My parents and I went to see the new Harry potter film last night. It was either this or the Simpson’s. I think we made the right choice: although I haven’t seen the film, I’m reticent about the Simpson’s film. I think that it is best suited for the 25 minute slot. Mind you I still want to see that movie (note I don’t say film – I reserve that term for a work of art of a single auteur. Stuff like the Simpson’s isn’t really art in that sense).

Harry potter and the order of the phoenix is a treat. Its dark and gripping. Although its billed as a kids movie, and there’s stuff in there for children, I think it is now more appropriate to think of them as adult movies. We’re reading the latest novel at the mo, and there are definitely allusions to things such as Nazism and the holocaust. And it is truly dark. Rowling may have began the potter series as sugary sweet escapism, but that sugar has steadily fermented into something far more potent. In OOTP, we see Harry become a man, and general no less. Although this may have been a bit clich, I found him extremely convincing: this angry, disturbed young man essentially alone in the world. It was as powerful as star wars, and I kind of want it to be accompanied by some grandiose overture like the Jedi music! I’m sure the potter films will now be just as immortal as Lucas’s masterpiece, for this is stuff that really grips the soul. I also think Daniel radcliffe has grown into a fine actor – he’s finally stopped being that snotnosed little kid who irritated me. The same goes with the supporting cast.

With two more films to go, these films are becoming as immortal as the books. What we’ll ever do if and when jk Rowling retires I dread to think.