from Cam Smith at It’s Just Movies: New Pictures from ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Parts 1 and 2 are among the more exciting cinematic prospects on the not-quite-near horizon. If director David Yates can stick the landing — and his exponential jump in storytelling ability between “The Order of the Phoenix” and “Half-Blood Prince” certainly tilts the odds considerably in his favour — the series will proudly go down as one of the most dependably brilliant and artistically rich franchises in motion picture history. Eegads, ‘arry!

Thanks to some intrepid spies at Snitchsneaker.com, we now have our grubby hands on a first look at one the seventh film’s new characters: Xenophilius Lovegood, father the of lovably loony Luna.

See More here

Via Scott Edelman at Sci fi Wire: Harry Potter beats out Twilight as the book of the decade

Sorry, Stephenie Meyer! A movie made from your books may have won the weekend at the box office, but your novel Twilight only came in at #32 on a list of 100 books that defined a decade.

Topping the list is J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which the Telegraph said “stands as a cornerstone of the decade, a melding of high and low culture that appeals to all ages and nations.”

While Rowling “is never less than absorbing” and “makes reading a 700-page book seem easy,” Meyer’s first novel, though considered influential, is described as “astonishing, mainly for the ineptitude of her prose” and “teen vampire schlock.”

Ouch!

Read More here

It looks like Xenophilius Lovegood was very well cast. And I think Harry Potter beat out Twilight because it has a much more universal appeal. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t read Harry Potter; on the other hand, most of my friends have not read Twilight.

What do you think of the photos? Do you think Harry Potter should be the number 1 book of the decade?