In March last year I was wandering home through Southwark late at night, as you do, when I noticed a film crew busy outside Borough Market. Giant lamps illuminated the street while a crowd of hangers on were busy milling around outside the Market Porter pub. Strange, I thought, I wonder what they're filming? I should have checked here a few days later. But I know now. They were filming three seconds of the latest Harry Potter movie. It's the three seconds just before Harry enters the Leaky Cauldron and just after he steps off the purple triple-decker Routemaster (oh and Matt, there are two Titans in the film too a few seconds earlier). All that effort for just a tiny slice of celluloid magic.
I remain one of the few people on the planet never to have read a Harry Potter book. That means you have two books left to read, but I still have four films left to watch. Yesterday I went to watch the third, having very carefully selected a schoolday afternoon on the hottest day of the year to ensure 2½ hours of child-free air conditioning. Good choice.
I may not have read the books but I can spot a pattern. Chaos at Privet Drive. Visit to Secret London. Ride on Train. New teachers. Threat. Christmas. Quidditch. Evil beasts. Injured friend. Discovery of Secret Passage. Revelation. Magic. Happy Ending. The latest film may follow the formula precisely but thankfully it was very watchable. The outstanding special effects made me believe completely in J K Rowling's bewitching Famous Five world, and even Hermione gets a decent look-in this time. The plot sails along, with a time travel twist in the last hour rather better than Star Trek usually manages. And I'm looking forward to the next one already. I wonder where they're filming it...
