Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 Movie

Note: This post might not make sense unless you've already seen the movie or if you've read all the books. This post also got longer than I expected it to, so be forewarned.

My Mom, my friend McKenna and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows together on Thursday night. I strongly recommend it.

The last few Harry Potter movies I have liked. The special effects are cool and I always love the story, but I don't think I liked them as much as this one. This might have been my favorite.

For one thing, it followed the book perfectly in my opinion. Most of the seventh book is Harry, Ron and Hermione being in a tent, not sure what to do and grouchy with each other. By watching the movie it was clear that that's what happens, but it didn't drag on forever, and there's more humor involved to make the wandering around in a tent more bearable. Every important scene was included, and nothing irrelevant was added in. This could be because J.K. Rowling was one of the directors, which I thought was cool.

The scenes that they included, I thought, were also done really well. The scene when they visit Xenophilius Lovegood's house and Hermione reads The Tale of the Three Brothers to them was amazing. The characters were all dark brown and gold, and it looked super cool. That story is really important, and I'm glad that they read the whole thing and didn't make it boring.
Another scene I liked was the scene at the Malfoy's house. It kind of freaked me out. Every time Hermione screamed, I got chills! It was a lot like how I pictured it in the book. Bellatrix is so creepy!

A week before the movie came out, we heard there was going to be some nudity scenes. For a few miserable days, I thought that I wasn't going to go, because I don't like to see that kind of stuff. After a lot of research online we decided to go anyway. I was glad because mainly the only questionable scene was when Ron is about to destroy the Locket Horcrux with the Gryffindor sword. These random images appear to sort of scare Ron and make him think he can't do it. Harry and Hermione appear sort of dreamlike, and then they kiss for a few seconds. They're naked but you can't really see anything. If the nudity rumors were driving you away, like they almost did with me, just know that it really wasn't very bad.

We were surprised at how much we liked this movie. I thought it was really good overall, and you should go see it.

Classics

I've been reading classics lately... some people seem afraid of them but I love to read them. I recently finished The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. It is masterful and I enjoyed reading it again. He develops the main character in such a thorough way -- it's almost frustrating, though, as he (Henshaw) is really his own worst enemy. I can't find the quote to explain this, but it was something to the effect that when Henshaw tried to turn his life around in the beginning of the book after selling his wife and daughter, he stopped drinking but did not replace that habit with any other really good habit, so he just sort of floated about. He became prosperous and so forth, but not out of a principled way of life. And so things for him unravelled in the end.

One frustrating thing about this book is not an uncommon theme -- that of the nice, pretty girl (Elizabeth Jane) being taken for granted by everyone, even those who seem to have good sense otherwise. Meanwhile, the beautiful, mysterious, but shallow, and sometimes unscrupulous, woman (Lucetta) gets all the attention. And she herself takes advantage of Elizabeth's good nature. I just get tired of this theme. It breaks my heart. Elizabeth Jane is so good natured that she reminds me of Little Dorrit. Well, everything turns out all right in the end. And there are plenty of moral lessons along the way.

Also, I love all the descriptions of rural England. I'd like to visit there someday.

I'm now reading The Old Curiosity Shop by Dickens. Not my favorite Dickens, as nothing ever comes close to David Copperfield, but it's interesting nevertheless.

I also recently read Great Expectations by Dickens. I love this book! I love the characters and appreciate the story line and watching Pip grow up. (He also falls in love with a ruthless girl! What is wrong with these men?) The story is so inventive and somewhat creepy -- I just don't know how Dickens could dream up Miss Havisham! If you haven't read Dickens before, this is a great place to start. It's probably my second favorite.

The relationship Pip has with Joe is so tender and Joe is so true -- it's wonderful to see him happy in the end. And wonderful to see that even when Pip is uppity with him... Joe is humble and kind. Despite Pip's youthful follies, he is true to everyone in the end, and that is satisfying. It gives me hope that I can grow up in the end!

It's just about time for Christmas stories! Happy Holidays!

Harry Potter!

Yeah, we were all Harry Potter characters for Halloween. (The movie comes out in two weeks!)

From left to right: Alex was Harry, my dad was Dumbledore, (we didn't have time to make him a beard, but I thought it was still great. At least it was better when he had a too-small Tin Man costume last year and couldn't move, when we were all Wizard of Oz characters.) McKay was Ron, my Mom was Professor McGonagall, and I was Hermione, because I have pretty good bushy Hermione hair.

It was awesome.

P.S. I'm reading the fifth book right now, which is my least favorite one. I can't stand Professor Umbridge. Even though it's my least favorite, I still like it. So I'm okay.