Those who know me and read this blog will know there is only one thing on my mind this week, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1. I’ll be in line early on Thursday evening to watch the midnight showing. Don’t worry I’ve had my tickets for weeks. The London Premier happened last week and it was great fun to watch the stars on the red carpet. Yeah, I’m that into HP. So far no one has contacted me to say I won tickets to the New York City Premier so I guess I’m waiting until Thursday.
If you want to see the movie in the best possible way, go at midnight with a bunch of people that are really into it and knows a lot about the books and movies. I promise it will be an incredible experience. You will understand more of the nuances just by the reaction of the audience.
If you are a fan of the Harry Potter books and/or movies I’d love to hear the following:
what do you like better, HP books or movies
who is your favorite HP character
what is your favorite HP book
what is your favorite HP movie
what do you think of The Deathly Hallows Part 1
OK enough about the movies, what about meals for the week. Here is what I’m planning, what about you?
Monday– Duck Burgers with Simple Asian Slaw
Tuesday– baked Sole with roasted fennel, potatoes, asparagus and harricot verts
Wednesday– turkey ham with Sticky Sauce Carrots and spinach salad
Thursday – Hogwarts favorites to include homemade chipolatas and chocolate frogs, for more check outGo Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free at Hogwarts (I’m heading to the midnight screening of The Deathly Hallows)
Friday– shrimp and quinoa with roasted vegetables
Saturday – hearty roasted vegetable soup
Sunday– leftovers
1) I like the books better on the whole because there's just so much stuff in them that doesn't get into the movies, but the movies make a nice accent to the books.
2) Hmmm, hard to pick a favorite character. I love how much Nevil developed over the years and what a force to be reckoned with he became by the last book. I love the goofy way Luna looks at the world and how she will say things so bluntly but in such an innocent way you can't help but be amused by it. I loved that for all his great intelligence and compassion, there was also all this quirkiness in Dumbledore. Each of Harry's friends brings a little something different to the table. I just love how Harry's support and loyalty to his oddball collection of friends ends up being the very thing that helps him succeed.
3) I think it would be easier to say which is my least favorite HP book. That would have to be The Order of the Phoenix and mostly because I felt so bad for the isolation Harry was feeling and the sense of despair that seemed to permeate the book, more so than any of the others.
4) Again, I think its easier to say which is my least favorite and that would be The Goblet of Fire. There was *so* much that got left out of the movie in favor of what I thought were some gratuitous and unnecessary action scenes that did nothing to advance the story. I was a bit disappointed by it and the way it interpreted J.K. Rowling's book. I saw it with friends who hadn't read any of the books (one of them grew up in a family that wasn't into reading and so never developed a liking of it). I ended up giving them the unabridged version of the book on tape because I thought there were too many important things left out of the movie. I realize that the medium is not well suited to capture everything in the books but in that particular case, I thought they chose to focus on the wrong aspects of the story.
5) I really liked The Deathly Hallows, Part 1. In sharp contrast to Goblet of Fire, this one seems to be picking up enough of the important details of the story to give you a real sense of the book. I'm glad they decided to do it as a two parter. There is so much stuff to incorporate from the books that there's no way they could have done justice to it in just one movie.