I didn't have time for substantive blogging this week, but here's an interesting idea: list your favorite Harry Potter books and movies in order of most to least favorite, and tell us why. My lists:
HP Books
1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) - Must I explain?
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) - The book is thick, the plot is complex. I loved the introduction of foreign wizards and admired J.K. Rowling's skill at making me feel just as nervous as Harry before each tournament task. The Voldemort-is-back hype was very cool, and international Quidditch star Viktor Krum's totally unexpected crush on the bookworm-ish Hermione was classic.
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - I was torn between this book and Order of the Phoenix as third favorite, but I chose this one because it introduced pivotal characters: Sirius Black (although briefly mentioned in Book 1), Remus Lupin, and…Buckbeak. 
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5)- The "dark" Harry was intriguing, and his impulsiveness and stubbornness, which contributed to his godfather's death, were frighteningly interesting. And that mysterious prophecy…
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) - The first Harry Potter book is short, tightly plotted, and sets the stage for our favorite boy wizard's coming-of-age journey in a new world. I was disappointed that the American publisher changed the title from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone because he thought American kids wouldn't read a book with the word "philosopher" in the title. Rowling has some serious alchemical symbolism going on, and some of it is missed because of the initial title change.
Additionally, the word sorcerer in the title is what initially riled up Christians. Perhaps the reaction would have been less fierce if…well, no point in dwelling on it now.
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - (Book 2) Why is this book last on the list? Well, some of the excitement about the first book wore off. Also, I didn't like the "petrified" storyline at all.
HP Movies
1. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (Movie 3)- This was a beautiful movie visually, and the soundtrack was excellent.
2. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (Movie 1) - You've probably heard this story before. I was an anti-Harry Potter person who watched the ABC premiere of this movie to find out what all the fuss was about. (Also see Part II) An hour into it, I was hooked. 
3. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (Movie 4) - I saw this movie only once, and I have a feeling I'll it enjoy more the second time around. Why? I went to see it with someone who's never read a Harry Potter book or seen a Harry Potter movie. Although the person said it wasn't necessary, I felt compelled to explain certain scenes and what the movie left out. In other words, I talked too much during the movie.
Director Mike Newell, bless his heart, did his best but left out too much stuff! I think I feel this way because "Goblet of Fire" was the first HP movie I saw after reading the books. With the first three movies, I hadn't read any of the books, so I was unaware of what was left out.
4. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (Movie 2) - The "petrified" subplot was even worse onscreen! And that snake. Gross. But the actor playing Tom Riddle was cute, wasn't he? And the scene with the car and the Whomping Willow was hilarious. And so was Kenneth Branagh as Gilderoy Lockhart.
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January 13th, 2006 at 6:52 am
I don't really have reasons for these, other than the general impression I got from the book/movie.
Books:
1) The Goblet of Fire
2) Order of the Phoenix
3) Half-Blood Prince/Prisoner of Azkaban
5) Sorcerer's Stone
6) Chamber of Secrets–this is the book that I came the closest to disliked, although I still really enjoyed it. It just didn't interest me as the others. I don't know why.
Movies:
1) Azkaban
2) Goblet of Fire–This would have been top of the list, but they cut out so many good parts and kept so many extraneous parts. It's not that the movie was bad, they just left too much out–kind of like looking at a beautiful photograph through a piece of Swiss Cheese. If that makes sense. I was also unhappy that they gave Snape such a bit part. He's one of my favorite characters.
3) Sorcerer's Stone
4) Chamber of Secrets–not a well-done movie. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, so I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't love it.
January 13th, 2006 at 9:26 am
Books:
1 - Sorcerer's Stone
2 - Goblet of Fire
3 - Prisoner of Azkaban
4 - Chamber of Secrets
5 - Order of the Phoenix
6 - Half-Blood Prince
Movies:
(All superseded by Jim Dale.)
I'm still perplexed and highly annoyed by the change from 'Philosopher' to 'Sorcerer'. I mean, there is *no* Sorcerer's Stone. Historically it's called the 'Philosopher's Stone', and was the goal of alchemy. That's a pretty big detail.
I'm guessing that most of Harry Potter fans (myself included) don't catch even one fourth of the allusions she makes to history, mythology, and the like.
January 13th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
I am not sure that I can make a list, but I can tell you that I just finished Book Six — The Half Blood Prince and absolutely loved it. As a Christian, I find it very moving that the books' recurring theme is that only love is strong enough to successfully and completely combat evil. I can't wait for Boox 7!!
As for movies, I have enjoyed them all except the most recent one. I thought the book was so terrific — suspenseful, original, complex — and the movie just didn't do it justice.
January 13th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
Books:
1. Half-Blood Prince - brilliantly done, great plot
2. Order of the Phoenix - excellent character development; it was about time Harry started to develop some trauma from all that had happened to him
3. Goblet of Fire - quick-moving, exciting plot
4. Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Philosopher's Stone (I agree with Jared; the name change was a really bad idea)
6. Chamber of Secrets
Movies:
1. Goblet of Fire - excellent pace, best acting and cinematography yet
2. Sorcerer's Stone - very magical depiction of the very magical first book
3. Chamber of Secrets - though this is my least favorite story, I loved Branagh as Lockhart, and there's nothing cooler than the hero rescuing the girl from the evil serpent
4. Prisoner of Azkaban - just wasn't happy with this. Too much crucial stuff left out, and it's not the cinematic masterpiece that Goblet is, in my opinion.
January 13th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
Books:
1. The Half-Blood Prince (book 6)
2. Prisoner of Azkaban (book 3)
3. Order of the Phoenix (book 5)
4. Goblet of Fire (book 4)
5. Sorcerer's Stone (book 1)
6. Chamber of Secrets (book 2)
I can't rate the movies yet as I have not seen all that have been released. (Only seen 1 and 2.)
January 14th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Books:
1. The Half Blood Prince
2. The Goblet of Fire
3. The Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Order of the Phoenix
5 The Sorcerer's Stone
6. The Chamber of Secrets
Movies:
1. Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Goblet of Fire
3. Sorcerer's Stone
4. Chamber of Secrets
I have been a fan of HP from the beginning. As a Christian, I see
a lot of really good lessons in HP to teach kids: friendship, loyalty,
sacrifice, good over evil. I recommend HP to all my friends.
January 16th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
Wow. I guess I'm in the minority when it comes to the Half-Blood Prince. Was anyone else just a little disappointed in the book? For my tastes, there's no comparison with the Socerer's Stone.
I felt that HBP was lacking in detail, which is what I've come to love about Rowling's writing. My criticism of the movies is that they (by necessity) have to ignore the personal quirks and intimate moments of characters, and that's how I felt about HBP.
Maybe it's just me.
January 21st, 2006 at 5:44 pm
Chamber of Secrets had the best mystery story. As a big mystery fan, that impressed me greatly and actually made me a fan of the series.
(So the mystery plot was entirely left out of the movie. Sigh.)
January 31st, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Let's see…
Books
1. Order of the Phoenix
2. Prisoner of Azkaban
3. Goblet of Fire
4. Chamber of Secrets
5. Sorcerer's Stone
6. Half Blood Prince–but have a feeling that once I read it again, it'll be a close tie with Prisoner of Azkaban
Movies
1. GOBLET OF FIRE ALL THE WAY–gosh was it AMAZING!!!
2. Chamber of Secrets
3. Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Sorcerer's Stone
I am one of those kids that lives with a mom who would freak out if she knew that I know anything whatsoever about Harry Potter. So all of these favorites are sadly–behind her back. But she knows that I have a deep interest in meeting JK Rowling someday.
February 6th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
On the subject of movies, I noticed a like from this site to an article I found somewhat interesting, but mostly amusing, entitled "Evangelicals miss the big picture." It's about how Evangelicals (and I imagine conservative Catholics like me) should "broaden our horizons" and go to more movies, not just overtly religious ones. I agree with his point, but I would wager many Christians agree that films with themes of redemption like "Magnolia", "The Apostle" and "Crash" - all of which I've seen - can be uplifting, culturally instructive and inspire great discussions. But I would suggest Hollywood should make more decent films for normal, good people, Christian or not, to go to rather than overtly sickening ones, and then Christians wouldn't be so wary of the film industry's products.
The author is from Calvin College which has a reputation for being a liberal college with the types of people who are fairly condescending about "red-state America", embarassed by the pro-life movement, etc. Overall the article has a condescending tone to it, unless that's my obvious prejudiced reading. But I try never to be condescending when, for example, I explain to people why I think the HP books aren't evil, etc….
Oh, yes, my favorite book is "Prisoner of Azkaban" and my favorite movie is the same. Least favorite movie is the latest, "Goblet of Fire" - just too much left out, too rushed….