Daniel.

Oh, Hathaway will be fantastic, I loved her in Rachel Getting Married, although I'm sure it's not the acting that people are looking forward to seeing from her :lol:

I was majorly disappointed when they didn't show this at my HP screening, but anyway it's a wonderful little teaser, even if I hate the font of the words. I particularly liked when Gordon said "And evil rises" as they showed a clip of the young Bruce Wayne climbing out of the darkness of the well into the light (although that doesn't make sense as he was carried out by his dad, but whatever, I thought it was a striking image). The only thing is I didn't catch exactly what Gordon said until the third view; but it certainly succeeded in teasing me. Just over a year to go, zomg!!

Tirren, to be honest I don't think that either Harris or Gambon nailed the part of Dumbledore - he was supposed to be eccentric, camp, witty, wise, warm - if Harris was younger I think he would have been perfect, but I agree that he was just a bit too restrained, I think though that was more due to his age and ill health during filming; Gambon on the otherhand was just too cold for my liking and I can't really forgive the character annihilation that occurred in GoF "DID YOU PUT YA NAME IN THE GOBLET YOU WEE LITTLE PRICK!" it was awful. Oh yes, I would have loved to have got more of Dumbledore’s backstory, and while I don't really hold it against them, personally I would have adored to have seen the 1,000 odd House Elves storm into battle led by Kreacher. It was a highlight in the book. Interestingly, I didn't even know this until yesterday, but Rowling was supposed to have been planning to write a prequel after Deathly Hallows, and in 2008 she did an 800 word short story for Waterstones about James and Sirius which was a fun little read; but I think a lot of that background information and ideas for a prequel and such will just be absorbed into Pottermore. She’s hinted though that she could return to the world after a 10 odd year break, so you never know. A book centred on the first wizarding war perhaps? A full on Dumbldoor, tragic love story? Pottermore is going to be immense though, I love all the titbits and stuff that Rowling gives us, and this is going to be the jackpot! Rickman getting an Oscar nomination would be great, but I doubt it. I think the film is a lock for being nominated for Special Effects, Make Up/Costume and Art Direction; Score, Sound/Sound Mixing, Editing and maybe Adapted Screenplay is a possibility but Acting/Directing/Movie is a long shot. Also, CHARACTER RANK* 1) Snape 2) Hermione 3) Dumbledoor 4) McGonagall 5) Harry 6) Ron 7) Luna 8) Neville 9) Fred/George 10) Lord Voldemort Doing this makes me realise just how many good characters there are. *Subject to change.

*Spoilers once again ahead* The first half was more satisfying to me when it came to character moments, editing/pacing and atmosphere and it had a defined beginning, middle and end; whereas Part 2 was just an end: it doesn't work (for me) as a separate film from Part 1, whereas Part 1 works for me as independent movie (even with the cliffhanger). The trio not spending enough time together I concede was more of a knee jerk reaction, but it's not something I noticed in the book, but of course that also included the Part 1 events - I don't know, I think in hindsight it’s more of the fact that I really wanted the climax to be everyone in the Great Hall and I wanted more emotion from Grint when Harry said he was going to walk to his death. The thing the film can do that the book can't is be omnipresent; it could have show more of the battle and it could have shown more of the key player's deaths - there was an opportunity for the movie to expand on what we were given on the page, it didn't and I felt it was confined to the courtyard. As I said, the buildup was fantastic, but the scenes we got, while grand, felt confined and the only moment we got to see the scope of the fighting going on was when the trio was running briefly through it. And as I said, the final fight should have also been concentrated in the Great Hall with Harry giving his speech to Voldemort about Snape being a hero etc, and there should have been more build-up to the Bellatrix/Molly fight scene, it would have been a better climax to the Battle. Regarding JK Rowling informing the filmmakers, as far as I am aware, she only told them the bare essentials of what to include and only told Rickman the fate of his character so he could play it right. Dobby's death for example had little impact on me compared to the books as his role was radically reduced; Harry's eyes weren't highlighted etc it may seem like minor quibbles, but it does dampen the emotional impact of key scenes when it's build up was either not included or reduced (case in point the two-way looking glass, just randomly showed up in the movies). Also, Richard Harris would have been perfect if younger, but he was so ill towards the end of filming, that in CoS he struggled to capture the witty, sharp spirit of Dumbledore though he nailed his warmth and embodied himself in the character. Gambon did nothing for me; he just turned up and played himself, which he has admitted to doing as well as not reading the books: he was acceptable in PoA and HBP but character destroying in GoF. His best moments were the duel in OtP and the after-life scene. Bar that I was never impressed with him, and Dumbledore was the only adult character I think they did poorly - Smith, Rickman, Coltrane, Shaw was PERFECT casting. It was a shame the most important adult character was so disappointing for me. On the more technical side, the 3D added nothing, seeing it in IMAX gave it all the operatic feel it needed without the dodgy post-conversion. I would still give it a 3/5 - although I feel that the filmmaking and the mini-industry feel of the making of the series over the years, and the camaraderie on the set makes the last film an oddly emotional experience that has nothing to do with what we see on screen. EDIT: Box Office Update Estimated opening weekend of $168.55 million ($92.1m Friday; $42.88m Saturday; $33.6m Sunday) marking a series high and beating the opening weekend record; but is only sixth in terms of attendance and it also has the steepest Friday to Saturday drop on record for a non-holiday weekend, falling 53 percent, and a further 22 percent Saturday-to-Sunday. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3211&p=.htm Foreign box office takings has beat even the best predictions with a massive $307 million over the weekend; 18 percent higher than the watermark set by Pirates 4. Worldwide for the weekend it has grossed $475.6 million. The UK was the top foreign territory with $36.6 million (£22.69m) which is the best three-day weekend ever. It also shattered Australia's three day weekend record with $26.7 million. It should cross the $500million WW mark by tomorrow, its sixth day on release (it opened in some countries on Wednesday) which beats the record set recently by Transformers 3 and will almost certainly become the third $1 billion movie of the summer. What is interesting though, is its 3D opening weekend share in foreign cinemas is only 61 percent compared to Pirates 4’s 66 percent and Transformers 3’s 70 percent. As at the moment the 3D fad depends on the international market, it could mean the love affair could be growing cold: maybe. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3212&p=.htm

*Spoilers abound* This doesn't work nearly as well as a seperate movie as Part 1 did, sadly. After such a great build up, the battle scenes felt flat, and I was disapointed we didn't see more of it once it actually got going; I wanted to see Fred, Lupin and Tonk's deaths on screen. The last battle in the Great Hall was a mess (rushed, only saw glimpses) the Molly/Bellatrix fight was badly handled, and there was no punch whatsoever behind THAT line, and I felt nothing when Bellaxtrix died. I think it would have come together better if the Voldemort/Harry showdown still took place in the Great Hall in front of everyone, and I think Harry's speech to him should have remained. It would felt more of a climax, rather than "Oh, okay, it's over". I also thought the Gringotts bank hesit was for a lack of a better word, bleh (aside from the dragon escaping) and the epilogue also felt flat. Also, the trio felt quite seperate; Part 1 did an excellent job in focusing in on them, examining their relationships under the strain of the task they had to complete; they felt closer and in effect really made me feel the wieght they were bearing. Part 2 lost that for me. The film's best section was from Snape's death until Neville's rallying speech, with the triumph being Snape's memory scenes. McGonagall also got to be equally badass in the film as she was in the book, Maggie Smith is just wonderful to watch. I was also impressed with the Room of Reuqirement sequence and the opening scene where we eerily see the kids being forced to march in a Nazi-esq way with the Dementors surrounding the school. I think the underlying problem is, is that there are so many subplots and 'minor' characters who were cut out from earlier films or weren't in many as they should have been; and almost everything and everyone played quite a big part in the last book, and there's a lot of emotional pay offs and minor plot details that have more signifcance than originally thought; a lot of passing references were in fact plot set-up and of course the film makers couldn't have known this at the time. So it didn't resonate with me emotionally as much as I thought it would: it didn't come together. On a side note, I also think Micheal Gambon was a poor Dumbledoor and is one of the biggest problems I have with the movies; there was no warmth in his portrayal, although he did win me over slightly in the after-life scene, but once again it lost emotional impact thanks to Gambon/Yates making Dumbledoor seem like a prick. Overall, this was good, no more than that - perhaps it would have worked better if I had watched it straight from Part 1; either way the first part was a far more satisfying movie. RANK 1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 2) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 3) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban 4) Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 5) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 6) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 7) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 8) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets I'm seeing this agan on wednesday in 2D instead of 3D; while watching it in IMAX certainly helped in making the battle scenes feel more epic, the effect was pretty dodgy (if you tilt you head even a bit, you start to see double and it goes out of focus) and wasn't really needed - and my eyes were exhausted by the end. It may be part of my problem I had with the movie; we'll see. I must say though, Snape going to Godric's Hollow, and crying over Lilly's body as Harry is in the crib - I was fighting back the tears - a great add-on. I was also ecstatic that they included my favourite part from not only the Deathly Hallows, but all the books: Choking up even thinking about it. What the movie really made me want to do was read the book again and watch the earlier films; I'm about half-way through Half-Blood Prince, so it shouldn't be too long until I get onto it. 3/5 - People clapped at my showing and my friend was in tears. It was generally a very positive reaction.

I am surprised I'm doing this well, I've grown content with doing awfully in these contests. Glad so many people seem to have at least enjoyed my entry, it's one of my favourite discoveries of last year, I must have listened to it over 100 times by now.

The Afrojack remix is supposed to be very bass heavy, and is the version that has been a success in clubs in Ibiza (it's been such a hit, that Leona has been asked to perform it over there); Popjustice seems to favour it aswell.

NPpRJoYISSQ THIS is what I was trying to put my finger on, I knew I heard the melody from both this and Avicii's song before. Mary and Max <3

I doubt I will be able to see this during its cinema run, the closet screen to me is the Odeon in Convent Garden, and I have no money. Bummer. As for the Oscars, this is getting a lot of attention from the Hollywood filmmaking elite, and considering they are the ones who will be voting, I can see this being one of the frontrunners. I guess it helps having Brad Pitt's influence as producer.

Opening day: $92,100,000 :o Source: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/...open&p=.htm So after Friday, with still two days of its first weekend to go, the WW gross stands at $254,600,000. Forecasts now have its opening weekend pegged at north of $190m; considering this was tracking originally to gross between $125-150m, it is phenomenal. It may even be possible for this to do over $200m in just three days. Crazy. With this summer being a bit of a damp squid for the box office in America, this is a very much needed success, and I think it will easily manage $500m + domestic when all is said and done.

I wouldn't really trust DS as a reviewer, I never really agree with any of their reviews. Early word is that midnight showings grossed a record $43.5m, smashing the $30m benchmark set by Eclipse. This is not only likely to beat The Dark Knight's opening weekend record, but trounce it, it all depends on its legs. EDIT: Deadline reporting this is on track to have a $180m opening weekend, which would indeed shatter TDK $158m! The telegraph has also reported that this has grossed $162.50 million in foreign cinemas by Friday night; and have confirmed that this has made $80m plus on friday in the US. So it's total stands at $242m WW already.

"3 heroes. 7 books. 8 movies. 10 years. We are the Harry Potter generation." Getting a bit teary eyed at the prospect of it all ending tomorrow, at least I will have my re-read to keep me going a little while longer.

I would rip it from the HQ youtube video, that's what I've done anyway; http://www.youtube-mp3.org/ And totally agree Rain, I get genuine chills at that point.

The pre-chorus is pure euphoria.

I have voted, I adore my Top 6, I found that my Top 8 songs were a solid block of songs I really liked that never changed (although they swtiched positions), while my bottom four was constantly changing songs; I am still unsure if my 12-9 would be the same if I had more time.

Saturday I am watching Harry Potter in the evening and Sunday I will be watching The Apprentice final; those are my weekend plans Pavel. I will also be voting in the next hour or two, making my final order. My Top 3 haven't changed, but they keep changing positions - I have finally settled on my #1 but I keep changing my #2 and #3, and as for the rest of my Top 12, they are all over the place, I can't make my mind up.

I think this is rather wonderful myself.

When Arlene looked into her baby's eyes, it was suddenly cut out of the blue, and I think the theory is that because he's a baby his evil eye is not powerful enough to kill yet, which is why Arlene only had her eye cut. It seems plausible enough to me. Also, Alan Ball said next episode we will start to see the development of an unlikely love relationship form between two characters And Pam is one of my favourite TV characters ever, she steals every scene she's in.

This is breaking box office records already, grossing over $32m in advance ticket sales, setting a new pre-opening benchmark. It is due to open in the US on over a whooping 11,000 screens (the record for most screens is held by Pirates of the Caribbea: At World's End with 11,500) at 4,375 locations (record held by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse with 4,468) including a record 3,000+ 3D location count, more than Transformers 3's 2,789. It also has the biggest IMAX release ever showing at 274 IMAX locations. This is the biggest release ever for a Harry Potter movie and Warner Bros. studio. I think with such a wide release and hype, massive pre-opening sales and good word of mouth this could beat The Dark Knight's OW record and push for $160m. Also, with predictions of the foreign three day gross being $250m this is almost certainly going to beat HBP for the biggest WW opening weekend. Full article: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3208&p=.htm In Australia, it has beaten the record for highest grossing opening day with $7,029,487; the record was previously held by the Lord of the Rings' The Two Towers and Return of the King. Full article: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a3...-australia.html

Yoü and I makes commerical sense, it debuted at #36 in the US from album cherry picking, was covered on American Idol, and it's a sing-along, potentially massive cross over hit. Look at Paul O' Grady and Radio 1's Big Weekend to see how much of a reaction it gets when she performs it live, let alone at her concert shows. It's the only option left that I think will guarantee her another big radio hit in the US; which would help keep the momentum going - it's not a good time for a risky release. Marry the Night is the only other clear commerical single, and I hope that gets a winter release; Americano for 2012. Seeing as how we are supposed to get 9 singles this era that's going to last until 2013, it's safe to say Sheiße will gets its moment aswell as a full on Hair campaign. Bloody Mary would indeed be a disaster single, even if it's given a novelty halloween release as some fans seem to want; it didn't work for Judas at Easter did it?

Also, I'm pretty sure Jenna and Harry (Mike) will be leaving too, if all the original kids go there will be no real incentive for me to keep following the show like I did. The thing is, Glee is not a realistic show, if they wanted to, they could have kept the characters on and made a running joke out of it; they could have followed them to college; or at the very least have them come back as non-regulars. Murphy's assurance it will work with new characters citing the 'success' of Sam is also pretty bleak; seeing as how I wasn't a fan of Season Two anyway, I will use this as the perfect point to jump ship aswell. In hindsight I kinda wish the show didn't last beyond it's first 13, the early episodes still remain Glee's peak.

Looks like Yoü and I is a lock for next single; she just performed it in Australia in a wheelchair, dressed in her Yüyi mermaid costume that will feature in the new video. http://i793.photobucket.com/albums/yy211/DanielMiles17/Yuyi.jpg

RUMOUR MILL 1) On June 28th she told Out Front Colarado that she is "planning a Yoü and I video" http://omfgmusic.blogspot.com/2011/06/lady...rd-at-work.html 2) On July 8th a well known insider on twitter, @jeff1317, who broke the story about the mermaid scenes being scrapped for the EOG video among others, tweeted that the rumour that Americano will be the next single and a continuation of the Telelphone video is false. http://twitter.com/#!/jeff1317/status/89109467395923968 3) In an interview she did when she was in Taiwan (on the youtube link skip to the 3.45 mark) they start discussing her next video, she says that; Yuyi is the name of her mermaid persona that she used for the EOG performance on Le Grand Journal and was supposed to appear in the EOG video. She has mentioned on twitter that Bloody Mary is the song about her living halfway between reality and fantasy. Also, going by what she said here, about it "being her dream of the future" the theme doesn't really fit with Yoü and I. pUnjLNDGg2w On twitter in response, however it has been used to $h!t stir the rumour that Yoü and I is the next single. http://i55.tinypic.com/5xlcop.png Also, 11 hours ago on her tumblr, she uploaded a pic of herself from the Le Grand Journal performance; and in the caption she has spelt Yuyi with the Lüc Carl inspired ü. Another indication. http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tu...YfYM%2Bx6DTY%3D And there are current rumours that Universal Japan Media has 'confirmed' that Yoü and I is in fact the new single. Still waiting on official word. Other speculation; - MTV used Heavy Metal Lover to represent GaGa for their "Best Song of the Year So Far" poll on their website (which won) which suggests it could be the new single. - This week GaGa was interviewed by ChannelNine Entertainment from Thailand where she confirmed she will be visiting there, and at the end of the interview, she said "I love you, it's all about you and I" Further fuel to the fire?

My second point was more of a joke than a serious point, I understand that this is their interpretation, and it's first job is to entertain, but I fear they are making an attempt at 'glorifying her' and Meryl just seems to be phoning in a stock performance. This is all being judged on one teaser of course, and I will wait until I see it before I make a proper verdict.

This is all going rather swimingly; being the last one and with such a great reception from critics (and from early word of mouth, the public too), it's clear this is going to have some great legs. It may even give the Dark Knight a run for it's opening weekend record, if ticket sales weren't so low in general and 3D being more of a hindrance than a help these days.