The last Harry Potter film: Spoiler-free review
For those not familiar with J. K. Rowlings’ iron will: Yes it really is the last film. In a world brimming with reboots and poor-quality sequels, that alone makes the Harry Potter film series unique. And in case you’re wondering – yes, oh definitely yes. It ends.
It is possible to enjoy this film without seeing the rest – but you’ll never lose the sense that you arrived late at a party.
As the ending to an eight-film series, it is a masterpiece. We finally understand Snape, Dumbledore, and even Harry himself. Every thread is tied up, and there is no wiggle room left for further mayhem. I particularly enjoyed the epilogue.
Characterisation is done, and done just right, in just a few seconds (not just for the major characters, but for several other favourites as well). The pacing allows space for fear, despair, building tension – and even grief and laughter. Visually it is beautiful (although very dark); the effects are flawless. The acting, now that the cast is completely grown up, is great.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a children’s film. It most certainly is not. There is a LOT of darkness and a lot of death – and some of the deaths are absolutely nightmare-inducing. I had my eyes closed more than once.
In my opinion, the films are better than the later books, because Harry Potter spends too much time being miserable in print (which gets irritating), and that is cut from the films. The plots do tend to be rather squashed, but oh well. The one flaw I could find in this film was one I was expecting from having read the book. In my opinion, although it has several functions, the “white room” scene is just. . . a bit silly. Everything that it does could be done elsewhere.
It did give Harry some great heroic moments, though.
Speaking of which, that is a particular strength of the film: badass moments. There are lots of them, and they are all done very, very well.
Do see the film on the big screen if you can (like I even need to tell you). There will never again be an eight-film series done this well.
Kitten on Fire
Ana, the younger (and longer-haired) of my two cats, is definitely not the intellect of the family. She also loves extreme heat. The other cat, Indah, finds this heater too hot to touch. Not so with Ana:
We also have a single fan heater, which is highly inefficient but great for spending thirty seconds warming just your feet. Since it glows prettily, this is a favourite for the beautiful Ana (we all look best under the gentle glow of firelight, real or simulated). And so it was that I turned on the fan heater and rather pointedly put my feet very close to it, so Ana could not lie down and block the warm air.
No problem for a cat, of course: she simply squeezed herself, snake-like, into the miniscule gap. Her fur tickled my feet pleasantly, so I didn’t stop her.
Not until I saw the smoke.
My first thought was that the heater, effectively smothered, was malfunctioning. I grabbed Ana away, and that’s when I realised the truth: Her far side was hot. Not merely “I’ve just been pressed up against a heater” hot, but “I’m on fire” hot. The pressure of my hand on her side put out the fire, and Ana looked at me reproachfully – as if to say, “Excuse me? That’s MY heater, and everything was going just FINE.”
We no longer leave her alone in a room if that heater is on.
Tomorrow: Spoiler-free review of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Steampunk Rat
One of the special things about steampunk is that it covers literature, music, dress/jewellery, and art.
Here‘s an impressively intricate steampunk rat built by an artist. Deviant art has a lot of great steampunk art.
Thank you to the reader who emailed this to me.
Turtle Publishing
No, it’s not a hip new publishing company – it’s a comment on the industry. Now sometimes publishers are slow because they simply can’t make up their minds (one of my books has been with a major Australian publisher for two and a half years, and that’s way beyond normal). But most of the time there is a complicated process from slushpile to (hopefully) acquisitions meeting to (hopefully) bookshops.
American agent Rachelle Gardner talks about it a little here.
Personally, I’d consider six months a normal wait for a yes/no response (for either the opening chapters or the full book), and one year a standard acceptance-to-publication schedule.
While you wait to hear back, here’s a picture of a cat:
Dance like THIS
Back when I was talking about the Tour de France, someone mentioned the Midnight Oil song “King of the Mountain”. CJ showed me the clip. This clip.
Watch it, my peeps – not for the song, but for the seizure-like rock moves of the lead singer. In my opinion, he and Freddie Mercury both have the gene of sheer attractiveness-defying rock and roll awesome.
The best part? That man now holds a prominent position in the Australian Federal Government.
Dark, exquisite steampunk: Cherie Priest
Cherie Priest
(This picture was taken from wikipedia.)
“Dreadnought”
Scott Westerfeld is the king of steampunk, and Cherie Priest is the queen. While Westerfeld is quite light and fun, Priest is dark, with strong horror elements (her zombies are truly awful).
The rest of this review has been moved to Comfy Chair, where I get paid for it.
Tiny Socks
As of today, I’ve reached sixteen weeks. Mini-Me is over 11cm long (not counting his/her legs), and I could begin to feel movement any time from now on. The ondansetron is working; I am now eating a small selection of vegetables and meat, and today I was able to do some minor household chores including a load of washing that included some of these items:
Of course, now I’m exhausted and I need to lie down.
Do you, dear reader, plan to have children (assuming you don’t have kids already)? Why/why not?
I don’t think having children is a particularly rational thing to do. Theoretically, it means someone will look after you when you’re old – but that’s hardly guaranteed. You’d be better off saving your money and hiring a nurse.
Biology has a lot to answer for (and not just for “surprise” babies). The reason I want to have kids is because there’s a space in my heart for the love of a mother, and I can’t resist the urge to fill it (regardless of the cost). Also, as I’ve mentioned before, it gives my life a sacrificial focus that I crave. Raising children is one of life’s greatest, hardest, and most epic adventures.
Hobbit party
My friend Cupcake* had a birthday party on Saturday, and chose to indulge his natural hobbit-like tendencies. This meant:
1. Lots of food.
2. Lots of games.
3. He wore a charming hand-knitted waistcoat.
In a shocking twist, I actually attended. Altogether, I was out of my own house for over four hours.
In an even more shocking twist, I ate the same dinner as everyone else. It was stew with dumplings. Since I’ve been eating mainly bread for two months, the consumption of the dumpling was unsurprising. However I was also able to eat the pieces of carrot. . . my first recognisable vegetable since May. CJ was so shocked he took a photo:
Since the party, I’ve eaten potatoes and mushrooms with no ill effects. Thank you, hobbit party, for opening the door.
*not his real name
Healing History?
A few weeks ago, I blogged about the Sydney City Council voting to change official wording in order to acknowledge that Europeans didn’t “settle” in Australia – they invaded an occupied land. It bothers me that so much of the Western world is still richer than the rest because of similar acts that took place (and in some cases are still taking place – eg the steep interest on third world debt) around the world.
Which begs two questions: Are we eventually going to pay for what our ancestors did? And – is there any way we can avoid paying that price?
I think that history tends to even itself out, and no-one stays on top forever. As someone who is definitely living at the sharp end of the wealth pyramid (not me personally but certainly my lifestyle, city and country), this is a worry.
I think it’s often justice that arises to topple the unfairly rich – so I have a theory that if the rich turn around and start actively seeking real justice themselves then maybe they won’t get brought down after all.
It starts with honesty – which can cost a great deal. When I heard (several years ago now) that the Timor Timur government was offering amnesty for the crimes committed during twenty-five years of violence, I was so impressed I wrote a story about it, which is available on a podcast here. It is M-rated, and thus goes under the name Felicity Bloomfield. (I visited Timor Timur briefly when it was under transitional UN administration.)
I also admire Germany for hating Nazism more than any other place on Earth. And I admire Japan for not hating the West for dropping two nuclear bombs.
After honesty comes active compassion and the restoration of justice. But that’s the point where my imagination shorts out.
Do you think the West is doomed to fall? If so, do you think it can be saved?
What is steampunk?
To me, the question is simple. Steampunk is fiction inspired by the Victorian era (generally featuring steam technology) – and by “inspired by” I mean it is always deliberately anachronistic (especially in the area of fantastical tech). It is used to cover clockpunk (same thing, but pre-Victorian, when clock technology was the wonder of the age), and dieselpunk (post-Victorian, with lots of diesel tech especially zeppelins).
Here is an article on someone else’s take – featuring lots of great quotes. I’ve included this one because I agree with it:
Steampunk simply embodies a time and a place. The time… the late 19th century. The place… a steam powered world, where air travel by fantastical dirigibles is as common as traveling by train or boat (or submarine). A place where national interests are vastly different than our own version of history. A place where the elegant and refined are as likely to get pulled into a grand adventure, as the workers, ruffians, and lower classes. A place where the idea of space travel is not so far fetched. A place where lost civilizations are found and lost again. A place where anything is possible, and science can be twisted to meet ones own ends. That to me is the essence of Steampunk. It can have political overtones and commentary, or it can be straight escapist fiction. Either way, if it meets these criteria. It is Steampunk.
:-Joshua A. Pfeiffer a.k.a. Vernian Process
And here for your delectation is a slightly clockpunk (yes the clock is real, the entire table was made by hand, and it works) photo of my cat:
