(As this is damn near completely off-topic for the purposes of the site, I'm going to refrain from front-paging this and instead will simply post it to my personal blog) 

Since my wife and I just moved to Alexandria last week, I haven't really had a chance to explore the DC-area social scene.  Last night, she and I changed that at the Potomac Yard theater at 11:59.

Yes, we're total "Harry Potter" nerds, and we freely admit it.

I think I've been to the midnight premiers of all five of the movies so far, including "Chamber of Secrets," which came out while I was doing a stint in rural Michigan and had to drive over an hour and a half through the snow to get to the theater.

Actually, it was my second movie of the day--my wife had an interview in Georgetown, so I had spent about an hour and a quarter watching "Transformers" at the Loew's Theater on K Street at 31st (I had little trouble walking out when she called to tell me her interview was over, though the fight scenes were cool enough, I suppose).

We got to the cinema around 11:40, and the parking lot was exceptionally full for a Tuesday evening.  The concessions lines were all about ten minutes long, so by the time I had my Coke and she her Sour Patch Connectors, we were already doomed to that most painful of positions: second row center.

Watching a movie that close to the screen, no matter how comfortable the seats are, is a literal pain in the neck.  But no matter, there were two stadium-style screening rooms packed to capacity with not a single under-13 year old in sight.

The inevitable ordeal of previews began.  I've always enjoyed sitting through the trailers, except at Harry Potter midnight screenings, because I can't remember the last time I only had to endure five or fewer (I received applause from the midnight audience at "Chamber" for heckling the projection booth after the seventh preview started running--just because we're a captive audience doesn't mean they need to treat the audience like we're in "A Clockwork Orange," and it's a two hour and change movie to begin with!).

The Coming Attractions now over, something understandable yet annoying as hell happened: the house lights came on.  The theater manager stepped out to make an announcement that mostly consisted of a three-second 'thank you for coming' and a forty second threat of prosecution and forcible ejection for anyone who had anything resembling a video recorder.  Now, I understand the desire to prevent pirated copies of the film from hitting the Interweb tubes, but an authoritarian lecture on copyright law is not exactly the best way to nourish the necessary sense of whimsy and wonderment in an audience, in my experience.

Finally, the much-anticipated film began, to appreciative hoots and applause from the audience.  And the film continued to appreciative hoots and applause from the audience.  Then the film climaxed in one of the coolest fight scenes I've ever seen put to film (think the wizard fight in "The Fellowship of the Ring," only with twenty more people, none of whom are worried they're about to break their hips, and a hell of a lot better special effects), receiving appreciative hoots and applause from the audience.

See, one thing I've come to realize is that midnight showings are not for people who want to sit and quietly enjoy the movie being screened.  Whether you're at the new "Harry Potter" or the classic "Rocky Horror," midnight movies are about the atmosphere at the theater as much as anything else.  It's a chance to commune with similarly obsessive people, to win bragging rights the next day as you sleepily shuffle around the office (or in my case, lazily shuffle around the house), and to get a story to tell (see every word above).  The people who are energized enough to go to a midnight movie all know they'll probably go see it at least once more in theaters, so they don't worry too much that they might miss a cool little effect or a brief but telling exchange between characters, and the atmosphere is simply too joyous to hold anyone's enthusiasm against them.

And the film itself?  Well, from where I was sitting, second row center in a boisterous multiplex, it was one of the best action/adventure movies I've ever had the pleasure of seeing.  The adaptation was efficient and thorough, yet left in almost every pertinent detail.  I have been re-reading "Phoenix" for the past few days, and they stayed closer to the book in this one than in any of the previous installments.  I'd love to hear August's take on it once he sees it, since he's the one with the BA in film, but I think the fight at the Ministry of Magic is one of the best executed fight scenes in years.  Helena Bonham Carter is underemployed, but Ralph Finnes finally figured out that his portrayal of Voldemort could be the defining role of his career and rises to the challenge.  Gary Oldman conveyes the sense of lonely delusion that infects Sirius throughout the book with a style that reminded me more of his role as Mason Verger in "Hannibal" than his action work in films like "Air Force One," yet his climactic battle scene is flawlessly executed.  Daniel Radcliffe still appears to be thinking "I'm brooding! I'm moody!" in all his scenes, and Emma Watson needs to get better at exposition, since that's basically been Hermione's primary role in the saga for the last three books or so, but all the young leads have managed to improve their acting skills considerably, and are perfectly capable of holding their own alongside major stars like Oldman and Carter.  And I don't think I can say enough good things about Imelda Staunton, who handles the role of Dolores Umbridge better than I could have possibly hoped, playing the sadistic bureaucrat like a toad dipped in saccharine--cloying sweet and slimy, all at once.

The real star, of course, was the magical world itself.  It's hard to fault "The Sorcerer's Stone" for spending too much time explaining the ways of the wizarding world, since it was both a children's novel and a children's movie.  But (and it really annoys me to have to agree with Orson Scott Card about anything, especially "Potter") books four, five and six are by no means children's books--they are novels that happen to be mostly about schoolchildren.  This film seemed to understand that fact better than most.  The magic that happens is almost all incidental to the scenes taking place.  New locations like the Ministry and 12 Grimmauld Place are--instead of being treated as revelations such as Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley in the first movie--shown as everyday places with everyday people, some of whom just happen to carry wands to work.  A bit of magic at the dinner table doesn't stop the conversation so much as provide some background entertainment.  Self-guiding paper airplanes are pointed out, but mostly as a way to make a joke about owl crap.  A flying paper bird in a classroom is only put aloft so we can watch the sadistic teacher, ever so sweetly and gently, cause it to burst into flames.

But the magic is only part of the charm of the film.  "Phoenix" is, at its core, as much about politics within the magical world as it is about magic.  The demonization and public ridicule of anyone who disagrees with the rosy and upbeat statements of the Ministry, the cult of personality that has evolved around the Minister himself, the obvious sadistic pleasure a government official gets from torturing dissenters (using both legal and illegal methods, without regard to morality)..."Phoenix" is as much a film about the dangers of a government in denial of reality as it is about the everlasting struggle between light and dark.  And just like when light meets dark or good meets evil, when truth confronts denial, sparks will fly.

My new concern: I don't know how they can do justice to "Half-Blood Prince" without getting an R rating, but as a movie fan, more than as a "Potter" fan, I can't wait to find out.

(But while we wait, please enjoy this rather hilarious anti-Potter pastiche from LivePrayer Ministries' Bill Keller, called "Harry Potter and the Search for a King."  Link interviewed Keller a few years ago, and he seemed oddly pleased with himself for having written this, despite the fact that it's about as well-written as the creepy "Xena: Warrior Princess" fan fiction that's floating out there)