The new Harry Potter trailer sends chills up my spine. I know it's geeky of me; it's just that the Prisoner of Azkaban movie was so good. I wish I had more hope that this next movie will have the kind of epic scale the story deserves; now, I've never seen one of Mike Newell's movies, but there's kind of a difference between directing Julia Roberts vehicles and directing a movie with dragons in it.

Various news outlets like to make much of the HP books' adult followings - I definitely have found that, while the books have gotten shoddier and shoddier (the first one was so tightly written, almost Roald Dahl in character) my engagement with the unfolding plotline has only grown as I've gotten older. Maybe this is because I read fan fiction (get yer minds out of the gutter, people!) and have spent the time between books in the better-written, more adventurous space of Harry Potter internet. Maybe this is because the characters are getting old enough that I have sympathy with them. Certainly the actors are maturing; Emma Watson's Hermione was both nuanced and likable in PoA.

So I'm looking forward to the next movie. But while I'm on the topic (the topic of geeky and a little shallow) - Clemence Poesy as Fleur Delacour? I know shield-faced, pitifully scrawny girls are stylish among the faux-punk rock set right now, but while reading the books I was imagining Fleur more as a young Cate Blanchett and less as an old Ashley Olsen.

And by the way: dear producers: thank you for noticing circa movie 3 that Hogwarts is not populated by white people. However, Cho Chang is blonde. Yes, it confused me too, and I guess it's too late to fix it now.

That's all. We now return to your regularly-scheduled blogcast.

love,
alex

ETA: alrighty, one more geek note: I understand that this Poesy woman can play a girl six years younger than her, and I appreciate that the movie stills that have come out show her more as a young athlete and less as some sort of emaciated beauty. Still.