Heavy duty spoilers for both the book and the movie so click the "Continue reading" link.

I'm kind of wishing I hadn't just finished rereading the book last week. Every deviation from the book threw me off a bit.

Sirius wasn't introduced at the Dursley's... Harry didn't spend any real time at the Leaky Cauldron/Diagon Alley... the Firebolt didn't come in the middle of the year... Hermione and Ron never really fought... they only went to Hogsmeade twice... how Fudge & McGonnagel (sp?) explained the Sirius situation to Rosemerta... Harry seeing Pettigrew on the map and going looking for him after dark... how the Dementors flew... how the Patronus didn't run the dementors down but rather just expanded.....

My biggest problem with the movies though has always been how Hogwarts in general has been portrayed. In my head I've never seen the Hogwarts grounds being so hilly. Everything outside like Hagrid's cabin, the Whomping Willow, etc... just seems to not be right because of it. The entrance to the common room shouldn't have been out in the open like that. And Trelawney's room wasn't anything like it should have been. I think they just go a bit overboard with the magical clutter. Just because they're witches and wizards doesn't mean everybody's a slob, leaving 150 different kinds of magical trinkets around the room.

And even though this was the last of the regular sized books the plot still felt rather rushed. It seemed they were trying to cram a lot of plot into a very tiny number of words and I think it often lead to some awkward phrasing/performances.

All that being said, I really did like the movie. (The Knight Bus part really was well done.) Many of my problems are me judging it based on the movie I thought should have been made rather than just judging the movie that really was made. I had my biases going in and I know it. I'd just like to see it again when I'm a bit more removed from the book.

Orson Scott Card feels as I imagine I would have felt had I not been so distracted.