Westeros to Hogwarts

A holiday side quest from Westeros to Hogwarts turns into a lively tour of Sorcerer’s Stone: nostalgia vs. new eyes, book-to-film changes, and why the first film still feels like a warm winter escape. We honor Rob Reiner’s legacy, decode a HOTD S3 micro-tease, and end with firm but friendly Harry Potter rankings.

Transcript

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Holiday Detour To Harry Potter

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Hello everyone, welcome to Dancing with Dragons, a podcast dedicated to everything related to the world of a song of ice and fire created by George R. Martin. I'm one of your hosts, Minoa, joined today by my co-host Tony. And today we have a very special episode. This episode is a little different. With holidays here, we thought we'd step outside of our comfort zone a little bit. Or well, not exactly outside of our comfort zone, but outside of the world of Westeros. We're going to be stepping into a world that shaped a lot of our childhoods, imaginations, and love for stories. And spend this time in another fancy run, but luckily one that's still on brand for us as the world still has dragons in it. We'll be talking about the world of Harry Potter. We're mainly going to be talking about the first installment of the books and the movies, Harry Potter and the Philosopher slash Sorcerer's Stone. And because me and Tony can't help ourselves, we're definitely going to be talking about the rest of the story as well every night. And about my nostalgia and love for the series and why the story still lives with me. And I emphasize myself here because Tony can't fully relate and didn't grow up with uh with Harry Potter or or love it the way that I did. So it's going to be interesting to hear his take versus mine. And I'm sure it's gonna be interesting for you guys as well. So consider this our one-off holiday detour into the world of Harry Potter. And hey, if you guys like it, let us know. I'd be more than happy to talk about Harry Potter. This is one that I grew up with before Game of Thrones. I can't wait to talk about this, particularly the first, because it's actually a film that I can't review objectively ever, I think, because it just holds so much nostalgia, uh, and I have so much love for it, considering how how I grew up with it and had it on repeat as a kid. And Tony always said that was his least favorite in the franchise, and yet he is the one that reached out and said, let's do a Harry Potter episode on the Philosopher slash sorcerer's stone. So I'm very surprised as to why he felt the sudden uh drive or motivation to talk about this for a podcast episode, considering he never really enjoyed it, I think, or never thought that was the best. So I'm very interested in hearing more about what Tony has to say uh about Harry Potter, and I'm sure you guys are too. So uh I'm ready to get started, but before we do, how are you, Tony?

Generational Perspectives And 2001 Context

SPEAKER_00 2:11

I'm doing well here. I'm getting ready to travel to New York City to visit family for the holidays. So I have a red eye that's gonna leave here in midnight and get there at six in the morning, and I still haven't packed yet, so that's the way I live. I live dangerously. Uh as for Harry Potter, it's completely different perspectives because you were how old were you when the first one came out?

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Um, I was three in 2008.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Okay, so here's the thing that just that was like a gut punch to me because you're saying you were three years old in 2001. When this film came out, my son just had been born maybe two weeks before the release of the movie.

unknown 2:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

So I wasn't as well, I never knew anything about it. I just saw like trailers for it, and I know it was a different time back then, obviously. I remember that was like maybe two months after the attacks of September 11th. So seeing this was kind of um soothing, I guess, because everything was so doom and gloom, and we didn't I uh every everything was heightened, like security, and and you didn't know what was gonna happen. And sitting in a theater and just relaxing, watching these kids learn magic was kind of a nice little treat. It wasn't it's not my childhood, obviously, but I was thinking, okay, this is gonna be part of my son's childhood. Yeah, and once he got old enough, we got to watch the movies once my daughter was born. Okay, we gotta get to so I get to see them grow up watching these movies. And by the time my son was eight, I think Deathly Hallows came out part two, I think 2009 or no. Okay, no, 2011. Deathly Hallows came out, can't remember now.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Uh Deathly Hallows part one, the book or the series or the film?

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Part two. Oh okay, so 2011. Okay, so he was 10 years old and part two came out. So okay, my my daughter was six, so she I don't think she's had seen anything past like Chamber of Secrets, because that was it. Everything else was kind of more uh uh you know, teenagers and up. But no, um I want to correct you. I never said anything like it. I just remember in the podcast I had with Mania in the real spotlight, I said we were talking about Harry Potter and so yeah, yeah. That the first one's my least favorite, and she's she yelled out, What? I mean, I don't think it's still one of the greatest moments ever in that podcast. Uh no, so I had fun. Um, actually, you know what?

Remembering Rob Reiner’s Career And Legacy

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Before we start talking about this, a few days ago we learned the passing of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle. When we heard the new, I saw people posting it on Instagram. It was devastating, horrible. And then when we learn about what happened, it was even like shocking, something that you would never think of. Something that you only see in movies and gruesome horror films, and about their son committing these acts of you know, murder. So, I mean, we're not gonna speculate on any details of of what happened here. So I will say that his son was mentally ill, and what I've read is that he apparently had close to 20 rehab stents for drugs and alcohol. So for his for their daughter to find them, I can't even imagine the trauma that she's going through. But I wanted us just to talk about him for a bit because I want us to honor him and he had an amazing career. So he started acting back in 1967, uh on TV shows and you know, small roles and movies. His big break came in 1971. He became a series regular on All in the Family. He played Michael Stivik, so he was the son-in-law of Archie Bunker. I don't know if you've ever heard of that TV character, Archie Bunker.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

No, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Big big here. Uh, so Archie gave him the nickname Me Head. So everybody will call him Me Head throughout the rest of his career. Uh, the show was a massive hit in the 70s. I think it had like close to 200 episodes, which is a lot for a TV show. Uh, so then we go to the 80s, that's when he turned into a director. I think he had some directing in the 70s, maybe some episodes of TV. I will say that I'm not saying this just because he just died. What I'm about to say, I remember saying it back in 2022 in the other podcast, but I we had Quinn, views by Quinn, I'm sorry. He was a guest with me and Mania. We were talking about underrated directors, and I said, Well, I don't know if I if the underrated is the right word because he's been around for so long, but I think he is because we don't talk about him as much.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

And I I and I honestly think his first eight movies is probably one of the best runs of any director in the history of of you know cinema. So I just wanted to name the first eight movies and see how many of you seen. Um, so in 1984, he directed this is Spinal Tap. This is kind of a mockumentary uh about rock music and all that. So the next year in 85 he directed The Shirt Thing. In 86, he directed Stand By Me. Uh 87, he directed The Princess Bride. Uh 89, he directed When Harry Met Sally, 1990, Misery, and '92, A Few Good Men. So those were his first eight movies. Basically almost all classics when you when you look at it. He also did like The American President '95, Goes to Mississippi. And after that, it was he still directed movies, but they weren't like revered as his first eight. Uh, I think his last big movie, maybe, was um uh he did one about Lyndon B. Johnson in 2016, and then he kind of did a few documentaries here and there. And uh, but he still kept acting in between. So he he had roles in Sleepless in Seattle, First Wives Club, minor roles, but he kept working both as a producer, director, director, and actor. And then one of his most famous roles, one that everybody shares, is when he played uh Leonardo DiCaprio's father in The Wolf of Wall Street.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

He was uh what was his uh Max Belfort? So everybody s remembers and they overplay that scene of him, you know, berating them for the forty, four hundred thousand dollar tab or something for dinner. Any of those movies you've watched, those first eight?

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Um, I've only watched two, unfortunately. I've only watched The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally, but those are two films that I quote really often and I love, honestly. And Misery and Stand By Me have been on my like watch list for so so so long. Uh this is Spinal Tap, never felt like my cup of tea, and I don't really like um I don't think the word is spoof, but you know what I mean, like that kind of humor doesn't really appeal to me. I have heard of it, I thought of giving it a go, but um I'm like I definitely would prioritize sand by me in misery, but yeah, um I've only unfortunately watched two of those and I, as I said, I love them so much. And uh I was so shocked and upset when I heard the news because obviously it's upsetting even if you don't know who he is, because just of the nature of of how it happened. But he just felt like even though we don't really talk about him that much as you said uh earlier, he's just someone that uh I don't know, his films always feel very genuine. Like those two films to me feel very genuine and very heartfelt. So when you think about uh those movies coming from that person and then how his life ended, it's just very uh it's just very, very upsetting. What like kind of got to me was now seeing all the footage and all the interviews that are like people are sharing of him. And when he talks about his films, he talks about them with with so much uh uh care. There's a story of when he said how he changed the ending and when Harry met Sally because he met his wife during the production of it and they were not supposed to end up together, but then like his view on on love changed because he met his wife during it and uh changed uh the film and uh gave us one of the best endings, the New Year's scene between between Harry and Sally. So I don't know, it just felt very sad, but I liked seeing the content of him as well, you know what I mean? Like I I felt that we all kind of maybe should have uh appreciated him a bit more while he was yeah still around.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

But yeah, I think we we take you know, our family, friends, you know, people we admire for granted, and we always think about oh my god, you're not thinking about them, and then all of a sudden something like this happens and you you're just taken aback. And he's one of those rare guys that he was very political, outspoken, um activist, yet he was respected by people from both sides, which is really rare, and especially this country. If you are left-leaning, the right's gonna hate you. You know what I mean? That it's always the hatred between these parties, is it's it's crazy at this point. But to see people in both sides of the aisle paying tribute to him and saying, you know, even though I never agree with him politically, you know, he was a good friend to me. We could talk and blah blah blah, you know what I'm saying? Like, so that's I mean, nice to see. And he'll be missed because I mean he was 78 and he looked like he was gonna be going to his dad, Carl Reiner, was one of the biggest comedians ever. And I think he died in 2020, and he was 98. So I was thinking, well, he's in the last hole. I mean, these people lost till their 90s, so yeah, very sad. Just wanted to take a moment to honor him. And very sad. I mean, uh, when Harry met Sally, I honestly think it's the greatest rom-com ever. The one thing that got me not sad and not disappointed, I go, oh, when in the movie you have all these couples saying how they met. I thought that was I thought that was real, but it was scripted, it wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

I thought that was real too. Is that like an urban myth? Like every like it was is that like one of those Mendetta effect things?

SPEAKER_00 12:40

I thought that was no no, it was scripted.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

Uh why did I why did I think that that was real too?

SPEAKER_00 12:47

I thought it was so perfect the way the the actors were because it it felt genuine, it didn't feel like they were actors, it felt like they were actual couples. And the one thing about why this when Harry met Sally works so well as a rom-com, and the dialogue and the acting is so perfect, is he wrote it with Nora Efron. You know, and Nora Efron wrote like Sleep and she did a lot of rom coms too. So, what they did is that they decided that Rob will write Billy Crystal's dialogue, and Nora will write Meg Ryan's dialogue. So you have the male perspective and the female perspective. It wasn't him writing for both characters, and you can kind of see how like she was writing for all the for all the women, and he was writing for all the men, and it's one of those things that it's an amazing script, and you can see like Bruno Kirby, who plays his best friend, and you have Carrie Fisher, yes, you know, which is so crazy. When I first watched the movie, I said, Princess Leia, and it was only six years after Return of the Jedi, and you can see like she looks so much more mature, like she aged, you know, and I maybe it's just the hair because she has the short hair, but no, I love that movie. I just re-watched it after, and then I was started to watch a few good men. I love that movie. Um, highly recommend it to you. Misery. I don't know if you read the book or not, but it is wild. Uh James Kahn and um Kathy Bates is yeah, incredible. But yeah, Princess Bride is I love Princess Bride. Yeah, we're gonna leave it there. Rest in peace, Rob. Your movies will live on and and all the stuff you did. I mean, he even has some cameos in um Kirby Enthusiasm with Larry David, which that were great. Anything, yeah, anything he did was good. So let's

Quick Westeros Update: HOTD S3 Teaser

SPEAKER_00 14:40

go from that somber moment and uh see if we have any kind of news from the world of Westeros before we get into Potter.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Yeah, so before we jump into the world of Harry Potter, there was a piece of news that we both kind of were taken by surprise by. Maybe we should have expected it or not, but I I know that I wasn't. But we basically got this very quick 10-second look at House of the Dragons season three, out of nowhere, I think, right? Like I don't know if there was something that um indicated that we were gonna get that soon, but we just I I I must have missed it. And we're we're we both like to stay up to date with this. It just seemed a bit out of nowhere, but we got this very quick um first look teaser at House of the Dragons 3. I I would call it like a teaser of a teaser, almost not like a proper uh teaser trailer, even. But um it was interesting because it was very quick to the point where you're like, I don't think I can gather anything from this, it doesn't seem like it's anything, right? Like that was my first impression of it. I looked at it and was like, okay, fine. Like I I wasn't fed anything, you know what I mean? Like it was just what are you going to do with close-up shots of uh the characters, right? But um I think like if you are like us and want to just uh look at it with a closer eye just for the sake of it, then theorize or or just think about it for a bit longer, you can kind of maybe come up with an explanation or or come up with your own theories and add to what you're seeing. So we get we get a shot of Rinera wearing her crown, and she's looking very composed. That's something we couldn't say about her uh in season two. She was very stressed out in season two. And I don't know, it's one photo, one shot, but she doesn't seem uh uh stressed or or anxious. So that could be something. There's this there's a quick uh look at Alicent and Amund, and she seems to be sobbing while uh holding him. I'm not gonna talk much about talk more about that, but that's something. We get our first look at James Norton as Ormond High Tower, a new character that we're gonna see in season three. There's a very interesting shot of Alicent in a throne in the throne room, which is mostly empty. She has like her cape down and her hair down, she isn't wearing her like usual uh put-together clothes. Um sunlight is streaming through the the throne room. So it sets the scene of like sunlight at the beginning of the day, nobody's there. And when I tried to zoom in on the throne, it looked like somebody could have been sitting on it.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Yeah, I think it's it's Aemon.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Aemon.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

Yeah, he's sitting there.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

So I I And we'll probably say, so I didn't see anyone on the throne, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

And we don't know yet because in the ending of season two, Alaris tells Aegon that he needs to escape. So maybe at this moment that he's already gone. And that moment where she's hugging, it's maybe him, Aemon leaving. The the one shot that he texted me that I didn't even realize because, like I said, that the trailer was I didn't call it, like you said, it was literally 10 seconds. So you had to like freeze frame everything. You you mentioned the the winter wolves, and I go, What? And I and I go back to watching I freeze frame every and I go, Oh my goodness, I could see this the Stark Sigil there, and I didn't catch it. That's gonna be great. The one thing I did notice was that we see Alan, Corless's son, fighting.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

So maybe that's a hint of him developing his relationship with Corless and him being the heir, and uh we'll go from there. Like, so I I I I honestly thought it was a teaser trailer, like a minute, like we got with um a knight of the seven kingdoms. But this was like I'm assuming we're gonna get another trailer in a month or two. Yeah, for a second. Like a proper a proper trailer. I will say one thing that uh I saw Olivia Cook talking about season three, and she said, more trauma, more uh turmoil, more me looking panicked and sad. Which I don't know if I like that or not. Because um, for those who didn't read the novel, uh, she doesn't have that big of a role after this point, so they're creating a big role for her in the show, obviously, because we want to see her, we want to see that tension. But we remember her talking about season two, and uh she's talking about how it was more brutal, more than season one, and it what really wasn't. So I don't know if this is her just saying, Yeah, it's gonna be me looking sad and panicked, and I just hope it's not what I think it is, because then they're just you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Yeah, yeah, I do, I do.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yeah, so anyway, I'll uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

We just gotta wait and see at this point. Yeah, and we also had like some snippets here and there, stuff related to the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but honestly, we'll leave it for um when we're gonna be back.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

We're ready to go for the Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. I mean, this is gonna be our last episode, and already when we come back to record, it's gonna be like two weeks. And then we're yeah, it's gonna be the new episode of the January 18th. All right, that's all for uh a song of ice and fire stuff.

How Harry Potter Nearly Got Spielberg

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Um, why don't we talk about Harry Potter? So, like I said, this is our 77th episode, and this is our first non Game of Thrones. Slash uh Song of Ice and Fire related episode, which honestly, this is kind of good because I didn't I thought we would do non-related stuff earlier than this, but yeah, yeah, yeah. 76 is not not too shabby. Uh when I was kind of looking up some info on on the first Harry Potter movie, I was kind of shocked that I didn't know this. Maybe you know it because you know about so Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct the first film.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

What?

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Yes, so Oh no, wait, I knew that.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Wait, I got so confused. I knew that, I knew that.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

But the deal wasn't finalized. So, what Spielberg wanted to do, he wanted to combine the story of the novels and make an animated film for DreamWorks, not a live action. So the studio, but Warner Brothers was against it. They wanted to produce a live action film for each novel. There's a website saying that in back in before the films were made, that J.K. Rowling wrote that she had no role in choosing directors. Uh so after Spielberg left, the conversations began with other directors. So we had Chris Columbus, who would end up directing the first two. And here's some weird choices. Uh Jonathan Demy, he's the guy who directed Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia with Tom Hanks and uh Denzel Washington.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Um Rob Reiner, it says right here. Wolfgang Peterson. There's all these like heavy dudes, Mike Noel, Terry Gilliam, all these big time Peter Weir is the guy who did um Truman Show and other movies. I don't think none of those would have fit, in my opinion. I think Chris Columbus was the guy who because he did family films like Home Alone, Mrs. Delfire. He wasn't, those other guys are more, you know, serious dramas, not family-friendly, you know, films. Even though Spielberg is a great director when it comes to having kids in his movies, like he knows how to direct kids, and I think he would have had a bet gotten a better performance from Rupert Grant anyway. Uh shots

Box Office, RT Scores, And Cultural Impact

SPEAKER_00 22:10

fired. I wanted to ask, see, here's some trivia. Do you know? Okay, here we go. You just just blurt out what you think. I have the Rotten Tomatoes of all the Potter movies. I wanted to see if you knew what the score was for the first one.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

Oh, I don't. I'm not like someone that checks the scores that often or goes on the scores. I just go based on my own whim, or I go for letterbox reviews, if anything, but um let me guess 90.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

It's 81.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Oh, I was gonna say 89.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Two more. Okay, what do you think is the highest rated movie in the movie?

SPEAKER_01 22:46

I know it's a prison of Askaban. I know it's president of Ascaban.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Actually, it is not.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

It's Deathly Hallows Part 2.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Yes. Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a 96%. Okay, and then Askaban is the second highest with 90%. Okay, last one about Bon Tomatoes. What is the lowest score? It's lower than 81. Which one?

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Chamber of Secrets.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

No. Chamber of Secrets is a higher rating than the first one.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

What? Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

By 1%. It has 82%.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Half Blood Prince? Is this Half Blood Prince?

SPEAKER_00 23:20

No.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Order of the Phoenix.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Definitely have Less. Definitely have the first one. 77%.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Um Order of the Phoenix has 78. Uh I say Goblet of Fire has 88. Uh Chambers is 82. Half Blood Prince is 84. Which I always thought that would have been lower than the first two. But anyway, one last thing before we actually talk about the movie. Uh let's talk about the box office, which I was shocked when I saw. So the first movie made over $1 billion worldwide. Uh, and I think it made it made $317 million domestic and then $656 million for international. Uh, it made four more million than the Fellowship of the Ring.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Okay, wow. Um, the only thing I could think is that it also has like the even if it's just like not that much of a difference, like a $4 million difference. Yeah. It was probably the release date thing, but also maybe just like a tiny bit more of a wider appeal than Lord of the Rings, just because it appeals to more kids. It's more kid-friendly than Lord of the Rings.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Overall, uh Potter had a hundred million more than Lord of the Rings. So I ended up with nine seven or a billion. And then Lord of the Rings had almost 900 million. So I don't know if you remember 2001 movies. The number three and number four in the box office is kind of funny. 2001? Is this animated films?

SPEAKER_01 24:48

I know that was like a good year for movies, wasn't it? But like I I can't remember.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Uh okay, I'll give you the third one. It's a Pixar movie.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

Is it Toy Story 2?

SPEAKER_00 24:58

No, it has Billy Crystal in it.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Oh, Monsters Inc. I love Monsters Inc., I love Monsters Inc. so much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

That was third on in worldwide. It made 500 million. And then Shrek was number four.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

I loved Shrek. Oh my god, 495. That's my childhood movies right there.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Alright, so let me just go. I'll give you the number five. Number five was Oceans 11. They made almost 500 million dollars. And you know what's crazy looking at this box office is that this is when obviously there's no streaming back in 2001. You still have Blockbuster. This is when people went to the movies. You had so many movies. I see so many movies here in the top 100 that made over 100 million dollars. Nowadays, you don't see that.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

No.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

I'll do one more box office thing. So what do you think is the highest-grossing Potter movie?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Maybe Deathly House Part 2.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yes. That was 1.4 billion, almost 1.4 billion worldwide. Yeah. And then the last one was Prisoner of Askaban. Made the least amount of money in the box office.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

I'm actually shocked because that's probably the most beloved among so many fans. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

It made uh 800 million, which is not bad. Let's start with these uh little I have some questions for you because I think uh you are the I guess Potter expert. I know you said you haven't read or watched the movie, you've been busy, and I made some time. I said, you know, I'm just gonna watch it. So I I sent you uh a video of me watching it, and I was teasing Mania. Uh, is this a Christmas movie? It is. We talked about Christmas and that's that. Happy Christmas, Ron. Yeah. Obviously,

Minwa's journey to Hogwarts

SPEAKER_00 26:47

you didn't watch the movie when you were three. Did you what came first for you?

SPEAKER_01 26:51

So I don't remember, but I have a memory of my mom reading the first one to me and my brothers. Like that's one of like a that's a very early memory that I have. I don't remember when it was, and I don't remember watching the movie for the first time. But what I do remember, uh like vaguely, very, very vaguely, not not very well, but it did happen, was that um they made a big event. Family and friends, like kind of everyone took their kids at the same on the same day, the same showing to watch Chamber of Secrets. And I'm pretty sure I was there. I can double check with my brothers, but I think I remember that. If not, then I just imagine the the where they just all went on the same day, the same showing. That was like one of my first memories of me watching the films, but uh uh in terms of uh reading, the first memory I have is my mom uh reading the first one to us. Um I can't remember how old I was, so I can't remember if it was 2001, if it was even after 2001, if I was maybe before. It was a huge deal. And I'm I know that you might have a better um like memory of how big of a deal it was at that time, but it resonated so much here. Like we uh our school is an is an international school, and when I was in like it's from kindergarten up until 12th grade, you know, so it's like a full school. When I was maximum KG2, like second year of kindergarten or grade one, we had like there was a Harry Potter parade where like everyone dressed up as Harry Potter characters from the first two movies, I think, is and like I don't think President Basketball had come out then, and like it was just like a parade, a carnival all about Harry Potter. So and I have pictures of that. So uh I have pictures of me as Hermione when I was a kid, maybe I was four or five years old.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

So I think I went to most of them without the kids because I just wanted to see the movies because like I said, they were you know too young. But I'm pretty sure my son went to the last two, uh, Deathly Hallows. And I think I I bought each one when they came out. So after I think 2015, my daughter's 10, we started doing like yearly marathons that we would watch them all. For me, I just thought it was just a uh escape. Like I'm gonna escape into this little world and just enjoy it. And that this was before you know we became analysts and critics, and we're not like trying to like dissect, you know, acting and just feel like oh, that's just goofy. He's those little kids acting, that's fine. But when I think about Harry Potter, I think about John Williams. When you hear the music, you're transported to that world. I think he's he did the score for the first one. I don't think he did Oscar.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

What? You know, so he created the I didn't know this. He created the foundational Hedwigs theme, the main song. Um, but he only did the scores for the first three films.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Okay, but you know, it's kind of like Star Wars, every movie that had the Jedi, you would have that opening theme. When you go into this movie, you could as an adult and you go, Well, this is gonna be a silly kid's movie, and you could kind of brush it away, but then you realize, wait a minute, you know, when I first watched it, I remember just loving Hermione's character because I'm like, I love that kind of a know it all smart ass. That's like that's that would be me. Like I look at my daughter. That's me, that is me, and I my daughter's the same way. Like, she would. I said, That's you know, you would be so annoying if you were in Hogwarts, people would just not like you. No, she's already she's already 20. I already told I thought of the other day when we were watching it. Once you go through the movies, you realize that it was pretty much perfect casting, all these little kids. And I imagine it the the process they went through. I didn't look it up, but I'm assuming they went through hundreds of kid actors to find the right um right words.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

I remember uh I remember because we we we've been to the UK many times and even as kids. So I remember when the mov I don't know which movie was was going to be released, but um maybe uh the one where Living out of good makes an appearance. I think it was that where they put out like an open casting call for for uh trying to find like an actress that would appear. I think they did the same for Harry Potter as well, but I remember like how how much of a big news it was, you know, like how how important it was that they're just trying to cast like any regular girl to be in the Harry Potter films. Like there's I think news footage, if you look that up on YouTube, how um how that was such a big deal, you know, trying to find people and help everyday like everyday kids basically were just of course they wanted to sign up to be part of Harry Potter, which they loved so much. So good child actors, very established adult actors as well. I mean, it's nice that they kind of did that at one point. Um, and it's interesting to see like where they are now, you know, who continue to pursue acting in what capacity.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Like I mentioned, it was uh a children's film, but it took the world um seriously. It treated its world with care and realism. So you could feel that Hogwarts was detailed, magical, and it was believable because you're like you're watching that first film, it's pretty much you're you know, Harry's the protagonist, and he you're we're seeing everything through his eyes, and we we need that character in every movie, right? To explain what what's what um you know, especially like oh Hagar is saying, Oh, a muggle like yourself, and Harry's like, What's a muggle? Like there right there, it's you need that character to explain what the heck is he saying. This helps the audience to and the kids and adults like my myself to feel immersed in the world. And when it came to special effects back then, I think um there are some moments that didn't age well, but again, you have to give it credit for what it could do back, what was it, 25 years ago now? Um but you have, yeah, you stop it. You said you were three when it came out. Don't say you feel old.

Potter special effects

SPEAKER_00 33:06

So you you have there were um, you know, the Quidditch was they did a really good job with the effects with that. The the stairs. Um the troll look kind of goofy, it does, it doesn't sort of doesn't look too good. It kind of reveals I told my my my daughter, it's kind of funny that Lord of the Rings came out at the same time and both movies have a troll in it. That's you know true.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

I mean, don't like that always happens, you know. They say like it's so funny how like films come out at the same time that are very similar. Even now, like you have K-pop Demon Hunters and Demon Slayer, both nominated at the Golden Globe. They're both about killing demons. So I I love that. I love when that happens, just like such a funny coincidence.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

So I had another question where there are dementors, or like Michael Scott said, you know the worst thing about prison? The dementa. Uh my other question, I have a few more here. Um I don't know if you remember, but do you remember any differences between the first movie and the book?

SPEAKER_01 34:16

Yeah, there's something that actually really stands out to me whenever um whenever I re-watch the first film, or like some it's brought up, like my nephews recently started watching them and they started talking about this point in the story. And I was like, in the first film, they make the house points, the house cup such a big deal. You know, Gryffindor is gonna win the house cup, and how many points are they gonna get? And it's such a big deal in the first in the first movie, uh, to the point where like one of my nephews uh got into Harry Potter and we're talking about it, they were like, But Gryffindor got this many points. I was like, Points, because after that and the rest of the movies, they barely bring up the house cup, like it's points is never brought up. It seems so uh unimportant in comparison to the bigger picture that they kind of neglect that. But in the books, it's still present, if I remember correctly, like um, like they still do talk about it, if I'm not mistaken. But it's insane how that just is a huge part of the first film, and then just it's completely forgotten.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

And it feels so random, the points. Like, we're gonna give you five points, we'll give you 50. Like, yeah, I I remember this meme of this guy like walking, like we're down by 350, but Harry will do something pretty cool that'll give us 400 points, and it's kind of like just re-watched it. I go, gosh, done. Harry, even though Harry, I don't want to say he was spoiled in Hogwarts, because he kind of deserved it, even though he he grew up, he grew up in that horrible house.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Yeah, yeah. So he did, he did. But he spoiled his like it's not spoiled, it's just he's being three to Normandy.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Well, I mean there's a couple of moments where Maganagal and Dunboard just kind of gave him a wink, like, hmm, I I kind of help you there, you know, just to give you a little sense, yeah. You don't get too upset because he he wasn't he it wasn't like Draco getting that, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that. We would have been pissed if he was getting those those um favors done for him.

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Yeah, yeah, true. I associate it spoiled with just like Draco, but I I understand what you what you're saying. But there's actually uh I want to see your reaction to this because there's a book to film change that I think you'll check it about. Okay, so in the film, you know, when when they're in the zoo, Harry frees the snake. Yeah, and then there like it's it's iconic when the snake just goes up to Harry and says like thanks. You know, with the yeah. So in the book, he doesn't say that. He doesn't just say thanks, he says, thanks, amigo. He calls Harry Amigo because he's a South American snake. I thought that was really funny. That's he that that's so random for a snake to go, thanks, amigo.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

I wonder why they take it up. I guess they don't really mention the snake being South American, or do they in the in the in the movie?

SPEAKER_01 36:56

Uh I don't remember, but I I think just in the thanks that the snake doesn't have a lot of people. Well, they could have just said iconic.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

That would have been funny.

SPEAKER_01 37:06

Harry's like uh there's another one you said about the special effect, there's another one that I kind of don't really like, I guess, uh like a book to film change, but in the book, you know, like so sorry, in the movie, you see Quirl, like Harry and Quirl face off. So, first of all, the road there was uh a bit different. So they've defeated another troll, they're supposed to defeat another troll before they make it to Quirl, and they also are faced with like a riddle uh challenge, like poison riddles by a snake that they do before so that they can get to uh Quirl slash Voldemort. There's like a bunch of there's like there's more, there's more to it. But uh what I kind of didn't really like was Harry burning Quirl's face off. The way that it is he just touches his face, right? And he like burns and dies. Um but in the book it's just very simple where Voldemort kills Quirl, not Harry. Um Voldemort kills Quirl by just leaving his head. I don't know how that I forgot how that happens, but there was no need for that.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

I do want to say that when I was re-watching it, I I kind of realized that the Quirrell, uh the actor who plays him is called Ian Hart. He does a pretty good job playing that wimp, scaredy coward. It does throw you off when he's revealed as as the main bad guy because he does such a good job of the the fainting and and being so scared, and you wouldn't imagine him being you know in line with Voldemort. So that was a good job. I you know what I was I kept my my daughter's like, you need to stop. So I kept like pointing out stuff in the movie. So you know how um they take Harry to that little island with the lighthouse to get away from the letters.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

And I go, okay, so how did they get there? I don't see a boat around there. That were they taken there? Like you could see like the waves crashing really hard. I'm like, how would they even get there? And that's my mind. Like, okay, I need to stop. Stop it, stop doing that. I okay, I guess you know, um hangar could fly there or whatever was motorcycle, but I was thinking about how did these people get there? And I just kept thinking about um Petunia, and I go, Oh, yeah, I'm not gonna hate you because you are so amazing in Andor that I I have to give you a pass.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Oh, right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00 39:30

So good. So

Listener questions

SPEAKER_00 39:31

I put up a prompt, but my daughter actually sent me some questions. And the first one, let me ask you, she she said it was pretty long, so she texted me. We were talking about this in terms of Stranger Things, and she was talking about child actors. She said we've talked about a lot of childhood actors and Stranger Things having more acting ability when they were younger and growing up having a noticeably worse performance. Because I was saying, Wow, these kids were so good. In the first seasons and now their acting in this season five of Stranger Things is some of it is god awful.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

Are there any actors in Potter that you believe performed well in the first movies? But as they grew up did not act as well in the last movies?

SPEAKER_01 40:17

This is a really good question. Um the first person that came to mind for me was um Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy. So when we first see Malfoy in the first, like in the first film, we immediately hate him and he's a kid, you know. Like we feel like he's just a typical bully. We feel sorry for Harry already. We just we immediately hate him and Chamber of Secrets, he's even worse. Prisoner of Azkaban. I mean, I think that's when some people start to like to kind of grow fond of Malfoy. Like some, you know, he does have fans out there, but I think it might have started around then when they were shipping him with her minor whatever. But I think that he was he was good, and that was his like last good film, unfortunately. Like, I don't Do you disagree? I I I mean anyone has that scene when when Dumbledore dies, but that's what I was saying.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

He did he did pick it up and that that scene, like he you could see the actual uh it wasn't like corny crying, it was like acting crying for me. I like I saw it in the maybe in the rest of the movie that he just kind of saved it there, and then that was like someone that I that I that I had to say.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Yeah, sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 41:24

No, I think in in Deathly Hells and part one and two, he doesn't really have a big role as much.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

Like no, uh his role does like get less and less because as you know, he goes from being the big threat. Like Voldemort was always the the biggest threat, but like in the first one we focus on Malfoy more than Voldemort, right? So after that, obviously we mainly focus on Voldemort as the main villain, and his role gets like smaller and smaller Malfoy. So maybe it's a bit unfair of me to say that, but I just don't think that he did much with the screen time that he had after.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:58

That's what I have to say. And he he he left such a good impression at the first, like such a strong impression with the first time.

SPEAKER_00 42:04

Yeah, you wanted to I wanted to punch a 12-year-old.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Yeah. And then you just kind of like, oh, I forgot about him.

SPEAKER_00 42:10

He's a loser, and he like But with his character, I I I I think she kind of screwed up. And I'll say that because I think what we she wanted, or the movies wanted, is that you wanted to have feel bad for him. Like he was forced into doing this, like he was to no fault of his own being brainwashed into being who he was. By the time you know we get to part six, seven, like he doesn't want to do any of that. And if you're gonna go that route, why not write him into like sacrificing himself for Harry or something? Or or I don't know if that would have I don't know. Like, if you're gonna go to the the point of wanting us to feel sympathy for him, why not have him do something to complete his arc of okay, I I I was an ass in the beginning, and I kind of turned. Not not like Zuko, because Zuko is still the greatest ever, but he's the best. Yeah, but kind of like okay, redemption. Because what what what do we see from Draco? He just leaves, right? And we don't know what happens.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

But that's something there there was something that's happened, wasn't there? Like, um there was something there, but I think it was his mom actually, no, it's him that saved Harry.

SPEAKER_00 43:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Like, right, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

So I haven't watched the last one in a while.

SPEAKER_01 43:32

I uh uh me, me either. But I I I know that that there was something like that, and like she asks where where Malfoy is when she discovers that Malfoy is like alive or something like that. She she saves Harry. So kind of like I see your point.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

Um, I'm gonna say I think the kids got better and better with every movie. You know, I always make fun of of Ron, uh, especially in part two. He was the weakest of the three, and I think Emma Watson was the best of the three. Uh, but I'm gonna say who is the person who played Ginny? She was not good at all.

SPEAKER_01 44:08

Yeah, her name is Bonnie Wright.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Yeah, so her. I don't know, it didn't sit well that all of a sudden we're like they're romantically linked. It it felt kind of forced at the end. So that's the only one I can think of uh off the top of my head. Uh okay, so she also asked, This was tough, but what was the saddest death in the series? I I'll just say I think everybody when I see reactions on YouTube, the one death that people are here. There's two of them.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:40

One is Dobby. People are tired, or they're like bawling their eyes out. Which, okay, he comes out in what two movies, three maybe most.

SPEAKER_01 44:49

He's actually more present in the book, so I think that's why like maybe a lot of fans um like care about him.

SPEAKER_00 44:55

Okay. And then uh Snape in the last movie.

SPEAKER_01 44:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:59

So those are mine isn't any of those two. Okay, those are the two that I see are the ones that that affect people the most when I see the YouTube like clips or whatever, people reacting to Harry Potter.

SPEAKER_01 45:09

Yeah, those aren't those aren't mine. Um mine actually is one I would say this is adult me's opinion, because as a kid, I think, or like when I was younger, I think Cedric's death was so shocking and so important, and it's it's upset me when I was younger. Um and like within reason, obviously, because it was traumatizing, but I think when I uh was rediscovering the series when I was in university, the character that I really grew attached to actually was Lupin, uh Remus Lupin, and I was so upset that he died. Uh that both him and Sirius died, but um, I don't know, I just felt such strong fondness for Lupin and hated that he died because then like Harry was really left without any of his mentors, and I thought that Sirius's death kind of made a bit more sense to me, but with Lupin, I just felt that he I wish he stayed on as like some thing for Harry to have of his of like the era that he didn't really interact with, which is his parents' era. It's like something of his parents, you know. So I really I uh I would say Lupin because I I really liked him when I was watching when I was rediscovering the series.

SPEAKER_00 46:16

The um the series, I I I felt that his death wasn't powerful enough, impactful enough. I I I wish it was because it was so quick. He was so important to Harry, and and oh Gary Ullman's so great in the role. It was kind of like done, boom, and that was it. Nothing.

SPEAKER_01 46:34

You know why it's I uh I think it's be though I love Prisoner of Azkaban and I loved um Alfonso Quaron, um I think that something very important was kind of like omitted from that film, which is the that that film didn't do enough justice to the Marauders. Um so Harry's dad and and Lupin and Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black, they were they're the ones that created the Marauders map. They were a very strong friendship group and how they kind of fell apart uh is significant in the story.

SPEAKER_00 47:06

I mean they they could have had like a flashback scene.

SPEAKER_01 47:08

It should have happened.

SPEAKER_00 47:09

That would have been that would have been nice to see though.

SPEAKER_01 47:12

Yeah, so the fact that the film audience wasn't really introduced to Sirius uh and the Marauders and like you kind of didn't care about them. Like, see, why do I care about Lupin? You probably wouldn't get that because it's like, oh yeah, Harry's the teacher that showed up in the third movie and turned out to be werewolf, why? Like, yeah, like there's not much there. And he he he seems to be understanding towards Harry, like that, okay, I guess, you know, like you you wouldn't expect for me to like Lupin that much, but once you read the books and you familiarize yourself, familiarize yourself with the monarchs a bit more, um, then you understand kind of the significance of Sirius's death and this their significance within the story. So unfortunately, that's why you don't like you wouldn't really care about Sirius or Lupin because it's no, I cared about him.

SPEAKER_00 47:58

It just it didn't feel like a gut punch.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

It didn't leave an impact. Yeah, that's what yeah, that's what I'm trying to say.

SPEAKER_00 48:04

Like it didn't leave an impact because you they didn't even build the yeah, it wasn't like relationship Dumbledore's death, like I mean, you you've been with him for so many films, and the shock of that, like I didn't realize that wasn't happening when I first saw it. I'm just gonna go on the traditional route and say Snape, uh, because once we learn the true story of what he did and what happened, and I you realize that James Potter was a bully.

SPEAKER_01 48:29

Um at the same time, like I'm not the biggest fan of Snape. That's an unpopular opinion that I have. Like, I I understand.

SPEAKER_00 48:40

But would would I don't know in the book, I don't know how bad in the books, but like would Harry said survive without Snape's protection all through all that, the way they make it out in the movies?

SPEAKER_01 48:51

Like, yeah, Snape definitely like thanks for protecting Harry. Thank you. But at the same time, did you need to bully a child? That's my problem with Snape. He bullied, he bullied Harry.

SPEAKER_00 49:05

Yeah, that first yeah, that first scene in the first movie, it was so like, are you jealous?

SPEAKER_01 49:10

Yeah, like and that I understand, like, okay, you hate him because he's the son of the woman that you loved from another man. I understand, but and it's funny because he has no connection to his parents, like there is no excuse.

SPEAKER_00 49:23

Yeah, he's getting upset with Harry, but Harry is literally writing down everything he's saying, like, so he can rememorize it. And like, he's not writing gibberish, he's writing what you're saying. It it was a um significant death, and also it was a good curveball because you have grown up with Snape, not grown up, but you've for eight movies and what is it, ten years with Snape being this way, and all of a sudden it turns into all you learned. It was it was a good um twist. That's what I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 49:53

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

Do you think the story would have been better if Hermione was the main character?

SPEAKER_01 50:00

Uh no.

unknown 50:00

No.

SPEAKER_01 50:01

I love Hermione so much, and I relate to her. But um I think that Harry's such a typical hero. I think that maybe Hermione's a bit too she's I don't want to call her a bit too clever, but you know, she's a bit too logical. She might overthink something or say, this is the best way to do it. And I find a very logical plan, but sometimes that doesn't really work out. You know, like that's what that's something that we see in most stories. And Harry, I think kind of has that. I don't want to call it arrogance, but I think it's a good word to use, that a lot of main characters or main heroes have where they just kind of believe in themselves and they kind of listen to themselves so much that like you know when they say it's a bad idea, but it's a good idea. I don't know how to explain what I'm trying to communicate, but he would take the risks that Hermione wouldn't. That's what I'm trying to say. The the wo the risks that would um pay off. And he would do that because he's either not thinking or he just is delusional that he that it could work, or those are things that I think you could see most mean characters, so that's why I think that Harry works best. Even though, you know, I think something that I came across because, you know, as I said, like I do I was a fan of Harry Potter as a kid, so that was before online community, social media, and everything. But then once you know, all of those things developed online fandom spaces, I saw a lot of um criticisms for Harry that he was too typical, he was a bit boring. But actually, like there was nothing wrong with the way that Harry was. He was and yeah, he he's a bit of a typical hero, but you know, we see it with with Avatar, you know, we just brought up Avatar as well. Like you don't see many people saying Aang is their favorite. You see a lot of people saying Katara or Zuko. And it's just because it's fine, but you need that you this the like Aang and and Harry are the makings of main characters, they're not boring, they're just yeah, heroes.

SPEAKER_00 51:42

Reminds you also of like Luke Skywalker. Yeah, people don't really there are some people who love Luke Skywalker, but when it comes to ranking, maybe he'll be the top five. But you have Darth Vader, Yoda, Princess Leia, Han Solo. You know what I mean? There's so many I'll be one. I'll be one. It's just yeah, it's just crazy.

SPEAKER_01 52:00

If if any of those characters were the main characters, you wouldn't get the story that you love so much. It would be completely different.

SPEAKER_00 52:06

I would have liked to have seen a scene or two with her mining and her parents, and rather than just the one scene of just see that dynamic. Uh, because we got to see Harry in every movie. It opens up with him. And we could have gone and see what's Mugglyborn. Yeah, and then we got to see Catelyn Stark.

unknown 52:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:29

A young Catelyn. Okay, well, let's um finish. I think we should have done maybe next time. We'll do a um we'll talk about Butter. We'll watch all the movies.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

We should, honestly, because this was a bit of a random discussion.

SPEAKER_00 52:44

Yeah, just random. And I and I wanted to just kind of have a Christmassy feel because when you think about the first movie, I always joke with people it's not a Christmas movie. Just because it has a Christmas tree is not, you know, I mean, like, is uh Goodfellows a Christmas movie because there's you know, there's Christmas music and there's a tree and it can be.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

It can be.

SPEAKER_00 53:07

Uh atmosphere of the warm lighting, the Christmas scenes, the fireplace, the the dorms. Uh so I mean it's a comfort movie for sure, this first one. So I didn't review it again on Litterbox. I said, you know what? This is a nice movie just to put on and enjoy. But I wanted to end the our discussion here with just kind of for fun. Just let's just rank the movies. Actually, why

Ranking Potter Characters & Films

SPEAKER_00 53:30

don't we do our do you have favorite characters? Top three.

SPEAKER_01 53:34

Ooh, okay, I didn't prepare for this, but off the top of my head, Hermione, Lupin, and that's in order, like one, through three? Uh yeah, let me say that. Just because uh Hermione was like such a fundamental character for me growing up that like I have to rank her as my favorite, you know. Like it's uh similar as to how I'd say Harry Potter was a very fundamental story for me growing up that I can't like um replace it with much. And Game of Thrones was the same for me in my like uh adult years. Uh I can't replace Hermione as my number one, so she'd be my number one, and then Lupin, and then third would be just like a moody, not mad eye moody ha ha, but like a moody d like decision. Let me say just because I defended him so much today. I'd say Harry, but it's it can change, you know what I mean? Like it's it's definitely not a solid answer, just because for me it's always been Hermione, and then Lupin also like has a special place in my heart. The rest is just based on my mood. The same way, like with Harry, with the Game of Thrones, I'd be like, okay, Danny, and then one day I might be like, today I have so much appreciation for Sansa, and then the next day I'd be like, I have so much appreciation for Arya. So the the set and stone ones are those two, and then the third one, let me just say Harry.

SPEAKER_00 54:45

I'm gonna do number one is Hermione, because you know, when I see Hermione, I see my daughter.

SPEAKER_02 54:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 54:52

Uh the second one I'm gonna say the second Dumbledore. Um, we already know the first one passed away, so they had to recast. Um uh number three, I'm going to do a cheat. I'm gonna do Harry and then slash Hagrid. I love Hagrid.

SPEAKER_02 55:10

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:11

And um, oh, you know what? Okay, I'm gonna cheat. I was a serious block, and then I'm gonna put in um Helena Bohem Carter as oh yeah, but it's that's a good one.

SPEAKER_01 55:22

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_00 55:22

Um I just love her as an actress, and that's just her craziness and the performance. It's just she delivers and everything. Uh okay, let's just finish this with ranking the movies. Um, why don't we just go from our least to our favorites? Why don't we go A through two?

SPEAKER_01 55:40

That way we can So then the then number one would be obvious.

SPEAKER_00 55:44

You have Prisoner of Ascaban.

SPEAKER_01 55:47

It's a toss-up for me between Prisoner of Ascaban and Sorcerer's Stone.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

Yeah, it's a moody thing. Yeah, it's it's one of those that every time I watch it, I I love it more. And and so I mean, I'm gonna go number eight, I'll just start. Um Order of the Phoenix. Uh number seven, I have Chamber of Secrets.

SPEAKER_01 56:07

So for me, I'm just gonna say eighth place is Half Flood Prince. And as long as it's just one, yeah. I need to, it's just one where And you know what?

SPEAKER_00 56:17

Uh let me I'm sorry to interrupt. I think I think once it's embedded in my brain this ranking. So I think if I were to watch Deathly Hallows Part 2, it'll probably go to number two and have Half Blood go down to three. And then Goblet of Fire is it's just a really fun movie. Kind of a premature uh Hunger Games.

SPEAKER_01 56:43

Literally, literally. But you know, funnily enough, it's the film that has the most differences from the book, from its book. So yeah, uh yeah, yeah. So it's I think it's a lot of people do really enjoy it. So I think though a lot of diehard fans maybe have problems with the changes, it's at least good that it resonated with many people. Many people enjoyed it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:03

And it's the one that takes you 20 minutes to get used to his hairdo.

SPEAKER_01 57:09

I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate it. Uh I don't know. I think I don't know if it's an unpopular opinion or a popular one, but so by the way, I always say this before my rankings. My rankings are never like 100% confirmed, they always change. I want to re-watch the film's property, but uh so don't take this as so serious. Um, eighth place is half blood prince, seventh is deathly hardows part one, sixth is the Order of the Phoenix, fifth is Chamber of Secrets, fourth is Copets of Fire, third is Deathly Haddows Part 2, and then first place is shared between Prisoner and Philosopher's Time. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_00 57:49

Like I said, the these kind of rankings, there's no need to people to argue about rankings when it comes to ranking movies, especially these. Uh there's so many. Um you know what I learned the other day for some reason? Is that th which is crazy? There's this lady called Shirley Henderson who played Moni Myrtle. Yeah, yeah. You know she was 37 years old.

SPEAKER_01 58:14

Yes, I did.

SPEAKER_00 58:16

And she's playing a 14-year-old. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's insanity. Anyway, that I thought that was so crazy. So

Final outro of 2025

SPEAKER_00 58:23

before we head out, I just want to say one more thing about these movies, especially the first one. I think it's widely credited to having like sparked the popularity of you know, children's young adult literature, basically. Because then you get um what what are other movies that came out? Like Twilight, Hunger Games, those became popular as well. And I think that started with Harry Potter, like, oh, we could get these teenagers, as long as you have a good story, good acting, you know, it kind of Hunger Games is not fantasy, it's so what is it like sci-fi?

SPEAKER_01 58:57

It's uh sci-fi, it's not really sci-fi, it's dystopian.

SPEAKER_00 59:00

Yeah, dystopian sci-fi, and then obviously Twilight is fantasy because it has worlds and I still haven't seen any of those movies, by the way. Anyway, I just want to I haven't watched them in years.

SPEAKER_01 59:11

I need to rewatch them again. It's my birth thing.

SPEAKER_00 59:13

Uh so yeah, that we could applaud the the Potter franchise for that. Um, okay, so want to thank you all for listening to our 77th podcast, the 20th of 2025. Not as busy as our 2024, but that's okay. Next year will be a banner year for us uh as we get to watch and review a new season of House of the Dragon and a brand new sequel show, a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. In between Dunkin' Egg and House of the Dragon, we'll dive deep into other topics and the lore of Song of Ice and Fire. To keep updated with the podcast, follow us on Instagram at Dan Zing with Dragons. Don't forget to subscribe and follow us on all podcast platforms. Uh, before we sign off for the last time in 2025, I can safely say I speak for both of us. A big thank you to our listeners and supporters. Minwa and I are humbled when seeing our downloads and are incredibly grateful to see our little podcast is being listened to in six continents. That's scary, but also, you know, we're wowed by that. To all who celebrate holidays this month, we wish you the best and a very happy new year. And we'll see you in 2026. Peace out.