Pottermania! Episodes Four and Five ("Time is making fools of us again.")

Thanks to circumstances unseen, i'm combining Episodes four and five on this one post. I'll have Half-Blood Prince up later in the afternoon and hopefully, ET and I will give a detailed review on Deathly Hallows - Part I later tonight, but for now, here's Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire won't be remembered for being the first entry that was slapped the PG-13 rating by the MPAA, of the first time a Brit director, Mike Newell, helmed the series, or even how narrow escapes and tragic losses become a part of the theme for movies 5-7 Part I. Nope, when people talk about Goblet, it will be because the film marked the first appearance of Edward Cullen, before he makes the move to Forks, Washington and falls in love with Bella Swan.

Unlike the first three movies, where the most exhilirating sequences have either come from a Quidditch match, killing a basilisk, or fighting off a swarm of Dementors, Goblet of Fire is an action picture from start to finish. As Harry enters his fourth year at Hogwarts, the school plays host to the Tri-Wizard Tournament (think of a cross between the Olympics and any varsity high school team you remember watching in your high school days), a series of three dangerous tasks that challenge the magical abilities of the witch or wizard competing. The catch? You have to be 17 or older to compete, which, for the first time during his time at Hogwarts, Harry may be able to have a quiet year without having to put himself in mortal danger, which, of course, is not going to happen. He is chosen as a fourth champion for the games, alongside Fleur Delacour (Clemency Posey) of Beauxbatons, the famous Bulgarian Seeker Victor Krum of Durmsrang, and Hogwarts own Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson). Harry is expected to get past a nasty Hungarian Horntail, a lake filled with killer mermaids, and a maze that changes frequently and without warning, the Cup waiting somewhere in the midst of the danger. These actions sequences are thrilling, rousing spectacles which helps the series get in touch with its inner-Indiana Jones.

As the film progresses, Harry stares down two great villains: one being the resurgence of the sinister Lord Voldemort (Ralph Finnes), with means to finish Harry off and take over the Wizarding World. His dialogue in the graveyard with the Death Eaters and Harry is downright chilling, as only Finnes can deliver, playing a voliatle protagonist before with chilling demanor as Amor Goeth in Schindler's List). The other lurks into the halls of Hogwarts, and into the life of Harry: adolescence. Attraction of the opposite sex has taken hold of many of the classmates, Harry, Ron, and Hermione in particular. It's funny to hear Harry admit that he'd rather go another round with a dragon than try and ask out Cho Chang, or any girl from the Beauxbatons academy for girls; also equally stunning to see Hermione all dressed in pink and heartbreaking to see her crying after the dance after her and Ron have "words".

In the first two movies, Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets feel like we're watching something off of the Hollywood assembly factory - sure it beats most of the fantasy films that have tried to cash off of the success of the Potter movies (I'm looking at you, Narnia, Percy Jackson, and Twilight) - but it still felt bland and the typical, run-of-the-mill blockbuster. Azkaban ditched the assembly-line feel and gives the viewer an indie-art house vibe to match the darker undertones and surprising maturity. Goblet deftly combines the Hollywood blockbuster with a genre-bending feel. The influences the movie pays homage to - from Indiana Jones, to John Hughes coming-of-age movies, to the mystery and suspense of a Hitchcock thriller - are unmistakable and are blended together so well, that the end result makes it the most exciting and enjoyable Potter picture of the series.

Order of the Phoenix, the fifth chapter in the Harry Potter series, took some major heat from the critics. At 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is the weakest reviewed movie of the lot, which is saying something, with the fact that there hasn't been a godawful movie of he bunch. In their criticism has been the performance of debut director David Yates and the uneasiness he had with translating the longest book in the series into one of the shortest movies, at a running time of 139 minutes. Fair point, and it is for this very reason why Order of the Phoenix comes off a missed opportunity: Rowling's 5th novel was an excellent and subtle meditation of the world, post 9/11, disguised as a more somber coming-of-age tale of friendship and morality.

The arc of the story - Fudge, the Mister of Magic, doing everything in his power to silence Harry and Prof. Dumbledore from warning everyone that Lord Voldemort has returned again, beveling it's all a ploy by the Hogwarts headmaster to take his job - draws lines to Nixon and how his increasing paranoia for the competition lead him to have goons break into the DNC headquarters of the Watergate hotel in '72, and Bush Jr. and his band of thugs altering the voter count in Florida back in 2000. The lengths Fudge is willing to go in order to shut the pair up - from placing Dolores Umbridge in charge to act as a mole for the Ministry, to BS-ing stories of mass breakouts from the wizarding prison Azkaban and random disappearances of various citizens - highlights the incompetence of a president who is clearly in over his head. And the way Umbrdge slowly acquires power through Educational Degress, threatening staff with firings for disloyalty to the Minister of Magic, and harsh techniques used on students who step out of line or simply for questioning the actions of a few, this highlights certain members of the Bush Administration and their lockstep followers personified: Cheney and his baseless disregard for the rule of law, Rumsfeld and Gonzalez giving the green light on torturing enemy combatants to extract information on terrorists, and right-wing pundits calling the opposition un-patriotic and un-American for criticizing a sitting president. These themes are present in the film version, but they only skim the surface, instead of being a big part of the story.

However, what the filmmakers lacked in bringing that arc of the story to a more central role, the movie makes up for in remembering the heart of the story, which is Harry's inner conflict with his emotions, and Voldemort trying to access his mind and manipulate his dreams (so this is where Christopher Nolan found his inspiration for Inception...), and the overall growing pains he goes through, transitioning from the boy in the closet we first see in Book One, to a young man facing down the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries with his friends from Dumbledore's Army. Speaking of DA, that's the plot of movie five in a nutshell: Umbridge has been sent to the prestigious school to as a mole at the request of the ministry and does her best to keep the students in the dark by teaching them nothing about Defense of the Dark Arts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to create an alternative group as a means to teach students how to defend themselves against dark wizards, Voldemort and the Death Eaters, in particular. Probably the best thing about this installment is the villain herself - Imelda Staunton is nothing short of brilliant as Umbrdge, a cross between Cheney and Margaret Thatcher, all parts wicked and pure bitch. Another Brit newcomer to the series, the lovely Helena Bonham Carter, plays Bellatrix Lestrange, You-Kno-Who's right hand woman. She has little screen time in this one, but she plays her like the seductive, insane loyalist that J.K. portrays her as. Best of all is the action sequence in the Department of Mysteries, in three parts: the first between the members of Dumbledore's Army - Nevelle (Matthew Lewis, no longer used as comic relief), Ginny (Bonnie Wright), and the eccentric Luna Lovegood (a delightful Evanna Lynch, sp?) squaring off against Bellatrix, Lucius, and the rest of the Death Eaters; the second when the Order shows up to aid Harry and friends; and lastly, the fight between Voldemort and wise old Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). All three action sequences are captured by Yates almost in a verite-like style and the end result is an exciting and very somber 40 minutes, in which Harry loses his beloved godfather in the firefight.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may not be the best in the series, but it does toe the line on the dark cloud that is slowly coming, and the performances - both by the young actors and the veteran British cast - continues to be a hallmark of the series.

Pottermania! Episode Three

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban marks a transition on numerous levels. The protagonists are in their last year of Hogwarts "middle school," so to speak, poised to make their move forward into the true throes of adolescence. The overall tone of the series shifts to an even darker place with the addition of the spectral Dementors. An aura of things hidden emerges with the Marauder's Map and its revelations, like unveiled clues in a mystery novel. And from the classroom exercise with the Boggart-occupied wardrobe, to Harry's efforts to successfully conjure a Patronus, to the transformations of Remus Lupin and the untruths surrounding Sirius Black, nothing can quite be counted on to be what it seems to be on the surface. This leaves the Year Three Hogwarts students with an exponentially treacherous maze to navigate.

Azkaban is the first of the films where the questions become more internal than external - less the mechanical issues of how do we get out of the Devil's Snare trap or open the Chamber of Secrets, but who can and can't we trust, and why. It's important to note that baddie-in-chief Voldemort does not figure prominently in any respect (his duties are instead relegated to the Dementors, irredeemably nasty soul-suckers that they are). He is referred to, peripherally, by the likes of Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail, but we do not see Voldemort in his full flower again until Goblet of Fire. And, in a way, this is appropriate. The transition to the next stage is a knotty and treacherous one for any child at this age, and the absence of Voldemort as a clear and present foil amplifies the uncertainty, leaving the trio of friends largely unmoored from a safe haven (even one defined by the active presence of an enemy) and increasingly in a position where they have to depend on themselves and one another.

Depending on one another, though, is no longer as simple as it once was. Azkaban introduces a heightened level of tension between Harry, Ron and Hermione, often expressed in the form of impatience and temper. You could say that Hermione's time-turner is a metaphor for everything our heroes are going through. They're burning the candle at both ends, literally and figuratively: taking action in multiple places at multiple times, and riding the tide of events that they don't fully understand but are, somewhat unfairly, being required to confront and cope with. The straightforward hero's quest motif of mostly ordered, escalating trials and challenges prevalent in the first two stories is completely upended here into the realm of the unpredictable. Imagine George R.R. Martin (the writer who has given us the world of Game of Thrones) and Agatha Christie teaming up to novelize the labors of Hercules, and you have a beginning...

It's a storytelling evolution that Alfonso Cuarón's directorial style is ideally positioned to mesh with. From the outset and throughout the film, his images are shrouded in mist and in mystery, atmospheric and evocative, with perhaps the only disjointed and endlessly repeated element the slow fades when Harry loses consciousness, a technique that I found lost its impact exponentially with each use, seeming more contrived than in the service of the story. Apart from that one tonal miscue, though, Cuarón captures ideally the driving force behind the Azkaban story: personal relationships and the levels of deception/reception we allow them to encompass.

This comes to a head as Harry finally conjures his essential, game-changing Patronus. Aware that he has nobody to depend on but himself, past or present, he digs down to his essential core and delivers.

At the same time, I don't want to give the many moments of humor in Azkaban short shrift. They range from delights like Harry's Leaky Cauldron stand-off with the Monster Book of Monsters to the almost-slapstick of Lupin's students queuing up to take on the Boggart's cabinet - Snape in drag as Neville's grandmother is worth the price of admission all by itself, as is the Weasley twins' bequeathing of the Marauder's Map to Harry or his confrontation with Snape in the Hogwarts corridor, compelled in an ironic moment to tell Snape exactly what the map - and he - really think! Cuarón evinces brilliant timing in allowing these moments to surface spontaneously amid otherwise tension-filled sequences - think Hermione urging Buckbeak to "come and get the nice dead ferret!" - lending the scene a dark but not hopeless humor appropriate to the story.

Azkaban's final legacy, though, is that it is the film which marks the point at which negative consequences begin to be part of our heroes' adventures. In the first two films, the comeuppances of Quirrell and Lockhart are deservedly earned, and pure justice is served. But in Azkaban, Lupin's resignation is the result of collateral damage and an anti-werewolf whispering campaign. Our trio has taken their first steps into a more adult wizarding world where cause and effect make for an imperfect equation, and nothing is fair. This is a much more sophisticated and complex message that will be brought home smartly in the subsequent installments, both written and cinematic.

Pottermania! Episode Two

With just a week to go until the release of the final Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part II, ET and I are looking back and review all the HP movies, from The Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's for us Yanks) to Part I. Today, it falls upon me to review and look back on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second chapter in the saga, and probably the weakest of the lot.

Here's an analogy for ya'll who have never watched the second film to the series: Chamber of Secrets is to Harry Potter as Attack of the Clones is to Star Wars: both movies are considered the weakest entries to the series, and both have their share of problems, with one big difference separating the two entries, but more on this later. Chamber of Secrets actually begins with promise: there's a more menacing tone which occasionally rises to the surface of the movie, especially when Harry experiences Floo Powder for the fist time, and with near disastrous results as he ends up in Knockturn Alley. This simmering of darkness continues as Potter is transported to the past with the help of a former Hogwarts student who's been able to preserve himself in the pages of a diary for nearly half a century, and witnesses Hagrid's shameful past brought to life as a former student of the school's walls. The movie itself feels more thrilling and nervier than its predecessor, like the film's rousing Quidditch match, as our young hero has to juggle beating Malfoy from catching the Golden Snitch and dodging a bludger that's gone south on his British ass. And two new characters add depth to the already impressive talent of British actors. As Gildory Lockhart, the ego-driven author and new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Kenneth Branagh is a delight to watch on screen. Watching him teach the class about Cornish Pixies and having them go hog-wild on him is devilishly fun. The other new character is Lucius Malfoy, played with subtle scumbaggery by Jason Issacs. His scene where he meets Potter and friends for the first time in a bookstore makes you see the internal wounds inflicts on everyone without hamming it up for the audience. Lastly, there's a sense of comradeship between the three leads - Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint as Ron, and Emma Watson as Hermione - a bond which becomes more fun and poignant as the series progresses.

Having said all that: many of the problems that appeared in Philosopher's Stone are still present in Chamber of Secrets: director Chris Columbus and screenwriter Steve Kloves take a hat-in-hand approach to adapting the novels: It really feels as if we are watching a near word for word retelling of the novel, rather than either person giving off their vision for the movie. The pacing suffers as a result, and Chamber drags on for almost three hours. The simmering darkness that came through in certain scenes in the film never really burst out, they're sprinkled in there as a tease for the audience. As soon as we become more interested, the movie switches back to its candy-assed version, where everyone's performing magic and either Ron or Nevelle do something funny with magic that gets either student into hot water. The last scene where Hagrid returns to the Great Hall, which starts as a soft golf clap but quickly becomes a thunderous applause from the students, is saccharine overkill.

Yet at the end of the day, despite the film's biggest flaws, Chamber of Secrets leaves Potterheads at King's Cross, only wishing for the next train back to Hogwarts. Its more disappointment, rather than disaster, unlike Attack of the Clones, which was a clusterfuck all the way up until the last leg, where we're spared 35-40 minutes of terrible dialog and become involved in the rescue of Obi Wan, Anakin and Padme which quickly becomes the first battle in the Clone Wars. Also, Harry was never a whiny, complaining little bitch, unlike Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker.

Pottermania! Episode One

In the run-up to the release of the final film in the Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, fellow correspondent Jonathan suggested that we team up to offer our recaps and thoughts on the prior films in the series. As it falls to me to provide the launch, I'll kick things off with my plot synopsis and review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone.

We first meet put-upon orphan Harry in his under-stair cupboard "room" at 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Harry is under the care, so to speak, of his odious uncle and aunt, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and endlessly bullied and marginalized by their spoilt son Dudley. A surprising conversation at the zoo with a snake, a seemingly-endless spate of owl-delivered letters, and the umbrella-wielding appearance of an apparent giant combine to announce Harry's 11th birthday news: he's a wizard. And, not only that, his is the most famous name in the wizarding community, as he is miraculously the only one to have survived a direct attack by the legendary and deadly wizard gone bad, He Who Must Not Be Named, Lord Voldemort. And it's time for him to go to school.

Hagrid whisks young Harry off to Diagon Alley to purchase his school supplies - wands and owls and robes being ever so much more interesting than notebooks and protractors - and thence to King's Cross Station, where he boards the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9 3/4 for the journey of a lifetime. On board he meets those who are to come to be his truest friends: ginger-haired Ron Weasley of the eclectic and decidedly non-aristocratic Weasley family, and the bookish Muggle-born prodigy Hermione Granger.

What follows is a whirlwind of introduction to Wizarding 101 as the first-year students are sorted into their Hogwarts Houses and begin their studies: potions, transfiguration, broom-riding, and the always-daunting Defence Against The Dark Arts curriculum. Along the way the trio encounters a mysterious forbidden area in Hogwarts Castle that appears to sport a series of traps awaiting those who would seek the prize it conceals: the Sorcerer's (or, for UK and Canadian audiences, Philosopher's) Stone, which confers immortality on its bearer. The half-alive Lord Voldemort obviously has a desperate need for such a magical artifact, and at the climax of the conflict Harry alone stands in his way. The storyline ends with Voldemort's temporary setback, the solidification of Harry's friendships with Ron and Hermione, the benevolent mentoring of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and the promise of more adventure to come.

The filmed version of Book One in the franchise has been given short shrift as being only competently directed and acted, lacking some of the heights of dramatic tension achieved in the later installments. I think it's important for us to remember that one of the primary goals of the first film in the series was to establish the world in which the current and then future stories would be told. In the science fiction realm this is known as world-building, and it requires a certain amount of explication that doesn't necessarily lend itself to high drama. Hence the moving staircases, the introduction to Quidditch, the Mirror of Erised, the forest beyond Hagrid's hut, and the freshly-hatched dragon's egg. We need to touch all of these elements to get a sense of the environment in which we're operating. On a certain level, the first film is like a guided tour bus showing us the highlights of the Hogwarts world. We hop on, and we hop off, but we never delve too deep.

Let us remember, too, that the three core point-of-view characters anchoring us to the narrative are pre-teens. The first story in the sequence, more than any of the others, is meant to be viewed through childhood eyes. And, if you ask me, this film achieves that goal well. The challenges faced by Harry, Ron and Hermione on their journey to seek out the Stone are perfectly scaled to their age and comparative lack of sophistication. Each of them has a challenge to meet, and they meet them on a childhood-appropriate level. It's intended to be and is executed mainly as a kid's film, at the end of the day, but I think it gives adults enough in terms of production values, storyline, and gorgeous supporting performances by the likes of Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris and Robbie Coltrane to also keep the moms and dads satisfied.

The John Williams score is, perhaps, a little too "twee" on the whole, though you can't deny the man's talent for establishing a musical motif. And the atmospherics are there, whether you're looking at a pajama-clad Harry gazing out his Gryffindor tower window, loyal Hedwig at his side, contemplating the future; or the kids braving a real-life version of Wizard's Chess where the stakes go well beyond the gameboard.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone, in my view - while not a standout in filmmaking or performance terms - represents a worthy launch to the franchise, laying the necessary groundwork for more complex narratives and more character-driven stories to be built upon its foundation.

Part II. 7-15.

The Beginning of the End

I'll be at the midnight premier of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I tonight, and i'll have my review of the movie and everything else tomorrow or by the weekend.

Deathly Hallows Part 1 Watch

Some news on the Part I in the two-part finale of Harry Potter:

1. New character banners were released two days ago of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Snape, Voldemort, Bellatrix, and Greyback.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 has gotten the PG-13 rating by the MPAA...to that, I say: duh! It's not going to be R because the base would revolt against the decision, and PG would give the sign that the filmmakers tamed the action that comes with Part 1.

3 (and this one's my favorite). It's not going to be in 3D...Part I, at least won't be.

As you can clearly see, I am geeking out...hard.

Part II will start on Chapter 25, page 502

At the end of Chapter 24 of Harry Potter and the Deatly Hallows, Harry has a vision of Lord Voldemort visiting Dumbledore's grave, destroying his tomb, and stealing the Elder Wand, making him more powerful and more dangerous than ever before. According to Entertainment Weekly, that's where the audience will probably see the "To Be Concluded" card and wait in total anticipation for Deathly Hallows Part II, due out July 15, 2011.
I can't wait.

Another nerd alert!

At Banned and Dangerous, the Count, ET and I have ranked the best and worst of the Star Wars saga, and the Count has listed the best and worst of the James Bond series, so in honor of ABC Family's Harry Potter weekend event (and to get the dork out of my system), I am listing all the Harry Potter movies from best to worst.

1. Prisoner of Azkaban - After the candy-assed approach Chris Columbus took with Sorcerer's Stone & long-winded Chamber of Secrets, Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron leaves his mark on the series that future directors Mike Newell and David Yates would start from, and it's one of the definitive sequels made in the last decade (right behind The Two Towers and The Dark Knight). Under Cuaron, it feels like we're watching a real movie and not some Hollywood product. The visual effects -- from the way Harry takes off on a hippogriff (cross between horse and eagle), to the frightening nature of the Dementors, soulless creatures that patrol the wizard prison Azkaban -- look and feel as if they're apart of the HP universe; they're not simply there to just to look at them and say, 'wow!' Daniel Radcliffe comes into his own and shows emotional depth and grace into Harry's growth as a teenager, Gary Oldman is both hardened and haunting as Sirius Black, the escapee from the wizard prison and convicted mass murder, and David Thewlis is excellent as Professor Lupin, Harry's personal tutor in fighting the dreaded Dementors, who carries a terrible secret of his own. **** stars out of ****

2. Half-Blood Prince - Don't be fooled by the 6th installment's PG-rating, or the ever-brilliant comedic timing of Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley as he becomes the plaything to a clingy Lavender Brown. Half-Blood Prince brings a new element; something the last 5 Potter movies weren't -- emotionally bleak. In PoA, GoF and in OttP, there was a seamless transition from light to dark. Here, you can't shake this atmosphere of impending doom that will change everyone at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Credit Yates for bringing a more confident feel for J.K. Rowling's vision and story this time around, and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel for his poet's eye for capturing the breaching darkness around the Wizarding World. Harry and Professor Dumbledore (the great Michael Gambon, who resembles Gandalf right down to the beard in this one) are unlocking the history of Lord Voldemort in order to find a weakness that could vanquish the Dark Lord, meanwhile You-Know-Who himself has recruited Draco Malfoy in a sinister plot that could break his soul. All of the British-led cast step their game up, notably Helena Bonham Carter playing Voldemort's right-hand woman Bellatrix Lestrange with equal parts simmering sexiness and menace, the always reliable Alan Rickman as Severus Snape and Tom Felton, giving the rat-bastard bigot a touching vulnerability he never though he had. **** stars out of ****

3. Goblet of Fire - I like to refer to Goblet of Fire as the movie where Harry gets in-touch with his inner Indiana Jones: He dodges the attacks of the Death Eaters, fights a dragon that goes south on his British ass, he rescues his friends from a watery grave, tries to find his way out of a shape-shifting maze without losing his sanity, and duels with the rebirth of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (a scary Ralph Finnes). Most people will refer to this exciting chapter of the Potter movies as the first appearance of Edward Cullen, before he makes the move to Forks, Washington, falls in love with a girl who's just as pale and shallow as he, and rakes in big bucks from teenage girls and MILF's. Rant aside, GoF is the first Potter picture to receive the PG-13 rating and the first to be directed by a former Brit (Mike Newell), but it's the the onset of another villain -- adolescence -- and how Harry, Ron, and Hermione (Emma Watson) deal with it, that makes for great viewing. *** 1/2 stars out of ****

4. Order of the Phoenix - No. 5 gets tons of shit from critics and fans for being less whimsical and magical and for hiring a filmmaker who's previous stints include BBC made to TV films Sex Traffic and State of Play. Fair points. David Yates doesn't completely transfer the political and social mediation of the state of constant panic and fear-mongering after 9/11 Rowling was writing about, imo, but he brilliantly captures Harry's fears, his nightmares of Voldemort and how adolescence continues to fuck with his heart and emotions, and shoots the battle sequence in the Department of Mysteries with flare and excitement. And Imelda Stanton was all parts mirth and menace as Dolores Umbridge, the mole planed in by the Ministry to spy and report to the Wizarding government. *** stars out of ****

5. Sorcerer's Stone - The movie that started it all. Critics say that the first entry joins such classics like A New Hope and The Wizard of Oz of fantasy adventure movies. I'll give 'em that. But essentially the movie drags like it's a Comet 260 instead of soaring like Harry's Qudditch broomstick, the Nimbus 2000. The visual effects look tacky and don't quite blend into the surroundings, and Chris Columbus is too faithful to the material. What saves the day is the charm the three young leads (Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson) have, the magic the film's smaller moments have (Harry looking into the Mirror of Erisad, the Quidditch match between bitter rivals Gryffindor and Slytherin) and John William's now-timeless "Hedwig's Theme", along with the rest of the score. *** stars out of ****

6. Chamber of Secrets - Fans complained about Hermione's House Elf Liberation Front not making the final cut in GoF. I, for one, am happy it didn't because we would have to suffer through the Jar-Jar Binks of the HP universe in Dobby. A jarring, trouble-making house elf was the least of the sequel's problems: It carries on too long (nearly three hours), and Chris Columbus, once again, relied heavily on Rowling's material instead of making it his own, despite a promising 1st half of the movie (darker secrets about the founders of Hogwarts, a more rousing and thrilling game of Quidditch, Kenneth Branagh playing a funny, ego-driven narcissist in Gilderoy Lockhart, one of the best characters in the film series imo, and Radcliffe showing more depth as the title character). Its the Attack of the Clones of the HP movies, but with one distinct difference: for all of shortcomings of Chamber of Secrets, it was still enjoyable and charming to look at, whereas Episode II was just a melodramatic piece of crap. Did I forget to mention that Radcliffe's Harry didn't come off as a whiny bitch, unlike Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker? ** 1/2 stars out of ****

Hogwarts burning!

We're living in a Harry Potter universe from now to Nov. 19, and Warner Bros. releasing the poster to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is only further proof of that fact.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - the trailer

Enjoy.

Awesome.

The world premier clip for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Edit:

The original video I posted last night was taken down by You Tube, so here's the new one (and in HD!)

Awesome.

The exclusive sneek peek at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has surfaced.

Bonus Bluray of Deathly Hallows
Uploaded by AmEnPe. - Check out other Film & TV videos.

Holy Hagrid!

OK, this is not only silly, but an example of the non-intellectual bent of the previous administration.

Latimer writes that administration officials objected to giving author J.K. Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom because her writing “encouraged witchcraft” (p. 201):

This was the same sort of narrow thinking that led people in the White House to actually object to giving the author J.K. Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft.

Encouraged witchcraft? That's like saying that the film version of "Live and Let Die" promotes voodoo because it's partially set in New Orleans. Not to mention that Harry Potter is, well, you know, FICTION. As in a made-up story, not a how-to manual.

Say what you will about Obama's policy successes and failures, or his administration's level of commitment to a truly progressive agenda. At least the WH is once again occupied by a group of intelligent people who don't get their information from televangelists, comic books and the residents of Wingnuttia. I doubt many readers of this blog (I don't count you, Ranger) would for a moment wish to step back into the Bush years by comparison.

Harry Potter and the Oscar Season.....er, I mean Half-Blood Prince

Die-hard HP fans are steamed that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth of J.K. Rowling's books to be filmed, made many drastic cuts in translation. The fight scene between members of the Order and Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters at the top of the tower at Hogwarts? Poof. The sessions between Dumbledore and Potter diving into select memories to learn about the boy who would become Voldemort? Boiled down to two and a half memories. Let them bitch and moan. This new installment is quite simply, a triumph. The line between family entertainment and brooding fantasy drama is blurred. You're not sure if the young ones, or you, can sit through this delicious, dialogue driven plot and storyline without going to sleep.

Stick with it. The reward is an emotionally satisfying, occasionally hilarious, and hypnotic, haunting drama that earns the Oscar buzz its been receiving. This year, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is ordered by Dumbleore (Michael Gambon) to cozy up to an old colleague, Horace Slughorn (the brilliant Jim Broadbent) in order to coax an important memory of him and young Tom Riddle. The love bug has bitten Ron Weasly (Rupert Grint) and its Lavender Brown (a hilarious Jessie Cave) who makes Won-Won his personal sex slave, much to the jealousy and heartbreak of Hermione (Emma Watson). Kidding about the sex part, though there is innuendo in one scene that's sure to cover a few youngling's eyes from the 'rents. And Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) is given a mission by the Dark Lord that could destroy his soul. Why does he continue to return to some old wardrobe every night, what his actual mission is, and why Severus Snape (Alan Rickman is amazing) continues to watch over Malfoy, i'll never tell.

Yes, I said Oscar buzz earlier on...hell, the title of my post suggests that Mr. Potter could make some serious noise in the awards season. Watch cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel work with a poet's eye for capturing the breaching darkness. Listen to composer Nicholas Hooper's beautiful, and haunting score that's sure to put a chill down your spine. Look at how visual effects supervisors Tim Burke and Tim Alexander blend in eye-poping effects (the scene in the cave with Harry and Dumbledore is frighting and spectacular) to move the story along and not merely use it as a crutch. Listen to Steve Kloves' potent screenplay, who remains faithful to Rowling's vision and brings all of the author's themes - life, love, friendship, heartbreak, and death - onto the screen and does it so seamlessly, that nothing is lost in translation from page to screen. And witness all the actors excell, particularly Broadbent and Rickman who practically steal every scene they're in. Watch all that and then tell me that Half-Blood Prince doesn't deserve a piece of the Oscar pie.

At this point, I can honestly say, with no ego, that no other movie this summer will match the magical spell that director David Yates has cast upon the multiplexes. For the longest time, I've waited for the Potter film to transcend from merely solid adaptations into artistic and soul-reaching films. With the Half-Blood Prince, after six films, the wait is over. If this is any indication of what Yates has up his sleeve, the watching the film's two part-finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (film one due out November 2010, and film two July 2011) then by the end, Harry Potter will be seeing gold statuettes by the handfuls for the next two to three years.

**** stars out of ****

Harry Potter at midnight

So, I have finished re-reading book six, and I have successfully re-watched every Harry Potter movie. Naturally, i'm going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, being the Potter nerd that I am. And no, i won't be there in costume. I might take pics with people who are though.

Full review shall be up tomorrow.

Harry Potter and the Best-Reviewed Movie of the Year

With a tomatometer at 98%, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince stands as the best-reviewed film of the year in wide release. Compare that to the first five films, (Sorcerer's Stone was 78%, Chamber of Secrets was 82%, Prisoner of Azkaban was 89%, Goblet of Fire was 88%, and Order of the Phoenix was the lowest, at 77%) this is the highest-rated Potter film of the sex installments.

Add to it, Half-Blood Prince is already generating form the critics Oscar buzz in the form of the film's director of photography Bruno Delbonne (Amelie and A Very Long Engagement) and newcomer to the series, Jim Broadbent (Oscar-winner for Best Supporting Actor in Iris, 2001) playing the role of Hogwarts' new Potions professor, Horace Slughorn, among other categories.

Yeah, i'm a Potter nerd, the same way the Count goes gaga for 007. Bottom line: Can't wait for this new installment, and you can bet your ass i'll be there at midnight.

Harry Potter and Toy Story

For your viewing pleasure...another poster for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince......



.....and the teaser to Pixar's next project, Toy Story 3.

Sweet.

Warner Bros. has just released the teaser poster for the upcoming double feature Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.



Part One comes out November 2010, and Part Two comes out Summer 2011.

Wow! Fucking Wow!

The new trailer to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been released........

And i'm just......wow.

It's fucking amazing........