Muggle Monday (12): Harry Potter: The Exhibition

It's time for Muggle Monday, in which I post a quote, a video, or a significant piece of news from the Harry Potter franchise. This is somewhat inspired by the Mundane Monday posts by The Mundie Moms.

But let's be real as to why I made up this meme: I just want the opportunity to post something about Harry Potter.

This week, I thought I would continue extolling my appreciation of the movies (after all, the last one EVER is coming out in under a month!) by posting an overview of Harry Potter: The Exhibition:

Harry Potter: The Exhibition is currently in New York so you know I made time to visit it when I was there in April. In this incredible exhibition, you get an up close view of many of the props, costumes, and sets used in the movies. I talked about gaining an appreciation towards the immense attention to detail that goes into these movies in my Harry Potter: Film Wizardry review last week, and this exhibition supplies an equally profound appreciation for them as well. No pictures were allowed but my memory is plenty.

The tour begins as you and a group of people are ushered into a room with the Sorting Hat. Three youngsters got the opportunity to be sorted and proudly told the Hat that they were all Gryffindors and the Hat abided their wishes, of course. It's a shame that so few people ever want to be placed in the other three, well deserving, Houses.



There were several sets featured, including (among others) the Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory (where you can see Ron's homemade quilt!), the Herbology Classroom (where you can actually remove a screaming mandrake from a pot!), and Hagrid's Hut (where you can sit in his enormous chair with only your feet hanging off the edge!).

You can also get a close look at more obscure movie props, like Lockhart's ridiculous photos of himself, Ron's Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle comicbook, and Luna's Spectrespecs (again, among others). Even though some of these props were only on screen for a second, the crew on the movies still went to the effort of making them and in doing so, gave a little nod to the books, which is awesome.

I loved the interactivity of certain parts of The Exhibition. They set up Quidditch hoops for people to attempt to throw quaffles through and I scored lots of goals! You should definitely try this out and challenge yourself to make as many goals as possible. But it only counts if you throw the quaffle with one hand only! Because I figure you'd be holding onto your broom with your other hand.

And it all ends with a gift shop, naturally. I almost bought a wand, a broom, a time-turner, and a Marauder's Map but was somehow able to show incredible restraint that is way beyond my regular maturity level. Good on me.

If you have the chance, and you are a big Harry Potter fan, and you are trying to pass the time until some sort of secret new project is revealed, then I highly recommend you make your way to Harry Potter: The Exhibition. It is only in New York until September 5, 2011 and it is the last North American tour stop! Presumably our friends across the Atlantic will soon get the opportunity to witness the awesomeness themselves :)

In My Mailbox (9)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren (and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture Junkie) to showcase any books that I have received for review, bought, borrowed, or won to read.

For Review from Simon and Schuster Canada

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer ARC by Michelle Hodkin

Fury ARC by Elizabeth Miles

Witchlanders ARC by Lena Coakley

Dust & Decay ARC by Jonathan Maberry

I am so very spoiled by Simon and Schuster Canada. And so very appreciative, trust me. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is the mystery that seemingly everyone is talking about and I can't wait to delve into it! Fury is presumably about a girl with very, very long hair (it continues right onto the back cover!) and Witchlanders is presumably about witches. I'm also looking forward to reading them. Dust & Decay is the sequel to Rot & Ruin, a zombie thriller, which I have yet to read. I've heard very good things about this series and I hope I can find time to read the first book before the second one comes out. All in all, a very good two weeks, if I do say so myself! I would love to know what's in your mailbox if you would like to leave me a link in the comments!

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2005

Pages: 841

Source: Borrowed (Thanks Auntie!)

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.

In short: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson presents a damn good mystery and a fascinating enigma in the character of Lisbeth Salander, but could do with a fair amount of editing.

The original title of this book in Sweden is Men Who Hate Women, which, I think, sums up pretty well its truly horrific plot. After months of reading only YA, it was a nasty shock to read about the events that take place in this very adult book. Still, I very much enjoyed the well laid out mystery. With all the pieces of the puzzle in place, the revelation at the end was really well done.

The biggest problem I had with this book was its length. At 841 pages (albeit the mass market paperback version), there was a ton of extraneous and pointless information that could have been left out. I really don't need to read about all the intricacies of hacking and economics. With editing, easily hundreds of pages that were non-essential to the plot, mystery, and characters could have been removed. The two main characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, did not even meet until half way through.

Out of all the characters, Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, was really the only one who stood out for me. Maybe it was just because she was so peculiar that all the other characters paled in comparison. Salander is probably the most fascinating character I've read in years. An utter enigma. She is incredibly intelligent and introverted and violent. Why does she behave the way she does? What is her revulsion to turning to the police for help?

Though I suspect the other books in the Millenium Trilogy will also be just as long-winded, I would like to learn more about Salander and so I will continue on with the series. I also look forward to watching the movies, both Swedish and American alike. The American version trailer was just released and it looks very edgy and cool:

*Read as part of the Into the Old World Reading Challenge
*Read as part of the Book Series Completion Challenge,
*The Letter G in the A-Z Reading Challenge

Muggle Monday (11): Review: Harry Potter: Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley

It's time for Muggle Monday, in which I post a quote, a video, or a significant piece of news from the Harry Potter franchise. This is somewhat inspired by the Mundane Monday posts by The Mundie Moms.

But let's be real as to why I made up this meme: I just want the opportunity to post something about Harry Potter.


This week, I'm posting my completely unbiased review of Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, by Brian Sibley. With just about a month left until Deathly Hallows Part 2, I felt this was the perfect opportunity to become better acquainted with this behind-the-scenes look into the Harry Potter film franchise.

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: October 6, 2010

Pages: 160

Source: Bought

Rating: 5 Stars - Super Crazy Awesome!

Immerse yourself in the world of the spectacular Harry Potter film series, and learn why Yule Ball ice sculptures never melt, where Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts are really "minted," how to get a Hippogriff to work with actors, the inspiration behind Hogwarts castle, and why Dementors move the way they do. Written and designed in collation with the cast and crew that brought J. K. Rowling's celebrated novels to the silver screen, Harry Potter: Film Wizardry delivers an enchanting interactive experience, transporting readers to the wizarding world by sharing film-making secrets, unpublished photography and artwork, and exclusive stories from the stars. Full of removable facsimile reproductions of props and paper ephemera from the movies, this collectible volume offers a privileged look at the Harry Potter films and the talented group of Muggles that has made true movie magic.

This is not the only movie companion guide written by Brian Sibley. He is also the author of a companion guide for The Lord of the Rings. And I can see why Warner Brothers would have wanted to hire him for the job. Sibley has written a fully comprehensive behind-the-scenes look at the Harry Potter films. Harry Potter: Film Wizardry gives an insider view of the amount of work that has taken place at Leavesden Studios (where the majority of scenes in the movies have been filmed) over the years by thousands of crew members. I really felt that I got a full appreciation of the scale of the movies, the attention to detail, and what goes into making the sets, creatures, and props. How Stuart Craig, the production designer for all of the movies, has never received an Oscar for his work in the movies is beyond me. I can't even begin to list the interesting tidbits I learned in this book. There are simply too many of them! Of special note are the interludes by producer David Heyman, the man responsible for bringing J.K. Rowling's books to the big screen and doing so respectfully, as a true fan of the books himself. Harry Potter: Film Wizardry is a must read for any Harry Potter super fan!

Winner!

It's time to announce the winner of my Possession ARC giveaway! There were a total of 203 people who entered and 451 entries. And the winner, according to random.org, is:

Cheyenne Teska @ The Hollow Cupboards!

Congrats! I hope you enjoy this book more than I did. Please email me with your address within the next 48 hours at ayleejaine(at)gmail(dot)com.