Official poster:
Newt Scamander? 1930’s New York? NO! The fans want more Potter! MOAR!
A host of new print and digital publishing has been announced from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, including a Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book of new stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II.
Readers and moviegoers last saw Harry waving off his children at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, in the epilogue to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child picks up after that moment and is staged in two parts, due to the ‘epic nature of the story’.
The play opens in London’s West End this summer, based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. It is officially the eighth story in Harry Potter canon and a new play by Jack Thorne.
Ah, but this is (sort of) old news. The play that this book is based on has been in the works for a while. In fact, the announcement of the casting for the play caused a little controversy the other month when it was revealed that a black woman would be playing the adult Hermionie.
I thought we covered that somewhere here, but I guess not.
The play is old news. The book/script version of the play being published for the is new. They had previously said they weren’t going to do that.
But, you know… Money.
The first reviews are coming out for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. They’re pretty positive.
It’s a five-hour long play.
That was 7 books though.
Since the Fantastic Beasts movie is in the theaters now, it reminded me that my wife has never seen any of these movies or even heard of the character. And I just had a gut instinct reaction that she would like it. She was very skeptical and very reluctant to get started, so I assured her that she would enjoy this movie.
So here we go, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
I remember being really charmed by this movie on opening weekend. I’d never read the books, but once I was done watching this first movie, I devoured all 5 books (the fifth had just come out around the same time as the release of the first movie). I loved it so much, and it was all thanks to this first movie that I was drawn into it. I remember being disappointed in the first book because usually when I go from movie to book, there’s a LOT more in the book than was there in a movie. But to my surprise, this first movie had pretty well encapsulated most of the content in the first book. And so, watching the first half of the movie again with my wife, I was amazed once again at how good this first movie is.
A special note for the music. John Williams has once again done an amazing job of creating a tune for Harry Potter that’s distinctive and evocative and always brings to mind the character. And not just that, but this first movie is full of wonderful musical flourishes. The visuals don’t hold up as well as the sounds. There’s some scenes that are so obviously CG looking at it from 2016 eyes as opposed to watching it that first time. But all in all it still holds up well, visually, because they use excellent sets and costumes and decoration. All in all, it’s not all that CG heavy.
What really makes the movie sing is just how well it captures the spirit of childhood wonder and fascination with all things magical. It really has a unique feel among the movies. Later the books evolved and the movies evolved, but this first movie does what it does beautifully.
FreeForm…a cable TV channel, loves to do marathon Harry Potter movie showings several times a year. They did one last weekend. I usually end up watching parts of all of them. I watch the first one with mixed feelings, I remember how I felt when I watched it in the theater and how much I enjoyed it, but watching it now the leads look like such little kids (well, they were) that it is really hard to imagine kids doing what they do.