Harry Potter

Goodbye Hogwarts, hello Universal Studios. After a bumpy 17-year process that once proposed developing thousands of homes on its famous Hollywood back lot, NBCUniversal won unanimous approval Tuesday from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for a plan that lets it expand its Universal Studios theme park. And a Harry Potter attraction is coming with it. Company executives said the "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter," which will feature a re-creation of the Hogwarts Castle and other locations from the books and movies, will bring droves of visitors to the park.

REEL CRITICS Welcome back 'Potter' Teenage wizard Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) returns in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Our Reel Critics review director Alfonso Cuaron's take on J.K. Rowling's really, really popular book. SEE ENJOY!, PAGE A4. BUSINESS Spencer for hire Dale Nelson, the store manager for the Spencer Company, at 3412 1/2 W. Magnolia Blvd., works as a middleman for people who would not ordinarily use EBay on their own. SEE PAGE A8. INDEX Around Town, A6-7 Business, A8 Classifieds, B3-4 Community Forum, A2 Enjoy!

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" is a tour de force of filmmaking and storytelling. It is escapism in the best sense of the word, keeping the viewer in a state of wonder and awe for 2 1/2 hours. As Harry himself declares upon entering a 6-foot pup tent to find an interior with all the comforts of a mid-sized home, "I love magic." After seeing this film, so will you. What impresses first and foremost is the magnificent artistry of the film spearheaded by production designer Stuart Craig.

Wizards and witches descended Friday night upon the Burbank Barnes & Noble Bookstore for the release party of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the highly anticipated finale of the Harry Potter series. Although the people in line waiting for reserved or standby copies of the book numbered close to 1,000, most of them were dressed in plain street clothes. The line was dotted with a few adults and children wearing wizard gear, complete with wands and broomsticks. Snaking around the building and up a stairway to the parking lot, those waiting for their copy of the seventh book about an imperiled boy who practices magic were a wide range of ages.

Amber Willard is the city editor of the Burbank Leader and former reporter for the News-Press. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" doesn't feel like a sequel -- it's the continued education and adventures of Harry (along with friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley) at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and not just a basic recasting of the first film, as most sequels are. The film, based on the second book by author J.K. Rowling, leaps right into the Weasley brothers rescuing Harry from the home of his horrid relatives by spiriting him away in a flying car. From there, the action continues to build to Harry's showdown with the wizard who killed his parents.

The historic movie lot at Warner Bros. Studios is no amusement park. There is no roller coaster, no dinosaurs to send you down an 80-foot raft plunge. Curious George will never soak your kids or give them a hug. (See Universal for that.) But fans can get a glimpse of real movie and TV productions at work on the sprawling Burbank campus at the studio's VIP Studio Tour, and examine artifacts from productions dating back to “Casablanca” and up through the “Harry Potter” series. “We've been hearing from people who say it's the reason they are coming to Los Angeles,” says Danny Kahn, executive director of the tour, of the thousands of visitors who pass through every month.

Amber Willard is the News-Press crime and courts reporter and a voracious reader of the "Harry Potter" book series. Before "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" even started, I knew it was going to be unlike other movies. The crowd was cheering -- hooting like fans at a Quidditch match -- when the lights went down. All the noise was for good reason. The Warner Bros. Pictures release of the Chris Columbus-directed film is as true to a novel as any film could be. The two-and-a-half hour movie, based on the book by J.K. Rowling about a boy who discovers he's a wizard, introduces special effects so well that they don't stand out as such.

Bookstore hosts Harry Potter release MEDIA CITY CENTER -- Barnes & Noble Booksellers will celebrate the release of the fifth Harry Potter book with themed crafts, trivia contest and costume party on Friday night. Activities begin at 6 p.m. and last until "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" becomes available to the public at midnight. Various areas of the bookstore, at 731 N. San Fernando Blvd., will be renamed after settings in the series, such as "Kings Cross Platform 3/4," "Diagon Alley" and "Leaky Cauldron Cafe."

NAME: Ralph Zondag. HOME: Glendale three years. AGE: 35 FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIE GROWING UP: "Dumbo;" "It is simple in approach but has such heart with endearing characters;" and "Bambi;" "a simple story that works around the naturalism of the piece." FAMILY: Wife Lori; children: Tristan, 2 years old, and one on the way. HOBBIES: Illustrating still life, working with models, painting. "I used to play hockey -- ice and in-line skating." NAME: Eric Leighton.

Jeff Tully It was impossible for Anthony Maciel to sit still, as the 10-year-old rocked back and forth, bounced up and down and fidgeted in his movie-theater seat, waiting for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" to begin. Maciel was one of 193 fifth-graders from Miles Elementary School in Huntington Park who were invited to a private screening Saturday of the movie at Warner Bros. Studios. The children were rewarded for completing a reading assignment in the NBA's Read to Achieve Program.

Goodbye Hogwarts, hello Universal Studios. After a bumpy 17-year process that once proposed developing thousands of homes on its famous Hollywood back lot, NBCUniversal won unanimous approval Tuesday from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for a plan that lets it expand its Universal Studios theme park. And a Harry Potter attraction is coming with it. Company executives said the "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter," which will feature a re-creation of the Hogwarts Castle and other locations from the books and movies, will bring droves of visitors to the park.

The historic movie lot at Warner Bros. Studios is no amusement park. There is no roller coaster, no dinosaurs to send you down an 80-foot raft plunge. Curious George will never soak your kids or give them a hug. (See Universal for that.) But fans can get a glimpse of real movie and TV productions at work on the sprawling Burbank campus at the studio's VIP Studio Tour, and examine artifacts from productions dating back to “Casablanca” and up through the “Harry Potter” series. “We've been hearing from people who say it's the reason they are coming to Los Angeles,” says Danny Kahn, executive director of the tour, of the thousands of visitors who pass through every month.

On a typical day, Kun Lee , owner of Bake It Again Sam, prepares 360 bagels and 240 muffins for his famous customer across the street. And that's not counting the scrambled eggs, sandwiches, quesadillas, cookies and specialty order birthday cakes he often serves up to the crews of such television shows as "Pretty Little Liars" and "Shameless. " "They're a big chunk of my business," Lee said. "If it wasn't for them, I would have gone under a long time ago. " Bake It Again Sam is among 1,200 vendors and suppliers in Burbank that provide more than $550 million worth of goods and services each year to one of the city's A-list residents: Warner Bros.Entertainment, the studio behind such movie franchises as " Harry Potter " and "The Dark Knight" and popular TV shows "The Big Bang Theory" and "2 Broke Girls" on CBS. Continue reading > > -- Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times  

Instead of watching ?Lord of the Rings,? ?Chicago? or ?Gladiator,? Pasadena Young Musicians Orchestra will re-create the films? music with an 84-member orchestra. The orchestra?s spring concert ?Lights! Camera! Music!? will be Sunday in Sexson Auditorium at Pasadena City College. The performance will feature music from film genres including action, historical adventures, space odysseys, comedies and musicals. The orchestra has a more than 50-year tradition for students in 10th grade through college.

If you want to see the best holiday pageant of the season, forget dropping $200 a pop at the Ahmanson Theatre for a touring production of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” For wit, heart, fun and generosity of spirit, go see Westminster Presbyterian Church’s “Nativity! The Musical,” a hodgepodge of a pageant play that somehow manages to combine Borscht-belt one-liners and pizza delivery boys with the classic Nativity tale. As conceived by entertainment industry veterans Greg Baldwin (“Avatar: The Last Airbender”)

Can?t afford a trip to the beaches of Greece this summer? Just go see the effervescent ?Mamma Mia? at a theater near you. The music, the dancing, the scenery, the tan, beautiful people ? it?s like a great summer vacation without the hassles. There?s a joy to this movie that our society really needs right now. The actors up on the screen are having a blast, and the happiness is infectious. Meryl Streep is adorable with her spry 50-year-old body bouncing on beds and skipping along rooftops.

New Line production studio loses 450 jobs Time Warner, which owns Warner Bros. in Burbank, is planning to cut 450 jobs from its New Line movie production studio, according to reports. The staff reductions will leave New Line, which is based in West Hollywood, with 40 to 50 employees. Some of those employees may be offered jobs within Warner Bros., according to news reports. New Line will maintain its own independent development and production teams, and Time Warner will take over distributions of completed films, reports said.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is right in step with the book of the same name. It was author J.K. Rowling's intention to make the themes in the books mature along with the characters. Therefore, this film is more cerebral and political, less escapist adventure. This is not your feel-good movie of the summer. It's a serious, intense film, appealing to a mature audience. That being said, my children and I loved it. Of course, we are Harry Potter fanatics. We didn't wear costumes or go to the midnight debut, but we probably would have liked this movie no matter how good or bad it was, simply because we can't get enough of Harry and Hogwarts and all the characters therein.

Wizards and witches descended Friday night upon the Burbank Barnes & Noble Bookstore for the release party of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the highly anticipated finale of the Harry Potter series. Although the people in line waiting for reserved or standby copies of the book numbered close to 1,000, most of them were dressed in plain street clothes. The line was dotted with a few adults and children wearing wizard gear, complete with wands and broomsticks. Snaking around the building and up a stairway to the parking lot, those waiting for their copy of the seventh book about an imperiled boy who practices magic were a wide range of ages.

Send DATEBOOK items to 221 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 200, Glendale, CA 91203 or fax to (818) 241-1975. Submissions must be received two weeks before publication. TODAY "Spontaneous Fantasia," an immersive 3D real time animation performance will be presented by artist, computer programmer and animator J. Walt Adamczyk at 6:30 and 8 p.m. at the Glendale Community College Digital Planetarium, 1500 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale. Tickets are $10, $6 for children under 12. Part of the proceeds will support GCC's free K-12 science outreach program.