order of the phoenix is my least favorite book in the series. it's the first time i had serious doubts about whether or not the final book would be a pay off for all the time i've invested as a reader into the series. i started wondering if j.k. could pull it off.

within the first 10 minutes, i found that i liked the movie a lot more than i liked book 5. to me, the movie sorta helps the book out. i eavesdropped on two guys sitting in front of me at the movies last night. guy #1 told guy #2 that he was skeptical about the movie because he didn't think goldberg could tell the story better than rowling. in some respects, i think he does, especially when it comes down to portraying the "bigger picture" struggle between good and evil.

i definitely missed different things from the book, which suprised me. in a weird way, i think that's a credit to the screenwriter and director and not the book. anyhow, i doubt that i'd enjoy a movie that was more faithful to book 5.

my opinion about movie 5 ends up being my opinion about book 5, just for different reasons: i like the series so i'm gonna enjoy it regardless but i'm not feeling story 5 in the first place, in a way that makes me not care too much about why i feel that way...so my plan is to wait for the next installment and hope it's not more of the same thing while i wonder if any of this has to do with rowling being so-so in the storytelling department.