Whilst on holidays down at Robe I watched some Harry Potter movies--- Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Most of the narrative takes place in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and it is very reminiscent of 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' .Despite the similarities to 'Star Wars' in terms of a franchise both films were all very English--ye old historical England. These films are based on the popular series of fantasy novels by British writer J. K. Rowling, which have become very successful children's books.

I have not read the books and I'm not a Harry Potter fan. But we sure have a cultural phenomenon---witches and wizards are fashionable even amongst adults.

The narrative of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' moved slowly from one special effect to another and I was somewhat bored with the film despite the interesting visuals.

I understand the films are close to the books in terms of narrative and tone. However, the films should --and do-- work on their own terms and they require complex interpretations, analyses and reading abilities.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was much darker, and its more imaginative visuals were more akin to the Lord of the Rings movies.