Harry

Saw "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" this weekend. Great movie! It's the sort of movie that I wanted the first two movies to be...dark, a little weird, funny. The wonderful thing about the books, that they didn't capture in the first two movies, is that the "magic" part is just a fun background. The stories are really about finding a place that feels like home. Maybe it is being at a far-off school where your teachers care about you, you can sit by the fire doing your homework and conspire at lunch with your best friends. Or maybe it's your best friend's home that is chaotic and crazy but somehow you blend in so well that his mom knits you sweaters with your initials on it. Maybe it's your owl.

In the first two movies, it was like "Let's all stop and look at this fantastic magical special effect." (Wow! Scary snake! Scary spider! Oooooo...Quidditch game!) In "Azkaban," I like that the magic part took a back seat to the relationships. All of the cool little effects, like a wizard's tea spoon stirring by itself or singing toads, were just quirky background candy.

Plus, the kids are truly becoming fine actors, which is a relief.

I know that I probably shouldn't care so much about this sort of thing, but I am very loyal to my little escapist worlds. The Simpsons, Harry Potter, Bloom County. Don't mess with 'em, man.