Harry Potter (V)

No one wants to see a “”Harry Potter”” movie gone wrong. The books enchant readers into his world of witchcraft and wizardry, and viewers expect to be equally as dazzled by the films. Unfortunately, the fifth installment to the ever-popular series fizzles under the pressure that its dark content creates.

The movie has its winning moments. It opens with a beautiful and chilling photographic quality – as Harry fights dementors off his cousin, Dudley – that typically lies in the realm of art house films. The grand finale also proves a rewarding sight, as Lord Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore battle in a good-versus-evil lightshow that foreshadows the intensity of their fight in the next sequel.

Aside from those two scenes, the movie plays out like a brief visual representation of the book. Granted, a very well executed visual representation, but one that almost seems a waste of the millions it cost to make.

“”Order of the Phoenix”” is the first “”Harry Potter”” film directed by David Yates and, sadly, not his last. For the sake of viewers, Yates will hopefully learn from his yawn-worthy first attempt at the series, and will take full advantage of the material gifted to him by author J.K. Rowling. Until then, this film will possibly sink into oblivion as the worst Harry Potter movie.

– Jamie Ross

Queen of Babble (…)

The only people who will be lining up to buy Meg Cabot’s latest two-novel series, “”Queen of Babble”” and “”Queen of Babble in the Big City,”” are those proud-in-pink princesses, the twenty-something girls who never outgrew their Barbie dolls. The books deal solely with fairy-tale romance, New York (predictably), marriage and even a French prince, complete with castle.

In the most recent novel, a bubbly but bumbling Lizzie Nichols, the narrator, has moved to New York to start her post-college life, accompanied by boyfriend, Luke, and best friends Shari and Chaz. Lizzie attempts to become sophisticated and successful by finding a job and a place to live.

Nothing is simple for her, however. She finds a job designing wedding dresses, perfect except that it doesn’t pay, and as such is torn between following her dream and paying rent. All this for the love of Luke, who, insufficient in character and overdone in charm, could be played perfectly well by an upper-class sock monkey.

Cabot, also author of “”The Princess Diaries,”” is obsessed with the fairy tale but unable to add a new spin. Like any romantic comedy, the story is easy to follow and at times raises an “”isn’t love silly”” smile, but readers wanting any more than light and prissy entertainment would be well advised to ignore this title, much like you would ignore most of the babble on its pages.

– Astrid Duffy

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

The latest release from indie rock band Spoon is the musical equivalent of a flat tire. Following its critically acclaimed 2005 album, Gimme Fiction, with its promising 5-track supplementary disc, the group’s new album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, seems to be going nowhere.

The album sounds like a re-tread of everything Spoon has done before and makes listeners yearn for something new.

Despite the monotony found on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, the first song, “”Don’t Make Me A Target,”” gets the album off to an encouraging start. A lone clanking piano takes the band’s stark simplicity to the extreme but, like the album, the song quickly regresses to an imitation of Spoon’s earlier work. By the third song you’ll forget what Spoon album you’re listening to, and by the end of the album you just might even forget to listen.

The 10-track disc barely clocks in over 36 minutes and about the only thing it does well is being concise. It’s short enough that you might not even need to buy the record if you have an extra half hour to waste at a listening station.

The musicality and skill are still there, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is worth a listen, but the album has little replay value. If you’re a Spoon fan, grab this album; if you were hoping for growth beyond Gimmie Fiction, it’s not here.

– Andrew Austin