Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Day Movie Day

Advanced, midnight screenings for the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were held today, July 11, 2007 (12:01 am) - yes, I got to watch. The official release will be on July 13th, Friday.

I have not read the book, but I have followed the movies from the Sorcerer's Stone to Goblet of Fire. I'll say I liked Order of the Phoenix very much (FYI: I liked all of the movies). The students (Harry, Ron, etc.) matured quite a lot in this story. It's also amazing to see that Harry Potter, as a film, has lost not a single ounce of its "magic" and is still riding with big momentum.

Special props to Alan Rickman, the actor who played Professor Snape. I think everyone was good in this movie as far as acting is concerned but Rickman's portrayal of Snape stands out (as always) in every scene that he is in.

Finally, this turns out to be another first-of-a-kind for me - I never watched an advanced screening before. The movie started out at 12:01 midnight. We bought our tickets online and lined up at the cinema as early as around 8pm to ensure ourselves of good seats. I got home at past 3am - the last time I did this was back when I went to Disneyland and then to a bar in downtown LA last Holiday season.