Reducto! A Fan Mashes Up Spells from All Potter Movies

Imagine watching all eight of the Harry Potter films in a row.

Now imagine reducing the movies down to just their magical spells.

That time-consuming task was taken on by a fan who created a YouTube video which was a blast to watch for your resident Potter fan. It reminded me of how very, very young Daniel Radcliffe was when he first embodied The Boy Who Lived.

T-Minus 4 Days 'Til Last 'Potter' Film: Let's Recap, Shall We?

Warner Brothers is trying to gin up anticipation among Harry Potter fans with this retrospective video which features highlights from all the previous Potter films and a few scenes from the new film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

They, along with ABC Family which has been running Potter movies all weekend long (we saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on TV Thursday night), are working my resident Potterheads into a veritable frenzy. (Meanwhile, my 12-year-old daughter has been hurriedly re-reading as much of the book series as she can -- for the billionth time -- before we see the film this coming weekend.)

I hope the movie does justice to the moving end of the series in the book. I'd really like the series to go out strong.

The Harry Potter Series . . . Lookin' Fabulous in Cartoon Form

Image credit: Lucy Knisley

These are too cute for words. The Harry Potter books . . . in cartoon form.

I discovered Lucy Knisley’s clever cartoon interpretations of the Harry Potter series via USA Today’s Pop Candy blogger. Knisley takes each book and chronicles the tale via brilliant illustrations. They remind me a bit of of Dyna Moe’s Mad Men illustrations in that they put a unique twist on the dramatic scenes she depicts.

You can see them in a larger format on her web site. It's worth the visit.

Image credit: Lucy Knisley.

Notes on Pop Culture: Some Favorite TV Shows, Magazines & Articles from Past Week

Now that it’s summer and things, pop culture-wise, tend to wind down a bit -- particularly when it comes to fresh TV programming -- I’m bringing back my favorite picks of the week, pop culture/politics items I’ve enjoyed over the past week.

TV


Image credit: USA

Covert Affairs: Still Light, Still Fun

I get bored easily with stupid TV shows and hardly ever watch anything reality-based, preferring, instead, scripted television, usually of the darker and heavier variety. The comedy programs to which I gravitate usually have some heft and/or intelligence to them because I loathe stupid, forced crap which simply bugs the heck out of me.

I would’ve thought that by now, I would’ve grown tired of USA’s Alias Lite, its summer CIA fare Covert Affairs, about rookie CIA agent Annie Walker who has a big heart, a killer smile, a quick mind and a powerful take-down. But Covert Affairs’ sophomore season has been solid, entertaining and enjoyable.

The show is populated by plenty of actors you’ve seen before – Peter Gallagher (Rescue Me, The O.C.), Kari Matchett (24, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Invasion), Anne Dudek (House, Big Love, Mad Men), Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) and Gregory Itzin (24, Big Love, The Mentalist) – and boasts two breakout stars, Piper Perabo, who’s positively charming as Annie, and Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty) as Annie’s wise mentor, Auggie Anderson.

Covert Affairs isn’t filled with a heavy mythology that sometimes bogged down Alias, and it doesn’t insult your intelligence either. The latest episode, which featured Mark Moses (Desperate Housewives, Mad Men) as a guest star, was a good example of how Covert Affairs balances its spy intrigue with a light touch. (See my review of it on CliqueClack TV.) 

Image credit: TNT

Men of a Certain Age: Ray Romano Packed a Powerful Emotional Punch in Second Season

The TNT drama Men of a Certain Age had its finale this week, capping a strong second season that brought each of the three, middle-aged, down-to-earth main characters down different paths than one might have envisioned for them.

Ray Romano’s Joe took a detour from his rekindled dream of joining the senior [golfing] tour to traverse down a rather dark road by doing some freelance bookmaking on the side (poaching clients from his own cancer-addled bookie, then thinking twice about it and giving up being a bookie altogether). Just as Andre Braugher’s Owen finally seemed to be gaining in confidence as he took over the helm of his father’s car dealership, he was plagued by panic attacks. Meanwhile Scott Bakula’s Terry -- the Zen, surfer dude aspiring actor closing in on age 50 -- has settled down, taken a full-time job and no longer wants to play the field and sleep with everything that moves; he actually wants an adult relationship with a woman his own age.

This past season Romano stood out as a revelation.

Magazines/Newspapers

EW’s Potter Issue

Love, love, LOVED this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly dedicated to all things Harry Potter. A fan’s delight, the package provides all manner of cool trivia about the $2 billion film series, which comes to a close on July 15 when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 hits the theaters.

If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, this is a must read.

FYI -- My pop culture column over on Modern Mom this week focuses on the wonderful message about the importance of parents and parent-like role models that the Potter series has given my three resident Potter-heads.

New Yorker Fiction Issue

I rarely buy the New Yorker. But when I stopped by my local independent bookstore – yes, an actual brick and mortar store -- seeking a periodical to bring on the airplane during my family’s trip to Orlando (and our pilgrimage to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios), I impulsively picked up the June 13 & 20 Summer Fiction issue and wound up reading quite a bit of it, including the odd little story, “Home” by George Saunders and Lauren Groff’s “Above and Below.”

New York Times & Politicians' Kids

Frank Bruni penned a provocative essay for the New York Times this past weekend in which he suggested that politicians stop parading their families around as presidential campaign props and then turn around and declare them off-limits for other people to discuss. Citing the Obamas’ desire to keep their daughters “off limits” to the media, Bruni said the Obamas also try to have things both ways. “That’s one of the problems with converting progeny into props,” he said. “It has a facile, cheap tinge.”

Citing other presidential candidates who’ve also brought their children on the campaign trail, Bruni is not a fan of the practice. “Because so many politicians make such a studied pose out of their parenthood, it’s fair to point out that jumping into the fray of a national campaign and hauling the clan into an unforgiving spotlight don’t necessarily do children any favors, especially if they’re young,” he wrote. “For all the candidates chatter about building a better tomorrow for their kids, they may be building a worse today.”

Image credits: USA, TNT, Entertainment Weekly.

Notes on Pop Culture: Thanksgiving Dinner Dysfunction, 'Key' Potter Film Series Moments, 'Red Riding Hood' Trailer (New 'Twilight?')

Thanksgiving Dinner Dysfunction: For the past several years on parenting blogs for which I’ve written, I’ve created and posted a Dysfunctional Family Bingo Card, in whose boxes I inputted various horrible scenarios which you’d never want to occur at your Thanksgiving dinner.

This year, however, instead of a new Bingo card, I’ve created a snarky quiz in which I offer a series of awkward Thanksgiving dinner scenarios, including one inspired by the Betty Draper-Sally Draper gagging on the sweet potatoes scene from the season four premiere of Mad Men.  You're asked to select the response which, to you, represents the best reaction to the situation, based on how dysfunctional you like your family gatherings to be, which may depend on how much wine you've had. Here’s my Mad Men-inspired question:

The hostess of the dinner, who made all the food, loudly observes, for all the diners to hear, that your 8-year-old nephew doesn’t have any yams on his plate. “What, you don’t like my yams?” she asks from the other side of the table. “Why don’t you try some? They’re really good.”

a) Your sister-in-law frowns, then says, “Sure he likes them, don’t you Tommy?” Then she shovels some into his mouth as he protests and gags.

b) Your sister-in-law says, “Thanks for asking, but he’s not a fan of yams. He loves your cranberry sauce though.”

c) “That’s right!” your brother bellows, “smart boy! Just like his dad. NO ONE likes yams.”

Betty chose option A at her first Thanksgiving at her new mother-in-law's home, followed by dragging her daughter out of the room and pinching her.



‘Key’ Harry Potter Film Series Moments: In anticipation of this week’s release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (it’s getting good reviews, including an A- from Entertainment Weekly), The Daily Beast has posted what it describes as 13 “key” moments from the movie series. Among those memorable movie scenes: Harry vs Quirrell/Voldemort in the bowels of Hogwarts, Tom Riddle’s diary flashback, Harry realizing in The Prisoner of Azkaban that he had to save himself from the Dementors (he was the one he was waiting for, not his father), the odious Dolores Umbridge’s scarringly evil detention punishment for Harry, the battle against the Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic which killed Sirius (so devastating for orphan Harry) and the death of Dumbledore. (*sniff*)



Red Riding Hood Trailer (The 'New Twilight?'): While some have likened the trailer for the film Red Riding Hood to “Twilight in a cape,” a writer at the web site Jezebel says she thinks this film, which stars Big Love’s Amanda Seyfried, “looks so much better” than director Catherine Hardwicke’s other big film, the original Twilight movie.

What do you think?

Gryffindor Trio Share 'Harry Potter' Experiences with Magazine

The three, young, seemingly well adjusted stars of the Harry Potter films -- who’ve spent the last 10 years of their lives on camera -- gave great interviews to Entertainment Weekly about their experiences playing Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley for half their lives. (It's worth noting that none of these three actors have been involved in scandals, under-aged drinking and drug-taking incidents or other bad behavior during this period.)

Best parts of the EW interviews:

-- Daniel Radcliffe, 21, said he was in the bath when his family got the news that he’d been selected to play Harry Potter. Then he cried. He was 11 years old. “It was probably the best moment of my life,” Radcliffe told the magazine.

-- Actress Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Bellatrix Lestrange, said of Rupert Grint, 22, (Ron Weasley), “He’s a bit like Luna Lovegood, you know? He’s on his own moon.” Then the article described how Grint bought an ice cream truck after he got his driver’s license. Seriously.

-- EW also put together a video of the child-actors’ facing aging from the first Potter film to the last.
Image credit: Entertainment Weekly.