The Prisoner of Azcaban...But Not Much Else

Today was a wonderful day, with one glaring exception. Tim and I went out to lunch, and hung around for a while. Then we came back to my apartment, and watched some Monty Python--there's nothing like full out musical numbers about sperm to really make a day great. The plan after that was that Tim would drop me off at the mall on his way to pick up Mike to drive to Rochester. However, on the way to the mall, we ended up in a small fender bender, and plans got changed a little. Thankfully, no one was hurt, and there was absolutely no damage to Tim's truck. Not so good was the fact that the accident was Tim's fault, and the other vehicle has two nice holes in their rear bumper thanks to the tow hooks on the front of Tim's truck. Eh. At least the cop was cool, and he didn't issue a ticket. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse on a number of levels.

So eventually, I made it to the mall, and I saw the new Harry Potter movie. My take on that was fairly mixed. On one hand, there were a lot of things about the new movie that I liked. There was some fantastic camera work, and the work with the ghosts is improving every movie. On the other hand, I felt like this was the first movie where there was really a lot missing. Not that the movie didn't make sense, but so many things were just breezed over once or twice in the movie, while the book really integrates them into the story. The term "animagus" plays a major role in the story. However, it is mentioned in one scene in passing, until the end of the story, where there are multiple animagus that are... never explained. I'm sure that if you haven't read the books, you could follow the story. But it really seems like of the three movies, this one was really missing a lot. I am scared to see what they decide to cut out of the fourth book, because the further the series goes, the more it seems that every factor becomes important. My other big complaint was Lupin. He is the first actor who has not been even somewhat close to what I imagined when reading the books. Perhaps some of it was the cutting of crucial scenes, but I really didn't believe that he and Harry were suddenly the best of friends. It just didn't fit.

After the movie, I wandered the mall for a while, and picked up some things. I got a much needed haircut, which I'm very happy with, and then I went and did some grocery shopping before I returned home. All in all, if not for the little fender bender, it would have been an absolutely fantastic day. Even with that, it was pretty good all around. Hopefully, the weekend will continue that way.