Movies
For those of you who own an iPhone or iTouch and have the new Harry Potter Spells App, Warner Bros. has recently released a new instructional video on how to cast spells.To listen to the app's creator, Nathan Feldman, teach you how to hold your wand, the correct speed, and proper casting motion, click here.
The app is available in the iTunes store and can be purchased for $4.99.
Last week, we told you about a new Harry Potter: Spells app that would be released for iPhone/iPod touch customers.Thanks to Michael, we've learned that the app is now available in the iTunes store! It can be purchased for $4.99 and features the ability to turn your iPhone/iPod touch into a wand! You can duel your friends, learn spells, and a lot more. Visit the website for the app at this link.
If you get the app, let us know what you think in the comments!
MY MINI REVIEW: At best, this app is very difficult to use. The app requires a very specific movement for each spell. I failed 30 - 40 times before I passed each one (these include the very first spells you learn where you just have to move your phone left or right).
To perform a spell, you must put your thumb on the screen, make the physical movement, and remove your thumb. Apparently you need perfect timing, orders, and physical motion to be successful.
The app would repeatedly say to me "Too fast", "Too slow", or "Try again". I can't believe how difficult it is to successfully cast just one. Maybe I'm just a bad wizard?
Don't buy the app unless you have a lot of patience and a strong arm.
"You wouldn't even know that they had made the money they have. Their parents and the people looking after them keep them grounded. They don't disappear off to their trailers in between bits, they hang around and chat like the rest of us. Those kids work really hard. I really admire them."
"Nobody's pulling rank on this one. We all have nice trailers and they all look about the same size."
Bradley notes, just like everyone else, he is sad to see the series come to a close. Thanks to Snitch Seeker!
iPhone and iPod touch users: get your new wand at the ready! Warner Brothers has just let us know about a new Harry Potter application exclusively available for the iPhone/iPod touch:"We wanted you to be one of the first to know that Harry Potter Spells - the only official Harry Potter game in the App Store - will be available starting November 16, 2009!View a trailer for the site and learn a LOT more about the app right here on its official website. The site has lots of images from the app, a FAQ page, and a features list.
The app, based on the Harry Potter films, will transform Muggles everywhere into fledgling wizards, casting spells at their opponents to stun them with Stupefy! or disarm them with Expelliarmus!"
Back in July, we learned that Ultimate Editions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were in the works. Now, MuggleNet has opened a brand-new section for all your Ultimate Edition DVD needs: the most-recent news, current DVD and Blu-ray prices, special features, trailer, official website and more.
With additional information to come and plans for the remainder of films to be released in this format, be sure check back on a regular basis. You can find this new section located in the left-hand navigation under "Movies."
Both Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets Ultimate Editions will be released on December 8.
The Press Association is reporting that Hedwigs Theme, originally composed by John Williams for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, tops Classic FM's 'Children's Hall of Fame':Smith, 14, who was co-hosting the show with Anne-Marie Minhall, said: "I'm thrilled that Classic FM has decided to create such a platform for their younger listeners. The Harry Potter theme is definitely one of my favourites."
Classic FM has almost half a million listeners under the age of 18 and is releasing an album of Children's Classics to tie in with the countdown on November 23.
This year's People Choice Awards are now open, and Harry Potter has been nominated in a few categories:- Favorite Franchise: Harry Potter
- Favorite Movie: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Favorite On Scream Team: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson
Get over there and vote! Thanks to Maggie for the tip.
MTV has an interesting article looking at how the creators of the upcoming film X-Men: First Class are using Potter as an example of what they want to do:"Harry Potter is a bit of a role model for us, absolutely," she said. "But we want it to be like the recent, darker Potters. It should not be a kiddie movie—we're in the 'X-Men' world so you can't suddenly change the tone."
Even the film's cast of characters will follow Potter's footsteps insofar as getting into mischievous adventures that Xavier wouldn't approve of.
"There's nothing more interesting than a bad kid, and this is full of naughty children," said Donner. "Cyclops, for example—he's a tough kid that bobbed from foster home to foster home, until he ends up at the school and becomes the leader."
Are they copy cats or coming up with an original idea?
Several stars from the Potter films have made Empire Magazine's list of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars (Empire chose 50 men and 50 women).Emma Watson came in at an impressive #3 on the women list: The face that launched a thousand extremely dodgy internet countdown clocks has blossomed with adulthood into an extremely poised, porcelain-fine beauty and something of a fashion icon. Not bad for someone who won't even turn 20 until next April.
Dan Radcliffe appeared at the #37 spot on the men list: He loves cricket, he's got great taste in music, he's absolutely minted... what more do you want? A good body? Well he's got one of them too (did you see Equus? Of course you did). You want more? Well he's a bloody wizard, and a really good one at that, with a couple of potions that'll guarantee you fancy him.
Other stars who made the cut include Robert Pattinson (#2), Helena Bonham Carter (#9), Jason Issacs (#24), and Alan Rickman (#8). Thanks to Kershia for the tip!
Celebrating the release of the new book-to-film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, TIME Magazine has a new feature looking popular books turned into popular films.The Harry Potter series is of course included on this list:
Though J.K. Rowling's 1997 book had already sold hundreds of thousands of copies by the time Hollywood released its first Potter film, Sorcerer's Stone turned the boy wizard into an international pop icon virtually overnight. The movie earned close to $1 billion at the box office and guaranteed that the remaining books in the series would find their way to the big screen. The last installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II, is expected to be released in the summer of 2011.
See the entire list - which looks at Willy Wonka, Stuart Little, and many others - at this link. Thanks to Vivi for the tip!
All the actors are understandably sad that filming for the franchise is slowly coming to the end, and Robbie Coltrane is no different. He plays Hagrid in the series and recently spoke to the Radio Times about it:"We were all going - 'Yeah, it's gonna be tough on the kids...'"
"Then eventually we were all saying 'Yeah, it's gonna be pretty tough for me too'."
The actor admits one thing he will not miss when filming ends is the beard he has to wear for his role as Hagrid.
"It's all horrible. But at the end of the day, they take it off and then two girls come to my trailer with a pot of hot oil, they dissolve the beard, rub my face with oil." he said.
Thanks for the tip, Adam!
The other day we told you about the Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets Ultimate Editions being released on December 18th. You can see a full feature list for each Edition right here.Today, we now have a trailer for both editions. It reveals some sneak peeks at never-before-seen footage, including the trio's initial screen test. View it right here on YouTube.
The trailer also confirms that Ultimate Editions will be released for all eight Potter films (no date on those yet). Thanks to John for the link!
The Potter DVD news continues this week with the full list of features include in the Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets Ultimate Editions. We originally told you yesterday that these Ultimate Editions are due out December 8th.The list is extensive, so click here to read every little feature. Here are some of the coolest features included on each Ultimate Edition:
Sorcerer's Stone:
- Introduction by Daniel Radcliffe - An introduction to the many special features for the Harry Potter films (new)
- Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 1: The Magic Begins: discover the story of how one vision for the Harry Potter films came together out of limitless possibilities to create the visual world we have come to know and love (new)
- In-Movie Experience with Director Chris Columbus: an interactive viewer experience where the entire film is examined; includes PiP, storyboard comparisons, still galleries (BD exclusive)
- WB Maximum Movie Mode picture-in-picture programming, cast walk-ons, focus points, graphics and more (BD exclusive)
Chamber of Secrets:
- Creating the World of Harry Potter, Part 2: Characters - Explore how the cast and creative team of directors and designers take the characters’ descriptions on the page to the actors’ performances on film. [NEW]
- Screen Tests of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson [NEW]
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Revealed - 2002 HBO First Look special
In what may win the Most-E-mailed-Story-Of-The-Year Award (and we're not sure why), Harry Potter has been nominated in numerous categories at Spike TV's 2009 Scream Awards:Best Sequel: Half-Blood Prince
Best Fantasy Movie: Half-Blood Prince
Best F/X: Half-Blood Prince
Best Actor in a Fantasy Movie or TV Show: Dan Radcliffe
Best Actress in a Fantasy Movie or TV Show: Emma Watson
Best Supporting Actor: Rupert Grint
Best Supporting Actress: Evanna Lynch
Best Villan: Helena Bonham Carter
The Holy [Censored] Scene of the Year: The Death Eaters Attack London (Half-Blood Prince)
To vote, click here! The award ceremony will air Tuesday, October 27th at 10 PM EST/PST on Spike TV. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed with the tip!
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince continues to move up the All-Time Worldwide Box Office list. The sixth film currently holds the No. 14 spot with $886.0 million, recently surpassing Chamber of Secrets, which stands at No. 15 with $878.6 million.The movie seems well on its way to the top 10, and stands just $10 million shy of Goblet of Fire. Other Potter films in the top 10 include Sorcerer's Stone at No. 5 ($974.7 million) and Order of the Phoenix at No. 7 ($938.2 million).
Thanks to Jhonny for the tip!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix made it to the 15th spot while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban made it to the 24th spot!
Here's what they had to said about Order of the Phoenix:
Why's it so good? David Yates took over the directing reins for this fifth film, based on the longest - and, some would say, dullest - book in the series, and knocked it out of the park. Excising large swathes of not much, he cut it down to one of the leanest films and delivered a barnstorming last act in the Ministry of Magic, with the sort of magical duels we'd been waiting four-and-a-half films to see.
Entertainment Weekly has a new feature looking at 17 characters who are deadly but charming, and Lord Voldemort has made their list thanks to the cast who play him in the films:Known as the Dark Lord to those who dare not speak his name, this corrupted wizard represents ultimate evil in the world of J.K. Rowling's magical books. And as played by the regal Ralph Fiennes — with childhood assists from young actors like Christian Clouson, Frank Dillane, and Fiennes' own nephew, Hero Fiennes-Tiffin — it's easy to see how Voldemort could seduce anyone to the dark side.
See Voldemort's entry here and the entire list starting here. Thanks Lauren!
The Ultimate Collector's Edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets are available for pre-order on Amazon, and now the online store has revealed the Blu-ray and standard DVD covers!-Sorcerer's Stone: Blu-ray l DVD
-Chamber of Secrets: Blu-ray l DVD
At this time, we're not sure what features will be included. Thanks to Josh!
Draco Malfoy, played by actor Tom Felton, has made the list of EW.com's "31 Hateful TV/Movie Children." The "Enfants Terrible" list is described as "a ghastly collection of maleficent on-screen minors" that includes such characters as Cartman, Cordelia from Buffy, and Biff from Back to the Future.Well, yeah, this Slytherin scion has done everything in his power to put the whammy on Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and his mini-Scooby crew since page 1. Plus, he's blond...and, in movies, blond kids are almost always bad news.
Congratulations Draco!
- Sorcerer's Stone
- Chamber of Secrets
- Prisoner of Azkaban
- Goblet of Fire
- Order of the Phoenix
- Box Set














