mildconcern.com

The last of our ultimate Harry Potter Retrospectives is the personal story of my own journey with the franchise, starting in July 1998 at the age of 10 and ending in July 2011 at the age of 23. Hopefully this will put the rest of the retrospective in context and show that I wasn’t always so quick to gush about the films.

I first heard about Harry Potter in my penultimate year in Primary School (Elementary School for any Americans). I can distinctly remember someone trying to explain the plot to me, including a detailed description of something called Quidditch. It was incredibly rare for a book to be the talk of the playground, so at the school’s next annual Book Fayre I picked up a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone along with Michael Morpurgo’s War of Jenkins’ Ear. I was in love, I can’t remember enjoying any book so much up to that point. Harry Potter was just a year older than me and so I could really relate. The fear of Secondary School was looming and the idea of a place filled with magic and adventure was exciting. Besides, Harry Potter contained none of the references to “heavy petting” which made Adrian Mole so confusing.

Read more »

Related posts:

Are you ready? 10 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone arrived in cinemas, and 14 years since the first book was published, the final film of a record-breaking and cast-retaining franchise is finally on release. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has gradually become more than just another film, it now symbolises a huge achievement in British film-making and a symbolic end to so many people’s childhoods. We grew up with the boy wizard and his last stand is a final hurrah for a childhood friend.

But enough of this sentimentality! We can save all that for next week, now is the time for excitement, just look at that header. We still need to make sure you are fully prepared for the final film, we don’t want anybody saying they didn’t like the film because they couldn’t remember what was going on. Your first port of call is our superb retrospective of the series so far (with charts!) and the two videos we offered up as vital Potter prep, explaining where we left off and exactly what a horcrux is.

For any doubters we have a glowing review from Mark Kermode (whose Radio 5 live show is not on this week due to industrial action).

And to finish one last video to get you up to speed as Daniel Radcliffe and co. explain the plot of The Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

Now we just need to watch the damn thing!

Related posts:

From 4pm today (right now!) the UK’s biggest ever film premiere is taking place from Trafalgar Square up to Leicester Square. In case we haven’t drilled it in enough by now, the premiere is for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and we’re very excited. Below you can watch the whole event streaming live from the safety of your desk. It certainly beats camping out in London for three nights.

We accept no blame if the boss catches you watching Potter at work. Read more »

Related posts:

You may have noticed that we have a new badge over in the right-hand column. This is because FHM.com were kind enough to mention us in an article about film sites they “quite” like. We’re always happy to have extra eyes reading Mild Concern, the only worry is, are we sexy enough?

To combat this and welcome any new readers from the world of FHM, I give you Zooey Deschanel in a classy swimsuit.

But then again, we don’t want to alienate any readers who prefer the male of the species… so here’s Joseph Gordon Levitt in a suit with Claudia Schiffer.

And because we know some people will be offended by all this objectification, here’s Joseph Gordon Levitt being complimentary, but respectful, about a girl:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Your mum would love him. Back to the films…

We did it! For the most part we managed to stay awake through all the first four Harry Potter films at the BFI IMAX Harry Potter All-Nighter.

The night was a whirlwind of emotions thanks to varying film quality and intense sleep deprivation. It’s great to see the films back to back and really appreciate how much so many aspects of the films improve over time. The IMAX screen made the films that bit more epic and immense and the free coffee in the intervals became a vital lifeline.

We took plenty of increasingly confused notes and will be fully quantifying the seven films next Monday along with a full review of the experience. What we can say in the meantime is that it was a great night and we’re looking forward to finishing off the franchise so far on Saturday night.

Tickets are still available for the first four films on Friday and slightly less available for the remaining three on Saturday. If nothing else, it’s the cheapest hotel you’ll find in London.

Related posts: