Harry Potter

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

Stephanie Zacharek — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:20:00 PDT

Every summer we're reminded of Hollywood's maniacal drive to give us increasingly bigger, allegedly better special effects. But "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" -- the sixth installment in the series of movies based on J.K. Rowling's roaringly popular novels -- suggests a less flashy and far more rewarding strategy: What we really need aren't bigger special effects but more magical ones -- and having a story worth telling should always be the foundation. The effects in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" are so believable they seem more naturalistic than special; they're situated so perfectly in their imagined universe that we have no trouble believing in their authenticity. The brass owl decorating the podium in Hogwarts' dining hall moves and preens until Dumbledore steps forward to speak, at which point it spreads its wings and respectfully freezes into position; when Hermione (Emma Watson) reshelves books in the library, they swoop out of her hands and find their appropriate places on even the highest of shelves; a quidditch match takes place during a snowfall, a believable, velvety backdrop for the players as they dip and swirl through the air on their broomsticks. In "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," magic happens as the characters are busy doing other things -- playing sports, falling in love, nursing broken hearts. And while this is, of course, a fantasy movie, the quiet and potent idea nestled inside it is that there's magic in and around the things of everyday life.

Teen tarts, sleeping nubiles -- and Harry

Andrew O'Hehir — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:02:00 PST

First Run Features

A woman in "The House of the Sleeping Beauties."

Touched by a vampire

Laura Miller — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:00:00 PDT

A minute past midnight on Aug. 2, bookstores across the country will for the first time repeat a ritual once reserved for a single author: J.K. Rowling. They'll stay open late and begin selling copies of "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer, the fourth novel of the Twilight series, at the first moment they're officially permitted to do so. Tens of thousands of fans plan to congregate for these release parties, message boards have shut down to guard against leaked spoilers, and as many as a million readers will be blocking out an entire weekend to bury themselves in the book.

Would you like some books with that tote bag?

Laura Miller — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:35:00 PDT

In the ongoing mythology of Book Expo America -- the annual convention of booksellers and publishers that was held in Los Angeles over the past weekend -- there is a "big book" for each year, a title that everyone at the trade show is talking about and trying to get their hands on. This year, it just so happened that everyone outside the industry was talking about a book, Scott McClellan's memoir of his experiences as press secretary for the Bush White House, "What Happened." Neither McClellan nor his book were in evidence at BEA -- which is meant to promote forthcoming fall titles, anyway -- but somehow the mismatch seemed indicative of how out-of-phase book publishing feels with the culture at large.

Iranian prosecutor: Banish Barbie!

Tracy Clark-Flory — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:10:00 PDT

Poor Barbie, her feminist foes have long railed against her unhealthy impact on young girls' body image, but she now faces a much tougher critic: Iran's head prosecutor. In a letter to Vice President Parviz Davoudi, Prosecutor General Ghorban Ali Dori Najafabadi called for the top-heavy toy and other Western imports to be exiled:

Law, torture and Harry Potter

Andrew Leonard — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:56:00 PST

"Literature shapes law," declares Aaron Schwabach. "For every real-life model of advocacy, adjudicative, and rule-making roles that the average first-year law student has, there are a hundred fictional models, from Atticus Finch to, well, Albus Dumbledore."

Can "Harry Potter" math save our schools?

Farhad Manjoo — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:14:00 PST

OK, one more tangle with J.K. Rowling. Every week we Salon writers do a short recap video for Current TV; this week, I went on about Rowling's fight against the Harry Potter Lexicon, which I wrote about here and here. Here's that:

J.K. Rowling's Crucio curse

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:00:00 PST

Farhad Manjoo argues that J.K. Rowling is wrong to try to prevent publication of the Harry Potter Lexicon.

Only Harry Potter can save Pakistan!

Andrew Leonard — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:01:00 PST

This might be the greatest victory of Western cultural imperialism, ever. Some Pakistani children consider their own president to be He Who Must Not Be Named.

I'm addicted to Harry Potter fan fiction!

Cary Tennis — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 03:00:00 PDT

Dear Cary,

Dumbledore? Gay. J.K. Rowling? Chatty.

Rebecca Traister — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 05:31:00 PDT

You've probably heard the news by now, since it's been splattered everywhere from the New York Times to Entertainment Weekly to the Associated Press: Albus Dumbledore, the late, great headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was gay.

Harry Potter and the rebounding stock market?

Andrew Leonard — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:31:00 PDT

Let's test the accuracy of futures markets today. Specifically: Dow Jones industrial average futures. Roughly an hour before the start of trading in New York, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Dow will bounce back from its horrible Tuesday, based on current futures trading activity betting that the Dow will rise 62 points after the bell rings. The reason: Amazon's after-hours report Tuesday that it had tripled its profits, combined with Boeing's swing back into the black.

Hasta la vista, Harry

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 02:53:00 PDT

Books

Goodbye, Harry Potter

Laura Miller — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:57:00 PDT

Ask someone what the Harry Potter series is about, and they'll probably answer, "a boy wizard." But in mulling over J.K. Rowling's innovative melding of children's fantasy fiction with old-fashioned boarding school stories, I've concluded that the boarding school element has the edge. Much as we may love Harry, Hermione, Ron, Hagrid and Dumbledore, don't we all love Hogwarts just a little bit more? (Or, let me put it this way: Given the choice between meeting any one of Rowling's characters and getting to attend the celebrated school of witchcraft and wizardry, which do you think most readers would pick?) So brace yourselves, fans: Hardly any of the latest and last book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," takes place at the school.

For Harry Potter fans about to rock, we salute you

Elisabeth Donnelly — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 05:09:00 PDT

"We're the Hungarian Horntails! Are you ready to burn this place down into a fiery wreck?" yells 8-year-old Darius Wilkins, onstage with bandmates Rayn Feeney, 9, and his younger brother, Holden, 5. They're in the middle of sound check on a muggy Saturday afternoon in June at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. Seconds later, there's another high-pitched yelp from Darius: "We're the Hungarian Horntails, and we're going to blow this place up with fire and rock!"

Harry Potter and the art of screenwriting

Rebecca Traister — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 04:44:00 PDT

In less than two weeks, midnight streets will crawl with young people (and, er, not-as-young people) in pointy hats and capes, out celebrating the release of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. Offering some consolation to those sad about hoisting the butterbeer for the last time is the fact that the Warner Bros. filmed adaptations of the series lag several books behind. This week, as a warm-up to next Friday night, the studio is releasing the fifth film in the series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"

Stephanie Zacharek — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:30:00 PDT

The worst thing you can do when facing the latest installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise is to yearn for the same kind of sturdy poetry J.K. Rowling has given us in the books they're based on. Which isn't to say that we haven't sometimes gotten it: Alfonso Cuarón's dreamily naturalistic 2004 "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and Mike Newell's moody pastoral 2005 "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" were better movies than we could have hoped for, pictures that easily captured the spirit of the books they were based on. They made the first two pictures in the series, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," both of which were occasionally earnest but mostly dizzy and garish -- and both directed by Chris Columbus -- seem like distant, easily erased memories.

Potterpalooza

Rebecca Traister — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:06:00 PDT

It was noon on a Friday at the end of May, and strangely dressed people drifted through the streets of New Orleans' French Quarter.

Maher's New Rules: Hogwarts

Kerry Lauerman — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:57:00 PST

Video Dog's proud to be able to broadcast an excerpt every week from HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher." This week's new rule: Stop freaking out about Harry Potter being naked!

607 days 'til we can legally play "tonsil Quidditch"

Lynn Harris — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 12:14:00 PST

Finally, a legal-age countdown clock for the ladies! Joining the handful of similar shrines to Emma Watson/Hermione Granger and underage others. (Nope, not providing links; Google them yourselves, you Muggle pervs.) You Can't Make It Up has begun ticking off the days until the magic moment when Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe turns 18 -- "i.e. the legal age for which to 'whomp his willow,' play 'tonsil Quidditch,' tickle his 'gobstones,' meet and greet the 'nimbus,' learn more about the 'Wolfsbane' position, have him explore your 'crookshanks,' 'cleansweep' your 'bubotuber,' and use 'nonsensical words' to describe 'sexual acts.'" (I'd add something about my "Chamber of Secrets" or my "Goblet of Fire," but that would be way too easy.) Even those of you who are not -- what shall we call them? -- Daniel Radcliffhangers will dig the funny photo essay that accompanies the countdown. Yes, the writer does address the Las Vegas lion tamer outfit he wore to the "Goblet" premiere.