Harry Potter Delivers Again!

"Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" is a delight of a film. It is by far the funniest of the movies so far, which is strange the source material is wicked dark stuff. Just how dark is the book you ask? Let's just say the scenes where a young Voldermort murders his family, a werewolf devouring children, and a sadistic youngling who enjoy killing don't make into this PG rated Potter film. It's a testament both to the original story and Steven Klove's screenplay that it succeeds so well as an adaptation (leaving this dark biz behind).

One of the best things about the Harry Potter series in print or on the silver screen is how the characters and the actors grow up over time. These actors were young when this bad boy started, peep the picture on the right as evidence. But now as the characters age, the film uses their emotions for some great comedy. There's plenty of snogging, scheming, and maybe even slaying, and I'm not talking about dragons, and all of it is wisely played for laughs.

Technically the film is great. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel creates beautiful images in film using dark colors (which totally is metaphoric for the rise of the evil Death Eaters meng). But what really blew me away in this film was the performances, in particular Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn. While I don't want to reveal too much, Broadbent really taps into the tragic nature of the character, and it is my hope that he gets at least a nomination from the Academy for his performance, and I hope he doesn't need some of that luck potion to make that happen.

I'm not going to dive into all the potentially catastrophic ways it deviates from the book, but let's just say the Potter nerd (you know the one that has copped books 4-7 at midnight) is a little nervous. But the filmmakers are on a magical tear right now, so I trust, and if that don't deliver, time to bust out those unforgivable curses on those suckas.

Watching Movies Based On Books You've Already Read

The image above is ambigram, which means if you turn you head (don't strain your neck) it will look the same upside down. It comes from the book Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, which the film that comes out today is based off of. I have read the book, and like all Dan Brown books I found it to be extremely enjoyable in a trashy page turner way. Yet with the movie coming out today, I just don't feel that jazzed about it because I know every twist and turn of the story. How this knowledge of the plot impacts my enjoyment is a different question.

It all comes down to the presentation. It starts with casting. The characters have to kind of fit with the way you imagine them. Harry Potter, dude looks exactly like I thought he would like. Tom Hanks as Robert Langon, ahhhh, he's too nice, Langdon as I pictured him was a little bit more Clooney. Then it comes down production design. This part is either cooler or as I pictured it would be in the book.

And finally in true TPG fashion it's gotta have that "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shittttttttt" (usually followed by me punching the arm of the person next to me) action moments as I pictured them from the book. For example, in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", I envisioned the battle between at the Ministry almost exactly as it was presented in the book, I was satisfied (except for the bit about the statues not coming to life, but whatever, Harry Potter nerds sometimes have to settle for a Nimbus 2000, when you want a Firebolt).

So "Angels and Demons," I'll give you a chance, but you deliver that on that presentation (and those ohhhhhhhhhh shittttttttttt) moments, I'll be pleased.

Breaking News: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince rated PG??

According to this article, the new Harry Potter flick is going to be rated PG. The previous entries "Order of the Phoenix" and "Goblet of Fire" were PG-13. Considering Harry Potter does a curse that rips Draco's chest in half in this book, I'm saying this means this movie could potentially be as bad as Percy's O.W.L. scores (double joke, ahhh, Zing!).