Wizardly Wonder and a Diabolical Feast

Unless you live under a rock, you must know that part 1 of The Deathly Hallows was released this weekend. Securing a babysitter eager to make some christmas cash, we made a day of it - me and Dave, Denise, Jen and Scott - by enjoying a lunch at Wild Buffalo Wings then cramming ourselves into the sold out show at 2:10, Celebration Cinema.

In my pursuit of changing my diet to be more diabeticly friendly, there are some things I have not consumed in a long time: chicken wings for one; deep fried mushrooms for two; big beers for three; Little Debbie Snack cakes for four; big plates of spaghetti for five. There is a reason these foodstuffs are so dangerous - they are so delicious.

Foodies would look down on my empty calorie smorgasboard, but I must defend. The wings were crispy, juicy, and tossed with generous amounts of spicy garlic, teriyaki and asian zing sauce. What else would you eat on a college football afternoon?

The mushrooms were a tad disappointing, having no flavor, but helped out with the smoky southwestern dipping sauce, one sauce I wish they'd put back on the menu.

The beer... Stella Arturios (sp?) was never on my radar until this most recent advertising campaign. "The champagne of beers!" mastheads cry. Me love champagne! I open the menu to a frosty, sparkly image of a full beer glass of Stella that persuades me to try one. She lives up to the hype. Madame Lightweight, thirsty from combating a cold, consumes one in nothing flat, then does the world's poorest Stanley Kowlaski in ordering another -- "Stellllllaaaaaa!" The beer itself is cold, crisp, light and smooth. The head was creamy.

Now properly fed and soused, our merry band trooped off to the theater for the movie, leaving early enough to get decent seats together. Good thing too, a good half hour before the movie weas to start, the auditorium was 3/4 full. We managed 5 seats together in back row.

What to say about this film/book series to give it justice? First is the series by JK Rowling herself. To create such a world of, well, magic is a feat unto itself. To take such far-out ideas, themes, creatures and scenarios and make them BELIVABLE. Bravo. She also created a series that grew with the children reading them. The difference between book 1 and book 7 is astonishing in the breadth and depth of character, plot and sheer weight of volume. But Rowling didn't write DOWN to her audience, instead challenged them to rise up to her. This created for us a series that could be enjoyed by parents as well.

But then to translate them onto the screen. There are the actors, the three principals playing Harry, Hermione and Ron. Directors who remain faithful to the vision only to improve upon it.

Special effects and CGI have played a huge part creating Harry's wizarding world for movies 1-6, but what sets #7, pt.1 apart is the humanity of the story. The SE/CGI is necessary but takes a back seat to story, the struggles of the characters on their quest. Probably the most interesting character to me is Ron, the "pureblood" wizard who struggles with the all-too human emotions of fear, doubt, self-esteem and frustration yet ultimately does the right thing. Applause to Rupert Grint who has personified Ron so well, from his game of Wizard Chess to destroying the locket horcrux in DH pt.1.

The only thing missing in this installment was Snape, played with a delicious mix of scenery chewing and dangerous brooding by Alan Rickman. I expect his scenes to be the highlights of part 2.

I don't want to go into too much detail about part 7 or else ruin it for others, but it's worth standing in line. It's worth the ticket price. It's worth squirming in your seat because you have to pee. It may even be worth going to see again.

Our day continued with a snack and shopping run to Target, where more empty calories ruled the day. I played good with the drinks, getting La Croix cranberry (zero everything), but fell under the spell of Christmas marshmallows and Little Debbie strawberry shortcake rolls.

Not content to consume so much sugar, I made a big pot of spaghetti as we watched a series of specials on the creation of the HP movies, from directors and casting specialists to the special effects teams, composers and set directors. I didn't want to ruin the "magic", but was delighted to discover the real magic was in the inventiveness of all these people to create what they did in the first place.

And I think that is what my blog is all about, again, finding those muses to make the magic.