HP and the Sorcerer's Stone Blog for Blackboard

Watching the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was a bit like going back in time for me. It brought back a lot of memories for me about the series itself, about the movies, and about myself. This was the first Harry Potter movie I have watched since seeing the final one in theaters, so with the end rather fresh in my mind and then going all the way back to the beginning made for an intriguing experience and it hit me once again just how much the story relates and parallels my own life.

When the first book was published I was eleven years old, the same age as Harry. Since then, with every year, I have grown with these characters as they grow. Therefore, when watching the movie I couldn't help but be reminded of a smaller, younger version of myself. Curious, a little insecure, excited to learn, naive, but with a good heart.

With any given time of reflection, retrospect, or hindsight, one sees and realizes things that might not have been so obvious at first or when it was happening. While watching the movie I began picking up on a lot of stuff that during any previous viewings of the movie, I would not have normally noticed or given a lot of thought or that were reinforced in my mind.

For instance, in general I think it is very clear that Christopher Columbus did the best job out of all the directors to stay true to the book, which I think is vitally important for any book, but especially for a series, because he essentially had the responsibility of establishing the world of Harry Potter as everyone had seen in through the books and as everyone would see it from then onward as the other books and movies were released. He did a wonderful job of capturing the world and the people, in my opinion. But, I think part of why he was more successful with this was because he directed for the shortest books. With less text to reference and include, he had more room to be creative.

It's difficult for me not to reiterate a lot of what has been mentioned and discussed on here because I agree with and noticed a lot of it as well. I will add, however, one disappointment I have with the movie, which happens to deal with one of the few things that wasn't included in the movie as it was in the book, but adapted and done differently. I'm speaking about the scene where Harry overhears Snape and Quirrell. The dialogue is different, and even more different is the setting in which this conversation takes place. I understand why this scene and the scene with the mirror take place at the same time, for cinematic purposes, but I think it's more intriguing and places more suspicion on the characters with how it is written in the book.

The majority of my thoughts and commentary toward Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are about the book, so I will refrain from discussing them just yet. I would like to end with my favorite scene from the book and movie which is the scene with the Mirror of Erised. As far as it's relation to Harry as a character/human being, I think it is a heartbreaking moment where his loneliness and yearning for love and family is extremely palpable and is a moment where the audience becomes ultimately attached to him and his story. At least, that was the case for me. Cinematically, I think it is a beautiful visual and one of my favorites from the whole series.

Thus, my first question to you all is:

What is your favorite scene in the first movie and why? Is it because of the writing, the visual, the characters, or something else?

My second:

...?