the lines of my earth.

it's official: harry potter and the deathly hallows will be two films: harry potter and the deathly hallows, part one and harry potter and the deathly hallows part two. hey, i've got a better idea for the names. how about, harry potter an the deathly hallows, and harry potter and the producer's golden toilet.

that's just fkn ridiculous. if you can chop the other books down...hell. if you can chop GOF and OOTP to one film each, you sure as hell can chop down DH into one. it IS possible, no matter how much anyone argues how much is in there. it is possible.

and, because it is possible, the making of two films is just stupid. and greedy. and raises all kinds of questions regarding actor contracts. i'm assuming they got most of the stars to say yes, because announcing two films before you've re-negotiated contracts of your 7-film regulars is just amazingly stupid. you know what...i'm SURE they've re-negotiated, because there doesn't exist a producer stupid enough to split it in two before all actors are go.

now we're just waiting for a director. yates said he's thinking about it, but that was before the split. i dunno, after curon, he's the best one so far. but i kind of like the tradition of trying out new people. but now you've got two...what are you going to do? split it up between two directors or find a director willing to sign on for two? great planning, warner brothers.

j.k. ended so nicely. now the WB's gounna go fk it up in the name of cashing in. i guess, as a fan, i just feel that it was a good enough of a finale to be on par with the other books, and you can make a good enough end to the films in just the same way as the other films. it's not like DH alone was the epic fantasy of all time that it deserves the double-film treatment (i won't even get into my 2-film hobbit gripes), i mean, it's not fkn dr. zhavago, fersnapessakes. it's a 7 part fantasy. it should remain 7 parts.

rant done.

who got to see "harry potter and the order of the phoenix" two weeks early? last night? for FREE??? siri and i.

bow down to our awsome powers of potter-maina.

thank you to jodi who pointed out the promotion to me. and thank you, to myspace and WB for making st paul one of the few premiere cities. i will now start to berate myspace a little less.

we got off work early and hussled over to roseville AMC. there was a lot of full-on anxiety on my part, because i ran into traffic and had to find an alternative route to roseville. but i made it, #256 out of the 270 people let in.

of course, we had to wait in line for about 4 hours. but it was a nice day, and totally worth it.

okay. i'm going to be as appetizing and spoiler-free as possible with this one.

( REVIEWS OF THE DUCHESS: HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX )

it's kind of hard, because i'd like to go back to the theatre and see it right away. but it'll have to wait until opening WHICH, remember, has been moved up to july 11 (or midnight, the evening of july 10). i can't wait for all of my hp-fan friends to see it too!!!

REVIEWS OF THE DUCHESS #125: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by J.K. Rowling (book)

WARNING: i have tried my damndest to be spoiler-free here, but at least one has called me on it. read at your own risk.

finally, a book to replace POA in my heart as favorite in the series.

I used to feel sorry for my nephews because I knew that they—or noah at least—would someday grow to love these books. but they will have missed out on the time in between when the huge amount of theoryslinging and speculation kept the fun going for years. it also allowed for re-reads that allow you to pick up on the details coming in the next book. but not ten chapters into HBP I knew I wouldn’t have to feel that way anymore, because there are enough gasp moments here that post-book 7 readers years from now will get a thrill out of whether they’ve put in the wait time or not. things (and people!) are finally coming together.

jo has said that, now that the wizarding world was at war, there would be more deaths. and, having just finished the book this afternoon, I will spend the evening in mourning. this book’s a tough one to take.

moments of gasps, squeals and right-out laugher (and they run in high numbers this time), in order, spoiler-free:

--the casting of the vow
--the twin’s success
--the new DADA teacher
--merope
--what ginny smells like *^_^*
--levicorpus
--the confundus charm
--harry pulls the fast felix on ron
--all the snogging
--peeves’ requirement for getting past a fourth floor corridor (a favorite moment of silliness)
--the second quiddich comentator
--“I love you….”
--the perfect workings of luck. nice.
--horcruxes. brilliant
--zombies. m’f’king zombies. yeah! (nice “two towers” homage.) *shiver*
--the moment atop the tower, and the actions of all present….
--the half-blood prince and all of his “involvement”
--the note in the locket
--the unexpected resolve of a very pretty woman
--what tonks wants and what tonks gets (eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!)
--eileen and tobias
--the entire last chapter which took me an hour to read because I had to put it down every page-turn to cry.

and I am a bit glad of the wait for book 7. because it will be harsh, and I will need time.

what I wonder is: will parents be in an uproar? there’s lot’s of teenage shenanegans here, lots of emotion running rampant, children having to face adult decisions, teachers offering drinks to students, truly upsetting events, and scenes that will give ME nightmares. harsh, I say. harsh. you will be hearing from some pissed-off folk.

so. let the speculation for book 7 begin. one major piece of information jo has given: after book 6, there are no new characters introduced. will slughorn come back? who will fill the empty post? wtf with snape? and may I just say….i still don’t believe EVERYthing I’ve read….

one thing more for those finished with the book, one more gasp moment that jo has left us: figuring out what R.A.B. means. your clues are this: jo has said, no more new characters. so we know we’ve come across this already. figured it out yet? here’s another clue from me to you: you’ve never physically seen R.A.B. and you never will. good luck.

Disclaimer: y’all know what a big fan I am. Give me this one entry to gush and I’ll henceforth never bore you so badly again. Or better yet, just skip this one.

oh, i was just way too tired to post yesterday….that midnight harry potter on wednesday done me in. but i meant to post on it, so here’s goes.

REVIEWS OF THE DUCHESS #1: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRIZONER OF AZKABAN

first off, it helps if you’re a fan of the books. but if you don’t know what’s good for you and have never delved into the world of hogwarts, quiddich, and anamagi, it’s still a good time. and for the love of snape, at least see the first two movies in prep, as there’s not a lot of background explaination.

The marauders: wormtail, moony, padfoot and prongs are all accounted for and present—as much as they can be—and their map is an entertaining theme for the credits. Lupin not as loopy as I’d expected, but I loved the fact that he plays a jazz record while the students take on the boggart. Gary oldman as Sirius black: brilliant, but not enough screen time. The explainations behind the origins of the map, the marauder’s time in school and the past duel between black and pettigrew are sadly omitted. And I got the feeling that there was something newly revealed regarding romantic notions of both remus and Sirius…though that’s just a hunch….maybe…*^_^*

Characters and actors to note: michael gambon is no richard harris and lacks his soft-hearted excentricity, but with his limited scenes, he does well. Emma Thompson as trelawny is fucking hilarious and best casting to date. Draco, dudly and crookshanks are seriously downplayed (and what the hell happened to goyle?). “most change to happen to a child between movies” award goes to Neville. Jesus. Hardly recognized him! The twins are back in full force, but the rest of the weasley clan has been horribly backgrounded. And some fucking sweet moments between hermione and ron. What. We all saw that coming.

The more things change, the more they remain the same: all but one returning actor and familiar sets are comforting, but the pacing and direction is so different than the first two that it’s quite a shock…but a good one. The whole movie I’m thinking, god, it’s SO different…but it’s SO better. It makes the first two look shameful. (note to fans: rewatch the first two before you go, because they’ll never be good enough again.) alfonzo cauron is a god. Under his directorial cap, the characters are humanized and robbed of their former stiltedness, hogwarts becomes less an enigmatic castle and settles into the bones of being a day-to-day school (that, yes, just happens to be set in a 1000 year old castle), the pace is furious and free and the mood is 100% darker AND funnier. That last one alone is evidence of his powers, the rest is crowning bonus.

Favorite bits: the beautifully handling of the time-turner incident, the “should we get closer?” comment from hermione to ron, trelawny’s classes, dementors hanging out around hogwarts, harry’s moment of the patronus, and the innkeeper of the leaky caldron. And, although my dear professor snape is not as prominent or pissed off as he is in the books, he makes up for it by being especially dastardly in class and by coming to the rescue later (like the hero I know he’s going to be revealed to be). I heart alan rickman.
Okay, I’ve wasted enough time for those of you who don’t care and are terribly embarrassed of me.