We snuck in to see the fifth HP film last night, and, being a big fan of the books, had mixed feelings. However, we generally liked the film, were impressed with the way the director dealt with an unwieldy number of pages and LOVED the interior design. Above is Dolores Umbridge's office complete with moving cats on plates, which is such a saccharine sweet assembly it either belongs in Hairspray or she's deserves to be fired. Someone here deserves an Oscar...
Our most favorite room was Sirius' family room at 12 Grimmauld Place, where his family tree was displayed in embroidery upon all all four walls. We couldn't find a good picture and had to swipe the one above from a YouTube shot of the Order of Pheonix video game, but the idea is there. In the film, the walls are deep green and the family tree grows like ivy upon all the walls. Very Martha Stewart on steroids.
We also really liked the tiles in the Ministry of Magic, which is, all in all, a pretty mesmerizing and a beautiful assimilation of vintage British style and contemporary thinking. Here's a big picture of the font hall with all the fireplaces.
And lastly, did anyone see that Michiko Kakutani of the NYTimes reviewed the new book TODAY! With little explanation, she says she bought the book at a shop in midtown yesterday. With all the lawsuits against online sellers who have released the book early, we find it amazing that a physical shop in our city has the balls to do something like this.
For the record, we started the review and then stopped reading. Why spoil the fun?
10 No-Fail Decor Tricks & Tips for Small Spaces
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
There's a real family tree in roughly that style at the arms and armor museum in Vienna -- I absolutely love it and was dismayed that no postcards were available.
Don't worry, the reviewer didn't reveal much.
Architectural Digest did a feature when the first or second movie came out about the interiors. Good stuff.
I sooo want to spend Christmas in the dormitory common room.
With a Slitheryn boy or two. :)
You know, what's funny is that while reading the book when it first came out I had completely pictured the ministry to be all gleaming white tiles. I don't know why, and I don't remember if they described it as being so dark in the book but if they did I certainly skimmed over that fact and made up my own world, so it was incredibly jarring to see it all black in the movie.
Having said that, I loved it and all the other set design as well, it was pretty spectacular...
Re: articles on the new Harry Potter book. There's a review in the Boston Sun. Avoid that one at all costs if you don't want to see a spoiler. (The NY Times one was not bad, spoiler-wise).
And I am soo waiting for "Harry Potter: The Ride".
If these books and movies came out when I was a kid, I think my head would have exploded.
bluestar, I, too, had imagined it as a much brighter place, but I think it worked well in the movie, as "Dark times are ahead, Harry."
Last book, Duane Reade put copies out the day before release. It happens. People at store level are looking at mountains of brown cartons. Not reading them for instructions. They aren't rack jobbers or merchandisers.
I was in design school (for stage and film) in 2001 and the first movie's costume designer stopped by my costume design class very briefly. After she left, our teacher told us that because of the book's popularity, the designs had been vetted by every producer and everyone else involved until the it had been completely dulled down. I feel like that the first movie was disappointing for that reason.
Apparently that tactic has changed and more freedom has been given to the designers, as seen in your photos and some of the other more recent movies. Very encouraging!! :)
I could not BELIEVE that the NYT posted that review on their front page! The bastards!
The set design looks gorgeous.
i LOVED the kitten plates. did you see when the one kitten ran out the little kitty door, perhaps to go tattle on harry?
also AMAZING was the graphic design on the Umbridge decrees. didn't you just love them?
I am so glad you wrote this post! I was thinking about how interesting the interior design decisions in Harry Potter were. The cats in the pictures on the wall---fantastic!
Jenny -- I'm planning to write my first letter to the editor and strongly take them to task... after I've been able to read the book and the review, of course. In that Order.
Did you literally "sneak in" to see the movie? Hope you meant it figuratively, as in "skipped out for an evening of fun."
As you called the reviewer to task for the premature coverage, I'll assume you're honest, ticket buying film-goers.
I was thinking the exact same thing, holland.
I read the review and thought it was fine. It wasn't too spoil-y.
"also AMAZING was the graphic design on the Umbridge decrees. didn't you just love them?"
Yes! I was totally thinking (the 2nd time I saw it) how I loved the variety of fonts and colors on them. Plus, the frames were awesome too. Glad I'm not the only one paying attention to that sort of thing.
I think Kakutani actually took great pains to not spoil much. She talked more about general themes, with a few plot points (but frankly, mainly ones that were the logical next steps anyway). I read it with one eye closed because I really don't want to be spoiled, and I don't feel like I know much more than I did beforehand.
HOWEVER, if you want to know absolutely nothing, you should still avoid reading it.
It's the Baltimore Sun that published a review, not the Boston Sun (there is no such paper as far as I know). And yes, that review contains a tiny spoiler. I'm not a Potter fanatic (I like it but...) so it didn't bother me to read it, but if you want to be completely surprised I'd suggest you don't.
I liked the movie and the kitten plates were great. I had a sense that the kittens had been trapped there by Mrs. Umbridge for her own pleasure, taken from their families, doomed to eternal kittenhood. Very creepy!
One thing I noticed about the NYT Kakutani review is that if you go back and read her reviews for the previous two books you will see she does a bit a lazy writing. We get Henry V not Prince Hal, Arthur not Wart in all three reviews, and she also makes very similar remarks about Lord of the Rings and Oz books in almost the same point in the article. Maybe she's just striving for continuity but it seemed like lazy writing to me!
re: "the kittens had been trapped there... for her own pleasure, taken from their families..."
Um, isn't that what *everybody* with pets is guilty of? ;)
"Doomed to eternal kittendom"?
Sounds awesome to me.