Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the first time on DVD a few days ago. It not only confirmed that the HP films had been getting steadily worse since Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it was simply terrible, all disjointed and bland. Everything that had initially made the series fun (magical details like people moving in photographs and staircases randomly changing places, colourful characters, comaraderie, a sense of fun, etc.) were replaced by an obsessive focus on the least interesting part of the whole thing, the three Tri-Wizards Cup challenges.

So I went into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with little hope. It turned out to be great, possibly the best yet. Whereas Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire felt over-stuffed, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is densely-packed and coherent. You actually care about the main characters again and the secondary ones (the Wesley twins, Imelda Staunton, a few gravely hissed words from Snape) add life. And, there's lots of magic!

Next up: Transformers. Lots of gigantic robots! High culture, you see.