Wizards… short creatures… elves… a young lad with a big destiny… Nope, we’re not talking about ‘Lord of the Rings,’ but instead: Harry Potter! Following TORn’s wildly successful series of LOTR-Trilogy “watch and chats,” we’re starting up this weekend with the much-requested Harry Potter series. This Saturday at 5:30 pm EST we will start off with “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” (that’s the Philosopher’s stone to everyone but us obviously confused Americans). Following that, “Chamber of Secrets” on 2/18, “Prisoner of Azkaban” on 2/25, and after a short break, “Goblet of Fire” on March 11th, following its release on DVD on 3/7.

Join us tomorrow on our IRC server at 5:30 pm EST when we pop our copies of the film into the DVD player. After the usual confusion, at around 5.30pm EST we’ll all press play on our individual players and proceed to cheer and jeer (or discuss and argue, if you like!) the finer points of the film.

We plan to take a break midway through the film, to allow for stretching of fingers and backs. Barliman will be on hand to serve drinks and snacks (and to enforce the house rules).

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WHEN WILL IT HAPPEN?

Saturday February 11

Time zone conversions:

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help.

America:
5.30pm EST (New York)
4.30pm CST (Chicago)
3.30pm MST (Salt Lake City)
2.30pm PST (Los Angeles)

Europe:
10.30pm GMT (London)
11.30pm CET (Paris)

Asia-Pacific:
6.30am AWST (Sunday 11th) Perth
8.30am AEST (Sunday 11th) Brisbane
9.30am AEDT (Sunday 11th) Sydney
11.30am NZDT (Sunday 11th) Wellington

WHERE?

On TORn’s IRC server, in the #moviechat channel. After joining the server, type /join #moviechat to get there.

If you’ve never been to TORn’s IRC server before, you can join through our java applet and type /join #moviechat once you’re signed in. We recommend you visit our FAQ for some guidelines on using our IRC service. Barliman’s is a place for good conversation about JRR Tolkien’s works. We welcome you to our community and ask that you, and all guests, abide by some simple guidelines.

HOW?

Once everyone is in #moviechat and has their DVD ready to go, the ops will moderate the room and have a countdown to “Play.” I expect that we will be able to give minute-markers throughout the evening for latecomers. A break will be taken midway through — the exact point will be announced in the topic.

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That’s all, folks! See you this weekend!