Please don't tell me what happens.
Granted I started getting into the Harry Potter books late in the game. When the first movie was coming out, I was a little startled by the fanfare and attention it was getting. When the new 5th book came out, people were rushing to get it and read it within a day just to wait another 2-3 years for the next one.
And if it wasn't for other circumstances... I'd probably get it and read it right away so someone doesn't spoil the ending for me as well.
But I'm not going to read it just yet. And I'll tell you why.
There are many sagas and stories that have been completed in my time that I couldn't wait to find out the ending to. The first big one was Star Wars. When the prequels started coming out, I really wanted to know how it all ended ... or how it all ended before it began before it ended .... uh... yeah... just wanted to know what happened. So we waited and episode 1 came out.
[thud]
and then episode 2 came out...
[splat]
and then we waited for the improbable episode 3 to come out...
[eh]
What the hell was I waiting for again? Granted I shouldn't be comparing Star Wars to Harry Potter... but the concept is the same. Everyone wants to know how it all ends. Does Harry die? Does Harry live? Does Harry declare his feelings for Ron? Does Harry kill Ron because he really loves Hermione? Does Hermione seduce Harry in some scene at the end because it is revealed that she was a spy all along...?
Does Voldemort reveal that he's really Harry's father all along? (I'm going to find this blog entry very interesting later after I read the book).
Regardless of what happens... I would really like to enjoy this book and read it at a very leisurely rate because this is the last book. Nothing more after this. And I will undoubtedly wish there was more after I finish reading this, especially if I rush through it just to find out what happens at the end. I will also take pleasure having people know that I'm still experiencing the magic of the books while they already went through it and have nothing else to look forward to (maybe to read it again?... true... but nothing like your first time right?)
Life is really wasted on finding the answers to things and never about the journey. This is a moral that is not new to the ordinary person. But is always forgotten when it could be specifically applied in reality. I am not the biggest fan of Harry Potter and not there from the very beginning... but I am going to enjoy reading this book. I am not going to rush through it in 5 days and miss something. Like a fine elegant meal or a long walk on the beach at sunset or well... you know... you need to savor the moments. Because there's nothing more after this. So enjoy it.
Or someone can spoil it before I read it in a few months.... Harrumph!
LeeZy
Epilogue (July 26, Noon): Since JK Rowling has updated the end of her book with a news story concerning any final questions and answers people might have... I have a little prologue myself to my blog from yesterday.
The morning after I posted this blog entry, I was awoken by my clock radio alarm. It was like any other weekday morning. It went off at 6 AM. I could barely hear what was on the radio except that it was my favorite morning radio show. It's something a little less jarring than the "beep beep beep" sound and allows me about an hour to fully awake before I brush my teeth and get to work.
Today apparently they did something really funny and annoying... to me.... inadvertently. At about 6:45 AM or so, they warned people that they were going to do some Harry Potter spoiler bit using ringtones and whatnot... and if anyone didn't want to hear the spoilers from the book... to please turn off the radio for 5 minutes or so... they warned the listening audience many times. Which is fine... and respectable...
Except for me who was half awake, in bed, trying to get a few more minutes of slumber and not really paying attention to what they were saying. So imagine my surprise when (I'm not going to be writing out any spoilers) I heard the sound of
-------------------------
[office phone ring]
Attention!!!
Harry [insert Harry Potter spoiler]
[office phone ring]
Attention!!!
Another Harry Potter character [insert Harry Potter spoiler]
-------------------------
It took about 5 different ring tones for me to realize that what they were playing was something I really shouldn't be listening to...
Chances are, my subconscious heard every last bit of the ringtones and fully knows what happens in the book. My full conscious mind, remembers 2 or 3 things said, but I'm not too pleased to be researching ways if the machine in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is actually real so I can take out this morning's memory.
Needless to say, I'm grumpy right now... :(
Say hello to Perceptor, the transfomer that's a microscope... Yes... I was a big nerd as a kid... I owned it and loved my transforming microscope... even though it was a big sissy.
OK, you are going to read a lot about the Transformers movie... a lot... even really good reviews like this that recommend it to you. And I admit, what's wrong with it will not take away with what makes it so freaking cool... but still... I watched it today and I had to pop in the original 1986 movie to wash the new movie off of me. I just felt really disgusted and if you are a diehard fan, you will too.
But after watching the old movie and thinking back to the new movie, they really could've done a whole lot better than what they did, while satisfying the old school fans of this cartoon genre. I mean it really took very little and they still screwed it up. Let me count the ways.
1. Megatron: He was a transforming gun. OK, there's the argument that Megatron cannot transform into a gun that's 1/100th of his original size. OK... fine... fair enough... it would be very weird and I guess wouldn't fly in a live action movie directed by Michael Bay. But let me introduce to you to the above transformer... Galvatron...
In the movie in 1986, he was what Megatron was recreated into after being abandoned for dead in the plot of the movie. Now when he was recreated, he wasn't a gun anymore. He was a canon or a large turret. Would that help the neigh-sayers embrace the idea of a huge robot alien transforming into a gun or war weapon? I would have no problem having Megatron be a huge canon or turret in this movie. But no, they turned him into some kind of plane. I personally had problems telling him apart from Starscream (yes he's in it).
2. The transforming sound: It's missing! If you speak to any fan of this series, that is one of the most recognizable sounds in cartoon history (besides "Scooby Dooby Dooooooooooooooo!). I mean really, how could you leave out the sound of the Autobots and Decepticons transforming. I know, I know, it doesn't blend in with the whole realistic nature of the movie... the realistic nature of alien robots that attack earth and transform into anything.... it doesn't make sense...
A youtube example
3. Bumblebee: Apparently in the thought process of this movie, Bumblebee needed to be fast and quick automobile. He needed to be able to escape his captors or an enemy. And I guess they needed to market a car that's currently on sale by GM. But was it really necessary for him to be a fast car? I don't think so...
But for some reason there was another VW beetle that Bumblebee (yes he was still called Bumblebee) was channeling as a Camaro. And his name was Herbie... not what I was expecting and not something the fans will like. Hell, if you were going to make him act like Herbie, why the hell didn't just go all the way and make him a VW Beetle? I just don't get it.
4. The Transformer Heads: I'm sorry, but what the hell is this?
5. The Anthony Anderson Effect: Why this guy gets movie roles... I don't know. But every movie he's in, I really wonder if he really lightens the mood of the movie, becomes the comedy relief, or is just an ultimate harbinger of death for the movie. In Transformers he plays a character you don't immediately think the role is best suited for him and he plays it with mediocrity. I honestly don't understand why he was in it. Maybe they needed some kind of Pauly Shore foil. I still disliked every scene he was in.
5. The Voices: The above two photos above are the original voices of the two main characters of the original transformers. Peter Cullen (the top picture) is the voice of Optimus Prime and is in the movie in the same role. Frank Welker (the bottom picture) is the voice of Megatron and is NOT in the movie in the same role. Megatron is being voiced by Hugo Weaving, best known for his role as Agent Smith in the Matrix.
Honestly, didn't even notice that was him. And I'm trying to understand why they went that route. I would've just been fine with Frank Welker and hearing his voice as Megatron would've been awesome and true to the series.
6. Energon Cubes: OK, anyone remember what these were? OK, maybe it was because Soundwave wasn't in this movie... which begs the question... why not? In the plot of the movie, they do end up chasing something that's cube-like... but I guess that's asking for too much to have Energon cubes in a Transformers movie.
So as you can see, a few things would've made this movie better for the diehard fans. But instead, I felt it was only OK.... at least I wasn't bombarded with cheesy catch phrases... oh wait... I was....
damn...
I don't know... the one reason I wanted to watch this movie was for the nostalgia. And the only thing that helped satisfy that was hearing Peter Cullen's voice. If you're going to make a movie like that... at the very least, give something that will appease the fans. Marvel helped craft the movies about their comic books. I guess Hasbro really needed the money. And I also blame Steven Spielberg for screwing it up too. But not as much as Michael Bay... the freakin idiot. Thanks for ruining a childhood memory.... forever.
Now I got to pop in my 1986 version of the movie so I can wash that new movie off of me...
LeeZy
