And Now, My Biased Critique of HP7, Part 1!

So what if I have HP fanatic “goggles” on? I still think I can manage a decent review of the movie or blab about it anyway. Warning: If you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know anything about it, then I suggest you don't read any further.

It’s Friday, November 19^th at 12:01 AM and where can you find me? In a theater, of course! I can’t tell you how long I had been waiting for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1” to come out (you know, because the rest of the world hadn’t been waiting, right?). I enjoy the midnight releases the most because I get to be with other Potter fans—the ones who cheer and clap at the opening title sequence, get emotionally involved in the movie, and applaud the movie as it ends.

First off, let me put it out there, they could have easily tacked on at least another hour to the movie and I guarantee the audience would’ve been perfectly content sitting there and watching. It didn’t seem like 2 and half hours. It was nice to see more characters in the movie than usual—Fleur was back, we’re introduced to Bill Weasley, we meet Luna’s father, Mad-Eye was back, and the ever wonderful Dobby.

The movie plays out well, the setting isn’t as dark as in HBP, which left me a little overwhelmed with the colors gray, white, and black. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t feel the foreboding or the evil that was already insinuated throughout the tone of the movie. It was just easier to capture with more time allowed for individual scenes from the book. That being said, the adaptation to the big screen was pretty good. Don’t get me wrong, there were parts or details from the book that they left out that made me a little mad…though, that hasn’t stopped me from seeing it three times already.

WARNING: If you haven’t seen the movie, DON’T read this, this review comes with SPOILERS!

The seven Potters scene is good, though the chase that ensues has Hagrid’s flying motorcar traveling on the ground (and ceiling of a tunnel). I’m thinking a magic flying motorcar should fly, right? At the wedding, Harry isn’t disguised. What happened to a distant cousin of the Weasleys? When the trio goes to Grimmauld Place and Harry looks through Sirius’s room, there is no discovery of his toddler broom flying days or the thank note from his mother. No matter, Ron discovers RAB and then Kreacher is sent to fetch Mundungus—though, there is no transformation for Kreacher. Instead, the Mundungus confrontation scene is stolen by Dobby—very funny, if I do say so myself.

The infiltration of the Ministry is kind of slackened at the end—where is the invisibility cloak? What happened to all the other Muggle borns? At least the polyjuice potion and characters that the trio played were good. The forest scenes were good and emotions ran high between the trio—which is the way it was supposed to be. After Ron left, I think the dancing scene between Harry and Hermione was funny and sweet—it showed how nice their friendship was.

The trip to Godric’s Hollow had my sister whispering for Harry not to follow Bathilda Bagshot.

The scene where Ron came back played out very well. One of my mom’s favorite lines from the movie is when Harry asks Hermione if she is still mad at Ron and she says, “I’m always mad at him.” My sister said the scene with Xenophilius Lovegood played out exactly how she imagined it, as was the scene where Hermione jinxes Harry’s face. The animated story of “The Three Brothers” was really cool—the semi-silhouettes made it fit the mood of the movie.

The scene at the Malfoys was enlivened at the end with the help of Dobby. I knew what was coming, but I still cried like a baby when Dobby died. He is so innocent, sweet, and good—I still don’t think he should have been killed off.

When the movie ended on Voldemort taking the elder wand from Dumbledore it was bittersweet. Only one more Harry Potter movie left—sigh…My mom, who went with my sister and I the second (and third) time, was not pleased with where they chose to end it, almost cursing she couldn’t believe it (trust me, that’s funny). But, the movie was done very well and I really liked it and can’t wait to see it a few more times in the theater.

A Little Piece of Heaven Right Here on Earth

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is having a spectacular day with friends and family!

Typically, my brother usually cooks Thanksgiving dinner, but my mom surprised us this year by not only cooking, she also made butterbeer for us! AWESOME!! It was really cute—she even tried out a couple recipes and added a few other ingredients to taste. So, thanks Mom!

One of the biggest things I’m thankful for this year is my family getting to go to Orlando, Florida. My mom and I went for the NCTE conference (I also got to see my friend, Alex, too!) and my brother and sister tagged along to go to the parks. Since we were arriving on Thursday, my sister and I figured that our perfect day would consist of visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and then going to see the midnight release of HP7, P1—especially since we were going to see it an hour before everyone back home in St. Louis (it’s the little things in life).

Upon arrival at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and once my sister and I figured out the general direction we needed to head to get to Hogsmeade, we plowed ahead of our party to get there. Once we saw the entry way into Hogsmeade, we were giddy fools, I started to get misty eyed—I found my little piece of heaven. It is incredible—the first thing that caught my eye was the Hogwarts Express--she is a thing a beauty. But as my eyes panned the skyline of Hogsmeade, I just couldn’t believe I was standing there. The buildings of a quaint village square covered in snow, was so fitting, especially with the backdrop of the beautiful Hogwarts. To see Zonko’s and Honeydukes was amazing—especially with how authentic their merchandise was—you can buy a sneakoscope, extendable ear, or chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes!

My brother was impressed with the locker system (well, all of us were)—you have to stow your items before getting on the rides, but it’s free for the first 45 minutes or so and your fingerprint is your “combination.”

It’s no joke that the queues leading up to the rides are experiences themselves. The queue to Dragon Challenge has items from the Triwizard Tournament, the queue for Flight of the Hippogriff has items related to Hagrid and the grounds of Hogwarts, and The Forbidden Journey has the motherload—you get to walk through the halls/rooms of HOGWARTS! One needs to go through the queues a few times just to catch everything there is to see. The rides were wicked sweet--worth going on more than once! I started tearing up on Forbidden Journey just because it was such a wonderful experience.

And now the moment our tastebuds had all been waiting for—BUTTERBEER from The Three Broomsticks! How good is butterbeer you might ask? It’s worth the price of admission just to get into the park! The frozen kind is sweet and the regular has a little kick to it. You get a good serving too—not a little dinky cups worth. And the foam is mmm…mmm…good!

I’ve never felt so joyous when stepping into a park like I did with WWoHP and I highly recommend that if you ever get the chance, you HAVE to go!

HARRY POTTER, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR.
(s10)
Universal elements and all related indicia TM & © 2010 Universal Studios. © 2010 Universal Orlando.

HP Fanatic

I am a Potterhead, Potter Nerd, Overly Eager Potter Fan—whatever you want to term it. I might eat, breathe, and sleep children’s literature, but the Harry Potter series will forever be my favorite. I believe this has to do with the way Rowling constructs her stories. I was pulled into this seemingly ordinary boy’s world, but I actually knew he was extraordinary; I just had to be patient and wait to see when he finds out. Rowling gives such feeling to her characters that I feel their pain, happiness, and loathing toward a certain professor (and I don't mean Snape!).

I love the alternate world I get to enter with HP. I also have a close connection to the series because my sister, who is 14, absolutely adores the series, so it's one more thing that connects us. My brother listened to the audio of the series and read the 6th and 7th book more than once, so he will spout random HP knowledge that I didn't even catch during my first reading!

I remember the first Harry Potter birthday party we threw at Borders…my younger sister, Emma, came dressed as Harry Potter—she was in first grade at the time. Since then, she has attended every party Borders threw—and I worked every single event—I thrived off the adrenaline. I even got to plan the last couple of parties. Emma and I have even attended opening weekend of every Harry Potter movie (Friday and Saturday) and for the past few Harry Potter movies, have attended the midnight releases.

In honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 7, part 1 release, I am blogging about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the movie this week—stayed tuned.

Rowling, J. K. (1998-2007). Harry Potter Series. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine.