Trailer Talk!

Let's talk about the trailer everyone!! It's been a few days since it was leaked on to the web, and I'm sure by now most of you have had a chance to take a look at it. For some of us, more than once, I'm sure!! Since the leak, the trailer has been pulled off of the original website source - TrailerAddict.com - but you can still find a few versions on YouTube. Considering how many copies of it are on YouTube alone, I'm sure it will be a while before Warner Brothers gets to all of them.

Just a quick note before I start writing about my thoughts, MTV took a frame-by-frame look at the trailer and you can see their timeline here. 

So, let's begin!

I thought the trailer was great - 1 minute and 33 seconds of unadulterated bliss! It included bits and pieces of everything I wanted to see, except for perhaps Weasley's Wizard Weezes - I would have loved to see a quick glimpse of that. But, considering the first trailer was dedicated entirely to the darkest part of the book - the life of Voldemort and exploring ways in which Harry will be required to destroy his enemy, this was definitely a nice change. 

One of the two more dramatic parts of the trailer was indeed the cave scene. I have been wondering for some time how this scene would be filmed, especially since the readers of the book haven't seen any illustrated representation of it yet. I did read somewhere a while back that the filmmakers went to remote parts of England and Ireland's coasts to film this scene, but that didn't really provide a vivid picture of the scene in my mind. When we see it in the trailer though, you can tell that it totally fits. The cave looks really vast, yet extremely isolated, and you can see why Tom Riddle/Voldemort chose this spot to hid one of his Horcruxes. 

Something that I liked about the cave scene is how the wall dissolves upon the touch of Dumbledore's hand. The special effects have really improved since the first movie and I'm really glad that it didn't come off as too unbelievable. You also get a quick glimpse of Dumbledore's injured hand here, which we haven't seen before. It definitely looks withered and scarred.

 
Then there is the ring of fire! How amazing does that look?! When I first read this in the book, I just picture a think ring of fire - rope-like almost. What we see here is far more grand and far more powerful. I love it! 

The second part of the more dramatic parts of the trailer is the attack on the Burrow. This, as you know, is a scene that was added to the film and was not in book 6.  You can tell from what we see in the trailer that this is going to be quite an incredible scene in the movie. It looks like an incredibly large attack, with nearly all the Death Eaters present. We get a better look at Greyback here too, who deflects a spell that Harry casts. 

Let's see, what else...

I loved the apparition scene between Dumbledore and Harry - it looks fantastic! I also like the scenes with Draco. We haven't seen much of him in the last few movies, so it's nice to see more of Tom Felton here. We see him go into the Room of Requirement and practicing spells on the Vanishing Cabinet. We also see him put the Invisibility Cloak over Harry on the Hogwarts Express from the beginning of the book.

One of my favorite characters in the series is Ron and we see a lot of him in the trailer, which is great. I felt like he wasn't given much in the past few movies either, but he seems to be seeing a lot of action this time around. The most notable scene from the trailer is the big kiss between him and Lavender Brown, who many believe is actually Hermoine, in the Gryffindor Common Room. This is really interesting because in the book, a similar kiss happens between Harry and Ginny. We don't know how, or if, this scene will be filmed though.

Returning to more darker part of the trailer, we see a scene with Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and students in the Hogwarts courtyard. In it, we see Professor McGonagall conjure up lightening. It's a bit unclear how this scene fits into the movie and what part of the book it's from. Personally, I think it's a scene after Dumbledore's death - perhaps to get rid of the Dark Mark over Hogwarts? 

Though the trailer was fantastic and we got to see so many snippets from the movie, perhaps my favorite part was at the end - the scene with Harry and Hermoine in the library joking around about being the "Chosen One." In the scene, we see Romilda Vane staring at Harry and him glancing back at her - definitely some flirting going on! Hermoine snaps him out of it and says, "She's only interested in you because she thinks you're the 'Chosen One,' " "But I am the Chosen One," Harry deadpans back, getting deservedly whacked on the head with a rolled-up copy of The Daily Prophet. 

I love this scene because it brings a great sense of levity at the end of quick cuts and lightens up a dark and bleak picture of the wizarding world. It shows Harry and Hermoine being teenagers and joking around while there is an ongoing war outside, and even inside, Hogwarts. Though it is a funny part, it's certainly out of character for Harry; he has never boasted about being the Chosen One to anybody. Throughout the final books, at least after the return of Voldemort, Harry does become more worried and reserved, so it's nice to see something this light and carefree. 

Well, that's all for my thoughts friends! Feel free to banter away about what you think!

NEW Teaser Trailer for 'Half Blood Prince'!

Hold on to your snitches everyone, there is a BRAND NEW Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince teaser trailer tonight!

It includes many new scenes, including Harry's apparition with Dumbledore, various scenes with Professor Snape, Fenrir Greyback, Voldemort, Bellatrix, Draco, and the Orphanage. We finally see bits of the attack at the Burrow, Quidditch(!) and, most notably, dramatic footage in the Cave with Dumbledore and the ring of fire! On the lighter side, there is also new footage of Ron kissing Lavender Brown and a cute scene with Harry and Hermione.

One quick note - the end of the trailer says that the movie is coming “This Year” rather than “Summer 2009,” implying that the trailer was not ready for release; so, it is very possible that this trailer was leaked before Warner Brothers' planned on releasing it.

I will have more on this in the coming days - including my thoughts and commentary. For now, ENJOY MY FRIENDS!!!

Harry's Survival

Recently, J.K. Rowling commented on her decision to not kill Harry off in the final book and why she decided instead to focus on Harry’s survival. Here is what she said:

"In many ways it would have been a neater ending to kill him. For sure, I knew that all along. I felt that the books' overriding message was that love is the most powerful force in this world. My model with Harry really was war veterans, who have seen horrors and are asked to go home and rebuild, and go back to ordinary life and care for a family, be a father - particularly be a father - [it is] a difficult job, in troubled times. I felt it would be a betrayal of my character if I did anything other than show him doing that. And I think it's an absolutely heroic thing to do, to go home after that, not to become a mercenary, not to live forever frozen in a time of excitement and danger, but to be mentally strong enough, to an extent physically strong enough, to return from war and to raise a new generation with values that you hope will not lead to another war. That's massive. Of course you can say, yes, to an extent, as ever in life, that's the eternal paradox. What's is most worthwhile may well be seen as slightly dull, but God knows without those people who were prepared to come home and raise the family and rebuild, help rebuild... rebuilding is much more difficult than destroying. So, I felt it was almost a cop-out, morally, to kill him. I wanted to show a man who, yeah, he went back and got his hands dirty and tried to rebuild. I liked that. And again, it made a lot of people were livid, but God knows by that time I was used to that by then!"

Two things that JKR says here are really interesting. First, that she models Harry’s survival after war veterans and, second, that she thinks killing Harry would have been a “cop-out,” when really, most fans thought it was cop-out not kill him.

The issue of Harry’s survival goes back to one of the fundamental truths at the center of this series and it has to do with choices. More specifically, that the right choices aren’t always the easiests ones to make. As Albus Dumbledore once put it, “We must all face the choice, between what is right and what is easy” (GOF). The easier choice for Harry, once he won the war and destroyed Voldemort would have been to not return to the same world that brought him such pain, fear, and loss. But, he does. He comes back and rebuilds his life. He begins a career at the Ministry of Magic where he attempts to reform the system that was once corrupted and monopolized by a few, i.e. Fudge, Umbridge, and Malfoy, and works for change at a rather calm and patient pace. He leaves the glory of the battlefield and proudly takes up the mundane tasks of a working wizard. Further, he becomes a husband and father, living to ensure that his family does not face the same pain and loss that he did as a child. He has dedicated his adult life to ensuring a wizarding world that is safe and bright for his children, and Hermonie and Ron’s children, to grow up in. Further, they all instill in their children the very traits they embodied in their past – courage, bravery, strength; the traits central to a true Gryffindor. In the end, however, his return to the magical world as a simple boy who grew up into a simple man was far more brave and courageous than what he so wonderfully accomplished in the war and that message is so incredibly beautiful.

Had Harry died at the end of Deathly Hallows, it would not have changed our fundamental belief and faith in his character. The way he faced Voldemort in the final chapter solidifies that; no one but him could have done what he did in those final moments. But, what would have killing him then really achieve? We saw what happened once he died – in Chapter 34. He dies, visits with Dumbeldore, and then returns, and, in that time, he mastered death. He became confident in his abilities and power, he had a clear vision of the mission and who he must destroy. There was no doubt whatsoever and he wasn’t afraid. More importantly, he knew what the right choice was at that very moment. He needed to face this death to know what he ultimately needed to do, not just to destroy Voldemort, but for him and his world to survive. This was his “final lesson” of sorts. So, in the end, what would killing him again accomplish?

Let's Play!

OMG Everyone! Some great news to report today!

Just in time for the holiday season, two new Harry Potter board games have been introduced and are now available!!! First up, it's Harry Potter CLUE. In this game, dark magic has been conjured up at Hogwarts! A student has vanished and it's up to the player to solve the mysterious disappearance. Players get to portray Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna or Neville and try to discover WHO did it, WHAT spell or item they used, and WHERE the student was attacked! Was it Draco Malfoy with a Sleeping Draught in the Owlery?!! You move around Hogwarts to make suggestions, but you have to be careful...there are wheels on the board that actually move to reveal secret passages, hidden staircases, and even the Dark Mark! When you think you've figured it out, you must go to Professor Dumbledore’s office to make your final accusation to win the game!! How marvelous!!!!

Equally enjoyable is the second game - Harry Potter Hogwarts Cup Challenge. This game allows 2-4 players to play as Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Neville in order to win the House Cup for Gryffindor. Players move their characters around the board encountering Adventure Cards and increasing their Knowledge, Skill and Honor. As the characters’ abilities grow, they face harder challenges based on the first five Harry Potter films.

Both of these games sound like great fun! Likely to keep any Harry Potter fan happy and entertained for hours and hours!!! Game on!