// Category Archive for: Top Ten Lists

Top Ten: More Holiday Tunes That Won’t Make You Sick

By Less Lee Moore

We all hate the played out holiday tunes that we’re forced to hear every year in malls, grocery stores, offices, and restaurants beginning at the end of November (or for those of us in Canada, the beginning of November). I can’t say I unequivocally hate Christmas music, just the Christmas music I hate. Here are ten songs that might change your mind about holiday tuneage.

(more…)

Waiting For Sloan Songs: Top Ten

By Melissa Bratcher

Photo © Marshall Angus

Sloan was the most recent band for whom I’ve had an all encompassing mania. I had been obsessed with bands before (Blur, The Dandy Warhols, The Monkees, Bay City Rollers), and the gripping excitement and absolute fervor that I felt about those bands washed over me when I found Sloan. I miss feeling that way about them. Passion fades, mania recedes like a tide, and I settled into simple, less enthusiastic fandom.

That said, when asked to come up with a top Sloan songs list, I had to. Then I realized, all of my favorite Sloan songs are Jay Ferguson songs and that’s not terribly interesting to anyone but me and possibly Jay Ferguson. So there’s a bit of a problem. It’s not that I don’t appreciate Chris Murphy’s clever, wordplay-riddled tunes, or Patrick Pentland’s balls-out rockers, or Andrew Scott’s more esoteric leanings, but hey, I’m a Jay girl. I love that his songs sound like proper timeless pop songs. And his voice is perfect for them.

In the interest of fairness, however, I have risen above. In no particular order, my Top Ten Sloan songs:

(more…)

Top Ten Movies To Look For In 2011: Follow Up

By Lisa Anderson

In late 2010, I made a list of the 2011 films that I was most interested in. With many year-end retrospectives going on, I thought I’d go back over the list and report on how these movies compared to my expectations.

1. Red Riding Hood

Of all the movies on my list, this one probably disappointed me the most. The story was muddled and didn’t make use of folklore and symbolism in the way it could have. The love triangle was not as interesting as it could have been, and there were disappointing performances all around from otherwise amazing people. Last but not least, the script missed the perfect opportunity to have the wolf throw back its head and howl at the moon. Red Riding Hood had its good moments and there were things I liked about it, but overall, you’re better off watching Hanna (reviewed here) for an innovative, feminist take on fairy tales.
(more…)

Ten Reasons Rock & Rule Is Here To Slay

By Less Lee Moore

Back in the ’80s, USA’s Night Flight, a late-night “variety” show, played a mix of weird videos and cult movies on weekends, essential viewing for kids who thrived on that kind of stuff. It was Night Flight that first introduced me to the wonders of Fantastic Planet (La Planète Sauvage), Smithereens, Ladies and Gentlemen…The Fabulous Stains, Urgh! A Music War, and Rock & Rule, an animated, epic sci-fi musical.

I’ve been watching it for more than 20 years now and Rock & Rule is still one of my all-time favorite movies. Here are ten reasons why.

(more…)

Top Ten Romantic Comedies: A Valentine’s Day List

By Lisa Anderson

I Love You Phillip Morris

The romantic comedy: it’s the most reviled of genres, and yet also the most resilient. There’s an assumption that men only go see them out of obligation . . . although men are likely to enjoy the good ones, and women are likely to dislike the bad ones. Too many rom-coms rely on mutually insulting stereotypes (the commitment-phobic man, the miserable career woman), predictable plots (boy meets girl, boy does something stupid), and problematic supporting characters (Sassy Black Friend, Sassy Gay Friend).

Nevertheless, they keep getting made, and they keep making money. This is because among the scores of bad rom-coms, there are gems. Almost everyone can think of a few that have actually made them laugh, and managed to resonate with their feelings and experiences. Here are a few of mine, in no particular order.
(more…)

My Top Ten (or is it 11?) For 2011: Movies To Look For

By Lisa Anderson

The beginning of the New Year brings new movies to look forward to. Not all of them are Oscar contenders, and not all of them will be as good as they look. I’ll probably be skipping the overrated and (hopefully) played-out gimmick of 3D whenever possible. Here are the ten movies that I’m most excited about, and in most cases, I’m not alone.
(more…)

Top Ten Of 2010: Christian Lipski

1. Fear Agent, by Rick Remender, Tony Moore, Jerome Opena

A science fiction comic series that echoes “Mars Attacks!” and other two-fisted adventures, but with a serious emotional core. Drunken space cowboy Heath Huston finds himself pitted against robots with human brains and amoeba creatures. Swashbuckling adventure in space! The art, by Tony Moore and Jerome Opena, is first-class, and Remender’s writing is both fast-paced and deliberately plotted.
(more…)

Bottom Ten: 2010 Deaths

By Matt Keeley

Man, the Grim Reaper sucks. I know, I know, he provides a valuable service and when he gets stuck up a tree, all sorts of bad stuff happens, but sometimes his aim sucks. Like seriously, Mister Rogers? Talk about all-time candidates for immortality. Anyway, here’s a list of the Ten Least-worthy Folks to have kicked the bucket this year.

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen was awesome. Sure, he made a lot of crappy movies, but he also made ones so awesome that no one minded! Yeah, Mr. Magoo exists, but so does The Naked Gun. And, really, Spy Hard wasn’t that bad. But the cool thing is that Nielsen was also a renowned dramatic actor and even—in his youth—a heartthrob, which kinda messes with folks of the younger generation, just because we think of Lt. Frank Drebin. But, honestly, Frank Drebin was pretty hot.
(more…)

Killer Instinct: Ten Psychotics With Style

Idea by Matt Keeley
With Contributions By . . .

Everyone knows that psychos in movies are good at one thing: killing. But honestly, that’s unfair. So many of these “homicidal maniacs” as some might call them have other interests. After all, are YOU just one thing? It’s time we set the record straight and give credit where it’s due, so here’s Popshifter‘s list of top multi-faceted murderers in alphabetical order because we don’t want to play favorites and take chances incurring their wrath!

(more…)

Ten Reasons Why You Should See In Bruges

By Michelle Patterson

In Bruges, a delightful and surprising film out of Ireland that won critical acclaim in 2008—winning a Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy Golden Globe for Colin Farrell, gaining an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, and winning numerous awards in its native country—deserves much credit for being a genuinely black comedy.

When it is funny, it creates guffaws a-plenty and when it is black, it is inky, friends. What is most astonishing is how it manages to allow the proper amount of depth within the characterization. Yet, when one considers that the filmmaker, Martin MacDonagh, is a well-established playwright and has a Best Live Action Short Film Academy Award under his belt for his first foray into film, Six Shooter, it isn’t really that shocking. We’re also reminded that Colin Farrell can act. So, let’s settle into the Top Ten Moments of one brilliant piece of Irish filmmaking.
(more…)