Thank you all for your insightful reviews of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." I hope they keep coming. It's a treat to have so many thoughtful fans weigh in with their considerable Harry knowledge.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie-review aggregate site, the movie is performing very strongly, with a whopping 89% of critics as of this writing giving the movie a "fresh," or recommended, rating. Does that make it the best reviewed movie of the year? Not necessarily. I've read a few dozen reviews, and many of them strike the same tone as those in the Beehive roundup: some minor quibbles with fidelity to the story, a few issues with too much "goopy romance stuff," some minor disappointment with the emotional impact of a major plot point that occurs at the end. But, generally, many critics found a lot to love about the film, especially the superb special effects and the overall storytelling.

Here's my Bee review, which ran in Wednesday's Life section. (It actually made this afternoon's Top 10 list of most-clicked-upon stories in today's Bee, a rarity for movie reviews. So, go ahead, click and see if it can catch up with "Fresno pizza joint ATM pilfered." Oops, now you'll just look at that story instead.)

If you want to read a contrarian review, check out the musings of the New York Observer's Rex Reed, who calls the film "two and a half hours of paralyzing tedium, featuring another colossal waste of British talent and a plot a real witch couldn't find with a crystal ball."

A follow-up:

BIGELOW MAKES HIS DONATION: We talked a lot about this story -- former player makes $10 million pledge to Fresno State athletics -- on the Beehive as it was initially unfolding. The discussion continues to rage in the comments section of Tuesday's Bee story about Alphonso Bigelow delivering what he says was a six-figure check to the athletics department. It doesn't surprise me that this already weird story keeps unfolding in weird ways. From the story:

After some public speculation about his ability to make good on his pledge, Bigelow invited a Bee reporter to be present when he delivered his first payment to Fresno State.

Monday afternoon, Bigelow arrived at the athletic department's offices on Shaw Avenue, entered a side door held open by [Danny] White, and walked into a conference room. A Bee reporter and photographer followed Bigelow and White into the room. A moment later, Fresno State athletic director Thomas Boeh entered the room and took a seat between Bigelow and White.

Reporter: "Where's the check?"

Bigelow: "I just gave it to Danny."

Later, Bigelow told a Bee reporter that he gave the check to White as they met outside the offices, while the reporter and photographer were behind Bigelow.

So what was this: a little game? A way to say, "We don't have to show you the check"? Like I say, weird. A common anti-Bee theme among some Fresno State supporters is that the media should accept what the university tells us at face value -- no questions asked, it seems. So, if we're told that there's a $10 million -- or $100 million, or $50 billion -- donation, shut up and print it.

What do you think?