Harry Potter

Went to the drive-in on Saturday to see Ice Age 3 and the latest Harry Potter film. Had never been to a drive-in cinema before moving to Adelaide, but it's a great thing to do. It's much cheaper than the 'normal' cinema - quite an expensive family night out on any night other than cheap Tuesday - and it cost just $40 per car for the two films. The night was fairly mild, but we loaded the back of the Territory up with pillows and bedding, put the back seats flat, and arranged the four of us in various positions with reasonable views of the big screen. You then tune your radio into a particular frequency for the soundtrack, and you're away! We always take snacks and drinks with us as well, as the stuff on sale there is pretty average at best.

Ice Age 3 was great - pretty predictable, but you get what you're expecting - good animation, feel good story line, few laughs along the way. I found the Harry Potter film really disappointing though - mostly filmed in almost total darkness, or monochrome, trying to be all "arty" - and pretty hard to follow unless you've read the books. I was disappointed that there weren't any good mythological animals in this one (apart from a dead 'spidery' one), Hagrid hardly featured, and despite reading a few reviews that raved about the 'humour' in this episode, I don't think anything in it caused me to even crack a smile! I really think the makers are relying on a loyal fanbase to make the film a success, whereas as a standalone film, it would sink without a trace! Luckily DD has read the books, and was able to explain some of the more obscure bits (there were lots!) to us afterwards, although even she said there were loads of bits left out.

All in all, a bit of a disappointment.

On a completely different note, I really wish I could stop caring about this damn Ashes series: found myself feeling quite depresssed driving to work this morning, hearing that the Aussies were only 5 wickets down! It's just a game...it's just a game....I don't care... I don't care.....ohhhhhhhhhhhh I do care, I do!