Before I start talking about my trip to Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince I want to know: WHERE THE HELL IS SUMMER??? I should be wearing shorts and a tank top, and running inside chilly air conditioned buildings to avoid the scorching heat & humidity & naturally whining my butt off about it the entire time. Instead, I am wearing sweats (!) and sitting inside talking to y'all. I WANT MY MONEY BACK.
Ok, sorry. So the 6th installment of the Harry Potter saga was released last week. I was really tempted to go to a midnight screening, but I abstained because I would have been completely wrecked the following day at work, and bitchy government grant forms are complicated enough to fill out without my being exhaustedly tired on top of it. Anyway- decided to absolutely and definitely take in the movie (I refuse to call them "flicks" as in "I took in a flick this weekend." Blerg, yucky! That should be illegal.) this weekend. Yesterday was the perfect Saturday in that I did absolutely nothing. This morning, after the gym and breakfast, it was off to Old Orchard for an 11:15 show (only $5!).
I went into this movie a little bit unprepared. I have read the books - several times, actually. Before the 7th one came out, I re-read the series again so I'd be prepared. But the 7th one was so depressing, I have sort of blocked it out of my mind, and have not read any of them since then. So for a while I was sitting there going "wait - what's happening now? what's with that cabinet? What's the deal with Jim Broadbent (aka Prof. Slughorn)? I didn't even recall who exactly the titular half blood prince was right away. This allowed me though to watch the movie without doing a lot of nitpicking about how it was different from the book.
And... I really enjoyed it. It was very dark - death eaters and dark marks all over the place and Helena Bonham Carter cackling wildly as the wickedly creepy Bellatrix LeStrange (still love that name though!). Alan Rickman is still the most inspired casting choice EVER as Serverus "is-he-good-or-is-he-evil" Snape. He didn't have a LOT to do in this movie (except, obviously for a rather big happening at the end...) but glower menacingly, and he did that with delicious leering creepiness, all stringy black greasy hair and crazy eyes and looming evil(ness). The other prize for best casting goes to whoever put Kenneth Branagh in as Gilderoy Lockheart. As Ron might say "Brilliant!"
Moving on. It wasn't ALL doom and gloom and Lord Voldything - Harry, Ron and Hermione are all teenagers, after all, and are still totally full of raging hormones. There was a great scene where Ron had come under a love spell intended for Harry, and some other good stuff exploring Harry's budding relationship with Ginny. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, last seen escaping Imelda Staunton's (whoops, I mean, Professor Umbrage's) Hogwarts regime, also have a brief cameo here, as we see inside their new magical joke shop. Ron also gets a moment to shine as a Quidditch hero. We also learn that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has split his soul into seven pieces, into objects called Horcruxes that play a huge part in the 7th and final book, as the only way to destroy old Voldy is to destroy all of these things.
As we near the end of the film, Harry realizes that it is up to him to finish what has been started. He's The Chosen One, after all. The 7th film will actually be split into two films - a lovely way to tell the whole story while prolonging the series and increasing their merchandising $$. Well played, Warner Brothers. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go and re-read the book.
Ok, sorry. So the 6th installment of the Harry Potter saga was released last week. I was really tempted to go to a midnight screening, but I abstained because I would have been completely wrecked the following day at work, and bitchy government grant forms are complicated enough to fill out without my being exhaustedly tired on top of it. Anyway- decided to absolutely and definitely take in the movie (I refuse to call them "flicks" as in "I took in a flick this weekend." Blerg, yucky! That should be illegal.) this weekend. Yesterday was the perfect Saturday in that I did absolutely nothing. This morning, after the gym and breakfast, it was off to Old Orchard for an 11:15 show (only $5!).
I went into this movie a little bit unprepared. I have read the books - several times, actually. Before the 7th one came out, I re-read the series again so I'd be prepared. But the 7th one was so depressing, I have sort of blocked it out of my mind, and have not read any of them since then. So for a while I was sitting there going "wait - what's happening now? what's with that cabinet? What's the deal with Jim Broadbent (aka Prof. Slughorn)? I didn't even recall who exactly the titular half blood prince was right away. This allowed me though to watch the movie without doing a lot of nitpicking about how it was different from the book.
And... I really enjoyed it. It was very dark - death eaters and dark marks all over the place and Helena Bonham Carter cackling wildly as the wickedly creepy Bellatrix LeStrange (still love that name though!). Alan Rickman is still the most inspired casting choice EVER as Serverus "is-he-good-or-is-he-evil" Snape. He didn't have a LOT to do in this movie (except, obviously for a rather big happening at the end...) but glower menacingly, and he did that with delicious leering creepiness, all stringy black greasy hair and crazy eyes and looming evil(ness). The other prize for best casting goes to whoever put Kenneth Branagh in as Gilderoy Lockheart. As Ron might say "Brilliant!"
Moving on. It wasn't ALL doom and gloom and Lord Voldything - Harry, Ron and Hermione are all teenagers, after all, and are still totally full of raging hormones. There was a great scene where Ron had come under a love spell intended for Harry, and some other good stuff exploring Harry's budding relationship with Ginny. The Weasley twins, Fred and George, last seen escaping Imelda Staunton's (whoops, I mean, Professor Umbrage's) Hogwarts regime, also have a brief cameo here, as we see inside their new magical joke shop. Ron also gets a moment to shine as a Quidditch hero. We also learn that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has split his soul into seven pieces, into objects called Horcruxes that play a huge part in the 7th and final book, as the only way to destroy old Voldy is to destroy all of these things.
As we near the end of the film, Harry realizes that it is up to him to finish what has been started. He's The Chosen One, after all. The 7th film will actually be split into two films - a lovely way to tell the whole story while prolonging the series and increasing their merchandising $$. Well played, Warner Brothers. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go and re-read the book.
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