Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I and II

When I opened this Christmas present from my husband, I was extremely happy and a little bit sad. I commented to him that it's the last time he will buy a Harry Potter movie for me. It's really the last time I'll buy much that's Harry Potter - I'm sure that Warner Brothers and the book publishers won't like the sound of that, but honestly, how many copies of the books, the audio books, or the movies does one person need?

I already have all the books in hardback and paperback versions, well read to be sure but in fairly decent condition. (There were a couple of books I replaced after I read them over and over and loaned them to my daughters who read them over and over and they finally fell apart.)

I have all the Stephen Fry audio books of Harry Potter and listen to them all the time. And now I have all the Utimate Editions of all eight movies. I love having all the deleted scenes and extra content, but I don't need the versions that come in a special box or anything else they will come up with in the future. Enough is enough.

To be honest, I was kind of expecting this particular gift. The one that took me by surprise is the book, edited by Travis Prinzi, Harry Potter for Nerds: Essays for Fans, Academics, and Lit Geeks. Cool.

My husband, Terry, who knows a lot about Harry even though he hasn't read any of the books and has only seen four or five of the movies, asked why I listen to the audio books all the time. I listen when I'm going to sleep. I started thinking about it and I think it goes back to my childhood. I've never fallen asleep easily, unlike Terry. I liked being read to as a child, I loved reading to our daughters when they were children but found that sometimes I was the one who got sleepy. There is something soothing and relaxing to me about someone reading to me. Listening to a book when I know the story so well lets me fall asleep quickly. It's different than listening to music. If the music is instrumental, I find myself keeping time to the music. If someone is singing, I want to sing along and pay so much attention to the words that I'm more wide awake than when I crawled under the covers.

A special gift indeed - one that I will cherish for years to come. And now it's time to find my place in Chamber of Secrets on my mp3 player where I fell asleep last night - just as soon as I finish my tea and have one more piece of Christmas fudge.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

I started to write this last December, but with Christmas and personal issues in the first part of the year, I never finished it. Now the DVD is out, so here it is, a combination of my thoughts about the movie when I saw it in the theater and my thoughts about the content on the BluRay - and I haven't even had a chance to watch all of it yet.




I've been meaning to write something ever since I saw the movie on the first day, and then after I saw it a week later. But Thanksgiving, which was at our house this year so getting to take time out for the movie was all the extra time I had. I did manage to go again the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and then we were busy with decorating for Christmas. Now that the outside lights are up and the tree is decorated, I'm taking a break before I lose the magical feelings I had after watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I.

This was the first Harry Potter movie that I didn't see at midnight since the first two. Sarah and I went on Friday at noon. The advantage was that we didn't have to stand outside in the cold and rain for hours and the theater wasn't full. When I went a week later, the theater was almost full, so maybe we just picked the slow time. No matter - there were enough there to share in the laughter, the tears and the gasps.

I knew going in that there was an added scene with Hermione's parents, but I had no idea that I would start the movie with tears. The other added scene I'd heard about was the dancing in the tent. I'll get to that later.

There were so many things I liked about this movie, so many things they did right, from the Dursleys leaving (abreviated but with the same sense of urgency and lack of caring from Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia towards Harry) to Snape at Malfoy Manor and Dobby, that it's easier to talk about the very few nitpicks I have.

I was curious why they changed the colors of the wedding. I was looking forward to seeing gold and white. However, the dark purple and red and the black phoenixes on Fleur's wedding gown and the black and white of Ginny's bride's maid dress (with her red hair) gave it all the right feel. I always get a little lost with the alchemical images, unless they are obvious. So I think I'm probably missing some of the finer points here. However, Luna and Xenophilius were in yellow and gold, so maybe that is enough. The other thing I noticed when I watched it the second time was how much gold, red and orange there was in the Weasley house when the trio talked to Scrimgeour. I hadn't particularly noticed those colors in previous movies. When Harry, Ron and Hermione are sitting on the sofa, there is a picture on the wall that looks like a sun rising just above her head. The color was striking, and that it was a sun was striking. A sign of hope? I'm not sure, but I liked it. The sun and the colors seemed to be a contrast to the tone of the interview by Scrimgeour.

We didn't get to see the wedding, just the reception dinner. It was lovely. The arrival of the warning by Kingsley was well done. The chaos was vivid and scary and all the things it should be. The scenes that followed with the trio in London were well done. Some changes, but nothing jarring.

I thought the wandering camping trip was appropriate in length and tone. But I didn't mind it in the book like some did. We needed to see (in the book and the movie) that Harry knows what needs to be done but has no clue how to do it.

Ron's leaving and return were fairly in line with the book. I'm glad they took the time to let him explain some of his following the light when he wanted to come back. And before that, rather than having long scenes of Harry and Hermione not talking or exchanging only a few words, we had the dancing in the tent. I didn't think I would like it. There was an awkwardness to it, but that's what made it work. Two girls would have sat and talked about why Hermione was so sad and upset, or why Harry was so frustrated by not being able to find the other Horcruxes. But Harry isn't a girl, and he's never been chatty about his feelings. We've always known what he was thinking in the books, because that is the point of view - we know his thoughts and we also know he doesn't usually share them very well.

Instead, Harry noticed how unhappy Hermione was and took action by leading her into a dance in an effort to comfort her. And the best part is the look on Hermione's face when she puts her head on Harry's shoulder. It's not a look of attraction to Harry, but one that clearly says she was cheered for a few minutes but is still sad and missing Ron. And nothing will change how she feels about Ron. Perfect - and without any words. It's not a romantic dance, but a dance between close friends.

I missed Kreacher's Tale ending in his redemption and devotion to the trio. But I did like the reintroduction of Dobby, since he was missing from the last movies. It needed to be done that way, and for me, it worked. It was enough. The only thing that was missing there was the extent of terror that Kreacher went through in finding the locket Horcrux. In the book, that is one way we see just how cruel and inhuman Voldemort is.

Now that I have the movie, I have watched all the deleted scenes and I do wish they had included the one with Petunia and Dudley saying good-bye. They weren't that long and they were perfect. I don't think the chasing rabbits was necessary, even though it also shows the increasing tension between Harry and Ron.

I have always loved watching the movie with the audio commentary. But this movie is even better. I just haven't had the chance to watch all of it yet. As the movie plays, instead of talking (sometimes babbling to fill time) over the movie, they actually stop and insert commentary by Jason Isaacs, and other actors, the director and others, about the scene. They talk about how it relates to the earlier movies, with reminders of who the characters are, what the situation was, and so forth. They even have Tom Felton (Draco) reading excerpts from the books. I love it. It's the best kind of commentary and it makes me glad I spent the extra money for the BluRay (and glad that we have one).

So that's where I am at the moment. I hope to watch the rest in the next few days, but I quickly realized that it's going to take a while since all these things are added in.

And after seeing a sneak peek at the opening scene for Deathly Hallows, Part II, I can't wait to see the whole movie. They do seem to be doing the thing properly this time. What a great way to end this movie series, that has at times been spot on and at other times has missed. As much as I look forward to the next and last movie, i will miss having a new Harry Potter movie every other year. It's like saying good-bye to a dear friend, knowing that they aren't coming back.

Getting ready for Deathly Hallows, Part I, the movie

I'm trying not to count down the days to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I", but I really am. I've been rereading some of the books - well, relistening to them. I'm now listening to Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Every time I listen to it, or read it, I find that I like it much better than the first time through. There was so much in it when I first read it that I did really like it. However, now that we know the end, it's even better. It really is the first half of the last part of the story.

We're in the middle of redoing our family room - new carpeting, new furniture. updated entertainment center. So thinking about the Harry Potter books and the upcoming movie is quite a nice distraction from picking out furniture and spending money.

I've looked at the movie clips and have managed to see the trailer twice in a theater in the last few weeks. It's even better on the big screen - can't wait to see the movie, actually. Today I bought two of the Harry Potter calendars for 2011. I was going to buy one but couldn't decide which one - so I bought both. One has pictures from the new movie, while the other has a mixture of old and new. I think it's likely I'll switch them back and forth - so I won't have to look at Bellatrix for a whole month - I've never been fond of the way she looks in the movies as it's not at all the way I picture her.

I love the people who work at my local Barnes and Noble. When I bought the calendars today, the woman checking me out went into full flow about how excited she is for the movie to come out and asked if I had seen the trailers (she knew the answer, I'm sure). Of course, I've been going there for years and spend every Friday sipping a mocha while I read for a few hours, so they all know me. We talked briefly about the movie and the exhibit (below) and how much we will miss all of it when the last movie is finally over. But for the moment, I don't have to think about that.

The most immediate Harry Potter thing for me is that my daughters and I are going to the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle this coming week. I was excited about it before it opened here, but now it sounds even better. It covers 10,000 sqare feet and has some never-seen-before things from the Deathly Hallows movie that have recently been added. I guess we are the last stop on that tour. The day I picked is after Halloween, to avoid that crowd, but several weeks before the movie. My hope is that it won't be so crowded since we are going on a week day. The three of us want time to just enjoy all of it. That day is probably going to be right in the middle of trying to schedule the carpet installation and the furniture delivery. Well, the carpet can wait a few days.

November is turning out to be a very busy month for us, with the downstairs improvements, all things Harry Potter and Thanksgiving at our house. It'll be great!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I

I've been looking at all the pictures and reading the updates on the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It looks fantastic to me. I see that there are some changes. They always seem to change the colors that are in the book and, if one follows the alchemical theme, those colors are intentional on Rowling's part and important.

Instead of the wedding being golden, it is a lovely lavender - pretty but not the same. I was glad to see that Luna is dressed in yellow however. And then there is Hermione is a red dress rather than whatever it was in the book. I know it wasn't red. I suppose it makes it easier to follow the trio when they land in London.

But those things aside, the rest looks great.

I suppose also that it was decided that Harry and Hagrid escaping on Sirius's motorbike through the London streets would be more exciting than keeping them in the air. Another change I can live with.

Godric's Hollow looks amazing, though it's odd to think that Harry and Hermione could walk into the town looking like themselves.

I can't wait to see more of Snape. Since it looks like the locket Horcrux and pool in the forest and the Sword of Gryffindor are in this movie, that would mean we should see Snape's patronus and I really hope they get it right. The Silver Doe is by far my favorite chapter from the Deathly Hallows book and that image of Snape leading and watching over Harry is one of the most poignant.

In the meantime, I finished listening to Order of the Phoenix again. There are so many details in the books that I notice whenever I reread or relisten to one of them. Order is still one that I like the best - it gives Harry the chance he need to grow up. All the books before Order, Harry is fairly accepting of his place in the wizarding world even if he doesn't understand it. In Order, he finally expresses just how unfair it is to him or anyone else to be in his position as would-be savior of their world. That's quite a burden for anyone, especially a teenager and I always felt it was high time for Harry to deal with the frustration and unfairness of all of it. And yet, he willingly takes on the role and accepts the responsibility rather than hiding from it. I'm always struck by the contrast of the beginning and ending of the book. In the beginning, Harry hides from the Dursleys as he tries to hear information on the news; he is still pushed around by Vernon. But at the end, after their return to London and the talk Vernone receives from Lupin, Mad-eye and Arthur, it is Harry who is in charge, leading the Dursleys out of the station and back to Privet Drive. His problems aren't over, but he is ready to take charge of his life, and whatever lies ahead.

I'd like to listen to Half-Blood Prince, but it's now so close to the movie that I almost want to listen to Deathly Hallows again. Of course, there's always the point that I'll enjoy the movie more if I am not so tied to the book when I first see it.