Harry Potter and the Huge IMAX Screen

"Baby Harry and Boy Harry - brothers" by ascheele100, via the Flickr pool.

Special to Seattlest by Tod Bookless

Yes, yes, Seafair is this weekend, but if you are a parent of a gradeschooler, or a nerd, or both, then there is a much more important event. Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince is playing at the Pacific Science Center IMAX.

Sure, it's playing until September 7th, but can you stand to wait that long? We mean, um, your kids, yeah, that's it. Can your kids stand to wait that long? Every good nerd fan of Mr. Potter knows that this is the sixth movie in the series, but what about the first five? How can you properly pre-function? At last check, Costco had them on BluRay in a box set for $84 (yikes), but if you are a cheap bastard careful budgeter like Seattlest, you will move just a few feet down the table where Costco has the individual movies for $8 each on plain old DVD. As always, availability of anything at Costco is subject to whatever black magic market forces they utilize to determine what to order. A quick check shows even better deals on Amazon if you can stand to wait.

You may have seen that some local multiplexes are advertising that they have IMAX, too, but don't be taken in. The IMAX people have started certifying certain movie theaters, but they don't have the 60 by 80 foot screen of the Boeing IMAX theater at the Pacific Science Center. Also, it feels good to spend our entertainment dollars at a local non-profit rather than at a corporate giant. Tickets are selling fast and some shows are already sold out so get to it, or Voldemort wins.