Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Thank you Mike Newell ... for handing over the directing reigns after your one turn as director. Thank you because while there are good moments here you were able to take my favorite of the Harry Potter books and turn it into my least favorite of the films.
Now I don't want to beat this to death because I know it's obnoxious to see someone push their glasses up on their noses and stuffily assert "the book is better than the movie!" To this point I have tried avoiding that with the Potter films for two reasons. First, it essentially goes with out saying. Second, because the films for the most part are still very watchable.
So, perhaps it's the fact that this one is my favorite and I believe it's ending is the best of the book, but seeing the entire thing including the ending butchered in order to keep the run time down is very disappointing. The book is 250+ pages longer than Azkaban and even after Azakban was released there was some hope the Newell and Warner Bros. would divide the book into two films. No such like though. Instead we get 18 minutes of Yule Ball materiall and less than 5 minutes inside the maze near the end. We also drop the Dursleys, delete an entire character and on a positive note Dobby and the entire house elf sub plot is dropped.
Of all the things to complain about though I think my biggest complaint surrounds the character of Dumbledore. Between the 2nd and 3rd film the role of Dumbledore had to be recast as the original Dumbledore actor, Richard Harris, had passed away. I think most Potter fans prefer Harris's Dumbledore versus the Michael Gambon portrayal. In my opinion, I feel like Harris portrayed Dumbledore like a loving and wise grandfather while Gambon brings a stronger presence to the Dumbledore character. However, as director, it's my opinion that Mike Newell has little to no sense of the character of Dumbledore. In Goblet of Fire we see Dumbledore as foreboding and even somewhat maniacal. Sure the Tri-wizard tournament has grave elements to it and should be taken seriously, but Gambon's performance here would lead me to believe that Dumbledore is looking forward to seeing someone get hurt. Furthermore, there is a scene right after the school champions are announced that has Dumbledore grabbing and pushing Harry in an aggresive fashion. No where in the books or films is Dumbledore scene as such a cold individual and watching it again I just kept thinking to myself this is bordering on being ridiculous.
So, Newell moved on and will hopefully focus on making romantic comedies which is what made him famous and avoid big adventure films. Of course, with Prince of Persia being released to underwhelming reviews it seems that perhaps Mr. Newell needed one more reminder that this genre is not for him.