Part of me is really glad there isn’t a Studio 60 tonight. As much as I really want to enjoy the show I just can’t, it isn’t entertaining at all. I’m going to keep watching it until it really pisses me off or until it is cancelled, which will probably be soon. The reason I’ll keep watching it is because of the great acting, great writing, I really like some of the actors and I love Aaron Sorkin’s previous work. I loved Sports Night and West Wing, I like all three movies, A Few Good Men, Malice, and American President. I would have to say that I probably don’t like Studio 60 and that makes me sad. I have quite a few reasons, not quite to the level of this guy but I do have my reasons.
What is going to get me are the Studio 60 fans that are going to scream that NBC didn’t do enough or the average American viewer isn’t ‘smart enough to get it’. Well who knows what NBC is doing or not doing for the show but I do know that I get the show, I just don’t find it entertaining. I also don’t buy that Studio 60 suffers from the American public not being smart enough or getting it. A show like Boomtown or Arrested Development or hell even Firefly can make that argument. The American public gets Studio 60 just fine, they just don’t like it. They don’t like it but even more they don’t like being made fun of about Sorkin’s perception that they won’t get it. Amanda Peet’s Jordan McDeere says in the second episode “I don’t think the people who make tv shows are smarter than the people who watch them”. Well Sorkin step up and prove it, you’ve spent the entire season making fun of everything for reality shows to Columbus, Ohio. Just spend a little time making an entertaining show.
I have a huge issue with the Columbus, Ohio thing. If you watch the show it was obviously a slap at middle America and who knows what actually middle America is. I do believe it is actually a slap at Ohio and the fact that the voters in Ohio are one of the main reasons Bush is our President. When Studio 60 isn’t making fun of its viewers it spends the rest of the time trying to illustrate how divided the country is, how partisan. I come from a pretty conservative background and I’m going to tell you the country was pretty divided in the 90s as well. The party that isn’t in power is always going to view things as divided since they feel their views aren’t being heeded. It seems worse now because the media is typically pretty liberal so there is a much louder outlet for the dissent. Sure Bush is a horrible President, you won’t find too many conservatives that disagree with you but the country is no more left/right divided than it was 10 years ago.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Always next year
Losing to the Raiders, what the fuck. This season is done, at this point I would be really surprised if they finish as good as 7-9.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Ward vs. the Seahawks
There are plenty of football fans in the office, two Steelers, two Seahawks, a Vikings, a Broncos, a Dolphins, a Chiefs, a Cowboys, a Chargers, and a whole bunch of Panthers fans. It is pretty good environment, no real rivals and very few AFC teams. I don’t really dislike the Seahawks despite having to go through them to win a Super Bowl but the two Seahawks fans can make it quite difficult. They are beyond cocky about their team and almost no one else in the office is, almost everyone realizes most people just want to enjoy football.
The Seahawks fans have spent the week complaining about the lack of Shaun and Hasselbeck. Sure it sucks to be without your two best skill position players but recent memory in our team isn’t going to cut them any slack. The Vikings lost their starting QB last year for the season, the Steelers lost theirs for four games last year and at least one this year, in addition to starting their 3rd HB for most of the year.
The topic of WR came up and it was brought up that a backup QB will really expose a bunch of mid-tier WRs, like what the Seahawks have. Well the Seahawks fan quickly defended that Darrell Jackson and Deion Branch were not mid-tier WRs, they were true #1 WRs. I wasn’t really going to argue, I couldn’t much, those two are pretty good WRs. Then as a continuation of the same service we went around the teams picking the good WRs, the #1s if you will. We get to the Steelers and I saw they have a #1 (Ward), two #2.5s (Wilson and Washington), and a potential #1 (Holmes, although not with punt returns). The Seahawks fan quickly counters that four time Pro Bowler, #1 on the Steelers all time receiving chart, Super Bowl MVP, Hines Ward is not a very good WR, especially not a #1. He continues to go on about how Ward has never put up very good numbers and only recently got good PR because he had one good game in the Super Bowl. Huh, did I just feel the gloves slapping me across the face? You’re going to spend time defending Darrell “I drop the ball even when it hits me in the numbers” Jackson and Deion “I’ve never had 1000 yards receiving” Branch and then quickly jump all over Hines? I will grant you Hines started slow and he isn’t fricking Jerry Rice but come on. Typical of the two Seahawks fans we have in the office, quick to offer their opinion without any real facts.
Let’s compare Jackson, Branch, and Ward. It is a little difficult obviously. They play in different systems, different leagues, and have had different lengths of their careers. But I will just put the raw numbers up and let you decide.
Deion Branch, 2002-2006
Played mainly with the Patriots up until this year
Led his team in receiving yards twice
Career Numbers, 228 receptions, 2960 receiving yards, 16 TDs
Top year, 78 receptions, 998 yards, 5 TDs
Years with 1000 receiving yards or more - 0
Top four years for receptions, 78, 57, 42, 35
Years with 10 Tds or more – 0
Super Bowl MVP
Darrell Jackson, 2000-2006
Seattle Seahawks
Led his team in receiving yards four times
Career Numbers, 411 receptions, 6012 yards, 42 TDs
Top year, 87 receptions, 1199 yards, 7 TDs
Years with 1000 receiving yards or more - 3
Top four years for receptions, 87, 70, 68, 62
Years with 10TDs or more - 0
Hines Ward, 1998-2006
Pittsburgh Steelers
Led his team in receiving yards six times
Career Numbers, 600 receptions, 7408 yards, 57 TDs
Top year, 112 receptions, 1329 yards, 12 TDs
Years with 1000 receiving yards or more - 6
Top four years for receptions, 112, 95, 94, 80
Years with 10TDs or more - 3
Super Bowl MVP
13th Best Season in terms of number of receptions
I think Ward stacks up pretty well. Ward has played two more years than Jackson and four more years than Branch so the career numbers can be misleading, even though Ward was a special teams player in year one and the #3 WR in year two. If you add two of Jackson’s best year (87, 1199, 7) and four of Branch’s best year (78, 998, 5), making all players have the same length career here is what they look like.
Receptions Yards TDs
Ward 600 7408 57
Jackson 585 8410 56
Branch 540 6952 36
The above numbers are of course junk also, who knows if Jackson or Branch will repeat their career highs, much less for a quarter or half of their careers respectively. Hell they could even get better. It does pretty clearly illustrate that Hines might not be Jerry Rice he at least stacks up well to the top two Seattle WRs. I guess the moral of the story is don’t rip one of my favorite players without being able to back it up.
The Seahawks fans have spent the week complaining about the lack of Shaun and Hasselbeck. Sure it sucks to be without your two best skill position players but recent memory in our team isn’t going to cut them any slack. The Vikings lost their starting QB last year for the season, the Steelers lost theirs for four games last year and at least one this year, in addition to starting their 3rd HB for most of the year.
The topic of WR came up and it was brought up that a backup QB will really expose a bunch of mid-tier WRs, like what the Seahawks have. Well the Seahawks fan quickly defended that Darrell Jackson and Deion Branch were not mid-tier WRs, they were true #1 WRs. I wasn’t really going to argue, I couldn’t much, those two are pretty good WRs. Then as a continuation of the same service we went around the teams picking the good WRs, the #1s if you will. We get to the Steelers and I saw they have a #1 (Ward), two #2.5s (Wilson and Washington), and a potential #1 (Holmes, although not with punt returns). The Seahawks fan quickly counters that four time Pro Bowler, #1 on the Steelers all time receiving chart, Super Bowl MVP, Hines Ward is not a very good WR, especially not a #1. He continues to go on about how Ward has never put up very good numbers and only recently got good PR because he had one good game in the Super Bowl. Huh, did I just feel the gloves slapping me across the face? You’re going to spend time defending Darrell “I drop the ball even when it hits me in the numbers” Jackson and Deion “I’ve never had 1000 yards receiving” Branch and then quickly jump all over Hines? I will grant you Hines started slow and he isn’t fricking Jerry Rice but come on. Typical of the two Seahawks fans we have in the office, quick to offer their opinion without any real facts.
Let’s compare Jackson, Branch, and Ward. It is a little difficult obviously. They play in different systems, different leagues, and have had different lengths of their careers. But I will just put the raw numbers up and let you decide.
Deion Branch, 2002-2006
Played mainly with the Patriots up until this year
Led his team in receiving yards twice
Career Numbers, 228 receptions, 2960 receiving yards, 16 TDs
Top year, 78 receptions, 998 yards, 5 TDs
Years with 1000 receiving yards or more - 0
Top four years for receptions, 78, 57, 42, 35
Years with 10 Tds or more – 0
Super Bowl MVP
Darrell Jackson, 2000-2006
Seattle Seahawks
Led his team in receiving yards four times
Career Numbers, 411 receptions, 6012 yards, 42 TDs
Top year, 87 receptions, 1199 yards, 7 TDs
Years with 1000 receiving yards or more - 3
Top four years for receptions, 87, 70, 68, 62
Years with 10TDs or more - 0
Hines Ward, 1998-2006
Pittsburgh Steelers
Led his team in receiving yards six times
Career Numbers, 600 receptions, 7408 yards, 57 TDs
Top year, 112 receptions, 1329 yards, 12 TDs
Years with 1000 receiving yards or more - 6
Top four years for receptions, 112, 95, 94, 80
Years with 10TDs or more - 3
Super Bowl MVP
13th Best Season in terms of number of receptions
I think Ward stacks up pretty well. Ward has played two more years than Jackson and four more years than Branch so the career numbers can be misleading, even though Ward was a special teams player in year one and the #3 WR in year two. If you add two of Jackson’s best year (87, 1199, 7) and four of Branch’s best year (78, 998, 5), making all players have the same length career here is what they look like.
Receptions Yards TDs
Ward 600 7408 57
Jackson 585 8410 56
Branch 540 6952 36
The above numbers are of course junk also, who knows if Jackson or Branch will repeat their career highs, much less for a quarter or half of their careers respectively. Hell they could even get better. It does pretty clearly illustrate that Hines might not be Jerry Rice he at least stacks up well to the top two Seattle WRs. I guess the moral of the story is don’t rip one of my favorite players without being able to back it up.
Save the Cheerleader - Save the World!
I know, I know, Girard has already used that title but I just love it, why not use it for my first Heroes post. I'm not really going to talk too much about how much Pretty Bird and I love the show, I mean how can you not, it has Tim Sale art in it! One of the episodes so far was even written by Jeph Loeb.
But to the reason of the post, a nice PSA. NBC.com has done a really good job with their official website. It includes a download of the latest episode, a clip show recap, a suplimental web comic, some forums, plus the greatest thing Hiro's Blog. If you're a fan of the show the blog is just a trip, very funny from the best character of the show.
Remember, Save the Cheerleader - Save the World!
But to the reason of the post, a nice PSA. NBC.com has done a really good job with their official website. It includes a download of the latest episode, a clip show recap, a suplimental web comic, some forums, plus the greatest thing Hiro's Blog. If you're a fan of the show the blog is just a trip, very funny from the best character of the show.
Remember, Save the Cheerleader - Save the World!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Done
I really think the Steelers season is done in terms of the playoffs. I think they are a very talented team but at 2-4 it is just a very uphill battle. I'm fairly certain that at the midway point they are going to be 3-5 and it will take a 10-6 team to make the playoffs. To expect a team to go 7-1 to finish the year is asking a lot, probably more than a team this inconsistent can expect to pull off.
This of course comes following the aftermath of yesterday. I was at the game, 20 yard line, row 11, seat 10. It would have been one of the most exciting games I've ever seen if I wasn't a fan of either team. Being a diehard Steelers fan however it wasn't exactly a game I was excited about. They turned the ball over three times inside their own 30, surrendered 41 points, gave up 160+ yards on the ground, and rushed for only about 60 yards, I mean WTF! You're supposed to lose those games and they did. I'm not exactly excited that Vick choose yesterday to become Randall Cunningham but oh well.
One thing, that Hines Ward guy is good.
This of course comes following the aftermath of yesterday. I was at the game, 20 yard line, row 11, seat 10. It would have been one of the most exciting games I've ever seen if I wasn't a fan of either team. Being a diehard Steelers fan however it wasn't exactly a game I was excited about. They turned the ball over three times inside their own 30, surrendered 41 points, gave up 160+ yards on the ground, and rushed for only about 60 yards, I mean WTF! You're supposed to lose those games and they did. I'm not exactly excited that Vick choose yesterday to become Randall Cunningham but oh well.
One thing, that Hines Ward guy is good.
Friday, October 20, 2006
2006 World Series
Fox has annouced that due to the lack of a team from New York or Boston that all games for the 2006 World Series will start at 1:00pm eastern.
I know, three baseball posts in a row during football season, I'm trying to cut down.
Tigers in Five, how weird does that sound.
I know, three baseball posts in a row during football season, I'm trying to cut down.
Tigers in Five, how weird does that sound.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Stupid Jack Morris
With Game 7 of the NLCS pending SportsCenter did a story about Game 7s in baseball history. Well of course they bring up Game 7 of the '91 World Series, stupid Jack Morris.
Best Player on Giants to Retire
When you read the title and if you're a sports fan like me you think "yea, Barry Bonds is going to retire". But nope, it is about Tiki Barber from the NY Football Giants. Tiki is one of the NFL's great guys, great players, on one its most popular teams. Barry Bonds is just an ass. I don't want an ass to break Hank Aaron's record, I could give a crap about the steroids stuff.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Lazy Sunday
Comments from a Sunday filled watching football.
• I really miss having a Tivo to watch football. It did limit me to one game usually but it allowed me to miss most of the commercials.
• Speaking of commercials, there are some awful ones this year. Very few are funny and even those are overplayed like the Peyton/Sprint one.
• I didn’t think the Steelers were ‘gone’ after three losses, I also don’t think they are ‘back’ after just one win.
• It was just one win but 45-7 makes for a fun game.
• I watched the first eight or so of Michael Vick’s pass attempts. Of the ones he missed, four or five I can’t remember, one was thrown out of bounds to avoid a sack, all of the others were dropped. Vick isn’t a great passer but seriously, that sucks.
• Not a great week for picks, too many away teams and upsets won.
• Old Cleveland lost!
• Cincinnati lost!
• An Old Cleveland and Cincinnati loss mixed with a Steelers win means the Steelers are only one back in the loss column. Which of course means jack, Old Cleveland has one more win and Cincy holds the tie-breaker over the Steelers.
• Steelers have two tough road trips in the next three games, @ the Michael Vick Experience and @ Mile High. Not exactly easy games.
• Did you know Terrell Owens plays football for the Dallas Cowboys? Apparently he doesn’t play well with others.
• I’m not a fan of addition by subtraction, especially when it means losing a Pro Bowl QB but man is Phillip Rivers looking pretty good in San Diego.
• I also thought the unnecessary roughness call was for LJ tackling Troy by the hair, which should and is legal.
• I really do not like much about the NBC telecast. I like the pre-game cast, all of them except maybe Peter King, but I dislike the format. I like John Madden to a certain degree but don’t like the on screen graphics and complete lack of any stats during a game. I also can’t stand the Pink intro, I mean seriously Pink?
• It isn’t a west coast/east coast bias but it sure is some sort of bias. In six weeks there have been 14 prime time games with 28 possible teams represented. The Steelers have had four of six of their games on prime time, the Broncos three of six. One of them won the Super Bowl, the other went 13-3 and played in the AFC Championship Game. The NFC gets a lot less love, the NFC Champion Seahawks only in one prime time game. The Raiders, 4-12 last year, and Chargers, 9-7 but no playoffs have each had two. I do understand the top five teams in terms of popularity, ratings, merchandise sales are Dallas, Washington, NY Giants, Philadelphia, and NY Jets but seriously, make an effort.
• Speaking of the Jets, did the 2-3 Jets versus the 1-4 Dolphins really need the #1 announcing crew for CBS?
• GET MORE HD CREWS. It really shows how much better HD is when one of the games you want to watch isn’t in HD.
• Did I mention the Steelers won 45-7!
• I really miss having a Tivo to watch football. It did limit me to one game usually but it allowed me to miss most of the commercials.
• Speaking of commercials, there are some awful ones this year. Very few are funny and even those are overplayed like the Peyton/Sprint one.
• I didn’t think the Steelers were ‘gone’ after three losses, I also don’t think they are ‘back’ after just one win.
• It was just one win but 45-7 makes for a fun game.
• I watched the first eight or so of Michael Vick’s pass attempts. Of the ones he missed, four or five I can’t remember, one was thrown out of bounds to avoid a sack, all of the others were dropped. Vick isn’t a great passer but seriously, that sucks.
• Not a great week for picks, too many away teams and upsets won.
• Old Cleveland lost!
• Cincinnati lost!
• An Old Cleveland and Cincinnati loss mixed with a Steelers win means the Steelers are only one back in the loss column. Which of course means jack, Old Cleveland has one more win and Cincy holds the tie-breaker over the Steelers.
• Steelers have two tough road trips in the next three games, @ the Michael Vick Experience and @ Mile High. Not exactly easy games.
• Did you know Terrell Owens plays football for the Dallas Cowboys? Apparently he doesn’t play well with others.
• I’m not a fan of addition by subtraction, especially when it means losing a Pro Bowl QB but man is Phillip Rivers looking pretty good in San Diego.
• I also thought the unnecessary roughness call was for LJ tackling Troy by the hair, which should and is legal.
• I really do not like much about the NBC telecast. I like the pre-game cast, all of them except maybe Peter King, but I dislike the format. I like John Madden to a certain degree but don’t like the on screen graphics and complete lack of any stats during a game. I also can’t stand the Pink intro, I mean seriously Pink?
• It isn’t a west coast/east coast bias but it sure is some sort of bias. In six weeks there have been 14 prime time games with 28 possible teams represented. The Steelers have had four of six of their games on prime time, the Broncos three of six. One of them won the Super Bowl, the other went 13-3 and played in the AFC Championship Game. The NFC gets a lot less love, the NFC Champion Seahawks only in one prime time game. The Raiders, 4-12 last year, and Chargers, 9-7 but no playoffs have each had two. I do understand the top five teams in terms of popularity, ratings, merchandise sales are Dallas, Washington, NY Giants, Philadelphia, and NY Jets but seriously, make an effort.
• Speaking of the Jets, did the 2-3 Jets versus the 1-4 Dolphins really need the #1 announcing crew for CBS?
• GET MORE HD CREWS. It really shows how much better HD is when one of the games you want to watch isn’t in HD.
• Did I mention the Steelers won 45-7!
Scary how real this is
Watch this and tell me it doesn’t remind you of a previous place of employment, at least where I and few of my readers have worked. I mean seriously, I think they filmed it there.
Friday, October 13, 2006
BSG
Hopefully tonights episode of BSG will be more enjoyable that the season premiere. I really thought the premiere was really good but I didn't enjoy it. I liked the first two seasons of the show because they were both enjoyable, I love science fiction, and really good. Based on the first episode season three isn't providing me both. I think I'm in for at least five or six episodes of not enjoying the show though.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Like him or hate him
Well frankly who does like him. Either way if you're bashing President Bush please bash him for the correct reasons. For the record, I'm typically a more conservative person politically but I didn't vote for him in 2004 and I will try and vote out most of his supporters in '06 and '08. That isn't my point though, my point is this. The President does enough things incorrectly that actually have to do with his job, bash him and get mad at him for those things. If you're going to waste time bellowing about how horrible he is, and he has been downright awful, actually use things that are done incorrectly.
Things not to bash the man over.
There are plenty of things you can get mad at him for, he has been a horrible President. I'm not going to list them all, frankly I don't have enough time.
Things not to bash the man over.
- Inability to pronounce the word "nuclear". Seriously, is that really that big a deal.
- Belief in God. I'm not sure where this comes from, 95% of the rest of world's population does, he should be different why?
- Being in Texas instead of Washington during Katrina. Really the President, even this one, doesn't really take vacations. If I can work effectively from Germany or Los Angeles with just a laptop and cellphone with the travling circus that goes with the President he can work fine from Texas.
- Cory Lidle flying a plane into a building. Yeah I don't get this one either. I've seen at least four articles or snipits about comparing to 9/11, valid, and then bashing Bush somehow. Can we at least agree that terrorists flew airplanes into building five years, one month, and one day ago?
- Mark Foley.
There are plenty of things you can get mad at him for, he has been a horrible President. I'm not going to list them all, frankly I don't have enough time.
- Iraq
- Illegal wiretaps. The difference between using a secret judge and not using a judge at all, even though the judge approves 99.9% anyway, well two differences. One the judge doesn't work for the President and two using a judge is LEGAL.
- Iraq
- Blame. I work in the real world. If my product doesn't sell I get blamed and feel the repercussions, it doesn't matter if it is my fault or not. Both 9/11 and the Katrina clean up debacle happened on his watch, fault lies with him.
- Iraq
- Settling instead of getting the best. I don't want to go through with what a President has done and look for things that are okay or 'well not that bad', damn it I want the best. Almost six years and you're spending your time going, well maybe that isn't so bad. Unacceptable.
- Iraq. I believe there are reasons to go to war. I'm a peace loving guy, I really am but I also know there are times when war is necessary. The young men and women in our Armed Forces know that as well. Made up reasoning put there for political gain is not one of them, ever.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Not a complete loss
For it to be a great weekend in the NFL four things must happen (in order).
1 - Steelers win
2 - New Cleveland loss
3 - Old Cleveland loss
4 - Cincinnati loss
Well with Cincinnati off this week only three things could happen on the list. With Old and New Cleveland losing it does take the sting off the Steelers loss just a little. Well I'm lying, nothing takes the sting off a loss when you've had three in a row and you've look like crap during those three games.
1 - Steelers win
2 - New Cleveland loss
3 - Old Cleveland loss
4 - Cincinnati loss
Well with Cincinnati off this week only three things could happen on the list. With Old and New Cleveland losing it does take the sting off the Steelers loss just a little. Well I'm lying, nothing takes the sting off a loss when you've had three in a row and you've look like crap during those three games.
Monday, October 9, 2006
Time
Where exactly does the time go? Eight years ago tonight I was on the eve of starting my new life with my beautiful bride to be. Tonight I spent an hour reading and working on math problems with my beautiful seven year old daughter. I don’t really know where the time goes but I do know that I’ve really enjoyed the ride.
Top Movies 1-10
Trevor’s Top Movies 1-10
Well this is it, my top 10 movies. There isn’t much to write about these movies, if you’re reading my blog you’ve seen at least 9 of them. By glancing at 11-100 on Friday Pretty Bird was able to pick all 10 of these, very close to the correct order.
10. Return of the Jedi (1983, Richard Marquand) – This is the one that was my favorite when I was young. It was the one where Luke becomes a Jedi and defeats Vader plus the good guys win. The space battle still stands up today versus some of the more advanced special effects spectacles that have been made. The Jabba’s Palace/skiff sequence where it is Luke against a ton of non-Jedi, how good is that. You get a see a Jedi take out a bunch of people with very little effort. Obviously this movie doesn’t quite stand the test of time compared to the other two, it isn’t near as good a movie. This is also the one that I dislike the special edition changes the most, the additions only subtract from the movie.
9. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, George Roy Hill) – A western with very little shooting, how much fun can that be? Other than the rather boring bicycle scene I can watch this movie over and over again. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are just brilliant. And to think I really don’t like westerns.
8. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989, Steven Spielberg) – About 10 of us went to see this movie opening night and we got the most horrible seats possible but did we have a great time. This was one of the most laugh out loud movies I can remember at a theater, the crowd was just rolling in laughter and this really isn’t a comedy.
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, Peter Jackson) – Even if I didn’t love this movie this would be in the top 10. This movie as much as even Star Wars is directly responsible for what I do for a living. I liked the movie and picked up the game and actually enjoyed it more than previous TCGs and got involved and well you know the rest. Back to the movie, I like beginnings more than endings and I like this novel much more than the others, that is why it is here. I really think Two Towers is a crappy story compared to the other two which is why it isn’t even on the list.
6. Toy Story (1995, John Lasseter) – This movie helped me really get to know Pretty Bird. I love animated movies and Disney in general, this movie helped me know that same information about her. It is a laugh riot, still looks better in some ways that a lot of the CGI movies released today, and introduced the world at large to Pixar which changed movies as much anything else.
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg) – One of the only movies I love that my parents also really enjoy. A lot of my ‘dorky’ life is devoid of approval or interest from my parents except for this one. I don’t need my parent’s approval in my life but it does make it easier when you share some interests. This is such a great movie, so much fun. Just please don’t call it Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, that makes me sad. Let me waste a little bit more time and talk about changing movies. I work in a creative, intelligential based industry. I think a creator should be allowed to do whatever they want with their work, I really do. The fanboy side of me though really doesn’t like it when you change the Star Wars Trilogy, E.T., or the name of Raiders. They have every right to do it without explanation, I just don’t have to enjoy it.
4. The Matrix (1999, The Wachowski Brothers) – The subpar sequels to this incredible science fiction story do nothing to tarnish how much I love this movie. Actually I think the sequels suffer because of how good this movie actually is, I mean it is so good. I think it is basically about as perfect a science fiction movie can be. Plus it took everyone by surprise, the ads didn’t do it justice at all plus it had Keanu Reeves in it, how good can it be. This movie also didn’t help Phantom Menace score any points. Just remember, there is no spoon.
3. Aliens (1986, James Cameron) – One of the only sequels that in my opinion is clearly better than the original. Ridley Scott’s horror, suspense movie original is very good but man is this movie great. A Vietnam War movie set in space against aliens, so much fun. I love just about everything about this movie. With this movie at #3 I guess it isn’t hard to figure out the top two.
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner) – Probably the best of all six Star Wars movies, the only one directed by a real director. This is the first movie I can remember seeing in a movie theater, I’m sure it was pretty intense for a four year old. Hell using intense for a 30 year old who’s seen it over 100 times wouldn’t be too much a stretch either. Despite it being the best, I do love originals more so that leads us to our next choice.
1. Star Wars (1977, George Lucas) – When you started reading this list did you really think anything else was going to be #1? So much of what I have become, what I do, what I enjoy comes from Star Wars. I went through times in my life where I was in denial about that or I tried to think how lame that sounds. I’ve come to realize it might not be the most noble thing in the world but it isn’t lame, no one gets onto Bob Costas for watching Mickey Mantle and wanting to announce baseball games. I watched Star Wars and wanted to do dorky stuff and here I am today, doing dorky stuff for a living.
I hope you enjoyed the list and the brief write ups. I do recommend any movie on the list plus the additional 50 or so movies that I so wanted to put on my top 100.
Well this is it, my top 10 movies. There isn’t much to write about these movies, if you’re reading my blog you’ve seen at least 9 of them. By glancing at 11-100 on Friday Pretty Bird was able to pick all 10 of these, very close to the correct order.
10. Return of the Jedi (1983, Richard Marquand) – This is the one that was my favorite when I was young. It was the one where Luke becomes a Jedi and defeats Vader plus the good guys win. The space battle still stands up today versus some of the more advanced special effects spectacles that have been made. The Jabba’s Palace/skiff sequence where it is Luke against a ton of non-Jedi, how good is that. You get a see a Jedi take out a bunch of people with very little effort. Obviously this movie doesn’t quite stand the test of time compared to the other two, it isn’t near as good a movie. This is also the one that I dislike the special edition changes the most, the additions only subtract from the movie.
9. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, George Roy Hill) – A western with very little shooting, how much fun can that be? Other than the rather boring bicycle scene I can watch this movie over and over again. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are just brilliant. And to think I really don’t like westerns.
8. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989, Steven Spielberg) – About 10 of us went to see this movie opening night and we got the most horrible seats possible but did we have a great time. This was one of the most laugh out loud movies I can remember at a theater, the crowd was just rolling in laughter and this really isn’t a comedy.
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, Peter Jackson) – Even if I didn’t love this movie this would be in the top 10. This movie as much as even Star Wars is directly responsible for what I do for a living. I liked the movie and picked up the game and actually enjoyed it more than previous TCGs and got involved and well you know the rest. Back to the movie, I like beginnings more than endings and I like this novel much more than the others, that is why it is here. I really think Two Towers is a crappy story compared to the other two which is why it isn’t even on the list.
6. Toy Story (1995, John Lasseter) – This movie helped me really get to know Pretty Bird. I love animated movies and Disney in general, this movie helped me know that same information about her. It is a laugh riot, still looks better in some ways that a lot of the CGI movies released today, and introduced the world at large to Pixar which changed movies as much anything else.
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, Steven Spielberg) – One of the only movies I love that my parents also really enjoy. A lot of my ‘dorky’ life is devoid of approval or interest from my parents except for this one. I don’t need my parent’s approval in my life but it does make it easier when you share some interests. This is such a great movie, so much fun. Just please don’t call it Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, that makes me sad. Let me waste a little bit more time and talk about changing movies. I work in a creative, intelligential based industry. I think a creator should be allowed to do whatever they want with their work, I really do. The fanboy side of me though really doesn’t like it when you change the Star Wars Trilogy, E.T., or the name of Raiders. They have every right to do it without explanation, I just don’t have to enjoy it.
4. The Matrix (1999, The Wachowski Brothers) – The subpar sequels to this incredible science fiction story do nothing to tarnish how much I love this movie. Actually I think the sequels suffer because of how good this movie actually is, I mean it is so good. I think it is basically about as perfect a science fiction movie can be. Plus it took everyone by surprise, the ads didn’t do it justice at all plus it had Keanu Reeves in it, how good can it be. This movie also didn’t help Phantom Menace score any points. Just remember, there is no spoon.
3. Aliens (1986, James Cameron) – One of the only sequels that in my opinion is clearly better than the original. Ridley Scott’s horror, suspense movie original is very good but man is this movie great. A Vietnam War movie set in space against aliens, so much fun. I love just about everything about this movie. With this movie at #3 I guess it isn’t hard to figure out the top two.
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980, Irvin Kershner) – Probably the best of all six Star Wars movies, the only one directed by a real director. This is the first movie I can remember seeing in a movie theater, I’m sure it was pretty intense for a four year old. Hell using intense for a 30 year old who’s seen it over 100 times wouldn’t be too much a stretch either. Despite it being the best, I do love originals more so that leads us to our next choice.
1. Star Wars (1977, George Lucas) – When you started reading this list did you really think anything else was going to be #1? So much of what I have become, what I do, what I enjoy comes from Star Wars. I went through times in my life where I was in denial about that or I tried to think how lame that sounds. I’ve come to realize it might not be the most noble thing in the world but it isn’t lame, no one gets onto Bob Costas for watching Mickey Mantle and wanting to announce baseball games. I watched Star Wars and wanted to do dorky stuff and here I am today, doing dorky stuff for a living.
I hope you enjoyed the list and the brief write ups. I do recommend any movie on the list plus the additional 50 or so movies that I so wanted to put on my top 100.
Long year so far for the Black and Gold
I can’t sleep, it really has nothing to do with the Steelers game, I think I’m fighting a cold. I haven’t written about football much in the past few weeks for whatever reason. I guess most of it has to do with being disappointed or upset after a loss and three straight losses with a bye week means a lot of disappointment.
After the Jacksonville game I just wanted to brush Ben’s poor play off to rust.
After the Cincy game I just wanted to brush Ben’s poor play off to just a few bad throws.
Against San Diego, he didn’t look awful except on a few throws, two of them leading to an INT. I am going to say that something seems not quite write. San Diego is a very good team but good players play well against good teams not the reverse.
If they can get the special teams and turnover problem fixed they would be much happier. Every single game has had poor special teams play and too many turnovers.
Outside of just the Steelers, football is a lot of fun to watch this season. There are some very good games and I do enjoy it in HD.
They do need to get it going or it is going to be a long year.
After the Jacksonville game I just wanted to brush Ben’s poor play off to rust.
After the Cincy game I just wanted to brush Ben’s poor play off to just a few bad throws.
Against San Diego, he didn’t look awful except on a few throws, two of them leading to an INT. I am going to say that something seems not quite write. San Diego is a very good team but good players play well against good teams not the reverse.
If they can get the special teams and turnover problem fixed they would be much happier. Every single game has had poor special teams play and too many turnovers.
Outside of just the Steelers, football is a lot of fun to watch this season. There are some very good games and I do enjoy it in HD.
They do need to get it going or it is going to be a long year.
Friday, October 6, 2006
Top Movie List 11-20
Trevor’s Top Movies 11-20
Now we’re getting to some really tough choices.
20. The Incredibles (2004, Brad Bird) – Pixar doing a superhero movie, sign me up. This movie is so good at just about everything, telling a great superhero story, making fun of superheroes, showing how good Pixar actually is at what they do, I could go on for days. It is very impressive that the bar for superhero movies was raised by a children’s cartoon.
19. The Godfather (1972, Francis Ford Coppola) – Um, yeah, this is a good movie. Like move ‘great’ movies I have a hard time writing about it without just rehashing what other critics have already said. Like I said with To Kill a Mockingbird, you’ve seen it, you know how good it is, you don’t need me to tell you.
18. Batman Begins (2005, Christopher Nolan) – Talk about a movie that just gets better and better each time I watch it. Like I mentioned I love comics and for the most part Batman is my favorite comic book character. While not entirely true to the comics this view of Batman by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer is pretty damn close. Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow), Morgan Freeman, all just nail their parts. Even the bit players Ken Watanabe and Linus Roache (Thomas Wayne) are intriguing and well done. The only character I don’t enjoy is Katie Holmes which has very little to do with her and more to do with a Bruce Wayne love interest, they just always seem blah to me. The best in the movie however is Michael Caine, what a great version of the ever important Alfred. Man I do love me some Batman.
17. Saving Private Ryan (1998, Steven Spielberg) – The highest placing ‘serious’ movie on my list. Most of the buzz about this movie is the ultra-violent first 30 minute, D-Day sequence but this movie goes so far beyond that. Like Glory this movie gets me every single time I watch it, I know it is coming but I can’t avoid it. When the elder Ryan falls down in tears asking his wife to tell him he’s lived a good life, I mean come on. Even if every critic in the world wasn’t telling me how powerful this movie was I would have known it based on the audience. During the days we would have multiple groups of WWII vets and their wives come to see it. Virtually every single one of the men would leave the theater in tears on the shoulders of their wives. These are men in their 70’s who’ve lived more shit than I can imagine, from a generation that doesn’t allow men to show emotion, in tears, in public, having their wives help console them. Yeah I would say that is powerful.
16. X2: X-Men United (2003, Bryan Singer) – I like the Batman character better and I think the original X-Men and both the Spider-Man movies are great movies but this one. Oh man, is this a great comic book movie or what. I read the X-Men comics for about eight or so years, reading probably 20 years of their stories, and this movie gets it all, every bit of it.
15. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988, Robert Zemeckis) – The 80s were a very down period in US animation but this movie really makes up for it. It is so funny, so well down, so timeless, so brilliant, and even groundbreaking. It has a piano competition/duel of Daffy Duck vs. Donald Duck, it even has Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse on the screen at the same time. It has the most attractive cartoon in history and has spawned a great ride at Disneyland.
14. Superman (1978, Richard Donner) – The one that made you believe someone could fly. This is the first big budget superhero movie and one that will probably remain the most timeless. I attribute that mainly to Christopher Reeve, he is Superman and always will be.
13. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986, John Hughes) – Ferris Bueller is probably the coolest high school student in history. When I was in middle school this was the cool movie, hell it is probably one of the cool movies now.
12. Spartacus (1960, Stanley Kubrick) – I think I had three separate history classes that we watched this movie in. It is a movie I can watch almost anytime, it is so good and I really enjoy it. It was one of the first DVDs we ever purchased.
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, Peter Jackson) – Probably the best of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy but not my favorite and definitely not the most important. I do love it, what a spectacle and how good was Sean Astin in this movie.
Now we’re getting to some really tough choices.
20. The Incredibles (2004, Brad Bird) – Pixar doing a superhero movie, sign me up. This movie is so good at just about everything, telling a great superhero story, making fun of superheroes, showing how good Pixar actually is at what they do, I could go on for days. It is very impressive that the bar for superhero movies was raised by a children’s cartoon.
19. The Godfather (1972, Francis Ford Coppola) – Um, yeah, this is a good movie. Like move ‘great’ movies I have a hard time writing about it without just rehashing what other critics have already said. Like I said with To Kill a Mockingbird, you’ve seen it, you know how good it is, you don’t need me to tell you.
18. Batman Begins (2005, Christopher Nolan) – Talk about a movie that just gets better and better each time I watch it. Like I mentioned I love comics and for the most part Batman is my favorite comic book character. While not entirely true to the comics this view of Batman by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer is pretty damn close. Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow), Morgan Freeman, all just nail their parts. Even the bit players Ken Watanabe and Linus Roache (Thomas Wayne) are intriguing and well done. The only character I don’t enjoy is Katie Holmes which has very little to do with her and more to do with a Bruce Wayne love interest, they just always seem blah to me. The best in the movie however is Michael Caine, what a great version of the ever important Alfred. Man I do love me some Batman.
17. Saving Private Ryan (1998, Steven Spielberg) – The highest placing ‘serious’ movie on my list. Most of the buzz about this movie is the ultra-violent first 30 minute, D-Day sequence but this movie goes so far beyond that. Like Glory this movie gets me every single time I watch it, I know it is coming but I can’t avoid it. When the elder Ryan falls down in tears asking his wife to tell him he’s lived a good life, I mean come on. Even if every critic in the world wasn’t telling me how powerful this movie was I would have known it based on the audience. During the days we would have multiple groups of WWII vets and their wives come to see it. Virtually every single one of the men would leave the theater in tears on the shoulders of their wives. These are men in their 70’s who’ve lived more shit than I can imagine, from a generation that doesn’t allow men to show emotion, in tears, in public, having their wives help console them. Yeah I would say that is powerful.
16. X2: X-Men United (2003, Bryan Singer) – I like the Batman character better and I think the original X-Men and both the Spider-Man movies are great movies but this one. Oh man, is this a great comic book movie or what. I read the X-Men comics for about eight or so years, reading probably 20 years of their stories, and this movie gets it all, every bit of it.
15. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988, Robert Zemeckis) – The 80s were a very down period in US animation but this movie really makes up for it. It is so funny, so well down, so timeless, so brilliant, and even groundbreaking. It has a piano competition/duel of Daffy Duck vs. Donald Duck, it even has Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse on the screen at the same time. It has the most attractive cartoon in history and has spawned a great ride at Disneyland.
14. Superman (1978, Richard Donner) – The one that made you believe someone could fly. This is the first big budget superhero movie and one that will probably remain the most timeless. I attribute that mainly to Christopher Reeve, he is Superman and always will be.
13. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986, John Hughes) – Ferris Bueller is probably the coolest high school student in history. When I was in middle school this was the cool movie, hell it is probably one of the cool movies now.
12. Spartacus (1960, Stanley Kubrick) – I think I had three separate history classes that we watched this movie in. It is a movie I can watch almost anytime, it is so good and I really enjoy it. It was one of the first DVDs we ever purchased.
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003, Peter Jackson) – Probably the best of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy but not my favorite and definitely not the most important. I do love it, what a spectacle and how good was Sean Astin in this movie.
Thursday, October 5, 2006
Top Movie List 21-30
Trevor’s Top Movies 21-30
30. Superman II (Richard Lester with a little Richard Donner) – I love Superman on film, big screen or small screen, that character was made for film more than the comics. In comics the character doesn’t quite work, he is too god-like and too hard for the reader to like or identify with. On film he comes off more personable plus the grand battles work because film is less frequent then four comics a month. Superman II is surely grand, the superhero/villain battle is what makes me really enjoy this movie. I am very much looking forward to the Richard Donner cut of this movie, aside from the super battle the theatrical release actually isn’t very good. Trivia for the day, Gene Hackman actually didn’t film any scenes for Superman II directed by Richard Lester.
29. The Godfather: Part 2 (1974, Francis Ford Coppola) – I’ve seen quite a few lists that have this as the best movie ever made, better than the original. I think the original is actually better but this is an incredible film. I enjoy crime dramas and mob movies and this is the Godfather so of course I enjoy it.
28. Ghostbusters (1984, Ivan Reitman) – “Where do those stairs go?”, “They go up, Ray”. How can you not like this movie, it is so funny. It is still something I need to watch every six months or so.
27. Dazed and Confused (1993, Richard Linkletter) – “That’s what I love about high school girls, you get older and they stay the same age”. I’ve never been into the pot lifestyle, I’ve actually never done any drugs not prescribed or alcohol based, but I’ve had plenty of friends who were. Mix that with great acting, a fun script, and a funny movie in general, you’ve got a classic.
26. The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming) – How much does it suck for this movie and winning best picture, you come out the same year as Gone With the Wind. Talk about a movie that helps define a generation, there are so many women my parents age, children of people who were kids when this came out, with the name Dorothy and even Glenda. Plus everyone knows someone who has had a dog named Toto. Also very timeless, I loved it when I was a kid, some 45 years after it was released and my daughter loves it.
25. Jurassic Park (1993, Steven Spielberg) – Unlike Batman I was able to stand in line for the midnight showing of this one, me and a buddy when to see it. My word, when you first see the dinosaurs you’re tempted to pass out along with Dr. Grant. Movie making and special effects had truly changed with this one, mostly for the better, some for the worse. Also this is the only good novel by Michael Crichton, although it isn’t much like the movie.
24. The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme) – If you talk about a movie being made as close to perfection as possible this is probably the movie you’re talking about. This movie is so good, disturbing, yet so good.
23. Schindler’s List (1993, Steven Spielberg) – Like I said I sorted movies but different criteria and one of those was how re-watchable a movie is and that put this move in the 50’s. I’ve seen this movie four times, it is so emotionally draining it is hard to watch very often. Taking away how much I like a movie or how many times I can watch it, this is probably the best movie I’ve ever seen.
22. The Truman Show (1997, Peter Weir) – Having just suffered through the worst period in US TV history, the reality TV age, this movie is even better. I think Ed Harris and Jim Carrey just nail their parts and help this dramatically underrated movie. Pretty Bird and I were working at a movie theater when this was released, it amazed me how polar this movie was. People either got it and loved it or people didn’t get it and hated it. Well that and the people who say the photo mosaic of Jim Carrey on the poster and thought it was going to be a comedy.
21. Back To The Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis) – My buddies and I just couldn’t believe it ended on a cliffhanger, we didn’t understand how you could do that. Everyone also had the idiot buddy who tried to tag along on his skateboard behind a car. We all also wanted to own DeLoreans and be rock stars when we grew up, well it’s not like we didn’t want to do that before.
30. Superman II (Richard Lester with a little Richard Donner) – I love Superman on film, big screen or small screen, that character was made for film more than the comics. In comics the character doesn’t quite work, he is too god-like and too hard for the reader to like or identify with. On film he comes off more personable plus the grand battles work because film is less frequent then four comics a month. Superman II is surely grand, the superhero/villain battle is what makes me really enjoy this movie. I am very much looking forward to the Richard Donner cut of this movie, aside from the super battle the theatrical release actually isn’t very good. Trivia for the day, Gene Hackman actually didn’t film any scenes for Superman II directed by Richard Lester.
29. The Godfather: Part 2 (1974, Francis Ford Coppola) – I’ve seen quite a few lists that have this as the best movie ever made, better than the original. I think the original is actually better but this is an incredible film. I enjoy crime dramas and mob movies and this is the Godfather so of course I enjoy it.
28. Ghostbusters (1984, Ivan Reitman) – “Where do those stairs go?”, “They go up, Ray”. How can you not like this movie, it is so funny. It is still something I need to watch every six months or so.
27. Dazed and Confused (1993, Richard Linkletter) – “That’s what I love about high school girls, you get older and they stay the same age”. I’ve never been into the pot lifestyle, I’ve actually never done any drugs not prescribed or alcohol based, but I’ve had plenty of friends who were. Mix that with great acting, a fun script, and a funny movie in general, you’ve got a classic.
26. The Wizard of Oz (1939, Victor Fleming) – How much does it suck for this movie and winning best picture, you come out the same year as Gone With the Wind. Talk about a movie that helps define a generation, there are so many women my parents age, children of people who were kids when this came out, with the name Dorothy and even Glenda. Plus everyone knows someone who has had a dog named Toto. Also very timeless, I loved it when I was a kid, some 45 years after it was released and my daughter loves it.
25. Jurassic Park (1993, Steven Spielberg) – Unlike Batman I was able to stand in line for the midnight showing of this one, me and a buddy when to see it. My word, when you first see the dinosaurs you’re tempted to pass out along with Dr. Grant. Movie making and special effects had truly changed with this one, mostly for the better, some for the worse. Also this is the only good novel by Michael Crichton, although it isn’t much like the movie.
24. The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme) – If you talk about a movie being made as close to perfection as possible this is probably the movie you’re talking about. This movie is so good, disturbing, yet so good.
23. Schindler’s List (1993, Steven Spielberg) – Like I said I sorted movies but different criteria and one of those was how re-watchable a movie is and that put this move in the 50’s. I’ve seen this movie four times, it is so emotionally draining it is hard to watch very often. Taking away how much I like a movie or how many times I can watch it, this is probably the best movie I’ve ever seen.
22. The Truman Show (1997, Peter Weir) – Having just suffered through the worst period in US TV history, the reality TV age, this movie is even better. I think Ed Harris and Jim Carrey just nail their parts and help this dramatically underrated movie. Pretty Bird and I were working at a movie theater when this was released, it amazed me how polar this movie was. People either got it and loved it or people didn’t get it and hated it. Well that and the people who say the photo mosaic of Jim Carrey on the poster and thought it was going to be a comedy.
21. Back To The Future (1985, Robert Zemeckis) – My buddies and I just couldn’t believe it ended on a cliffhanger, we didn’t understand how you could do that. Everyone also had the idiot buddy who tried to tag along on his skateboard behind a car. We all also wanted to own DeLoreans and be rock stars when we grew up, well it’s not like we didn’t want to do that before.
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Top Movie List 31-40
Trevor’s Top Movies 31-40
40. Rounders (1998, John Dahl) – I would like this movie a lot even if I didn’t like playing poker. John Malkovich and Edward Norton are so good.
39. Spider-Man (2002, Sam Raimi) – When I was a child Spider-Man was my favorite, Amazing Spider-Man was the first comic I read on a regular basis, so I was hyped over an actual Spider-Man movie and this didn’t disappoint.
38. L.A. Confidential (1997, Curtis Hanson) – This movie only gets better and better each time I watch it. I don’t think Titanic ‘robbed’ this movie, it was much to grand not to win, but this movie is definitely the best movie from 1997.
37. Clerks (1994, Kevin Smith) – I mean honestly, where else on the list would Clerks belong than #37. Working 10 years in the service industry and I will tell you Kevin got so many things right.
36. The Fifth Element (1997, Luc Besson) – For some reason when this movie was released I didn’t enjoy it much. The more and more I watched it however the higher and higher it moves up on the list. Science fiction can be so much fun when done correctly.
35. The Great Escape (1963, John Sturges) – I love World War II movies and I love Steve McQueen, what else do you have to say.
34. Braveheart (1995, Mel Gibson) – Even if this movie stunk it would be pretty high on my list. This is the movie when I decided I wanted to date and first start flirting with Pretty Bird. I had to watch it a second time because the first time was busy with me and my buddy talking about stuff like “man what if you just dropped the Hulk into the middle of that battle” or “you know, maybe guns aren’t that bad”. If it wasn’t that it was flirting or embarrassing Pretty Bird in front of her mom. Oh yeah the movie, pretty damn good.
33. Love Actually (2003, Richard Curtis) – Funny, romantic, Keira Knightley, great soundtrack, an actual date with Pretty Bird, I mean what is there not to like about the movie. One other thing, next time you travel take Hugh Grant’s advice, look at the other people. Other than the few tired business travelers or people who’ve missed their planes it is full of people happy to be somewhere or happy to get home. The world might not actually be so bad after all.
32. Sneakers (1992, Phil Alden Robinson) – It is really hard to put into words how or why I like this movie so much. I think it good, not great but good, and has a great cast but that doesn’t explain why I like it, I just do.
31. Gladiator (2000, Ridley Scott) – Russell Crowe is incredible in this epic movie, you can’t not watch him on the screen. This, like most good movies, just gets better and better each time I watch it.
40. Rounders (1998, John Dahl) – I would like this movie a lot even if I didn’t like playing poker. John Malkovich and Edward Norton are so good.
39. Spider-Man (2002, Sam Raimi) – When I was a child Spider-Man was my favorite, Amazing Spider-Man was the first comic I read on a regular basis, so I was hyped over an actual Spider-Man movie and this didn’t disappoint.
38. L.A. Confidential (1997, Curtis Hanson) – This movie only gets better and better each time I watch it. I don’t think Titanic ‘robbed’ this movie, it was much to grand not to win, but this movie is definitely the best movie from 1997.
37. Clerks (1994, Kevin Smith) – I mean honestly, where else on the list would Clerks belong than #37. Working 10 years in the service industry and I will tell you Kevin got so many things right.
36. The Fifth Element (1997, Luc Besson) – For some reason when this movie was released I didn’t enjoy it much. The more and more I watched it however the higher and higher it moves up on the list. Science fiction can be so much fun when done correctly.
35. The Great Escape (1963, John Sturges) – I love World War II movies and I love Steve McQueen, what else do you have to say.
34. Braveheart (1995, Mel Gibson) – Even if this movie stunk it would be pretty high on my list. This is the movie when I decided I wanted to date and first start flirting with Pretty Bird. I had to watch it a second time because the first time was busy with me and my buddy talking about stuff like “man what if you just dropped the Hulk into the middle of that battle” or “you know, maybe guns aren’t that bad”. If it wasn’t that it was flirting or embarrassing Pretty Bird in front of her mom. Oh yeah the movie, pretty damn good.
33. Love Actually (2003, Richard Curtis) – Funny, romantic, Keira Knightley, great soundtrack, an actual date with Pretty Bird, I mean what is there not to like about the movie. One other thing, next time you travel take Hugh Grant’s advice, look at the other people. Other than the few tired business travelers or people who’ve missed their planes it is full of people happy to be somewhere or happy to get home. The world might not actually be so bad after all.
32. Sneakers (1992, Phil Alden Robinson) – It is really hard to put into words how or why I like this movie so much. I think it good, not great but good, and has a great cast but that doesn’t explain why I like it, I just do.
31. Gladiator (2000, Ridley Scott) – Russell Crowe is incredible in this epic movie, you can’t not watch him on the screen. This, like most good movies, just gets better and better each time I watch it.
Top 100 Movie List weirdness
Next up is the top 40 movies, the real tough portion of the list. There have been a few times when I’ve re-looked at the list from 41 to 100 and wondered why a specific movie was so low on the list. I stand by where any movie stands but there are choices at first glance look off. The top 40 is even worse, there are only a few in the top 10 that I know belong in a specific spot but almost everything else is tough choice. If you would have asked me a month ago about a specific movie in my top 40, about 35 of the 40 I would have said “yeah that would be in my top 10”. Obviously you can’t have 35 movies in your top 10 so the list ends up how it is. Before we get to the list I was bored and went over my list for some fun information.
I list the directors for each film but I should probably list the writers as well. A movie lives and dies with a good script and a good director. Writers just don’t get the fame, harder for me to remember them off hand.
72 –Directors I was able to pick without looking them up.
10 – Movies that have been director by someone named John (or Jonathon)
8 – Movies that have been directed by someone named Steve Spielberg.
11 - Movies made before the year I was born (1976).
0 - Movies made the year I was born.
24 - Movies made after the year the Little One was born (1999).
33 - Movies made between when I first started working at a movie theater (1993) and when I last worked at a movie theater (2000). I worked at a movie theater four different times, once in high school through some college, once full time as a manger for two years, one for two days as a manager trainee for a shitty theater, and once as a part time manager after the Little One was born. During that time I probably saw on average a movie every two weeks.
6 – Highest numbers of movies in a specific year, 1989 and 1999. I guess 2009 should be a good year for movies.
1 – Movies I’ve seen on a first date (not Pretty Bird).
1 – Movies when I decided I wanted to date Pretty Bird, she still does like Milk Duds.
3 – Movies I consider Pretty Bird and I to actually have been on a date.
25 – Movies that have made over 200 million dollars, the measure of a blockbuster, or so they say.
9 – Movies that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the measure of a good movie, or so they say.
78 – DVDs that we own.
I list the directors for each film but I should probably list the writers as well. A movie lives and dies with a good script and a good director. Writers just don’t get the fame, harder for me to remember them off hand.
72 –Directors I was able to pick without looking them up.
10 – Movies that have been director by someone named John (or Jonathon)
8 – Movies that have been directed by someone named Steve Spielberg.
11 - Movies made before the year I was born (1976).
0 - Movies made the year I was born.
24 - Movies made after the year the Little One was born (1999).
33 - Movies made between when I first started working at a movie theater (1993) and when I last worked at a movie theater (2000). I worked at a movie theater four different times, once in high school through some college, once full time as a manger for two years, one for two days as a manager trainee for a shitty theater, and once as a part time manager after the Little One was born. During that time I probably saw on average a movie every two weeks.
6 – Highest numbers of movies in a specific year, 1989 and 1999. I guess 2009 should be a good year for movies.
1 – Movies I’ve seen on a first date (not Pretty Bird).
1 – Movies when I decided I wanted to date Pretty Bird, she still does like Milk Duds.
3 – Movies I consider Pretty Bird and I to actually have been on a date.
25 – Movies that have made over 200 million dollars, the measure of a blockbuster, or so they say.
9 – Movies that have won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the measure of a good movie, or so they say.
78 – DVDs that we own.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Top Movie List 41-50
Trevor’s Top Movies 41-50
50. Toy Story 2 (1999, John Lasseter) – What a fun movie, in some ways even funnier than the first one. I am still pretty impressed that every single movie that Pixar has released with Disney I’ve enjoyed.
49. Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg) – Where to begin with this movie. It was the first true summer movie and the first to make $200 million dollars, it has the scene that has been imitated by many a flick, the soundtrack is incredible, and you almost never see the star of the movie. Just brilliant.
48. The Goonies (1985, Richard Donner) – Hey you guys! What great family fun.
47. Bull Durham (1988, Ron Shelton) – My favorite baseball movie and for the record, candlesticks do not make a nice gift.
46. Big (1988, Penny Marshall) – The role that first showed Tom Hanks was actually an actor. So much of this movie is just great, what a good time. And honestly, who hasn’t wanted to do that in a limo or eat mini-corn that way?
45. The Sixth Sense (1999, M. Night Shamalyan) – I said before with Unbreakable that I figured this one out and I did but not much before it was revealed. Even with that this movie is incredible.
44. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, Steven Spielberg) – My favorite part of this movie is the fact it is shot almost entirely from the perspective of someone four feet high. I’ve lost some of love of this movie over the years but I guess I’m not four feet high anymore.
43. Galaxy Quest (1999, Dean Parisot) – One of the absolute funniest movies I’ve ever seen. It isn’t universally funny like Big, you must like science fiction to get this movie but boy is this funny. “Whoever wrote this episode should just die!”
42. Reservoir Dogs (1992, Quentin Tarantino) – Two words for the idiot groups that want to blast Tarantino for being too violent, SUCK IT. I watch Rambo (who the President of the United States used in a speech as an example of an American tough guy, a hero if you will) and see someone who kills people and it is made out to be cool. I watch Reservoir Dogs and I want nothing to do with guns, Tim Roth’s character is in such pain for almost the entire movie.
41. The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Frank Darabont) – This movie you have to watch a few times to get how good it really is. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are very good, the script is awesome. Just a great movie.
50. Toy Story 2 (1999, John Lasseter) – What a fun movie, in some ways even funnier than the first one. I am still pretty impressed that every single movie that Pixar has released with Disney I’ve enjoyed.
49. Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg) – Where to begin with this movie. It was the first true summer movie and the first to make $200 million dollars, it has the scene that has been imitated by many a flick, the soundtrack is incredible, and you almost never see the star of the movie. Just brilliant.
48. The Goonies (1985, Richard Donner) – Hey you guys! What great family fun.
47. Bull Durham (1988, Ron Shelton) – My favorite baseball movie and for the record, candlesticks do not make a nice gift.
46. Big (1988, Penny Marshall) – The role that first showed Tom Hanks was actually an actor. So much of this movie is just great, what a good time. And honestly, who hasn’t wanted to do that in a limo or eat mini-corn that way?
45. The Sixth Sense (1999, M. Night Shamalyan) – I said before with Unbreakable that I figured this one out and I did but not much before it was revealed. Even with that this movie is incredible.
44. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, Steven Spielberg) – My favorite part of this movie is the fact it is shot almost entirely from the perspective of someone four feet high. I’ve lost some of love of this movie over the years but I guess I’m not four feet high anymore.
43. Galaxy Quest (1999, Dean Parisot) – One of the absolute funniest movies I’ve ever seen. It isn’t universally funny like Big, you must like science fiction to get this movie but boy is this funny. “Whoever wrote this episode should just die!”
42. Reservoir Dogs (1992, Quentin Tarantino) – Two words for the idiot groups that want to blast Tarantino for being too violent, SUCK IT. I watch Rambo (who the President of the United States used in a speech as an example of an American tough guy, a hero if you will) and see someone who kills people and it is made out to be cool. I watch Reservoir Dogs and I want nothing to do with guns, Tim Roth’s character is in such pain for almost the entire movie.
41. The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Frank Darabont) – This movie you have to watch a few times to get how good it really is. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are very good, the script is awesome. Just a great movie.
Monday, October 2, 2006
Top Movie List 51-60
Trevor’s Top Movies 51-60
60. X-Men (2000, Bryan Singer) – This movie along with Blade showed Hollywood that you could make bigger budget, quality comic book movies and have the audience show up. Director Bryan Singer and scriptwriter Tony DeSanto along with an all star cast provided a great intro movie for X-Men and comic movies in general. I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as some other comic movies but it is still pretty good.
59. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkahan (2004, Alfonso Cuaron) – To say I’m not a huge Harry Potter fan would be an understatement. I do enjoy the movies and the novels but not to the levels I enjoy comics or movie franchises like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. They are still very enjoyable and this is far and away the best one of the group, at least so far.
58. The Terminator (1984, James Cameron) – Very much an indy film, this is a great science fiction film that I still enjoy very much today.
57. The Sting (1973, George Roy Hill) – This should probably be much higher but for whatever reason it isn’t. You gotta rank movies, everything can’t be in the top 10. Still this movie is out of the world good.
56. Spaceballs (1987, Mel Brooks) – “I once saw a parody of Spaceballs, they called it Star Wars. I couldn’t believe it, they cast Harrison Ford in the Bill Pullman role”, thanks Space Ghost.
55. Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino) – Still don’t know what was in the case but I do know it was the best film release in 1994 and still Quentin’s best work.
54. Glory (1989, Edward Zwick) – Not that most guys would ever admit that they cry during a movie, this one still gets me chocked up at the end and I’ve seen it about 10 times.
53. Bowfinger (1999, Frank Oz) – What a great, underrated comedy. If you haven’t seen it do yourself a favor and watch it.
52. Top Gun (1986, Tony Scott) – Like everyone else the ages from 10 to 20 when this movie came out all I wanted to be was a fighter pilot.
51. Full Metal Jacket (1987, Stanley Kubrick) – It is like two movies in one. One of my stoner roommates would watch this over and over again.
60. X-Men (2000, Bryan Singer) – This movie along with Blade showed Hollywood that you could make bigger budget, quality comic book movies and have the audience show up. Director Bryan Singer and scriptwriter Tony DeSanto along with an all star cast provided a great intro movie for X-Men and comic movies in general. I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as some other comic movies but it is still pretty good.
59. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkahan (2004, Alfonso Cuaron) – To say I’m not a huge Harry Potter fan would be an understatement. I do enjoy the movies and the novels but not to the levels I enjoy comics or movie franchises like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. They are still very enjoyable and this is far and away the best one of the group, at least so far.
58. The Terminator (1984, James Cameron) – Very much an indy film, this is a great science fiction film that I still enjoy very much today.
57. The Sting (1973, George Roy Hill) – This should probably be much higher but for whatever reason it isn’t. You gotta rank movies, everything can’t be in the top 10. Still this movie is out of the world good.
56. Spaceballs (1987, Mel Brooks) – “I once saw a parody of Spaceballs, they called it Star Wars. I couldn’t believe it, they cast Harrison Ford in the Bill Pullman role”, thanks Space Ghost.
55. Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino) – Still don’t know what was in the case but I do know it was the best film release in 1994 and still Quentin’s best work.
54. Glory (1989, Edward Zwick) – Not that most guys would ever admit that they cry during a movie, this one still gets me chocked up at the end and I’ve seen it about 10 times.
53. Bowfinger (1999, Frank Oz) – What a great, underrated comedy. If you haven’t seen it do yourself a favor and watch it.
52. Top Gun (1986, Tony Scott) – Like everyone else the ages from 10 to 20 when this movie came out all I wanted to be was a fighter pilot.
51. Full Metal Jacket (1987, Stanley Kubrick) – It is like two movies in one. One of my stoner roommates would watch this over and over again.
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