right from the first few frames of this highly anticipated 6th installment of the Harry Potter franchise, you are made to feel right away that things are going to get dangerous before long.

if, by some miracle, you are not aware of how things are going (really?), there’s just no way for you to miss the hint — the use of somber colors and dark tones (lots of grays and blues) alone is a dead giveaway.

last friday, after some hesitation (due to the inclement weather) my friends and i finally decided to push through with our plans to watch Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince. more than two hours later, we struggled to sort through our initial impression.

“so what did you think of the movie?,” a friend finally blurted.

after some half-coherent comments, most of us came up with varying versions of “ok, i guess. but there’s something missing, though.” now, this rarely happens. usually, we’re more decisive about how we liked/disliked a film right after watching it. this time, we weren’t even sure about what was missing. what i was positive about was a vague feeling of disappointment. sure, the special effects were splendid, and all in all it was far better than some films i’ve seen, but something about it bothered me.

**SPOILER alert**
for some reason, it failed to “engage” my attention. i knew before coming into the theater that the film wasn’t going to be a faithful adaptation of the book, but i don’t think the director’s (david yates) version did justice to j.k. rowling’s 6th book (which, along with with HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, was my favorite in the series).

basically, yates & co. did their own (abridged) version of the tale, and yet failed to fill in the holes that their version had consequently left in its wake. worse still, it capitalized on the fact that most of the moviegoers had already read the story and were therefore left to their own devices to thread the whole disjointed tale. some characters were excised and the story development left a lot unexplored. and so many emotionally resonant scenes from the book were ignored.

my main complaint? there was no funeral scene for Prof. Albus Dumbledore, who happens to be a central figure (after Harry & his friends) in the whole HP saga. it felt like he was abruptly pushed off from the scene without even a decent goodbye from his friends. it think the decision to leave it out was a colossal waste, because that would have been a powerful scene — packing an emotional wallop that would have left a lot of people (esp. the fans!) weeping into their hankies.

whew! i didn’t mean to whine. really. anyway, let’s hope Yates won’t make the same mis-step to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. *fingers crossed*

i have long been guilty of launching into spontaneous swearing whenever i’m in extreme pain, especially when it (e.g., accidental bumps, slips, hitting against hard objects, etc.) happens unexpectedly. over the years, i have tried to minimize this reaction but i suppose you can say that my efforts have been largely ineffectual.

for some reason, lapsing into fluent cursing has been a way for me to “let off” steam despite knowing that it doesn’t really make the pain go away. still, after reading a few articles (USA Today, BBC News, and Telegraph) regarding the benefits of spitting out vulcanic oaths while going through an excruciating experience has given me a feeling of vindication.

more than that, it made me smile. i guess, these scientific findings (reported by a research team from Keele University, UK) do give you a convenient and legitimate excuse to “air out” a few choice expletives — something that you wouldn’t normally do when you’re in polite company. ahem.

naturally, there’s a downside (read: PAIN) and you do need to be careful in case there are kids within earshot.