By Chauncey Telese

Before I tell you how I felt about “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” I need to mention my Harry Potter credentials. I have none. In the Harry Potter universe I am a “muggle” or a person lacking any magical powers, or knowledge of Harry Potter. I never drank the Kool-Aid in the third grade when the first book came out. So believe me, my thoughts are representative of an everyday movie fan and not some pilgrim on a journey through the sixth phase of a seven-part religious experience.

The latest offering follows Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) in their sixth year at Hogwarts. Harry is asked by Headmaster Dumbledore to uncover mysteries about Lord Voldemort’s past so that they can find the key to defeating him. Harry must do battle with his counterpart Draco Malfoy along the way. Also Ron and Hermione realize that they may actually be in love and what not. That’s the basic plot of the movie and it manages to span two and a half hours.

As a non-wizard I found the movie to drag on with no real action or magic until about the last half hour. If you are a die hard Harry Potter fan, then I’m sure this will hold you over until next year when you get the first half of the last movie (yeah they’re squeezing every last drop of fairy dust out of this franchise). But for the rest of us, this movie is tedious and not likely to convert any new fans. I’m sorry that I’m not on board for what will likely be the pop culture movement of the decade but that’s okay. I doubt J.K. Rowling will mind if she doesn’t have my business. In fact, I’m sure she’ll dry her eyes with all of the money she makes writing essentially the same book over and over again.

Thanks as always for reading and instead of a movie for next week I will be covering The San Diego Comic-Con where I will have sneak peaks of “Iron Man 2”, and other blockbuster films as well as a chance to see the cast of “True Blood” and other hit shows.

If you want to go to the movies this weekend, you have a plethora of options. If you’re with the family check out “G-FORCE”. Edwards Valencia is holding a special event for the movie with tons of fun activities for families on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., for details click here.

For all of you horror fans check out “The Orphan”, and for all the single ladies, check out Katherine Heigel and Gerard Butler in “The Ugly Truth”.

All of these movies are playing at  our local Edwards Valencia Cinema.