John: when you read the books, keep in mind that while Rowling was excellent at setting up her magical world, and wrapping up her story in a pretty satisfying manner, her strength does not lie in maintaining this world throughout the intervening books. They drag. I believe the sixth book could be wrapped up with 4 plot points. I read them all, and was glad I did, but she got pretty lucky that the first couple books were such an amazing success. Books 3-6 almost feel like they were written specifically to become movies. Large swaths of the book can be completely removed without any bearing on the plot.

The one thing I’ll give her is that she can write a very accurate description of what goes through a teenager’s head. This, of course, makes for excruciating reading. You definitely want to smack some characters in the head during the books and scream, “What are you THINKING?”. Which is exactly what you’d probably do to yourself, if you could go back in time to that age.

Of course, the most interesting character…the one that you keep reading the books to find out what his motivations are…is Snape. She juggles him pretty expertly. You just never are completely sure what’s going on with him, and I appreciated her writing in that area.

And thanks for not dismissing the whole review on that really lame flub. I agree that Lord of the Rings are better standalone movies (since I’ve forgotten my childhood reading of the books) but, like the Potter films, they’re just too damned long and too unwilling to simplify. Nonetheless, they’re much, much less hobbled by this than the Potters.

On needing to let the material age to make a really classic adaptation … I’ll bet there’s examples to go either way (”The Maltese Falcon” and “Gone With the Wind” weren’t terribly old when the films were made, and the “Chronicles of Narnia” was, though the film was bland). But I think anything that lends perspective is a good idea.

Patrick — After writing my reviews, I sometimes wish I’d gone a half star or so higher or lower, as my experience of the film marinates. I could see giving the film a half-star more, but if I compare it to the way I’ve rated other films, I’ve gotta say I feel okay about it (three stars to four for the new “Die Hard,” three for “1408″ and “Spider-Man 3,” and 2.5 for “Shrek 3″ and the “Fantastic Four” sequel. If I were willing to go back and edit anything besides my astonishing cast typos, yeah, I’d give it half a star more (and half less for “Spider-Man 3″).

Good call on favorite scenes, though. Those were favorites of mine, as well.

-The Mgmt.

1) When Sirius accidentally calls Harry by his father’s name.
2) When we find out why Snape is so ambivalent when it comes to Harry. As a matter of fact, this is now my favorite scene out of all five films.

I definitely would have given this film one more star. No Potter movie is ever going to be grand cinema, but this one was so much more than just competent.