# It's a Harry Potter weekend **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706 "2010-09-05T19:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/1 "2010-09-05T19:37:15Z")
I haven’t watched any _Harry Potter_ movies in a couple/few years (except for _Half-Blood Prince_, which I saw last year). The weather is cool, and it’s quiet. Why not watch all of the films? Last night I watched _Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone_ (had to use the PAL deck for that), and _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_. I’ve got _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_ playing now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/2 "2010-09-05T23:57:47Z")
_Prisoner of Azkaban_ was, I thought, the best job of filmmaking among them. The first two were short enough that they could adapt them pretty much completely faithfully, which made for good films, but doesn’t really reflect on the director. The third one, though, they had to make a lot of cuts to fit it in, but they did it cleverly and artfully. And by the fourth one, they were just cutting so much that it wasn’t even worth bothering any more. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/3 "2010-09-05T23:58:32Z")
I’d say Azkaban and Half-blood Prince are more or less tied for the best ones. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/4 "2010-09-06T01:12:39Z")
_The Prisoner of Azkaban_ is my favorite of the films by far. It does the best job of storytelling and has the best visual style of the bunch. It also helps that the main characters have matured enough at that point to be more relatable, and the actors portraying them have matured enough to be better actors. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/5 "2010-09-06T02:17:29Z")
PoA is my favorite in the series; book and movie. Half-Blood Prince runs a very close second… the book, not the movie. The movie was terribly disappointing. I’m currently rereading Deathly Hallows, before the movie comes out in November. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/6 "2010-09-06T02:25:31Z")
I know there’s no way they can incorporate the entire book into a movie; but it is disappointing when you’re looking forward to seeing a certain storyline and then it isn’t even mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/7 "2010-09-06T02:32:45Z")
Funny, I went on a Potter tear over the last two weeks and reread all seven books, finishing the Deathly Hallows at around 2AM this morning. And while I realize the series has flaws, going through it again reminded me of what an amazing job Rowling did, in particular the way she pulled together a lot of loose questions at the very end. It’s really an impressive accomplishment. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-harry-potter-weekend/552706/8 "2010-09-06T02:37:18Z")
I’m watching _Order of the Phoenix_ (or ‘Po-ho-nix’, as I like to say). The funny thing about this story is that a VP at a former employer was exactly like Dolores Umbridge. Or should I say, when I read about Dolores Umbridge this VP was the first person to come to mind. Seriously. Everyone hated her, except for her toadies.