My wife and I are going to see the new Harry Potter on Friday, and I can't wait. In the past few weeks, I've re-read all of the books and watched all of the movies. One thing that jumped out at me was how the movies really are just loosely based on the books. It really started to bother me, and I hated movie 4 (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) because of it. By the time we watched 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), though, I made peace with it. I'm just telling myself that it's an alternate universe. The characters are the same, but the actions are different. I'm glad I've (mostly) come to terms with this because I've heard that the sixth movie (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) is again only loosely based on J.K. Rowling's text. That should be fine because I've also heard that it's an excellent movie. I've enjoyed the many previews I've watched on the Internet (how did we anticipate movies before it, eh?), so I don't think I'll let the departure from the book bother me. I guess I'll know on Friday. Let me know in the comments what you think. (I figure I need to re-watch 4 sometime soon with my new mindset. I'm sure I'll enjoy it the next time around.)
I've decided I want to start writing occasional short story reviews, and I may occasionally do so more than once a week. I want to point out some of the great online magazines that give excellent short stories for free. My plan at the moment is to give a short blurb about a story (no more than a teaser sentence or two) and a link so you can check them out for yourself. Since I have a few stories floating around cyberspace, I figure I should help publicize the market. Until next time, keep reading and/or writing.
