I was a little bit late (well, only two days!) on getting to see the latest installment of the Harry Potter movies, but I did make it into the theatre last night. I dragged Brodie along with me which made it even more interesting since he hasn't read all of the books; me on the other hand, I'm somewhat fanatical.
"Order of the Phoenix" isn't my favorite book, so I wasn't expecting as much from this movie as I had from "Prisoner of Azkaban." To put it simply, it was a pretty good film except that it skimmed the surface of some parts that I thought were a great part of the 5th book. Which, what can I say, it's a move adaptation of a book that happens to be 870 pages so the director has to pick and choose what is most essential to the overall plot of the upcoming three movies. The part that I missed most was the focus on Harry and friend's OWL's. May be this part really touched home as I was reading the book because my friends and I were fretting about ACT's and such, but I really missed the importance of these tests in the movie. The director briefly touched on them as Professor Delores Umbridge announced that should be studying for them and then again as Hermione exclaimed that they were hardly prepared for the OWL's. Moviegoers never got an answer as to how our students did on them, which is important because of Harry's aspirations to become an Auror. But, as I said earlier, it is simply a movie taken from an 800+ page book, so the director had to pick and choose what to include.
I was very amused at how the actors portraying Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all growing up and out of the gawky teenage stage that we saw in the last movie. Daniel Radcliffe particularly is growing up exactly how one would expect his character to appear; he's rather short and somewhat lanky, which is how you would expect Harry, the unexpected hero, to appear. Rupert Grint, who portrays Ron Weasley, is shooting up to be a lanky bean pole; rather how I had imagined Ron to be in the novels. The only thing about Emma Watson's Hermione Granger that bothers me is that I think she should have bushier hair, not those soft cute curls that we see. However, her know-it-all attitude is appropriately portrayed by Watson. I think I remember reading that all three actors have agreed to stay on for the remaining films which is great. That's how it should be.
Overall, I'm glad that the book is coming out so close to the movie. It has really gotten me back into Potter mania, although I'm trying to avoid reading any of the articles and speculation surfacing on the web. I just want to enjoy it by myself, page by page! I'm also bittersweet that this is the final book; certainly some tears are going to flow as I finish the book!
It also appears as though Brodie and I are going to finally get our own apartment. Don't get me wrong; I love the money I'm saving by living with my parents, but it is time. If all goes according to plan, we will be moving in to the apartment above his grandmother's pub at the end of August. I bet you're jealous; who doesn't want to live above Kathie's Stage Door Pub?! In exchange for a little break in rent, it's kind of assumed that we will help her out with some things in the bar, such as filling ice, taking out garbage, that sort of thing...which is completely okay since we do it when we stop in by her anyway. It's an awesome apartment with tons of charm and character; it's the oldest residential building in Manitowoc! Almost all of the floors are a beautiful wood and the bathtub is a fantastic old-fashioned one with feet! I am looking forward to living there. :)
Brodie's dad emailed me today regarding some of our trip plans; I can't wait! We'll be staying in Vacaville, CA with him and then going to see the sites from there. Vacaville is in between San Francisco and Sacramento so we will definitely see some amazing sites. I can't wait to see San Francisco and all of its famous landmarks, though I'm also interested in seeing the state's Capitol building. Brodie's dad also plans to take us over to Lake Tahoe, as well as visiting the Napa Valley region; which means winery tours! This is going to be an amazing trip, made much better since we know somebody who lives there and is more familiar with the area. I can't tell you how glad I am that we're going to see everything through a local perspective.
