The Leaky Cauldron - Opinion

New York Times Article on Amount of Alcohol Use in Half-Blood Prince

Wed Jul 29 11:38:00 -0400 2009

A columnist for the New York Times has written a piece that asks "Does Hogwarts have a drinking problem?" in relation to what they seem to feel is rampant drinking that takes place in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The article starts out by claiming "parents may be surprised by the starring role given to alcohol. In scene after scene, the young wizards and their adult professors are se...

Half-Blood Prince Review Roundup

Tue Jul 14 19:04:00 -0400 2009

Earlier this morning Joe from UK Rottentomatoes.com emailed about the collection of reviews they have on their website for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Hours later and a slew of reviews are still pouring in, with the movie "98% Fresh on the Tomatometer which makes it the freshest film of the franchise to date! Azkaban is in second place with 89%." The consensus: "Dark, thrilling, and...

Screen Daily on Half-Blood Prince: Technical Wizard of a Film

Mon Jul 06 08:24:00 -0400 2009

Two more reviews of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to tell you about this morning, these from Screen Daily and The Hollywood Reporter. While THR is more like a summary of the plot with scant few remarks on the actual film, their bottom line reads "a jerky start of exposition and backstory gives way to vigorous storytelling in the latest chapter." More notable is the review ...

Variety Review of Half-Blood Prince: Indispensable Rickman Delivers

Sun Jul 05 16:33:00 -0400 2009

Variety has now posted their review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and it contains much praise for the sixth installment in the Harry Potter film series. Noting that director David Yates "displays noticeably increased confidence here, injecting more real-world grit into what began eight years ago as purest child's fantas," and has made a film that is "film is clear-headed and clean-...

More Half-Blood Prince Reviews: Guardian Three Stars out of Five, More

Sat Jul 04 15:57:00 -0400 2009

Over the past few weeks, screenings for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Place for the press have taken place world wide. A few more early reviews are beginning to trickle online, with articles from the Guardian and UK tabloid the Sun now online.

The Sun gives glowing, while sometimes vague remarks in their article, praising the use of comedy and romance (Hogwarts is Snogwarts!) and giving kudos...

MSN Asks "Has Harry Potter Lost the Magic?"

Tue Jun 23 09:24:00 -0400 2009

The MSN Mom & Pop Culture Blog for Family Entertainment has an opinion piece today based on the question " 'Has Harry Potter Lost His Magic?.' " The article starts by mentioning the huge interest and media attention paid to the Twilight series, then discusses the delay of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, wondering if this would cause waning in the love of the series and films. The author...

Total Film Opinion Article on 12 Things They Should Have Kept in the Harry Potter Films

Sat Jun 20 09:13:00 -0400 2009

UK magazine Total Film has an interesting opinion piece/feature online where they lament twelve things that should have been kept in the Harry Potter films. Echoing many sentiments we fans have expressed written and discussed over the years, the list includes some of the following:

*PEEVES: The omission of the pesky poltergeist of Hogwarts has long been a source of the discussion in the fandom. ...

UK Children's Laureates Create List of Best Books for Children

Tue Apr 28 13:16:00 -0400 2009

The UK Children's Laureates have compiled a list of best books for children for UK book seller Waterstones. The press is making much ado over the fact that the list does not contain any of the Harry Potter novels written by author J.K. Rowling, however as the BBC points out that just five of the 35 books on the list came out in the past 20 years. "Sarah Clarke, of list organiser Waterstone's, s...

Review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Video Game Soundtrack

Thu Apr 09 13:11:00 -0400 2009

Thanks to music4games.net for letting us know about their review for the video game soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The music as reported several times previously was released last month, however the HBP video game from EA will not be out until July of this year. The sound track however, is already out and the review of the score by James Hannigan, concludes on a very pos...

Battling Voldemort, 101

Fri Sep 26 00:48:00 -0400 2008

In the past, we've told you about the rise in popularity of collegiate level course on the Harry Potter Series. Tonight, MTV has a new piece online, focusing on the classes being taught at Swarthmore College. In particular, one class "Battling Against Voldemort" is proving so popular, the article note that "a lottery determines who gets one of the 12 seats." Students who enroll in the classes h

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Wall Street Journal on the Wrath of Harry Potter Fans

Mon Sep 08 13:50:00 -0400 2008

As readers are aware, the news of the delay in the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film until July 17, 2009 was met with great emotion, dismay, and a fair amount of anger. The Wall Street Journal has a new article online today, focusing on the reaction to the news from Warner Brothers, including the subsequent “apology” from WB president Alan Horn. The article states that “Peo

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"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" Nominated for Broadcast Film Critics Award

Wed Dec 12 04:03:00 -0500 2007

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” has been nominated for an award given by the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Nominated in the category of “Family Film (live action),” OotP is recognized along with “August Rush,” “The Golden Compass,” “Enchanted,” and “Hairspray.” The AP reports these awards will be presented live on cable channel VH1, January 7, 2008. Congratulations to the team

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"Lord of the Rings" Tops "Harry Potter" in New Book to Film Poll

Wed Dec 05 16:12:00 -0500 2007

There was yet another poll released in the UK asking people to vote for their favorite film adaptation of a beloved book series. The winner of the poll was Peter Jackson's adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, with the "Harry Potter" series by J.K. Rowling coming in second place. This poll was sponsored by Lovefilm.com who asked 1,000 members to vote, with the websi

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Newsround Reviews the "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" DVD

Sun Nov 11 13:39:00 -0500 2007

CBBC Newsround has now posted their review of the of the Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixDVD. Presenter Lizo gave the latest DVD a 3 out of 5 rating, noting the best parts included "seeing some of the behind the scenes stuff in the Tonks feature. The long version of the scene where Umbridge inspects Professor Trelawney's Divination lesson is great. " He also lamented a few things, wr

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Live "Call-Out" PotterCast Tonight

Thu Jul 26 20:03:00 -0400 2007

It’s Deathly Hallows reaction time on PotterCast, our Harry Potter podcast, which means we’re having a call-OUT show at 8 p.m. EST. If you would like us to call you to talk about Deathly Hallows, send us a message at staff@pottercast.com with your Skype name or phone number! Less than four hours until the show, so do it now!