Harry Potter Recap

Yesterday, after standing in line behind quite possibly the most obnoxious family of all time for two hours, my good bud (and fellow Ron Weasley lover) Mara and I headed in to the theater for our advanced screening of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We had chatted for a bit about what we were going to do when we were inevitably disappointed with the story (they always cut out the best parts of the books), the acting (or shall we say, overacting), and the overall suckiness that seems to come out of the movies made about these amazing books. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve liked the other movies as well, but while each had it’s moments, I usually left the theater somewhat unsatisfied.

So imagine our surprise when this Harry Potter movie blew our freaking minds. For real! The story (though they did cut out some pretty important stuff…harumph…) was beautifully told by director David Yates and his team. It was a movie that actually seemed smooth, as opposed to the choppy cuts of all the other HP films. The characters showed some real development, in particular Harry, Hermione, Ron and Draco Malfoy. The child-actors that always drove me nuts with their grand hand gestures and fake dialogue, really stepped up this go ’round. Both Mara and I commented that they had obviously worked on their craft since the last film, and it shows.

Again, a major thanks to Scene-Stealers.com for the tickets and the opportunity to see this movie before it’s even out in theaters. For those of you that have to wait until the end of the week, (sorry about that) it will be worth the wait. You’ll laugh, maybe you’ll cry (I won’t mention who did cry, but her name rhymes with Zara), and you’ll hopefully be as pleasantly surprised as we were.

And now, some notes from the premiere. We were told not to have cell phones anywhere near the theater or they would be confiscated, so we left ours in the car. Of course, as the line started moving, they changed that particular rule, so you just couldn’t have your phone on when you walked into the theater. So while everyone else was Twittering or texting or talking…Mara and I just stared at each other and tried not to punch the annoying family in front of us in their nasty faces. Some high (and low) points:

– Mara proved once again that she hates people. All people.

– If you are an obnoxious, awful human being, please do not procreate. Your children will indeed be as awful as you are.

– If you are a Kansas City radio host, why must you wear cut off t-shirts to a movie premiere? We get it, you’re country, but good Lord. Movie theaters are cold, and your arms are looking chilly.

– I totally cried during the previews when they played the scene from “Where the Wild Things Are.”

– I love Ron Weasley.

– Someone needs to invent a flask that has absolutely no metal on it so it won’t set off the metal detector wands from the crazy theater security.

– When we were searched (as everyone was going in to the theater), I was all “Look out, we’re about to get wanded. Get it? Wanded!” And Mara tried to kill me with her eyes.

– Mara loves Ron Weasley.

– The Quiddich scene was awesome. Like, finally. After six movies, they finally perfected Quiddich. About time.

– Mara thinks the one thing missing from the movie was a shot of the Weasley’s clock with all the hands (family members positions) pointing to mortal peril. I offered to make her one for her birthday. Only without magic. (Turns out you can get this very clock on Skymall.com…again, without magic. Which is sort of the point, isn’t it?)

– I promised Mara that if I someday have a baby boy and it has red hair I will name it Ronald Weasley Peters. Hope Trent doesn’t mind this little development.

– I bet you all $100 that Mara went home last night and rewatched the other Harry Potter movies. Seriously.