Harry Potter

I went to see the new Harry Potter film, which I think is called Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I confees the whole phenomenon has passed me by - my children were all too old when the books came out, though some of them have seen the films. I took my nephew and niece to see the first film when it came out - they're younger, so are much more in tune with the whole thing. I can't remember whether I enjoyed it or not - I suspect it passed me by. This film, I believe the new film is the fourth, or is it the fifth? Anyway, I hadn't a clue what was going on, or who anyone was. A group of us went to a large cinema in Kilkenny, the only one there. I'd been there a few years before to see The Perfect Storm, and it hadn't changed much since then. It's a big auditorium with no stadium seating - fortunately there wasn't anyone sitting in front of me. The sound was poor - I'm used to Dolby Surround Sound, and the audience, which was sizeable, kept getting up and down to refuel, go to the loo etc. etc. I'd been warned that Irish audiences are talkative, but this one was OK; I wouldn't have minded too much anyway with a film like this, but I'm usually allergic to cinema chatterers and give them filthy looks, ask them politely but firmly to stop talking, or as a last resort, move if they won't shut up and there's room. Bristol audiences aren't too bad actually; I've heard London ones are awful. I've trained my children from a very early age to keep quiet at the cinema and they're all as intolerant as me. I really can't bear it - I suspect it comes from doing most of your film watching at home - you get used to being free to talk as much as you like. I read recently that older audiences are flocking to the cinema, fuelling the rising popularity of mainstream arthouse films such as Brokeback Mountain and The Lives of Others, so maybe audiences will have better manners in future. We'll see....
Anyway, back to Harry Potter. I really haven't got too much to say about it except that it seemed pretty long. I liked Imelda Staunton very much - she's always a treat, but I did get a bit confused towards the end. I suspect I may have lost concentration for a while as I really didn't know who was supposed to be who. I supppose it links back to the previous four films - anyway, now I'm home I've borrowed the DVDs of HP 2,3 and 4 from my daughter so I can catch up. More on HP to come, then....