5, The new dumbledore was absolutely hopeless and I find it somewhat insulting that they just through in a relative look-alike and tried to disguise him with a long beard... That's lacking in respect, immensely in my opinion.
i agree with your comments about gary oldman. he's better than that.
your comments about dumbledore are interesting.
i don't think they cast michael gambon simply because he's a look-a-like (i don't think he looks like richard harris at all). i think he was cast because of his acting talent - his work in the cook, the thief.. and the singing detective was excellent.
the old dumbledore had a beard. i don't think it was a disguise - it's just continuity of character.
richard harris owned the part but how could the film makers have paid more respect? it would be hard for anybody to step into harris' shoes in that part but i feel that michael gambon had to find a compromise of carrying on the part of dumbledore as seamlessly as possible while leaving himself an opportunity to make the role more his own over the next 3 (or more) movies. under the circumstances, i think he did a fine job.
who else would you have considered casting?
