Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to these titles, you can now check out the second season of Big Love, High School Musical 2, and the indie movie Interview with Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller.

The Bourne Ultimatum
This third installment in the Bourne series was one of the most refreshing things of the summer movie season. From the looks of my Best Action Flick of 2007 poll, you all seriously enjoyed it as well! This chapter of Bourne's story finds him bopping around Moscow, New York, Paris, Madrid, London, and Tangier as he continues to figure out his past. The DVD version boasts plenty of extras, from the audio commentary and deleted scenes to the many production featurettes, including pieces on the many locations they traveled to and the making of the chase and fight scenes.

More new DVDs if you read more

Just for funsies, someone over at Warner Bros. has done some number-crunching and come up with further proof that the Harry Potter franchise is on its way to world domination. Beating out the Star Wars and James Bond franchises, Harry Potter's is the top-grossing film franchise worldwide. Ever.

The first five Harry Potter movies have raked in a total of $4.47 billion worldwide, magically flying past the records set for the 22 James Bond flicks (which grossed $4.44 billion worldwide) and the six Star Wars movies ($4.23 billion).

Now, this is pretty crazy. But do these numbers account for inflation or higher ticket costs? No. Furthermore, this is worldwide they're talking about. Domestically, the Star Wars franchise still wins. As Variety points out, "All told, the Star Wars pics have grossed $2.18 billion, while the Harry Potter franchise has grossed $1.41 billion. But then there are still two more Potters to go."

Indeed, there are two more Harry Potters to go, and they will undoubtedly be extremely successful. Yet there's a definite end in sight for the Harry Potter story. James Bond, however, well, his stories could go on for many, many years. Someday his franchise may even outpace the boy wizard's.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Wow. In my poll last Friday I wondered if the No. 1 movie at the box office this weekend would be Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix or Hairspray, and here we are on Monday with I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry smiling at us from the top of the list. The movie was critically panned (and even annoyed Molly), but apparently Adam Sandler has enough fans to float a pretty mediocre-sounding movie. Or maybe all the Harry Potter fans were just home reading the newest book!

The top three movies were close in sales, however, with Chuck and Larry and Harry Potter only about $2 million apart. In third place was Hairspray with $27.8 million, the most any musical movie has ever grossed in its opening weekend. At No. 4 was Transformers, staying strong with a cool $20 million, followed by Ratatouille at No. 5, raking in $11 million in its third weekend.

As for this weekend, I'm extremely excited to see The Simpsons Movie, so check out my review this Friday. For now, watch the trailer again and then see if you can get "Spider-Pig" out of your head.

Source

• Kelly Rowland collapsed during a performance in Nigeria yesterday due to dehydration. We wish her a speedy recovery. - People
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix grossed $140 million since opening on Wednesday, taking the #1 slot away from Transformers. Even alien robots are no match for wizard magic. - BuzzSugar
• Rapper Remy Ma has pleaded not guilty after being arrested on charges that include attempted murder after a woman was shot in Manhattan this weekend. - AP
• Drew Carey is currently CBS' #1 candidate to fulfill the hosting duties on The Price is Right. Shhh, don't tell Ian Ziering! - R & M
• This weekend in Beverly Hills, Al Gore's daughter Sarah married businessman Bill Lee. Congrats to the happy couple! - People

Source

Harry Potter and Company made all sorts of money — both here and overseas — over the five-day opening for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Earning a tremendous $140 million nationally and $330 million worldwide, this fifth movie in the Harry Potter franchise had the best five-day opening of a non-holiday movie ever. Order of the Phoenix is on track to be the highest-grossing of all the Harry Potter movies.

Despite the mesmerizing spell cast by Potter, other summer favorites didn't fall behind very much. Transformers held its own at No. 2 with $36 million, while Ratatouille stayed strong at No. 3. In fourth place was Live Free or Die Hard with License to Wed following behind. This doesn't appear to be the summer for torture porn, however, as Captivity opened to a dismal $1.5 million and came in at No. 12. This weekend it will be interesting to see if Harry Potter can bewitch his way to No. 1 even in the rotund face of John Travolta getting his groove on in Hairspray.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

• Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix has already made $12 million after opening yesterday. Sounds like trouble for Shia and the Transformers. - BuzzSugar
• Queen Elizabeth was not happy when photographer Annie Lebovitz suggested the Queen take off her crown for a photoshoot, but she did not storm off the set as was originally reported. Annie still might want to consider sticking around U.S. soil for awhile. - BBC News
• Kevin Federline has moved on from Britney and is now dating radio host Liz Hernandez. Wonder what Brit will have to say about this one. - The Scoop
• Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo may be in danger of losing her crown after some photos of her exhibiting "non lady-like behavior" were released. Someone needs to tell these pageant girls to be more careful with their cameras. - AP
• Lady Bird Johnson, former First Lady and wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson, passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Our thoughts go out to her friends and family. - People
• Ian Ziering was apparently "jittery" and excited at an ESPY Awards gifting suite on Tuesday after learning he got a second call back to audition to host "The Price Is Right." Hope he's practicing his "Come On Downs!!" - R&M

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix just opened yesterday, but it is already breaking records at the box office. The film made $12 million for the midnight showing alone, beating out Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as the No. 1 Wednesday opening midnight run ever. Still with me? Order of the Phoenix doubled the midnight revenue of Goblet of Fire, which opened up on a Friday night back in 2005. Basically, what this all means is that the Transformers are in for some stiff competition at the box office this weekend.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

I feel the need to start off my review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with the disclaimer that I am and always have been a fan of the books. As good as the movies are, they will probably never fully capture the wonderful magic of the novels. That being said, the fifth film installment of Harry Potter definitely makes a solid attempt.

The movie takes us back to Hogwarts for year 5, and so begins a much darker time for Harry and the rest of the wizarding world. A war is brewing between good and evil, and the need to take a side is growing imminent. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is reunited with his best friends and sidekicks Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), but the brooding teenager has never felt more alone. To find out why, and more, read more

The Harry Potter kids are all grown up and ready to show the world Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The teenage stars rocked the red carpet at the LA premiere, especially Emma Watson in her up-do, who is just the cutest little movie star ever -- even though her dress looks like it had pills spilled on it. As if you needed a reminder, the movie comes out on Wednesday, excited? As for little Miss Watson, she recently talked to Parade about playing Hermione and what it's like to be a young woman these days:

“There are too many stupid girls in the media. Hermione’s not scared to be clever. I think sometimes really smart girls dumb themselves down a bit, and that’s bad.” Watson admits that there is quite a lot of herself in the confident and bookish Hermione. “I’m a bit of a feminist,” she proclaims. “I’m very competitive and challenging.”

Have I mentioned how great she is? Hopefully with all her stardom, she's able to keep that good head on her shoulders.

To see a whole bunch more pictures from the premiere, including Miley Cyrus, Antonio Sabato Jr (random), Ashley Tisdale and all the kids above just read more