Harry Potter, July 2009

So, here are some things you should know about me....(don't worry I'll get to the title of this post soon enough).
I'm the oldest child of Randal and Shirley Slayton, my parents have been together 31 OR 32 years. I have one sibling named Randal Jr. and I've lived and gone to school in East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, City Terrace all my life.
I sing and write and make a fool out of myself on a regular basis and I love the people around me, even if I don't tell them enough. I wouldn't allow you in my life if I didn't love you! I love to listen to music...some of my earliest memories involve music, because my father is a musician. I love to read and I love to watch movies.
Reading and movies are the same thing to me...if a book is done right, while you read it, there should be a picture in your head continuously playing out what you read like a movie. It should take you away from the place you are and transport you into the world the author has created. In that same token, a movie does the same thing. I love movies because I can be completely lost in a world I don't belong to. Sometimes its an epic adventure, sometimes its heartache, sometimes love. But all these things are wonderful stories that sweep me away to a place where nothing else matters for a short amount of time.

Some of my favorite books have recently been turned into movies....Lord of the Rings, Twilight (which is a new favorite, but still I couldn't put the book down) and of course, the Harry Potter Saga. I learned with LOTR that I can't be disappointed with a movie version of a book, I have to learn to appreciate it on a separate plain. It's different and that's okay, as long as the director is trying to stay true while, trying to deliver his/her best work.
I love the LOTR Trilogy and am grateful for the work Peter Jackson did on it, and for the fact the he tried to stay as true as possible while also trying to deliver a great film/s. Even though my love for the Harry Potter Universe runs as deep as the world of Arda, I am not quite so in love with all of the HP movies like I am with LOTR.
I understand that WB couldn't hire the same director to do all 7 (or 8) HP films, but I do question some of their choices. For Prisoner of Azkaban, WB hired Alfonso Curion, who had won great acclaim for his work the year before, but it seemed to me like he took the previous movies and book and threw them out the window turning the HP world into a horrible reinterpretation of itself. He jacked up the timeline and confused people, even those of us who read the book! Even though his misguided attempt made money, I am sad to say that I refuse to watch the movie when it's on. That is my least favorite HP movie, but it seems like later directors took their lead from that third film and started building theirs on top of the shady foundation. A joke I think, even though the material does get darker, big things changed that just don't make sense (I'm not going to get into them cause this is already long!).
Now, I don't agree with everything done in the movies, but I do plan my year around when the next HP is coming out (I know, it's sad). This year there where only a handful of films I knew I wanted to see when we rang in the new year....

Prince Caspian
Wanted
The Dark Knight
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

You all now that I was upset that I hadn't seen a trailer, but rejoiced when I finally did. Now I hear that the last movie of the year (beside twilight) that I wanted desperately to see has been pushed back to July 2009! The blame is being put on the write strike! But I think that just a bunch of crap! It's about the money. The WB has made enough money to cover the misguided and horrible Speed Racer, The Dark Knight and now Harry Potter.
They have made the money back that they spent on those films and now don't feel like they need to put Harry out now, save to make money next summer. Well that sucks, you can't have one of you two biggest franchises list for a year as coming out a certain day, give us fans a trailer and then say "Well you know, maybe next year!" This isn't the world series this is even more important especially to people like me, who go to the movies and enter a world to lose themselves and forget about their troubles.
I'm so disappointed!