Things I learned from my second Harry Potter viewing...

1. The cinematography is stunningly beautiful, especially since I could actually see the damn screen this time, instead of looking up and to the right from a bottom row seat. 

2. Dobby's death makes me cry. Hard. And I got misty-eyed in the Godric's Hollow scene. If nothing else, this film certainly packs an emotional sucker punch. 

3. The film moves at a slower pace than I remember, but that's merely an observation, not a complaint. 

4. Harry and Hermione have excellent music taste, as they were dancing to a Nick Cave song. 

5. I maintain that this is the Empire Strikes Back of the Harry Potter films. Never before have we seen such a dark, menacing film in the series where our heroes are so utterly defeated, so utterly lost, so hopeless. The world is going to hell and the film makes that known. Ultimately, I liked the film the first time I saw it, and loved it the second time. I would argue a lot of that has to do with knowing what to expect, being able to view the screen properly, and not having rude rednecks sitting next to me talking to the screen. It's definitely one of the best in the series, as it captures the tone, characters, and setting so beautifully. 

6. That being said, I still can't decide where it stands amongst the rest of the series, as again, it's not a complete film. It's one half of a five hour epic, and I'm ok with that, because as I see it, we're on an 8 month intermission between the first and second act. Once we've seen both parts and can view them back to back, I will be more than happy to give a full and proper review. Until then, I love what we've seen so far. 

As always, have at it in the comments section and tell me what you thought of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1!