Harry Potter, and an evening out

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Harry Potter, and an evening out Current mood: uncomfortable Yesterday, my brother came out to watch the boys while Billy and I got to go out. How novel! How refreshing! It was hard to remember what to do with each other- how to have a normal conversation and actually consider going places we'd not take the boys to. We went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, wandered the book store and ate out at a great restaurant. It was very, very nice. I enjoyed the movie- it's worth going to see. I have decided that I need to quit rereading the books right before going to see the movie- I spend too much time noticing what was left out, changed or glossed over. The movie is just a different medium, and can't possibly live up to the depth and range of these long books. I will enjoy the movies more when I don't remember as much of the book. That said, I still enjoyed this film a lot. I was pleased to see that Luna Lovegood is impeccably cast, and "Professor" Umbridge is every bit as nauseating as I imagined her to be- the actress is brilliant. This director's (another new one!) strengths seem to lie most in an action-driven plot, whereas I felt that the director of Goblet was more focused on the emotional development, and the director of Azkaban had his strength in atmosphere. I really liked the look and feel of Azkaban, especially with subsequent viewings. But it was nice to see the difference with Goblet- I particularly enjoyed seeing Emma Watson shine in that one- she was able to do a lot with the adolescent turmoil of Hermione in book 4. Both Rupert Grint (Ron) and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) do better in less subtle roles, in my opinion. Ron seemed a bit wooden to me in Goblet- he is more believable again in Phoenix. They lightened up a bit on scary in this new film, which feels a bit contrived- after all, things are only getting more dangerous. But I can understand why they chose to do that. They also had to eliminate a great deal of the climax at the Department of Mysteries. . . but I can say that what they left in, they did very well indeed. The IMAX screen at the Mall of GA is showing Harry Potter right now, and the last 20 minutes are in 3-D. We saw it on a regular screen, without the 3-D. . . and I'm thinking I'd like to go again to get the climax in 3-D. I bet it's pretty cool. Enough rambling on Potter! Now I just can't wait to get my copy of book 7. . . the END! Sniff, sniff. . . The restaurant we ate at is called Aqua Terra, in downtown Buford. It is pricey, and NOT a place to take kids. (Precisely why we went there! LOL) The food is fantastic. Cozy atmosphere, and attentive service. I HIGHLY recommend it. Thank you Aaron, for hanging with the boys and braving a poopy diaper. Thank you, Billy, for a lovely evening. It was nice to see my friend again. ;)