Interview (Reprise)

The interview this morning went very well. They didn't offer me a job on the spot, but they did go over the classes I would have if I am hired, which I think is a good sign. The conversation when well. I didn't stutter or say something stupid, which is quite impressive, because when I get nervous I stutter a lot and say stupid things. So, I'm optimistic. As I sat in the lobby waiting for my interviewers to come out, I realized that the place still smells the same, after 4 years it really hasn't changed at all. A few coats of paint, but it's still the same.

And now for what I really want to talk about: Harry Potter. I went to the midnight showing of "Order of the Phoenix" with some friends from work (so that we'd all be miserable at work the next day together). The first 15 minutes were absolutely perfect; I couldn't stop smiling. The rest of the movie was also quite good, although I missed the subplots that were lost in translation from book to movie. The best thing about this movie was, in my opinion, casting. A few new characters were introduced (Luna Lovegood, Dolores Umbridge, Grawp) and each was almost exactly the way I imagined him/her. The fact that the screenwriter, designers, director and actors were able to paint the same image I had in my head speaks to the quality of J. K. Rowling's writing and the filmmakers' dedication to maintaining the spirit of the original text.

They made some significant changes to the fight in the Ministry of Magic which I found unnecessary. For example, the Dumby/Voldy battle produced something that look astonishingly like the Priori Incantatem link that was described in the Harry/Voldy fight from Goblet of Fire. I suppose that really comes down to a difference in interpretation, but well, I think I'm right. The Dumbledore's Army scenes were really great though. I imagined the Room of Requirement a little differently, but that happens.

Overall it was a really good movie, and I suspect it is better when not compared to the book. It is impossible to fit a nearly eight hundred page book into a two and a quarter hour movie.

The Summer of Potter, as I've heard it called, continues with the release of the final installment of the book series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on July 21st. All I can say about that is: Harry had better not die. Or Ron and Hermione.