I love the series. It has been designated a spot in my "comfort watch" collection. I'll play it in the background. It's part of my knitting/crochet playlist. When HBO removed it I downloaded it on an external drive that's permanently attached to the TV so I can play it anytime I want. By this point I've rewatched the whole thing start to finish at least a dozen times.
But the movies didn't have the same je ne sais quoi. They weren't bad, but I never have the same desire to watch them again. And with Maggie Smith gone... It's time.
I regret seeing the DA movie in a theater.
IMO it was far inferior ... pretty much a money grab.
It's was the only time I'd subjected myself to the theater experience in the last decade or so.
I only went to appease my DH, and MIL.
I just love being distracted by the light of all the dumbphones in front of me, hearing their phone calls, smelling my neighbors' chili cheese fries, loud volume, being trapped seeing and having the listen to the commercials with no mute button, not to mention the one-million dollar bags of stinky popcorn!
I am however enjoying Julian Fellows' series, The Gilded Age, on HBO MAX.
Not nearly as good as DA series, but mostly worth watching.
... and of course, the loss of Maggie is the final nail in that coffin.