Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban named movie of the decade

Image: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Warner Bros.

The third movie of the Harry Potter series, Prisoner of Azkaban, has received the award Movie of the Decade at the First Light Awards. The First Light Awards are held annually and are largely to celebrate short films made by youth under 19.

The film was up against other box office heavy-hitters such as Shrek and Up, along with Happy Feet.

Combined with Peanut Turner’s supporting testimony on one of ShufflingDead’s Questions of the Week, this seems enough like conclusive evidence to me.

Source: BBC

ShufflingdeadCast Episode 41: Harry Potter and the Christmas Spectacular

Listen via iTunes – Download MP3

On this month’s episode of ShufflingdeadCast, a new host joins the team for conversations on hot topics like Harry Potter and WikiLeaks. A Christmas Spectacular also awaits our thirsty listeners.

You can now subscribe to our podcast via iTunes by clicking the link above. Be sure to give us your feedback and questions at hosts@shufflingdead.com. Hit the jump for the full show notes.

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Question of the Week: Which is the Best Harry Potter Movie?

With the recent release of the The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and its record breaking box office sales, it seems pretty clear to me which episode of furious wand-waving is the superior use of my time. But having not seen the newest installment of the series yet myself, I have to wonder: Is it really going to be better than Half-Blood Prince? Or did they just take liberties with the Deathly Hallows book, add a metric crap-ton of special effects and call it the End-All Super Awesome?

So all of you out there, tell me which movie you liked best. And while you’re at it, which book you liked best too, especially if the answer is different. Which is the Best Harry Potter Movie?

Image: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 poster. Copyright Warner Bros.

Muggle world enchanted by Quidditch

Wired is reporting that a new sport is rising to prominence in American colleges, and it’s Quidditch. Apparently, 46 teams comprised of 757 athletes recently participated in the fourth annual Quidditch World Cup in DeWitt Clinton Park.

In the Muggle-world, Quidditch players run around a field clutching broom sticks between their legs (protip: wear a cup) while trying to put a semi-inflated volleyball through goal posts with hoops on them for 10 points at a time. Video here.

The Snitch is also an integral part of this version of Quidditch, although with reduced importance over its Harry Potter novel counterpart. It’s worth a much more reasonable 30 points, rather than the absurd 150 of the books’ version. Catching it still ends the game. Since magic isn’t real and golden balls can’t be enchanted to fly, the International Quidditch Association has had to bring in Snitch Runners. These are people separate from the teams playing who hang a tennis ball in a sock from the back of their waste band and run around trying not to get caught.

Unsurprisingly, fake (that is to say, real-world) Quidditch is dangerous, and some players at the Quidditch World Cup left in ambulances.

Sources: Wired, IQA
Image: Adapted from DSC_0204 by timstock_nyc under a CC-BY license.

Emma Watson disappoints millions: won’t “get my kit off”

Sad news today, as Harry Potter star Emma Watson has announced that she will not “get my kit off or snort cocaine in a film, just to leave Hermione behind.” Nooooo.

The talented young actress who, it should be pointed out, is 20 years of age, is “proud” of her portrayal of the brilliant and bossy witch. She doesn’t want “everyone to forget me as Hermione.”

If you’re finding this news too disappointing to cope as you trudge along in your dreary life, a life so devoid of meaning that you have been dreaming of the day you would get a glimpse of Hermione’s tits, then I offer this small consolation: Emma Watson has spoken the following words: “I wished I’d done more naughty things.” Don’t get too excited though, she was only referencing acts as mundane as hacking her hair off.

Source: NY Daily News
Image: Emma Watson’s Facebook page.