New Harry Potter Trailer

Apparently there's a significant death that's going to break up the two movies. I wonder who it will be and whether he will say "Harry...Potter..." in a piteous voice as he expires.

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Ciaran Hinds, AKA Captain Wentworth, is Aberforth Dumbledore

...in the next Harry Potter film. It's a great role for a great actor. Here is a great little interview with him. Love his Irish accent.
He also talks about some other projects, but the HP stuff is first.

George W Bush did not heart Harry Potter

Check this out, via my google reader:

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Think Progress » Bush Officials Objected To Awarding Medal To J.K. Rowling Because Harry Potter Books Promote Witchcraft: "

In his new book, Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor, former Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer reveals how politicized the revered Presidential Medal of Freedom became during the Bush administration.

Latimer writes that administration officials objected to giving author J.K. Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom because her writing “encouraged witchcraft” (p. 201):

This was the same sort of narrow thinking that led people in the White House to actually object to giving the author J.K. Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft.

---

Not exactly shocking, but appalling nonetheless, no?

The dumbest Harry Potter article of all time

An article by a yuppie mom complaining about the DRINKING in Harry Potter? This is totally overprotective parenting gone wild.
NYTimes fail.

People are mocking it all over the interwebs, but I had to join in. Ha ha ha ha!

Deep Thoughts Re: the Harry Potter Canon Via G-chat

...with HLP's sister/ friend 'o'mine Molly.

WARNING: Major Harry Potter 6+7 Spoilers ahead:

Sarah's G-ghat away message:just wasted my morning re-reading key chapters of Deathly Hallows Invited

Molly: hahah i just wasted two days doing that!

was this for an article or something or just for good old fashioned fun

me: no no just because the movie made me want to revisit all that stuff

[discussion of the movie ensues]

2:28 PM me: your brother and i have been debating the end of deathly hallows

Molly: haha

me: do you feel like the part where harry comes back to life after accepting he's going to die is explained enough?

it's kind of hard to swallow

2:29 PM we were looking over the scene in limbo or whatever where dumbledore explains it

Molly: yeah well what doesnt make sense

is that if he was the "master" of death because of the the hallows and because he had accepted his own death

then why did he have the interlude w/ dumbledore at all?

2:30 PM me: yeah exactly

Molly: i guess the point is that he got to choose? because he had mastered death

me: and the thing about voldemort taking his bloodand entwining them

is a weaker explanation than the master of death thing

Molly: yes definitely

and it doesn't make sense

me: and then during the battle he throws in the idea that his "protective charm" of sacrificing himself for everyone at hogwarts has saved them

Molly: that voldemort "killing" harry

2:31 PM would have only resulted in the death of the part of voldemort in him

like that squealing devil baby

me: yeah exactly

Molly: why did that die?

me: yeah freaky devil baby

Molly: yeah the protective charm over hogwarts thing is ridiculous

2:32 PM because its impossible that lily and harry are the only people in history to die to save someone else

me: yeah she threw in too many things there at the last minute

Molly: so why isnt that like common knowledge that the killing curse doesn't work on people who've had someone die for them?

yeah i agree - its too much

i mean frankly the hallows thing at all

2:33 PM is like enough to add in the last book

2:34 PM me: yeah she should have just made that clear

Molly: yeah agreed

me: and left the other stuff out

2:35 PM the scene in the final movie when harry announces to voldy that he is the master of the elder wand is going to rock though

Molly: 2:36 PM yeah that is gonna rock

that whole last thing

I really hope the movie version lives up to it

when I was rereading it too

Molly: hahahah

the line when Harry has accepted that hes gonna die and hes walking out to the woods

me: and he asks "does it hurt?"

2:37 PM Molly: omg YES that whole part

and when the mom says hes so brave

but what I was gonna say

is when he says he wishes he could see the weasleys one more time, but that if he looked at them "would he ever be able to stop looking?"

i burst into tears just as hard as the first time i read that

that and "does it hurt"

2:38 PM killed me

me: yeah that scene is so poignant

2:39 PM it's funny isn't it that both her and tolkein are essentially writing these books whose theme turns out to be death?

2:40 PM Molly: yeah totally!

2:41 PM they both seem to be about like the fate of the world and the destruction of evil

but turn out to be abt reconciling yourself to dying

me: yeah man

we are so deep
me: even though they both have their share of resurrections, it can't stop the march of time2:42 PM Molly: hahaha

me: no it's so true though

Molly: and on the opposite end of the spectrum

Molly: the fact that harry named his son albus severus made me even angrier the second time around

me: yeah agreed

Molly: that whole epilogue

me: FUCK SNAPE

Molly: is embarrassing to read

me: fine he helped them out somewhat

but he was still a royal asshole

Molly: yeah he was NOT the bravest man harry knew

2:45 PM me: he was a creep

2:47 PM a pervy little lily-loving creep

Molly: hahah

me: yo i can i publish this g-chat, abridged, on my blog?

2:48 PM Molly: hahah obv

the second time i read it i also cried hardcore at: dobby's death

2:49 PM and the end when kreacher is fighting

i fucking love kreacher

all the house elf stuff is actually really good

me: yeahhhh i never really had the dobby's death reaction that others did

BUT i did love that scene at the end

Molly: hahaha WHAT

me: i mean it was sad! but it happened so fast

my dad and my best friend julia were devastated and so was simon

2:50 PM but i was too busy speeding through trying to find out what happened next to cry

i am a heartless heartless person

Molly: hahahah

its because you think house elves are beneath us

me: yeahhh

2:51 PM although when my people read the S.P.E.W stuff they all start comparing me to hermione

but i guess im more interested in saving them in theory than in practice

Molly: ahhahah

yeah whereas i didnt give a fuck abt spew

2:52 PM but poor lil dobbbbbby!!

me: "harry...potter..."

Molly: hhaha

harry potter must not die!

yeah.

me:that bellatrix is a sick fuckstabbin house elves

2:53 PM me: avada kedavra'ing siriusMolly: all the deaths in hp7 actually

are like way below the belt

she picks the meanest possible deaths

me: i know

lupin!!!!!

Molly: dobby who is so brave and tiny

and george

me: FRED

Molly: fred?

yeah

NOT OK

me: FRED

2:54 PM hahahaha

Molly: and yeah lupin and tonks!

right after they have teddy!!

that still makes me so mad

how she just puts that in as like a footnote

oh yeah, theyre dead too

me: i guess she did that to complete the cycle or something

another orphan

me: whom harry will help raise just as lupin helped raise him

2:55 PM Molly: and harry can be the godfather that sirius couldnt because of azkaban

yeah

but still

it wouldnt have been as bad if she had just given them a death scene worthy of them

like they are not thaaat below the belt

me: yeah i agree

Molly: but fred and dobby were way. harsh.

me: like have them kill some death eater

2:56 PM Molly: yeah cause you know that when they died

me: why couldn't she kill percy instead of Fred?

Molly: they were bringing death eaters down fighting

so why couldnt we have seen that? so at least their deaths meant something

yeah

i think it was supposed to be molly

it was supposed to be molly and hagrid

2:57 PM and then she switched it to fred and lupin and tonks

i thought in the movie

2:58 PM draco malfoy totally lived up to draco of the books

3:00 PM me: yes he was great

in the other movies 2, he embodies both his arrogance and his cowardice

3:01 PM he could be a a total nyc prep school a-hole

3:10 PM Molly: hahah yeah totally

FINIS

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: What Did You Think?

Just got back from my showing and WOW. This may have been the best yet. Share your thoughts in the comments, readers, and I will add mine in the morning once I recover.


Critical roundup below via google reader:

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

The sixth film in J.K. Rowling's series has beautiful special effects, and something even more rare: Magic

from Salon - 11:57 PM (1 hour ago)

Harry Potter: the verdicts

few seem willing to condemn David Yates's second effort in the director's chair out of hand.Most seem of the opinion that Half-Blood Prince is a perfectly entertaining if somewhat work...

from guardian.co.uk home | guardian.co.uk - Jul 9, 2009 12:17 PM

Half-Blood Prince Suffers From Lack Of Action, Emma Watson's Hotness [Critical Mass]

Critics say Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is entertaining and well acted, they also worry that its teenage stars are now too attractive. Half-Blood Prince opened today and has already earned $22.2 million from midnight showings last night, making it the biggest midnight gross of all time, according to Variety.

from Jezebel - 5:23 PM (7 hours ago)

And while we're at it, some Harry Potter stuff

Cause JKR>sm

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

There's a Hogwarts Exhibit

This makes me really hanker for a visit to Chicago:

(via USA Today)

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Harry Potter: The Exhibition takes visitors from the Hogwarts Express train platform through the Gryffindor common room, classrooms, the Great Hall, the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's hut. The tour is populated with creatures from the seven novels by J.K. Rowling and six Potter movies: life-sized centaurs, Buckbeak the hippogriff, dementors, thestrals and Dobby the house elf. Along the way are vignettes featuring dozens of elaborate costumes and icons of the Potter universe, including Harry's magic wand and round glasses.

---

I have to confess that I went to the similar Lord of the Rings: the Exhibition at the Science Museum in Boston...all I can say is, it was freaking awesome and I don't regret the rather large ticket price AT ALL ;)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

I don't usually do this, but this one looks soo good.

Enjoy!

The Tales of Beedle The Bard

This will be a short post for a short book. JK Rowling's book of wizarding tales--with footnotes provided by herself and in the voice of Albus Dumbledore--is a novelty charity item and not a substantial piece of work. But that doesn't mean it's not incredibly awesome.

The fairy tales themselves are sweet and demonstrate Rowling's unique sense of right and wrong as well as her signature mix of beautifully mythical and comically grotesque aesthetics.

But it's Dumbledore's footnotes that steal the show. Reading "his" words gave me a lump in my throat and a longing to return to the wizarding world and stay there. It may not be a full novel, but "Beedle" proves that JK still has it, and when she unleashes it again we're going to be in awe.

JKR + JA Appreciation time

Sometimes I get down about stuff, you know, like life and modern society...and then I think about the fact that JK Rowling is the most powerful living writer in the world. And Jane Austen is probably the most powerful non-living novelist in the world.

And that is just awesome.

John McCain--Voldemortesque and Gollumnish?

The Golden Compass vs. Harry Potter. Smackdown!!

I picked up this YA fantasy novel hopefully, in anticipation of the film. Well I never saw the film because the reviews were just so totally dismal, but the book was fantastic. The most affecting part, as everyone says, is the relationship between the humans and their Daemons--or animal manifestations of their souls. So believable and well-drawn! I also loved Iorek, the ice-bear, and the warm gyptians and the cold but kind witches.
With all that happy praise out of the way, Phillip Pullman, you are no JK Rowling. As much as I adored this book, I neither rushed out to buy a sequel nor would have been more than a little miffed if I'd been interrupted. If it were a Harry Potter book my eyes would not have left the page. The difference is that JK Rowling taps into something in our core humanity that very few writers in any genre are able to.
Still, I'm going to pick up the Subtle Knife one of these days, and devour it greedily.

Dumbledore is Gay.

Yep, yep, he is. And JK Rowling is the most egalitarian of all bookworm chicks.

JKR spills her secrets

And reveals the answers to fans' burning questions.

Stephen Colbert, Egalitarian Bookworm, Reads Harry Potter

Is Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows a repudiation of the male power structure (or am I just fantasizing?)

SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER ALERT*

I think it's interesting that people have accused my main woman JK of not being feminist enough because some of her characters conform to gender roles. But to me that's like saying Jane Austen isn't feminist enough--both women, one using realism and the other fantasy, are satirizing and commenting on their contemporary societies. So they are writing things as they are, not as they should be (i.e Hermione being brainy but intimidated by broomsticks, Mrs. Weasley showing her love by feeding her kids etc.) But it's exactly that understanding of human life and the way people really do act that makes her "fantasy" world less fantastic and more poignant; a fantasy reflection of reality. More explained below.

But first, my initial hasty thoughts about Deathly Hallows, which I finished at 7:20 pm yesterday evening after taking a swim and a shower to stave off the ultimate sadness I knew I'd feel when I had no more pages to turn.
In sum:

1)Book 7 was a heart-pounding, unbelievably thrilling, and absorbing read. The chapters flew by! Kudos JKR.

2)Much of the conclusion was satisfying as all hell---and incredibly moving. I cried the most when Dumbledore's portrait cried.

3) I wish there had been more emotional exposition and exploration of the side characters (there was so much to develop with Harry and Lupin, for instance, and the Kreacher plot which was so brilliant) and one less scene of the main three heroes breaking in somewhere using polyjuice potion.

4)Where was Ginny? Why didn't she come in and save Harry's ass? She's so powerful and fiesty. Urgh.

And now to highlight a few interesting things that Rowling did in light of the current world situation.

Killing off Fred Weasley was a cruel move, since he is such a vital, humor-filled character; a young boy who is both brave and the consummate jokester. He is also half of a set of twins, and they are both about 19 or 20 years old in this book. So young to die! We all expected the other generation to get its fair share of Voldermort's wrath, but Fred? And yet, this is the exact age most soldiers are when they die. Young men like F & G often represent (whether they should or not) the shoulders on which our collective hopes lie. Killing Fred, and leaving his twin alive to represent what could have been, is an intense commentary on what war means; the murder of young men and the untold heartbreak it causes.


And of course, we can't forget the symbolism of the elder wand (ahem, Freud) subplot plot. The elder wand, or deathstick, is the biggest, baddest wand around--but it brings trouble to whoever owns it because it practically invites theft and murder. But because Voldemort is so focused on getting this weapon of weapons, he doesn't notice the steady work Harry is doing to unman him by destroying the Horcruxes. Horcruxes, not Hallows, are Harry's quest. In this way, Rowling is making the point that defeating evil is a slogging,workmany kind of task, not something that can be solved with an abracadabra (ahem, President Bush!)

And then there's the theme of powerful motherhood. In the end, Lily Potter is seen as a more important force than James. Her love saves Harry and the magical protection in her blood keeps him alive when Voldemort "kills" him a second time. But more importantly, her childhood kindness to Snape "turns" him from Death-Eater into Harry's secret protector. And then there's other kinds of mother-love--Mrs. Weasley's triumphant defeat of Bellatrix shows that when her children are threatened, she's a powerful witch beyond conjuring food out of midair and Narcissa's love for her son Draco, git that he is, saves Harry again.

Harry's sound lecture of Lupin for even thinking about abandoning his child emphasizes JKR's hatred of men who up and leave their families--which makes her quick offing of Remus a bit contradictory (also, couldn't Lupin have joined them for one teeny-tiny adventure?). And the seeds of Voldemort's evil were sown in a house with no mother, and two brutish men, where Merope was brought up not knowing how to love.

But these are just disconnected ramblings. What I loved most about the book were the shades of gray. Snape didn't turn out to be "good," just because he was Dumbledore's man through and through. He was still a sadistic teacher and a pathetic person. But he recognized goodness in the form of Lily, and he craved it and worshipped it, even though his own attempts to mimic goodness always came out warped and twisted. He could never see through his bias against Harry but he saved him because Lily was the talisman to which he clung. Therefore it was appropriate that his clearest aid to Harry was in the form of his mother's patronus, the doe.

So Snape wasn't good, he was barely redeemable, he was just human. His relationship with Dumbledore was another instance of his clinging to good even though he couldn't openly emulate it.

Similarly the Malfoys didn't turn good, or turn out to be friends with Harry, but they did abandon evil because Voldemort's treatment of their son (and Harry's rescuing him) made them realize that evil negated love, and their love was stronger than their desire for power.

The shades of gray business obviously works well with Albus and Aberforth and all that but to me, Dumbledore's murky past and his bitter remorse gave him a kind of humanity and realness that made him all the more loveable. I'm glad Rowling de-mystified him and really showed us how much he loved Harry before it all ended.

(view full size)

12 hours to go.

I am going to be sequestering myself from the internet for the rest of the day, and tomorrow as I have already found out too much about the final HP to be comfortable with this free exchange of information business.

As the 12 hour mark nears, I am chilling out in my jammies, listening to Tori Amos' American Doll Posse (hot!) and making T-shirts to wear to B&N tonight--and to guide my arts 'n' crafts project, I downloaded some hot hot fonts. Check it out below.

Peace, love, and quidditch.

Michiko Vs. JKR

So the Times' Kakutani decided to 'purchase" the book early and review it in her usually snooty way, and JKR hit back.

In sum:

Michiko: "blah blah blah blah. Harry Potter blah blah. Listen to me!"

JKR: "I am staggered that some American newspapers have decided to publish purported spoilers in the form of reviews in complete disregard of the wishes of literally millions of readers, particularly children, who wanted to reach Harry's final destination by themselves, in their own time," she said. "I am incredibly grateful to all those newspapers, booksellers and others who have chosen not to attempt to spoil Harry's last adventure for fans."

I think JKR just hit that biatch with a big fat "Stupefy!" Do you think "Michi" is exhibiting normal behavior for a Slytherin, or should she be hauled to Azkhaban for this breach?