My Bellatrix vs. Minerva Fantasy

Today at a critics screening, upset that the film was out of focus, I ran out of the theater to tell the people in charge. On my way out I tripped on a step I didn't see in the dark and literally went tumbling, face first (luckily my hands hit the ground before my face). After the screening -- which I winced through in pain -- I looked down to see my foot covered in blood! My toe is all F***ed up.

This is a really long way of saying that maybe Potter fans put some sort of hex on me today, anticipating a negative review of the last chapter of the beloved franchise. But the truth is I was somewhat nice to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two in my review at Towleroad because it is 100 times better than Part One -- not that that's a high bar to jump -- even if I think it's wanting in a few key ways*. Let's say B/B- for solid if limited entertainment. In short: it's a worthy finale and totally representative of the series. 

*Like, for instance you have all these great adult British actors and they rarely interact. I mean I was D-Y-I-N-G for a Helena vs. Maggie / Bellatrix vs. Minerva showdown so I could pretend that Lucy Honeychurch was finally done with "Poor Charlotte"'s constant fussy meddling and enlisted the dark arts to take her down! (Merchant & Ivory's Harry Potter. Haha. Just try to imagine it!) I knew this battle wasn't going to happen because I've read the book but instead all I got was like a disappointing three seconds between Julie Walters and Helena (I'll readily admit it was a great moment in the book.)

Was the Harry Potter finale satisfying for you? Do you think Stuart Craig will win the Art Direction Oscar as a thank you for the whole series? He's been nominated for Harry Potter movies three times out of seven thus far (plus six noms with three Oscars before it).

Reader of the Day: Walter

For Reader Appreciation Month, we're having mini interviews with readers. Here we have have Walter.

Nathaniel: Do you remember your first moviegoing experience or first obsession?
Walter: The first theater-going experience I remember is sitting in the movie theater with my aunt watching The Nightmare Before Christmas -- I was four years old and absolutely aghast at the final battle between Jack and Oogie Boogie and the end result. God, that was terrifying. And AWESOME.

According to my father, though, the first time I ever sat up was to watch a movie on TV. Babies get distracted; he claims I stayed with the story until they turned it off. I wish he remembered what movie it was, because it was clearly the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

When did you start reading The Film Experience?
Spring 2006, I want to say. Fresh off the 2005 Oscar Season, the first one I really got into, I Googled 2006 Oscar Predictions. Film Experience and many others came up, and I still follow the Big Four: Hollywood-Elsewhere, Awards Daily (it was Oscar Watch then), In Contention, and this one. I visit, like, three times a day, because I never know if there's an article I've missed, or I want to visit something, or I want to freshen up on my Film Bitch Trivia.

Have you ever dressed up as a movie character for Halloween?
Well, here's where I answer the "or" part of the very first question. My most memorable Halloween costume was Bela Lugosi, my first movie star obsession, in third grade. Not Dracula: Bela Lugosi. I had just seen Ed Wood, so I got a cape, a felt hat and a walking-stick, and my dad took me to a late-night screening of the Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera. It was AMAZING.

Has any movie character as dressed as you?
William Hurt as James Leeds in Children of a Lesser God. We had the same elbow-patched blazer. I loved that thing, and I left it in the trunk of a friend's car...a friend who later moved away. Damn them!

Two fearsome and formidable icons: Bela & Maggie

Your 3 favorite actresses. Go
Maggie Smith is my all-time favorite actress: we watched The Secret Garden in second grade, and when my friend asked me who my favorite character was, he was appalled when I said the old woman. "But she's so mean!" he insisted. Well, yeah, but I also loved the way she cowered before the master of the house, and the subtle power plays she tried, and the smackdown she put on the maid. I love her so much. Meryl and honey-kissed Patty Clarkson are the other no-brainers for me.

What does your movie diet consist of these days?
I haven't seen a movie in a theater since February...and I work in one! Hopefully, that will all change this month: Jane Eyre calls. Mostly, I've been watching movies on TCM and Netflix Instant, the latter especially.

previous readers of the day: Paolo, Leehee and BBats