Stalked my mom's FB page to find the date for the first time I got to see this. I didn't this, but turns out she took my sister and I out of school early to catch this at an opening-day screening with good seats! Yeah, she's pretty awesome.

I kinda miss the days of real box offices. Reading her post sent me back and I could suddenly the line of people - some in tents - that stretched all the way around the corner of the multiplex in our little sub-60,000-person suburb, all waiting for their chance to get a physical slip of paper that would put them in the theater for the midnight - not Thursday evening, but midnight Friday - release of this movie. I waiting in line like that myself for The Force Awakens. Did it feel like a pain at the time? Sure. But looking back, it was pretty special to be with friends in such an electric environment. It's not quite the same with all the convenience of today.

But yeah, the hype was real for this movie: some (definitely some, but probably a lot) of the people in tents were actually teenagers themselves. I loved it walking out of the theater, and I don't blame my nine-year-old self for "fretting about waiting 7+ months till Part 2", which my mom says I was already doing by the end of the movie. That was peak Harry Potter phase - I dressed up as him for both Halloweens on either side of this movie (though the second time around was in Quidditch robes, because repeating the same costume would be boring). Yeah, those were good times. Twelve years later, this is still my favorite of the series (and one of my favorite films ever).

Every Favorite, Every Year, All in One List
Harry Potter Ranking
Scores, Ranked
Lambasted Films that I Love