PotterCast 140: Are YOU Smarter Than John Noe? Transcript

News Talk (0:00 - 13:04)

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MA: Welcome and it’s near the end of February and we're at PotterCast 140.

John Noe (JN): Uh!

MA: Which, believe it or not, means that in only three months, or two and a half months, we'll be at PotterCast 150.

JN: Oh, man we’ll have to do something special and then forget to do it.

MA: (laughs) And then forget to do it. One fifty-six will be our three years. (JN: Really?) Fifty-two weeks in a year.

JN: Do you think we'll ever have 365 PotterCast episodes?

MA: If they do two Deathly Hallows movies, maybe.

JN: Cripe.

Sue Upton (SU): It's possible.

JN: Okay.

MA: (laughs) We all just had a (all laugh) garish glimpse into the future. (SU: Yeah.) (laughs) We're all like, "Oh, really?" (JN: That’s bleak.) Well, welcome. This is PotterCast. The Harry Potter show where we talk about everything Harry Potter, in case we didn't give you enough clues by the name PotterCast and the fact that it's a Harry Potter show. (JN: Everything and more.) (laughs) I'm Melissa, (JN: Yes.) And I'm here with John and Sue and we are ready for a great show. We have another Scribby 5 for you this week. (JN: Whoo!) We have a Bit by Bit, discussing Deathly Hallows and we have the debut, the world premiere of Are you smarter than John Noe?. (JN: Da-da-dah!) Everybody's smarter than John Noe.

SU: Yeah.

JN: We don't know that yet. Thanks. C’mon.

MA: Okay. So, Sue, what's happening in the Harry Potter news world this week?

SU: Well, as of this recording, it has not been officially confirmed, but an author has spilled the beans on who's going to be directing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Looks like Mr. David Yates is going to return, because Lois Lowry- she's a children's author- she was updating her blog and Mr. Yates was in consideration to film one of her books, called The Giver, and she said that he declined in order to direct Deathly Hallows.

JN: Wait. That book? The Giver?

MA: Mm-hm.

JN: That's a really old book.

SU: Yeah. It's a classic.

JN: That one with the old guy's face on the cover and everything? That's all I really remember about it.

MA: I never read it. I'm not sure.

JN: I read it for school.

SU: Yeah.

MA: But I just have to tell you, it's so funny. It just makes me laugh. Because, in the grand multi-billion dollar operation that is Warner Bros., (SU laughs) and the very careful publicity planning, the very careful schedules of announcements, embargos, who knows but can't say, who can't say but doesn't really know anyway, and what happens? Somebody says something to a friend and she blogs about it and it all out there in the open. It makes me laugh! Oh, I love it.

SU: It was incredible, because the person that sent us the tip was an avid reader of this author and this woman had posted thirty minutes beforehand and she sent it right to us.

JN: What if she's lying?

SU: The woman is a children's author. She's a lovely woman.

JN: Oh, so she's infallible? She never lies.

MA: Well, she posted an update.

SU: She's talking about her own movie. She was talking about her own perspective.

JN: Maybe she's trying to draw attention to herself. Like a viral bug campaign (SU laughs) making slanderous remarks.

SU: Like Warner Brothers needs publicity help.

MA: But guys...

JN: No, her own publicity.

MA: Guys, she made an apology. She wrote, "Those of you who read this blog know that a couple of days ago I mentioned that The Giver movie would likely be further delayed because the director wanted to do the final Harry Potter movie first. I had no inkling what a tsunami that would bring on. I have now been alerted that my small bit of non-news is appearing everywhere and as it takes on momentum, it also takes on a life of its own bearing no relation to fact. "Lowry Says Her Film Has Been Screwed By Yates" is a headline someplace. "Harry Potterwebsites have created lengthy postings about it; hundreds of emails have come to me from strangers; I am about ready to change my name and go live in the outback someplace. I have sent an apology to the film producer, who was extremely gracious- more than I deserved- in her reply. I think we tend to forget how quickly the Internet snaps and gobbles when prey is offered. I should have recalled a time some years back, when the author Susan Cooper, who had lived in my neighborhood for years, married Hume Cronyn and moved away. Shortly thereafter, in describing where I live, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to an audience in Charlottesville, Virginia, I mentioned that many writers live in my Cambridge neighborhood. I began to list a few: Robert Parker, Kathryn Lasky, Susan Cooper- then caught myself, and said, "No, sorry, I forgot; Susan's gone now." The next day the word went out- on the Internet- that Lois Lowry had announced the death of Susan Cooper. Of course, I wrote Susan a note of apology and she, like the film producer, was also very gracious. But jeez! Wouldn't you think I'd have learned by now? To me, this blog is like a conversation with a few friends. It always has been. I just schmooze about writing, about my dog and my grandchildren, and often people- strangers, but they feel like pals- send comments and it is all cozy. But today it doesn't feel that way. And today I am abjectly apologizing to everyone in the film industry who has been skewered by increasing misrepresentation of what I thought was a minor, fleeting, and unimportant bit of news from this snowy farm in Maine." Isn't it amazing?

SU: Mm-hm.

JN: Wow.

MA: She just thought she was- (JN: I love the internet.) this, fun fact! Fun tidbit! And then boom!

SU: Yeah.

JN: That's so awesome. (SU: It's- yeah.) So Yates, huh?

SU: So Yates is back. This will be a three-peat for him.

MA: Yes! I knew it! I knew it!

JN: Or a four-peat.

MA: Maybe it'll be four. (JN: Maybe.) I just- yeah. The signs. I hate embargos! I wanna talk! The signs were there, but we can talk about the set stuff when the first trailer comes out, a little bit. And then we'll talk about more later.

SU: But I mean, (JN: Hooray.) I kinda thought it would be Yates all along, I just thought I just made sense, because he just seemed so into it. And if they wanna keep the continuity for the end the way he’s going.

MA: I can't claim Monday morning quarterback on this. I can't say, "I thought so all along," because I thought that three is too much for any one person, but that changed again at the set. Through nothing nobody said, but we'll- just things started to feel that way. You get a feeling, and I didn't see it coming until then, so...

JN: Lucas directed or produced all his Star Wars movies. Peter Jackson did all three Lord of the Rings.

SU: Yeah. Simultaneously too, which is even more miraculous.

MA: Well Yates will have now commandeered the franchise, which is pretty awesome. The end of the franchise. Great.

JN: The Matrix dudes directed all three of those movies.

SU: But still, I think it's good. I think the cast will probably- Dan Radcliffe is always so complimentary about David Yates. It just seemed to me he was really into it, so I wonder if that had a lot to do with it too.

JN: I'll be interested to see if they have to do more contract renegotiations if there's another movie. (SU: Oh, maybe so.) I wonder what the wording of the contract was: to finish the series or to do this amount of more movies.

SU: Well. You know, you hate to think in those terms, especially since they just now settled the writer's strike and Mr. Kloves can get back to doing...

JN: Well I don't think anybody will raise a fuss. I mean Sirius is still dead.

SU: Unfortunately...yeah. Let's hope that if they do the two movies they get it all in. I don't know, we're hopeful, we'll hear about it soon.

JN: I'm sure.

SU: Speaking of producers and all that kind of thing, we did hear from David Barron, who doesn't get as much attention as David Heyman who seems to do most of the talking. But David Barron is also one of the longtime producers on the film, and he gave a new interview where he says, he confirms a rumor that has been floating around on the internet. (makes trumpet sound) That there's going to be a new scene, a pivotal scene, at the Burrow, added to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows film- oh I'm sorry, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film, and it's gonna happen like mid-point. And he said...

JN: I remember reading a little bit about this.

MA: Yeah it got posted in our comments.

SU: Yeah.

JN: It got posted in our comments, on LiveJournal. (SU: Everywhere.) The one LiveJournal was legit. It's something like they're outside the Burrow or something and Bellatrix and Death Eaters show up out of the forest, and they all start firing spells and things and somehow the Burrow catches on fire. (SU: Yeah.) And its like, "Whoa, oh my God, the Burrow's on fire!" and then something happens and I don't remember the rest. (MA: That's the rumor.) That's the rumor (MA whimpers) that you can't say anything about woman because you were there.

MA: Sewing, I'm sewing my lips shut. It sucks.

SU: I know, so- but it's really interesting that they are adding a scene that is not; he says specifically, that is not in the book. But this line cracked me up, "We don't often have things that aren’t in the book. But this was brought in because Jo was able, throughout the quite lengthy book, to keep dropping little snippets of what was happening in the outside world. That would be people reading newspapers, and talking about how somebody's parents was killed, or was withdrawn from the school because their parents didn't think it was safe, and were made aware that the Muggle world was also experiencing these disasters, but they think that the disasters are disasters rather than the work of Voldemort." And so that's how they put it in to show that even in the Burrow, nothing's safe. It should be kind of interesting.

JN: You think they're going to keep the scene with the Muggle Prime Minister? (SU: No.) Can you imagine that cameo, though, if they got that dude to do it?

SU: (laughs) Blair? (MA laughs) He doesn't have anything better to do so he's just gonna show?

JN: No Blair’s gone. It’s a new guy. (MA: He's not. He's not.) What's his name, what's the new Prime Minister? No, yeah, it would be at that time Tony Blair.

MA: Right, at that time, it would be Tony Blair but it's...

JN: What the hell is he doing anyway? He could be in a movie, why not?

MA: I don't know. They can get the guy who played him in The Queen.

SU: Yeah. That would be good.

MA: I don't know. By the way, the Prime Minister's name is Gordon Brown. (JN: Gordon Brown, yeah.) Just before people think that we don't know there are other countries. So (laughs) that’s what Eddie Izzard says, he gets all bent when nobody knows what he's talking about with European countries, and he goes, "Do you know there are other countries?" It's so true, about Americans. I'm sorry. I'm shutting up.

JN: Well it's not like we call our Championship baseball game the World Series.

MA: 'Cause that's not arrogant at all.

JN: (laughs) I know. The whole world and we only play baseball.

MA: Even the Little Leaguers win the World Series in America. (JN: I know.) Okay, I'm sorry. Sue what were you saying?

SU: Just one more little bit about, while we’re talking about Half-Blood Prince, that they've also cast Fenrir Greyback and Amycus Carrow? How do you say that last name?

MA: I guess its Carrow. I always say Carrow.

SU: So those have been cast. I thought that was kind of a coup, that they're having the werewolf. (JN: That'd be neat.) But we learned last week that Phlegm is not in it, so I don't know, it just kind of takes away.

JN: Ah, such a bummer. You would think that they'd jump on that. Stick another pretty girl in the movie; you'd think they would jump all over that.

MA: Eh, they've got enough pretty girls.

JN: Yeah, it's true, but still. (MA: It just seems like a clumsy...) They cast four new old men, toss in another girl.

MA: Well they never introduce Bill, so now you've got to introduce Bill and Fleur, and reintroduce Fleur, and also, (JN: I told you how that would work.) by the way, they get together.

JN: I told you how that would work. (MA: I know.) He returns to the camera and is like, "Oh, Bill Weasley. You're the Weasley's oldest brother. I haven't seen you in forever."

MA: "No, you've found the Chamber of Secrets," or what was it, "The Room of Requirement." Anything else important Suez?

SU: No, nothing new. We haven’t seen any- I was hopeful. We just had Toy Fair, and I just want to say our friends at Figures.com were very nice and pulled toy reviews, and we saw some great new photos of some of the older toys, but nothing new yet, so I know people keep asking, but we're hopeful for new toys.

MA: Well, we have lots more coming up for you on this show in addition to Are You Smarter than John Noe? and another Bit by Bit, we have with us Miss Meg, who will be writing the script for the PotterCast acting troupe, which still is happening people.

JN: Yay! We're gonna hear all about the details for how to audition this week, not making it up, at the end of the show. Hear all about it and what our plans are and how you can be a part of it, and it will be cool.