HP and the Deathly Hallows Premiere Night

So, it was epic, no?  Painfully epic, heart-breakingly epic, wonderfully epic.  The general epic-ness of the entire film, paired with the huge anticipation for the movie's release and the mad-house feel of the event itself-- SO many people attended, and so many of them had donned Hogwarts uniforms and wizarding hats-- has me rather at a loss for words.  A certain cliche tells us a picture is worth much more than a couple paragraphs of my babbling, so...

These pictures are very pixel-y, so they're worth maybe 6 or 7 hundred words each.  That's me with the goofy hat, and that's my sister Pinky (she of the infamous guest reviews).  This is just before the premiere-- we didn't actually get to take any at the theaters because, well, it was dark.

These are my nails in Hogwarts colors after Pinky finished with them... you can't tell in this horrible picture, but the letters spell out HOGWARTS.  Pinky tried to do Hallows symbols on my thumbs, but they came out more like very smudged triangles. ;)  Ah, well, she gets ten points to her house for effort.

As for the movie itself, I was impressed by how closely the first half stuck to the original material-- some of it was almost word-for-word dialogue from the seventh book.  Towards the final fight scenes and the duel between Harry and Voldemort, the movie veered away from the book a good bit (what was with HP and Voldy flinging themselves out the castle window to the pointy spires below??)  But overall, this was definitely the most action-paced Harry Potter movie ever, and the most... wait for it... epic!  It's incredibly sad to think that there will never be another Harry Potter midnight premiere, or another late-night Books-A-Million party in anticipation of the next book.  (Though you'd think I would have come to terms with that by now.)  But really, I just can't wait to watch all the movies and reread all the books again!

Cover VS Cover: Harry Potter Edition

I had decided to do a special edition of Cover VS Cover featuring the various covers and international editions of the Harry Potter series, in honor of the premiere of the final HP film.  However, the task at hand immediately proved to be intimidating to say the least!  The Harry Potter books have of course been translated into not dozens, but hundreds of languages, and published extensively around the world.  So instead I'm highlighting two very different, but very beautiful, sets of the seven books for your comparison and appreciation.  Both editions are published by Bloomsbury in the UK-- the adult set is also sold in the US and other English-speaking countries.

The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone

Hey, I could have taken the pic of the quartz for the cover shot of the adult edition!  Kidding.  Seriously, there's something mystical in its simplicity, which is exactly how I always imagined the Philosopher's Stone.  The sword-wielding chess piece is simply enchanting on the children's cover. 

The Chamber of Secrets

The lettering for the Harry Potter logo on both of these sets is so different from the blocky US logo I'm used to seeing.  I do like the new fonts, though.  The entwined snakes on the adult-marketed edition of the Chamber of Secrets is really entrancing... like a knocker on the Gaunt House's front door.


The Prisoner of Azkaban

Azkaban looks somewhat like Alcatraz on the second cover-- very atmospheric and eerie.  I love the bright colors and the glow surrounding Harry's stag Patronus on the children's edition cover-- it might be my favorite of the set.


The Goblet of Fire

LOVE the Dark Mark!  It looks a bit like a Day of the Dead skull, and it's brightness prevents it from being as sinister as the real thing.  Again, I like the simplicity of the magic object featured on the adult edition, here the Goblet of Fire.


The Order of the Phoenix

Initially I was very puzzled by the orb on the first cover... then I smacked myself in the forehead.  It's the prophecy!  It's just that many people have probably come to think of it as being among shelves and shelves of others identical to it in the Department of Mysteries.  The adult cover reminds me a little of the Hunger Games, but I like it overall.


The Half-Blood Prince

Love the illustration of Harry and Dumbledore-- Dumby's looking very wizard-like indeed here.  The waves below the cliffs remind of that famous Japanese painting of the ocean.  Love the tattered quality of the Prince's textbook, too.  


The Deathly Hallows

Headstones on the front cover of a book, well that's kind of ominous to say the least!  I would've picked the dragon the trio ride to represent the last book, but I know another UK edition already used a similar illustration.  The amulet on the adult cover is very eerie and, again, perfect in its simplicity.


Both of these new editions were designed to attract new audiences to Harry Potter.  The illustrated editions are supposed to be for a new generation of young HP readers, and the adult editions are, duh, supposed to convince adults to find out what the Pottermania is all about.  In the end, I like each of the sets equally.  They are polar opposites as far as marketing goes, so it is impossible to really pit them against each other in Cover VS Cover fashion.  Hope you guys enjoyed seeing these covers, if you hadn't already.  :)

Book-to-Movie Review: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part I

Yes, that's right, another review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!  I know everyone must be sick to death of reading reviews of the movie by now, but how could I possibly pass up adding my two cents?   If you haven't made it to the theaters yet, then don't worry: No spoilers here!

First I just want to say that I was very happy to see how closely the movie followed the first half of the book.  over the last few movies-- four and six, particularly, they've cut out a lot of important scenes and whole plot lines.  But the new HP follows the seventh book almost religiously-- I couldn't think of any major thing they left out beyond just a few little details that I wouldn't have expected to make it to the screen anyway.

The whole HP series is an emotional roller coaster-- when you're in the theater and it feels like you're right there, in the characters' world, it's impossible to come away unaffected by the drama and the (yes, it's cliche-time) magic.  The books are the same way, and that's why the Harry Potter movies are such magnificent adaptations: they bring viewers the same feeling of being transported into another, far more dangerous and enthralling world, something which I think few movies really manage to do.  Number seven certainly lived up to that legacy: in the theater, I gasped loudly; whispered excitedly (and obnoxiously) to the people on either side of me; at one point I jumped out of my seat in alarm; and during the second-to-last scene, I came very close to crying.  (if you've read the books or seen the movie, then I'm sure you know which scene I'm talking about.)  The story of the Three Brothers as told by Hermione was incredible-- I felt like Tim Burton had suddenly and briefly taken over as director, so eerie and faerie tale-like were the shadow figures and their seamless transition into the film. 

As for the characters, I was very excited to see more of the more minor characters from the books who don't often get featured onscreen.  Helena Bonaham Carter was amazing as Bellatrix, as by 'amazing', yes, I do mean 'crazy as a loon', but in a good, entirely terrifying way.  All the Death Eaters were somewhat how I pictured them and formed quite a macabre crew altogether-- especially Yaxley, he has a much bigger role in the new movie.  Voldemort had much more screen time than ever before and he definitely owned all of his scenes.  I'm relieved, because during the first few movies I wasn't sure if Ralph Fiennes was going to quite live up to the Dark Lord of the books-- looks like I was definitely wrong!  Umbridge was great; Snape was great-- wish we could have seen more of him.  (Completely Irrelevant/ Tiny Spoiler Alert: My sister is convinced that the leader of the Snatchers who picks up the trio in the forest scene closely resembles Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day.  I somewhat agree... but I think it's mostly the eye make-up.  Did anyone else notice this, or are we both crazy? :) )

And the trio-- Harry, Ron, and Hermione...there's always the question of which one of them stole the show the most, and this time around I think it is definitely Hermione.  Emma Watson has grown so much as an actress from the bushy-haired little girl from the Sorceror's Stone.  She has totally become Hermione in every way for me: she is the strong, intelligent, brave, and beautiful witch who has always been my favorite character of the series.  I look forward to seeing what roles Emma Watson takes on next, and I must say I love her new pixie cut. Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint were none too shabby either-- I particularly love the scene with Harry and Hermione slow-dancing in the tent.


All in all, I do not hesitate to say that The Deathly Hallows Part I is the best Harry Potter movie, cinematic and quality wise-- a high honor, considering how phenomenal Half-Blood Prince was.  The film is just under two hours and thirty minutes long, but is one of those rare movies when you don't even think to check your watch while you're in the theaters.  I'm so glad that the director decided to split the last movie into two parts a while back, because I cannot imagine how they could have possibly told this brilliant and beautiful story within a three hour time frame for a single movie.  And now those of us who feel like we've spent half our lives waiting for the next book or movie to be released can spend eight more months eagerly anticipating Part II. 

Overall Rating:  5/5