel to him – you know, like a grandfather, somebody who you can identify with in that type of character, he just doesn’t have that. He’s like – he’s almost like a bad-ass version of Dumbledore.
Andrew: Yeah. I don’t know what that word meant, but yeah.
Eric: Well, yeah, and, guys, I’m…
Micah: A more rogue version of Dumbledore.
Eric: Yeah, and I’m going to share with you guys too, that during this movie, very early on, what clicked with me, and it was a moment where I was sitting in the theater and I said, “You know what? I’m finally going to be okay with Michael Gambon as of this movie.” In the scene with Dumbledore and Slughorn, the line in the book about knitting patterns, if you guys remember that – that offhand, funny quote about Dumbledore liking knitting patterns – that’s in the movie. And you hear Michael Gambon say that, and just the way… [laughs] …he acts it, it becomes him. And you know what? That is the moment when I said – I actually – I laughed. I actually laughed at something Michael Gambon said, and it was just this beautiful feeling, because it was hilarious. Just the way he got into the role, and I think, possibly – I’m going to throw this out there since we’re talking about Michael Gambon – I think that the mention – the post-canonic outing of Dumbledore also gave Michael Gambon a little bit more to work with in this movie, as far as how he can
shape the character, and I think – I think Gambon likes that Dumbledore isn’t quirky just to be quirky, but has these other quirks, as well, and can sort of twist it. I think the – I think that Michael Gambon…
Micah: But why did he need that, though? Why would he need that? This…
Eric: I don’t know! I don’t know, Micah. You’re completely right about…
Micah: If you read the books, there’s plenty of Dumbledore to go on.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: There is. There is definitely plenty of Dumbledore to go on, but I just get the feeling that Michael Gambon is more of a stick-it-to-you kind of person, and regardless – regardless, I liked that scene, and the scene in Slughorn’s house is hilarious, and when Dumbledore says that, I fell in love with Michael Gambon for the first time.
Andrew: Michael Gambon – or sorry, Dumbledore – says vote no on Prop 8, by the way. Just wanted to get that out there.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
Andrew: All right, Colin, thank you for calling in.
Caller: Thank you! Thanks, guys.
Andrew: This has been MuggleCast’s daily, or weekly, “Let’s Rip on Gambon” segment, brought to you by Colin. All right, we’ll take one more call for the day.
Matt: One more call?
Andrew: Yeah, one more…
Matt: One more call.
Andrew: …because we’ve been podcasting for a while now, and it’s getting close to closing time.
Matt: Okay.
Call 10: Arrogant Harry
Andrew: Hello, caller, you’re on MuggleCast Live. What’s going on?
Caller: Hi. You know at the end of the trailer, Harry calls out, “Yeah, I am the Chosen One.” Well, did that sound a little arrogant to you?
Eric: No!
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Sorry.
Caller: No, I didn’t think it was…
Eric: I’m not mad at you, but…
Caller: I didn’t think it was…
Eric: …I didn’t think it sounded arrogant at all.
Matt: It’s not – I don’t think it’s arrogant. I think it’s just him playing it off. Just that – kind of making fun of it.
Caller: I don’t think he’s arrogant either, but I heard some complaints: “Oh, Harry would never say that in real life…”
Andrew: Oh, geez. Here we go.
Caller: “…or in the books.”
Matt: I think he would! I think Harry would say that, because he’s just making fun of how everyone’s calling him the Chosen One, and he doesn’t think that way.
Caller: Exactly.
Matt: “Oh, I am the Chosen One, apparently, now.”
Kevin: Yeah, I think it was a sarcastic remark.
Andrew and Eric: Yeah.
Eric: “I am the Chosen One.”
Andrew: Yeah. Not cocky.
Eric: He’s like, “What, Hermione?”
Matt: It’s not cocky, fans.
Andrew: What’s your name, caller?
Caller: Carla.
Andrew: Carla, thank you for calling in.
Matt: Carla.
Eric: Carla, thank you so much for getting these guys to say that it’s not him being cocky.
Matt: Who said he was cocky!?
Caller: [laughs] Okay, no problem.
Eric: You all were saying he was cocky. You all were like, yeah, that was a bit arrogant.
Matt: I never said that, Eric.
Andrew: Goodbye, Carla. Have a wonderful day.
Matt: You said it too, Eric.
Call 11: The Romance
Andrew: Hey, let’s take one more call. Just one more. Hello, caller, you’re on MuggleCast Live. What’s going on?
Caller: Not much. I’m just listening to your thing. I’m loving it.
Andrew: Oh, good.
Matt: Hello?
Caller: Hello?
Matt: Hello?
Andrew: Yeah, we can – we can – what are you doing? What – what’s your question?
Caller: I was – when I was watching it, I was interested by the focus of romance in it. They didn’t show any Harry and Ginny, but they did show a little bit of Ron and kind of this random person, if you think about it. Like if you haven’t seen – if you haven’t read the book, you wouldn’t know who it is. So I thought that was kind of interesting.
Andrew: Are you talking about the end scene? That the girl…
Caller: Not the end scene.
Andrew: …was checking out Harry?
Caller: Not the end scene, the part with Ron and…
Andrew: Lavender?
Caller: Lavender.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: You know what’s interesting about that, when I initially watched it, that scene is so quick. Lavender almost looked like Hermione, for a second, just like the
hair…
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, she…
Laura: …and everything.
Matt: The hair.
Laura: I was like, what? Like, you’re a movie early, guys, and then I was like, oh wait.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: But it was kind of misleading, I thought.
Andrew: It was. It was, kind of.
Caller: Yeah, I mean, the problem – I think they’re probably going to try to keep Harry/Ginny a surprise for people who haven’t read the books.
Andrew: Maybe. Yeah, because there’s always those things that you never see in the trailer. They keep them complete surprises. And I always appreciate that because
it’s nice to be surprised by seeing something you haven’t seen before.
Caller: Yeah. [unintelligible] bad. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah. Caller, do you live in the south Jersey area? I recognize the zip code.
Caller: I do. I do. I live in Cherry Hill.
Andrew: Cherry Hill. Wonderful.
Matt: Oh, snap.
Andrew: They have a mall there. It’s called Cherry Hill Mall. Don’t they?
Caller: Yes. I do live near the Cherry Hill Mall. [laughs]
Andrew: Excellent. Well, you say hi to Cherry Hill Mall and my family, and that’ll be great.
Caller: Okay.
Matt: Awesome.
Andrew: Okay. She’s confused.
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: Thank you for calling. All right, well…
[Micah says something unintelligible]
Andrew: What, Micah?
Micah: Take one more call.
Andrew: Take one – oh.
Matt: You said – you said that was the last one.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Oh.
Andrew: What are you doing?
Eric: You already said that was the last one.
Andrew’s Sister is Legal
Andrew: Hold on, let’s just – I don’t know if people will mind this. We’re just calling my sister real quick and wish her a Happy Birthday.
Everyone: Awww.
Eric: It’s been so long since I’ve talked to Becca.
Andrew: Oh, Andrew, you’re such a sweetheart. Okay, I’m going to give her a call now. Wonderful technology. I think we’re going to get one of those ringback tones.
You know those cool things, where it doesn’t ring, it plays a song.
Micah: It’s not on.
Andrew: Oh. Oh, that’s right, she has an iPhone now.
[Phone rings]
Micah: Take her number right off of Skype.
Andrew: Hey, don’t you dare, Micah.
Micah: No, I said… [laughs] …it’s a good thing Ben’s not on.
Andrew: Oh. [laughs]
Matt: Oh, Ben.
[Laura and Micah laugh]
[Phone rings]
Andrew: I’m sure my sister’s – I’m sure my sister’s busy. She’s already – Becca!
Becca: Yeah?
Andrew: Hey.
Becca: Andrew?
Andrew: Yeah, it’s Andrew. Hey.
Becca: Andrew!
Andrew: Hey.
Becca: What are you using to call me on?
Andrew: I’m using this thing called the MuggleCast Hotline because we’re doing a live show right now. And I just wanted to wish you…
Becca: Oh my God.
Andrew: I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday in front of the 673 people listening right now.
Becca: Awww! Thanks, Andrew!
Andrew: Matt’s here, and my – the fellow co-hosts are here, so everyone…
Becca: Matt’s here!?
Matt: Hi, Becca!
Becca: Hi, Matt!
Andrew: Laura’s in here, Eric’s in here, Kevin, Micah, so…
Becca: Kevin and Micah, hi! Love you all!
Matt: How old…
Andrew: She doesn’t – she doesn’t even…
Matt: How old are you, Becca?
Andrew: Yeah, how old are you turning?
Becca: I’m eighteen.
Andrew: Oh, geez.
Matt: Oh, geez.
Laura: Oh.
Becca: I’m legal!
Matt: Uh-oh.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: She knows she’s live in front of…
Andrew: Wow.
Eric: …673 people, and yet she makes that known.
Matt: I’m legal! Friend me on Facebook! [laughs]
Andrew: Oh, God, why did you just say that?
[Becca laughs]
Eric: Looks like MuggleCast will be planning a trip to New Jersey.
Andrew: Micah’s already got his train ticket booked.
[Matt laughs]
Eric: Geez.
Becca: When!?
Andrew: Oh my God, Becca.
Matt: Becca, Becca.
Micah: No!
Andrew: It was a joke!
Becca: I can’t hear!
Andrew: It was a joke.
Kevin: Subtleties, subtleties
Becca: All I heard was that you were coming to New Jersey.
Andrew: No, no, no, no, no. What are you doing?
Becca: Oh.
Andrew: What are you doing right now?
Becca: I’m in the car.
Andrew: Doing what? Where are you going?
Becca: We’re going to the Cheesecake Factory.
Matt: [gasps] Ooooo.
Andrew: Oh, wonderful. With the family? With the Sims family?
Becca: Dad wanted me to tell you we’re going to Chuck E. Cheese.
Andrew: With the Sims family?
Becca: Yeah, and with Cassy and Kelly – yeah, and Cassy, Kelly, and Manda.
Andrew: Oh, wonderful.
Matt: Chuck E. Cheese.
Andrew: No, Cheesecake Factory they’re going to.
Matt: I thought she said Chuck E. Cheese.
Andrew: I know some people…
Becca: No, my Dad wanted me to tell you we’re going to Chuck E. Cheese.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: There’s a couple people of listeners in Cherry Hill right now.
Becca: So funny. What?
Andrew: We were just speaking to a listener from Cherry Hill, and do you want to give the location of the Cheesecake Factory so maybe they can come wish you a Happy Birthday?
Becca: Who, Alyssa? I’ll tell her – I’ll say hi to her.
Andrew: What are you talk…? Okay. Anyway.
[Laura laughs]
Becca: I can only hear half the things you’re saying right now.
Andrew: It’s okay. iPhones stink. So just wanted to say Happy Birthday and get a…
Becca: Thanks, Andrew. Miss you.
Andrew: Get a deep…
Matt: Awww.
Becca: Are you coming home soon?
Andrew: December 23rd.
Becca: Are you coming home for Thanksgiving?
Andrew: No.
Becca: With me and Grandma?
Andrew: No.
[Matt laughs]
Becca: Awww…
Andrew: What is – so, yeah, Happy Birthday, and yeah.
Becca: Thank you!
Matt: Happy Birthday, Becca!
Andrew: You’re not going to get a present from me.
Becca: Thanks.
Andrew: It was – it was this call. It was your exposure to the world and you telling everyone you’re legal.
Becca: Oh. That’s enough. Hello, world. Thank you.
Andrew: All right.
Eric: That’s so sweet of you, Andrew. You’re such a good brother.
Andrew: I know.
[Andrew and Becca laugh]
Andrew: All right. Happy Birthday. Goodbye.
Becca: Goodbye. Love you!
Andrew: I love you too.
Matt: Bye!
Andrew: Okay.
Matt: Awww.
Andrew: So there you go, there’s my sister, who turned 18 today. Micah, I swear to God, don’t you dare leave your house tonight.
Micah: She – hey.
[Matt laughs]
Kevin: Her cell phone number is – no.
[Everyone laughs]
Micah: I already wrote it down, so…
Announcement: Episode Expected for November 3rd
Andrew: Okay. All right, well, thank you, everyone, for listening today. I just want to say that we are planning a episode to be released November 3rd at the very latest. I said earlier in this recording that we did record an episode, actually, this time last weekend, but we’re having audio problems with the audio files right now. It will be released eventually. We had a Halloween discussion and all that, but – and Ben was here so it was a fun time.
Micah: It’s all Elysa’s [pronounces El-i-sa] fault. Or Elysa’s [pronounces El-yee-sa] fault.
Andrew: I didn’t want to name names, Micah.
Micah: Well, I’m just throwing her right under the bus. I mean, how long has it been since she could get your audio file?
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Everyone should know listening right now – 665 people that are listening live should know – that it’s her fault that we don’t have Episode 160 out to them.
Andrew: Incredibly mean. I’m sure Elysa really appreciates that.
Eric: Stop picking on Elysa.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay, so that’s what I’m trying to say. November 3rd is the latest when you’ll see the next episode. This episode will be released later tonight. So I think it was a good show. Any final thoughts about the trailer? Does anyone feel different about the movie now?
Eric: Are you guys still – are you guys all excited about the movie?
Matt: I’m glad it’s still there.
Andrew: I have to say, Eric, when I watched it I was like, it’s – I want to be excited, but it’s bumming me out that people already saw this.
Matt: Yeah, I agree with Andrew on that.
Eric: Well, there haven’t been any screenings since that we know about, have there?
Eric is Still Excited to See the Movie
Andrew: Yeah, I know. No, there haven’t, but, Eric, are you – does this trailer make you excited, having seen the film? You’re, like, wow, I can’t wait to see that.
Eric: Yeah, it does.
Andrew: Really?
Eric: Yeah, I still am, yeah. I still see it, like, as if it were a different movie. I’ve seen the scenes,
I can offer some inflection on the scenes and all that, but the final trailer with the final music and the final everything is going to be different and special.
Matt: Is it, though, weird at all, Eric, on any shape or form that you’ve seen the movie almost a year before it’s going to be shown to everybody else?
Eric: Well, see, that’s the thing. And I don’t want to say that I’ve forgotten bits, but to be perfectly honest, I’ve forgotten bits. Watching it in that kind of setting, it’s different. You don’t remember all the funny lines…
Andrew: Oh, of course.
Eric: …and you’re going to laugh at them once more and stuff, so…
Andrew: Kevin?
Kevin: But, Eric, you told me that you recorded it.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Eric: Oh, that’s right!
Andrew: Micah, Laura, Kevin, do you guys have any closing thoughts?
Micah: No, I think it’s still nine months away, and Laura can have a baby in that time.
Kevin: It’s still nine months away.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: What!? Micah, you’re getting way too perverted. [laughs] Anyway…
Kevin: Well, my thought was, it’s still nine months away so I can’t be excited just yet.
Andrew: It’s still a baby away.
Micah: Exactly. I agree with Kevin.
Everyone is Excited for Azkatraz
Andrew: [laughs] Laura, do you have any final thoughts? Anything change for you?
Laura: I’m always excited to see the film.
Andrew: Yeah.
Laura: That’s pretty much it.
Andrew: All right. And Matt and I – Matt, are you excited? I’m excited.
Matt: Well, I’m excited for the movie. Heck yeah. I’m just – I’m tired of waiting.
Laura: I’m more excited for the – for the atmosphere.
Matt: I’m just so done with it.
Andrew: What, Laura?
Laura: I’m more excited for the atmosphere, because I’m going to come out and see you guys, and were going to go see the movie.
Andrew: That’s what I’m excited for.
Matt: Yeah. Seeing it with a whole theater full of hardcore Harry Potter fans.
Andrew: Yes! Speaking of that, since the last episode we – there was an announcement by HPEF that we will be doing a live podcast after the midnight showing…
Matt: Yes!
Andrew: …of Half-Blood Prince. So what’s going to happen is, everybody, all these hardcore Harry Potter fans, are going to all be traveling to San Francisco, seeing the film together for the very first time, because it’s going to be a midnight premiere. Azkatraz is the day after the movie comes out, so they are going to have a midnight showing…
Matt: Who…
Andrew: …the day before Azkatraz starts. Hold on, let me finish.
Matt: Sure, sorry, sorry.
Andrew: We’re going to be doing a podcast right after that midnight premiere. So…
Matt: Who do we know that’s going to be there?
Andrew: What do you mean?
Matt: Of the live show. Of us?
Andrew: I’ll be there, Laura and Micah are going to be there. Kevin, maybe he can try to make it. Eric, are you coming?
Eric: I’ll definitely try to make it.
Andrew: Okay, so there you go.
Matt: I’ll be there. Wait, isn’t Ben going to be there too?
Andrew: Ben wants to go too. So, I think Ben will be there, it’s going to be a big fun panel. Go to HP2009.org to register for Azkatraz, and when you do register, please, please, please put “MuggleNet” or “MuggleCast” in the referral area so they know where you’re sent from. And that’s very important for us as well, because they’re trying to get a handle of how many people will be participating
in the midnight podcast. So, in the referral area please, “MuggleNet” or “MuggleCast.” Or both. Whatever. Okay, so that’s it.
Micah: Oh yeah, we have one more thing. Sorry.
Andrew: Yes, Micah?
Micah: Since we’re doing a live show, did you want to talk about the Podcast Awards real fast?
Andrew: Oh! Yes.
Eric: Guys, I’ve got to get going quick…
Andrew: Okay.
Eric: …but good luck, and good luck with Imprint and all that.
Andrew: All right.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: Eric, thank you for joining us.
Matt: Thanks, Eric.
Andrew: Goodbye.
Eric: Thanks, everyone.
Vote for MuggleCast in the Podcast Awards
Andrew: Go ahead, Micah, do a quick PSA about the Podcast Awards and then we’ll get out of here.
Micah: Well, voting for the Podcast Awards opened a couple days ago. It goes through November 6th, which I think is next Thursday, and you can vote every 24 hours. We’re nominated in the category of entertainment. So go vote for us. And vote as frequently as possible. Tell as many of your friends, family, anybody you want to send it to. Put fliers up around school, I really don’t care. Just vote for us.
Andrew: It is important, though, you have to vote once every 24 hours. Don’t vote any more frequently than that. So if you vote right now, 2:30 West Coast time,
don’t vote again until past 2:30 tomorrow. So. It’s kind of…
Micah: And make sure you verify your vote. Everybody gets sent an e-mail.
Andrew: Yeah, they said it’s at random, but every time I vote I get an e-mail.
Micah: Yeah, me too.
Andrew: And also, I’ve got to do it here, Imprint is also nominated in the cultural arts category, so vote for Imprint as well! You can vote for a podcast from each category. And so MuggleCast and Imprint are both nominated, so thank you, everyone, for voting for us. Vote daily, don’t forget.
Matt: Mhm. And don’t forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley.
Micah: [laughs] What’s that?
Andrew: We need to focus on the Podcast Awards right now. You’re asking too much of our loyal listeners.
Matt: Yeah, but October’s almost over!
Show Close
Andrew: I know, it’s Moctober. Okay, so, thank you, everyone, for joining us. Micah, Laura, Kevin, Eric, thanks for being on. I know we planned this very last minute and it was great that everyone could come on, so thanks, guys.
Laura: Yeah, it was fun.
Matt: We should do this more often.
Andrew: Yeah, we should have trailers leak more often.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings. I’m telling you, WB’s going to say something about it. It’s going to be all over in the press. Okay, sure, maybe…
Kevin: We should place bets on it.
Andrew: See, but I’m afraid they are just going to let it go, because it’s so – it’s so – what’s the word? Pushed into the fandom now. I don’t know.
Matt: If only you were a betting man.
Andrew: Yeah, but I don’t know the future.
Matt: All right.
Andrew: All right, it’s time to get out of here.
Micah: [unintelligible] I’ll find out the future.
Andrew: Yeah. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. This has been MuggleCast Live, and…
Matt: Episode 161?
Andrew: Yeah, we’ll call this 161 because 160 is still coming.
Matt: Okay.
Andrew: All right. Thank you, everyone, for listening. We’ll see you next time. Buh-bye!
Matt: Bye.
Laura: Bye.
Kevin: Bye, guys.