HBP First Look

Here's a "First Look" of Half-Blood Prince with some footage we haven't seen before. There's a fantastic Bellatrix moment right in the beginning. Bonham-Carter plays her sooooo crazy. Wonderful. We get to see Lav-Lav and Won-Won snog, plus Hermione's canaries make an appearance (this last is my FAVORITE scene in the book).



Aah, so good. July is ever closer.
Prof. H

FAN-tastic

Talk about the creativity and dedication of HP fans...

The following is a trailer for a four-hour adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in CLAYMATION. Can you imagine the hours of work that went into this?



I've already seen the first ten minutes and am impressed by the visual detail. Congratulations to Ryan, the Columbia grad who created this film!

Prof. H

Half Blood Prince Movie POSTERS

Check these beauties out!







I LOVE that they're playing up Harry and Dumbledore's relationship, especially since much of the emotional impact of what comes in the next book, DEATHLY HALLOWS, deals with the loss of it.

LOVE too the cock-eyed angle of the posters. Really dynamic. But perhaps I should leave aesthetic commentary to V, who majored in this sort of thing:)

Prof. H

New Half-Blood Prince Trailer from JAPAN

There are a good number of new images here, mostly Slughorn/Harry/Dumbledore stuff, as well as a good line from Arthur Weasley about dark times, recited, I think, from his garage full of Muggle electronics (yay, Arthur!)

Hoping this is released in high-def, sans Japanese subtitles, soon:)

Prof. H

Breaking the Blog Drought to Bring You These Awesome Things

Firstly, our boy Dan on Conan O'Brien this week. As Ron often says of Luna, Dan is "always good value."



And speaking of Ron, here's a zexy still from Rupert Grint's new flick, CHERRYBOMB:



If you squint hard, the girl in the pic looks like Emma Watson (for all you shippers out there...squee away at that thought).

Okay, it's someone else's turn to post. Jedi J, ahem...

Prof. H

Twilight's Moment of Truth

I have to be honest, I’ve been dreading this blog since I finally got to see the movie with Professor H on Thanksgiving weekend.

I’m completely torn on how I feel about this movie. On the one hand, I love the fact that one of my favorite books has come to the big screen. I no longer have to fantasize about what the characters look like; they’re right in front of me acting out my favorite parts. There’s Edward with his snow white skin and dazzling eyes and Bella with her shy looks and witty remarks.

But on the other hand, actually hearing the dialogue brings me to the sad realization that this book has to be THE cheesiest thing I’ve ever read and by far the worst written. I feel so terrible for having these conflicted thoughts but there it is. Sorry, no way to sugarcoat it.

Here are some of my favorite and not so favorite moments:

#1 I love the scene when the Cullen family walks into the cafeteria and Bella sees Edward for the first time.

#2 The scene in Biology when Edward gets his first whiff of Bella-- not a very high moment for the film. Not only did he look like he was about to regurgitate all over his biology book but his acting, in my opinion, was a little overkill. I guess it just didn’t seem that exaggerated in my head when I read that part in the book.

#3 I love when Esme and Carlisle try cooking dinner for Bella and Rose has a little, pretty-girl temper tantrum. Freaking hysterical! (Side note: Super cute the way Edward looks totally embarrassed by his family’s display of kookiness when they meet Bella—Kind-of like a normal guy would. Good Job Robert!)

#4 Another scene that’s really terrible is when Edward shows her just how different he is in the sun. All I saw was his hairy dazzling chest. Ew, gross.

There are many more scenes that I both love and hate but nothing is going to stop me from buying it the first day it comes out on DVD.

Feel free folks to leave a comment and tell me what you thought of the movie. Love it or hate it I have to say its still an intriguing story. Can’t wait for New Moon.


V.

Twilight Women

There's been a lot of talk over at the university where I work about the value (or in most cases, un-value) of TWILIGHT. Most arguments against the novel center on Edward's possessiveness and Bella's apparent passivity. Nevertheless, all these profs are reading the series, talking about it in their classes, analyzing it via a feminist lens, and overall, creating new fans of the series among the students, though unwillingly, I'll bet.

As we wait for V.'s review of the film (we watched it together over Thanksgiving and squeed with the best of them. I'll let her tell the story), I offer Sarah Haskin's Target Women episode on Twilight. I think the argument she's trying to humorously create here is at the center of Twilight criticism. Enjoy!



Prof. H