surpassed expectations

'if you copy, it means you are working without any real feeling.
no two people on earth are alike,
and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music.'

-billie holiday

my worries with hp films have been that they will stray from the story... i would notice the parts that weren't in the book or toyed with... i still prefer that characters are portrayed accurately... my favorite films were the first two...

here's my only spoiler: the film is not a page for page reproduction.... but you know what? i loved it/we loved it! the feeling, the message, the journey is true to the original... apparently they returned to the first screenwriter and the results are incredible!

i had a bit of a lightbulb moment as i was sitting, watching, engaged, but still noticing 'what was different' from the tome... my daughter and i have read the books, my boys have not yet... i realized how happy i am that they weren't the same... people cannot just watch the movies and feel that they have read the books... they haven't ... the books hold secret treasures that weren't shared, that you have to take the time to find and savor... and, in all fairness, a 652 page book was being put into a time frame of about 2 1/2 hours... it felt like i got to spend a little more time with old friends... and i appreciated the vision and artistry it took to make the darkest book in the series (to that point) enjoyable to watch...

a unanimous 2 thumbs up!

dun dun dun

'and now, harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.'
- albus dumbledore

*******5 hours, 23 minutes, 41 seconds*******

tomorrow back to the world of life and jewelry - if i can keep my eyes open, that is! this surely has been fun waiting for...

anticipation

'good things come to those who wait.'

******* 2 days 6 hours 45 minutes *******

that's how long until 'harry potter and the half blood prince' opens... and we are ready... our core family 5 plus 2 teenaged friends!

so what is it about these books/films that make you want to live in the world of waiting? is it knowing how incredibly wonderful the stories are and knowing that once they are completed, they are, well, completed? we survived this with the books - and i know i was not alone in feeling lost finding something else to read that i enjoyed as much... so it is still exciting to be able to anticipate the films because we have become so attached to the actors who play the characters...

how fortunate are we to be living in the time of the writing of classics? from now on, no one can read these books without the ending already being 'out there'... that was what i loved about the midnight book releases... the pages were savored...

everything comes to a halt when a trailer comes on tv... 'mom, come here, quick!' and i do, from wherever i am, not saying, 'hold on a minute.' i love what this series means to our family... there is a bond of literary glue...

and, can i confess? i am nervous this time... because i am afraid i am going to breakdown in the theater (in front of my daughter's friends! my kids expect me to cry...) do i know the ending? yup, but that doesn't prepare me... even the third reading of the book hasn't made it any easier... this time it will be large and in my face... do i want the ending changed? of course not... in fact, i will be furious if too many liberties are taken...

and i am thrilled that 'deathly hallows' will be in two parts... the end is not yet in sight...

******* 2 days 6 hours 29 minutes *******