Geek Gear: Harry Potter: Undesirable No. 1 Poster

Undesirable No. 1

As always, I'm a sucker for movie replicas. This poster appears in the Harry Potter movies after the Ministry of Magic declares him Undesirable No. 1. It comes framed which, to me, makes it a nice wall item as opposed to a tacked up poster. It's small - the size of a sheet of paper - and I'd imagine that, depending on your decor, you could probably stick this somewhere and people would have to do a double take to see what it really was. I like the fact that it is colored to look like the poster from the movie. Printing this same image on a white background wouldn't have nearly the same effect.

I think you should be able to order these things with a customized name and image. Wouldn't that be cool! Somebody - get on that, would you?

Geek Gear: Harry Potter Triwizard Tourney Shirt

While this shirt may not be the height of fashion it IS exactly what Harry Potter was wearing during the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and that makes it cool. I love prop replicas and if they're actually useful in real life that makes them all the cooler. The back of this shirt has POTTER blazing across it in brilliant orange. Maybe if you wear it you'll feel like you, too, can conquer he-who-shall-not-be-named, your boss, Randy. Oops. I named him. Sorry.

Where's my Harry Potter RPG?

There has never been a printed, officially licensed RPG of Harry Potter. Because of this, the world of RPGs has taken a devastating blow. An entire generation of future gamers was lost. How many 12-18 year olds do you know that play RPGs? It's likely not very many. Gamers are like comic collectors - the average age keeps getting older and older because new blood isn't being introduced. Do you have ANY idea how popular a Harry Potter RPG would have been in, say, 2005? We're talking Pokemon CCG at the height of the frenzy here.

They could still release one and it would still be wildly popular. As evidence of this, you can check out one of the DOZENS of online HP RPG games that seem to be less than *ahem* properly licensed. The eye of the general public is moving on to newer things and Harry Potter has run its course for the most part.

The sad thing is, the world of Harry Potter is absolutely PERFECT for an RPG. It is extremely well detailed in the novels. It has that perfect "sandbox" feel like Star Wars. There are so many stories to tell in the HP world! Really, we only saw one small story in a vast world. What about wizards in other countries, even America? What about wizards in other time eras - say, 1,000 years ago?

I find it almost impossible to believe that nobody made a serious grab for these rights. I mean, I can find Harry Potter's face on a lunchbox, theme park, and even Legos. Certainly there have been plenty of OTHER types of Harry Potter games made (board games, video games, even a CCG). The licensing rights can't be THAT outrageous.

Somebody, get on the ball and make this happen. It is better late than never. And I REALLY want to yell, "Avada Kadavra!" as I roll my 20 sider JUST ONCE!

America Beats England

Don't mess with a WWII vet...

I don't know why I'm so fascinated with the Harry Potter box office, but I am. Captain America SOUNDLY trounced Harry Potter this weekend which made me happy but surprised me a bit as well.

Cap came in with a solid $65 million compared to Harry's $47 million. What's amazing is that this represents a 72% crop in Harry's second weekend! That's a BIG drop (typical is 50%) especially when you consider the strong reviews that Harry 7.2 got.

1LR predicts that Cap will have some legs - it had a strong opening but a good word of mouth campaign is underway that should sustain interest.

So, as is the theme of history, America shows England who's the boss once again!

Even Gringotts Can't Hold All That Loot

The Harry Potter film franchise is now the all-time high grossing film franchise, passing Star Wars (the only two film franchise that have made over $2 billion). Maybe Star Wars will retake it's throne when the 3D versions of the films are released but HPatDH: P2 keeps churning out the numbers. So far, in one week it has earned $640,000,000 worldwide! IN ONE WEEK! This film will smash one billion (as predicted)... the only question is how much will it make in the end?

Harry Potter and the Outstanding Box Office

As predicted by 1LR, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has smashed the all time opening weekend numbers. With $25 million in midnight ticket sales alone, the $168.6 million in opening weekend ticket sales topped the Dark Knight's previous record.

Check out the news article: http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3257593436505428001

I believe that this film will break one billion worldwide before it's all said and done. This film has an unprecedented 97% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the fans rated it at an extremely high 93%. With numbers like that, this film will have some serious legs. When will Hollywood learn? Geeks rule the world. Make the geeks happy and everything will be okay!

They have a good reason to smile!

1LR Midnight Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Spoiler Free!)

I just got back from seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at the first midnight showing. 

Simply put, this film is fantastic. The mood of this film is exactly what it needs to be - mournful, dramatic, weighted down with anxiety, and reminiscent of the past. 

Two cautions:  

1) Do NOT go see this movie if you haven't seen all the rest of the movies or read all of the books. First, it won't make any sense to you at all. Second, why would you want to ruin the ending? Start from the beginning and get the whole story! That way it means something!

2) Don't take youngsters to this film. By far the most graphic of the movies, in one scene bloody dead bodies are given a close-up. In another an image that looks like an aborted fetus is shown for several seconds. Definitely could be very scary for kids even around the 5th grade or older. I know some of the stuff creeped me out!

By remaining faithful to the books this film pulls off something rarely seen in Hollywood: A great last installment to a movie franchise. 

Even if you've read the books and you know how things are suppose to go, you'll still find this film emotional and surprising. The filmmakers used humor well to break the tension and the audience reacted with genuine laughter. In other sequences, the film tugs at your heartstrings quite effectively. The action is quick and punches you in the gut.

Look for this film to smash box office records. 

CRITICAL REVIEW: 17 out of 20. It's a hit!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: The Midnight Show Experience

If you weren't at the first midnight showing for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 then... I'm sure your neighborhood was quiet. Because EVERYBODY was there and I mean EVERYBODY. I haven't seen so much excitement and fan turnout for a movie event since... the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. This was beyond anything for any Star Wars or comic book movie midnight showing I've ever seen.

I went to the Frank Theares at the Queensgate 13 in York, PA. The line for people that prepurchased tickets was literally wrapped around three sides of this massive building. I think the number of people that showed up kinda crushed the system. Nobody ended up in the right theater - My ticket said 13 but I ended up in screen 11. I do believe they sold out all 13 screens for this showing.

Of course fans turned out in droves dressed up in costume. Lots of fans carried Harry Potter books, merchandise, wands, and other memorabilia with them. Quiet a few of the costumes were very impressive! Everyone was in a festive mood - almost like a carnival! The crowd was composed of the old and the young alike. I expected the older folks to just be "tagging along" with their kids but several of them that I spoke to had read all of the novels. The youngest people I saw seemed to be around 7-8 years old - too young for this film, in my opinion!



I saw this movie in 3D. The glasses they gave you weren't the normal 3D glasses you get at a movie - they were specially designed to look like Harry Potter's glasses. That's the first time I've seen something like this done and it added a very nice touch to the experience.



You could go see this same movie tomorrow but you won't have the same experience I had going at midnight. This is what midnight shows are at there best - a little mini-convention for fans to get together and just bask in their collective enjoyment of the film.