Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

The movie series continues to be a delight of visual design and inspired casting. This movie works particularly well when grappling with adolescent melodrama, including the first boy-girl dance of these fourteen-year-old witches and wizards. It's sort of nice to have a movie where you can deal with adolescent rebellion and sexual awakening without the predictable blackboard jungle tedium of movies set in the "real world." Ho, hum, sex drugs and rock-n-roll. Rebellion through magic (forbidden spells and invisibility cloaks) ends up feeling fresher, and, oddly, more authentic.

On the downside, the story ends up a little busy and unfocused -- crammed full of things, not all of which seem to matter, and it's a looong film. But, as every moment is reasonably enjoyable, the time feels well spent.