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Voldy’s gone moldy so let’s have some fun!
That’s right, kiddos. Harry Potter came out last night. If you have friends like I do then you’d see your Facebook news feed swamped with notifications that people were changing their profile pictures to various Harry Potter characters. To be fair, so was I. I’ll keep my default as Harry for a couple days longer, I think.
...the resemblance is there. Really.
I’m sure everyone on the internet is dying for my review of HP7, because I’m sure they don’t have enough other reviews to look on. Here’s the thing though, my internet amigos: reading this review is scientifically proven to make you a more attractive person. Go ahead and do a before and after shot in the mirror and you will notice a difference. I guarantee it.
Science says so!
Oh, PS: spoiler alert. You’ve been warned.
Onwards to the actual review. The movie itself seemed shorter than the others, especially compared to Part 1. That may be because the climax was reached within the first half hour or so. The only buildup seemed to be the break-in and subsequent escape from Gringotts. After that the trio of teenage wizard heros arrives at Hogwarts, which of course the climax of the movie.
I think the actual battle for Hogwarts was pretty well done. I wasn’t able to take the dome shield part seriously, though, because it reminded me too much of a similar shield employed by the Gungans in Star Wars, Episode I. I kept expecting Voldemort to send in the battle droids. I’m sorry if you have no idea what I’m talking about. Actually I’m not sorry. Episode I was terrible. Don’t watch it. But I’m reviewing the wrong movie here.
Trivia - "In what way is this creature similar to Professor McGonagall?"
Anyways. I do think that Snape’s redemption was extremely well done. The montage of memories was believable and touching and I think that it showed the love that Snape had for Lily, even for people who didn’t read the book, enough so that the rest of the memories made sense.
My last gripe is that, when Voldemort actually died, the movie seemed to have lost all of its steam. The death seemed totally anticlimactic. There was no massive battle in the Great Hall (that they seemed to show much of), no swarms of House Elves attacking Death Eaters (I was super bummed), and I think that Molly Weasley’s duel with Bellatrix was too short. I was also bummed that Peeves played no part in the battle and that Hagrid had about five minutes of screen time.
Still though. I think it was a good way to end the series, even if it would be hard to mess such an action-packed section of the book up. I’ll give it 8.5 stars out of 10.
See? Now go look in the mirror. More attractive. Told you.
Dark and unique: Kamelot, Poetry for the Poisoned
Remember when artists would create an album with the whole creation in mind, rather than just a collection of singles and rehashed garbage? Kamelot sure does.
If you’ve never heard of Kamelot here’s a little background info: they’re a power metal band originally from Florida that broke onto a music scene traditionally dominated by European bands. Poetry for the Poisoned (2010) is their ninth studio album.
Enough background information, on to the music.
Here’s fair warning: depressing album ahead. That is not to say it isn’t amazingly well done; it just means you may need a chaser of sunshine and adorable animals afterwards.
The entire album is a step towards darker music, even following up their last studio album, Ghost Opera. The entire album deals with the apparent absurdness of life and human mortality (obviously the band had woken up on the wrong side of the bed during recording). Woven in is the story of the Zodiac killer, with one of the tracks being an audio rendition of the Zodiac’s famous Letter to the Editor (“Dear Editor, this is the Zodiac speaking”). Near the end of the album is the four part Poetry for the Poisoned epic, featuring guest singer Simone Simmons of Epica. All in all, a very dark, very haunting album.
The first memorable track is also the first track on the album, The Great Pandemonium. This song starts the album off right with a driving beat and melody and Roy Khan’s haunting vocals singing lyrics that have something of an atheistic feel to them, with such lines like “I spoke to God but he wasn’t there” and “One more day by the pits of hell.” It sets the mood for the rest of the album very nicely.
Also memorable is the “Dear Editor/The Zodiac” track pairing. Drawing inspiration off of the infamous Zodiac Killer, the song explores the motivation behind the killings, with Khan asking “She was so kind to me/And I could not resist it/But don’t we all want to be God?” The Zodiac killer is of course famous for his apparent love over the life and death of another. What a creepy dude.
Probably my favorite track on the album is “House on a Hill,” partly because of the guest appearance of vocalist Simone Simmons. Her and Khan together are unmatched as a power metal duet, especially in a ballad like this one.
If you don’t think you want to start off your Kamelot experience on such a depressing note I would suggest checking out their earlier albums, particularly Epica and The Fourth Legacy. Until next time…rock on. \m/
