Early Start
As I begin to write this it's Thursday and the film isn't even in the theaters yet. Film critics are already going on and on about how great the cast is (that's a no brainer), the sets, the wardrobe, the special effects and so on.

And if you have already read the book, you know what's going to happen. Director, Chris Columbus was quite faithful to the first book and word on the street is this movie will follow suit. It will be sad to see Richard Harris for the last time as Professor Dumbledore, but I look forward to seeing the rest of my cast favorites (like Professor Snape played by Alan Rickman) and new characters like Professor Lockhart (played by Kenneth Branagh).

Since mainstream reviewers have covered pretty much everything about the movie, I decided to make a list of things I am going to look for, then go back and see what made it into the film.

Note there will be spoilers here! So if you don't want to know, why are you reading this!

• Moaning Myrtle
  In the book, she's kinda whiny and everyone avoids her and the girl's bathroom she haunts. Harry, Ron and Hermione spend a lot of time there; have to see if Myrtle's character is cut in some scenes and if they are in the bathroom all the time. Myrtle (well played by Shirley Henderson) and her bathroom made it into the movie. Wished they had kept the joke about Harry and Ron getting caught as they leave the girls bathroom.

• Party for Nearly Headless Nick
  I can see this scene getting cut for time. Yep, got the Ax. Not even mentioned. You do see Nearly Headless Nick off and on and Cleese is excellent as always. At least he'll get more screen time in Die Another Day.

• How mean are Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon?
  They put bars on Harry's window and give him his food through a dog door! If this happened in real life we would see it on CNN and Harry would be placed in a foster home. So we will have to see if that's down played or not. For time, the first couple chapters are cut down to about 15-20 minutes, so we don't get to see the family at their best/worst.

• Garden Gnomes and hanging out with the Weasley's
  This part could get cut, too, for time. This ties into Diagon Alley and the fight between Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy. I really enjoyed this in the book and I hope they didn't cut it! Much of this was cut (again, for time). You do at least get an idea of what life is like for the family and you do get introduced to Mr. Weasley. I loved both actors who played the Mr. Weasley (Mark Williams) and Mr. Malfoy (Jason Isaacs)! The casting was, again, excellent and I hope that the fight makes it to the deleted scenes on the DVD.

  This also touches on the fact that this movie focuses entirely on Harry. In the first film, you learn more about the other characters, Hogwarts and magic. We don't get to see them as much this time around (if you want to know, read the book). The teachers and school lose time in the film, so we didn't get to see much of Snape and the rest of the staff. But, on the plus side, we do learn how to pot Mandrakes! That was one of many new great effects which raised the bar on this film. The other creatures that show up, from Dobby the House Elf to the monster in the chamber, are also pretty cool. There's only one Quidditch match, but fortunately, it's a great one.

• Ginny Weasley
  Ron's little sister shows up thoughout the book and is a critical character at the climatic end. Will they scale her role down as many other characters may be or will she hold her own? We see Ginny and they do scale back her screen time in the movie. By the end you get the idea of what she's been up to her first year at Hogwarts.

After seeing the movie myself, I can say it's wonderful and you won't be disappointed. I was very happy with John Williams's new score, but hey, we're talking about the guy who's written just about every piece of movie music that's worth mentioning in the last 20 years or so. They did cut many of the scenes as I expected; here's hoping they make it to the DVD. I was also happy to see the faces of so many of the students from the first movie to help keep some continuity. In the end many things were cut or scaled down but the movie is very true to the book and worth seeing.

What's really going to be hard is that these books keep getting bigger and longer! I don't know how they are going to do the last couple books as films when they are double the size of the first book published.

Oh, be sure to stay until the very end of the film for all the credits! You won't be disappointed.

One of the children leaving the theater said it best. I give it a million stars.

(Hufflepuff gets 50 points for this review, too.)