*SPOILERS* POA - Shrunken heads

[dafyd]

I couldn't really find a thread for this, but if there is one, just redirect me!

What does everyone think of the shrunken heads (Ron calls them fig-heads / feg-heads) that appear twice? I'm sure they're not in the book...

Lenny Henry (the voice - he's Dawn French (the Fat Lady)'s husband) is a great comedian, but I'm not sure if they fit in the movie.

Anyway, what do you think?

[Sylestian]

I think mechanical bulls would have been more interesting.

[EmilyRose]

Look, there's a Harry Potter Jar-Jar. Someone to make annoying comments in an annoying accent.

Actually, I think I said that mid-movie.

[Mrs Padfoot]

This might be merged with the POA film discussion thread.

Anyway. I thought that they were really random, I'm not sure if I liked them or not. I think I would like to know why they were written into the script.

[soccergoddess24]

well i DEFINITELY didn't like them, because they were 1.)annoying and 2.)not in the book...

[dafyd]

Look, there's a Harry Potter Jar-Jar. Someone to make annoying comments in an annoying accent.

Actually, I think I said that mid-movie.Wasn't that Dobby in CoS?

[Mrs Padfoot]

Wasn't that Dobby in CoS?

No because Dobby had some significance to the plot.

[Stephen]

Jar-Jar was essential to the plot of the Star Wars prequels.

[narcissa_malfoy]

and the point of them was to......?? Still a little confused about that one. Especially since they weren't in the books.

[Voxx]

Well they had to make the moviesss with more um... excitment... like in the book JKR never said the driver of the knite bus was...blind i would sssay but...it was like the shrunkin headsss helped him...but the second time they showed up didn't they swear at Hermony and Ron... :td:

[dafyd]

well... they didn't swear - rather, Ron swore at them! They told them they couldn't go in the Three Broomsticks (aargh - another complete change from the book). In the book I always got the impression that Ernie was a bit blind - he's certainly described as old, and most British double-decker bus drivers I've met shouldn't be allowed on the road! :lol:

[CptJacksavvy]

Alfonso Cuaron is Mexican. Shrunken heads are part of the Mexican culture. He wanted to put some of his culture into the movies. He also put skull candies in Honeydukes, another piece of Mexican culture. I thought the head on the Knight Bus was kinda funny. As for the thread, the is a thread about Mexican culture/ the heads on this forums already.

[Stephen]

well... they didn't swear
They did swear. Well, they said, "Close the [beaver dam] door!"

[percivalwulfric]

there funny, and intersting i dunno why they were in the movie tho

[Josiah45]

I hated both the shrunken heads AND Tom the innkeeper cause they changed him to make him funny. It seems as though they tried to hard to make the movie less dark.

[Dagmar]

Alfonso Cuaron is Mexican. Shrunken heads are part of the Mexican culture. He wanted to put some of his culture into the movies. He also put skull candies in Honeydukes, another piece of Mexican culture. I thought the head on the Knight Bus was kinda funny. As for the thread, the is a thread about Mexican culture/ the heads on this forums already.
fine but the books are supposed to be Brittish.

[missgranger]

I was completely confused about the shrunken heads. I didn't know why they were there. They didn't need to be...AT ALL. The heads added nothing for me, and I didn't like em. ik

[Rebajev]

I really didn't like the head things, they were just annoying and really had no point!

[Nephel]

Shrunked heads? I thought they were the heads of decapitated house-elves, such as the ones incoporated in Grimauld PLace

[daniel4hp]

I liked the heads, and I don't see anything against them really. Sure, they weren't in the books, sure, they weren't essential to the plot. Big deal. They were small details Cuaron added to a) add comic relief, b) to provide atmosphere, and c) show a part of his culture. The heads were exotic, which in my opinion, fits fully with the magical world, and to me, they enhanced the universe created by JKR. I enjoyed them. And as director, I think Cuaron is fully entitled to add small tokens to his own culture -- the heads don't detract from the movie (IMO), so why not?

[Weatherby]

It's annoying after you've seen the film three times if you've had a Jamaican stalker that the head sounded just like.

[Moontrimmer]

The heads in the pub at Hosgmeade were a nice touch, but in the nightbus scene it was just distracting and annoying.

[Silkeng]

I found the shrunken head amusing in the Knight bus, but didn't need them in the pub. I don't know why they were in the movie or even if they are even remotely in the wizarding world. So was not annoyed by them but they were unnecessary Ernie could have delivered funny lines just as easy.

[Sweetie]

I must say I quite enjoyed them. I don't mind that they weren't in the books in the least. They probably wouldn't have had the same effect written into the book, anyway, so it's nice that they were thrown in for the movie. It's hard to get that perfect a picture from a book, regardless of how good the author is, but they were definitely well done in the movie, I think.

[Voxx]

Quote:
Originally Posted by CptJacksavvy
Alfonso Cuaron is Mexican. Shrunken heads are part of the Mexican culture. He wanted to put some of his culture into the movies. He also put skull candies in Honeydukes, another piece of Mexican culture. I thought the head on the Knight Bus was kinda funny. As for the thread, the is a thread about Mexican culture/ the heads on this forums already.
Quote: fine but the books are supposed to be Brittish.
Yeah mexican stuff in a britich movie... Hrry still has a britich accent

[Optimus Prime]

Yeah, I thought that the heads in the store were kind of cool, but the stupid jamacian head on the knight bus was super annyoing. I thought that scene was totally out of character with the rest of the movie.

[mina]

I really don't remember any other than the one on the Knight Bus, which I thought was an interesting addition to the scene. I was more annoyed by Harry hitting the window a second time (once was funny, twice was pushing it).

[SilverStar]

I really liked the one on the Knight Bus, that was hysterical. I don't think, however, that they were appropriate at the entrance to the 3 Broomsticks.

[Stumblebear]

I hate them. Why the hell are their severed heads lying around everywhere? And they talk! Ugh. It's just gross.

[aragog]

I don't understand what the big deal is. Does it really matter that they're in the movie but not in the book? Personally I think it'd be boring to go to a movie for the first time and know everything that was about to happen because the film doesn't deviate from the book at all. I thought it was a fairly amusing and harmless gag, anyway. Don't take the movie so seriously, we've still got the books ;)

[SilverStar]

I don't understand what the big deal is. Does it really matter that they're in the movie but not in the book? Personally I think it'd be boring to go to a movie for the first time and know everything that was about to happen because the film doesn't deviate from the book at all. I thought it was a fairly amusing and harmles gag, anyway. Don't take the movie so seriously, we've still got the books ;)

Well said!! I couldn't have said it better myself. What's the harm in them?

[bowlwoman]

The shrunken heads were the worst excuse for comedic relief that I have had the misfortune of seeing. What was the point? By cutting them out, they could have had some extra time to put in NEEDED exposition (like explaining the Map or the reason for Snape's hate of the Mauraders).

bowlwoman

[Stephen]

I agree with bowlwoman! They could've cut the heads and had more plot/backstory time. They could've cut a lot of the Harry and Monster book of Monsters as well... but that's another thread entirely. LOL

[aragog]

I partially agree with that, but if you think about it, exactly how much time would be gained if the heads were taken out? One or two seconds in the Hogsmeade scene, and hardly any time at all in the Knight Bus. We'd be riding the Knight Bus anyway and the head certainly wasn't the main focus of the sequence.

[bowlwoman]

Yes, there is little time gained, but you also save some $$$ used for the special effects. That could have been put to use to gain a few extra minutes for the exposition needed.

It's a moot point, tho, because I read in the Entertainment Weekly article that Kloves and Cuarón had decided to cut the Marauders' backstory from the get-go. They felt it should be in another film.

Regardless of saving time/$$$, the heads are still a cheap gag only used to get a forced laugh from the audience. I feel that if Cuarón needed to add something for comic relief, he could have done much better than those heads.

bowlwoman

[Simbrie]

I thought the heads were nifty. =\ What's wrong with the director having a bit of fun?

[Arthur Weasley]

They weren't in the book. They had no purpose to the plot. So, why were they there? I don't get it. Seems like a wasted addition IMO.

[Inkwolf]

Think about it...talking, decapitated heads. Wouldn't that be a seriously dark magic item? Wouldn't it be illegal, or at least gruesome? Wouldn't it be more likely behind the counter at Borgin and Burkes' rather than hanging in a public vehicle? Whose heads were they, and why are they hanging everywhere for decor?

I'm okay with the heads as a silly bit of movie fluff filler, but I don't think Cuaron really thought it through in terms of the world he was depicting. But then, movie fluff doesn't really need back story...if JKR put them in the books, there would have to be some serious explaining of what was going on.

[Neon Phoenix]

I liked them, and I also liked how they altered the Three Broomsticks scene.

[Voxx]

^ to tru

[Stephie]

I don't see a problem with Alfonso bringing in some of his backround to the movie trilogy. At all.

[Silkeng]

Think about it...talking, decapitated heads. Wouldn't that be a seriously dark magic item? Wouldn't it be illegal, or at least gruesome? Wouldn't it be more likely behind the counter at Borgin and Burkes' rather than hanging in a public vehicle? Whose heads were they, and why are they hanging everywhere for decor?

I'm okay with the heads as a silly bit of movie fluff filler, but I don't think Cuaron really thought it through in terms of the world he was depicting. But then, movie fluff doesn't really need back story...if JKR put them in the books, there would have to be some serious explaining of what was going on.

That was my first thought of seeing the heads, whose heads are they and what sort of dark magic spell cuts them off but they can still talk? It was a useless addition, amusing but not necessary for my enjoyment of the movie.

Also, if they were taken out could have at least a few more seconds of some bits of the book that we all would have loved to see. i.e. more Snape lines (personally wants to start a campaign to lengthen these movies I want more in my HP movie)

[Stephie]

Think about it...talking, decapitated heads. Wouldn't that be a seriously dark magic item? Wouldn't it be illegal, or at least gruesome? Wouldn't it be more likely behind the counter at Borgin and Burkes' rather than hanging in a public vehicle? Whose heads were they, and why are they hanging everywhere for decor?

I'm okay with the heads as a silly bit of movie fluff filler, but I don't think Cuaron really thought it through in terms of the world he was depicting. But then, movie fluff doesn't really need back story...if JKR put them in the books, there would have to be some serious explaining of what was going on.

but they didn't actually do anything wrong. Nothing "evil" about them. Just some funness from Cuaron's heritage.

[paloma]

Think about it...talking, decapitated heads. Wouldn't that be a seriously dark magic item? Wouldn't it be illegal, or at least gruesome? Wouldn't it be more likely behind the counter at Borgin and Burkes' rather than hanging in a public vehicle? Whose heads were they, and why are they hanging everywhere for decor?

I'm okay with the heads as a silly bit of movie fluff filler, but I don't think Cuaron really thought it through in terms of the world he was depicting. But then, movie fluff doesn't really need back story...if JKR put them in the books, there would have to be some serious explaining of what was going on.

JKR actually did put them in the books, and your feelings are correct--they are for sale in Knockturn Alley. From CoS:
"Clutching his broken glasses to his face, Harry stared around. He had emerged into a dingy alleyway that seemed to be made up entirely of shops devoted to the Dark Arts. The one he'd just left, Borgin and Burkes, looked like the largest, but opposite was a nasty window display of shrunken heads..."

Perhaps the heads are just objects collected by wizards from various parts of the world during their travels, and they can be bewitched to talk, the way the Marauder's Map can recognize and "talk" to people...maybe it is what a wizard does with a shrunken head that determines whether it's a Dark Arts item or not. I think if they were inherently evil, JKR would've nixed them from the PoA screenplay.
I dunno, just speculating...

[rotsiepots]

I actually had trouble understanding what the heads were saying, but I don't really think their inclusion detracted from the film. As aragog said, we'd gain perhaps three seconds if they were cut. That's hardly comparable to the time that was wasted with the "tweaked" scenes in PS and CoS (Neville's broom riding and the flying car). The heads also delivered some important information (ie they blocked Ron and Hermione from entering the Three Broomsticks for whatever reason).

Lenny Henry is brilliant, which is possibly why they left the heads in. :D

[Sylestian]

It's nice to want your culture brought into a movie...but the thing is...it's got nothing whatsoever to do with HP and London. I give him cookies to want to bring his culture in becasue a lot of movies need that, but he chose the way wrong movie.

[EmilyRose]

It didn't seem to fit in very well, I agree. I'm all for celebrating ones heritage, but my complete addiction to the Internet culture doesn't mean that when I interpret someone's literature into art, I should have their character sitting at a computer typing on forums, or that I should do a fan-fiction and add in their using groovy internet slang...

..Actually, thinking about it, wouldn't it be funny to hear Voldemort say TTFN?

Now, this is why I don't get to direct movies.

[Allan2]

teek it aweeee, ern
it was pretty funnny, although i bet some lil kids flipped out in sheer fear
i thought it was superflous to have em at the hogs head, but ultimately the one on the bus was pretty cool (Why the long faces)
theatrically they worked, but in the book they would bomb
im guessing since rowling went along with it, that this idea recieved her uh.. blessings
George Harrisons the man!!!!

[LilyEvans]

Personally, I liked them. They were kinda funny, and though they didn't ahve a point, they really didn't need to. You would save what...three seconds cutting them out, and besides. I got the biggest laughs from the lines I didn't see coming....my favourite lines of the entire movie were,

1) the tap-dancing spiders
2) Hermione in the Time-Turner sequence - "Is that what my hair looks like from the back?"

Besides, they reminded me more of the wizarding equivalent of fuzzy dice than anything else.

[Jinxie Cat]

The shrunken heads didn't bother me at all. At first I was like, "Okay..." :huh: But I thought the one on the Knight Bus was pretty amusing. Yes, I know they were not in the books whatsoever but there's nothing wrong with adding them in the movie... It was just for laughs.

[Vequihellin]

The head on the Knight bus was cool. I laughed loads but I thought the ones at the Three Broomsticks were stupid, after all, students are allowed in the pub in the books but now in the film they are barred by a load of stupid heads. I sort of understand why but I do think it was overkill to have them in the pub - just the one on the Knight bus would have been funnier. Still, nevermind, it didn't spoil the film completely.

It is right when people say that they wouldn't have worked in the book.

Veq.

[Knut4UrThghts]

I was completely confused about the shrunken heads. I didn't know why they were there. They didn't need to be...AT ALL. The heads added nothing for me, and I didn't like em. ik


I hate them. I thought they were stupid, cheap, comic relief that did nothing for the plot. But the rest of the Knight bus scene was AWESOME. However, in the books, the bus didn't shrink, things jumped out of its way -- like lamposts and mailboxes.

[Bouncing_Ferret]

I thought they were horrible, absolutely ghastly things, and I can't see any reason to have kept them in the movie at all. Ok, the first one I could handle, barely. The ones in the Three Broomsticks, however, was just taking it all too far. Maybe I've missed something, but I just can't see the point of them! There were already enough comic moments in the film, they just weren't needed.

[Shadow_Princess]

agree with ya there Bouncing_Ferret, didn't see the need for them! Knight bus, fine, but the others ,.....What the..?

[Dagmar]

Maybe if they had made them into earings for Hermione, then one could be the devil, the other the angel. Telling her "hit Malfoy". "No don't Hermione, he's not worth it." Oh wait that's Harry and Ron.

[RoseJeide]

>JKR actually did put them in the books, and your feelings are correct--they are for sale in Knockturn Alley. From CoS:
"Clutching his broken glasses to his face, Harry stared around. He had emerged into a dingy alleyway that seemed to be made up entirely of shops devoted to the Dark Arts. The one he'd just left, Borgin and Burkes, looked like the largest, but opposite was a nasty window display of shrunken heads..."


Paloma: Thank you for looking that quote up. I was wondering myself if they were included already in JK's world and now you've proven it. I guess people can't say that the shrunken heads in the movie are completely out of place.


>The head on the Knight bus was cool. I laughed loads but I thought the ones at the Three Broomsticks were stupid, after all, students are allowed in the pub in the books but now in the film they are barred by a load of stupid heads.


Vequihellin: I think they were barred because of a Dementor search that was going to be performed.

[Shadow_Princess]

well out of place in the 3 broomsticks anyway, thats my 2 cents, and thats just me!

[RoseJeide]

The three broomsticks are part of the magical community.

[pandehuevo]

Shrunken heads are not a part of the Mexican culture, if they are it is news to me, being Mexican...well Mex-American anyway. Did Cuaron say they were from his culture?? They kinda creeped me out.

[MadMuggle]

I think they're annoying and just horrible to look at. Mexican? The books are British and they're not in the books. Not in the books? THEN WHY ARE THEY IN THEMOVIE?! ARGH! There's enough left out of the movie that WAS in the book without having to add extra stuff NOT IN THE BOOK! Maybe it's good he's not directing GOF so we won't (pray!) have to see those weird heads again!!! (Or that guy hanging around Malfoy instead of Goyle - WHY?!)

[jen15poms]

I thought they were really out of place. It irritated me that they threw those into the movie when they weren't in the book. What was the purpose???

[dafyd]

I don't really care that they weren't in the book, but they're just annoying! If they really wanted Lenny Henry in (and let's face it, he is brilliant!), they could have made him Ernie... I don't think it says anywhere that Ernie is not Jamaican... now that would have been funny!

[Kaleigh]

I thought they were a little weird, but I didn't mind them for the most part.

[Scarlet Tears]

I thought they were a bit grotesque, not to mention annoying. I agree with those who said that they should have been excluded to save time for parts that were more relevant to the plot. If those working on the film are forced to cut out important scenes from the book for lack of time, then it is silly to add in things that weren't even part of the books in the first place (save the mention of them in Knockturn Alley). They had no purpose.

[GryffindorSeeker]

I know they aren't in the books, but I thought they were a nice touch. The Three broomsticks thing was slightly annoying, but I can live with it.

[Cindy]

I think the shrunken heads were ugly, although the one in the Knight Bus was funny and kept laughing evily. :lol: It was totally pointless for the director to put them into the movie, where the trio could just walk into the Three Broomsticks and get Butterbeer like they did in the book, instead of having a bunch of ugly heads telling them that underaged wizards aren't allowed. :rolleyes: Jo Rowling never meant the Three Broomsticks to be restricted to of age wizards. :grumble:

[missgranger]

RoseJeide and Paloma: Thanks for that quote. That clears up a lot for me.

[indyattic]

I thought they were stupid. Feeling compelled to put a little Mexican culture in a British movie just means, to me, they should have had a British director.

[Legnar]

I totally loved them!!!!!
I'd love to have one, lol
they could make shrunken heads for the computer...

[EmilyRose]

See, doesn't keeping the kids out of the Three Broomsticks rather put a damper on OoTP when it gets put into movie form?

[Legnar]

See, doesn't keeping the kids out of the Three Broomsticks rather put a damper on OoTP when it gets put into movie form?

what do the kids do in the three broomsticks in OotP???

[tarnole]

I think they are obnoxious and unnecessary - but also provided some humor. I don't think that it is the director's prerogative to insert his/her culture into a film in which the culture does not come in to play. And yes, that view could be considered a bit close minded.

Cheers, K

[Dottie]

I'm sure this has been said a million times, but I want to say it too. These were utterly useless, and I'm sure in the time they took up they could have had the Sirius with the knife over Ron instead.

[Charmed]

The heads were in for comic relief, pure and simple.

[icecubecat14]

they didnt bother me

[tabygrint]

Well, personally, I didn't have a bit of a problem with them.

[Momsafantoo]

I didn't mind the first one on the bus, it was a kind of neat, unexpected thing, albeit rather weird as it doesn't fit with how most folks imagine the HP world. The candy head in Honeydukes, well, they didn't do anything (almost didn't see them, anyway, as they were slightly out of focus) and they seem like the sort of thing Honeydukes would carry anyway.

The talking heads at the 3 Broomsticks was too much, though. And there was also a non-talking shrunken head hanging from the fence between the main part of Hogsmeade and the Shrieking Shack. That was too many disgusting shrunken human heads for what is supposed to be, nominally, a kids movie.

[RemusLupinFan]

I agree with you Momsafantoo. The one on the Knight Bus was ok, it was kind of funny when it was saying things like "little old lady at twelve o'clock". But I could have done without the ones in the Three Broomsticks (I didn't even notice the non-talking one hanging up).

[Goosie]

People, please stop calling the heads Mexican. Sure, Cuarón put some Mexican Culture bits into the movie, but not the heads. It would be really stupid have them speak in a Jamaican accent and then call them mexican, don't you think? Besides, I've lived in mexico all my life, and never EVER in all my years as a student, did shrunken heads come up as a part of any of the Mexican indigenous cultures. If someone has a fact to prove me wrong, please post it.

[Inkwolf]

Quite right, Goosie, shrunken heads come from the Jivaro indians of Ecuador and Peru.

http://www.riversideca.gov/museum/exhibit/jivaro1.htm

And, no, people. Those countries south of Texas are NOT all the same anyway. :evil:

[curlz]

I thougth they were hilarious in the knight bus and slightly amusing in the Three Broomsticks, they made me laugh, they made my friends laugh , crikey they made the whole theatre laugh, I thought that they lightened the mood after seeing a big hairy dog thing.

In short I adored them and think they fit in, in the magical world.

[luna the pixie]

those things gave me another reason to dislike cuaron's filmstyle

[Didymus]

The head on the Knight Bus drove me crazy, after 30 seconds I was hoping Ernie would stuff an air freshener in his mouth.

[glugunkwen]

I have to agree with most of you that I didn't like the shrunken heads. Just seemed really out of place.

However, it made me wonder if they had anything to do with comments that JK Rowling made about Cuaron inadvertently putting in clues. Perhaps there will be shrunken heads in book 6?

OK - probably not, but it did make me wonder.

[Wronski Feint]

I really didn't like the shrunken heads. They to me were annoying, and weren't in the book. I'm a stickler for details! And i don't like how they did Tom either.

[Piggle_Humsy]

I feel tThe heads weren't needed, I feel the director added them as maybe he felt the nightbus scenes needed something, but I agree with others who said they should have used that time to put in something that was more integral to the plot. Like the padfoot, prongs discussion. Or the bit where malfoy and friends dress up as dementors, I was looking forward to that!


Piggle :p
x x x x

[comeoutandplay]

I hated the fig on the knight bus but i didnt mind them in the store.

i loved stan and ernie as they were in the book the head was just odd. and i was like "what are you doing???"

the "fig heads" were just like an added thing that would have been fine if it werent for the first part.

[MadMuggle]

They WERE in the books!

Chamber of Secrets: When Harry 'floo's' into the shop in Knockturn Alley. There's a mention of shrunken heads. Sorry, can't remember exactly the quote but I remember going "Oh! Those bloody ugly little heads WERE in the books!"

Order of the Pheonix: When Harry first enters 12 Grimmauld Place there's menion of lots of shrunken Elf heads mounted on the walls, and Kreachers dream of oneday being up there with them. Harry thinks this must be a house of dark witches and wizards when he sees them.

Both times the heads are associated with the dark arts. That's what I don't understand. Why pick a dark form of magic and use it as comic releif in the movie? It's odd. I absolutely hates them in the movie. The Knight Bus and Three Broomsticks aren't meant to be "dark" places!

[MadMuggle]

I'm sure this has been said a million times, but I want to say it too. These were utterly useless, and I'm sure in the time they took up they could have had the Sirius with the knife over Ron instead.

Such a VERY good point! Such an important scene chopped for those drongo heads. How come someone who is being paid lots of money to direct a Harry Potter film doesn't know that?! That's what happens when you pick someone who HASN'T READ THE BOOKS *shock horror* to direct it! WHY?! Ohhhhh why?

[toryvic]

The shrunken heads were in my opinion pointless and a bit annoying, JKR is so subtley funny, that it annoys me when as an audience we are forced to endure things like the shrunken heads which were pointless and only there for a cheap laugh.
ALso, it annoyed me soooo much that students weren't allowed in the Leaky Cauldron. WHy change it when it's a part of the plot in the third fourth and fifth books?

[harripottrfreek]

I hated both the shrunken heads AND Tom the innkeeper cause they changed him to make him funny. It seems as though they tried to hard to make the movie less dark.

same here...i was so upset at the new tom...i was like NOOO!...yeah hes funny, but hes not right, they made the movie dark that they had to ruin characters to add some humor and the shrunken heads were a bit annoying ...i was very upset that the trio didnt learn about sirius the way they did in the books...i think it would have been a better scene

[Bee]

I didn't like Tom at all, actually the first thing I thought when I saw him was "who the HECK could that possible be?!". But I did like the shrunken heads. I thought they made the bus ride funny and interesting, and I liked just the small touch of randomness.

[Da_Chinkster]

It was a random, light bit of entertainment and I didnt think the one in the bus was too out of place. As for the innkeeper I assume Cuaron wanted to keep the audience amused but to most people who read the books that is not Tom and should not have been changed.

[dafyd]

As for the innkeeper I assume Cuaron wanted to keep the audience amused but to most people who read the books that is not Tom and should not have been changed.Hmm... I hate to say this (because I really didn't like the new innkeeper), but on page 37 pf the UK HB edition of PoA:
A stooping figure bearing a lantern appeared through the door behind the bar. It was Tom, the wizened, toothless landlord.So the 'new' landlord in PoA is closer to the one in the books than the previous one!

Oh well.

[CthuluCthartica]

shrunken heads are mostly from native areas of africa, and south america though, i believe it's not carried on anymore. giving him a jamaican accent in the film i think was crisscrossing two ethnicities and doing it wrongly. uneducated people tend to mix people of african origin that are not american in one clumped mix, hence a shrunken head with a jamaican accent?!

[wslyXwzrdngXwhz]

I hate the shrunken heads! They're sooooo annoying! I don't see how the director thought they were so funny. They just got in the way, and was really annoying, like I already said.

[Fawksfan]

Here here...I couldn't have said it better!
I hate the shrunken heads! They're sooooo annoying! I don't see how the director thought they were so funny. They just got in the way, and was really annoying, like I already said.

[michelle3654]

I've never liked the shrunken heads. They're to annoying.

[Lupin27]

Look, there's a Harry Potter Jar-Jar. Someone to make annoying comments in an annoying accent.

Actually, I think I said that mid-movie.

*Is officially the only person in the universe who likes Jar Jar Binks and thinks he was a wonderful addition to the Star Wars Universe. Give me a hug, I'm all alone*

But, yeah, the shrunken heads were rather annoying and unneccesary and they should have been cut. But JKR seemed to like them, so meh.

[weasley]

The shruken heads were really annoying! They made POA more childish than it should be. It wasn't even funny, I just looked blankly at the screen, trying to fugure out why they were there. It was really a waste of time as they could've put more impotrant things in POA, like the Marauders.

[legstump]

lol nah , they are they are a riot!

Something a bit diffrent, and I just love that Jamican accent!

then again .. my humour is a little off beat!

[LunaFaze]

I couldn't figure out why they would leave out and change specific and important information from the book, yet at the same time conjure up a bunch of shrunken heads!
Tom was also a disturbing deviation from the text. Although I can understand why a director may want to add some light to a dark story, I cannot understand why he thought a shrunken rasta head would help achieve that

[Raven_Girly]

I'm going to be a little bit different and say I quite liked the shrunken heads. No, they weren't in the book (and I usually hate any book to movie changes), but I thought the shrunken heads were a nice addition to the movie. I thought they were kind of funny. It was a good way to add a bit of light humour, especially for hte kids, as this movie is a quite a bit more serious than the previous ones.

[hippogreif]

Think about it...talking, decapitated heads. Wouldn't that be a seriously dark magic item? Wouldn't it be illegal, or at least gruesome? Wouldn't it be more likely behind the counter at Borgin and Burkes' rather than hanging in a public vehicle? Whose heads were they, and why are they hanging everywhere for decor?


That's exactly what I think. Same story with the skulls in Lupin's classroom. They made the whole castle look like a dark place.:sad:

It was a good way to add a bit of light humour, especially for hte kids, as this movie is a quite a bit more serious than the previous ones.


I don't know. They gave me quite a shock and I didn't laugh at all. As a child I would have run away, screaming. I don't think there's anything funny about parts of dead people displayed in public.

As for the three broomsticks: The scene is a complete change to the book (students are allowed in there!!!). And it's the worst scene in the entire movie. There is no reason for the teachers to talk to Rosmerta at all. In the book it's developped more logically. Sigh.... :td:

[godrics hollow]

That's exactly what I think. Same story with the skulls in Lupin's classroom. They made the whole castle look like a dark place.:sad:



I don't know. They gave me quite a shock and I didn't laugh at all. As a child I would have run away, screaming. I don't think there's anything funny about parts of dead people displayed in public.

As for the three broomsticks: The scene is a complete change to the book (students are allowed in there!!!). And it's the worst scene in the entire movie. There is no reason for the teachers to talk to Rosmerta at all. In the book it's developped more logically. Sigh.... :td:
lol tell me about they were the biggest waste of time ever! "lil old lady at 12 o clock 3 - 2 -1 yes!" they couldve cut that and added something worth while

[LunaFaze]

I totally agree. There were these random scenes that were supposed to bring some life to the story, but they ended up being cheesy: The chambermaid, the shrunken heads, the goofing around in the dorm room with the Fat Lady singing. Real parts of the book could have been inserted and ma de more sense and not have been painful to watch

[godrics hollow]

I totally agree. There were these random scenes that were supposed to bring some life to the story, but they ended up being cheesy: The chambermaid, the shrunken heads, the goofing around in the dorm room with the Fat Lady singing. Real parts of the book could have been inserted and ma de more sense and not have been painful to watch

cookies for you because you think the same way i do :p

[Inkwolf]

"lil old lady at 12 o clock"

And that line's ripped-off from Batman Returns, anyway. :evil:

[Lumina]

Tolerable, cheap humor. Overdone on the DVD though, way overdone.

[crazy_megan]

I didn't quite understand why they were in the pub, but I didn't really mind too much. The one on the Knight Bus made me laugh so hard though! JKR made a comment in the interviews that she wished she'd written them into the story because she thought they were such a great idea. I also like how Steve Kloves and Alfonso explained them, saying instead of radios, wizards use shrunken heads on the buses.

All in all I thought they were an excellent touch. The biggest thing I find is that you have to be able to seperate the book from the movie because they are completely different types of entertainment/media. PoA is definately my favourite of the three movies so far because Alfonso wasn't afraid of taken some artistic license with things. PS/SS and CoS were great but I felt they tried too hard to follow exactly what was in the book and it just didn't work. When doing an adaptation you have to change things and move bits around. I think it takes a lot of courage to add things though but when it works, it's brilliant! :)

[snape_sinclaire]

I was okay with the adding of the shuken heads in the beginning. They gave the movie a little bit of humor and I thought that was sort of cool. But then after a few more viewings I found them to be really, really annoying. I know it shouldn't be such a big deal, but I just couldn't stand them anymore!! Especially after watching the interviews on the 2nd disc. I was about to scream, "Please PLEASE stop talking!!!" :grumble:

~Sinc