Harry Potter And The Crazy Muggles In Costumes At The Midnight Premiere (Plus "Half-Blood Prince" Mini-Reveiw)

I didn't tell my blog readers this, but I have been geeking out over the new Harry Potter movie for a bit now. My new friend/co-worker Brittney invited me to join her crew at the midnight premiere of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, and of course I was stoked. The last midnight premiere I went to was for the kinda lame Pirates Of The Caribbean sequel. I was trying to be all cool about it since these are all recent high school grads (I feel old) so was about to tell Brittney that I wouldn't embarrass them by showing up in costume or anything when she said to me "We should totally dress up for it." I have found my kind of people...

Anyway, after discussing Snape, Longbottom and even Ginny (if I could have found a red wig, it would have happened) we decided on Ron Weasley for me. Which was a perfect excuse for me to dye my hair red again! Win-win! Brittney was going as Hermoine, and her crew included a Harry, Cho, Luna Lovegood, Prof. McGonnagall, Hagrid and Dean (plus a random Ravenclaw student.)

I painted a tie in the colors of Gryffindor, threw on black pants and a cardigan and dyed my hair red. Bam, instant Ron. Plus, I broke my wand and taped it together, like in the second book. Brittney provided a Quidditch broom and we were off.

The whole gang met at her friend Claire's house for pictures, and we looked friggin' epic. After that, we headed to the theatre. A few other costumed people were there, although our costumes were the best looking. That is not me being egotistical. I did see a guy in Ginny drag, which made me sad for not going through with it. Also, a really awesome Mad-Eye Moody. We also appeared to be the biggest group that went in costume. Seriously, people were talking about us. Luna looked fab, Harry was convincing and Hagrid was bloody brill.

The whole point, of course, was to see the movie. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince is quite possibly the best of the films so far. It was elegantly shot, the camera glides through scenes and the special effects are more breathtaking and intricate than ever before. While the long and densely plotted sixth book in the series by J.K. Rowling had to be trimmed, the plot remained cohesive for the most part. The battle sequence from the end of the novel was dropped, which was the only real disappointment I felt. Attending with teenaged avid readers of the series, I was reminded of a lot of missing scenes, but that was only one I missed.

The best part is, of course, Harry and his friends. The character interaction was well written, youthful romances blossom and perish and it's all very realistic and lovely. The film also has some funny bits. Love potions and liquid luck have some goofy side effects. Rupert Grint was outstanding in Ron's comical scenes.

If you've enjoyed the Harry Potter films, you probably already plan to see this one. If you're on the fence, go! It's hot.

Not as hot as our costumes, though...