Coming Attractions

Two movies the kids and I are looking forward to this fall:

Harry Potter IV - of course. The previews look awesome. See here e.g. By the way, the 5th and 6th Harry Potter movies already have planned release dates - June 2007 and November 2008, respectively. I'll bet the instant Book Seven has an announced title, even prior to its publication, the movie version will have a planned release date.

I only hope the major cast all stick around for the last three movies. The kids will certainly be a good bit older than their characters by the time it's through. Than again, Alan Ruck was thirty when he played high school student Cameron Frye (Ferris Bueller's friend), and he pulled it off!

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis' classic Chronicles of Narnia series was the Harry Potter of the 50s. I've read them all at least a dozen times (the only secular book I've re-read more is Lord of the Rings), including again just last month. Though, like Harry Potter, the Narnia books are written for children, they are definitely wonderful reading for all ages.

Just a word of caution; Lewis was a strongly believing Catholic and the books are full of Christological allegories. I was aware of these as a child, and while they didn't add to my enjoyment of the books, they didn't really detract from it either. I'll be interested to see whether they will be toned down for the movie. Though, certainly the pre-Christmas release date can't be a coincidence!