Harry Potter & The [Understated] Half-Blood Prince [SPOILERS!]

This is my official review of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince. First off, let me make this point: I LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVEDDDD it!
Now. That aside, it is time to DISSECT it like any true Potter-head would do. ^_^

I have to keep reminding myself to separate the books and the movies in my head. They are not the same, and they should not be treated as the same. If I don't look at it like that, I go beserk. And the books will ALWAYS be better [duh], but I find that I can love the movies for themselvs easier when I think like this.

GOOD STUFF!
Okay. Point Uno.
HUMOR! [or, in honor of HP - HUMOUR! heehee] Anyway. The humor was AWESOME. I'll put the rest of my points with bullet.. points. haha. So they're easier to keep track of.

• Ron [and therefore Rupert Grint] really had his shining comedic moments. Won-Won under the influence of a particularly strong love potion is a MUST-SEE! He is hilarious! His comedic timing is PERFECT.
• Dan is an amazing actor! He had all the comedy down pat! Harry under the influence of Felix Felicis was also a MUST-SEE! Oh, goodness! "I think I'll go to Hagrids!" haha. His cocky, yet still awkward way of portraying that assuredness that can only come from liquid luck was pure comedic genius. Or just plain ol' genius. Also... Dan's gotten really hot. Sorry. Had to stick that in! [Not that he hasn't always been good looking, but ya know.]
• Four words: Word for word conversations! I'm not even done re-reading HBP for the 5th time. I started it last week. I have like 7 chapters to go, but whatever. I read enough to remember WORD FOR WORD CONVOS that the characters had in the books AND movies. That, needless to say, made me squee with happiness!!!
• Hermione [&, again, therefore Emma Watson] has really gone through a journey! Emma was able to stretch Hermione to her emotional and academical limits! I LOVED the 'opugno' birds, chasing after Ron. EXACTLY like in the book!
• Neville [Matthew Lewis] in that waiter outfit. Priceless.
• McLaggen was hot. And a jerkface. But he's more of a jerk in the books, and not quite as hateable in the movie. However, I would have liked to see McLaggen hit Harry with a bludger and have Harry say, "I'M GOING TO FIND MCLAGGEN AND KILL HIM!" Then Pompfrey could have said, "I'm afraid that comes under the heading of overexertion." But, that's a teensie tiny little thing that I don't really care about. Just had to comment on it.
• Ginny/Bonnie got TONS MORE SCREEN TIME! YAY!
• Luna/Evanna was AWESOME! Her dresses were fabulous, and her Spectre-Specs were amazing. Her lion hat was perfect too! "Wrackspurts. Your head is full of them." hahaha.
• Little Tom Riddle was CREEEEEPY! I LOVED IT!
• The memories were flipping fantastic.
• Gambon's acting was VERY MUCH improved. Two movies too late, but it was VERY MUCH improved. ^_^ yaaay!
• I also loved ALL the Slughorn scenes. And Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!
• And Kate was excited that they kept Arnold in, Ginny's pygmy puff.
• How Harry tried to defend Ginny when the burrow was surrounded by fire.
• When Harry's trunks showed up at the Burrow. Ginny: "Mum! When did Harry get here?" Mrs.: "Harry who?" Ginny: "Harry POTTER!" Mrs.: "Don't be silly, I'd know when Harry Potter is in my house!" Ron's head pops up: "Did someone say Harry?" Hermione's head pops up: "Harry? Did I hear his owl?" pahahaha.
• When the inferi grabbed Harry.
• Tom Felton can CRY. And he's hot. I wanted to give him a hug when he was crying.

Not-So-Great Stuff [That I dislike just enough to complain about, but I don't really care that much.]

• The last 1/4 of the movie seemed a bit rushed.
• There was no death eater/whole school fight at the end. The death eaters broke in to stand around and wait for Draco to kill Dumbledore, then they high-tailed it. Didn't really make sense.
• PG my butt. That was totally PG-13. Psssh.
• Dumbledore was clueless about the Horcruxes. They messed up the memory about it too.

Stuff that Really, Truly Sucked [Even though I still luffluffluff the movie! It is a surprisingly short list! Just THREE things!]

• Snape goes, "I am the Half-Blood Prince." Anticlimactic. By this time, no one is even wondering anymore. No one cared. Because they didn't emphasize Harry obsessing over the HBP. They had him hide the book, but he didn't get in trouble with Snape for using Sectumsempra! That would take 2 minutes.
• In the book, Dumbledore has a split second to stupefy Harry, so that he is forced to watch, immobilized, as the Death Eathers corner Dumbledore. However, in the movie, Harry is footloose the entire scene. That he does not act appears to be a moment of cowardice, or doubt. It is not becoming, and I haven’t yet thought of a good reason for this change. [word for word from another blog. Couldn't have said it better myself.]
• The Harry/Ginny kiss. Same awkwardness, same camera angle, even less duration than the Harry/Cho kiss! Put some mistletoe over them, give Ginny a blonde wig, and it would have been the same. dang. kiss. Besides, Harry is supposed to pick her up in a room full of cheering Gryffindor Quidditch fans and give her the greatest kiss of both their lives. Dean Thomas got a better snog out of Ginny than Harry did! And Dean & Ginny were in public! Not the freaking room of requirement. And after the kiss, there was NOTHING else between them. Not flirting, no obvious couple-ness. Nothing. Except for Ginny comforting Harry when Dumbledore was dead. But she would have done that anyway, so. yeah.

I know, this has been long. But Great. :)

Agree with me... disagree? lemme know! *points to pretty notes button*

Donald Barthelme's Game

I'm too lazy for pictures again today. haha. This shall be a picture-less blog post. Again. Anyway. I read this short story called "Game" by Donald Barthelme. It was about these two guys that were confined underground for an indefinite period of time. They had a mission thing to carry out, and it most likely dealt with nuclear weapons, since it was about life in the nuclear age. And one of their orders was to shoot the other guy if they started acting wierd. Anyway, this one guy had a ball and jacks to play with, and the other guy used something to write on the walls to pass the time. Looking over their pass into infantilism, I started thinking. If I knew I was going to be locked underground for an indefinite period of time, what would I take with me?? More than a ball and jacks, thats for sure. So. I think I'll write about that. This is sounding a lot like an english assignment, isn't it? Too bad the assignment that actually went with this story was much more boring than this. Anyway.
I would have to take my Bible. I don't read it enough as it is. And being locked underground is a poor excuse to finally say I have the time to read it, but I figure its the one thing I could read over and over and still feel like I'm getting something out of it.
A big, fat notebook and a pack of pens. To write stuff in, obviously.
My big hardback book of Jane Austen's complete works.
My iPod, if there was going to be an electrical outlet.
My own pillow and blankets.
The full set of Harry Potter books.

And you can bet your butt I would fit all of that in one suitcase if necessary. Along with things such as an extra pair of clothes or two, toothbrush/toothpaste, shampoo, etc. I wouldn't agree to this thing if there weren't showers somewhere. hahaha.

But yeah. This was a random weird post. I just felt as if I had to explore my confinement options. I don't think I would revert to infantilism [at least quite so quickly] if I had these things with me. haha. Heck... these things are what keep me sane anyway.....

Love Taps. :]

I thought I'd give y'all [y'all as in my, like, 3 readers. hah.] a little break from HBP happiness [though why anyone would need a break I don't know] and show a bit of NCIS loveliness. Notice when Gibbs smacks HIMSELF. I think that's from the "Family Secrets" episode. And I love when Ziva makes those "boop" noises. And Abby's yell at the end.

heehee. Enjoy!

#Dumbledoreness Galore!

Yuss! 7 more days to go! In case you follow me on twitter as well... you should have noticed my massive amounts of #Dumbledore posts. haha. This is because of http://www.whatwoulddumbledoredo.org/. I'm seriously thinking of taking up the Dumbledore Movie Night challange. Just in case I decide to go through with it, I've compiled my favorite Dumbledore quotes/lessons.

• "Sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often. It's best not to say anything."
• "Let us pursue that flighty temptress, adventure."
• Just because it happens in my head doesn't mean it isn't real.
• We must choose what is right over what is easy.
• "By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many."
• "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."
• "...It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."
• "Don't count your owls before they are delivered."
• "Oh, you know about Nicholas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You did do the thing properly, didn't you?"

Haha. The last quote was, obviously, from Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone. I'm convinced that I must call it Philosopher's now. Have been for a few months actually. When I told my dad he just rolled his eyes. I mean, really.... Philosopher's sounds so much.... better. Don't you agree?

Anyway. KATE BOUGHT OUR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE TICKETS FOR 11:55 AT THE RIVERWALK MOVIES! w00t w00t! :DD

And today I watched the live streaming of the UK HBP Premier red carpet interviews and such with some ladies from the Press Association. They annoyed me a bit with some of their rambling. They said Hagrid was an ogre [*ahem* half-giant, thankyou], they forgot that "Lucius" was Malfoy's first name, they almost completely forgot that they needed to interview Rupert, then they proceeded to waste precious interview time with him with MORE THAN ONE question about his bout with Swine Flu. I mean, really. He's there, he ain't dead, obviously it wasn't that bad. Letsmoveonnow, kthanks. :) They also asked Gambon how he felt about filming his LAST MOVIE. Hmm, okay... TEN SECONDS earlier they had just been talking about having read all of the books. Apparently DH doesn't count? Gambon looked at them for a second like they'd lost their minds. haha. Made me laugh. Oh, at least they gave Dan some AWESOME questions. I was really happy about their interview with him. Dan was SOOO hyperactive it was hilarious. He was bouncing from interview to interview as if he wasn't soaking wet and had just consumed 3-4 double-caffeinated coffees. Of course, they had to ask the prerequesite, "What's different about this film?" And he answered with the standard, "Its getting darker again," answer. But he also talked about the romance and the comedy. And he talked about the obsessive nature of his Malfoy-hunt. I'm glad to know this movie won't be all quidditch and kissing. Even though those two are GREAT. ;) haha. I do hope they'll make clips of that interview available. I want to watch the Dan interview again. And I loved his suit. ^_^ It was beige with white piping, paired with a salmon button-down. I forgot what color his tie was, but I liked it. Stacy & Clinton would have approved. ;) Emma was wearing a gorgeous full-length dress, if majorly low-cut. Her interview was probably the least exciting. Her answers were vague, but to be fair her prompts were horrible. Then they wasted her last question on her college decision, which she isn't talking about. There were, of course, the kissing/teasing questions being bounced around. The full list of interviews I saw:

• Dan
• Rupert
• Emma
• Jason Isaacs [LUCIUS Malfoy]
• Matthew Lewis [Neville -he was the first interview -LOVED IT!]
• One of the Patil twins [dunno her real name, I assume it was Parvati?]
• Tom Felton [of course. ^_^ Gorgeous boy, that Tom!]
• Jessica. [Think that's her name. The one playing Lavender Brown.]
• Bonnie Wright [I wantsss her hair! And the dress she was wearing!]
• James&Oliver Phelps
• Jim Broadbent [Sluggy!]
• Robbie Coltraine [Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service!]
• David Yates [at least they asked him some decent questions!]
• Michael Gambon

They either didn't get to interview Alan Rickman, or I somehow missed it. :( Because they had some spotty streaming for a bit. Maybe it was the rain. It was POURING down. Apparently that's tradition now for London HP premiers. haha. Everyone was soaked. But that's alright. Rupert, Dan, & Tom look very handsome when they're a bit soggy. ;) haha. And I was very amused with all the accents going around. And British slang words. I loved it.

I am SO FREAKING EXCITED!

SEVEN DAYS! W00T W00T!

So. Be sure to put #Dumbledore in as many tweets as you can! Even random, non-HP related ones. ^_^ And remember, What Would Dumbledore Do? [Even though I disagree with the fact that they are using it as a blatant advertisement for LGBT/equal marriage rights/equality. Which, I'm not surprised. But, I'm disappointed that it seems to be the main focus. But who am I to complain... little miss conservativist.] Anyway, ranting aside, I'm scheming a way to get sticky-sticker paper for my "What Has Dumbledore taught Me" nametag/stickers on HBP night.

[7 days!]