Moving media is magic.

Off to see Deathly Hallows today! I haven't kept it secret that I thought book 7 was a mess. Silly capers against a background of DOOM = me snickering. And the lack of a year at Hogwarts stole one of Rowling's major structural strengths. So I've been eager for this film since series' end, ready to see the problems of the last books corrected in script and on screen. The film of HBP managed it and I've always had faith DH would too.

In Kuroshitsuji/ Black Butler news, Funimation has put the first four English dubbed episodes up on YouTube. I'm great with everyone's voice except...Ciel's. THE MAIN CHARACTER. ARGH. Ciel's voice sounds just right in the rare moments when he's yelling, but at every other time it's so breathy and quiet, I'm at the point where the English dub series works if I imagine Ciel's a cross-dressing girl. Which is an interesting AR, but. I want to enjoy the English experience of it so I hope I get used to the voice after a while. If not, well. "Language Options" DVD menu is my friend.

Deathly Hallows Part One Reaction Post

I think my overall reactions are not particularly spoilery, for a film adapted from a well-known book, so, outside the cut:

In my opinion DH makes a better film than a book. I'm surprised how much of the book they kept, and perhaps that was a function of how convoluted the storyline is, that they didn't feel they could make major cuts and jumps and still keep even the concept alive. Part One felt a good deal like a chessboard being set up at midgame, piece here, piece there, so that come next film we can actually sit down and play with the board that's been set. They convinced me that one decent film could never have been made from that book without changing it radically (more so than even significant hack-and-slash). But they did show that they could make two decent films from it. Even without seeing the second film I'm going to assume that.

But, man, watching DH is to remind oneself of how interminable that book gets. I can't tell you how many times, despite the enjoyment of familiar characters, good acting, and a well-done book-to-script translation, I fell into the litany of I miss Hogwarts, I miss Hogwarts, I miss Hogwarts. Hogwarts and the Harry Potter series aren't like jam and bread, they're like wheat and bread, with one part so integral the concept falls apart when it's gone. And camping is still camping no matter how many times you change the desktop picture.

( Spoilery specifics behind the cut. )