Harry Potter 6 Review (Semi-Spoilers)

Before I start this off, I want to apologize for not being as active in my blog as I said I would be. Between computer problems and other things, I never got around to putting anything half decent up. My bad.

This isn't going to be a very in-depth review. Just a little overview of what I thought.

I'd read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince about 6 months before the movie came out and I'll have to say that the book was one of my favorites in the series. So, I had high hopes for the movie. For starters, a lot was changed from in the book. I understand that for movie purposes, this has to happen, but I'd have liked them to delve a little deeper into Tom Riddle's childhood. The only flashbacks were to a shortened orphanage scene and to when Tom asks about Horcruxes. The mystery of the Half-Blood Prince is almost entirely absent. Apparation is scrapped. However, I'm not going to judge the movie on similarities to the books, but the director/writers seem to have taken a bit of creative liberty. This really shines in a completely original scene where a group of Dark Wizards plop to the ground in an honest-to-God fireball and attack the Burrow.

I feel like there was a lot of opportunity to make this film pretty scary, but I was sourly disappointed in that aspect. One thing a friend of mine pointed out was that Michael Gambon (the man who plays Dumbledore now) has always played the character a little over-aggressively, but that really seems to work in this story where he is such a central character - he seems to pop like never before. To wrap it all up, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a solid movie that falls just short of what I expected.

Overall rating: 4/5

I'm sure I could write more, but I'm tired and going to a school orientation tomorrow morning. I'll let you know how it goes.

Cake and Updates

Just wanted to get a few things out before I hit the hay.

1. I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the other night, so expect a review of that in the near future.

2. I intended to put up a new Ultimate Warrior post tonight, but I never got around to it and I'm too tired to make one up tonight. I'll hopefully have it written up by tomorrow. Sorry.

3. I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop the whole video game forum thing. Instead, I'll probably make a new blog with my views on the video game industry and such. Let me know what you think about that.

4. Incoming blog about new TV series "The Colony". It's good.

And now for something completely different.

A Message to All My Comment Exchange Pals

Just a quick little message. I haven't forgot you guys! I've been busy and haven't had a chance to catch up on posting, but I will soon. Don't forget me!!!

Oh, Good to be Home

The trip was great. I got back late Wednesday night and boy was I tired. Car rides aren't very fun for me. I tend to get butt cramps, but that's another story. Washington was fun, as always. I've seen just about all the sights before (including the Holocaust museum where I swear I talked to the man who was killed not to long ago), but I stayed with my aunt and my 2 year-old cousin Kyle. He's a funny kid who has a liking for green beans and Nirvana and bears a striking resemblance to Joe Pesci. I saw the little guy once not long after he was born and he's grown quite a bit. Washington itself was a blast. It rained a little, but I can't complain. I had a conversation with a homeless Vietnam War vet underneath a bus waiting booth during a rainstorm. Good to know we're treating our vets well, especially in our nation's capital. Through it all, there's no denying the best of going on vacation is that first step you take into your house when you get back home - at least for me. I'm more of a homeboy who's probably going to live the rest of his life in some little town in Pennsylvania.

I was sure to overwork myself the first day I was home. I've begun construction of a video game discussion forum. It's something I've thought about doing for a long time and finally took those first steps to doing it. It's not quite finished yet, but I'll announce when it's ready to be open to the public.

After using my uncle's laptop for a bit, I made the choice to download Firefox 3.5 on my own computer. Great choice. Pages load noticeably faster than on Internet Explorer, it's easier to navigate, and spell check is a lifesaver. I'd recommend it. If you have a slower connection or a generally crappier computer, use Firefox 3.1

New Deadliest Warrior Poll every Tuesday!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

I probably won't be able to get those desired posts in before I leave. Sorry. I just want to wish everybody a fun and safe holiday. Happy Fourth!

A Glitch?

For whatever reason, my latest post wasn't showing up until I logged in. Maybe it's just my computer, but is anyway else having this problem?

Vacation

Just thought I'd let everybody know, my family and I will be leaving Sunday night (July 5th) for vacation in Washington D.C. We should be back by Thursday if everything goes according to plan - which it never does. I'm going to avoid the computer so I won't be active on any website in the period. I'll let everybody know how it goes when I get back, but I'm hoping to get a few more posts in before I leave.

My hate for vista increases every minute. Grr....

Congratulations to James Bond in his victory over Soap Mactavish! I might do more of these later.