• Finally got my Order Of The Phoenix review posted, after suffering some technical difficulties last night. Now I gotta catch the IMAX version. I also tossed up a list of the Harry Potter films and scores in the order I like ‘em. Speaking of which, Order Of The Phoenix is already jumping records.
• Full details for the new My So-Called Life DVD set and official press release. Woo hoo! They got involvement from Clare Danes! This looks to be a fantastic set. Thanks, Shout Factory! They spelled composer Snuffy Walden’s name wrong (”Waldren”). No commentaries, though? Still, I’m sure it’ll be a great set.
• Kevin Spacey has joined up for the Superman Returns sequel (”Man Of Steel”)
• Alex Proyas is taking on directing duties for Dracula Year Zero
• Some more info on Microsoft’s cutting edge HD Photo format. I’ve been working on a MASSIVE project for the last few months (and will continue to work on it for years) of doing high-res digital archiving of family photo from over the last 50+ years. A good number of them are on film slides. I got a fantastic scanner (the Epson Perfection V700 Photo) and spent days playing with file formats before I committed to using Microsoft’s new HD Photo format. It takes a bit of extra effort to work with right now, due to the very few apps that support it. Photoshop CS3 (and CS2) is actually one of the only ones that does, and that’s with a beta version of a plug-in. So, CS3 is what I’ve been working in for the scanning process (and using Microsoft’s nifty Photo Info tool for tagging and such). So far, it’s been a great format (with both pro level lossless encoding or consumer friendly compressed encoding), and I’ll be curious to see what kind of impact it has on the industry.
• Cool, a new Dick Van Dyke movie. Granted, it’s a Hallmark TV movie, but still. And hey, *3* generations of Van Dykes.
• I look forward to the mini-series remake of The Andromeda Strain, but why did they have to cast the awful Benjamin Bratt? I’m sure the rest of the cast and talented director Mikael Saloman can help compensate.
• Hmmmm, Dell has launched a new SMB computer line called Vostro
• Good grief, AOL has actually updated their client software. Just when you thought it was down for the count.
• The new XBox Live Arcade/PC mutliplayer Battlestar Galactica game has been previewed for reviewers. Sounds pretty cool.

Here’s a list of the Harry Potter films and music scores in the order in which I like them. By a strange coincidence, I like the music scores in the same order as the films, so I’ll just have the one list for both.

1. 3 - The Prisoner Of Azkaban (Score by John Williams)
   
2. 5 - The Order Of The Phoenix (Score by Nicholas Hooper)
   
3. 1 - The Sorcerer’s Stone (Score by John Williams)
4. 2 - The Chamber Of Secrets (Score by William Ross & John Williams)
5. 4 - The Goblet Of Fire (Score by Patrick Doyle)

A resounding success after the disappointing previous fourth film, Goblet Of Fire. It’s my second favorite of the Harry Potter franchise, (closely) following the third film, The Prisoner Of Azkaban. Like I do with each of my reviews for the Harry Potter films, I’ll state that I haven’t read any of the books as yet, so my opinion of the films is based solely on them as a film. I say this because of the people I know who didn’t care for The Prisoner Of Azkaban as much as me, they were all big fans of the books and were annoyed at it being the biggest departure from the source material. It’s those of us who haven’t read them that have no preconceptions of what it should be that seem to love it.

Writing: If there were any criticisms I’d make about the film they’d be small ones, and in the writing category. For one, I would have cut down on the clinically depressed Harry moments earlier on in the film just a bit. Second, there were a few things included in this film that seemed to server little-to-no purpose. I can only assume that they were tossed in briefly to act as establishing scenes for bigger appearances in future films. All in all, though, these notions are barely worth mentioning, as they did little to diminish my enjoyment of the film.

Production: This is, hands down, the most gorgeous and lavishly produced film of the franchise. This is British director David Yates’ first Harry Potter film (He will direct the next one as well). I was completely unfamiliar with his work, never having seen any of the stuff he’s worked on. He adds an enormous amount of style and flair to the franchise with this film. The visual effects are absolutely fantastic (except perhaps a couple of the shots during the broomstick flight through London, but I can forgive just a couple brief shots). I also like the transition design used with all the newspapers, which is a real cool new approach for that kind of age-old technique. Sound design is also very impressive (particularly in the final reel). Set design is also extremely impressive.

Cast: The impressive cast of these films keeps getting better and better. How they managed to go this long with a franchise of this style without including Helena Bonham Carter is beyond me. But now that they’ve added her to the mix, they chose a perfect character to give her. She’s spot-on perfect. Jason Isaacs gets a good amount of material this time out, and is great. Gary Oldman get just about as much material as he’s gotten previously in the franchise, and of course he’s great as well. The main cast has gotten very comfortable in their roles, and they are excellent in them. Daniel Radcliffe gets slightly buried during the first act in pessimistic self pity. He does a good job with it, but it’s nice to see him free himself up from it later on. We get to see a new side to Alan Rickman’s character of Snape. Rickman is, natrually, at his best. Imelda Staunton joins the cast as the intentionally overbearing and annoying Dolores Umbridge. She does a great job at being just that - overbearing and annoying. You grow to hate her character so much that when the payoff finally comes, it’s that much greater. But here’s the kicker - the real scene stealer in this film is newcomer Evanna Lynch as new character Luna Lovegood. Lynch is a self-confessed Harry Potter fanatic, and won the role after auditioning against thousands and thousands of girls for the role. And let me just say, she’s the absolute highlight of the film. Her offbeat, cheerful mannerisms are fantastic, but the vocal performance really puts it over the top and makes the character steal the show. I have no idea what the future of her character holds in the next books, but I really hope she’s featured well in the film versions.

Music: Nicholas Hooper, a frequent collaborator with director David Yates, is another one I had no familiarity with previously. And, like Yates, he comes through with flying colors. His score is, quite frankly, second only to Williams’ own Prizoner Of Azkaban masterpiece (though he BARELY uses any of Williams’ original material). It’s a refreshing follow-up to composer Patrick Doyle’s score to the previous film, which like the film itself was easily the weakest of the franchise. Hooper’s score is wonderful, and I’m very happy that he’s on board with Yates again for the next film. This is my favorite score of the year so far.