F*ck you, she's awesome -- Part Two

Because our first edition was so successful, and because you can never do enough to cheer for these women.

Also, as we said in the first post--any ladies you think should be on our ever-growing list? Which other women are too awesome for words? Share with us! 

F*ck you, she's awesome

The fact is that there aren't enough decent female characters out there. But when they do appear, they inspire. They are something to celebrate, to defend, to admire. The characters that when someone starts to complain about, we can't help but defend. What would the world be without them? We each posit our respective lists of top five (and more) female characters in the sci-fi and fantasy we read/watch.

Our "Deathly Hallows: Pt 2" Review

As we have previously stated on this blog, of all the geeky things we adore in this life, Harry Potter will always and forever be our first love. Yet, as both of us have had endless problems and quibbles with the film adaptations of the books, neither of us were very emotionally invested in the release of the final movie. "It All Ends" came for us four years ago, when the seventh book was released. So I think it took us both by surprise when--as the release date drew near--we both became rather nostalgic, emotional, and filled with a tad bit of regret that circumstances prevented us from attending the midnight premiere.

Circumstances also prevented us from seeing it together, but as we are clones, it came as no surprise that once we exchanged phone calls and emails we had essentially the same thoughts.

First and foremost: After seven movies, seven tries, they finally finally FINALLY got it right. Our major problem with the previous seven movies has been less with what they leave in and leave out (though it is always a disappointment to see what gets cut), and more with the fact that they have never felt like true adaptations. An adaptation is supposed to capture the spirit of the original work, and with a couple of exceptions, the movies never felt quite right, never felt like they captured that spirit. Characters always seemed really out of sync with their literary counterparts, and choices of setting and pace always brought something down. But this time...they captured that spirit perfectly. The beauty of this movie was in the little details, and for once they got those little details down pat. There were parts that were line for line, word for word from the book, like the section with Ollivander and Griphook...especially the part when Ollivander said "the wand chooses the wizard" in exactly the same way he did ten years ago. Brilliant.

Why Harry Potter Will Always Be Our First Love

There are so many things to love about this world. So much fantasy, so much science fiction, and everything else in between. Yet every time we discuss one fandom, we find ourselves somehow returning to Harry Potter. That most popular of fandoms, with a billion dollar franchise. Why? Well, partly because it was the first fandom that completely consumed us both. And in becoming part of that fandom, we became part of what has been lovingly termed The Potter Generation.

If you think of Harry Potter as something binding our generation together--and really, what else has?--that’s something really special. We all wanted to get letters to Hogwarts - who didn’t? - and may have been slightly crestfallen when we started 6th grade in a Muggle middle school. To us, it was not just a series of books. It was real. The characters were real. Everyone I knew had at least one kid who they could identify with, whether it was Neville, Hermione, Fred, George, Luna, or Harry himself.