Harry Potter! Harry Potter!

I went to the midnight showing of HP last night and I was so excited, like a kid on Christmas.

I left the theatre feeling like a kid who got a pair of rain boots on Christmas. If you have not seen the movie yet, maybe you shouldn't read this. I have no problem telling exactly what was left out.

From the very beginning, I felt like the movie was rushed. Within the first 3 minutes of the movie, Harry and Dudley are attacked by the dementors. Harry then gets a howler informing him that he is expelled and Dudley is rushed to the hospital. Moody and everyone come Privet Drive and take Harry to Sirius'. In the book, it seemed as though they were there forever but in the movie, Harry arrives, they use the extendable ear, and the next morning he is taken to his trial.

Here we meet Umbridge a.k.a. the star of the film (IMO). She is irritating and as I saw her vomit inducing outfits, I thought, "So this is what would have happened if Jackie O. had taken acid."

Hagrid is barely in the film (I know that he wasn't in the book very much either but still). There is no mention of quidditch or St. Mungo's, Hermione did not knit the first article of house elf clothing, Dobby was absent, Cho turned Harry and the D.A. in, there was no Valentine's Day Hogsmeade weekend, no interview with Rita Skeeter, no mention of Ron and Hermione being prefects, and no butterbeer. It jumped around a lot and if you didn't read the book, there is no doubt that you will be lost like a polar bear in an ice storm. I read the book and I was still a bit confused.

But in true Harry Potter form, the ending is fabulous. Helena Bonham Carter is absolutley perfect as Bellatrix Lestrange. It makes me wonder why she hasn't been in any HP film before.

I realize that the book is almost 900 pages and if some things were not cut out, I'd still be sitting in the theatre, but really, how can you cut out such huge chunks of the story? Kyle kept asking, "Why is the longest book the shortest film?" Part of the reason that Harry is so angst ridden is the fact that he was not made a prefect. Ron and Hermione were at each other's throats in the book but not so much in the movie. Which, I guess is ok, but that's another reason for Harry's moodiness.

On the upside, Mr. Radcliffe is growing up to be quite handsome. Ok, so all of them are quite good looking.

Rumor has it that this director (sorry, I don't know his name) has signed on to do the 6th movie. I might cry. I really might.

On a side note, all of my thoughts are now in a British accent. I read the 5th book over the past 3 days and when I read them, I read in a British accent (in my head, of course). So yea, everything is British in my head...it's quite charming actually.