i bang my own drum

 I swear to God this was supposed to be an absolutely coherent and sophisticated post. But I mean, ya know...


BAM, CUMBERBATCHED. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH ALL MY FEELINGS ABOUT BBC SHERLOCK AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH'S PERFECT FACE. (Which is conspicuously absent from this gif. But the rest of him is pretty fine too, so... Anyway. FACE.)


Right? RIGHT? I don't know either. 

And now for some words. Eh? :D?

( A Gay of Shadows, CSI: Baker Street, and lots of gifs. )

This is the promised post about Harry Potter! Yes! Finally! Also, in the meantime I got into Pottermore (with the perfectly ridiculous username PumpkinMagic141, which I love an unholy amount because my birthday is on Halloween and also pumpkins are awesome!) which I am unreasonably excited about. \o/
_____

So, um, hi, hello, I realise I haven't properly updated in quite a while, but I am indeed still alive. I went to see Harry Potter 7.2 on Saturday, and well, maybe I should actually put on my glasses for this, but I can't be bothered, so you'll just have to put up with the potential typos. ^o-o^ Also, to get into nostalgic mood, have this:
 

IDK, I'm feeling pretty nostalgic already, what about you?

Getting back to the actual topic at hand, I didn't think that DH2 was as good as DH1 and certainly not as good as I would have wanted the conclusion to the series to be. I loved DH1 a surprising amount, considering that I wasn't a fan of what Yates had done with the previous films, and I had kind of got my hopes up for 7.2, so I guess I was in for a bit of a disappointment. I still liked it a great deal though! I had tears and snot all over my cleavage by the end of it. ;___;

( Lightning has struck, I repeat, lightning has struck! )

( Harry Potter Meme )

Also, before you go, have the most awesome fan-made DH2 trailer in existence:
 

And last but not least, let us all take a moment to appreciate Tom Felton telling us about how he would love to have an arsenal of wands and broomsticks. Oh Tom, you adorable wooblet. <3

Do you remember my last lj entry in which I kept babbling on about all the stuff I did in March?


I forgot to include The King's Speech in my blog post. Yes, you heard me right. I forgot to include The King's Speech. See, self, this is why you make lists. To keep from forgetting to include the most brilliant films in your blog posts. *scolds self*

So, The King's Speech. I absolutely wanted to see the original version because I thought that the German dubbed version probably just wouldn't convey everything the original one did, and I especially wanted to see how Colin Firth managed to pass off his stammer authentically. I ordered the tickets via internet even though there were still a lot of free seats because I have this irrational fear of tickets just vanishing into orbit if I don't order early enough (all due to the musical mania, I'm sure). We drove to Mannheim, found the cinema (somehow, we always end up in a parking deck a few blocks from it even though we always try for the one which is next to it :D), and hurried to the box office. Now, for the sake of the following conversation, let's assume my pick-up number was 123 456.

ME: Hello, I would like to pick up my tickets.
WOMAN: Okay, what is your pick-up number please?
ME: 1-2-3. 4-
WOMAN: Holla, one thing after the other! So, this was a reservation for Rango?
ME: o.o Uh no, it was for King's Speech, actually.
WOMAN: The original version? No, there's no reservation.
ME: O.O I've already paid for the tickets. And those were definitely tickets for The King's Speech.
WOMAN: Oh, you want to pick up tickets you've already bought? You should've given me the whole number!
ME: *facepalm*

So it turned out alright in the end, but it did give me a right scare. We had nice seats, and the couple in the row in front of us chose seats a little to our left so they wouldn't be in the way which I thought was really considerate, and I decided I really liked them until they noisily started kissing each other. They stopped when the film started though, or else I might have killed them.

And God, I loved this film. Yes, it is a bit lengthy in parts, but the script. THE SCRIPT, YOU GUYS. The dialogue, so simple yet so GOOD. The conversations between Lionel and Bertie were brilliant and so intricate and so much fun. And don't even get me started on Elizabeth. Sweetie? :D All of the characters were so well developed and had their edges. I have no clue about how much of the film is historically accurate but I don't give a damn. I think the Oscar for Best Screenplay was incredibly deserved.

As was the Oscar Colin Firth won. I know, everybody else has probably been over that already, but gosh, faking a stammer as convincingly as Colin Firth did, that must be horrendously difficult. I can't even begin to fathom how you do that. I was really really impressed with his performance. Honestly, though, I couldn't decide on any favourite actor in this film. My favourite moments were probably Helena Bonham Carter's scenes though. She always was so cute and dignified at the same time, and she was funny. She was. And then again her performance was so heart-wrenching; when she kissed her husband before his speech, and all through it. My heart went to tiny, tiny pieces and I cried and cried and prayed so much for the speech to go over well, and then my heart was put back together when it was all over and... I should stop here or else I will become too incoherent. Helena Bonham Carter is love. Colin Firth is too. Together, they're superawesomecute.

More people who are love: Geoffrey Rush. He's just... I wanted to cuddle Lionel! He was so competent and quirky and professional and cute, all at the same time. I loved the way he was with his wife and with his children, and I totally adored the way he was with Bertie, refusing to treat him any different than anybody else and yet not really sure how to treat him. Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon, Timothy Spall, Guy Pearce. <3 AND ALL OF THE KIDS. Damndamndamn, how are these kids so cute and so good at the same time? I am never more in awe than when I see kids on screen acting the shit out of their little roles as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And by the way, this was the first time there was applause after a film I went to see! (Okay, it was I who initiated it, so not sure whether it counts, but there was applause!)

And Harry's going to take it out on people he likes. Because he's Harry. Potter. Do you know why I love the Potter Puppet Pals so? Because I think Harry is just so authentic in his stupidity and emo-ness. Yes, I've been reading Order of the Phoenix. Can you tell? It truly is the worst of the Harry Potter books. No, really.

I really rather like the first three books because I think they're kind of charming and magical, and there is never too much emo in them because when the story gets dark or Harry too whiny, there's still the humour to keep you going. And anyway, in the beginning Harry doesn't get whiny so much. I mean, he's stupid of course, but that is one of his most prominent character traits, and if he weren't, he wouldn't have any adventures worth telling. So that's okay really. Then comes Goblet of Fire, and that is okay apart from Harry angsting about the Triwizard Tournament and being generally hated by a lot of people. At least Goblet of Fire contains a few of my favourite Snape moments, one of which always had me convinced that Snape is one of the good guys. You know the scene in fake!Moody's office near the end? He has this Foe Glass in there somewhere, right? And when Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape arrive, Snape's to be seen in it too. I've always been wondering whether Rowling did that on purpose, but it's enough that it's there. <3 Also: my heart always constricts at the thought of Snape having to go out there and face Voldemort and not give anything away. Ah, my Snapey. :/

Aaanyway. Then comes OotP. And it starts with... Harry angsting! Luckily, he never stops, so that there is a constant flow of angst throughout the whole book. Whew, I don't know what I would have done had they cut the 200 pages of unnecessary whining. I could actually be found sobbing why JKR's editor had allowed this to happen during my reread. But it's okay, Fred and George are there to lighten the mood! But then they leave school and it just goes from bad to worse... really, I understand that teenagers have problems. But while these eternal torments Harry is subject to are really very fascinating, I don't have to read about them in detail every other page. Oh, and while we're at it... I know he is dreaming of a corridor with a dark door at the end. This doesn't get more exciting with every time you describe it, JKR. Okay? Good.

What really, really bugs me about OotP is not necessarily the whining though. The worst thing is definitely the stupidity. Remember Sirius giving Harry the two-way mirror? Wow, such an easy means of communication! But let's break into Umbridge's office so I can talk to Sirius about my teenage woes, because it's more fun when you could be expelled. I mean, WTF? Same thing later on when Harry thinks Sirius has been taken. Why doesn't he even think of trying the mirror instead of asking an unreliable house-elf that isn't under any obligation to him? WHY? This is so stupid I cannot even put it into words. The fate of the Wizarding World lies with a boy who is so stupid he couldn't tell a cucumber from a potato.

Okay, I think I've vented enough now. OotP even had one good aspect! It made me want to watch the film. Which I hate. With a passion. But I thought of a few moments they got just right, especially the one where Luna tells Harry about all of her possessions that have gone missing and that stuff turns up in unlikely places. I just love this scene, when they look up and see her shoes dangling from the ceiling. Evanna Lynch is awesome. I love her. Period. She actually saved a good bit of the film. :)

YOU KNOW WHAT? MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS MOVIE ARE BASICALLY "SQUEEEEEEEE!".

I would never have thought it. Back in 2007, when Deathly Hallows first came out, I was rather disappointed, and all the excitement I had felt for it kind of evaporated into thin air. Well, I thought, at least you still have the movies to look forward to. Then Yates took over and totally spoilt Order of the Phoenix for me. I didn't even bother going to the cinema for the Half-Blood Prince. I was actually pretty outraged that they had kept Yates, and when I recently saw HBP, all of my worries were confirmed. HBP was the book inbetween OotP and DH which I actually liked, and the film was just... bad.

Lately, I've been inching my way back into fandom though. I kind of stopped being in it when SRB stopped writing fanfiction. I've always loved translating fanfiction though, and in October, I decided to go hunt one down that was worth the trouble. I found one! I was given permission! And then I got all ecstatic about all things Harry Potter again. Looking back on the last two movies, I decided that Yates' style absolutely didn't work with Book 5 and 6, but that it might work for Book 7. Lots of people I know got very excited about the movie too; I loved the trailer - and then I decided to see if I could get tickets to see the original version. I have tried this endless times; I have tried it with every Harry Potter movie (apart from HBP, obviously) and it just never happened.

So when I sat in the movie theater yesterday, about to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I in English, I just couldn't believe it. It was really surreal. There were people from everywhere, but mostly US and Spanish (or South American?) people around, and there was a constant chatter in a lot of languages going on around me, which I simply love. <3 We had fortunately gotten seats in one of the back rows, and I think that was where most of the laughing, cringing, cheering and crying was going on. :D It was just awesome to be there with tons of actual fans.

( Now, the movie... (I'm trying to keep this coherent. No promises though.) )

Okay, I think that was it with the babbling. I WANT THIS MOVIE ON DVD. Gosh, I just can't believe I don't hate Yates anymore. I obviously still do hate him for movie 5 and 6, but at the same time I love him for what he did with Deathly Hallows, so those feelings of mine are pretty conflicting at the moment! But anyway...

THE HARRY POTTER MANIA IS BACK. I can't wait for Part II!

So, enough procrastination. This is a real entry. *cough* I promised one about REBEL by R. J. Anderson- and here it is. Roughly one week after I finished reading it, so I hope that I can still remember everything I wanted to say.

( Fighting crows and standing up to Queens and falling in love with humans. [SPOILERS] Some, at least. )

In other news I went to see Percy Jackson recently because a friend invited me and I could not possibly decline. I mean, she paid. I have to say that it was a rather amusing movie too. In a "mwaha, oh gosh, look at how stupid the plot is" way. It was really bad. I didn't like most of the actors either- apart from Sean Bean who I've fallen in love with a long time ago, and Rosario Dawson who portrays Mimi in RENT and is therefore LOVE. I also rather liked the guy who played Grover, but Annabeth and Percy? Not so much. None of the girls that went to see that movie with me were able to understand why I didn't like Percy!guy.

EVERYONE: OMG I loved Percy I mean GAH. drools
ME: Er...
EVERYONE: Didn't you just LOVE him as well?
ME: Er...
EVERYONE: stares incredulously
ME: cheerfully I liked Sean Bean!

Well, what can I say. I like men better than cutesy boys with sticky legs. Who are bad actors. But as I said, the plot was rather... intriguing.

( Intriguing summary of intriguing plot.  )

So, since I've made this vow never to miss as many films as I did this summer, I went to the cinema four times during Christmas break. I love going to the cinema so often! It does almost squelch that urge to buy musical tickets every two days and it is a lot cheaper. :)

( Movies I Saw )

Apart from the movies at the cinema, I saw the German movie 7 Zwerge - Männer allein im Wald, then Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch and Kungfu Panda. And since I got some new DVDs, I'll watch Narnia 1 & 2, My Fair Lady and Sweeney Todd soon.

( Movies I Anticipate )

Wow. I've become a cinema addict again.

On Monday, I went to the cinema with my history class. (Okay, I'm exaggerating here, it was only about half of them.) I love going to the cinema tremendously, and the good thing about going there with school is that I have people with me (I mostly like).

( Ramble, ramble, ramble- I mean, Sophisticated Thoughts on Pope Joan. )

Oh my. Yesterday, I promised on twitter that Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass would be my last book order before my driving license. Obviously, that doesn't include DVDs. I have taken care to include them now. And to make it very, very official:

Today was the last time I bought ANYTHING before my driving license. Damn, I need that money. :D

So, what did I buy? Ever heard of Bottle Shock? You have not?! I've been wanting this DVD for ages; Alan Rickman is in this movie! It has to be brilliant. Anyway, I can't wait to watch it. Which reminds me: I want my laptop DVD player to work again. Of late, my laptop tells me there's no CD/DVD in the drive whenever I try to play one. I always have to go to the living-room and annoy everybody else with my DVDs and this is something which is really bugging me. I like to watch DVDs in the reclusion of my room.

Apart from the DVD, I also bought a pair of shiny new shoes today. Alright, my mum paid them. I almost bought some beautiful high-heeled boots as well, but my dad advised me against them, and my dad's only comment on anything really usually is "great" or "like it".

Or "why not?" which he just said when I asked him if he wanted my help cooking. So I'll go cook with my dad now. :)