Saw it the other day, and feel strongly that it's the best in at least some respects. The spectacle of the fantastic setting is now old news, and the art direction is more selective, and finer. The younger actors are learning to really act. Hermione is as credible a character as any, even Snape, who is masterfully acted. It has more mood and genuine atmosphere, better editing. But the werewolf was awful and cartoonish.

I haven't read any of the books, but had heard the plot and stuff from my kids. I suggest sometimes it's also good to let kids explain things to you. My daughter was disappointed that Cho Chang wasn't in this one, but I guessed that it would create too much expectation if they introduced a new character who wasn't integral to the plot, and she figured that was probably true.

One thing that's interesting about the world of Potter, as somebody pointed out, is that there's really no magic in it. It's something one learns at school, like algebra, or conjugating verbs. So there's a very basic educational metaphor of making the fantastic seem commonplace, and maybe also implying the reverse--that the commonplace can be seen as magical. I can't get into it very much, but it seems to be pretty good. I read some "greater" stuff at that age, but I think it messed me up.

   Huck Finn was the first novel I ever read, and it poisoned my mind with a sense that my experiences were small and narrow, that I needed to get outside the security of my childhood circumstances. I developed an existential ethic of getting into trouble. Maybe I should've waited a year or two.