Harry Potter

I went to see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a few weeks back. I have not read any of the books, and I have only a vague grasp of the story line and characters. Before I go on, I'd like to say for the record that I thought the movie was pretty good. The effects were top notch, and the story was not too complex. The whole event was overall very enjoyable.

And now I am gonna bitch about a few things. Let's start with time. The fucking movie was 2 1/2 hours long. I think a LOT could have been left out to make it shorter, including the whole competition thing between the "factions" and the lacrosse/polo/corquet game they played on brooms. Leave the things out, and the story still stands on its own.

Now let's talk about Harry himself. He did not strike me as being very impressive. He reminded me more of Dubya...he surrounded himself with competent people, then took the credit. The girl seemed to be about to forget more about magic than he was ever gonna know, and at least his other loser friend could play chess. What were his powers? He used the power of love? So did Huey Lewis. He could ride a broom with the best of them? Angela Fucking Lansbury could ride a broom. And while she may not have been very good at it, she could at least keep the Substitutiary Locomotion spell going at the same time.

The best part of the whole experience was after the movie was over. The kids in the theatre had sat through this flick and not so much as moved a muscle. They were entranced. And on the way out, they bitched about shit that was left out or wrong. 7 and 8 year old kids who were aware enough to know what they had missed - it was impressive. A lot of people bitch about Harry Potter books for whatever reasons - the same old bullshit I listened to about D&D when I was their age. Bottom line - they were reading, and at least they were not playing with their assholes or something...