Five

Five is the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be five. Hi, folks and welcome to a pentasmagoric edition of The Corner. Why all the fiveness? Two reasons. 1. We just saw the fifth Harry Potter movie, 2. (and most importantly) today is Mrs. Marius' and my fifth wedding anniversary. Hard to believe it's been five years already, and it's also hard to believe that it's only been five. That is, I'll admit, somewhat Dickensian, but not outside the realm of the believable. We've been through quite a bit since tying the knot in 'Ought-Two', but we're still going strong. I know that it took us both a while to settle in to sharing our lives, especially me since I had essentially been on my own for 30+ years, but I think we are finally used to the idea that this marriage is here to stay. I'm not quite sure what we are going to do to celebrate, but I'm sure we'll think of something.

Oh, that reminds me. Here is a vital difference between cats and dogs. Say, for example, that you are dog sitting for a friend. And that friend has a large Roman bathtub, and your wife that you haven't seen for nearly a month comes to stay the night, and in the midst of 'relaxing' together in said tub you see a pointy, red-furred face resting on the edge of the tub all wide-eyed and interested. You figure that the dog will get bored once she sees that she's being ignored and will go away. But no such luck. The dog's eyes seem to be saying, 'Whatcha doing? How 'bout now? And now? Whatcha doin now?' Kinda kills the mood. On the other hand, if you are at home, sans child, and you decide to get frisky on the couch, and you look over and see a feline face staring at you, you know that the cat is thinking, 'What on Earth are you doing? Does it involve feeding me? No? I'll be in the window, then.' Mood salvaged. I like dogs, but I love cats.


Ok, back to Harry Potter. There is a catch 22 to Order of the Phoenix. If you have not read the book, you will spend a great deal of the movie wondering who people are, and what is going on. If, however, you have read the book, and managed to retain much of the detail, then you will be frustrated by how much was left out, and how much was changed. Your best bet is to be like me. I read the book, but it was so long ago, and it was my least favorite of the bunch, that I didn't notice most of the changes, and even approve of the ones I did notice. I really liked this one. It moves quickly, it has some genuinely funny moments, and the final struggle twixt Dumbledore and Voldemort is everything a wizard battle should be. I have given up on lamenting a lack of detail since Rowling crams so much into her books that it would take a Peter Jacksonian trilogy to fully capture any one of them, but there is a disturbing lack of depth to this film. The eponymous Order are seen rarely, and never really explained, and several of the peripheral characters come and go so quickly you might not even notice they were there at all.(i.e. Percey and Ginny Weasely) But all the principals do a great job(though it does strain the willing suspension of disbelief to think of Daniel Radcliff as 14 years old), and the main villainess, Dolores Umbridge played by Imelda Staunton, is every bit the power-hungry shark in sheep's clothing. Most of the cast of professors are back, although I lament the brevity of Emma Thompson's presence in the film, and the climax is exciting and flashy, and just a tad scary. Overall I enjoyed it, but if you are a Potter purist it might just bug you too much.

Ok, off to celebrate. TTFN.

Marius

PS
That's Artemis hiding amongst the stuffed critters.