14 November 2005

My Harry Potter birthday surprise (no spoilers)

My wife and I have a Harry Potter date this coming weekend in Baguio. She was insistent that I do not watch it beforehand. However, who can resist the chance to watch this highly-anticipated movie a week before it comes out? Plus it's Cherry's belated birthday gift to me. So dear, in case you get to read this, don't worry we will still be watching HP and I won't fall asleep in the cinema. You know me ... I watch movies I like at least two times.

My Saturday was moving uneventfully and it was already mid-afternoon when Cherry called me up. I have been "pestering" her for HP tickets for quite a while now, so when I saw her number on the display, I immediately answered it.
me: Hi Cherry! May Harry Potter tickets na?
Cherry: Where are you?
me: Office.
Cherry: Yes I have a ticket but you must go to Glorietta NOW.
me: (demanding!) Really? How many tickets? (Pushing my luck but I wanted Tol-Pare Harry to tag along)
Cherry: Isa lang e. The movie will start at 4 so better go here now! (I learned later it was a spur-of-the-moment ticket so a second free one would be next to impossible. Sorry Harry!)

And so I took a quick ride to Landmark and ran from there to Cinema 3, which is at the third floor. And there was Cherry waiting at the entrance and I running off to her, bulky bag in tow, like we were in an airport and we were meeting after so many years.... yeah right :-).

The movie started a few seconds after I sat down.

It was everything I expected it to be. The CGI is top-rate and was not overly used. This is also a fun movie to watch! Loads of comic relief. My, how these kids have grown! And of course, we get to see Mad Eye Moody for the first time whose character translation to the big screen is impressive. Likewise, seeing Cho Chang, Viktor Krum, and the other characters from the other magic schools were a delight to see, like seeing friends we haven't met for quite some time. Newspaper writer Rita Skeeter was also nosey and arrogant, just like in the books. But by golly, it was sooo good to be back at Hogwarts.

So how was the translation of the book (which is the thickest so far) to the movie? It was pretty accurate, actually. Of course, they left out some of the minor details and concentrated on the highlights (such as the Quidditch World Cup and the tri-Wizard tournament) but I really wouldn't mind sitting it out for three hours or more for a Harry Potter movie.

I thought the ending would appear very violent and will not be adviseable for kids to watch. However, the manner by which the Avada Kedavra curse and the return of he-who-must-not-be-named were done were just right.

If you don't have a ticket yet, don't hesitate and book yours right now! It's two and a half hours of magical fun and adventure!

[more photos, story summary (spoiler alert!), and personal review are available at Cherry's Ampalaya blog. Photo borrowed from hk.yahoo.com]

24 comments:

  1. Waaah! Sa sunday pa ako manunuod with Lee and her pamangkins.

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  2. Anonymous6:26 pm

    My 11-year-old girl is an addict! I'm tired of seeing books,dvd's, pics, etc..(Harry Potter) in her room.She's not allowed to use the internet for the meantime because of Harry Potter....Is it like blogging? Addicting?

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  3. Kwentuhan kita Igor!

    Hmmm... trick question ba yan Ann? hehehe I guess you can say it gets obsessive sometimes. Sa case ko, naging obsessed ako sa Star Wars to the point na muntik na akong nagpagawa ng jedi costume. Di natuloy kasi bumalik sa pag-aaral yung nagtatahi. Pero sa Harry Potter, bantayan mo Ann at baka gumagawa na sya ng incantations at spells :-)

    Kadyo, may problema talaga sa tagboard ko... ako nga e di maka-post! Si Ballesteros na PE teacher ba yung tinutukoy mo? Ironically, di ko sya naging instructor ng PE. Sayang mataas sana grade ko! Hindi kami related, incidentally.

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  4. Madaya!!! Cherry oh Cherry...bakit si Watson lang...hahahahahahaha :P

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  5. hi watson, I'm going to watch is for free too this wednesday....oooowwweeee!!!

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  6. my friendly friends know that i'm not a potter fan. haven't read a single page and have no real desire to do so. but i do watch the movies. the first two, out of curiosity. hanggang sa nasundan na nung pangatlo and i found that mas maganda na nung nag-iba ang director. so when papa olan asked if we were watching the latest, i answered, well, napanood na din naman natin yung mga nauna, why not? so for me, it's more like tradition? sorta. although, like i said, i do find it more interesting after the directors changed from chris columbus to pedro almodovar. tama ba? did i get my directors wrong? hehe

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  7. Fisherpau ... ssshhh!

    Princess Em! Masarap manood pag free. :-)

    Almodovar, meowok? Mali yata. Quentin Tarantino! Oops sablay din hehehe

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  8. im drooling just by reading your entry for today .... nakakamatay sa inggit. naalala ko tuloy yung pagbili mo nung book6. kabadtrip kasi may pasok ako sa opis kaya hindi ko napanood nang maaga. Sa fri ko pa mapapanood kasi off namin. *sigh*

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  9. uuuhh nice naman you were able to watch HP na. inggit me. :)

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  10. Anonymous6:03 pm

    Dear, bili ka ng debede ha? Kahit sa bahay na lang ako manood, okey lang, tipid pa. - tina

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  11. Happy bday!!!!!!! daming may b-day ngayon, daming inuman nito :)

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  12. Oo nga ano Airwind... parang kelan lang na bumili ako ng HP book...

    Hi Amie! Watch it! Maganda.

    Dear, magandang panoorin sa cinema!

    Tagay na, Tanggers!

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  13. watson and princess em...

    hmpp...ako I have to pay 160!!! ang corny noh!!! for the love of harry potter...

    hermoine rocks!

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  14. nick,
    why put "pestering" in quotes? it was PESTERING all caps! hehehe.

    fisherpau,
    kasi manlilibre si nick ng belated birthday. ehem ehem.

    meowok,
    it's alfonso cuaron, not almodovar. btw, doncha miss the days when we used to lineup for LOTR? complete tayo with hobbits, an orc and an ent noon.

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  15. i am a girl who is so left out in this world... =(...

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  16. invite sana kita (b-day gift) sa premiere night with the whole cast eh napanood mo na pala. siguro sa susunod na lang kapag naisipan nilang gumawa ng Star Wars IV, may time pang mag-ipon. hehe

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  17. cherry,
    TY for correcting me. i confused one hispanic director for another. hehe.
    oh yes, i do miss lining up for LOTR. sana i-adapt din nila yung "the hobbit" para magkita-kita ulit ang fellowship.

    pau,
    quentin tarantino taking on HP? ayus yun. madugo lalabas at bigla na lang mag ku-kung fu yung mga hogwarts studes. hehe

    nick,
    is mr. moody's eye supposed to be that fake-looking talaga? la lang, i just thought they could've done better with that. all in all tho, i think this is the best potter movie in the series so far.

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  18. nga pala,
    when nick described the scene when he just got to cinema 3 and was running towards cherry, i felt like i was watching a regal movie. parang any time na lang, biglang magkakaron ng song and dance number. hehe

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  19. Guess what follen. According to Yahoo Buzz, the three most popular searches for HP actors are Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, then Katie Leung. Then for the most popular charaters, it's Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, then Cho Chang! Naging popular bigla si Cho. Read about it here.

    Hi cherry! Tapos na birthday ko e. Nagwork ako noon! No choice. Sino kaya yung hobbit dun sa line-up ng LOTR? :-)

    Dessagirl, watch ka na kasi!

    Hi meowok! Ok lang naman yung mata. Siguro they made it obvious para kitang kitang umiikot. Tama ka dun sa song and dance number. Pic pac boom, bumangon ka...

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  20. Meowok: nga pala,
    when nick described the scene when he just got to cinema 3 and was running towards cherry, i felt like i was watching a regal movie.


    Tapos kung si Tarantino nag-direct nun, bubunot ng baril and magku-kung fu sina Nick at Cherry after the embrace... hehehe... (teka, baka maging recepient ako ng isa sa mga unforgivable curses nito...) Peace dudes. :D

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  21. igorilla and meowok,

    why do I suddenly feel like killing gorillas and cats?

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  22. cherry, it's not our fault that nick gives such vivid descriptions that truly spur the imagination. :p

    on a non-related note, the word verification thingy here is "wtsthn", doen't it sound like "watson"? ooh, conspiracy...

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  23. This is the 1st HP movie I've seen BEFORE reading the book. I purposely did that so I could compare the experience! Now even if I haven't read Book IV, I did enjoy the movie. Galing!

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  24. Neneng, dream ko yan, ang magkaroon ng kahit na bit part sa star wars pero syempre imposible na unless may episode 7!

    Boss Igor, how did the Cruciatus curse feel? hehehe

    Cat fight! Gorilla fight!

    Hi Toni! Read mo rin yung book! Mas maraming details and adventures

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