Rumah Kecil

Thomas Sangster, Steven Spielberg's new Tintin

For those who remember, he was the young boy who gets the girl in the film Love Actually. For those who don't, Thomas Sangster may yet become a household name. The teenager from south London, according to the  Guardian , has been chosen by Steven Spielberg to be his Tintin for a three-movie adaptation of the boy reporter's adventures.

The Tintin trilogy is likely to give the 17-year-old the same profile as Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, or Elijah Wood, who shot to international stardom as Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings series.

Blistering barnacles!

*the Guardian

Emma Watson, the Next Keira Knightley?

I just watched Ballet Shoes on BBC One starring Emma Watson as Pauline, one of the main characters on the BBC adaptation of Noel Streatfield's classic novel, Ballet Shoes.

We all became aware of her eight years ago when she was cast as Hermione Granger in the first Harry Potter film, and it has gone on since then.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the first review

Leo Lewis at Virgin Cinema Roppongi Hills, Tokyo (the Times)

With searchlights blazing hundreds of metres into the night sky, neon blistering everywhere and a battery of digital cameras capturing every second, the most ultra-modern city on earth seems a million miles from the forbidding stone walls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But it was here last night in Tokyo that the world was led back – with a good dose of Hollywood razzmatazz – into the realm of magic and given its first glimpse of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: the film that sees the boy wizard growing up to face the dreadful truth of his destiny.

Harry Potter theme park

Masuk ke sekolah Hogward, naik kereta api Hogward express atau berkunjung ke Hogmeade selama ini hanya ada pada khayalan para pencinta Harry Potter. Namun pada 2009 nanti, bisa jadi apa yang selama ini hanya angan-angan akan terwujud. Mind you, Harry Potter ternyata tidak tinggal di Inggris melainkan di Amerika.

Setelah selama ini tertutup rapat, kemarin diumumkan akan dibuka The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter di  Universal Orlando Resort, Florida tahun 2009. Ya, di Florida, bukan di Skotlandia.

Them park ini, katanya, akan 'menghidupkan' dunia Harry Potter ke alam nyata.

Is Hermione too pretty?

Klik to see the trailer of the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Kemarin (Minggu, 6 Nov) adalah pemutaran perdana (premiere)untuk kawasan Eropa Film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Seperti biasa, tanpa menghiraukan horrible London weather, the Potter fans memadati Leicester Square, London.

Termasuk juga Madonna dan anak perempuanya Lourdes.

Kali ini saya tidak ke sana. Well, bahkan lupa kalau kemarin adalah premiere Harry Potter latest film.

Alasannya, selain masih sibuk menghadiri berbagai undangan Open House Lebaran. Juga karena saya masih in shock (karena kecewa) dengan the latest Harry Potter book, the Half-Blood Prince.

Saya, yang karena mudik ke Indonesia, baru membaca the Half-Blood Prince dua bulan setelah peluncuran. Namun begitu, seperti 5 buku Harry Potter sebelumnya saya selesaikan dalam waktu 24 jam.

Selain memang penyakit jelek saya yang tidak bisa melepas buku jika belum selesai, otherwise tidak akan konsentrasi melakukan other things. Juga  karena saya baru punya waktu untuk membacanya beberapa hari menjelang Ramadan.

Dan saya tidak mau rasa penasaran  mengganggu upaya memperbaiki Ramadan saya  dan akan tergoda untuk membacanya di bulan Ramadan. There are so many things better to do during Ramadan than reading Harry Potter book.

"Is it  good?" tanya suami. "Just don't read it?" jawab saya singkat. (I am still in shock, until now and rather not to talk about the half-blood prince)

So, lets back to the latest Harry Potter film.

Disutradarai Mike Newell, The Goblet of Fire mengukuhkan kekhawatiran fans buku Harry Potter di Inggris, yaitu: pemeran tokoh-tokoh  film menjadi terlalu tua.

Do you know that he's 18?" said Billie Morgan, 13, from Muswell Hill merujuk pada Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy).  she and her friends Puja Raithatha and Umanda De Thabrew agreed that at 16 years old, Radcliffe was an inappropriate love interest for the 14-year-old playing Ginny Weasley. "Definitely creepy," said Billie. ( Laporan the Guardian dari Premiere Goblet of Fire)

Satu lagi ketidaknyamanan fans di Inggris terhadap film Harry Potter adalah karena Hermione Granger terlalu cantik dibanding deskripsi di bukunya.

The Goblet of Fire adalah saat dimana, The golden age of innocence at Hogwarts is over, ketika Harry and co mulai mengenal love.

Saya sendiri tengah bingung bagaimana menyiasati menonton the Goblet of Fire, karena Kirana yang trauma dengan Dementor di Prisoner of Azkaban " It's scary, Mummy",  menolak untuk saya ajak nonton bareng.

Tapi dengan adanya love story di the Goblet of Fire , saya beruntung dengan penolakan Kirana.

Tidak salah, kalau film Harry Potter itu di UK ber-rating PG (Parental  Guidance - General Viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.)

Sepertinya, saya akan menonton bergantian dengan suami. Karena kalau menunggu DVD-nya, baru tiga bulan lagi keluar( sorry, we don't do bajakan).. Mana tahan!

Who's who in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire:

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe)
It's a new school year and our hormonal hero returns to Hogwarts to face new coursework, fresh challenges, and viler foes. Thank heavens he's got...

Hermione Granger (Emma Watson)

... the pal who takes swotting to new lengths...

Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint)
... and the one who doesn't, but is steadfastly loyal.

Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)
Harry's glad to see his headmaster, even if Dumbledore has a grim warning for him..

Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane)
... and the groundsman and Care of Magical Creatures tutor, who lurches from one scrape to another...

Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton)
... but a lot less happy to face his old nemesis...

Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson)
... a poisonous reporter from the Daily Prophet...

Severus Snape (Alan Rickman)
... and the Potions master he's never quite sure about.

The Goblet of Fire
But soon, everything becomes secondary when the Triwizard tournament is held at Hogwarts, and the Goblet picks Harry to be the youngest contestant ever...
Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson)
... alongside the popular Hogwarts prefect..

Fleur Delacour (Clemence Poesy)
... the haughty and beautiful champion from Beauxbatons Academy..

Viktor Krum (Stanislav Lanevski)
... and the Bulgarian Quidditch seeker from the Durmstrang Institute.

Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody (Brendan Gleeson)
How will Harry fare at Defence of the Dark Arts under the new master...

Cho Chang (Katie Leung)
... and will he ever find the time, or the courage, to ask Cho to the Yule Ball?

***Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will be release in the UK on 18 November 2005

(picture taken from the Guardian and the times)

The Light Sabre is On

It all began so simply, in the summer of 1977: darkness, stars, a rolling screed dear to so many adolescent hearts.

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.."

Setelah 28 tahun, as cinema's most beloved and lucrative sci-fi saga, Star Wars concludes with the release of Revenge of the Sith.

It is not just the titles that have grown a little more tangled, not to mention verbose. "War!" the opening crawl declares.

"The republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith lord Count Dooku. In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine.."

The premiere of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, malam ini di London, diawali dengan a day of Star Wars themed events, parade Storm Troopers, diteruskan dengan the world's first "marathon" showing of all six films.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform the Star Wars score in Leicester Square gardens, and Christopher Lee (pemeran Count Dooku) and Anthony Daniels (the droid C-3PO) yang tampil dalam keenam film Star Wars, akan tampil di panggung to answer questions from members of the public.

Tickets for the six screenings sold out dalam lima menit, namun fans yang tidak kebagian tiket tetap datang awal untuk mendapatkan prime star-spotting spots for this evening's event.

Pada 1977 George Lucas's Star Wars offered audiences a dazzling glimpse of something old and something new: timeless derring-do combined with futuristic marvels.

Dilanjutkan dengan dua sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), Star wars menjadi The most cherished and money-spinning trilogy in history.t 

Pada 1999, setelah absen 16 tahun, Lucas meluncurkan another trilogy yang di re-titled Episode IV: A New Hope. Meskipun lebih populer (in box-office terms) , Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) banyak dikritik oleh kritikus maupun die hard fans.

Was the Force no longer with him?

Stars Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, disebut sebagai the missing link between the prequels and the originals.

And for the central --and darkest --act of his galactic morality play, Lucas has an ace of spades up his sleeve. An ace cloaked in black and measuring 6ft 6in (2m) from helmeted head to jackbooted toe.

Yes, Darth Vader is back.