Comment Elsewhere: Harry Potter's Sixth Movie

In response to Scott Kaufman's positive review of the latest installment, I said

It may well be that the movie benefits from not reading the book. Since Dargis' review -- aside from that Fiennes thing -- pretty well jibed with my reading of the book, I took it to be a pretty faithful adaptation.

I got through the books so I could discuss them with my spouse, who likes them. I'll get through the movies when the Little Anachronism is old enough for them, and then mostly so that I can describe the action to my spouse. I suppose it's nice to know that there's something to look forward to near the end....

Recent adventures in Mass Media

New Movie: The Last Mimzy.
No, it's not a "faithful" adaptation of the short story, but a slightly sappy revision of it. Nonetheless, it's pretty good, and I'd love to see some of Kuttner/Moore's other stuff come to the big screen. It felt a bit short: I get the impression that there was more storytelling going on that got cut.

Dollar Theater (aka DVD out soon): Happy Feet
Unnecessarily kinetic and psychological, but the dancing, which is supposed to be a highlight of the film, was underdone. Honestly, I wouldn't pay the dollar to see it again.

Novelization: The Death and Life of Superman
I'd always meant to find out how they resolved that whole mess. The Death of Superman comics were surprisingly affecting, but I didn't keep up with it. The novelization was a nice compact way to get through it all, and for a novel, it was a pretty good comic book. It got the job done.