Midnight Movies

I find myself without a topic to blog about today. For lack of a better excuse, I'm going to blame going out to see Harry Potter 6 at midnight with my beset friend and my sister.

Having been seriously let down by these movies in the past (I don't tend to enjoy book-based movies that make a lot of changes), I didn't expect to get more out of this experience than a few good memories with friends and a few laughs at my sister's commentary (which should, by the way, be recorded and publicly distributed. She adds new layers of humor to the movie, and I feel bad for those who have to miss it.)

Instead, I LOVED it. I enjoyed the symbolism, the actors were still good -- Alan Rickman is wonderful -- and the treatment of the characters were good. They did wonderful things with Draco Malfoy's character, which made me very happy. The girl who plays Luna remains my favorite in terms of grasping the character from the book and bringing it to the screen, and she's in the movie a fair amount.

I was initially concerned about what they would have to cut to make it run a reasonable time (and let's admit it, it was a long book, so there were going to be things cut), but nothing they cut from the books was something that you missed during the film, which in my mind shows a sign of good editing. Actually, some of the places where they joined multiple book scenes into one movie scene reminded me of advice I've heard on the blogosphere about making more interesting and compelling scenes.

I'd give the movie a definite recommendation. Yes, you will likely be tragically deprived of sarcastic commentary, but you can supply your own, and even without it, it's awesome. Kids will enjoy this.

(Cleanness, because people are concerned about that, is a perfect 10 out of 10. No problems.)

Have you ever gone to see a movie at midnight? Did you have fun?