So here we are at the beach (last week) and I called home to check in with Fyl, our 17 year old daughter who was holding down the fort. It was about 10:30 pm or so. "Getting ready for bed?" I ask. "No, I'm downtown." "DOWNTOWN??

WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWNTOWN ON A SCHOOLNIGHT??"
Harry Potter, that's what. Fyl and half the high school population of Indianapolis were all downtown for the midnight screening of the movie. Fyl said it was excellent and all the reviews I heard on the radio (we don't read the paper while we're on beachtime) corresponded with her opinion. Merman and I can't wait to see it.
I have to admit that I was coerced into reading the Harry Potter series by Fyl, who harangued and harangued me until I picked one up. I was hooked! My favorite was the third, in which Harry got to know his guardian. Something about that relationship tugged at my heartstrings--the orphan boy longing for parental love and security, and finding it in the best friend of his parents. So poignant and sadly doomed.
I haven't been as crazy about the movies as I have the books. I don't think the casting is exactly right. This latest one, though, is supposed to be the one where they got it right, so we will see!
About books being translated into movies--only rarely have I thought the movie was better, but when I have to say it's magic when it works. "House of Sand and Fog" was one in which the movie fleshed out the book beautifully, and it was mesmerizing.