More clarity is good

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The movie

No extended version this time. I was informed that one exists, and it's not that we don't have it, it's that we don't have it yet.

Because I am reading the books one after another things tend to run together, but this movie seemed easier to follow than the first.

I do like how the moviemakers jazz up some of the action scenes. When Vernon fell from Harry's window into the bushes, I LOL'd. The ride to Hogwarts in the car was far more death-defying. Harry hanging from the door called for something magical to happen, but Ron gets credit for the save. And the Mandrakes were larger and uglier than I imagined.

Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy was perfectly cast. He can sure play the evil character. He was awful in "The Patriot," and I'm told he's a great Captain Hook in "Peter Pan." I haven't watched that yet.

Lockhart in real life was just as phony as he was in print. Well played.

Dobby, well Dobby, was annoying as he should be. I would think Malfoy would be glad to be rid of him, but he probably enjoyed having someone else to be mean to.

Finally, the killer snake was about what I expected. But when Harry heard the voice it was difficult to understand. The English accents are difficult enough at times. But at least there aren't talking cats. That would give me shivers.

The boys are on their own

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 14

Too bad Hermione didn't take time to tell Harry and Ron what she had just figured out before running off to the library and getting herself petrified. It's not like her to not share her knowledge.

The mirror that was found must mean something, but what about a voice that only Harry can hear. We already know Harry hears snakes, and as far as we know no one else in Hogwarts has that ability. Maybe a snake has something to do with this. It would make sense, so I'm probably wrong.

The invisibility cloak sure is getting a workout. Harry and Ron are like the proverbial fly on the wall every place they go. Too bad for Hagrid and Dumbledore that they wouldn't fit under the cloak when magic-school politics erupted in Hagrid's house.

There are two kinds of politicians: those who react and make poor decisions, and those who act decisively to gain control of the ones who react. Cornelius Fudge is the former, Lucius Malfoy is the latter. It can't be good for any of the good-guy characters that Malfoy has shown himself to be most powerful.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 15

As big and creepy-crawly as Aragog and family are, I could handle that a lot better than a room full of you-know-what. That was quite an adventure Harry and Ron took into the forest even if Ron feels the same way about spiders as Indiana Jones does about snakes.

Now they know where the car is in case they need it again, they know Hagrid didn't open the Chamber (but they still don't know who did) and now they have a witness - good old Moaning Myrtle.

I wonder how soon Hermione will be able to rejoin the case. Maybe Professor Gilderoy Lockhart and his award-winning smile could help. Then again he'd be about as much help as Dobby.

Magical things

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 12

Why won't Harry tell Dumbledore everything? Is he afraid of expulsion? Does he have trust issues with adults because of the Dursleys? Is he simply a scared kid and doesn't know why?

I am surprised that the Polyjuice Potion worked and that Hermione's plan did as well. It must have been difficult, though, for Harry and Ron to look in the mirror and see Crabbe and Goyle. But it did get them the answer they needed from Malfoy even if it wasn't the one they wanted. Fortunately they didn't blow their cover when Malfoy showed them the news article about Ron's father.

Poor Hermione. How horrifying it must be to be Polyjuiced into a cat. If that ever happens to me, I'll be allergic to myself and scared of myself at the same time. Of course it might cure me of both if it doesn't kill me first.

Meow.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 13

Finally, there is a point to Moaning Myrtle. If she's not there, then Harry doesn't find the diary and Riddle's story ends up flushed to the bottom of the lake.

Riddle me this: Is a diary that writes back and allows you to observe 50-year-old events trustworthy? Or is it some sort of magic designed to throw Harry off the trail, or worse yet, entrap him or incriminate Hagrid?

I do think what Harry saw was true, or at least mostly. Hagrid does have an affection for odd creatures, so it's believable that he would let such a monster out. But he also said the monster wasn't a murderer. That's probably the truth too.

So what has escaped the Chamber that Harry should be most afraid of and who let it out? That's a riddle that doesn't have any answers yet.

Pass the Polyjuice

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 8

Trying to buy a championship - as Malfoy's daddy is trying to do with state-of-the-art brooms that have bought his boy a spot on the team - doesn't often work. But the Gryffindors had better buy into Wood's plan to outwork Slytherin - even if Wood is exercising a Patton complex - or they will be swept to the proverbial Quidditch curb.

But there are much more serious and sinister things going on in the hallways of Hogwarts. (BTW, say Hogwarts to yourself over and over and see how funny it begins to sound.) Harry is hearing a voice, and I don't think it's a ghost because they are all partying with Nearly Headless Nick. After seeing the first movie, I hear John Cleese's voice every time he speaks.

Now that the Chamber of Secrets has been revealed and something about an heir, it will be time again for our detective trio to figure out how to save somebody or something.

And I hope I don't have nightmares about Mrs. Norris or any other cat hanging from anywhere. If I had seen that, it would have time to fetch the smelling salts.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 9

So is the legend of the chamber fact or fiction? Well, obviously it's fiction, but you know what I mean. Binns is kind enough to enlighten us about the legend, and he certainly didn't convince Harry and company that it is just a legend.

When you hear things like Harry has, you're going to think it's true. So it probably is, unless we're in the middle of a Scooby-Doo episode and at the end of the book they remove Filch's mask to find Dumbledore and he says, "And I would've gotten away with it too if it hadn't been for you meddling kids."

But I don't think that will happen. I do hope the Polyjuice attempt works. Sounds like fun, especially if it's Lockhart they try to trick. A little bit of flattery should go a long way.

One thumb up

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The movie

Most of my busy life has been to watch the movie, then maybe read the book. I have rarely done the opposite approach. I'm not defending that approach, it's more like I'm admitting it.

If Jeff was a masochist like Dobby, Jeff would get the books in hardback and beat himself over the head with them after such an admission. But I am neither house-elf nor masochist, so I will happily watch a movie before reading it in paperback in the future. (Just not the Harry Potter series.)

This time I am glad I read the book first. I know that movies cannot mirror books exactly, and that it's like comparing apples to oranges, or wizards to muggles, if you will, but the book is better.

A few observations from the extended version:

• Less of the dreaded Dursleys is OK by me, but they are more obnoxious in the book than in the limited screen time they got. (I did laugh when Dudley fell into the snake's cage.)
  
• Robbie Coltrane was well cast as Hagrid, but not as large as I imagined.
  
• Alan Rickman was the perfect choice to play Snape.
• Overall, the movie was well cast and the actors were largely true to Rowling's characters.
• The action scenes were pretty good. Some things were added for visual reasons, which is fine.
• I liked hearing things said that are verbatim, or at least close to it, from the book.
• The Quidditch match could've been better. The shots of Harry seemed more artificial than the other parts of the match.
• They explained some things after the fact in the movie, which tended to throw me off a little.
• If I hadn't read the book, I would have been more surprised than I was when Ron made Hermione cry and take refuge in the restroom. Ron and Harry's early dislike of Hermione should have been played up a little more. (Though she was good at being obnoxious.)
  
• Visually, things looked about like I imagined at Hogwarts. And Privet Drive was perfectly antiseptic. You would have no clue driving down that street what was going on in Number 4.
  

I believe if I had not read the book first, the movie would have been difficult to follow at times. If I was going to write a screenplay, I would make sure those who hadn't read the book got a clear picture of the story from reading the script from the first word to the last. Not an easy thing to do, but worth the effort.

Back to the "Chamber of Secrets." It's a rainy day in Jamestown. Perfect for reading.

There's no place like home

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 1

I have a feeling that Harry's bedroom isn't going to be a Chamber of Secrets when Vernon's hoped-for client comes to dinner. Whoever is in Harry's room is bound to cause enough trouble to let out the secret of Harry.

It will be fun to watch the Dursleys squirm in anger at Harry and try to remain pleasant for their company. I expect them to fail miserably. If you have to rehearse being nice and saying lovely things, what's that tell you. Handling adversity gracefully probably isn't a Dursley virtue.

Too bad Harry hasn't heard from his friends, but my guess is that his mail is probably being intercepted by Vernon and Petunia.

Even worse is that Harry doesn't at least get cake for his birthday. But Dudley probably would've eaten it all anyway. He certainly is a growing boy.