Who Is This Potter Kid?
 

1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 $169,189,427 ($38,672 per theatre)

2 Transformers: Dark of the Moon P/DW $21,328,545 ($5,445)

3 Horrible Bosses $17,777,464 ($5,672)

4 Zookeeper $12,330,512 ($3,541)

5 Cars 2 $8,407,529 ($2,588)

6 Winnie the Pooh $7,857,076 ($3,267)

7 Bad Teacher $5,152,447 ($1,938)

8 Larry Crowne $2,664,550 ($1,165)

9 Super 8 $1,970,377 ($1,350)

10 Midnight in Paris $1,876,588 ($2,658)

29 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan $134,005 ($5,584) Co-Produced by Wendi Murdoch, wife of Newscorp's owner, Rupert.

38 The Undefeated $65,132 ($6,513) Palin documentary in 10 theatres

Wife dragged me off to see it. Really not my kind of thing. I guess the books are really good reads and have gotten a lot of kids reading, and that's cool, but wizzards and magic have just never particularly done it for me.

- Peter.

Nerds!!!!!!!

Booger Presley would be proud. :D

92 million the first day. I'll confess to being a big fan. As a teacher, I've read and enjoyed all the books and seen their impact, and seen all the movies multiple times. My son and I drove 2 hours down to Phoenix, where I never go, to see it in 3D on the only full sized IMAX screen left in the state. It was worth the time and money and if it was closer I'd go back again.

It's the first of the new 3D films I've seen and I must say, they've really improved the tech on those. I think it might be here to stay this time.

If you only see that movie and not all the ones before it...definitely won't be your cup of tea. And if you've read the books, either you hate or love the movies. But reading the books first help I think...I feel there were a few plot holes at the end that people who only watch the movies will be confused about. But it was really good! I saw it today finally. NOT in 3D because...I'm a bit against 3D...but it was a good end. I am pleased. As I said...nit-picky-ness makes me dislike some things, but overall I approve.

This seems to be the "end of Harry Potter" and interviews say this is the end of some teens childhood. But the video game LEGO Harry Potter 5-7 hasn't even come out yet! :P

garbage

Well, a regular bah-humbugger you are!

- Peter.

my ex told me that she actually read one of the books - at the behest of her clueless family, who "loved" the harry-ness - and said it was the worst piece of crap she'd come across in years.

"fantasy" is the worst genre of literature, seconded only by sci-fi and futurism.

I read a couple of chapters of one of the books and it was well written I thought. I've seen bits and pieces (their called trailers cmac) of the movies and it just looked weak. Some fantasy is all well and good but I sometimes think that this business of dreaming about having a magic wand to make it all better is not the best sort of habit to engender in young'uns.

Fans of JR Tolkien would disagree.
There are good works in every genre; there is also trash in every genre.
Are you sure you are not just jealous of the success of this particular series?
Just asking....

A balanced diet of literary works, including poetry, short story, comics and humor are great for kids and adults.

That would be great. However, in the current climate, I'd be happy for almost anything that kids will actually read.
Reading, as they say, is fundamental. Its the key that opens many doors that are otherwise closed.

Lead by example. Around the house, on the bookshelves, coffee table, pretty much every room, there's stuff to read. Ranges from classic books, literary, news, and tech magazines, right on up to short works by Baxter Black (cowboy poet), Billy Collins (former poet laureate), and a killer collection of Calvin & Hobbes.

I agree (!!)
I read to my kids before they were able, then they picked up the habit. Nothing replaces reading.

I don't read fantasy by choice either. But as a teacher, I read all the books my kids were reading and became a Potter fan. It's been said a million times before, but I can personally attest to the fact that tons kids who would no more voluntarily pick up a book and read than they'd sprout wings and fly suddenly became readers because of the Harry Potter series, and their interest in books bled over into what might be considered more "serious" reading. To dismiss as "garbage" a series of books and movies that you've admittedly not read or seen is uncharacteristically prejudiced, particularly when it comes to a series that has had such a positive impact on so many young readers and made a middle class single mother the richest woman in Britain.
I'm thinking jealousy too.