The Harry Potter series has sort of like a running joke to me before the movie came out. I would only hear about the books from my grandmothers 60 year old+ friends, if at all. It was only once the movie trailers started surfacing did I finally understand what the hell the whole thing was about. 20 seconds into the trailer I was hooked. This looked like the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen, even considering all of the other films I'd already seen, being a huge movie-buff even back then. I was determined, if not Hell-bent to see this in the theater.... That soon became a problem.

After 9/11, going out to see a movie wasn't a remotely tangible idea... to my parents. I wasn't able to fully grasp the concept at the time, having filled up all of my time in the basement, watching movies or playing N64. When I finally convinced my parents to take me, it was a huge deal. My family, and my mom's best friends family , a total of 10 people, all went to see it together. Once I sat down in my seat, everything in the world was blasted out of my mind. The all to familiar Warner Brothers logo was a welcome sight, but with the fantastic addition of John Williams beautiful score... I've never had an experience like that in theaters before, and I'm pretty damn sure I won't again.

Keep in mind that apart from the occasional trailer, this series was foreign territory. But by the end of the first act, I felt like I had helped write the book, I absorbed the movie like a sponge, noting every solitary detail, plot point, and little inflection in an actors voice. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was, and still is magic to me. It's one of the quintessential Christmas movies in my house, almost more so than "A Christmas Story".

I don't see much point in going into an all out review of the movie now, what with an ass-kissing preamble like that... but what the hell? If you're still with me, here's the review,

I swear I've seen this movie upwards of 3 dozen times, and it really does improve every time I watch it. Chris Columbus does a fantastic job at fully immersing the lucky view in the world of Harry Potter and Co. The special effects still manage to impress me, even to today. The Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback in the movie looks more realistic than the toy. The broomstick effects, near flawless, and I believed the Troll was actually there more than I did anything in "The Phantom Menace." Something that needs to be adressed are the child actors, without which, there would be no movie. Daniel Radcliffe does a very good job at adding a feeling of believability to the titular character. Any small cracks in his performance, however are TOTALLY saved by the hilarious supporting characters. Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, who remain my favorite child actors, always manage to make me laugh. The seasoned adult cast does an excellent job as well, further cementing this film into my memory. The story, before it was expanded into the epic that it is today, is told nice and simply, wrapping itself up in just over 2 and a half hours, a hefty runtime, to be fair, but never dragging, most notably in the third act, which is one of the most epic memories I have of a movie. The chess battle? Come on, that was awesome. 

I honestly can't kiss enough of this movie's ass. This movie was the impetus for what was to be the next wave of obsessive fans, with my generation at the forefront. "Sorcerer's Stone" never fails to bring a smile to my face. As I write this review, the movie plays on my TV, and I'm grinning the same way I was, 10 years ago.