Reviews are coming in for the fifth installment and it looks mixed-to-positive so far, with 65% fresh on Rottem Tomatoes as of today. Most seem to agree with Variety, who calls this installment "grimmer and grittier" than its predecessors. My personal barometer, Peter Travers, said it's the best of the series so far. Please post any reviews (yours or otherwise).

Can't wait!

... crap! This isn't a LOST thread. I've got to remember that!

I agree with Bus, my trio of barometers are Berardinelli, Travers, and Ebert (if there is one available from him) so I'll wait to see what they think. So far, Travers and Berardinelli have gone apeshit over it so things are looking good.

Berardinelli gave it 3.5 out of 4.

They both did. "Apeshit" = figure of speech, does not directly correlate to number of stars. I figured it was apt to describe them as going apeshit having read the content of their reviews and not stopping to digest the information after I had taken in the star rating..

Ill be seeing it in about 2 and a half hours. I'll report back here after I've seen it.

James Berardinelli calls it the best one yet.

I can't see much topping Cuarón's magical third instalment, the fourth one certainly didn't. But I guess we'll see, won't we? Ocean's Thirteen tonight, then I'll be seeing this next Tuesday.

Just got back from it.

I was with about 6 or 7 other people...we've all read the books...and I was the only one who really enjoyed it.

Yes...LOTS of stuff is cut and changed...there are some obvious stupid things (Lets take Harry to trial for using magic in the muggle world by flying through London close to the ground on broomsticks)...and Dudley is the worst actor on the face of the planet...

But the tone for me was perfect for the flick. This is a very different Harry Potter film than we are used to.

The Great:
- Luna Lovegood is perfectly cast!
- Harry, Ron and Hermoine all excell from the previous film.
- The darker tone of the movie is great.
- More Snape this time around.
- The ending is spectacular.

The Ok:
- The Weasly's exit was a little less than what I expected but still fun.
- Lots of things were in the movie that just went nowhere but should of (Kreature being the big one here)
- Michael Gambon still doesn't fully understand Dumbledore yet...
- Even though its the shortest movie...it still feels very long!

The Bad:
- I was soo hoping for a Branaugh apperance at the hospital scene...but we didn't even get the hospital scene.
- The broomstick flying through London.
- Dudley is a played terribly!
- The Dursley's didn't seem as mean as they usually are.

But still...the movie is spectacular and I think its going to be one of the "Love it/Hate it" type of movies...It'll be interesting to hear what everyone else thinks!

Roger Ebert gives HP:OotP 2 1/2 stars!

Saw it. Loved it. Best of the series so far, and the only one other than Azkaban that actually works as a movie as opposed to just a filmed book.

Order of the Phoenix was my least-favorite book, so I'm actually going into this one expecting it to be my least-favorite movie.

By the way, if you can see it in IMAX, do it. It's a whole different experience.

God dammit! When I saw the classroom scene in GoF and how badly affected Neville was by seeing the Cruciatus curse in action, I just KNEW we were going to get to see his parents in St. Mungo's in OotP. I've been looking forward to that scene for over a year and a half now. I better get to see some inkling of the repercussions of Bellatrix's attack at some point.

I gave up on the movies after they introduced important characters in the last film by simply dropping them out of trees.

Detractors should note that not only is there a much better director this time around, but also a different writer.

Ebert has been lamenting the "loss of innocence" of the series since the third movie ... no surprise there.

your talking about the 3D experience - right? how was it?

let me rant again - Udvar Hazy here in the DC area is NOT hooked to playback 3D IMAX - god I hate that!

I'm guessing Ebert hasn't/doesn't read the books - so he's going into the films with totally different expectations than the majority of us.

I guess you mean Kreacher, right?

Yes.

I'd disagree that Yates is a better director than Cuarón ... well at least, he doesn't have a better track record.

I think he's referring to the Newell - Yates comparison with "this time around".

Really. How long does Ebert expect Harry to be awed by magic? Lots of bad things are happening to him (honestly, I can't really think of a single good thing that happens to him in OotP...he helps others (especially Neville) become better witches and wizards but that's not really happening to him).

Ebert is going to be really depressed at the end of HBP...

Correct. Cuaron is the most distinguished director the series has had. Newell was the worst. Yates seems to have a natural affinity for the material. I'm glad he's doing the next one as well.

As for the IMAX 3D, well, you have to see it to believe it. But even the regular IMAX looks incredible, and the sound is killer.