Last Thursday night at Midnight. My Daughter had to be at the premiere screening of the last Harry Potter movie--ever! We bought tickets for a Deathly Hollows double feature. With them leaving to stand in line around 5pm for a 9pm show, I knew she was devoted to watch this movie.
I have never understood the fascination with the Harry Potter franchise. A boy who attends a wizard academy and fights an evil wizard who has deep roots in the boys very life. It's unique. But not that unique. It's the first time I have ever heard of people waiting in lines and waiting hours to buy a book at midnight. Not a movie. A BOOK!
So a series of movies based on those books would only launch this fandom and popularity into freakin outer space. The movies have made billions. That's a lot of millions. Made its author richer than the royal family of her home nation. Sold more books than Bible. What the Hell!?
Now, I've been to a many midnight movies. Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Spider-man 3, Superman Returns and so many others I can't even recall them all. Yet, the one thing that fascinates me most about a Harry Potter movie is the wide range of people that attended this sucker. Star Wars crosses many social demographics; so does Star Trek. Trekkers and Star Woids don't compare though. Harry Potter takes the cake. These Potter Heads (my own description of Harry Potter Fans) are diverse! I had more fun people watching than watching the flick.
There was a couple gay guys sitting next to us, both wearing Harry Potter costumes. If Harry was flaming gay, these guys pulled it off perfectly. The punker chick with body piercings and tats all over her arms. The 40-ish year old Filipino woman wearing her Hogwarts sweater and scarf, reading a worn copy of Chamber of Secrets. The smoking hot twenty-something blond with her jock boyfriend. The middle-age mother of three waving a toy wand that lit up at the end. The cowboy with dirty boots and the shield-like belt buckle. Skinny people. Fat people. Young and old. Hispanic. Black. Asian. And Muggles. They all know Harry Potter. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude!
Harry Potter brings them all together...
Denver Comic Con
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
In my day it was called Star Wars, dammit!!
Here I am. Working over my computer. Trying to get midnight tickets. Shows are selling out faster than fat people grabbing free donuts at the Krispy Kreme.
The theater is promising to show the moving in every theater if needed. It’s a Megaplex with 18 screens. 18 F’ing screens!! All may be sold out.
The line was rumored to have started weeks, or in the least, days before the lights will go down. It’s madness. Complete madness. There are thousands of screaming fans. Some are dressed up. Most are wearing T-shirts and waiving props around. They spend hours speaking geek about the movies; the characters; the creatures; the love triangle.
Don’t get me started on the merchandising. There are action figures; clothing; magazines; posters; key chains; pillow cases; underwear; sticker books; Dixie cups and card games.
Oh, did you think I was talking about Star Wars? Hell no! This insanity is Harry Fraking Potter. Where and how did it all start? In my day, this kind of excitement was called Star Wars, dammit!!
So, I got the tickets purchased. My daughter has been bouncing off walls for weeks. This is her Woodstock. Mine was a dual trilogy in a galaxy far, far away. I want to piss all over this Hogwarts stuff. It ticks me off its bigger than Star Wars. Amazed, how a little book about wizards became a trillion dollar empire. And an EVIL one at that!
The bright side: I’ll be waiting in line while reading a Star Wars book. Take that Harry!
The theater is promising to show the moving in every theater if needed. It’s a Megaplex with 18 screens. 18 F’ing screens!! All may be sold out.
The line was rumored to have started weeks, or in the least, days before the lights will go down. It’s madness. Complete madness. There are thousands of screaming fans. Some are dressed up. Most are wearing T-shirts and waiving props around. They spend hours speaking geek about the movies; the characters; the creatures; the love triangle.
Don’t get me started on the merchandising. There are action figures; clothing; magazines; posters; key chains; pillow cases; underwear; sticker books; Dixie cups and card games.
Oh, did you think I was talking about Star Wars? Hell no! This insanity is Harry Fraking Potter. Where and how did it all start? In my day, this kind of excitement was called Star Wars, dammit!!
So, I got the tickets purchased. My daughter has been bouncing off walls for weeks. This is her Woodstock. Mine was a dual trilogy in a galaxy far, far away. I want to piss all over this Hogwarts stuff. It ticks me off its bigger than Star Wars. Amazed, how a little book about wizards became a trillion dollar empire. And an EVIL one at that!
The bright side: I’ll be waiting in line while reading a Star Wars book. Take that Harry!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
After the Show: Autobots, Decepticons and Cybertron, oh my!
After the Show: Autobots, Decepticons and Cybertron, oh my!
7/3/2011
First thing first: Dark of the Moon was much better than Revenge of the Fallen. Not saying it was the best film of the summer but it was definitely a fun movie! How can cars that turn into freaking robots not be!?
If one can get past the idea that a fresh out of college, jobless and klutzy Sam Witwicky can score a Victoria Secrets super-model, then you'll be okay. I mean I believe the concept of a transforming alien robot to be more true!
The movie is still plagued with some issues that the first two had: a hot girl that does nothing (well this one actually does something in the last ten minutes), ridiculously long robot battles that do nothing to move the story along and plot holes that leave the viewer wondering "did I miss something?"
To say the least, I do want to see this one again. It opens with the same feeling as X-men First Class-- that 60's nostalgia. But it quickly turns to Michael Bay-all-out-action going Mach 2! Someone musta heard my complaint about how the robots all looked alike as I could actually tell who the Autobots vs the Decepticons were this time. Even though I think some of the fighting is ridiculously over exaggerated still.
Will there be a 4th one? Oh definitely! But I'll be curious if it's a Bay film and if Shia Labeouf returns again. The real highlight of this movie is Leonard Nimoy voicing Sentinel Prime! And there is some geekery connecting it back to Spock!
If you got 2 1/2 hours to kill, go see this fun 80s toy movie! You won't regret it (not too much anyways).
7/3/2011
First thing first: Dark of the Moon was much better than Revenge of the Fallen. Not saying it was the best film of the summer but it was definitely a fun movie! How can cars that turn into freaking robots not be!?
If one can get past the idea that a fresh out of college, jobless and klutzy Sam Witwicky can score a Victoria Secrets super-model, then you'll be okay. I mean I believe the concept of a transforming alien robot to be more true!
The movie is still plagued with some issues that the first two had: a hot girl that does nothing (well this one actually does something in the last ten minutes), ridiculously long robot battles that do nothing to move the story along and plot holes that leave the viewer wondering "did I miss something?"
To say the least, I do want to see this one again. It opens with the same feeling as X-men First Class-- that 60's nostalgia. But it quickly turns to Michael Bay-all-out-action going Mach 2! Someone musta heard my complaint about how the robots all looked alike as I could actually tell who the Autobots vs the Decepticons were this time. Even though I think some of the fighting is ridiculously over exaggerated still.
Will there be a 4th one? Oh definitely! But I'll be curious if it's a Bay film and if Shia Labeouf returns again. The real highlight of this movie is Leonard Nimoy voicing Sentinel Prime! And there is some geekery connecting it back to Spock!
If you got 2 1/2 hours to kill, go see this fun 80s toy movie! You won't regret it (not too much anyways).
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Before the Show: Let’s Hope There’s More Than Meets the Eye
Before the Show: Let’s Hope There’s More Than Meets the Eye
7/2/2011
Being a child of the 80s, I watched the Transformers cartoon. I remember when it debuted as a 1-week mini-series very similar to the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero mini-series. The cartoon became a daily event—a 30 minute commercial to sell toys. I watched from time to time. I owned a few of the robots. But then in 2007, Michael Bay debuted a live-action Transformers movie.
I was really excited. I knew the characters. I read a few comics. Considering CGI in 2007, this should be a freakin’ good movie. And it was. The problem was with its sequel. Revenge of the Fallen was an attempt to make every explosion bigger and every robot fight more ridiculous. And they forgot one thing -- a story! It was a mess. We went back to the desert to have more robots fights. LA got destroyed again! The robots were so complex, they all looked the same. And the audience got lost on the whole point of the movie. And it was like 2 hours too long.
Now we get Dark of the Moon. Promised to be better than the prior film. Reports that there’s actually a story. The trailer looks very similar to the last two. Robots racing down a highway, transforming while crawling up buildings and Shia LaBeouf falling and saving the girl. One disappointing factor: no Megan Fox. But, then again she’s over rated. She was only good for fan service— short shorts bending over a crotch rocket.
So, I’m off to the theater to see this latest chapter. If anything surprises me, it’ll be that there really is more than meets the eye…
7/2/2011
Being a child of the 80s, I watched the Transformers cartoon. I remember when it debuted as a 1-week mini-series very similar to the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero mini-series. The cartoon became a daily event—a 30 minute commercial to sell toys. I watched from time to time. I owned a few of the robots. But then in 2007, Michael Bay debuted a live-action Transformers movie.
I was really excited. I knew the characters. I read a few comics. Considering CGI in 2007, this should be a freakin’ good movie. And it was. The problem was with its sequel. Revenge of the Fallen was an attempt to make every explosion bigger and every robot fight more ridiculous. And they forgot one thing -- a story! It was a mess. We went back to the desert to have more robots fights. LA got destroyed again! The robots were so complex, they all looked the same. And the audience got lost on the whole point of the movie. And it was like 2 hours too long.
Now we get Dark of the Moon. Promised to be better than the prior film. Reports that there’s actually a story. The trailer looks very similar to the last two. Robots racing down a highway, transforming while crawling up buildings and Shia LaBeouf falling and saving the girl. One disappointing factor: no Megan Fox. But, then again she’s over rated. She was only good for fan service— short shorts bending over a crotch rocket.
So, I’m off to the theater to see this latest chapter. If anything surprises me, it’ll be that there really is more than meets the eye…
Monday, July 11, 2011
200 words a day
That's the goal. 200 words a day. To write. 200 words.
I will do it. I must do it.
I hope readers will return. I will try to make each item entertaining. I hope to tie it with other projects and a rebooted website.
Share with friends.
This will be the foundation. The result will be a nice high rise!
I will do it. I must do it.
I hope readers will return. I will try to make each item entertaining. I hope to tie it with other projects and a rebooted website.
Share with friends.
This will be the foundation. The result will be a nice high rise!
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