Harry Potter: Then and Now

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Last week I watched a split-screen of the first Harry Potter film, The Sorcerer's Stone,  and the final installment, The Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The film series took place over the course of ten years, so, obviously, there was expected growth, changes, and evolution in the characters and franchise. However, watching the split screen of two movies, filmed a decade apart,  brought home the fact that each one of these characters had grown up in front of the entire world, and had brought a best-selling novel series to life. Some key points of note:

http://weheartit.com/entry/20842550

• The original Dumbledore, portrayed by the talented Richard Harris, will always be my favorite actor portrayal of the character. 
• By the end of the series, who would have thought that Neville would be on the cusp of becoming the Hottest HP character? Neville also goes from the nerdy wizard who has difficulty casting spells to the confident, Gryffindor Sword wielding wizard who saves Ron and Hermione from Nagini the snake.
• Ron teased us all with his transformation into a mighty cute wizard, highlighted even more by his quiet, growing, protective love for Hermione.
• Severus Snape's character and true role in Potter's life is slowly revealed in a way that keeps the audience wondering whether to hate the complex and enigmatic professor or sympathize with him. In The Deathly Hallows, we are shown a side of Snape that helps explain his tumultuous relationship with Harry over the last ten years and the part he has played in many key moments in Harry's life and moments of imminent death.
• "And the award for Best Transformation goes to: Voldermort!" Voldermort progressed from being a cloaked, hovering, incorporeal entity feeding on Unicorn blood, to riding shotgun on the back of Professor Quirrell's head, to a powerful, corporeal form that possesses Dumbledore's wand.
•  A lot of main characters die in the final installment during the big battle with Voldemort's army, which will always make me cry.
• The screen in The Sorcerer's Stone was bright with colors such as orange, red, and blue exploding off the screen in numerous backgrounds and rooms. The Deathly Hallows film was dark both figuratively and literally with the rise of evil, dark magic, characters dying, and with the use of dark, charcoal colors in scenes.
• The roller-coaster ride that was Ron and Hermione's relationship was a true love/hate relationship that had Hermione hating Ron most of the time while rolling her eyes most emphatically, while Ron acknowledged that Hermione, while often annoying, was truly "brilliant". Their relationship came to a head in the final installment during their first passionate kiss marking their growing love for one another, and their survival of yet another brush with death. 
• Though Harry's parent's died sacrificing themselves for him in events preceding the first film, they are seen in flashbacks and through Harry's desire in the Mirror of Erised throughout the first film. In the final film they appear to him through the Resurrection Stone reassuring Harry that they would be with him in his final moments.
  
  
  What were your favorite moments from the Harry Potter film series?
   

Drop Dead Diva: Ashes to Ashes

SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read until after you’ve watched Drop Dead Diva "Ashes to Ashes".

I don’t think anyone was as anxious about the return of Drop Dead Diva last night as I was. I’ve given up hope on True Blood, so I had a two week wait for Drop Dead Diva: “Ashes to Ashes” and the bombshell explanation that was to come with Owen’s return. See, Jane and Owen’s relationship was similar to my last one in that it started off with skips and giggles, smooches and hugs and ended with him deciding to seemingly drop off the face of the earth without any communication. Yeah. Now, while my ex opted to return to his single and mingling days to leave me cleaning up the mess of a drive-by relationship, Owen had open heart surgery and was put into an induced coma.

What I found interesting about this episode was that while Jane was going through the pain and confusion of Owen returning only to formally withdraw his proposal, she was simultaneously representing a client who was fighting for possession of her deceased husband’s ashes in order to digest them for visions of her late husband to appear. While Jane seemed to lose hope with her client after that revelation, (interestingly enough considering she’s rolling two souls deep in her own body) it seemed to trip an emotional trigger in Grayson both for the understanding for the varied processes of grieving and the belief in the presence of her late husband’s spirit. He reveals to Jane that he went to therapy after Deb’s death, and he has a lingering belief that her spirit may be present in Jane.

I am an avid fan of Maya Angelou’s quote, “The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them. Owen mentioned in an earlier episode that he did not believe in the institution of marriage. Last night’s episode sealed the deal for me in that he kept Jane in the dark about his health condition and he lied as to his whereabouts before his heart attack and coma. He was already showing that the whole “in sickness and in health; til death do us part” wasn’t part of his mindset for their relationship. This was highlighted further when he returned, not to apologize for keeping Jane in the dark, but to withdraw his proposal and describe how his condition and surgery had changed him to the point of no longer wanting to continue their relationship. Now, Jane inferred that he was afraid of dying so he was choosing to not get close to her, but to me, real love is wanting to spend every minute with the person you’ve given your heart (figuratively) to because we never know when we could pass on. Why waste that time without the one you love if they’re willing to be with you through thick and thin? Jane’s client depicted the lengths someone would go, even after consuming the ashes began to make her sick, in order to maintain some semblance of a connection to her husband. Her love was not dictated by what others thought of her actions. (And there were definitely some grumbles, headshakes and gasps.) Jane, who Grayson describes as “never taking no for an answer”, decides to deflect Owen’s change of heart and propose herself. After a courtroom like argument from Jane, Owen finally accepts. Probably. I think. I’ve kind of felt like a tennis fan watching this relationship go back and forth. Call me old fashioned, but when someone withdraws a proposal that you never expected to hear anyway, I get an uneasy feeling about whether this is marriage will see the light of day.

Update: The beautiful and fabulous song playing during Jane's office proposal to Owen is "The Last Thing We'll Ever Do" by The Daylights

What did you think of the episode?

Valentine's Resolution 2013

I read an article today about the joys of being single during the holidays (hooray) but the mandatory nature of having a relationship during Valentine's Day. I sincerely disagree. My last Valentine's Day, while in a relationship, was spent crying and accepting the end of said relationship and the lameness of my then boyfriend. You see, that morning, ex BF ignored my call and chose not to greet me with a "Happy Valentine's Day", opting instead to send me an impersonal "Happy V Day" text message. He then proceeded to break our evening plans with the excuse that he had come down with something, but not too sick to brag about buying flowers for his mother and a random widow on Facebook. Ain't love grand? However, when I was single the year before I had a wonderful day treating myself to lunch, a trip to the spa, ice cream, and a Valentine's Day Party that night complete with men who appreciated being in my presence, even if only for an hour or so. My point is that while having a love shower you with affection, chocolates, and roses can make for a wonderful Valentine's Day, that can all go south if your significant other doesn't find the day (or you) well, significant. Valentine's Day is what you make it, so in 2013, buy yourself some chocolate, have that sassy dress and heels (or suit) ready to dance the night away with or without a guy/gal on your arm. That sounds like one heck of a New Years Resolution, huh? ;)

PMS: I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

I realized this weekend that if cameras had been following me around during my unscripted short film, PMS: I Am Woman Hear Me Roar, I probably could have made millions. You see, along with one silver hair, loads of new wisdom, and a quarter life crisis that could sink a ship, turning a Quarter of a Century appears to have brought the most massive PMS episode of my entire life. The kind of PMS episode they don’t show you in feminine commercials, electing to show women cart-wheeling on beaches, because that would be just downright depressing, right? Right?! Well, what you probably won’t see in a commercial is: 1. A woman passing out, face-first, from fatigue into her plate of dinner 2. A woman salivating outside the window of Edible Arrangements because that much chocolate in one place is just asking to be ravaged like a scene from Godzilla 3. A woman lying on the floor in what appears to be atrophy as vicious level 5 cramps attack her uterus and back. 4. A woman sobbing uncontrollably in her car during break time for small reasons all amplified by 1000. 5. A woman shouting belligerently like the Hulk in the middle of the Walmart parking lot because someone left their shopping cart in one of a only a few free spaces. Actually, you might see that on any given day…

You probably won’t see those things, but that woman was me.

Long story short, menstrual periods are serious and seriously affect the way a woman’s mind and body works for about an entire week out of every single, long, hard, friggin’ month. Why do you think we bite the heads off of men (figuratively of course-we're not praying mantises) who condescendingly question whether our ______ (insert any emotion or action here) is due to “that time of the month”?


Oh, and if you don't believe the intensity, check out this clip from "New Girl" episode Menzies on FOX.

Pump Your 'Breaks'

Imagine you’ve been on the phone for the past hour and you’ve been put on hold…and then essentially hung up on by that customer service representative whose tone of voice indicated that she was too through caring about why the internet-phone-TV package you are paying for wasn’t working for you. There was no closure or solution; just an empty dial tone full of bitterness and denial. As the music droned, you continued to see red and wondered why she wasn’t just upfront about not being there for you in your time of media systems crisis so that you could find someone else who would. Well, at least that’s one way of looking at the infamous relationship “break”. Most of the people I encounter in the dating scene don’t know what the heck a break really is, or what it actually entails. Numerous questions dance in their heads like: Are we still…together? Should I change my Facebook status to something more ambiguous? Why did he change his Facebook status?! How long is this supposed to last? If they cheat, can you technically call it cheating since we’re on a break? Should we contact each other? Should I call him/her first – will that make me look desperate? Are we allowed to see other people? Is he seeing HER?! This list could go on and on, so here’s my definition:

A “break” n. - The metaphorical equivalent of slowly pulling the band-aid off halfway, allowing infection to set into your relationship.

You’ve probably been hit with the break by at least one partner like a foul ball that pops you in the head while you’re scarfing down nachos at a baseball game. Your relationship was probably at a point where it seemed to be running over every possible bump in the road for no reason; and while you longed to communicate the heck out of those irrational problems, your partner jumped ship and suggested you two “just take a break”. While some breaks are mutual between partners as a type of breather, most are not. Why? Because one partner is seeking a temporary out, but wants to leave his/her option open to return in case the grass isn’t as green on the other side and is, rather, infested with zombies, or some other flesh eating virus. Let me tell you, I NEVER do breaks. Like, ever. To me, it’s a cop-out. My philosophy is, ‘don’t let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya, because you’re never walking back through my door again’. Breaks are indecisive, indefinite and inconsiderate if it’s nowhere in the other person’s parameters of working things out; especially if it’s a way of avoiding communication and confrontation…or the truth. Most likely, your “break” is his/her spring break, and while you’re journaling out ways to make things better when(ever) s/he comes back, your love is probably playing beach volleyball with the half-naked trainer. My advice to you, dear readers: never tolerate the suggestion of a break in your romantic relationship. If you’re both mature enough to be in it for the long haul, great! Work out and talk through your problems. If worse comes to worse, fully break up and perhaps you two will find your way back to each other down the road. Wouldn’t you want to be given the chance to find someone who appreciates you and your time instead of pining away for someone who is taking you for granted? Never put your life on hold for someone else.


What's your definition of "taking a break"? Have you ever been on one? What did you do or not do?

Manic Music Monday

Have you ever had one of theose days where you just had to tune the world out with music? I’m talking about having your Mp3/Ipod glued to your hip, earbuds jammed in like corks in wine, volume cranked up like a Rolling Stones concert, and the world just whizzing by like the blurred collage of colors in a nighttime photo. I had that today. I had my music with me all day except for my trip to the public restroom where my ‘art of the squat’ sparked the fear of my phone or earbuds and the public toilet having an unplanned meeting. *Shivers* Anyway, while days like this by their very definition are intense, hard, and depressing, there’s nothing like getting lost in the maze of lyrics by your favorite artists on your playlist.

My titular use of alliteration already has me feeling better.