Crikey — this is a whole new ballgame! The core characters — Harry, Ron, and Hermione — aren’t ciphers. And I’m finally engaged by a film that goes beyond the rules laid out in Steven Spielberg’s Guide to Blockbusters (and not beyond). I can see why Rowling herself loved this one.

Notes:

1) Boorman’s Excaibur? I mean, I remember wandering around my hometown in emerald, late-night summer light thinking that magical artifacts would be f***ing awesome….
2) Has Hogwarts suddenly moved? To Scotland? Seriously — in the books (and in Columbus’ films), I’d assumed it was in Wales. Now, it seems inarguably to be North of the Border.
3) The camera seems to move relentlessly, like an adolescent.

Bottom line: Best — by a longshot — so far: confronts the source material without bowing down before it.

Bonus question: What does my friend Rufus Blooter think that the great Gambon — after whom TopGear’s final corner is named — is bad? I mean, even in the books he turns a bit … odd … at this point. Harris was dead — no one could reproduce that whisper. Gambon is, IMO, brilliant.

And:

1) Why, compared to the first, does this film feel more like a film and less like Cliff’s Notes?
2) Branagh is outstanding.
3) Rickman is better.

Bottom line: Better than the first, ’cause it’s starting to feel like a real film, as opposed to a gloss.

Bonus question: Why is Hogwarts’ architecture gothic?

It boils down to a few things:

1) Britain is pretty!

2) If you haven’t read the book, you’re f***ed!

3) Which is to say, it all feels like throat-clearing for fans of the printed word.

Bottom line: Enjoyable, but I can’t imagine wanting to see more had I not read the books beforehand.

Bonus question: Why did an American direct this film?

I know I’m supposed to be blogging the Potter films — and I will — but –

When you try to craft a story — an analysis — and this is what you get in response (see comments), it’s just sad.

I read — and greatly enjoyed — the HP books earlier this year. But I haven’t seen a single film.

I want to see the new one. But I feel I need to see the others first.

So: I have them here at home. And I plan to watch each and blog each.

(more…)

From my in-box at Channel Thirteen:

From: REDACTED
Sent: Mon 6/29/2009 4:06 PM
To: Karr, Rick
Subject: The anti-MJ tribute commentary

A very much opposing view of the Michael Jackson tributes….from Republican strategist Jack Burkman…to schedule please use media contacts below:

1. The celebration of Jackson’s death — which is what the cable shows are doing — is a shocking indictment of American culture. Jackson was a drug addict, a nut, a person who tried through plastic surgery to turn himself into a transvestite, and a cross dresser. This, of course, leaves aside charges of child molestation but he was found innocent.

A transvestite … AND a crossdresser!

(more…)

Earlier this year, I got into a beef with a [misguided] group of environmentalists in rural Pennsylvania.

Long story short, while I approved of their goals, I disdained their approach, which lacked charity and empathy. Attacking their neighbors, I thought, gained nothing. Worse, it lost the all-important sympathy of those neighbors, some of whom are pretty darned cool and enlightened. The environmentalists disagreed.

All along, I’d thought that their beef wasn’t with their neighbors, many of whom had agreed to sell drilling rights on their land to gas prospectors who were going to use a dangerous technique, but rather with federal regulators (a.k.a. the Bush Administration) who’d agreed to allow said technique to go unregulated.

Finally, some lawmakers are about to introduce legislation that would regulate the technique — which is what should have happened in the first place. Here’s hoping that the bill passes, and that my environmentalist acquaintances can repair the damage they’ve done by implying that their neighbors are mendacious idiots.

Horseradish vodka works!

Take 750 ml bottle of vodka, regardless of quality. (It’s supposed to be colorless, odorless, and flavorless.) Peel a 3-inch (7.5 cm) horseradish root and cut into thin strips. Place strips into bottle. Let the strips sit for a week or so … and presto! The ideal liquor for Bloody Marys!

Proof that April Fool’s jokes can take on lives of their own.

I’ve joined a band. It’s good.

My friend Grant, meanwhile, has released a great album with his band.