I don't know a better way to begin my Friday than writing about some Harry Potter. Oh, how I love me some HP. I actually got to see the movie a few days before the actual premiere with my fabulous friend Caitlin who had a plus one to a press screening. After I saw the movie I felt like I had this secret little nugget of info that none of my friends had until last night. I had already bought my midnight screening tickets at the Alamo Drafthouse so I decided to go ahead and go again last night!

Despite my "mild" obsession with Harry Potter, I'm still able look at the films critically and evaluate their cinematic quality. I have to say that I believe this is my favorite movie thus far. Perhaps that's because I've seen the others so many times, but I don't really think so. I really wish that they would have split books 4, 5, and 6 into two parts as well. They were able to stick to the story line much better which is something that, as a fan of the books, I really appreciate. I feel like I always have to justify the films to my friends who haven't read and explain how much better the novels are. Also, we all know the film or acting quality hasn't been stellar. Especially when it comes to the first 4 films. When David Yates took over directing for The Order of the Phoenix he did such a stellar job the producers decided to keep him around, despite their previous affinity to hiring a new director for each film.

PS, if you haven't seen the movie yet, spoilers to follow.

Let's start with what I didn't like so that we can get on with the good stuff. This section should be rather short. In fact, there was really only one thing that they didn't include that frustrated me. They had to change some things for the purpose of story telling, allowing them to effectively portray the necessary information so that everything that goes down in part 2 makes sense, but as audience members we can understand and appreciate that. However, I felt like it would have taken two seconds to add in a line at the beginning where (in the book) Dudley tells the rest of the Dursley's that he wants to leave and thanks Harry for saving his life from the dementors two years prior. I mean really? This was an important moment that takes us from believing that Dudley is a static character to one that is dynamic. Also, I named my dog Dudley since the HP Dudley turned out to not be a jerk. (He also looks like a Dudley, to be fair.) You'd never know that he's not if you just watch the movies though. Ugh. Rude.

On to things I liked, shall we? I'm going to do this in list form so that this section is actually readable.

-CGI
      -I loved all of the characters changing from one person to a different as they took the poly juice potion or as it wore off. It looked amazing.
      -The revamp of Dobby the elf and Kreacher were great CGI characters.
      -Also, the scene where Bathilda Bagshot transforms from herself to the corpse as the snake leaves her body was so stellar and just looked extremely amazing!

-Suspense
      -They did such a great job with the writing here. They really played to the audience who had read the books. The Bathilda Bagshot scene was so well done. I was on the edge of my seat both times. They know we know that something bad is going to happen, but they drag it out really effectively.

-Comedy
     -There were some great one liners and great reaction shots that were hilarious. Most of them were added in by the screenwriters, but they did a great job. I won't give any of this away because I don't want to ruin anything, but I was chuckling all the way through.

-Acting
     -Oh my goodness, I heart Alan Rickman (Snape). I've never really loved him in this particular role. That's right, I said it. I love him as an actor in general but I think I just pictured Snape looking and acting differently than Rickman's portrayal. However, he does an amazing job in this film. The quiet subtlety of his facial features allowed you to almost read Snape's mind through the look in his eyes during some pivotal moments. I cannot wait to see him in Part 2. I think that's actually what I'm looking forward to most in the next film.
     -I still think that Rupert Grindt is the best of the threesome. I read that Scorsese is wishing to take him under his wing in a few of his next projects as he did with Leonardo DiCaprio, so I'm so excited to see what all this guy is going to accomplish in this profession. I'm not a huge fan of Daniel Radcliffe ( I know, I know. I should be stoned) He's just not that great of an actor. Emma Watson I think is darling, and she's made great strides since the first film. I also absolutely adore Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes. But who doesn't, right?

     -I also think that the fact that the cast is still basically the same after 10 years bodes some recognition. The only actor replaced was Dumbledore after Richard Harris passed away in 2002.  I mean, really? 10 years? Can you imagine the repor and connection that cast and crew has? I think this is truly a very unique situation that I'm very glad remained intact for the conclusion of the 7 films.

-Score
     -This was as expected, completely brilliant. I don't really have anything more to say other than it was absolutely amazing.

-Action
      -After they didn't include the epic battle scene in the 6th movie, I was what I believe to be understandingly upset. They definitely made up for it here. There were some really great sequences that looked amazing.

On a side note, I'm anxious to see the deleted scenes. I'm fairly certain they actually shot the sequence where Lupin comes to meet Harry, Hermione, and Ron at Grimmauld place. For one, Tonks begins to tell them that they were expecting a child but we never get confirmation later in the film. For two, I noticed Harry say "You-Know-Who" later which suggests he had a reason to stop saying "Voldemort." Lupin of course tells them in the same scene from the book that Voldemort's name has been traced in an effort to catch members of the Order of the Phoenix. One other thing I found interesting was the way that Mrs. Cattermole's hair was done. It was a very 1940's style which reminded me of the Holocaust and all of the interrogations about bloodlines during that time. Touche Mr. Yates, Touche.

I think I'm done here people. This was definitely a great film and I await with a bittersweet longingness for Part 2. I am so anxious to see the conclusion of the series but I just love all of the hype and the waiting for the unknown that comes with each premiere. I also love love love seeing everyone all dressed up at the premieres. Some of them are clever and funny, and some of them are just plain odd. Ask me to tell you about the guy sitting next to my friend Melissa in the theater. I really can't do the reenactment justice by writing it out in this blog. :)