This article is reposted from an article I wrote for The Technique (official site, Wikipedia article), published on July 20, 2007. (html, pdf). Summary: If you don’t own Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Widescreen Edition) on DVD by this point, you should remedy that ASAP.

The superstitious call it serendipity, the business elite call it synergy, but to Harry Potter fans around the world, the near-concurrent releases of the fifth cinematic installment and the final literary installment in the fantasy series make for what may possibly be the best two weeks ever.

It seems that the only thing that could top the current success of the fifth Harry Potter movie is the release of the final novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, due out at the stroke of midnight tonight. Scholastic, Inc., the U.S. publisher for the Harry Potter series, reports that the 784-page volume will have an “unprecedented” 12.1 million-book first printing, and booksellers Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com have stated that Hollows is the most pre-ordered book of all time. But as we await these last few hours with bated breath to discover the fate of Harry Potter and the rest of the wizardry world, let’s talk about the movie.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opened in theaters last Wednesday to a response that launched the film into the record books. It knocked Spiderman 2 out of the top spot for the highest-grossing Wednesday release ever, netting $44.2 million on release day. Phoenix’s 2,311 midnight screenings in the U.S. and Canada placed the film in the No. 2 slot behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for highest one-night earnings ever. But was it any good?

There are many ways to approach a movie: high-brow critics tend to dislike movies that college students think of as their favorites, and highly-praised films tend to earn the extraordinarily high rating of “crap” from many actual people. The Harry Potter series of movies presents another challenge: the movie is entirely different to people who have read the corresponding book. True, the overarching plot is almost identical, but there are enough differences to affect the review rating of a film-whether you judge it in tomatoes, points, stars or thumbs. While many differences between the author’s written words and the actors’ spoken ones may be forgiven in other series, Harry Potter fans are not as forgiving; there’s even a Wikipedia article entitled, “Differences between book and film versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

The latest installment follows and extends the darker path pioneered by the two previous movies. While this parallels the mood set within the books themselves, little time is given to lighter or more positive things that serve to counterbalance the darker ones, unless they are instrumental to the plot. A couple of examples include the missing ubiquity of Quidditch and Fred and George’s prankster masterpieces. Cho and Harry’s kiss was probably meant to be a more positive moment to break up the dark tone of the film, but there was significantly less focus on the development of the relationship and the buildup of tension between the pair in the movie than in the book. This could be attributed to the ease of filming a long, wet kiss over the script writing or filming of more detailed character development, but as a result, the scene fails to have the impact that the screenwriters likely intended, and to a viewer who may not have read the book, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

These deviations are understandable to some extent-scriptwriters and filmmakers only have so much time in which to tell a story, especially one as long as the later Harry Potter novels-but numerous omissions cause annoying continuity gaps and potential fan disappointments that are unseen in film series that are written specifically for the big screen rather than adapted from popular novels.

Taking the scriptwriter’s limitations into account, Order of the Phoenix was an excellent film. The tried and true actors and support staff, along with a new writer and a new director, have taken the series forward well, with the above reservations. Despite the lack of complexity in character dialogue or development in some scenes, most of the acting is pulled off rather well.

Especially of interest were the visually intense fight scenes, particularly at the movie’s climax. I was somewhat disappointed that the statues in the fountain were not involved in the movie’s version of that fight, as that part of the finale in the book was difficult to visualize and might have made an excellent addition to the climax. However, judging by the relatively poor rendering of Hagrid’s giant half-brother earlier in the film, I’m almost glad that it wasn’t tried. The focus at the climax stays on the few characters participating, a respectable decision given the difficulty of creating a complex yet coherent fight scene.

Overall, the film is well-made, and the writers, director and cast deliver a quality product given the constraints that come along with compressing a 700-plus page book into a two-and-a-half-hour movie. However, compared to its literary counterpart, which is arguably the best in the series to date, the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix fails to measure up to its predecessors. It is certainly worth a watch (or two, or even 10) for fans of the novels, but prepare for the nitpicking and niggling voice in the back of your head to get a real workout the first time through.

When one hears the name Firewall applied to a movie, one tends to think of a plot line and action sequence akin to Swordfish. Not many movies have really explored the workaday nerd, and Firewall takes a typical drama/action script and rewrites it with believable modern-day IT professionals.

Sure, Firewall doesn’t have any gratuitous shots of Halle Berry’s breasts, but it makes up for it with incredible fight scenes and a cohesive plot line. The movie’s climax was one of the best scenes filmed in years. The protagonist would have given Neo a run for his money.

Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is a computer security professional working for Landrock Pacific Bank, designing cracker-proof financial systems. He’s got a young wife and two children; they live in an expensive home outside of Seattle.

Over the last 20 years, Jack has designed and updated the security system protecting his bank and appears to be wealthy as a result. There’s one gaping hole in his security he didn’t consider, though. He never protected his system from himself.

The movie starts slowly, with an interesting opening credit style that’s half elusive spy, half console typing. The intensity picks up after Jack meets Bill Cox, a sophisticated white-collar criminal posing as a banker who is looking for a business opportunity.

Cox (as Jack calls him) and his henchmen kidnap Jack’s family and force Jack to work on stealing $100 million from the Landrock Pacific Bank. Jack’s only reward is (promised) freedom for his family.

Over time, it appears that Cox has no intention of leaving any loose ends, including his henchmen. Interestingly, these “henchmen” appear to be normal Tech-style nerds. One is interested in the architecture of the Stanfield home; another shows sympathy towards the family but can’t help them.

Our focus returns to Jack working against the clock to break into his own impenetrable system. Firewall begins to earn the “R” rating for violence here, particularly when Cox executes one of his henchmen for making a mistake. After the heist is successful, Jack begins to find holes in the criminals’ plan.

After Cox disappears with his family, Jack starts to take control of the situation. Meanwhile, Cox’s body count slowly grows, although Jack’s family remains (mostly) unharmed. This is the best part of the movie, although they do tend to rely on the fabled “just make stuff up” premise to tie together some of the plot elements.

For someone who’s been waiting for a good movie with an original plot, an extra helping of violence, ass-kicking and perhaps a bit of fun technology, Firewall is a solid bet.

However, for someone who doesn’t like seeing people die or is not a fan of the psychological thriller, then maybe not so much. From the moment that the family is kidnapped until the intense climax, you’ll be enraptured and on the edge of your seat, not knowing who will live or who will meet a violent end.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is everywhere. Google will tell you The Answer To Life, The Universe, and Everything; you might even see someone celebrating Towel Day (May 25). The whimsical yet amazing world and comedic wizardry of Douglas Adams has finally come to the silver screen, after a lengthy wait and a lot of hard work.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy tells a story of an ordinary man, Arthur Dent, (Martin Freeman) whose house is about to be demolished to make way for a bypass. Not only that, it so happens that Earth is also about to be demolished, much for a similar reason. Arthur is rescued by his good friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) just before Earth is destroyed-and soon finds himself on a ship in a Vogon constructor fleet.

It turns out that Arthur’s friend Ford is not from Guildford after all (which would explain the accent), but from a planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. Ford is also a writer for the Guide, giving it prominence in the series. This launches an adventure that is very random, or perhaps simply very improbable.

However, the screenplay (co-written by Adams) manages to take many interesting and funny elements and combine them into an enjoyable work.

Die-hard fans will find many elements that satisfy, and newcomers to Adams’ style won’t be left in the cold. Similarly, the visual effects team creates stunning environments (think Earth II) without letting the visual effects become the story, as in some big-budget movies we can probably think of.

The “aliens” are also masterfully costumed, thanks to the Jim Henson creature shop. We can thank them for the Vogons being what they are today. The music is also well-done and compliments the lovable quirkiness of the film; they even remastered the theme from the original BBC series.

The opener was a bit of a surprise for me, but it was well-made; it also demonstrates how random the movie is. Imagine for a second that dolphins are more intelligent than humans and have been trying to warn us of Earth’s impending destruction.

Okay, now turn it into a musical. It doesn’t get much more random than that, kids. That serves as an excellent starting point into what is a very complex series. I was laughing, grinning and happy throughout the movie.

The film’s ending left the story open for the adaptation of the other books in Adams’ five-book trilogy, but given the difficulties that occurred with making just this one, I don’t see it happening. However, if a sequel were to be made, I would be more than delighted.

Don’t panic when you read a flurry of negative reviews about The Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy, and see it for yourself. It’s more popular and informative than the Encyclopedia Galactica. It’s got more practical advice than your parents ever gave you.

If somebody makes a plush Marvin, the maniac-depressed robot, one will reside on my desk. He’ll find it absolutely horrible there. Be sure to get a copy of the DVD when it comes out, and always know where your towel is.