JUN 29 – “No sign of him, my lord,” states a minion. Then, Voldemort hears something. He turns. Harry Potter is there at last, to be killed. Voldemort raises his wand. Avada Kedavra! Harry closes his eyes. And the trailer takes off.
The escape from Gringotts. Ollivander’s torture. The escape from the Dursley’s on Hagrid’s bike. Ron and Hermione. The siege of Hogwarts. Bellatrix Lestrange. Argus Filch. Nagini’s attack at Godric’s Hollow. Fiend Fire. And a kiss from Ginny Weasley.
Should I be cheesy and rattle off a list of spells now? Engorgio expectations? Alohomora theatre doors? Muffliato early reviews? Furnunculus Potter-phobes?
PS: Can’t wait for both episodes, but I hope they don’t sacrifice sentiment in favour of spectacle. (Spoilers ahead.) Hedwig dies. Dobby dies. Fred dies. I’m already packing in a couple of extra handkerchieves, so they better not cheat me of those moments. Oh, and Molly Weasley incinerating “the bitch.” That’s gotta be there too.
PPS: And here are some earlier writings on Potter — (film) reviews of Half-Blood Prince and Order of the Phoenix, a review of the final book, and a piece looking back at HP. And especially for Priti and Bala, an HP-inspired installment of their favourite column.
Rohanv
June 29, 2010
Just in case, you should probably put a spoiler alert up there. Especially for the “PS.”
bran1gan
June 29, 2010
Rohanv: Thanks. Done.
Gradwolf
June 29, 2010
Very impressive trailer, can’t wait for it! They’ve made it difficult by releasing one trailer for the both the parts combined! May 2011 is so far away.
munimma
June 29, 2010
Bring back the madness! I think there is enough time to go through the series once more before the movie. On a side note – looking forward to the last airbender later this week.
bran1gan
June 29, 2010
munimma: Going through the series of… books or movies? About airbender, not so sure.
munimma
June 29, 2010
books, of course.
Having to watch re-re-runs of avatar on tv, got my anticipations up. The trailer has been interesting.
apala
June 29, 2010
BR, do you think they will sacrifice spectacle for sentiment? (I hope with two 2+ hours running time they should be able to accommodate both!).
Anyway, do you think the final installments will better the cinematic excellence of the 3 part (Prisoner of Azkaban) of the series?! (I loved the 3-rd part the best so far!)
Why are they making us to wait so long (from November 2010 to July 2011?!) for the final-final?!. Do not want to overfeed the public with two HP movies in quick succession (will affect B.O.), I guess!
buddy
June 29, 2010
the trailer also shows liberties taken with the books, to be expected I suppose
Pradyumna M
June 29, 2010
This trailer makes me go back and go through the series all over again! Ah! Magical!
Even though Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows fell way short of expectations the first time I read it I am very glad they’re making two parts! I do not really like the movies they have made out of the books because they always fall way below expectations. I do not know which one disappointed me the most Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix or Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.. I hope they do justice to Snape’s character! Hated the way my favourite character Sirius was projected in the movies!
So BR is going to be pretty busy on November 19th what with Bhansali’s Guzaarish and Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House releasing alongside the first part of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.
bran1gan
June 30, 2010
Among the search terms that led to my blog this sunny June morning: “cute love sayings for your husband” and “harry potter sex.” Seriously, WTF!
Gradwolf
June 30, 2010
Hahahaha! Brangan discovering the joy of blog stats now with WordPress!
Pradyumna M
June 30, 2010
Off topic :
Hey Rangan! Four years ago when RDB had released you had said that those three hours were Hindi film industry’s finest hours,do you still feel that way or has your views changed about the movie? And which other movie do you think has come close? Just curious.
Raj Balakrishnan
June 30, 2010
Emma Watson has grown into a beautiful woman, not many cute kids do.
Chaitanya
July 1, 2010
@brangan,
I love the fact that you can mention Voldemort while reviewing Raajneeti. The HP universe is as real to you as is this universe… same is the case with me; I was happy on the Halloween because that was the day Voldemort was first vanquished.
Chaitanya
July 1, 2010
As for the trailer, can’t get enough of it.
5th movie was (dare i say it) boring, and I had my doubts about having Yates as director for the next movies; but for HBP, the scriptwriter of first four movies returned, and I feel that HBP was the first HP movie where they ‘got’ it. I have very high hopes from DH movies, and seems like all my wishes are going to come true!
bran1gan
July 1, 2010
Pradyumna M: I think I said “among the finest hours of mainstream cinema” or something. That would still stand no? The film still packs a mighty wallop. That was a good year too. Dor, Lage Raho…
Chaitanya: Oh, but he is a literary character, no? Nothing wrong about dragging him into the real world
APALA
July 1, 2010
BR,
I think U R so right on the money as the reviews by film critics are THRASHING Air Bender like crazy and calling it a low for M. N. Shyamalan (whose career is already crumbling anyway!).
Hmmm, he should go back to his “ghostly” stories…..or can he?!
anon
July 1, 2010
btw whats your take on shyamalan? the last airbender is opening to the worst reviews ever in recent history….
Pradyumna M
July 1, 2010
Oh it definitely does even when it’s played on Tv! The last movie that actually made me cry.. 2006 was one of the better years of this decade for the Hindi Film Industry.Rdb,Lrm,Dor,Khosla ka Ghosla,Being Cyrus,Omkara,Taxi No. 9211,Yun Hota toh Kya hota et all.
And speaking of Taxi no 9211,can you link me to your review? I remember it started off with something to do with ‘Nana Patekar this and Nana Patekar that.. ‘
bran1gan
July 1, 2010
apala/anon: My lack of interest in Airbender isn’t so much about Shyamalan as the source material. Sounds like a Zen spin on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or some such kiddie show. I think Unbreakable is his best film.
Pradyumna M: Here’s the review of Taxi… Yes, it does begin with Nana this and Nana that. I didn’t remember it at all
bran1gan
July 1, 2010
Does anyone know if it’s possible to import easyjournal files into WordPress? Thanks.
Pradyumna M
July 1, 2010
Lol!
I stalk your blog a lot! 
Always a good read,discovering new words everyday 
munimma
July 2, 2010
ok, I saw the airbender in action. It was not bad. Not bad at all. I don’t understand why all the reviews dissed it. May be because most of the actors were brown?
Pradyumna M
July 2, 2010
Munimma: I do not know about other critics but Roger Ebert criticized it because the actors were white. This is what he says :
“After the miscalculation of making the movie as live action, there remained the challenge of casting it. Shyamalan has failed. His first inexplicable mistake was to change the races of the leading characters; on television Aang was clearly Asian, and so were Katara and Sokka, with perhaps Mongolian and Inuit genes. Here they’re all whites.”
munimma
July 2, 2010
Yes, but I don’t think that could be the only reason. It took some time to get used to the change, but once you get past it, the movie is really enjoyable. The (mis)cast is definitely an issue though. And my hubby was not too happy about the kungfu choreo.
Pradyumna M
July 2, 2010
I haven’t watched the movie so I will not comment. But one grouse that Ebert had was the use of 3-D technology. He is totally against it since using 3-D technology causes damage to the environment..
Here’s his review :
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100630/REVIEWS/100639999/1023
munimma
July 3, 2010
yes, I did opt for the 2D after reading some of the reviews. May be that could be part of the reason why I liked it. I read the reviews yesterday before I saw it. May be why my expectations were low.