Features

War of independents

By PETER KEOUGH | April 22, 2008

WE ARE WIZARDS: Harry Potter’s world fills the void in yearning lives that traditional religions used to.

We Are Wizards
Coolidge Corner Theatre: April 24 at 7:30 Pm; Somerville Theatre: April 26 at 4 pm | Director Josh Koury; Subjects Brad Neely and Harry & The Potters
No wonder the bluestocking church spokeswoman in Josh Koury’s freewheeling documentary is so down on all things Harry Potter — Harry’s world fills the void in yearning lives that traditional religions used to. Among the manifestations of Pottermania examined here are “wizard rock” bands such as Boston’s Harry and the Potters, a 16-year-old girl who took Warner Bros. to court when it insisted on shutting down her Potterphilic Web site, and, most intriguing of all, Brad Neely, who in a near-Borgesian inspiration recorded an alternate, irreverent oral narration for the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone — without ever having read any of the books. Rather than being candidates for getting a life, these devotees invest life into a commodity that (in my opinion) is unworthy of such adulation.

< prev 1 | 2 | 3 |

Related: TransSiberian, Who’s that girl (now)?, Musical chairs, More

Topics: Features , Entertainment, Culture and Lifestyle, Haskell Wexler, More

Comments

Add a Comment

Today's Event Picks

[FILM] "Film and Video Works by Vlada Petric"

Plus 2 more >>

ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH

REVIEW: UP IN THE AIR | December 02, 2009
No director pulls off the bait-and-switch as craftily as Jason Reitman. He gets you thinking that you're watching a hip, caustic comedy subverting the status quo, but by the end, he's vindicated all the platitudes he seemed to scorn.

REVIEW: Z (1969) | December 01, 2009
John F. Kennedy wasn't the only political leader murdered in 1963. On May 22 of that year, Gregoris Lambrakis, a left-leaning, pacifist member of the Greek parliament and an aspiring presidential candidate seeking to replace the reigning right-wing government, was assaulted after a peace rally in Thessaloniki. He died five days later.

REVIEW: JULIA | December 04, 2009
When the once-æthereal muse of the late Derek Jarman wiped sweat from her armpits in Michael Clayton , a new persona was born.

REVIEW: THE STRIP | December 02, 2009
In lieu of Steve Carell’s hopelessly inept and earnest manager, we have his creepier duplicate, Glenn. Instead of the boorish brown-noser played by Rainn Wilson, there’s the more obnoxious Rick.

REVIEW: BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS | November 24, 2009
Nicolas Cage is at his best in Bad Lieutenant

See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

A WEED GROWS IN BOSTON
Even though it's a crisp November day, the flower boxes of Mary Jones's neat little bungalow are overflowing with brightly colored blooms.

GOAL RUSH!
Get two journalists in a room these days, and before the conversation is five minutes old they'll probably be kvetching about the grim state of the news business. Unless, that is, they happen to be sports journalists, in which case the conversation will likely focus on how absurdly bright the future looks. Especially here in Boston.

QUESTIONING THE LEGALITY OF STRAIGHT MARRIAGE
When it comes to supporting gay rights, two straight Boston University grads are putting their marriage where their mouths are.

REVIEW: LADY GAGA AT THE WANG
Lady Gaga, resplendent, striding onto the stage of the Wang Theatre, has just removed an intricate half-Egyptian/half-Wagnerian headdress from her person, freeing her enormous blonde hairdo from its confinement.

CAPUANO FOR SENATE
After a telescoped campaign, Massachusetts Democrats go to the polls Tuesday to choose a successor to a legend, Ted Kennedy.

A WEED GROWS IN BOSTON
Even though it's a crisp November day, the flower boxes of Mary Jones's neat little bungalow are overflowing with brightly colored blooms.

SOLDIER'S JOY
For a deconstructionist, the new album from Aaron Lee Marshall presents any number of philosophical difficulties.

COAKLEY TAKES A STAND
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley this week separated herself from the gang of essentially like-minded candidates seeking to fill Senator Ted Kennedy's Washington seat by rejecting the US House of Representatives compromise that traded approval of a health-care-reform bill for greater restrictions to abortion access. Good for Coakley.

COAKLEY CASHES IN AT THE BAR
It's no surprise that Martha Coakley has raised much of her money for her US Senate campaign from lawyers — that has been her professional and social circle for pretty much her entire adult life.

QUESTIONING THE LEGALITY OF STRAIGHT MARRIAGE
When it comes to supporting gay rights, two straight Boston University grads are putting their marriage where their mouths are.

HOT TOPICS

Osama bin Laden , Daniel Day-Lewis , Sidney Lumet , Michael Haneke , Mark Wahlberg , Michael Clayton , Paris Hilton , Cormac McCarthy , Jack Black , Brian De Palma

Features

War of independents

Interview: Nicolas Cage

Interview: Gabourey Sidibe

Prince of darkness

Totally clips of the heart

Hardboiled hub