Living With a Nerd

There was a point in the history of the English language where insults weren’t relegated to mere 4 letter words.  Where a man’s mind and tongue were as essential a weapon as his side pistol and verbal jab was just as powerful as a literal one.  Here are just a few examples.

*The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: *
She said, “If you were my husband I’d give you poison.”
He said, “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: “Sir, you will either die on the
gallows or of some unspeakable disease.”
“That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “whether I embrace your policies or
your mistress.”

“He had delusions of adequacy.” - Walter Kerr

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” - Winston Churchill

“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great
pleasure.”  - Clarence Darrow

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the
dictionary.” - William Faulkner(about Ernest Hemingway).

“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time
reading it.” - Moses Hadas

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved
of it.” - Mark Twain

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends..” - Oscar Wilde

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a
friend…. if you have one.” - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second…. if there is
one.” - Winston Churchill, in response.

“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like having you here.” - Stephen Bishop

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” - John Bright

“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.” - Irvin S. Cobb

“He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson

“He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.” - Paul Keating **

“In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.” - Charles, Count Talleyrand

“He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” - Forrest Tucker

“Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on
it?” - Mark Twain

“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” - Mae West

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go..” - Oscar Wilde

“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts… for support
rather than illumination.” - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

“He has Van Gogh’s ear for music.” - Billy Wilder

“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening.  But this wasn’t it.” - Groucho Marx

While I’ve never been a rabid fan of the Harry Potter series, I have enjoyed the movies on a nerdy and purely entertainment level.  The storyline never sucked me in, but I do appreciate it’s complexity and originality.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a fantastic movie.  I’m not sure I would agree with critics in that it is the best one, but it certainly ranks up there.  Having never read all the books and having never seen Order of the Phoenix, there was quite a bit I was confused about.  Luckily, it seems to be one of those movies where if you don’t understand everything going in, they give you just enough info for you to figure it out on your own.

Once again, the cast steals the show; the actors aren’t just acting out characters, they ARE these characters.  In a very wise move, it appears that most of the young actors who play major roles are all talking about leaving the world of film after Deathly Hallows has been completed.  I’m not sure what the others are doing, but Emma Watson (who plays Hermione) says she plans to go to Brown University.  I personally applaud them in this decision…they are young, they have made millions of dollars (and thanks to royalties will continue to do so for a long, long time) and they have no real need or reason to get mixed up in the soul-sucking entity known as Hollywood.

In a way, I looked at this movie the way I see a Zatoichi movie: it was slow-paced, not a lot of action going on, and if it was any other storyline you would likely be bored.  Somehow, the two and a half hour run time seems to last half of that, and at no point did I think “ugh…is it over?” (I’m looking at you, Return of the King.  Awesome movie, but you don’t have to end 5 times.  Just end once.  Thanks.)  The special effects did their job, although the Potter brand of CGI is definitely CGI in its appearance. 

A bit surprisingly, there were a couple of scenes that could have been interpreted as passively homo-erotic.  Given the publicity a year or two ago to Dumbledore’s sexuality, this was unexpected.  I’m not sure if these scenes were never interpreted that way, and it was just my horrid mentality creeping in and ruining things…or if the scenes really did have (very) slight homo-erotic overtones.  In any event, it does not matter; this only applies to a couple of scenes, most of them right at the beginning.

Overall, if you enjoy Harry Potter in any capacity, you should definitely make it a point to see this movie on the big screen.  Many scenes take advantage of the size, and with the number of people on screen in certain scenes, having everything appear bigger ensures you don’t miss small details.  Buckle down, put up the cash for a ticket, and make an afternoon out of it.  Overall, an 8/10.