Inside the Latest Harry Potter
July 23rd, 2007
Warning: This post contains plot spoilers on the latest Harry Potter book. Skip reading this post if you have no intention to know the possible contents of the new book. But if you do, please continue.
I always thought of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series as one of the biggest triumphs in the literary world of recent times. It’s not because of the profits raised from the books’ phenomenal sales. More importantly, it inspired non-readers to take interest in books at a time when the only thing people seem to be reading are tabloid headlines, shortened cellphone texts, and friendster message board titles.
The newest addition to the popular series - - should help renew interest in reading books. And this seemed the case Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsas thousands of Harry Potter fans snapped the first copies of the novel last July 21, 2007.
Last Thursday, Beryl and I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I don’t know why but the Umbridge character always reminds me of UP President Emerlinda Roman.
I was only able to read until The Order of the Phoenix, which is the fifth book in the series. I wish I can read the last two books too before both are shown in film. So now, I will have to content myself with the reviews of other people.
Its interesting how leaks on the new book’s contents proliferated the internet even before its official release:
In the final days before the world learns whether Harry Potter lives or dies, spoilers — or those pretending to spoil — are spreading on the Internet. On Tuesday, the Web link http://www.zendurl.com/h/hallows/ displayed what the site claimed to be a seven-page epilogue and scanned photographs of the table of contents from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, coming out Saturday under ultra-tight security. Similar information appeared Monday on http://spoilerboy.googlepages.com/home. Associated Press
Inquirer Lifestyle columnist Ruben Nepales shares one such spoiler in his Sunday column:
“Hagrid is killed by Professor Snape during an attempted ambush of Ron and Hermione. The latter two escape, but then encounter Voldemort who duels with Hermione. The latter is killed in order to protect Ron. Harry triumphs over his enemy but Hermione pays the ultimate price for it.â€
Could this be real? We can never be sure until we see the pages with our own eyes. But already Emma Watson, who plays Hermione, is reacting to the yet unconfirmed spolier:
‘Today, a couple of journalists told me that there’s this guy who claims to have been able to hack into J. K. Rowling’s computer,’ she shared. Putting her hands on her chest, she continued, ‘He’s saying that Hermione is going to die. I was like, ‘Oh God, that’s awful.’ I actually found myself feeling sad. I have not really contemplated on her dying. I always had the sense that she’d make it.’
…The actress is emotionally attached to her character not only because she has been playing her all these years. ‘Hermione and I are very similar in quite a lot of ways,’ she explained. ‘We’re both very stubborn, determined, loyal, bossy, academic and a bit of a feminist.’
Meanwhile, some religious zealots try in vain to peddle its indiscriminate criticism of the Harry Potter. No one seems to be believing them in this matter though. The final Potter does not disappoint, one of the first few reviews by BBC News said.
Inquirer Lifestyle writer Ruel S. De Vera also hails the seventh Potter novel, saying that it’s “a satisfying, reader-friendly celebration of all things Harry Potter.” He shares:
The sixth book, 2005’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,†had ended somberly with the death of Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Harry pondering the bleak future. But in this final chapter, Rowling implements sweeping changes in the world of Hogwarts as the resurrected Lord Voldemort’s Death Eaters move against the Order of the Phoenix’s forces.
How sweeping? Entire platoons of characters, both beloved and benighted, are mowed down, the casualties coming so suddenly and furiously, it will disconcert even the hardiest readers.
Harry had spent the morning completely emptying his school trunk for the first time since he had packed it six years ago,†Rowling writes. But when Harry plunges his hand into his trunk, he pulls it back to discover it is bleeding.
As the Death Eaters mount a takeover of the Ministry of Magic, Harry finds himself both a fugitive and a combatant, trying to elude Voldemort even as he tries to find the horcruxes (vessels containing fragments of the Dark Lord’s soul).
“I shall attend to the boy in person,†Voldemort declares. “That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs.â€
As with the earlier novels, there is a magical puzzle at the heart of “Hallows,†that of the three mystical artifacts called, well, the Deathly Hallows.
But this rather pedestrian conundrum isn’t particularly gripping, as there is so much going on that readers will instead concentrate on the character work Rowling engages in. After all, readers will frantically keep guessing who will join Dumbledore and Sirius Black in the afterlife, eager to find out whether The Boy Who Lived lives or not.
Likewise, Inquirer Contributor Eldric Paul Peredo writes: “Hallows is from beginning to end a thrillsome chase between Harry and his nemisis, the evil Lord Voldemort.”
He continues:
Voldemort, fully restored to his carnate self with the help of Harry’s blood, is in congress with his Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor, discussing a new plot to kill the boy wizard. Hogwarts teacher Severus Snape, remembered as Phoenix leader Albus Dumbledore’s killer, provides the information on Harry’s transfer into safer quarters by members of the Order.
Meanwhile, Phoenix members are at No. 4, Privet Drive, putting a decoy plan in order. Constrained by the Magic Ministry’s regulation of all magical travel, they resort to the least magical choice: brooms.
With a Phoenix member on Voldemort’s side, however, the transfer is almost thwarted, with Harry again facing Voldemort for the third time since their encounter at the graveyard during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry’s wand, twin of Voldemort’s, protects him from the latter’s power, but the costs to the Order of the Phoenix this early are dear.
The chase begins.
Indeed, the intensely fascinating ending for the popular seven-book series. Deathly Hallows should be a deserving ending for a series that is now compared to C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia and J.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.For me, what is inside Harry Potter’s latest offering will still have to be seen. But whatever happens in the much-awaited conclusion, I know that Harry Potter will continue to be remembered and read in times to come. Image from the Weekly Reader
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November 22nd, 2006 by 
The J
It’s no secret i’m excited for this film. I’m a big proponent of Zack Snyders, I think he did a great job with the ‘Dawn of the Dead’ remake, and the small glimpses of footage we’ve seen from ‘300′ look amazing, slow motion blood splatter, and kids fighting giant wolves (
Shaun of the Dead is probably in my top five favourite comedy films of all time, and it probably even edges into my top ten horrors. I was also a big fan of Spaced before SOTD came along. Edgar Wright is one of us, a fanboy that makes fanboy films.
Batman and Wolverine in a magic fight to the death. Nothing could be awesom-e-r….Christopher Nolan after making ‘Memento’ has just launched himself into the stratosphere, and become one of my favourite directors. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play rival magicians, but then Bale’s character performs ‘the ultimate trick’ and we see a little supernatural edge thrown into the mix. It’s best explained by 
Daniel Craig will be a great James Bond, The guy is more english than a very english thing. He can drink tea and then headbutt you in the face and garot you with a piece of wire coming out of his watch.
Everytime we get to see a new clip or a new batch of stills from ‘The Science of Sleep’ I start raving about it. Gondry is one of the most creative directors (I hesitate to call him that, as I have a feeling he does a lot more than just direct actors) working in movies today. The film looks to contain heaps of Gondry’s typically weird style; sets made out of cardboard and tinfoil, and skiing down mountains made from cotton wool(those could be lyrics to a Beatles song).
What is the fountain about? I have no fucking idea… something to do with time travel and lost love and the search for the fountain of youth/eternal life, either way it looks incredible. Darren Aronofsky has made some good films, depressing yes, but he manages to always keep me enthralled while driving me into that hole in the ground.
Alfonso Cuaron hit the international scene hard with ‘Y tu Mama Tambien’, not his first film, but the film that made people sit up and notice. How he got appointed to direct the third (and best) Harry Potter film i’ll never know, maybe someone saw something very ‘Potter’ in the group sex scenes in ‘Tambien’.
Death Proof/Planet Terror
Alejandro González Iñárritu brings another ‘multiple story line’ film to the big screen. Three intertwining stories set in Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan.
The first David Fincher film for 5 years, and it’s been too long.
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