Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Now that I've seen Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince three times, I thought I should write something about it. I don't really consider myself a Harry Potter fan anymore, not in comparison to how I used to be. I was just about the perfect age for the Potter books. Sorcerer's Stone, (I always knew it at Sorcerer's Stone, not Philosopher's stone) came out in 1998, when I was eight years old. I was enchanted. No pun intended. I waited patiently for my Hogwarts owl until I was about twelve. By the time the last book came out, Harry and I were the same age. I thought that was a good way to end it. The events of the seventh book made me cry on a cross country plane from New York to Seattle. That was embarrassing.

And after the books, I considered that chapter of my life closed. I still read the occasional Harry Potter fanfic. But you know the Judy Garland song, thanks for the memories.

And these goddamn movies just keep drawing it out.

Okay, that makes me sound bitter. I'm not. I just feel a twinge of guilt when I see the people on opening night who's costumes are so much more hardcore than mine and knowing that just a short time ago I would have been that hardcore about it. It's kind of like a moving apart from a relationship. You're still friends, and you still love them, but they don't really have a speed dial number on your phone anymore.

After all this ruminating, I still enjoyed the movie. I think it's my favorite so far. They've been getting progressively better. It had good comedic moments. I always thought the movies made somewhat light books way too dark. I really liked the costumes. The kids are getting to be better actors. As usual, the older actors stole the show. Jim Broadbent was excellent and Helena Bonham Carter was terrifying. Dumbledore, my favorite character from the books, wasn't as stupid or as harsh as he had been and I appreciated that a great deal.

People have been hating on the movie because it wasn't close enough to the book. I think they're expecting way too much. I went into the theater expecting to be entertained, and this movie entertained the shit out of me. Perhaps I was able to reach this nirvana because I don't really remember the sixth book and didn't reread it. I think the movies and the books are separate entities and trying to push the together is unreasonable and unrealistic.

And for other Harry Potter inspired commodities, try Wizard Rock. I recommend the band The Moaning Myrtles. I acknowledge that I know absolutely nothing about music produced within the last thirty years, but I like The Moaning Myrtles. And one of the singers goes to school with me.

Or, even more intense, the Harry Potter musical, A Very Potter Musical. I haven't seen all of it yet, but it's hilarious. Draco Malfoy gets a whole new life from the somewhat pathetic creature he's become in the movies. Watch it in multiple youtube parts here.