The very last Harry Potter movie will be released nationwide this Friday at 12:01am. You guys, all I want to do is cry. I’ll be in good company though; Daniel Radcliffe told Larry King in an upcoming interview that he “wept like a child on the last day” of filming. Jesus, he even sounds British in print.
While it’s true that no movie will ever quite match up to the books, I’ll miss the midnight insanity that comes with every new installment. It’s not often that that kind of universal enthusiasm for something I honestly love comes around, and so I try to make the most of it. I’ll be attending the first showing (Well, not the first first, Havard students and staff will be treated to an early screening and fans in the UAE can catch it today) with my good friends Hoodie and Tissue Box. In the interest of storing up enough tears to adequately express myself on Thursday night, let’s take a look at the the recent celebrations.
From The Philosopher’s Stone to this week’s London and New York premieres we’ve come a long way. Looking through photos from the events, it’s hard not to notice how foxy everyone involved in the movies was and just how much J.K. Rowling looked like a rosebush in that dress. In New York, fans camped out–some for as long as 6 days–for a chance to catch a glimpse of the stars and other assorted weirdos on the red carpet. Camp Anawanna was rewarded with surprise wristbands to the screening and a visit from pizza delivery boy, Draco Malfoy. More on how much I love Tom Felton later.
No word on whether Tyra made it to the permiere
This is a link to a Harry Potter corn maze.
The premiere was met with glowing reviews. Seriously, everybody fucking loves this movie. Even the Vatican. Remember when Christians hated HP? Once I made the mistake of buying Gryffindor fabric from Hobby Lobby and was treated to a 10 minute lecture from the woman cutting my fabric on exactly what made Harry Potter so evil. “Had she read the books?” I asked her. Oh no, she would never expose her eyes to something satanic. Luckily, lots of other Christians took chances with their eyeballs and discovered what Harry Potter was really about. Some even taught college courses about it.
Le sigh. The closest I ever got to a class about Harry Potter was renaming all the courses on my high school schedule (chemistry = potions, Spanish = ancient runes, etc.). Speaking of high school, let’s reminisce. Remember how the Quidditch scenes in the first movies were a slight step up from Gumby, animation-wise? Thanks to advances in technology, you can now play Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2 for kinect, which has been described thusly: “Unlike its predecessor, you really feel like you’re controlling children fighting in a war that they may not be ready for.” Sign me up.
We have now arrived at the “Child Stars: Where Are They Now?” portion of the article. Remember how cute they were?
Big E, little e, what begins with E?
Bam. They still are. Besides being beautiful, Emma Watson is cute, has been drunk, is going to be in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and is beautiful. Daniel Radcliffe is being responsible, picking good music for playlists, and singing on Broadway. JK is working on Pottermore and “sort of writing two things at the moment – one is for children and the other is not for children.” Bits of set of the movie are traveling around the world, generally inspiring excitement and raking in cash by the wheelbarrow.
Rupert Grint is busy being a really nice guy who just happens to own an ice cream truck. “‘I get a lot of people from the ginger community shaking my hand,’ he said. ‘In England, not so much in America, it’s not the coolest thing (being red-headed), really, and they get hassled.'” I wonder if M.I.A. would be interested in collaborating with him. Tom Felton is launching his rap career (which might be a joke?) a la Jimmy from Degrassi and chillin’ with his real-life shawty who played his wife in the movie.
For more Harry Potter parapharnelia, check out the New York Time’s resource page. And if you need something to help you stop bubblering on Friday morning, look no further than Wizard People, Dear Reader.
YES. I love Wizard People, Dear Reader! I am also a beautiful animal and destroyer of worlds. And I used to have a kitty named Catface Meowmerz.
that one part where he can’t hold back and starts cracking up uncontrollably? gets me every single time. WPDR is the greatest, i swear.
ohmygosh seriously? that’s amazing. i used to have a plant named dazzler.
YES. Wizard People, Dear Reader!! It became a tradition for my friends in college to get drunk and invite someone new to watch WPDR. Not in a creepy, let’s-initiate-you way. But more of a this-is-so-funny-you-have-to-see-it way. We’d all be passed out by the extensive Quidditch scene, though. NOT OUR FAULT.
I’m gonna cry this Saturday (11 AM, 3D BABY)!
I <3 Pottermore already.
i need an emma watson themed dr suess book like i need air to breath.
which is rather, a lot.
Fuck yeah, Emma Watson.
Indeed.
At least we still have the premier of A Very Potter Musical #3 (or whatever the hell they’re going to call it) to look forward to! I love the internet.
I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’ll be crying like a baby throughout the whole movie although perhaps I should give my roommate a heads up…
Wizard People, Dear Reader just made my life 438294385940343x better.
I JUST SAW IT! It came out here this morning and I woke up extra early to watch it in my PJs before I start work. It was awesome and I cried a bit(mostly because I feel like my childhood is over). Remaining questions: Is Dumbledore really kind of a jerk? Is HP’s dad really kind of a jerk? Is the epilogue the sappiest thing ever or is the sappiest thing ever? How the hell do people follow these movies without reading the books?
Also I don’t know if we’ve talked about this before, but you guys should read Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality
I know it’s fan fiction, but it’s awesome/super smart/funny/worth your time.
THIS. This is the best thing.
I know – did not make me think too well of Dumbledore really. I thought the Snape bit was the most sappy really, but they pulled it off.
I saw it at the cast and crew screening a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing to see how much of a community it was around the films! Everyone stayed till the end of the credits, and clapping whenever they saw their family member or whatever. It was very sweet.
My robes are ready, my wand is ready, my tickets are purchased. Midnight show at the Chinese Theater, here we go.
The end of the movies has me very depressed this week. It’s just…looming, you know? Not that I’m not incredibly stoked to see it, I just know I’m gonna bawl.
The good thing is, I love all the hype this year around Harry Potter. It’s so infectious. I play for my college’s Quidditch team, and am really looking forward to going to the World Cup in New York in the fall. We’ll still keep the magic going.
Wait, your college has a Quidditch team? For real? Colleges have this? How do you play?
Yes! I’m usually a beater, but I sub in for chaser, and if coaxed will be a seeker when we need one. It’s called “Muggle Quidditch” and our university is part of the IQA (international quidditch association). Basically, we run around straddling brooms and wearing capes, using dodgeballs for bludgers, which we throw at everyone. The quaffle is a slightly deflated volleyball and the snitch is a person decked out in yellow with a yellow sock attached to the back of their shorts, which the seekers have to grab. It’s really fun! Our team was actually featured on MTV and on TIME online back in November…let me find a youtube clip…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXCLDmc6Wu8 You can catch me, number 15 in action as a beater!
THAT IS AWESOME.
I dont want to see the final :/.
Hope that something happens, like The Fast and the furious and they never play it here :)
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It’s weird, I’ve never been super into Harry Potter (I’ve always loved the series, but never really considered myself a “fan”, per se, or been terribly wrapped up in it), but I’m having trouble dealing with the fact that it’s about to end. I’ve grown up with it, I guess, and grown up with the characters, and I’ve been reading and watching them for as long as I can remember. I saw a Facebook event instructing everyone to, at the end of the movie, hold up their wands and shout “Mischief managed!”, and I nearly started crying. I just… I dunno. I’m gonna miss Hogwarts.
oh god that event. :z
i just started my period and am going to the most emotional harry potter event of my short life on thursday at midnight. bring on the tears.
I feel like I will be an official grown up once the film ends because HP IS my childhood/teenage years. I don’t want to be a grown up D: They don’t wear capes!
Being a muggle grown up is a social construct. They wear capes if we decide they do, damn it.
I just realized how appropriate it is that I graduated college the same summer as Harry et al. finish up at Hogwarts, and these films end. Okay, universe, I get it! I’m supposed to be an adult now.
Emma Watson is so fine! Looking good, girlfriend!
Jay Manuel needs to stop. Ew. Like, EWWWW!!!
Did anyone else note how the actors seem to have taken on a part of the persona of their characters?
From the “Rupert Grint is a nice guy article”
Radcliffe might be the intense one, and Watson, the self-assured over-achiever, but Grint is the most casually glib of the three headliners.
Made me raise an eyebrow a bit.
You play a character for half your life, you’d end up absorbing some quality of that character eventually. Also they probably casted for similar tendencies in the beginning anyhoo.
Matt Lewis… Puberty gone right.
Oh my awesomeness, that is the COOLEST thing I have EVER, EVER heard, and hope ever to hear!!!!!!!!! I wanna play! I am so making this a thing in the UK. Maybe it already is!!!!!! Hmmm, I think I wanna be a beater; that would be so much fun! Thanks for sharing, I am now going to have to best dreams ever ^^
Wow, that was meant to reply to See. Fail. But I just saw that maze thing, and I think that’s in my home town in York!!!! My friend was telling me something about a Harry Potter corn maze!! I am so going the second I am back home. It is tragic, on Friday, I will be starting my TWO DAY bus journey, just because crossing the US/Canada border in the middle is freakin’ impossible on public transport! The earliest I can see the film will be the 18th :'(. So there will be tears on the 15th for me, and the 18th. And probably every day for a month after.
*is one of the fans who camped out* (not for 6 days though)
I still can’t quite believe it’s ending :'( it coincides with my leaving school and going off to uni, so I’m going through a major end-of-an-era stage right now.
It came out on the 13th in Germany, so I already saw it 2 1/2 days ago… as much as I enjoyed lording it up over all my UK friends who didn’t get to see it till last night, it’s nice that they can finally enjoy it too!
Best bit about midnight showings? No one’s ashamed of their huge love for the series. Everyone can cheer and cry along and it’s all good. (I totally wore my Nimbus2000 tshirt from 1998. Felt very nostalgic!)
I saw the movie a couple of nights ago. I miss it already. It’s like the doors to this ever-growing world (that really took on a life of its own) have shut forever, no new information, no new adventures besides those that we come up with to fill the gaps.
potter <3