Lady K's (Seemingly) Nonstop July

I have looked back over my personal blogs and it seems I'm averaging one personal blog per month. I have decided this is not good enough, not nearly good enough (spot the film quote) and I plan to rectify that this month. With a whole host of personal blogs! Woo! Whether my plan actually comes into fruition is a whole other story...


My first personal blog this month actually needs to take me all the way back to the start of July! To try and minimise boredom (on your part) I've decided to try and merge three blogs I had planned to do in July, into one giant post. With me so far? Good!


At the start of July I went home for a few days as my best friend of the north was renewing her wedding vows in celebration of her 10 year wedding anniversary. As I was maid of honour at her wedding 10 years ago I wanted to be there to help them celebrate 10 happy years together. The re-wedding went without a hitch (other than them getting hitched that is!) and a fantastic celebration followed, held at their house for family and friends. I already wished them a happy anniversary but I will take this time to say how blessed I am to have friends like these. Caring and loyal, not only to each other but those they hold dear. I am honoured to be one of the ones you guys hold dear.

Making the most of my brief time up north I also dropped in on my brother and sister in law who very kindly took me to visit my sister. My sister suffers from learning difficulties and now lives in a shared house with other girls who have similar disabilities. I don't get to see her as often as I do my friends and family up north, as unlike them she is not able to visit me in Brighton. This is unless she was accompanied by a carer. So it was nice to spend some time catching up with her. I got to hear all about the cruise she had recently been on with my dad and all of the lovely places they'd visited around the med. As you can see from my holiday snap, I also got to see my cheeky little nephew, which is always a treat for me.

On my way back to Brighton I decided to stop off in London as my favourite cinema there - The Prince Charles Cinema http://www.
princecharlescinema.com - was screening one of my all time favourite films since I was little, Labyrinth. Anyone who's previously read my personal blogs will know that this is the second time I'd tried to see Labyrinth at The PCC, but last time I failed as it was sold out. If you would like to read that particular entry go to: http://willow23s-firsteverblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day.html. Anyway, this time I wasn't leaving anything to chance so I booked Labyrinth tickets for me and my best friend of the south for the showing on the day I got back from Preston. In my excitement I probably didn't factor in much thought about the fact that I would have a massive case with me! But luckily for me the staff at The PCC are as lovely as the place itself and they allowed me to leave my case safely locked away in their store cupboard! Hooray for the lovely people at The PCC! Ditto, if you missed it and want to read my Labyrinth review, go to: http://willow23s-filmreviews2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/labyrinth.html. 

 The rest of July was pretty quiet, unless you count the Harry Potter Premiere that I attended on the 7th July. I won't go into detail about that as I wrote a whole separate blog about my Harry Potter Experience (http://willow23s-firsteverblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/lady-ks-harry-potter-experience.html) which goes into a LOT of detail! 

I will just say that I spoke to Evanna Lynch (the actress who plays Luna Lovegood), and I got hers and Ralph Fiennes signatures, and it made my day! ;0) 

From the 8th July to the 15th July every waking moment (the ones where I wasn't keeping my eyes open with matchsticks whilst at work) was consumed with Mr Potter as I set myself The Potter Challenge.

I went to see every Harry Potter film, from The Philosophers Stone to The Deathly Hallows Part 2, one film per day at the cinema and had to review every film before I saw the next one. I thought at one point (around the time I was reviewing Half Blood Prince) that I might die of a Potter overdose! But now it's all over I find I miss the bespectacled boy wizard. And so I'm now reading the books. I had already read books 1 and 2 before I started my Potterthon but have now read book 3 and am in the midst of book 4 as we speak.

The day after I'd finally finished watching all of the Harry Potter movies, one of my close friends held her hen party. A fun night of drinking, singing, more drinking and dancing. I discovered a new haunt called The Haunt, which plays cheesy 80s tunes every Saturday night, and just generally had a fabulous time. 


This then left me with barely a week to recover and sort my flat out before my best friend from the north, her step daughter and another friend, descended upon my tiny one bedroom flat for my Birthday weekend...

...but as it's late and this post is already very long, that will have to wait for another day! ;0)


*Thanks to A-ha for the use of their song title (Seemingly) Nonstop July.

Lady K's Harry Potter Experience

What an incredible week that was. Starting at 3am on Thursday 7th July...

I awoke after 2 hours sleep and got myself ready for the longest day of my life. A taxi was waiting outside by 3.30 which took me and my cinema buddy to Brighton train station. We were catching the 3.50am train to London. We slept most of the 1hr 30min journey and arrived at Victoria train station around 5.20am. I've never seen a London train station so quiet and deserted. It was really quite eerie. We made the most of the facilities knowing that toilets and places to freshen up would be hard to come by later in the day, and grabbed a much needed coffee. We arrived in Trafalgar Square just before 6am. There was already a queue of people stretching past The National Gallery so we joined the end of the queue and began 'the wait'.

As we weren't able to take time off work to camp out (and to be honest, I don't do camping so I wouldn't have done this even if I'd been able, but massive respect goes out to those who did) we were just grateful to have a chance at getting in the square. 

Five hours later, and around 30 people away from the front of the queue, we were turned away from Trafalgar Square as it was full. Less than five minutes later the heavens opened in a way never before experienced. We got drenched and took shelter under a nearby doorway and waited for the rain to stop. When the rain eventually did stop we decided the only thing for it would be to go to Leicester Square, where the stars would be coming to watch the movie after the main Trafalgar Square event had taken place.

So we headed to Leicester Square where it poured down again. We were turned away from the small Odeon at Leicester Square and told in no uncertain terms that it "was not a waiting area!" We then took shelter again under the hood of the Empire cinema and again waited for the rain to subside. When it eventually did we decided to head to MacDonalds and attempt to dry off. 

Eventually, around 2pm, we found an available spot outside the big Odeon in Leicester Square and stood our ground. We were pushed and pulled in all directions as the barriers were put in place but somehow found ourselves on the barrier. 

And then began the wait. The enclosed area that contained us filled up. Ladders were put up to fix bulbs, vans were moved, people walking through Leicester Square were diverted and the red carpet was rolled out before our very eyes.

Some 5 hours later, an hour after I'd read on Twitter that the stars had started to arrive at Trafalgar Square, the D list celebrities started to filter their way through. We saw Alexandra Burke, Lorraine Kelly and Peaches Geldof. Oh and the boys from McFly and Graham Norton, who were lovely and signed for everyone.

  

And then finally another hour after that we got the Potter people and the A listers!

Clemence Poesy ~ Fleur Delacour

David Bradley ~ Argus Filch

Ciaran Hinds ~ Aberforth Dumbledore

Helen McCrory ~ Narcissa Malfoy (and real life hubby Damian Lewis) 

X-Men First Class actor Nicholas Hoult

Devon Murray ~ Seamus Finnigan

Timothy Spall ~ Peter Petigrew & David Thewlis ~ Remus Lupin

Robbie Coltrane ~ Rubeus Hagrid & Warwick Davis ~ Professor Flitwick

The gorgeous, sweet and ever so kind Evanna Lynch ~ Luna Lovegood

I must just take a moment to say that I am a little bit in love with Miss Lynch. Not only did she sign for EVERYONE, and I really mean EVERYONE, she was so sweet too! She signed my picture and the picture I was holding for my friend and when I said thank you for doing that she replied "Oh it's no problem" in that cheerful Irish accent of hers. I always loved Luna but now I know how sweet Evanna is I love her a little bit more.

Helena Bonham Carter ~ Bellatrix Lestrange & Ralph Fiennes ~ Lord Voldemort

I was lucky enough to get Mr Fiennes signature as he walked past, he must have taken a liking to the photo I was holding out as he didn't sign for anyone else near me. Helena managed to sneak in and we only saw her when she made a brief appearance on the balcony.

And last but by no means least was...

Rupert Grint ~ Ron Weasley

Rupert was the last to arrive and unfortunately for us, was so late he had to go straight in to the film. So all we got was this semi burry photo of him dashing off.

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and Emma Watson (Hermione) went to the small Odeon and the Empire respectively, so we didn't see them at all.

But all in all it was a good day, we saw lots of famous people, got two of the best signatures we could have and were part of the final Harry Potter premiere!!!

Below are some videos that were taken in Trafalgar Square so you can see what we missed and a nice look behind the scenes of the last day of shooting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. 

Premiere Highlights

Emma, Daniel, Rupert and JK's Speech

Last Day of Shooting

And finally, here is a link to Empire Magazines 25 best Harry Potter characters:
http://www.empireonline.com/features/greatest-harry-potter-characters/?WT.dcsvid=SilverpopMailing&WT.mc_id=071511%20newsletter%20(1)

I hope you enjoyed the insight into our Harry Potter premiere day! Head over to my film review blog for a review of every Harry Potter film, starting with Philosophers Stone and ending with Deathly Hallows Part 2...


*Special thanks to Blair Holmes for the use of some of his spectacular photo's, listening to my constant moaning about being cold and wet and for the always amazing egg mayo rolls!*

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/

Two things bode well for this, the final film of the Harry Potter series. The first stroke of luck was that the bus I caught to go the cinema was named after famous Brightonian Sir Harry Preston. Harry being a good omen for obvious reasons and Preston being a good omen for me as I come from Preston. 

The second fortuitous discovery is that this is my 50th review. So it seems a celebration is in order for me and Mr Potter.

Shall I get on with it then? Very well. The final Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows Part 2, opens very sadly with the burial of the character who died at the end of  Deathly Hallows Part 1. So get your tissues ready from the off! From there Harry, Hermione and Ron break into Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts Bank to find out if that is the location of another of Voldemort's horcruxes. In the mean time, Voldemort himself is gathering his troops and planning an attack on Hogwarts. Which as fate would have it, is exactly where Harry and co must now return.

There isn't an awful lot I can say about this, the final chapter, for fear of spoiling it for those who haven't read the books. What I will say is that this is a fitting end to an incredible series which has become so dear to both adults and children. I felt very lucky to see it with an appreciative audience who clapped at the opening credits, cheered at several points during the film, sniffled their way through the sad parts and ultimately did not want to see our involvement in the lives of these characters come to an end.

When I first saw Deathly Hallows Part 1 I was convinced that I would not be sad when the end came as I wasn't that attached to these films or characters. But what a week it has been, I've seen them grow up, fall in love, battle the most hideous evil and become the dearest friends anyone could ask for. I'm not ashamed to say that I shed more than a few tears watching Part 2.

I will end this review in the words of Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, at the recent World Premier of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2: "Each and every person, not only in this square but also watching around the world, who will see this film and who have followed these films over the last 10 years, will carry this story with them through the rest of their lives and it will effect what they do."

Couldn't have put it better myself. 8.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 15th July 2011 

UK Release Date - 15th July 2011

Cast Overview:

Daniel Radcliffe ~ Harry Potter

Rupert Grint ~ Ron Weasley

Emma Watson ~ Hermione Granger

Matthew Lewis ~ Neville Longbottom

Evanna Lynch ~ Luna Lovegood

Tom Felton ~ Draco Malfoy

Devon Murray ~ Seamus Finnigan

Freddie Stroma ~ Cormac McLaggen

Jessie Cave ~ Lavender Brown

Katie Leung ~ Cho Chang

Chris Rankin ~ Percy Weasley

James Phelps ~ Fred Weasley

Oliver Phelps ~ George Weasley

Domhnall Gleeson ~ Bill Weasley

Clemence Poesy ~ Fleur Delacour

Bonnie Wright ~ Ginny Weasley

Julie Walters ~ Molly Weasley

Mark Williams ~ Arthur Weasley

Kelly MacDonald ~ Helena Ravenclaw

Helena Bonham Carter ~ Bellatrix Lestrange

Ralph Fiennes ~ Lord Voldemort

Jason Isaacs ~ Lucius Malfoy

Helen McCrory ~ Narcissa Malfoy

Ciaran Hinds ~ Aberforth Dumbledore

Michael Gambon ~ Professor Albus Dumbledore

Maggie Smith ~ Professor Minerva McGonagall

Jim Broadbent ~ Professor Horace Slughorn

Alan Rickman ~ Professor Severus Snape

Warwick Davis ~ Professor Filius Flitwick / Griphook

Miriam Margolyes ~ Professor Pomona Sprout

Emma Thompson ~ Professor Sybil Trelawney

Gemma Jones ~ Madam Pomfrey

George Harris ~ Kingsley Shacklebolt

Gary Oldman ~ Sirius Black

David Thewlis ~ Remus Lupin

Natalia Tena ~ Nymphadora Tonks

Robbie Coltrane ~ Rubeus Hagrid

John Hurt ~ Mr Ollivander

David Bradley ~ Argus Filch

Director ~ David Yates

Writer(s) ~ J.K. Rowling (Novel) and Steve Kloves (Screenplay)

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/

Well my dear readers, we've reached the penultimate Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows Part 1. The week of Potter watching and reviewing is drawing to a close.

And what a way to bow out, with the final book split into two films, we begin the end with an attempt to conceal Harry from the dark lord. This is done by turning several of his friends into versions of himself while the real Harry is transported away from Privet Drive to the safety of the Weasley house, The Burrows. Some are injured during this dangerous task, others don't make it back alive. Feeling guilty about those he cares about putting their neck on the line for him, Harry leaves, in search of the Horcrux's in which Voldemort has concealed pieces of his soul. With Ron and Hermione along for the ride, Harry discovers the location of one of the Horcrux's. But the hard part is finding out how to destroy it. As if that wasn't hard enough, Harry and co must find a way to keep the Horcrux safe whilst also keeping themselves at a distance from the dark magic it possesses.

The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is (or rather was until this week) the only Harry Potter film I have seen at the cinema more than once. And if I'm honest I don't really know why. Before the backlash starts I will clarify. It's not that I don't like Deathly Hallows Part 1, it's just that I don't see anything that particularly sets it apart from the other Potter's. It's not my favourite, and probably not my second favourite. And yet I saw it twice at the cinema.

But unlike some other Potter's, and like last night's Half-Blood Prince, I haven't seen this film since I saw it at the cinema. But as I did see it twice, and more recently than Half-Blood Prince, there were no surprises. 

Though I did forget (until about half way through) about the animated scene which tells the story of the deathly hallows. For those who haven't seen the film, I have included a link to it below. It won't spoil anything so feel free to watch. It's a lovely little animated scene and one which I thoroughly enjoy whenever I see it.

Funnily, the main thing I tend to remember about The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is the fact that they spend a lot of time camping, with Ron in a grump. I forget the early scenes with a Weasley wedding and breaking into the Ministry of Magic. Or the end scenes with Dobby at the Malfoy residence. But I think I block those out because they're so very very sad. 

Not the cheeriest Potter but a thumping good way to set up Part 2 all the same. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 14th July 2011 

UK Release Date - 19th November 2010

Cast Overview:

Daniel Radcliffe ~ Harry Potter

Rupert Grint ~ Ron Weasley

Emma Watson ~ Hermione Granger

Matthew Lewis ~ Neville Longbottom

Evanna Lynch ~ Luna Lovegood

Tom Felton ~ Draco Malfoy

Devon Murray ~ Seamus Finnigan

Freddie Stroma ~ Cormac McLaggen

James Phelps ~ Fred Weasley

Oliver Phelps ~ George Weasley

Domhnall Gleeson ~ Bill Weasley

Clemence Poesy ~ Fleur Delacour

Bonnie Wright ~ Ginny Weasley

Julie Walters ~ Molly Weasley

Mark Williams ~ Arthur Weasley

Rhys Ifans ~ Xenophilius Lovegood

Helena Bonham Carter ~ Bellatrix Lestrange

Ralph Fiennes ~ Lord Voldemort

Jason Isaacs ~ Lucius Malfoy

Helen McCrory ~ Narcissa Malfoy

Timothy Spall ~ Wormtail

Fiona Shaw ~ Aunt Petunia Dursley

Richard Griffiths ~ Uncle Vernon Dursley

Harry Melling ~ Dudley Dursley

Michael Gambon ~ Professor Albus Dumbledore

Alan Rickman ~ Professor Severus Snape

Bill Nighy ~ Minister Rufus Scrimgeour

George Harris ~ Kingsley Shacklebolt

Imelda Staunton ~ Dolores Umbridge

Brendan Gleeson ~ Professor Alastor 'Mad Eye' Moody

David Thewlis ~ Professor Remus Lupin

Natalia Tena ~ Nymphadora Tonks

Robbie Coltrane ~ Rubeus Hagrid

John Hurt ~ Mr Ollivander

David Bradley ~ Argus Filch

Director ~ David Yates

Writer(s) ~ J.K. Rowling (Novel) and Steve Kloves (Screenplay)

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/

Well they say time flies when you're having fun. It seems it whizzes by even quicker when you have a full time job and spend all your free time watching or reviewing Harry Potter films. Which is exactly what I have been doing all week.

Tonight was the turn of the sixth film in the series, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince. **Note that the below synopsis contains spoilers of the previous film!**

Following the murder of Sirius Black, the Ministry of Magic is forced to accept that the dark lord is indeed back. Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts but find it a much changed and graver place than when they left. Harry accompanies Dumbledore as he re-recruits an old Hogwarts teacher, Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent), and soon finds that Dumbledore has a mission in store for him. He wants Harry to find out what Professor Slughorn remembers about the time he taught Tom Riddle. Ron gets onto the Quidditch team and bags himself a girlfriend, which forces Hermione to confront her feelings for him. And Harry and Ginny finally share their first kiss. So it's all going to end happily this year, right? Wrong! But I shall say no more in case one of the five people in the world who haven't seen Harry Potter or read the books happens to be reading this.

I hadn't seen this Harry Potter film since I saw it at the cinema two years ago (terrible behaviour really as I do own the DVD). But if anything, the lack of time spent with this film only made it more enjoyable to watch it again, as some parts I couldn't remember at all. Meaning it was almost like seeing a new film. One with lots of surprises. 

And one of the things that surprised me most was how much I really like Half-Blood Prince. I didn't remember liking it as much last time around. Not that I disliked it of course, I just couldn't remember having as much of a connection to it as I did tonight. Without spoiling, all I will say is that I was very teary at the end. Something I definitely wasn't when I saw this two years ago. Maybe it's how close I feel I've grown to these characters in the last few days. Watching them every night for a week I do now feel that I know them all very intimately.

The other thing that struck me was how much comedy there is in this one despite how dark it's all becoming. Don't get me wrong, there are moments in this film that are so very sad and even moments that show true evil, but in spite of this, there are still moments of joy and laughter. And without those moments - Luna dressed as a Lion and (practically) a Christmas tree in the same film, Ron's disaster with a love potion, Hermione's incredulity over Harry being better at a class than she is - this would be a film which is full of nothing but darkness and despair. And no-one wants to sit through 3 hours of that.

To an outsider this is a series of books and films about a boy wizard and his nemesis. Yet to those who've read the books and seen the films, it's a story of friendships forged and fierce loyalties. The enduring love and support the characters provide each other is what truly shines through. This is what makes this one of the most cherished literary works of our time.

Possibly my second favourite Potter. Up to now anyway. 9 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 13th July 2011 

UK Release Date - 15th July 2009

Cast Overview:

Daniel Radcliffe ~ Harry Potter

Rupert Grint ~ Ron Weasley

Emma Watson ~ Hermione Granger

Matthew Lewis ~ Neville Longbottom

Evanna Lynch ~ Luna Lovegood

Tom Felton ~ Draco Malfoy

Devon Murray ~ Seamus Finnigan

Freddie Stroma ~ Cormac McLaggen

Jessie Cave ~ Lavender Brown

James Phelps ~ Fred Weasley

Oliver Phelps ~ George Weasley

Bonnie Wright ~ Ginny Weasley

Julie Walters ~ Molly Weasley

Mark Williams ~ Arthur Weasley

Helena Bonham Carter ~ Bellatrix Lestrange

Helen McCrory ~ Narcissa Malfoy

Timothy Spall ~ Wormtail

Michael Gambon ~ Professor Albus Dumbledore

Maggie Smith ~ Professor Minerva McGonagall

Alan Rickman ~ Professor Severus Snape

Jim Broadbent ~ Professor Horace Slughorn

Warwick Davis ~ Professor Filius Flitwick

David Thewlis ~ Professor Remus Lupin

Natalia Tena ~ Nymphadora Tonks

Robbie Coltrane ~ Rubeus Hagrid

David Bradley ~ Argus Filch

Director ~ David Yates

Writer(s) ~ J.K. Rowling (Novel) and Steve Kloves (Screenplay)