Harry Potter: My anti-drug

Tonight at midnight I will have in my clutches the last Harry Potter book. I plan to stay up all night reading, which shouldn't be too hard a task since I have been going to sleep at 3:00am anyway. I love summer. Speaking of Harry Potter, I still haven't posted what I thought of the movie! Purely my folly.

I saw The Order of the Phoenix the day it came out with my delightful friend Kitty. We were highly impressed by the people who dressed up even though it wasn't the midnight showing. We waited in line for about an hour, but the line never got too long. Our patience paid off, however, because there were only six or so people ahead of us.

I was geared up to mentally slash the movie's general quality, and I wasn't disappointed. My biggest qualm was with the acting. Mrs. Figg was, quite simply, terrible. In the book she was mad as hell at Mundungus Fletcher, barking at Harry to keep his wand out, and overall very galvanized by the Dementors appearance in Little Winging. In the movie she seems mildly surprised to see Harry, and talks quietly and meekly to him. I fully understand the need to make changes to the story so it will both translate better to film and be shorter, but for Pete's sake! An enthused performance doesn't take any longer than a boring one! Mrs. Figgs is such a fun character in the book, why make her utterly forgettable in the movie?

I was unimpressed with most of the acting. Luna and Bellatrix were good, though. What I liked best about the film was the writing. I thought this Michael Goldenberg character was actually very good at making changes to the story to keep it short. A lot was left out, but you can't include everything.

In general I thought the movie was so-so. It wasn't as bad as Goblet of Fire, and not as good as Prisoner of Azkaban.


And now for some HP gossip:
In my last post I said Steve Cloves was writing Deathly Hallows. I checked IMDb again today and (GASP!) the only writer listed was JK herself, not a Clove in sight. Is it just a little typo? Or is Steve gone for good?

As far as directing goes for the Deathly Hallows (no one has signed on yet) I hereby nominate Baz Luhrmann of Strictly Ballroom, Romeo+Juliet, and Moulin Rouge. He has a colorful and energetic style, and I think could do quite well with a story about magic. My only concern would be he might be a little too light for the probable carnage in Hallows. Another good idea: Bill Condon. Why? No other reason than I just like him. In fact, he's near the top of my gay-men-I-want-to-marry list. I think he could bring the showy big-screen magic of Dreamgirls, and the frank, slightly weird tone of Gods and Monsters to the final instalment of Harry's adventures.


BUT WAIT! Before I go I have to publish my predictions for the book.

1. Snape=innocent Dumbledore's not an idiot. Snape will sacrifice himself somehow and make it possible for Harry to kill Voldamorte. In the meantime he probably has the Death Eater's full trust.

2. Kreacher=big deal I read JK Rowling told filmmakers to introduce Kreacher in OOTP or else they would have trouble later.

Those are my big two, but I also think Harry could be a horcrux, and there could be a connection between Hermione and Grawp. (Thanks Maddie)