Lynda and I went to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” on Sunday afternoon, at matinee prices of $4.00 each. Popcorn and pop cost more than the movie. I hesitated to write a review yesterday, wanting a day to see if my feelings had changed. They hadn’t. I know no other way to say this than to say it straight, and with words that Ron Weasly might use: It was a bloody waste of time and money.

I haven’t read the books, and so don’t know what this particular one said. As a lead-in to seeing this one we watched the first four Potter films over the last two weekends, finishing up Saturday evening. We had re-watched the fifth one in late April in Chicago.

Now I know everyone is supposed to be all ga-ga about Harry Potter. Maybe the books are good, I don’t know. But this one did not, for me, do enough to warrant the 2hr 20min we spent in the theater. Nor the $8.00 we paid for two tickets (the popcorn was excellent though).

I’d say some specifics of why I didn’t like it, but I have already invested enough time on this thing, and won’t waste any more.