The Book is Always Better

Went to see "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" at midnight, and while I won't write any plot spoilers I will say was fairly pleased with the movie. But for me, that's not saying much. Now I know the movie can never really be exactly like the book. For one, everyone's imagination is unique so everyone is always going to envision sets, characters and scenes a little differently. Secondly, directions and script writers love to have room to be creative and make their own spin on things. And lastly, it's hard make a book that is more than 400 pages into a movie without either leaving scenes out or making it ridiculously long. And "Half-Blood Prince" clocked in at about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

I think this movie was one of my favorites and I certainly liked it better than "Order of the Phoenix." There were just three things I would have changed: Ginny and Harry's relationship was dealt with kind of awkwardly, there was a whole small scene that didn't even occur in the book and did not do anything to help the plot of the movie along and they changed the ending - as usual. For some reason the director's never like the movie to end like the book. But in this movie they really changed it and left out probably the last 50 pages or so.

But it had some good scenes that were pretty much exactly what I imagined when reading it, and the movie had some good lighthearted moments, too. I also cried a little at the end, but not as much as I probably would have if they had stuck to the ending of the book.

I'll give it four stars, which for me is pretty good.

The next book to movie that I'm anxious about is "The Time Traveler's Wife." It comes out this year and my fingers are crossed that it will do the book justice. But I won't count too hard on it.

Something to Look Foward To: Take Me to the Movies

It's Sunday! YAY! Because that means it's my Friday. Oh, the strange life of a copy editor.

But this week will be one filled with popcorn, cute animation and a whole lot of magic.

Of course you all know what I'm talking about here. HARRY POTTER! (and I'll also be seeing "Up!", which I've been wanting to see for quite a while.)

Oh, Harry Potter. What can I say about you? It's been an obsession, I will admit, for most of my teen years and now beyond. The books aren't spectacularly written, but the plot and characters and sheer bliss I get out of reading them -- well that's why I love it. And so many memories surround the books, a HP club I was involved in for two years of college, which brought me together with three of my most amazing friends; getting the 7th book while at PSU for the summer and sitting up all night with a friend reading it while laughing, gasping, crying, cheering etc.; seeing the movie at midnight with friends from high school and good friends from college; dressing up like Hermione for Halloween; and even attending a Yule Ball or two. Oh, yeah, and I did get Dan Radcliffe's autograph after seeing Equus on B-way - that was a most perfect day.
And, although I am no longer a member of the club, and the midnight movies won't be quite as special as they were when I could go to them with the people who have been with me through it all, Harry Potter still has an unexplainable allure for me. The books out-do the movies a thousand times over, but I still enjoy going to them and seeing young kids get so enchanted by them. I hope in the future kids will still enjoy reading the books, and won't just watch the films. (my children will have to at least try reading the books before I'll let them watch it on DVD.)

I'm hoping the 6th movie, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", which comes out Wednesday, will not disappoint. The first and second movies were only so-so, the third was great, the fourth my favorite mainly because it's my favorite book in the series and the fifth movie was a bit of a letdown (didn't help having one of my good friends sitting next to me during it and sigh, moan and shake his fist in frustration ... hope he doesn't read this, haha.) But the 6th was a book chock-full of really vital information and key scenes - but I'll just have to wait to see how well it plays out on the big screen. I'll be there at midnight, but this year without my wand and HP-obsessed loved ones. I expect texts and calls from you in the following days to discuss it!