As the excitement increases about next month’s release of the second half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we’ll be posting plenty of relevant pieces about plans, activities, and feedback. But we’ll also be revisiting some our “Greatest Hits” that relate to the film. If you have a favorite from the archives that you’d like to see featured as part of the countdown, send us a note, and we’ll dust it off and bring out! For those who really get into the whole movie premiere hoopla, now is the time to make plans (and maybe a swell costume, if you are into that sort of thing). I’m looking forward to seeing what folks are sporting at Leaky-Con, where many of them will be going to the midnight release. Though I don’t do the costume angle myself, I am a keen spectator, and I love seeing creative approaches (last year at Infinitus, several of the HogPros wondered for hours about the guy in the soda jerk outfit; he was Florean Fortescue). Melanie Lee, friend of this blog, has a fun persona and plan that she’ll be using to reach out to others on July 15, and she’s sharing some of her goodies with us. We’d also like to hear what others have planned, too! [Read more…]
Deathly Hallows Part 2 Film Countdown Begins: Getting Ready for the Big Premiere
Hunger Games Movie News: A Legendary Music Producer, a Perfect Snow, and a Two-Part Mockingjay
We try not to cover every little scrap of movie movie news here at Hogwarts Professor (Oooh, look, they’ve chosen a gaffer! ) but we do have some nifty recent announcements on which we have not yet chimed in with our two knuts’ worth of commentary. The filming of The Hunger Games is going on now, of course. Based on reports from the casting agency providing “background” (i.e. extras), they will need the Capitol people in August, and the District 12 folks I know are done, so it seems likely that Jennifer Lawrence and her fellow Tributes are out in the wilds of western North Carolina trying to kill each other, or at least, looking like they are trying to kill each other; they have nice weather for it. Much of that filming is shrouded in secrecy, including the bit that features a permit for a big explosion scheduled near the North Fork Reservoir later this month (apples, anyone?). But a few very clear bits of news do merit our attention, as we think about music, the world’s scariest Snow, and four films for our consideration. [Read more…]
We Didn’t Start the Fire: Young Adult Reading Controversy
Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article decrying the state of Young Adult fiction, proclaiming that the whole genre has gone to the sewers with the graphic, the gruesome, and the crude. The article has generated a firestorm of response, and some pretty lively email amongst the Professors here and our associates, so we thought it was about time that we got up a post about it so we could continue that conversation here! [Read more…]
Hogwarts Professor Visits Site of 1863 Hunger Games
Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Gettysburg, PA, with my husband, Michael C. Hardy, who is a Civil War historian and author and had a book signing there.
While there, we visited several battlefields in addition to numerous sites on the most famous and most visited battlefield in the United States, including this, the so-called “Devil’s Den.” What on earth, you may ask, does that have to do with our conversation here? Actually, quite a bit. Join me after the jump to see why the event whose 150th anniversaries kick off this year is, in many respects, our very own Hunger Games, and I’m standing here in the arena.
Hunger Games Movie News: Entertainment Weekly Article, Filming Starts Here in NC, and We Have a Cinna
Last week, we posted on the Entertainment Weekly cover that gave us our first peek at Jennifer Lawrence. This week, we’ll poke around in that article to see how the Game is being played, on multiple levels. We also have an update on the filming taking place just down the road from this Professor’s office. And, of course, we have some thoughts on the casting news this week, in particular the announcement that Cinna will be played by musician and actor Lenny Kravitz. Let’s face it, if we have any more exciting announcements in this post, we need trumpets, and I’m changing my name to Claudius Templesmith. [Read more…]
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