Tag Archives: harry potter

Nerds United

Nerds United Episode 114: Post-Thanksgiving

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Nerds United Episode 114: Post-Thanksgiving [ 1:17:51 | 106.91 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (557)

Hello and welcome to a brand new Nerds United. We sure are happy you’re here.

In this week’s episode, Mike and Greg talk about their Thanksgiving weekends and their awesome families. Another of your favorite Marvel shows is leaving Netflix, which we all anticipated. Fuller House is still on the streaming service. But that Disney App is starting to look pretty inviting. However, we’re still pretty sure there’s one 1946 movie that will remain buried in the vault.

Hear Nickelback cover a Metallica song, and hear the guys talk about the Joker movie, and how Mike says the DC Cinematic Standalone Universe is still unproven.

“You’re a wizard, Harry.” Famous words from a famous giant (or giant-like man). But what are some ridiculous things that Hagrid could have told Harry Potter that would have been just as believable (if not just as odd) as telling a ten-year-old boy that he’s a wizard?

Thanks to everyone who has picked up a shirt. Want to be one of the cool kids? Get your shirt here.

Nerds United

Fresh Content Day 7: Harry and the Gang

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So it’s Tuesday evening and I wasn’t 100% what I was going to write about, but then I was scanning my junk email folder and I saw that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was available for digital purchase.

I have always had a hate/love history with Harry Potter. As in…I hated it for no reason initially.

See, I can be a bit of a contrarian when it comes to what’s popular. I KNOW! You wouldn’t think so coming from me.

But let’s go back to when the Sorcerer’s Stone first arrived on US store shelves…1998. I was 16, and it took a little time for it to gain traction. I remember my younger cousin having the first book, and then the second. It was my YOUNGER cousin, and I was already in high school and such, so I wrote off the idea of ever getting into this story.

So when the movie came out in 2001, it really wasn’t on my radar. But I was 19, and my radar was college and work. So I didn’t see the movie.

In fact, it probably was somewhere in 2003 when my folks had a special month or two free trial of the premium cable shows that I actually ever first watched the first two Harry Potter movies. After I watched it, I’d watch it again. If I was flipping through the channels and saw they were on, I watched them.

Fast-forward to about 2006 and some of my roommates are discussing when the final book is supposed to be out. I actually saw on the shelf books one through six. These were people my age, and they knew the story, read the books, and looked forward to the next one like I anticipated the next game in the Halo series.

This is where it gets hazy. I don’t remember if I watched the available movies with those friends or not. I do know that at one point I got caught up on all of the movies, and even took my wife to the theater to see Deathly Hallows Pars 1 and 2.

Now all movies are out, and I have the bluray set of all eight films. I know I have a favorite movie, being Deathly Hallows 2, as it’s the end of the story, and it was good to finally get some resolution. Second favorite may be The Sorcerer’s Stone, or possibly even Prisoner of Azkaban. I got burnt out on Chamber of Secrets and Goblet of Fire from watching them too much. And I really want to have Order of the Phoenix higher on my list. I’m guessing that it’s because of my disdain for Dolores Umbridge, who was a truly horrible character. Half-Blood Prince is seriously good as well.

A while back, I was close to pulling the trigger and buying the Kindle version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. My biggest issue right now is that I already know how the story ends. So I’m not sure if I’m willing to invest the time and money to read the books.

So…convince me.

A new episode of the Nerds United Podcast will be a little later than usual in the day, since it’s almost midnight when this post was finished. So be looking for that.

Truth be told, I had hoped to have this post done by about 8pm. My son fell asleep early, and so I got the laptop out. But it was a long day and apparently I needed the sleep too, as I dozed off and on (while sitting relatively perfectly upright) for about three hours. So here I am, putting a bow on this post. Your Fresh Content tomorrow will be the podcast, and I’ll be back writing on Thursday.

Remember to have Iron Man handy tomorrow.

Oh yeah…I went ahead and bought Fantastic Beasts. Looking forward to watching that this weekend with my family.

Nerds United

Which Comes First, Watching or Reading

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I’m facing a great dilemma. I have two versions of Justice League: The New Frontier.

new frontiers

There’s the deluxe version of the trade paperback (it’s deluxe, so it’s the hard cover) and the bluray version. Both are still in their protective plastic. I purchased the book from Twilight Comics, my local brick and mortar in Swansea, IL. I got the bluray from Amazon (Prime…two day free shipping…BOO YAH!)

Anyway, the dilemma is this: Do I read the book first or so I watch the movie?

Here’s the reality of the situation…I love to read, but my schedule recently has not allowed the time to read as much as I’d like. BUT – I do realize that reading the story is usually better than watching it.

  • Watchmen the book > Watchmen the movie
  • The DaVinci Code book > The DaVinci Code book
  • The Green Mile book = The Green Mile movie

Now I say that and acknowledge that I haven’t read some of the most popular works that have been converted to the big or smaller screens, like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and even The Walking Dead.

I have, however, read every Percy Jackson book, and found that particularly The Lightning Thief was superior to the movie version. I’d say the same about Sea of Monsters, but I read that one over an 8-hour period non-stop during a power outage and I don’t remember as much about the book itself.

I have recently purchased the Kindle version of A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones with all the intention of reading that, but first I want to finish reading The Man in the High Castle, which I’m also currently watching on Amazon Streaming Video. But I’ve heard that Game of Thrones is awfully wordy, and I found that to be the case in the prologue. It took a long time to read the prologue whereas it was about three minutes or so of TV time (I’m watching GoT again because it was fun to watch Bran walk and climb stuff in the first episode and a half).

So while I want to take some time and read Justice League: The New Frontier, there’s a very good chance I’ll end up watching the animated feature first.

I have wanted to watch the movie for a long time, but never took the initiative to get after it. Ever since Darwyn Cooke’s recent passing, I’ve made it my personal goal to get out there and read his award-winning story. There it sat on the shelf behind the counter at Twilight. All by itself…no other copies. We met like this several times…me looking at the book from a small distance. Then recently I finally made the purchase and added this classic to my collection.

Now the question stands…read first or watch?

I’m leaning “read.” But again, time may not allow it. So now I’ll likely watch it sometime this weekend.

But anyway – pick it up yourself. Here’s the trailer for your viewing pleasure.

I love that classic look, and Cooke’s style works hand-in-hand with Bruce Timm’s.