(no subject)

[rivka]

I didn't go to work today. Originally, when I arranged with Lydia to take the day off, I thought I'd be going to OWL training this past weekend. I figured I'd want to take a day to reconnect with Alex afterward. Then the training was rescheduled... and it occurred to me (with a bit of a shock) that there was no real reason why I should cancel my vacation day.

So this morning I walked Alex to nursery school as usual, and then instead of going to the light rail stop I walked back home. I spent a long, leisurely interval reading, made myself some lunch, and then drove out to the mall to return some things and see Order of the Phoenix.

After the movie, I came home and put in an intense hour of work decluttering the living room. Not the most fun way to spend vacation time, perhaps, but it sure was satisfying to see things go. I filled up an entire kitchen-sized trash bag with junk, and another with neglected toys. Then it was time to go get Alex, and my normal life fell back into place.

It felt really weird to have a whole day with no parenting or work responsibilities. To be honest - and I'm embarrassed about this - I felt kind of guilty about it. I had been rationalizing the day off by telling myself that I was going to do a lot of cleaning - Michael's father and stepmother are coming into town this weekend, and they have very high cleanliness standards. But, unsurprisingly, that's not what ended up happening.

I don't know how I got into a place where I feel guilty taking one freaking day purely for myself. Well: my RA who has cancer is still not back to work, and yeah, that's put a lot of extra strain on me to stay in the lab. But obviously our studies didn't completely collapse when I asked Lydia if I could take today off. And Steve doesn't mind.

I wonder if I could manage to do this once a month, or every six weeks, or something. I think it would be good for me.


Some rather jumbled thoughts on Order of the Phoenix: Michael decided that he wants to get caught up on the movies, so we've re-watched Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets recently. As a result, my first reaction to the movie was "My god, they're all so old!" (I was a little shocked to discover from IMDB that the actors playing Fred and George Weasley are just 21 years old, because they looked at least 30 onscreen.)

When Sirius appeared, alive, I surprised myself with a very strong, visceral "but he's dead!" reaction. It was a real struggle to get back into an early-OotP mindset, and as a result I don't think I can say anything about how Sirius's character was portrayed. I was too busy wrestling with my view of him as a dead man walking.

I loved Umbridge. She was just perfect.

I liked watching Harry teach Dumbledore's Army. I wish they'd shown more of the students' outright rebellion towards the end of Umbridge's reign. The bit about Fred and George giving up higher education seemed contextless without it.

Bellatrix LeStrange seemed off to me. She's supposed to be middle-aged, right? Older than the Marauders, because she's Sirius's aunt. Her whole look and manner just seemed way too young... like something you'd see from Tonks, instead.

I guess they had to trim down the Department of Mysteries sequence for time, but I really missed the weird things they left out, like the Time room and the giant brain squid thingy. I'd have thought that it was prime movie material.

I missed Christmas in the locked ward. Not so much for Gilderoy Lockhart, but for Neville visiting his parents.

I enjoyed the movie, but at the same time I found myself doubting it. I'm just not sure it works as its own story, independent of the book. I thought the individual scenes were well converted to film, but I'm not sure that it wasn't because I could fill in all of the connections and the backstory from having read the book.

Comments

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

Good for you for taking the day!

I find that, as an adult, one with children, a day off nearly always involves some house cleaning. Sigh.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Except for the first 100 pages or so, I hadn't read the book when I saw the movie. It was an interesting experiment, and maybe I even enjoyed the movie more as a result. It was coherent enough, for one thing, and I didn't mind the different interpretation of Umbridge because I wasn't firmly fixed on her froglike appearance. Reading the book afterward didn't seem spoiled, because there are always things in the book that don't get into the movies. Apart from this, all the movies I've seen or will see follow my reading of the particular book, and up to now, I've thought that without the books I wouldn't have 'gotten' the movie. Now I'm not so sure.

I wondered some if Rowling wrote passages thinking they'd be perfect for some great special effects. The first couple such I saw weren't even alluded to in the movie.

[erbie.livejournal.com]

I'm just not sure it works as its own story, independent of the book. I thought the individual scenes were well converted to film, but I'm not sure that it wasn't because I could fill in all of the connections and the backstory from having read the book.

That sums up exactly how I felt about the movie. It was nice to see a lot of it on screen, but I didn't feel that worked as a stand-alone. And I didn't like a few of the things they added, like Cho being the snitch, all the DA getting the evil quills, and Filch and the Inquisitorial Squad waiting outside and actually catching everyone. In the book, Harry was the only one caught and they couldn't prove anything since he didn't admit it. And I really missed the Department of Mysteries stuff. There was so much there that would have looked fantastic on screen. Also, the way Sirius died felt wrong to me. In the book, he loses his balance and falls through the veil. In the movie, he gets Avada Kedavera'd by Bellatrix and it makes it look like everyone who dies goes through that veil on the way out.

I did like Dumbledore's exit from how office though. Nice effects there! And I agree, Umbridge was perfect, though I'd have liked a bit more of her "hem hem"ing.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Imelda Staunton, who played Umbridge, was the star of a very different movie a few years ago: Vera Drake. Vera is a midwife who also does illegal abortions (Britain in the 50s). It's a really great movie, although not exactly a happy one.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

The really disturbing thing for me about it was how much Bellatrix LeStrange reminded me of the Helena Bonham Carter character in Fight Club; though I don't do fanfic, the thought of Brad Pitt's Tyler Durden teaching Defence against the Dark Arts has a terrible twisted charm to it.