The Top 15

Moon likes to post the top 15 songs that he likes at the moment. Bag has picked up on that too. I don't know music well at all, but I do know my movies. So I'm going to post the top 5 movies that I like right now or am excited to see, and the bottom 5 that I think either look terrible, or I've seen and know are terrible. And the 5 movies/TV shows that I bought at Target yesterday, which I'm listing mostly so my countdown adds up to 15.

The 5 Buys:
5. Ghostbusters I&II - it was really cheap and the first one is a classic. The second one is eh, but the two came as a set. It was basically like getting the second one for free, so whatever.

4. Snatch - I used to own this movie but lost it in college, which is inevitable and fairly commonplace (if you've seen my Armageddon, let me know). Once again a solid movie, and on sale.

3. Firefly - This is the television series that preceded the movie Serenity. I love the movie and really like the series too. The show and movie are written and directed by Joss Whedon who did the same for the Buffy the Vampire series and movie. I love those too. So I guess I love Joss Whedon's work. It's not a series that I'll probably watch a lot, but it makes me feel are warm and happy inside knowing that I can.

2. The Office, Season 1 - Woo hoo! I never feel really good about owning a series if I don't have the complete set (or two complete sets if we're talking about the Harry Potter books). I don't like this season as much as the second, but it's still solid. I plan on watching that this weekend.

1. Casino Royale - this is the reason that I went to Target in the first place. The others were unplanned, spur of the moment purchases. This is the only Bond movie I own and may be the only one I ever own. Unless the next one is equally as amazing.

The Bottom 5:
5. The Grindhouse - I know it's Tarantino and Rodriguez and it'll probably be a movie I'll end up seeing. But this movie looks so ridiculous. I think the names are what's keeping me intrigued- not just the directors, but Bruce Willis and Kurt Russell. It's so appropriate that the kings of cheap action movies are starring in this one. It came really close to making it into the top 5, not the bottom. Hey, at least I feel strongly about it... one way or the other!

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - There's no way it can live up to the humans in turtle costumes from the early 90's flicks. Those were great movies, especially for their day. The 90's were a time of teen angst (My So Called Life, the Karate Kid... you get the picture) and who has more TEEN angst than the teenage turtle Raphael?

3. The Lookout - they keep bombarding us with previews for this movie, and every time I see them it makes me want to watch the movie less.

2. Dead Silence - this is the movie that's about a ventriloquist who hunts and kills people with her dummies. One of the tag lines is along the lines of "If you want to live, then don't scream." I think I'd scream through the whole movie, desperately hoping someone would come and kill me before I had to watch more of that sorry excuse for a horror movie.

1. Easy Rider - no matter what horrible movie I've seen lately, or what kind of mood I'm in, Easy Rider will always be my least favorite movie ever. I don't know what it is that rubs me so much the wrong way with this movie, but I hate it. Hate it.


The Top 5:
5. Die Hard IV, Live Free or Die Hard - the title says it all. This is the ultimate sequel movie, and I'm really excited about it. It looks like fluff: lost of action, cliched characters, and violence. At least it's not going to pretend to be something else. I can't wait!

4. Children of Men - Not too many people saw this movie, but I really love it. I haven't seen it in a while, which is why it isn't higher on the list. But it's got Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Michael Caine in it. I love them all. And I love the plot! It's set in post-apocalyptic England with a Big Brother-type government. It's really intense, and I highly recommend it.

3. Casino Royale - I bought it as soon as it came out. It's awesome. Enough said.

2. 300 - this movie keeps coming back to me. I really enjoyed this movie. As I said to Bag as we exited the film, "if Spartans were going to make a movie about themselves, this is what they'd make."

1. The Birds - I've never seen it before, but it really stuck with me. Yeah the effects are completely outdated, and seagulls attacking people is kind of stupid from my perspective (you want scary birds? EGRETS! Those things go for your eyes!), but no one is a greater master of suspense than Hitchcock. It's something that's lacking in the horror genre today.

The most wonderful time of the year

March is possibly the best month in the year and I'll tell you why. College basketball. My childhood has been largely based around the Duke basketball team-- one of the reasons my family moved to Durham in '95 was so we could watch more of their games. One of my earliest memories is of Christian Laettner's last second jumper to beat Kentucky in the NCAA tourney of '92. I remember screaming at him on the TV "you don't have that much time! Stop dribbling the ball!" and then going completely nuts when he made the shot. I must have made my parents very proud that day.

After we moved to NC I had the wonderous opportunity to go to the ACC tournament whenever it was in Greensboro. I remember this as a time of unbelievable excitedment. We'd often stay in the same hotel as the Duke team and I'd sit at breakfast looking around, desperate to see my favorite players. I also remember it as one of the few times my sister and I didn't fight. After all, why would we? It was a basketball fan's paradise. The atmosphere in the stadium was awesome-- everyone was there to cheer on their team, and once their team lost they'd all join in cheering for the underdogs that were left (except UNC fans, I hate them).

And the fun doesn't stop there. After that is the NCAA tournament, where the best teams play each other and I join at least 2 tournament pools. I almost always pick Duke to win, being the devoted fan I am, so I don't usually win, but it's so much fun. There will be a lot of TV watching in the upcoming month. I've also made a bet with Moon that if Duke wins the tourney he has to burn his UNC hat. If UNC wins, the only hat I can wear is a UNC hat until the start of the college bball season next year. Most likely it will be a push, but I'm still going to keep a matchbook handy, just in case.