Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It's been a week since the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," time enough for most fans to get through the book. Nevertheless, I would hate to ruin the fun for anyone, so I've posted my reactions on a back-dated entry so that it won't appear on the top page.
To read it, click here:

*Spoilers* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

All is revealed in that post. Consider yourself warned.

With the long-awaited Harry Potter movie and book both behind us, I can't help but feel a bit melancholy. Anticipation is, after all, half the fun of these things. So what can we look forward to now? Well, let's see.

J.K. Rowling has announced she will do a Harry Potter Encyclopedia, and that will be cool. Of course, there are two more movies to go. They're all a long way off, though.

December will see the movie adaptation of "The Golden Compass," the first book of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Done well, that could be amazing. It will definitely cause a stir; if you think the fundamentalists hated Harry, wait until they get a load of this. (Although, the film makers are apparently editing religion out of the story to appease them, which is like editing Voldemort out of Harry Potter, so the whole thing may devolve into a special effects extravaganza.)

In January or February, we get the new season of Lost, finally. And there are a few new TV shows that look promising.

Still. It just ain't the same.

Harry Potter and the beginning of the end

The Witching Hour

It was 12:00 AM, the stroke of midnight, when the secret keepers opened their magic boxes filled with copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Bubbles of laughter floated by on a sea of expectant chatter. Strangers smiled at strangers, acknowledging their common bond: Potter Pals, one and all.

In line for the checkout, a little boy danced in excitement; a small, elderly woman carefully counted out single dollars and many coins; a biker type leaned casually against the counter, feigning boredom between furtive peeks at page one. No one lingered to chat. A few actually sprinted back to their cars.

Slipping behind the wheel, I flipped on the radio and found J.K. Rowling there, reading from the first page. Groaning, I turned it off. Badly as I wanted to hear the reading, I wanted even more to discover every word for myself.

Love Hurts

Thus began a luxuriously lost weekend, one shared with thousands and thousands of fans around the world. I read until 3 AM that Saturday morning, all I could manage after a full day's work. TV, radio, newspapers, friends and the Internet were declared temporarily off-limits, to avoid any spoilers. It took me until around 2:30 AM Monday morning to finish.

I emerged from Rowling's world elated and exhausted, both physically and emotionally. The story was wonderful, and THE END came too soon. And we will not see the likes of it again.

* It seems too early for a post that reveals all. To avoid ruining the experience for anyone who might wander by, I won't comment here just yet on the details. If you have a discussion of the book going on your blog, please post a link in the comments, OK? (No spoilers in comments, please!)

Eve of The Deathly Hallows

It's been ages since looking forward to something actually kept me awake. Knowing the last Harry Potter book arrives tonight, I kind of feel like a kid again on Christmas Eve. By this time tomorrow, everyone will know the answers to the questions all Potter fans have pondered for the past two years. Meanwhile, here's the view from my crystal ball:

Dumbledore is dead, but he'll pull an Obi-Wan; that is, he'll be more powerful in death than he ever was in life, able to take on Voldemort and the Death Eaters from the very place they fear most.

Snape dies, but he dies a hero. I believe he killed Dumbledore in a pact the two made to save Draco. I suspect he will help bring down the Dark Lord to avenge Lilly Potter, the only person who was ever kind to him. He tolerates and protects Harry because he is her son. He's a Grinch alright, but he's on the side of the angels.

Harry lives. So do Ron and Hermione. I don't get the impression we're being set up for a tragic ending. One of the two, Voldemort or Harry, must die. Voldemort, of course, is toast. Nowhere have we been led to believe both must die ... unless Harry himself, and not just his scar, is a horcrux. But I think he'd have leaned a good bit more toward the dark side all along if that were the case. Besides, I'll be royally ticked off if any of those three don't make it out alive.

Time will tell. Only a few hours to go.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Let's be frank. I love J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and, after waiting so long for this movie, there was no way I wasn't going to enjoy it. Even so, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" greatly exceeded my expectations.

Daniel Radcliffe has come into his own as an actor, playing Harry with a new depth and confidence that fits well with the character at this point in the story. The acting skills of Emma Watson as Hermione and Rupert Grint as Ron are markedly more mature, as well. And this director seems to take them more seriously. (There was not one scene where any of them screamed "Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" in unison. I hate that.)

Radcliffe does a great job with the first kiss scene, and the group discussion of the event afterwards in the dorm is pitch-perfect. Both have to be among the best scenes in the whole Potter series. And of course, there is the grand exit of the Weasley twins, a gratifying moment if ever there was one.

Casting could not be better for the new characters: Imelda Staunton is thoroughly loathesome as the odious, simpering Delores Umbridge. Newcomer Evanna Lynch is exactly as I had pictured the quiet, quirky starchild Luna Lovegood. I do wish there had been more footage of Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange; she is at once mesmerizing and terrifying in the role. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her next time, though. I look forward to that.

I wish I could be as enthusiastic about Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. He just doesn't have the bearing and voice that Richard Harris brought to the part. And what is up with that awful, clingy, grey nylon nightgowny thing they've always got him in? Harris had beautifully sumptuous robes, which added substance and style. I can't for the life of me figure out why they did away with that awesome wardrobe. Ah well.

The last movie, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was disappointing to me, because so much of the book was left out or tweaked, and what remained felt like fleeting glimpses of scenes from the novel. It reminded me of those little cartoon flip-books, where the action is jerky and disjointed. Knowing the Order of the Phoenix book was even longer, I was braced for more of the same.

Fortunately, the new movie didn't have the same rushed feel to it. OK, all of the subplots are missing, entire backstories are summed up in a sentence or two, and segments are a bit truncated. There are none of the delicious background action effects such as those in the The Leaky Cauldron or Gringots Bank from the first two movies. (However, the extravagant effects of the final wizard battle and the total demolition of the Hall of Prophecies pretty much make up for that. I imagine the IMAX version of the last twenty minutes is downright spectacular.)

At this point in the story, the straightforward storytelling seems as it should be. The situation is dire in the wizarding world. The good guys are under attack from all sides, and the characters are no longer children. The time for wide-eyed wonder is over.

We saw the film together as a family, and all of us -- ages 17 to 56 -- came away enchanted. As far as I'm concerned, that is movie magic.