Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had its London premiere earlier this week, and though the previous three films in the series all received PG ratings from the British and American film boards, this latest is classified as 12A in England, meaning nobody under the age of 12 can see the film without parental accompaniment...because, some suggest, it's too frightening for the little ones. (Here, the film is PG-13 "for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images," but that's just a caution, not a prohibition—so any kids reading this blog can head out Friday afternoon as planned.) Among the terrors described in the Evening Standard: dragon attacks, drownings, and Mad-Eye Moody (left) indulging in spider torture. But, notes Standard critic Jeremy Langmead, "[director Mike Newell] argued that the children who had grown up watching the Potter films were now older and more sophisticated and that the movie needed to reflect that. He's right; and it does."

Neither rain nor noisy dragons could keep away the fans, including Madonna and her daughter, Lourdes (right). Madge praised the series, describing it as "clear and entertaining and smart," then conceded, "I haven't read any of the books...I just watch the movies." Meanwhile, J.K. Rowling stayed home, nursing her post-operational husband.