Last week Z and I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II. I’m sure this will not be the first nor the last review of this movie. But you can read it anyway.
We waited in line for seven hours. I couldn’t help but spend some of the time watching people. Teenagers and young adults were the primary people in line. Why would anyone in their right mind, stand in line for seven hours, talking about a made up world. It was an odd experience. We were surrounded by people who, as far as I knew, had nothing else in common but that we knew who Harry Potter was, who he was fighting, and why. Cloaked wizards wandered around, people brandished wands saying things like “accio ticket” and “Expelliarmus.”  And whole discussions were had on Arabella Figg, and horcruxes. How could a whole generation be be-spelled by such a thing? This was the question I was asking myself. And then, I watched the last movie.

And I knew. The Harry Potter phenomena (the books and the movies) are not about Nimbus 2000s and Fizzing Whizzbees. They are not about dragons and hippogriffs. They are not even about Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Although all of these things are a part of it. Harry Potter is about honor and shame. Friendship and family. Integrity and power. Hope and giving up. Cowardice and courage. In short you might say they are about good and evil.

This last movie fulfilled the spirit of the books, and the series. Those characteristics I mentioned, were there in that movie, and of course in the book it was based off of, completing the true nature of the series.  For me, the scene that summed it all up was when Voldermort revels in the death of Harry and asks those in Hogwarts to surrender. Draco switches sides and then later as the fighting breaks up runs away with his parents. But Neville! (The same boy who loses his Remembrall in the first book, provides Harry with gillyweed in the fourth, and is discovered to have almost been Voldermort’s downfall if things had been different in the sixth book.) Neville stands up to Voldermort with the most courage that any Gryffindor could show, and honor beyond doubt, and in the moment without hope, he voices that hope and through his courage makes that very hope possible. That is what Harry Potter is about. Is it any wonder that the series has captured millions? I think not. And so, I rediscovered, why exactly, I had waited for seven hours to watch a movie.

So a while ago I wrote about expectations and how they can ruin a book if they happen to be different then you expected. Well I’m here again to say I now partly disagree with myself. (After all according to Emerson “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”)

The other day I was at the Library and there amongst all the normal teen fiction and fantasy was The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I liked Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series (which I read a long time ago) and I like old books, and it just seemed so out of place and refreshingly different so I picked it up. On the cover was a picture of dumb looking old school dinosaurs and the title immediately put me in mind of the movie Jurassic Park. These two things, made me think it would probably be full of description and have a lot of cannon fodder being eaten by giant rampaging dinosaurs. Then the first chapter was about a flimsy, despicable girl that the main character was madly in love with, but who refused to marry a nobody. This started making me very nervous. A whole book about a guy risking his life for a girl that doesn’t deserve him did not give me high hopes.

Well to keep this thing simple: I was wrong about the cannonfodder, the excessive use of dinosaurs, and the love story. And it made the entire story SO much better. Although some of the science  parts were quite unrealistic (because they just didn’t know as much as we know now) all the characters were very well written. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was humorous and intelligent.

Expectations: I guess it just depends on the expectations. If you want something to happen and it doesn’t its depressing. But on the other hand if you think something is going to happen but you hope it doesn’t and then your hope is fulfilled, well that makes for a much happier ending.

Not that this is that profound or anything, but I thought it was interesting.

Well, they are all entertaining  movies based off well written books.  And I have recently watched them all.

To make a movie, or any story is a tricky thing, but to base it off another story is probably even harder. Thus it is impressive that these movies were as good or even better then their books. The movies are all slightly different from the books, unsurprisingly as they are done in different mediums. Usually these changes seem to be made for two reasons, (1) to avoid the same mistakes as the authors, and (2) to make it into a movie.  In most cases the directors made wise choices, that made the story flow better, and work well. And most important of all, I think, that these movies stay true to the spirit of the book.

Prince Caspian, was changed the most, but for the most part, I didn’t mind (it’s a weird book), but the struggle of trusting to Aslan is still there. The realistic powerstruggle between High King Peter and Prince Caspian is added, but that just enhances it, and adds another way to relate to C S Lewis’ somewhat flat characters.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, still keeps the incredible power of the book, and story. Unfortunately it adds some silly things like chain mail dresses. Perhaps it makes up for it in Edmund’s character development, not to mention the other siblings.

North and South is a Pride and Prejudice like story with a lot less of the niceties of societies and a strong subplot of the workingman versus the master in Industrial England. (This comparison with Jane Austen seems to bring either a-death-knell or a-love-at-first-sight reaction.)  The movie is incredibly faithful to the book, the most important change seemed to be from a inner turmoil over a lie to an outer awkwardness and jealousy over a misunderstood chance encounter. Both of which happen  in book and movie, but the book was more about the inner guilt.  This change of focus to the latter in a visual medium like a movie, is highly understandable.

Perhaps I have rambled too long, but if you haven’t read or watched any of these, try them out.

rating: 4 of 5 stars
For a sappy love story, this book sure includes a lot of disturbing images. Life in the untamed wilderness was hard and brutal. But also beautiful and meaningful. I liked the blend.


View all my reviews.

So I have been playing a little bit of Age of Empires 2: Conquerors lately. It still entertaining but it really makes me miss some features that Spring has. Such as the orbital view. And being able to select as many units as you want. Oh and just a little thing… Like how your soldiers dont just run wherever they want all over the map chasing down one guy. How they listen to your commands in Spring. In AOE your army is only barely under control. Look away and there is utter chaos. You have to constantly prevent them from running to their deaths in front of the enemy castles. You have to watch them so one halberdier doesnt destroy all your cavalry one by one.

I guess the reason why I have played AOE is because I have been wanting to play a good fantasy RTS. TAK is good but it would be nice to try something new and different. Like if Glest didnt stink so bad. It has good graphics (well mostly the dragon just looks dumb. Dragons are supposed to be big and majestic not short and stumpy looking) but it just doesnt deliver. The interface is quite rudimentary not that your guys live long enough to use it very much anyways. Probably the biggest problem with Glest is the factions are incredibly boring. They units are pretty much 1:1 copies of each other. One being the dark magic summoners and the other humans who embrace “technology”. The Tech’s super infantry unit are walking clockwork mechs I’m sorry but those are just plain illogical and dumb. (Yes I know they are in the Iron Plague as well. But it doesnt make me like them) How would they have the same strength as Magic’s troll or whatever its called. I guess I also like battles that are on a greater scale then Glests average 20 to 50. If you have small numbers it would be more interesting if they had more RPG elements such as heroes that you can advance. I think it would really liven it up and make you care more about your units and battles. Glest has the same problem as AOE you can only select a small number of units. They all add up to leave me with the feeling like I’m not in control. You have to fight your guys to get them to do what you want.(For Glest and AOE) If you know of a good fantasy game out there(preferably open source) enlighten me.

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Interesting C. S. Lewis sermon (disguised as fiction) on the necessity of fully “divorcing” all evil in order to be able to live in heaven.


View all my reviews.

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Nice thin book to bring on the plane with me. Plenty of deep ideas and an extremely detailed and well thought out universe that leaves me feeling a little lost sometimes. By the end of the book, they find a way to essentially conquer death. Are the full implications of that explored in the rest of the series?


View all my reviews.

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Nice book about a community coming together to bring storks back to their little town.


View all my reviews.

Work on the betrayer has been stagnant partly because I went on a trip to the East Coast. but It will go forward sooner or later.