Last night Dre and I went to go see the new Harry Potter movie. I really enjoyed it, and I agree with critics who have said that it manages to be both the funniest AND the darkest of the series. I was actually sort of suprised to see how many parents brought their very young kids. I would have thought the movie to be too scary for 7 year olds, and MPAA seems to agree, what with the PG-13 rating. As Slate says, “I stood my ground and left my 7-year-old (who devoured the book) at home. Weak-willed parents of similarly aged children should prepare for night sweats and bed-wetting. It’s scary, kids.” But whatever: the kids ate it up, and so did the teenagers and adults.

By far the funniest moment to me was a scene where little Daniel Radcliffe takes off his shirt to get in a bath, revealing a decently toned back and arms. There was this immediate ripple of spontaneous squeals and gasps from the teenaged girls in the audience. Now, don’t get me wrong: clearly Danny had been working out a bit in preparation for the scene, but he’s still a very pale, very scrawny little guy. But don’t tell that to the 15 year old girls in the audience! It was hilarious.

Also overheard, during the Superman trailer: “If he’s so super, why is he still flying around in his underwear?”