TheFranciscos.Net

Just finished up the newest Harry Potter book – Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix last night. The book was released about three weeks ago (June 21st to be exact), but I only started reading it after Aileen got done with it. My thoughts? It was easily the best book in the series so far. These tales of Harry Potter and his gang of wizards just seem to be getting better and better with every book. The series kicks into high gear for this one, with a revelation that sets the tone for the rest of the series. I don’t really know how to explain the parts that I love without spoiling it, but rest assured that it’s very much worth the 2+ year wait. Stephen King, in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, puts the Harry Potter series up there with such literary classics as Alice In Wonderland, Wizard Of Oz and The Lord Of The Rings. I couldn’t agree more. These books definitely deserve the “instant classic” status.

The bad thing about this is the agonizing wait for the next book.

In other Harry Potter news – Gary Oldman as Sirius Black for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie? I can see that working somewhat. He can be a good scruffy-looking character, as shown in Air Force One and True Romance, and there’s no doubt he’s a phenomenal actor, showing that he can play pretty much anything. Aileen thinks that Sirius should be more heavy in the good looks department (maybe Viggo Mortensen?). At any rate, the movie casting has been right on the money so far, so I trust that the next movie will be at least as good as the previous ones. I had my doubts about Kenneth Branagh as the vainest wizard of them all, Gilderoy Lockheart, but they managed to pull it off nicely.

With the new movie not coming out until Summer 2004 and only God and JK Rowling knowing when Book 6 is coming out, the Harry Potter withdrawal now starts…