News: Deathly Hallows Filming Update

Micah: Last piece of news here is some Deathly Hallows filming to update on. We posted not too long ago that filming got underway what looks to be part of the Seven Potters chase scene.

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: But what's odd about it is that it looks like they're filming it on the ground, and it's supposed to be taking place in the air.

Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]

[Matt laughs]

Laura: What?

Andrew: That's upset a lot of people. [laughs] So yeah, like these photos - now the thing to keep in mind is that this doesn't mean the whole journey's going to be on the ground. Maybe this could be like, I don't know, the beginning of it and then they'll go up in the air or something. Because...

Laura: Or maybe they've thrown in some random battle that didn't exist in the book.

Andrew: Yeah. [laughs] I'm just thinking that if - assuming that they are going to film the flying scenes, we're not going to see them filming these anyway, because they need to do them inside studios. And there won't be paparazzi in there shooting that, so I think people shouldn't worry.

Micah: The other weird thing is that they're driving against traffic, so that leads me to believe they're going to be using this in the film at some point.

Andrew: Oh yeah. I didn't notice that. Man, that's going to add some extra fun. Some extra thrills, it's like he made a wrong turn or something.

Micah: Mhm.

Mikey: We're going the wrong way!

Andrew: And there's some shots of Harry turning back and casting spells so it's interesting, interesting. A little worrying but...

Micah: It's probably going to be similar to Order of the Phoenix when they were on the Thestrals flying back and they went through London.

News: Deathly Hallows Cast Update

Andrew: London, yeah. Any other Deathly Hallows news?

Micah: Yeah...

Andrew: Micah?

Micah: Bill Nigh was cast as Scrimgeour during our time off.

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: And it says he starts filming next week in his role.

Andrew: Oh.

Micah: So that should be cool.

Matt: To be honest, did anybody not see this coming?

Andrew: I didn't know who Bill Nigh is, but apparently everyone has...

Laura: Really? You've never seen like Pirates of the Caribbean?

Andrew: I have, but I didn't - who does he play?

Laura: He's Davy Jones.

Matt: It's a remarkable likeness.

Andrew: Oh!

[Laura laughs]

Mikey: What about Shaun of the Dead?

Laura: Yeah, that too.

Matt: Love Actually.

Andrew: I haven't seen that.

Laura: And Hot Fuzz.

Mikey: Hot Fuzz? Come on!

Matt: Underworld!

Andrew: Okay, sorry. I'm not up on my films, stop hating on me. I could just develop Harry Potter rides, that's all I can do.

Laura: [laughs] Avada Kedavra!

[Micah laughs]

Mikey: Flash!

Matt: Waaah!

[Andrew and Laura laugh]

Andrew: No, all I want it to say is, "Severus, please."

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: And then we just fall at the speed of light.

[Matt laughs]

Andrew: And you see Dumbledore's body going down with you in front of you.

[Laura and Mikey laugh]

Laura: Man, that's awful.

Andrew: That would be so cool!

Matt: How would that be cool?

Andrew: Because I love the Tower of Terror at Disney and that's a...

Matt: You want to see some guy plunging down to his death while you're going down with him?

Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, it would make it extra scary!

[Laura laughs]

Andrew: It's quite a thrill.

Mikey: Wow.

Andrew: Anyway, go on, Micah.

News: Tom Felton on Twitter

Micah: And the last piece of Deathly Hallows news is just that Tom Felton has been filming the past few weeks. That's about all I got.

Andrew: Ah, yes. Well that guy is a big Twitter user and he has been Twittering to all of his fans that he has been filming and keeps he talking about how he needs to get his hair bleached and he keeps saying that the scenes are fantastic, so he's really getting everyone excited, I must say.

Mikey: Mhm.

Andrew: Huh.

Matt: Huh.

Andrew: All right, so is that it?

News: Shop Names in the Wizarding World

Micah: Yeah, that's it. I just wanted to add one more thing because we didn't really because we didn't really talk about it, for the Wizarding World, the names of...

Andrew: Yeah.

Micah: ...different shops and restaurants, but they're pretty obvious, I guess you can say, there's nothing really anybody didn't expect.

Andrew: Yeah. That's true. You want to run through them real quick?

Micah: Sure. Shops are Dervish and Banges, Honeydukes, Ollivanders, Zonko's and a place called Owl Post.

[Andrew and Micah laughs]

Andrew: Can you mail letters there, do you think?

Micah: Yeah, just mind yourself while walking because I'm sure there's a lot of...

Andrew: Ohh.

Mikey: Ahh.

[Andrew laughs]

Micah: And restaurants...

Andrew: Hopefully not.

Micah: ...Three Broomsticks, something called Magic Neep...

Laura: What the hell?

Micah: ...and Butterbeer. I'm not a big fan of the last two. I don't think they're as creative.

Laura: Wait, they are calling a restaurant Butterbeer?

Micah: For right now. It's tentative, I guess.

Laura: Okay.

Micah: I hope they change that.

Andrew: Maybe it's just...

Mikey: Maybe it's a bar.

Matt: Maybe it's a vendor.

Andrew: Yeah, maybe it is - oh yeah, that makes sense. What if it's just a vendor?

Laura: Yeah...

Andrew: Like on one of the sidewalks or something. Yeah. Okay. well, thank you, Micah! You are a wonderful news anchor, and we love having you here.

Matt: Goodbye.

Micah: All right, I'm out of here. I'm done for the day.

[Matt laughs]

Announcements: Podcast Alley

Andrew: Time for some announcements! We like to remind you guys about all the stuff going on in the MuggleCast world. Don't forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley, that's PodcastAlley.com. We appreciate your vote over there because it helps us get noticed within the podcast community. Of course, we're at the end of July here, so you know give us a little bump at the end of July but also vote for us in August, since August is right around the corner.

Announcements: Azkatraz

Andrew: Also we were at Azkatraz last week in San Francisco. Mikey wasn't there but - and Micah, for that matter. [laughs] But...

Mikey: Sorry.

Andrew: ...Laura, Matt and I were. [mean voice] It's not okay! No, but we had so much fun meeting the fans, right guys?

Laura: Yeah, it was a really great convention. So many new people too, new convention-goers.

Andrew: Yes, I love meeting new people.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: It was great. And some people we've seen there before. And Eric was there too, as well as Elysa who's been on MuggleCast a few times. So all in all, it was a lot fun. And we did a Leaky Mug with our friends at PotterCast, we did a panel on how to podcast and we did a MuggleCast meet up. All three events were very well attended.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: So thank you so much for everyone who showed up and purchased a T-shirt to help support the show. Keep an eye - we still have MuggleCast T-shirts for sale from Azkatraz, because we didn't sell them all, and we want to still sell them so I think what we're going to try to do is to sell them through the podcast. So if you want a T-shirt, keep an eye on the MuggleCast.com over the next week or so and we'll post details on how to get a shirt if you didn't attend Azkatraz but you still want one. Because we do want to sell them. We'll probably sell them for between fifteen and twenty dollars including shipping.

Matt: Mhm.

Andrew: So, yeah. Keep an eye on MuggleCast.com if you're interested and we can hopefully get you hooked up with a shirt. We had this wonderful designer, Stephanie Falcos. She's a listener of the show and she made these great designs for us, so we can't thank her enough for those.

Matt: Thanks Stephanie!

Announcements: MuggleCast's Four-Year Anniversary

Andrew: Okay and last but not least, our four-year anniversary is actually approaching here on MuggleCast. We started the show August 7th 2005. That's when our first episode came out. So four years ago right around now, Ben, Kevin, and I were planning the show and we were like, "Ahh! How are we going to do this?" And we were watching Laura complain in the forums that she wanted to be on and we were ignoring her. [laughs]

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: So... [laughs]

Laura: Jerks.

Matt: Love you.

Laura: Sexist pigs.

[Micah laughs]

Andrew: So we're going to put up another episode - Episode 178 - maybe within the next one to two weeks and we'll talk a lot about the show over the past four years. So we'd like you guys to send in your favorite memories of the show and how you use and listen to MuggleCast - just e-mail in like - you don't have to e-mail in specific clips but tell us how you've enjoyed the show over the past four years. You know, they could be Chicken Soup-ish or whatever. And we'll read some of those on the next episode and we'll talk about four years of MuggleCast. It's pretty insane to think we've had four solid years now and we'll be entering our fifth year of MuggleCasting! It's pretty solid.

Laura: That's insane, Andrew.

Matt: Aaaahh!

[Laura laughs]

Mikey: That's kind of awesome.

Andrew: It doesn't hurt, Matt.

Matt: Oh, I wasn't hurt. I was excited. Sorry.

Andrew: Oh.

Mikey: That was his excited yell. Can't you tell the difference?

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: No - sort of.

Mikey: I can.

Muggle-mail: Unnecessary HBP Scenes

Andrew: Okay. That's enough for announcements so let's get into some Muggle-mail and this is all about Half-Blood Prince because everybody's Half-Blood Prince crazy right now!

Mikey: [pants] Crazy!

[Andrew laughs]

Andrew: Laura, can you read the first one please?

Laura: Sure.

Andrew: Crazy! Hey!

Laura: The first one comes from Christina Funess, age 21 of Honduras, and she writes:

"Hey guys! Love the show. You guys are great. I just saw the movie yesterday and even though I really liked it and I do think it's the best one yet, I was a little disappointed about certain scenes that were included in the movie and certain scenes from the book that weren't. I just thought the whole scene with the Burrow burning could have been eliminated just because it didn't really make any sense and instead they should have shown the whole battle at Hogwarts between the students and the Order against the Death Eaters. I think the battle is so important in the book and there was no mention of Bill being attacked by Fenrir. So I was wondering what they're going to do with Bill in the Seventh because they have to include the wedding."

Andrew: What did you guys think of this scene?

Matt: Honestly, I don't think it was really necessary.

Mikey: I think it was. And I'm going to take probably the side most people won't agree on this one just because - again I got into the series through the movies, initially, and I think that scene was really important because it really brought out the dread. Because, the Burrow - you really saw Molly, she was the mothering type - and just looking at it from a movie perspective, not a book perspective at all - Molly was kind of something that parents and even kids could relate to because it's like their mom and they're having their house destroyed and being scared. That really puts you in a state of fear of what's really going on because think of the book - the book really is not that scary. It's all about Draco and the Half-Blood Prince's potion book and everything that's going on - you really don't see Voldemort much in the book itself. It's really very isolated to what's going on with - at Hogwarts. Harry's learning a lot about Voldemort but you don't see a lot of what's going on outside. And by having them...

Micah: Yeah.

Mikey: ...destroy the Burrow, you get a sense of fear for what's going on in the world around them. Which without that, I don't think they could have portrayed in the movie by going with...

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: ... what's in the book. Now, we knew because again in the book but that scene was very critical to kind of explain that out.

Andrew: That's basically what David Barren, one of the producers, said at the junket, he said, "The trio are always reading about the fear but we wanted them to experience it." So this was their way of making them experience all the trouble going on around them. So, I - personally I wasn't too much of a fan with the scene either. Micah, what did you think of the scene?

Micah: I didn't really - I kind of agree with Mikey. I didn't really have a problem with the scene. I thought it fit only because - like you just said - they were trying to strike that balance and they did a really good job of it. Obviously, you had the opening attack on London early on and then I think they wanted to kind of continue that throughout the course of the movie as a build up to what was going to happen at Hogwarts, but I didn't - I just didn't really see that much of an issue with it. I know a lot of people had a problem with it. But kind of the other part of her question too, talking about Bill and the wedding that's supposed to happen in the seventh movie - I think that that's going to be there. I don't think it's as critical that they showed him being attacked by Fenrir Greyback though. I think that's one of those things that they can leave out.

Matt: Yeah. I mean they never even put in the movie that Fenrir Greyback was even a werewolf.

Laura: Yeah, he was just kind of hairy.

[Micah laughs]

Laura: The way I felt about this scene was it was a really great scene to behold - just really well put together. It was wonderful to watch. I don't think I would've missed it had it not been there. The only problem I have with it though is that when you really start to pick it apart there certain things that don't make logical sense and these are things that were brought up by a lot of fans. The fact that Harry goes running and all they do is just go, "Harry! No!" Like they don't do anything and then these like spots open in the fire magically for Harry and Ginny to go running through but these other more practiced wizards can't get through the fire.

[Eveyone laughs]

Andrew: Magical spots. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you can't let Dan actually jump through fire. That'd be insane.

Laura: Yeah. That would be too much of a stunt.

Micah: One thing about Greyback though that I thought was interesting - I don't know if anyone else caught it - I thought Lupin, when he first walked outside into the night, I thought he could smell Fenrir Greyback.

Matt: Yeah.

Micah: I thought that was kind of like something that the director put in there that maybe not everybody would get if you hadn't read the book.

[Everyone talk at once]

Matt: Like because you could tell he was sensing something. He knew what he was smelling.

Andrew: Yeah. It was funny when Tonks was like "Oh it's always worse right before the full moon." Or, what'd she say?

Matt: Or "the first phase is always..."

Laura: Well, she was like "The first night of the cycle is always the worst."

[Everyone laughs]

Andrew: That was - you could be a little immature with that statement, that line.

Laura: Yeah, we totally were.

Matt: It's his time of the cycle.

Laura: His time of the month.

Muggle Mail: Dear Warner Bros.

Andrew: Oh poor, poor Lupin. Okay, this next e-mail - I wanted to read this because this was funny. It's sort of like a "Huh?!" - or "Huh?!" - I can't do it anymore. I'm too old for this. But every once in a while people think that we're W.B. like MuggleNet and MuggleCast are Warner Bros. and so sometimes people ask like if they can audition for the movie and they direct it as "Dear W.B." when they're writing to us. But anyway, this one came in just the other day:

"I have no idea why you waited so long to release the 'Half-Blood Prince.' It was very disappointing and most awful. The movies before it were very entertaining and followed the books better. What happened? If there is going to be a follow up with the next movie I hope you go back to the standards you set in the beginning. This one was really awful. It is really sad when you come out of a theater and there are other people speaking their disappointment as well. Well just thought that you should know that this one was 'terribkle' compared to the other 'Harry Potter' movies, even the kids wanted to know what happened."

And this is from Patricia Moore.

Laura: "Even the kids wanted to know what happened?"

Andrew: I - yeah, I have a hard time feeling bad for people like her when she doesn't even know that we're not W.B. It's kind of weird.

Micah: And there's a "k" in terrible?

Andrew: Yeah, not too good of a speller.

Laura: And there's a zero in compared.

Andrew: Just so everybody knows, we're not WB. Yeah she spelled compared with a zero. Com-zero-ared.

Mikey: Well, you know, yeah I can understand people being upset - I'm trying to look at the good here okay? I always do. I can see - I can understand people being upset. I haven't given my feelings on the Half-Blood Prince yet, which we'll get to later. I think definitely - I find it kind of odd that she says this is a lower standard because personally I feel like this is significantly better than Order of the Phoenix for a wide range of reasons but...

Andrew: Me too, and we'll get into that more later. Matt, can you read the next e-mail?

Muggle Mail: Not Enough Snape?

Matt: Yeah. Okay, so our next e-mail comes from Ronnie, 15, from New Jersey and Ronnie writes:

"Hey MuggleCasters - huge fan of the show. I was just wondering what you guys thought about the whole Snape teaching Defense Against Dark Arts scenario. During Dumbledore's speech he announces Snape as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and the Great Hall breaks out in whispers, but that was it. The fact that Snape had finally gotten the teaching position that he'd been after since he first started working at Hogwarts only seemed to matter for 30 seconds and then nobody cared anymore. I think that by showing Snape's classes actually in progress, moviegoers would be able to see more of his bitterness towards Harry rather than just seeing him being a jerk around Hogwarts. What do you think? Does the film do Snape's character any justice without showing him actually teaching? Or could there have been more? Anyway, you guys are totally awesome and Matt your red shoes make me smile. Keep up the awesomeness."

Andrew: I assume she's friends with you on Facebook. Otherwise I don't know how she would know such a thing.

Matt: I guess not. I wear Red Vans by the way. Those are my favorite shoes ever!

Andrew: You're so hip.

Matt: They're cool, okay? You can't deny Vans are awesome.

Andrew: One thing I really enjoyed about the first two movies is that you do see a lot of classroom interaction and yeah, I think it was a time constraint thing as ninety-nine percent of the things going on in these films are. So, I don't know. I missed it, but then again I don't think they needed to put much emphasis on Snape being Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I mean, they had the moment. Dumbledore noted that he's the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher now. Obviously, so Slughorn taking Potions made sense, but I don't think they had to put too much on it.

Laura: Well...

Andrew: And seeing the Potions class in Half-Blood Prince was nice, too.

Matt: Yeah, it was a good scene.

Laura: I also kind of thought that Snape's character did get enough development just because they showed his interactions with Draco and Dumbledore.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: And I think those things were far more important than his classroom presence.

Andrew: True. Yeah, I mean Ronnie was bringing up the whole point, I guess, about just Snape's hatred towards Harry, which we really didn't see in this movie too much. Unless I'm missing something.

Laura: Well, I think so. "You just know."

Matt: "Know."

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.

Mikey: It's been built up already.

Micah: You get a lot of it in the prior films, though, and you can sense how he really feels about Harry from that. I don't really think you needed it in this movie, even though you kind of have that battle going on in the book between Harry and Snape because Harry is supposed to be this great Defense Against the Dark Arts student, and now he's kind of going head to head with Snape in the classroom.

Andrew: Yeah. Yep. Okay, next e-mail. Micah, could you read that? The final one for today.

Muggle Mail: Harry in the Café

Micah: Final e-mail comes from Lara, 21, of Texas, and she says:

"Hey MuggleCast, what did you guys think of the opening scene of 'Half-Blood Prince'? Personally, I thought the whole thing with Harry flirting with that waitress was really out of character. My first thought when I saw that scene was that Harry would never do that. I know they did that scene as a way to open the film without the Dursleys, but for me, the way they had Harry act was extremely off-putting. He just doesn't act like that. Your thoughts? Also, why didn't the pictures in the 'Daily Prophet' move? Other than that first scene, I loved the movie and thought it was a good interpretation of the book. I'd love to hear what y'all think."

Laura: My only problem with this scene was that I don't think Harry would be sitting in a Muggle cafe reading a wizard newspaper. That was kind of dumb.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: But aside from that, I mean come on, he's a sixteen year old boy. Of course he's going to notice a pretty girl.

Andrew: And the other weird thing was...

Laura: Give him a break.

Andrew: ...the pictures in the newspaper stopped moving when she came around and that doesn't happen in the books, right? They keep moving. Because she was like, "I swore I just saw one of them move."

Mikey: Yeah. I don't think she says it about today...

Andrew: But you know...

Mikey: ...she says, "I swear, you know I saw one move like a while ago." Like, you know. Because it sounds like Harry has been to that shop a couple times.

Andrew: Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Mikey: She says, like "The other day."

Andrew: I've got to be honest. The first time I saw the film - like I guess my brain needs to transition between the American accent and the British accent because that entire scene I sat there saying, "What are they saying?" because they were like mumbling in their British accent and my brain hadn't adjusted yet to understanding the accent. I literally could not understand the entire scene.

Mikey: Wow.

Laura: You're so uncultured, Andrew.

Matt: Wow. I know! Exactly! You took the words right out of my mouth, Laura.

Andrew: Is that more sad than funny? Maybe I was just awestruck at seeing the movie, finally, but it was just like - I don't know why I literally could not understand it. I was just like, "What are they saying?"

Micah: I thought leaving the Dursleys out was a big mistake, but...

Mikey: I agree.

Andrew: Me, too.

Micah: ...and I think they could have done a really good job with it - that whole scene between Dumbledore and especially Petunia.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah. That's classic Dumbledore, too, in the beginning there. It would have been great to see that.

Matt: Well, maybe we'll see it in the next movie.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: Oh wait!

[Andrew and Laura laugh]

Main Discussion: Half-Blood Prince Film

Andrew: Well, enough with e-mails. Let's get into our discussion of Half-Blood Prince. There's so much to talk about and we're all really excited to finally get down and dirty with it. Let's just go around and get quick initial reactions from everyone. And we'll start with Matt and Mikey since we haven't heard theirs yet and I guess we haven't heard Laura's yet either because the Leaky Mug hasn't been released yet. Sorry. So, Laura, let's start with you. What are your general thoughts of the film? Tell us, what did you think of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

Laura's Opinion of the Movie

Laura: I have to say first off that I haven't actually genuinely appreciated one of these movies as a film since I saw Prisoner of Azkaban, so this movie was a nice treat for me because I walked out of the theater automatically just like, "Wow, this was a great movie." They did such a good job kind of condensing the story, but also just keeping true to the spirit of the books. It, along with Prisoner of Azkaban, had a lot of things that weren't cannon, a lot of things that weren't in the books. They definitely did take some liberties, but I thought all of the liberties they took were keeping sort of in spirit with the books. And I really appreciated it. Also the foreshadowing was outstanding. I feel like for once in our lives they actually realized there's another book that comes after the story they're telling. So they did a lot of foreshadowing, and I really appreciated it.

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey's Opinion of the Movie

Mikey: My initial reaction was, I liked it. I was a little worried going into it because I didn't like Order of the Phoenix that much. I liked the film but it was probably my least favorite out of all of them. And that was mainly because of David Yates. I didn't feel like he was really that strong of a director.

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah.

Mikey: And before Order of the Phoenix he had done mostly television for the past seven years. But I do think Warner Bros. did a great job deciding to keep him for the rest of the films because you can see how much he's grown as a director in the film. This is a much, much better film, and I'm excited to see him and his Deathly Hallows, both Part I and Part II. I really am happy that he's doing both of those. So the film you know I was worried about going into it, and I walked away satisfied. There's a whole lot - we've kind of touched on - the Dursley's not being in it, the whole battle at the very end with the Order of the Phoenix. There's a lot of stuff missing, but I was still happy. I left it enjoying the film.

Matt's Opinion of the Movie

Matt: Overall I - the first time I saw it I really, really enjoyed it. The second time, I think I enjoyed it even more. The third time, I think I still liked it.

[Mikey laughs]

Andrew: Wow.

Matt: I think...

Andrew: Show off. You're showing off how many times you saw it.

Matt: Honestly though I think what I - what I was most pleased with, with what Laura said - the fact that the foreshadowing was - was great. I think - I think it made a big difference because they actually know what happened in the next book. This is the first movie where the series is actually over with, and they know what's going to happen at the end so it's easier to foreshadow what's going to happen. So they know what to keep in.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: I thought the acting was pretty much the best in all the previous films. Jim Broadbent was hilarious, and I even think Dan was even a lot more funnier in this film than he was before.

Andrew: More funny.

Matt: Yeah, sorry. Funnier.

Andrew: Yes.

Matt: Yes. But the pacing was really good, too. I think that's why I didn't get tired while I was watching it since it was a longer movie. But I thought the pacing was awesome.

Andrew: Micah.

Micah's Opinion of the Movie

Micah: Yeah, I agree a lot with what's been said already. I think there was good balance also, between the comedy and the action and the romance that was in there, I guess. It just did a great job compared to, I guess, Order of the Phoenix. But really all of the other movies that came before it. I thought, for me it was my favorite movie so far, and that's really all I have to say. Everyone else made pretty good points.

The PG Rating

Andrew: Yeah. I won't be redundant either. I basically echo everyone's sentiments. Do you guys think - and we don't have to spend much time on this because we've beaten it to death: the rating. Everyone was surprised when it got a PG rating. Do you think it deserved the PG rating? I'm going to go right out there and simply put yes, it deserved the PG rating because it was a lot of romance, and it really balanced out the darkness and made it very family friendly, I thought.

Laura: Yeah, and also there were some scenes they were very cautious with, with some of the violence. Particularly, the beginning with the bridge. You notice everybody managed to make it safely off the bridge.

Andrew: [laughs] Right.

Laura: And then, of course, there's the whole thing with Draco where he's - I mean he definitely bleeds, but I think - I don't remember who brought up this point, but the spell cuts his skin but not his shirt...

Andrew: Oh, yeah.

Laura: ...so you don't actually see any of the wounds, you just see blood.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: So they were very cautious with some of the violence, I think, this time around.

Andrew: I think it's fair to say that was the most gory scene.

Mikey: Yeah.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: Right? And it was pretty nasty, seeing the blood flow into the water.

Laura: Oh totally.

Scariest Scenes: Katie Bell and the Necklace

Andrew: What I - what I was going to ask though was what do you guys think was the most surprising - the most, I guess darkest, scariest scene? What was the most - what was the scariest scene?

Micah: Katie Bell.

Mikey: Yeah.

Matt: That was pretty freaky...

Andrew: You think so?

Matt: Yeah.

Micah: That, or...

Laura: That really - I don't know...

Micah: Or the Inferi.

Laura: When I saw that - when I saw the Katie Bell thing in the trailer, I thought it looked really weird. I thought it looked like something from The Grudge.

[Micah laughs]

Laura: And I still thought that when I saw the movie. I was like, "What is this?"

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: Well, she's cursed.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: I mean, it's not out of the ordinary for anybody.

Laura: But it wasn't scary. It looked really fake.

Matt: Well, was she supposed to like turn her head 360 degrees and then start spitting pea soup?

Laura: No, but I mean just like the mouth thing - her mouth was just unnatural. I don't know. It just looked very odd, I thought.

Andrew: I think - I agree, a couple of you guys said the - the Inferi. I think that was the most shocking and that was the scariest moment. Because you knew they were going to come out of the water, but you didn't know when. You know - it's that classic movie trick they do on you. And the funny thing about it in Half-Blood Prince was that you thought you knew when it was coming, but it was like a half second later than you expected.

Laura: Yeah. [laughs]

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: So that's really what shocked everyone. And it's one of those moments where the entire theater shakes to life.

Matt: Oh, god. It was so fun to watch, too.

Andrew: Yeah.

Matt: Especially if you knew it was coming.

Mikey: You've also got to remember the Inferi - we're calling the Inferi the scariest part right here that would bump it to a PG-13 rating - that's the same - the Inferi look very similar to - they're not identical - but very similar to The Pirates of the Caribbean when they went through the moonlight. The same thing - it was very scary, dead type look. So, like...

Matt: You know, I was thinking actually, Mikey, the Inferi looked Sort of like the Dead Marshes from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Mikey: Well that's what I was thinking. But I'm comparing it - well, Lord of the Rings is not PG-13 - or PG. Is it?

Matt: Yeah, that's right. No - it's PG-13.

Mikey: But I'm comparing it to Pirates of the Caribbean, a Disney film that is PG.

Matt: It's PG-13.

Mikey: Is Pirates of the Caribbean PG-13? I thought it was PG.

Matt: No, I think it's PG-13.

Mikey: Oh, maybe I'm wrong. I'm probably wrong. Of course I am. I'm going to look it up. I could have sworn it was PG.

Dumbledore's Death

Micah: The only other thing would be Dumbledore's death and that really wasn't even graphic.

Andrew: It wasn't gruesome. Yeah, yeah.

Laura: Yeah, I don't know - I thought they played that down a bit from the book. I mean, in the book you have Dumbledore sort of laying there and this description of how he's sort of at odd angles because clearly he's broken several bones by falling. And there was blood trickling out of his mouth in the book and all this other stuff. But in the movie it was very clean, you know.

Matt: Yeah, well didn't it say he looked like a rag doll?

Laura: Yeah.

Matt: Yeah.

Laura: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah, it was just sad in my opinion.

Laura: Yeah.

David Heyman's Reaction to the PG Rating

Micah: Andrew, didn't you interview someone. I can't remember who it was but they said they were shocked that the MPAA gave it a PG rating?

Andrew: Yeah, Heyman was. I mean, David Heyman the producer. He was pretty shocked when he was like, "What the hell is this?" So, but I get it now! It makes sense to me. And as corrupt as the MPAA are - it's just, you know, parents rating movies - I think that it made sense. It was a very - it was a very happy film. At - at the same time it was a very sad and dark one. But I think the happiness really turned it into more of a family film - the love stuff, like I said earlier.

Micah: Yeah, well I think it could have got a PG-13 for some of the suggestive stuff that was done in those scenes as well.

Andrew: Oh, yeah definitely.

Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: I'm on the fence at this point.

Mikey: I was wrong about The Pirates of the Caribbean. It was PG-13, of course.

Andrew: How dare you, Mikey.

Mikey: I know, I know. I don't do my homework before I come on the show.

Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn

Andrew: Okay, well, there - there were a couple new characters as well, that we should definitely talk about. Most notably, Jim Broadbent as Slughorn and Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown. Let's start with Jim Broadbent. What did you guys think of Jimmy boy?

Laura: He was brilliant.

Andrew: He's...

Matt: I love Jimmy.

Andrew: What were your favorite scenes with him?

Laura: Oh man. I really enjoyed the memory scenes with Tom Riddle.

Mikey: Yeah.

Andrew: Yeah.

Laura: Those were just awesome. [laughs]

Andrew: Yeah, I think overall those scenes - the memory scenes - were particularly my favorite. Jim Broadbent was awesome. And also the guy who played teenage Tom Riddle - he was fantastic!

Laura: Yeah.

Micah: Yeah.

Laura: He was so creepy! Oh my God.

Andrew: Yeah. And he was so smooth, and so elegant, and - oh it was awesome.

Mikey: So Voldemort.

Laura: I liked him better than Christian Coulson. Or whatever his name is.

Mikey: Me too.

Andrew: Yeah, that's right. Christian Coulson is a joke compared to this guy.

Mikey: Uh huh.

Andrew: He was just creepier and he filled the role more. It was just - really pleasantly surprising seeing these new characters really stand out. Anything else to say about Jim Broadbent? Any other favorite scenes?

Matt: I think it was really funny at Aragog's funeral.

Andrew: Yeah, that too. [laughs]

Micah: Was the story that he told about Lily - was that in the books or was that added into the film?

Laura: No - no it wasn't - that was added.

Matt: No - that was added.

Micah: Because I like that story a lot.

Laura: Yeah, that was just another thing that I really thought was in keeping with the spirit of the story. I thought that was really well done.

Andrew: Yeah. Totally.

Laura: You know what I really liked about Jim Broadbent though is that when - when you look at him physically he's not Scrimgeour. Or not Scrimgeour - excuse me - Slughorn. I'm sorry, too many 'S' names.

Andrew: Yeah, it's okay.

Laura: He's not Slughorn, but in character he is. He just nailed it.

Andrew: Yeah.

Mikey: Yeah.

Andrew: Okay.

Laura: He's not Slughorn, but in character he is. He just nailed it.

Andrew and Matt: Yeah.

Andrew: And I think when the first photo of Slughorn came out, I remember people saying, "Well, he's not - he's not fat enough" or "He's not plump enough."

Matt: Well, that - that reminds me a lot of what they said about Imelda Staunton, too, when she played Umbridge.

Laura: Mhm.

Andrew: Yes. Yeah.

Matt: But they both nailed it.

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