Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? REALLY GOOD movie. I consider that book to be the worst in the series by MILES (it's horrible), so I was shocked. It is too dark. I mean this in both the scenes they choose to show (death, death, death, doom, destruction, blah), and the actual cinematography/lighting (there's sunlight in the wizarding world too); remember, at heart, these are kids' books, but this is really the only complaint I have (that, and Voldy was kind of unintentionally funny...if you've seen the movie you know what I mean). They made extremely wise decisions of what to cut out (there was like one scene of Harry being obnoxious, not 300 pages of him talking in all capitals), and while the final battle was just boring in the book, it was totally thrilling here. The special effects are pretty damn amazing too.
OH MY GOD, THE ACTING! Daniel Radcliffe isn't going to get nominated for a Pulpy or anything like that, but he actually gives a good, non-laugh-worthy performance. Emma Watson, for the most part, isn't acting with her eyebrows. Rupert Grint isn't mumbling all the time. It's amazing. Obviously, Imelda Staunton is incredible (and incredibly scary) and is currently #2 in my Pulpy lineup in Best Supporting Actress for the year, and Helena Bonham-Carter is just fricking awesome (I can't believe I just said that either; I can only hope she's half as good with about 3 million times the screentime in Sweeney Todd). I'm so psyched for Book 7 now. The best summer blockbuster yet, Ratatouille excluded. B+
