A day late this week as Tuesday was hectic.  But here we are with the Top 10 Comedy Sequels.  Joining John and Matt this week was Samm Levine, actor and Movie Trivia Schmoedown Champion of the WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD!

I really the discussion with Samm and the guys at the beginning of the episode.  This was highly entertaining and showed us a fun connection with them.  I have grown to enjoy Samm’s work in the Schmoedown and I loved the much too short show, Freaks and Geeks.  The discussion of how Samm got his role in Inglorious Basterds with Quentin Tarantino was fun as well.

Moving into the topic, this one could be a little hairy.  Many times the sequel to a comedy is terrible because either it is a rehash of the original or it has pushed the idea too far.  The Hangover was a remarkably funny film but Hangover II was a total failure.  Zoolander 2, Dumb and Dumberer, Anchorman 2 are all examples of films that were horrid sequels to funny films.

The following ten are pretty solid films that, for the most part, avoid such a trouble.

#10.  22 Jump Street.  I wanted to include this for a certain reason.  Though this was not my most favorite film, I, unlike most, really hated the original 21 Jump Street.  But I found this to be a superior film to the first one, and it included one of the best scenes of all- when Ice Cube found out that Jonah Hill was sleeping with his daughter… Channing Tatum’s reaction was worth the addition on this list alone.  Plus, the great ending credits for 23 Jump Street beyond.

#9.  National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.  I have never been a huge fan of the Vacation movies, but of the bunch, Christmas Vacation would be the one that was the most entertaining and certainly the most iconic.

#8.  Ghostbusters 2.  Sure this is no where near the greatness of the first film, but Ghostbusters 2 is not without its merits.  Certainly, the cast is tremendous together and returns to bring the chemistry with them.  They go all in with the dancing Statue of Liberty as well.  Peter MacNicol brings a fantastic comedic performance as Dr. Janosz, perhaps the standout of the movie.  Yes, the inclusion of Slimer was a definite low point, but just fan service to the cartoon series.  Ghostbusters 2 is not as bad as you think.

#7.  A Shot in the Dark.  I just finished this one.  I love Peter Sellers and this is a comedic tour de force as the bumbling Inspector Closeau.  Sellers was a master of slapstick and his constant clumsiness and pratfalls of the detective was wonderful.  The mystery itself is secondary to seeing Sellers command the screen.  And I loved how Cato kept finding ways to attack Closeau at the worst possible times.  Somehow, Closeau was able to end up solving the case (kind of) and kissing the girl (the beautiful Elke Sommer).

#6.  Addams Family Values.  I haven’t seen this one in a while, but I can remember how much more I enjoyed this one than the first one.  Great cast and great casting brought this group of characters from the TV screen to the big screen and gave us a hilarious dark comedy with weird characters who were at one time Kooky and at another time creepy.

#5.  Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear.  Leslie Nielsen returned from his role as Frank Drebin and arrives to deal with big energy.  But, of course, there was the normal cameo from “Weird Al” Yankovic.  Though this may not have been as funny as the first one, Naked Gun 2 1/2 brought us more silliness and some great slapstick.  And Weird Al.  Oh…and OJ is there too.

#4.  Back to the Future II.  I actually prefer this sequel to Back to the Future III.  I love the explanation of time travel that Doc Brown gives Marty and I thought it was remarkably clever for the return to 1955 and the reshooting of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.  We also got the hover board, the prediction of the Cubs winning the World Series (a year too early) and three timelines.  One could argue that Back to the Future is not a comedy, but I think it fits here as well as some of the other films on this list.

#3.  Toy Story 2.  Toy Story 3 is actually my favorite of the Toy Story movies, but I consider Toy Story 2 more of the comedy than the third one.  Third one gets pretty dark at times.  Woody kidnapped by a crazed collector looking to complete the set brings the cowboy back to his roots in this clever sequel.

#2.  Beverly Hills Cop 2.  Eddie Murphy returns to Beverly Hills in the sequel that sees him looking to solve the attempted murder of his friend, Captain Andrew Bogomil.  This was another of the Alphabet Murders that the Captain had been investigating and this required Axel Foley’s unique style of investigation to complete.  This film, much like the previous one benefited from great chemistry of Murphy, Judge Reinhold, and John Ashton.

#1.  The Muppets (2011).  Though this could be any number of Muppet sequels following The Muppet Movie, I chose this film because of the great sense of nostalgia and how wonderful it felt to see the Muppets return to the screen together.  There were some great songs, including Man or Muppet, and a personal favorite, Pictures in My Head.  Starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams, The Muppets had to put on one more show at the old theater before the evil oil baron Tax Richman could get his hands on it.  Every scene brought feelings from the past and blended together into one of the best Muppet movies in years.

Honorable mentions:  Shrek 2, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Wayne’s World 2, Austin Powers: Goldmember, A Very Brady Sequel

This week’s topic came from one of the Top 10 Show’s patrons named Matthew, who actually just had a baby girl.  It is Sword and Sandal movies.   Matt Knost talked about having a blindspot in some of the 1950s and 1960s movies and I would say that I am also in the same boat.  However, after only having six of them last week, I was able to get the whole list filled out (but no honorable mentions).

I could probably fill up a Worst Sword and Sandal match easily.   Immortals is just terrible.  The remakes of Clash and its sequel… ugh.

But… here we go.

#10.  Hercules.  Yes, John Rocha really shot this one down during the program this morning, but I did not mind this film.  Starring the Rock, I really enjoyed the odd twist that the Rock played Hercules as someone pretending to be the myth-like Hercules, but is actually normal (or was he?).  It is not a great movie by any stretch, but I think compared to some of the other sword and sandal movies, this is every bit as good.

#9.  Scorpion King.  Another Rock film, the Scorpion King is another not great film, but is helped by the presence of the Great One.  A sequel to one of the Mummy movies where Rock was a villain, the Scorpion King became more of a hero.  This helped send Dwayne Johnson into the stratosphere of movie stardom.

#8.  Life of Brian.  Monty Python is one of the great comedic troupes of all time and Life of Brian is one of the funniest that they had.  It was, of course, controversial at its release since it satires religion and it seems like sometimes senses of humor are missing.  I am sure Jesus would love the movie.

#7.  Conan the Barbarian.  Hear the lamentations of the women!  Arnold Schwarzenegger was perfectly cast as Robert E. Howard’s classic barbarian character, Conan.  There have been rumors about Arnold reprising the role as King Conan and that would be awesome.  Unfortunately, the sequel to this was not near the same as this one.  Great origin.

#6.  Ben Hur.  It has been a long time since I have seen this movie and that is why it is lower on the list than it is.  When you think about this type of movie, this is one of the films you think about.  The sad remake of this from a couple of years ago was senseless.  Why try to improve on greatness?

#5.  300.  Zach Snyder’s classic of the 300 Spartans holding off the massive Persian army led by Xerxes at the Battle of Thermopylae.  Gerard Butler is great and the look of 300 is like a painting.  Based on a comic book/graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a shot for shot adaptation of the graphic novel by Miller which is an amazing achievement considering you can draw anything on a page, but are limited to what you can do on the screen.  Another example where the sequel is considerable worse than the original, but that does not limit 300.

#4.  Disney’s Hercules.  One of the underappreciated Disney animated films that got lost during the hey day of the Disney animation.  The Disney tale takes the classic myth of Hercules and makes it fit their typical animated film.  Danny DeVito is great as the voice of Phil.  James Woods then stole most of the film as Hades.  Great animation.

#3.  Spartacus.  I am Spartacus!  No, I am Spartacus!  An iconic scene that was brought to life by a tremendous performance by Kirk Douglas.  This is another one that I have not see in years, but you cannot debate that this is one of the great sword and sandal movies of all time.

#2. Gladiator.  Are you not entertained?  Gladiator is one of the great movies in this genre, featuring a couple of top notch performances by Oscar winner Russell Crowe and Oscar nominated Joaquin Phoenix.  Gladiator also won the Academy Award in the Best Picture category.  It is hard to compete with its resume.

#1. Clash of the Titans.  This number one is one of those that I loved from my childhood.  I know for sure that this is not the best movie on the list, but I look back on it with such a wondrous nostalgia.  I loved this film as a youth and it inspired a lot of my love of mythology and story telling.  I HATED the reboot version of this.  It cannot stand up to the original even a little bit.  Some of the special effects are really cheesy, but I don’t care.  This was something that I always loved watching.  I probably watched this a bunch of times.  Harry Hamlin as Perseus is great.  All of the monsters such as Medusa and the Kraken, along with the Greek Gods… I just loved it.  And so it is my number one, even though as a movie, I know this is not anywhere near some of the others on this list.  Hard to defeat something from my childhood.

Well, welcome to the Top 10 list at EYG.  This week’s show from the Top 10 Show on SK Plus was the Top 10 Raunchy Teen Comedies, in honor of Blockers opening this weekend.

Problem is… this is one of the genres that I just do not like much so I do not have a lot of choices to fill up the Top 10.  In fact, there are a couple in my list that I haven’t seen fully or haven’t seen in decades.  I actually considered not doing the list this week, but I chose to do it anyway and fill it up with as many films as I could.

I also have the need to cheat a couple of times here.

So… here are the Top 10 (or 6) Raunchy Teen Comedies

#6.  Project X.  I saw this one in 2012 and it was okay.  It fell near the end of the craze of the found footage genre as this party that got way out of control played out.  Project X was not a great film, but it was reasonably entertaining.

#5.  Revenge of the Nerds.  I haven’t seen this in ages.  I was never a fan of Curtis Armstrong as I kind of blame him for the downfall of Moonlighting on ABC.  I do love the theme song of this film.

#4.  Weird Science.  Another film that I have not seen since my youth but it is one with a great heart to it.  I had a friend who looked quite a bit like Anthony Michael Hall so it was fun teasing him about it.  The shower scene though….

#3.  American Pie.  This one is a classic of this type of genre.  The first one was very solid that included a great performance by several of the young actors anchored by Eugene Levy.  And of course, you will never look at apple pie the same way again.

#2. Fast Times at Ridgemont High.  Another film with one of those unbelievable scenes that push the envelope.  In this one, it features Judge Reinhold.  There is also a strong cast here and a star turning performance from Sean Penn as Spicoli.

#1.  National Lampoon’s Animal House.  Here is my cheat.  Sure it is college, but I am sure there are teens in the story as well.  John Belushi is classic as Bluto.  Another great cast from the late 1970s including Karen Allen, Kevin Bacon, Tim Matheson, Bruce McGill, Donald Sutherland, Stephen Furst, Mark Metcalf (The Master from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and many others.  Great music too.  SHOUT!

Okay… done.  Only 6.  Maybe Blockers will be added to this list this weekend.

Happy Top 10 day y’all.

This week’s list from the Top 10 Show features the top 10 technological Dystopian Future movies.  This is an intriguing category, but it took some specifics because there have been a lot of dystopian future movies.

First, I eliminated any film that was in space or with aliens.  So films like The Fifth Element, Serenity and District 9 are out.  Then I wanted to eliminate films that have time travel and the characters spend most of their time in the past trying to prevent the dangerous future which takes out the Terminator movies, 12 Monkeys, Looper (plus, we just did time travel movies last week).

And, of course, there has to be some remaining technology in the future, taking out films like I Am Legend and the Mad Max films.

So that leaves these ten movies (and a few honorary mentions).

Top 10 Technological Dystopian Future movies

#10.  Minority Report.  Can I be honest.  I remember watching this film and really liking it, but I have not seen it in years and I cannot recall much of anything about it.  I know that Tom Cruise is in this movie, but I am not sure about much else.  This is one that I need to re-watch because,as I said, i do remember liking the film.

#9.  The Running Man.  Arnold Schwarzenegger stars, but, of course, I am much more of a fan of Jesse “The Body” Ventura, who is in this film.  I also would say that I am a big fan of Richard Dawson and I was surprised how much of a great villain Dawson makes.  The dangerous game show idea was way before its time.

#8.  The Lobster.  This one made Matt’s list and he reminded me about this film.  I saw it in the theater and it was really a creative and clever film.  Colin Farrell is great here as the man who is off to the place where he will either fall in love or be turned into an animal. An unexpectedly weird and enjoyable film.

#7.  Demolition Man.  One of the better of the Stallone films of the time and the great performance of the villain Wesley Snipes.  Stallone is thawed out of prison cold storage (literally) to try and match up with Snipes’s crazy and violent villain.  Yes, this is seriously cheesy, but it was a lot of fun as well.  Jesse Ventura is here a well.

#6.  Snowpiercer.  Chris Evans has a great performance here in this dystopian future inside a train that never stops.  The entire world’s ecosystem is found on the train and the movie is another example of class in movies.  The poor people live in the back of the train.  The wealthy near the front.  Chris Evans leads the revolt and finds some surprises along the way.

#5.  Dredd.  After the failure of Judge Dredd, I had little expectations for this new version, starring Karl Urban.  It turned out to be so much better than I ever thought it would be.  The story took place isolated inside this futuristic apartment building and made me care about this character that I had no connection to ever before.

#4.  Blade Runner 2049.  The sequel to Blade Runner was a truly beautiful film. It featured some strong performances, including a great return from Harrison Ford.  I was never a huge fan the original, but I did not hate it so I was looking forward to 2049.  The cinematography was magnificent.   Ryan Gosling has a great role as the new lead of the film.  Dave Bautista has a small but very strong role in the film as well.

#3.  The Matrix.  Keanu Reeves is The One.  The Matrix features great action, a remarkable villain in Agent Smith, great secondary characters, an extremely creative storyline, and ABSOLUTELY NO SEQUELS (wink…wink…).  The film has so many iconic moments, such as “there is no spoon”, the helicopter on the roof, and that remarkable fight at the end of the film.

#2.  Edge of Tomorrow.  This might be a cheat on the list, because of the aliens thing, but this is so good that I will make the exception.  Tom Cruise does so much more in this movie than just be the science fiction version of Groundhog Day.  Emily Blunt was such a kick ass character that you really believe is the hero of this world.

#1.  V for Vendetta.  Verily.  Victorious.  V for Vendetta is based on a classic comic book by Alan Moore (though he did not love this film version).  V for Vendetta has a dystopian future of England and V returns with the Guy Fawkes mask to shake up the empire.  The story is great and this is probably my favorite performance from Natalie Portman.  Hugo Weaving beneath the mask of V is near perfect.  I loved the finish of the movie as well.  V for Vendetta is a classic.

Honorable mentions:  Blade Runner, Robocop, I, Robot, The Giver

This week’s Top 10 Show, starring John Rocha and Matt Knost was a little late loading.  I woke up earl this morning and had to spend time trying to find the show on YouTube.  I was confused and could not get back to sleep.

Finally, I was able to check for the show after work and I saw the topic was Top 10 Time Travel Movies.  There was an ironic nature to that topic after the show had not been posted on time.  Any way, I was able to hear the show throughout another busy evening and I enjoyed it tremendously.

The Top 10 guys also spent some time at the beginning of the show talking about the controversy that happened in the Movie Trivia Schmoedown match between Top 10 and the champions The Patriots.  I am not going into the events, but it was interesting hearing the comments of Top 10.  I absolutely think that there should not have been a re-spin in their contest.  I support Top 10.

Moving on, time travel is always a lot of fun, albeit confusing at times.  The rules of time travel are important and need to make some kind of sense.  There are a lot of possible movies in this category.  I have several on the honorable mention list as well.

Top 10 Time Travel Movies

#10.  Dr. Strange.  This one made Matt’s list and I liked it.  Honestly, I hadn’t have thought of Dr. Strange had Matt not brought it up.  I actually like this movie more than several films above it on this list, but since the time travel aspect of Dr. Strange is contained to the finale and the confrontation with Dormammu, I kept this lower on the list.  But I love this movie so I am pleased to put it here.

#9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.  My friends hate this Star Trek movie because of the humpback whale plot, but I really enjoy this.  There is so much humor and every member of the crew has something wonderful to do.  I still use the line, “Computer… Computer…” by Scotty as he is talking to a 20th century computer and not knowing that he had to type it in.  Plus, McCoy stands out by able to save Chekov from the butchers of the 20th century medicine.  The whale plot may be a bit of a cheesy story, but I can overlook that because there were so many other great moments.

#8.  X-Men: Days of Future Past.  The X-Men universe was rebooted without a reboot.  Traveling back to the 1970s, Wolverine tries to fix a dark and horrible future by saving the life of Dr. Boliver Trask.  We meet Quicksilver and his scene is one of the most memorable scenes in the entire X-Men franchise.  Thanks to DOFP, we do not have to put up with X-Men 3 in continuity any longer.  We had two generations of Professor X and Magneto represented.

#7.  Planet of the Apes (1968).  Not 2001.  The original film is a great film and has one of the most iconic twist ending of all time. Charleston Heston played the lead character crashing landing on the Planet of the Apes, only to find out later that he had actually returned to earth.  The apes were great, with Cornelius and Dr. Zira and Dr. Zaius leading the way.  This film lead to so many other great films, including the trilogy that started with Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

#6.  Groundhog Day.  Bill Murray is caught in time having to repeat the previous day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania… on Groundhog Day, of course.  This is one of the most original concept in films and has inspired tens of movies.  Completely rewatchable, Groundhog Day has a great relationship between Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.  Harold Ramis directed this film and, reportedly, had a falling out with Murray until Ramis was on his death bed.  This is a great film.

#5.  Looper.  One of the best Bruce Willis movies of the last decade.  Bruce Willis plays a looper who comes back in time to basically kill himself in the past.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a young version of Bruce Willis and he does a remarkable job.  The film then has two parts to it, with the first part being a great science fiction film and then winding up on a farm with a kid with some major power.  The story comes together beautifully and tragically as well.

#4.  Edge of Tomorrow.  This is a science fiction film in the same vein as Groundhog Day, where Tom Cruise has everything repeat after he dies.  Tom Cruise’s character is not a typical Tom Cruise character, but he gets this ability that could help the battle against the alien invasion.  Edge of Tomorrow came from out of nowhere as a film that was promoted really poorly.  This should have been a much bigger hit than it was because this film is just great.  Emily Blunt was also great as a kick ass heroine playing opposite Cruise.

#3.  12 Monkeys.  I love this Bruce Willis time travel movie.  It was very much confusing for much of the film, but I love how they ended the film.  Everything works together and is clearly developed well.  Brad Pitt is fantastic as the crazy “leader” of the 12 Monkey revolution.  The ending in the airport is quite the mind f@@k.  Terry Gilliam directed the film.

#2.  Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  This is my favorite of the Terminator franchise and features Arnold Schwarzenegger’s terminator coming back to now protect John Connor and his mother Sarah.  Linda Hamilton has transformed her character into a fighting machine dedicated to her son.  Now, she had a Terminator too.  And they fought against the seemingly unstoppable T-1000.  When I watched that film for the first time, I could not imagine how they were going to prevent this liquidy-metal monster from killing John.  So much tension.  Terminator 2 is a great movie.

#1.  Back to the Future.  Jeez, what else could it be.  Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly hopping in Doc Brown’s DeLorean, which has been built into a time machine, and finding himself stranded in 1955.  So he looks up younger Doc Brown to try and get him to help come up with a way to get him back to his own time.  However, along the way, Marty accidentally prevents his parents from meeting and causes his mother to fall in love with him, Calvin Klein!  So much humor, cleverness, action and adventure.  Back to the Future is the most iconic time travel film and had to be at the top of this list.  I have heard people refer to Back to the Future as a perfect movie.  It may not be that… but it is damn close.

Honorable mention:  Source Code, Escape from Planet of the Apes, Star Trek (2009), Meet the Robinsons, Donnie Darko,Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Butterfly Effect, Back to the Future II, Back to the Future III

90s action movies.  That is the topic this week, and there are a lot of great choices to fill up my final list.  I have to thank John Rocha and Matt Knost once again to providing me with such an enjoyable podcast once again. They never seem to disappoint.

I chose to eliminate the Science fiction/action such as Independence Day or The Fifth Element out of the running (although one could argue that one or two of the movies on the list would fall into the category.)  At least, we do not have the space aliens/outer space science fiction going on.

The EYG Top 10 90s Action Movies

#10.  Air Force One. This was the toughest spot because there could have been literally around 5-6 others that were close to this spot.  However, I wound up choosing Air Force One thanks to a great campy 90s performance from Harrison Ford, delivering one of the cheesiest lines of all time “Get off my plane.”  Gary Oldman as the Russian villain is a great part of the movie as well.  Sure there is no way that this could possible ever happen, but that only makes it better.  It is also one of the best ‘Merican movie around.

#9.  The Hunt for Red October.  The best of the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan series of movies, Hunt for Red October brings so much tense and tight action aboard a nuclear submarine with the one and only Sean Connery that you can hardly stand it.  Alec Baldwin was a solid Jack Ryan and led a stellar cast.

#8.  Blade.  Wesley Snipes became the “Daywalker” in the great movie that started off a  not-so-great trilogy.  That does not take away from the classic film that kicked it all off.  Blade was an important film showing Hollywood that these comic book movies can be very successful.  Fans to this day are hoping that Wesley Snipes could resume the role in the current MCU.

#7.  The Rock.  And I do not mean Dwayne Johnson.  Another appearance by Sean Connery on this list arrives with one of my favorite Michael Bay films.  Bay’s typical film style had not worn out its welcome yet and actually fit brilliantly in this film.  Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris joined Connery here in one of the great action films of the time.  The Rock, in this case, is Alcatraz and it is so much fun.  I heard Matt Knost talk about this on the Top 10 Show how Sean Connery’s role was kind of a nod and wink to James Bond, an old time English spy who had been in prison for years.  I never thought of that but it make a lot of sense and I may have to rewatch this at some point with that new piece of Intel in my pocket.

#6.  Speed.  The movie that made bus rides so much more exciting!  Keanu Reeves makes his first appearance on the list as the movie’s hero opposite young faced and lovely Sandra Bullock.  This film was not supposed to be such a huge hit, but it really did propel both of these actors into the stratosphere of stardom.  The scenes of the bus were some of the best of the decade and it made you really wonder how they were going to get out of this predicament.  Even after getting off the bus, the movie went ahead and amped up the speed by putting Keanu and film villain Dennis Hopper on the top of a subway train.  Speed was always over 50 MPH!

#5.  Die Hard 2.  Rocha had some negative things to say about this film, but I love it.  I was such a huge fan of the original film that, even if there are some gaping plot holes, I was going to love this one as well.  I mean… it is John McClane in an airport.  How could that be any better?  Dennis Franz played the foil to McClane this time and was the guy you loved to hate, until he realized the truth that was.  One of my favorite moments was John out on the frozen runways with two makeshift torches trying desperately to signal the incoming plane that they were descending too low.  This is a perfect example of the heroism of John McClane.  Yes, he failed there, but he was going to do whatever he could to save people.  And then later… the icicle to the eye.  Boom.

#4.  Enemy of the State.  Neither John or Matt mentioned this one today, but I love this movie.  Will Smith as a somewhat slimy lawyer accidentally gets a piece of information dumped on him that leads to the US government dark forces trying to track him down.  However, fortunately for Smith, he is able to come across an old retired but not yet dead spy who helps him avoid the government agents and make his way back to his own life.  Will Smith starred opposite of Gene Hackman and the pair had an awesome chemistry.  Hackman brought a lot of humanity and little character quirks to the former spy that you could really relate to his unhappiness of Smith dropping all this trouble in his lap.  It also brought the idea of the government surveilling us all right to the front of the story.  Who knows what the government might be into.  Enemy of the State was a film ahead of its time.

#3. Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  This is one of those science fiction movies that kind of breaks the rule, but this is such an awesome film that it needed to be on this list.  The best Terminator movie at the time and since, T2 brought back Arnold Schwarzenegger to the giant killing machine role, but made him the hero. The it gave us an even more frightening Terminator in Robert Patrick as the T-1000.  Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor had transformed from a normal woman to a bad ass militarist desperate to protect her son, no matter how crazy it makes her look.  This is still the Terminator movie to measure them all by.

#2.  The Fugitive.  I really considered this for number one because this is one of the best movies around.  I had not been overly interested in this film.  I did not know the series it was based on and I did not find the idea interesting. Of course, I loved Harrison Ford and that was the key selling point.  This is tremendous!  I loved Harrison Ford.  I love movie characters that are smart, and Ford’s Dr. Richard Kimble was really smart.  Everyone was just following behind him as he lead his own investigation in the murder of his wife, the one he had been convicted of, and he continually outsmarted everyone. Tommy Lee Jones is magnificent as well as the U.S. Marshal searching for Kimble, Samuel Gerard, a role he does so brilliantly he gets his own spin off movie.  I really loved The Fugitive but there is one movie that I just could not get it above.  It is the number one film…

#1. The Matrix.  I am in agreement with both Matt and John that the best 90s action film was the Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, the One.  The creativity and originality on display in The Matrix is unlike any other film.  The way we see Neo slowly go through the training to take the mantel of the One, but never really feeling it.  His own doubt kept him from being the One, and it took the belief of Trinity to make it so.  We also have one of the great villains (or many of the great villains depending) in film history as Agent Smith.  Hugo Weaving was wonderful as the unstoppable agent who gets stopped in the end.  Yes, the sequels are best not talked about but again, that does not take away from the greatness of this film.  Just remember… there is no spoon.

So there they are.  The top 10 best action films of the 1990s according to EYG.

Honorable mentions:  The Crow, Point Break, Face/Off, Demolition Man, Armageddon, True Lies, Total Recall, Die Hard with a Vengeance,

This week’s Top 10 Show features the Top 10 Cartel Movies.  This is another of those topics that I do not have a deep knowledge in.  Several of the main films that would be on most people’s list are films that I have not seen.

The films Scarface, Blow, Once Upon a Time in America and Traffic are not on my list because they are films that I have not seen.   No Country for Old Men I did not like much. Honestly, cartel movies may not be my specific genre.

But I scraped together enough for a Top 10.  It is not the strongest list I have ever done, but here we go anyway.

#10.  Cartel Land.  This was the documentary that Matt Knost brought up in his #9 slot.  It is a really good look at the Mexican Cartel and the crime families that run that cartel.  This was compelling and fascinating.  Another online personality, Mark Ellis, actually is the reason I went to watch this as he recommended it one day on Movie Talk.  Good documentary.

#9.   Savages.  This one made the list because I needed another movie.  It was not a great film, but I did enjoy the all-in performance of Salma Hayek as Elena.  This was an Oliver Stone movie and it included John Travolta as a crooked DEA agent.  As I said, I was not a huge fan, but Salma Hayek truly was memorable.

#8.  Sicario.  I honestly was bored during Sicario.  I hear so many other people who loved this movie so much, but I just never thought it was great.  I may revisit this film to see if it was simply the day or the moment.  I know both Top 10 guys had it at #1 so maybe I should watch it a second time prior to the release of the sequel later this year.

#7. The Last Stand.  Mentioned at the end of the Top 10 podcast as an example of some of the bad cartel films, I actually thought The Last Stand, which was like a return to the world of film for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was pretty good for what it was.

#6.  2 Guns.  Starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, 2 Guns was another that I found okay.  It is a middle of the road type film that makes this list because I am not as into the genre as I could be.  I like both of the actors involved and they had a good chemistry between them which helped with the film.

#5. American Made.  Tom Cruise as Barry Seal, a TWA pilot, is recruited by the CIA to provide reconnaissance on the drug cartels in South and Central America.  This was a true story that absolutely took so many wild and bizarre turns that you find yourself thinking that there was no way this was a real story.  This was a fun story and Tom Cruise does a very solid job.

#4. Snitch.  The Rock in one of his earlier movies that shows some of the talent that the big man has to offer.  The Rock plays a businessman whose son is captured for carrying illegal drugs across the border and he receives a mandatory 10 year sentence.  The Rock wants to go undercover to help him.  Benjamin Bratt is in the film as the villain and Jon Bernthal is solid in it as well.

#3.  We’re the Millers.  Here is the one that is the surprise entry on my list.  This is a comedy of a family taking a trip to Mexico.  However, they are not a real family as the kids and the wife were all hired to go along as help and the reason for the trip was to pick up a shipment of drugs so he could get out from underneath his money troubles.  This is a film that I was shocked that I enjoyed as much as I did. It really seemed like it would fall into that category of stupid comedy that I always dislike, but I laughed consistently throughout We’re the Millers and it was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me.

#2.  Clear and Present Danger.  Tom Clancy’s famous character Jack Ryan returned in this film, played by Harrison Ford.  Ryan is appointed as the CIA Acting Deputy Director and he finds out that there are people (friends) who are running covert war in Columbia.  Ford is in his prime here and brings the character of Jack Ryan to his peak.

#1.  End of Watch.  Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña are a pair of police partners in Los Angeles in this powerful story of partnership. loyalty and the dangers they face.  It is also a “found-footage” style of film as Gyllenhaal’s character carries his little camera with him as they go.  It was another create use of found footage in the genre that has since pretty much dried up.  Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña art the main reasons to see this film as they are both tremendous.

There it is.  I do not have any honorable mentions this week since there are so few that I have seen.  Maybe this list is reordered if I watch some of those that I have not seen or give Sicario a second chance.  We’ll see.

Today, I have a snow day at school, so I found a previous Top 10 list that I wanted to do a list for as well.  I have been watching some of the shows that John Rocha and Matt Knost did on Collider Video recently and I found one I really liked.  I remember when this one aired and I enjoyed it then and this time was no different.  It is the Top 10 Talking Animals.

Now these would talking animals that are found in movies, but I would consider short movies as an option, meaning the Looney Tunes bunch are available.

Scooby Doo is not on the list even though i love Scooby Doo because there has been no great theatrical released version of Scooby.

So, with a blast from the past, Top 10 Talking Movie Animals

#10.  The Cowardly Lion (Wizard of Oz). From one of the greatest movies ever made, I had not considered the Cowardly Lion before I had started this list, but when I saw him, I knew I wanted to include him.  Played by Bert Lehr, the Lion joined up with Dorothy in order to find him some courage, but we learn as the story moves on that he already had courage and that he just had to find it within himself.  What a great message to the children who watch the movie.

#9.  Po (Kung Fu Panda).  This role seemed perfect for Jack Black and his distinctive voice.  Po was a fat and lazy Panda that suddenly had power thrust upon him as the Dragon Warrior.  I had no idea that I would enjoy these three films as much as I did.  Number one was a wonderful surprise and, going in to see number 2, I had no expectations that it would match the first one.  And then it did.  Po is so relatable that you cannot help but get behind the giant lug.

#8.  Iago (Aladdin).  One of the only villains on the list (I did consider Scar and Shere Khan), but Aladdin is one of my personal favorite animated movies and, while much of that credit goes to Robin Williams’ Genie, Gilbert Gottfried as Iago certainly had his share of excellence.  Iago was the perfect counterpoint to the evil Jafar and every scene Iago was in was a classic scene from that awesome film.  The voice work from Gottfried was spot on and Iago was nearly as memorable as any character in Aladdin.

#7.  Tigger (Winnie the Pooh).  Rocha questioned this choice that made Matt’s list at 10, which I could not believe.  There was a Winnie the Pooh movie in 2011 that was a full feature released film and Tigger was in his very own movie called The Tigger Movie.  So he absolutely counts as a character and he is one of my all time favorites.  Why?  because Tiggers are wonderful fellows.  Tiggers are wonderful things.  The tops are made of the rubber.  The bottoms are made of the springs.

#6.  Donkey (Shrek).  Eddie Murphy as a talking donkey?  Who knew that would be a career plus.  But it sure was as Eddie Murphy became a star once again after the Shrek movies hit it big.  Donkey was a slow-witted, but loyal friend who was with Shrek whether Shrek wanted it or not.  Then, Donkey’s relationship with Dragon pushed the boundaries of possibilities. He brought most of the humor to the Shrek series that never would have been as successful as it was without him.

#5.  Paddington (Paddington and Paddington 2).  Talk about unexpected.  There was no way that the Paddington movie was going to be any good at all.  The trailers looked horrendous and it was coming out in January.  And then it was released and it turned out to be one of the most charming films of the year.  And then the sequel had no chance of matching that spark of magic… until it did, of course.  Paddington is as charming and lovable as you are ever going to see and I, for one, will never doubt him again.

#4.  Caeser (Planet of the Apes trilogy).  Andy Serkis really deserved some kind of recognition from the Academy for his unbelievable portrayal of Caeser, the leader of the race of intelligent, talking apes who take up residence in San Francisco.  Caeser easily has the most developed character arc of any talking animal on this list as he developed from a lab experiment to a pet to a thinking and talking primate to the leader of a rebel force of apes and other primates to a martyr for his people.

#3. Kermit the Frog (Muppet Movie).  I love Kermit.  He is my favorite of the Muppets.  He has been the lead in several movies over the years and he always brings his great wit, sparkling personality and many timed frazzled patience.  How can you put up with Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy for as long as he did?  Kermit singing Rainbow Connection is one of the most iconic Muppet moments of all time.  I love him as Bob Crachit in the Muppet Christmas Carol and as Captain Smollett from Muppet Treasure Island.  Even in the weaker of the Muppet movies, Kermit brings it every time.  He is the heart and soul of the Muppets.

#2.  Rocket (Guardians of the Galaxy).  Who would have thought that a talking raccoon (shhh don’t let Rocket hear you use that term) would become one of the most popular characters from a major Marvel movie.  No one expected anything from Rocket when Guardians of the Galaxy came out (except, maybe Marvel Studios).  Yet, Rocket was one of the best parts of that movie and surprisingly brought the heart to the film.  Small scenes like him showing his genetically altered back made the audience understand that this character had seen more than his share of bad things.  Voiced by Bradley Cooper, Rocket is heading to earth for Avengers: Infinity War and then, all gloves are off the paws.

#1. Bugs Bunny (Looney Tunes/Space Jam).  Even if you eliminate the Oscar winning shorts, Space Jam should be enough to get Bugs to the top of this list.  There is no talking animal more epic than the troublemaker himself.  He is funny.  There is no situation that Bugs cannot handle.  He is as iconic of a character as you are going to find and I loved him growing up watching him.  Bugs Bunny, the ultimate smart alack is my number one talking animal.

Honorable Mentions (there’s a bunch):  Dory, Baloo, Babe, Mr. Peabody, Judy Hopps, Winnie the Poo, Scar, Sebastian, Dr. Zaius, Cornelius, Simba.

Happy Top 10 everyone.  What a great episode today with John Rocha and Matt Knost welcoming Grae Drake (NO Ys!!!) to the show.  In honor of this weekend’s Oscar telecast, they chose a topic centered around the golden awards for movie excellence.  They decided on the Top 10 Best Actors “snubs”, but they did not mean that it was someone like Jake Gyllenhaal not being nominated for Nightcrawler (which was an insane crime).  They meant actors who had been nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to another actor.  That lead to a funny falsetto version of this post coming from Mr. Rocha’s lips.  Really … listen to it.

And you really should be listening to the Top 10 Show because, according to Cinema Blend, the Top 10 Show is one of the “5 Podcast Every Movie Fan Needs to Check Out.”  That is awesome.  Congratulations to John and Matt.  Their weekly excellence is being heard and recognized.  The best is yet to come.

By the way, Grae continued the streak of outstanding guests on the Top 10 Show.  She was very funny, witty, and added some great insight to the banter.

As for the topic, as I researched it, I found way more examples from the 1990s than any other decade.  That was strange considering I did not watch nearly as many movies then as I do now.

EYG Top 10 Best Actors Who Were Oscar Nominated and Should Have Won…

#10.  Year:  1993 Edward Norton (American History X) over Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful).  Yes I have never seen the Benigni performance, but that does not mean that I can’t replace it with a performance that was top notch.  I debated this one as I considered Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan as well, but I found Norton’s performance to be one for the ages.  One could argue that Edward Norton has never come anywhere close since.

#9.  Year: 2000.  Tom Hanks (Castaway) over Russell Crowe (Gladiator).  I did love Gladiator, but there is no comparison of the performance of Crowe compared to Tom Hanks.  Tom Hanks spent a huge chunk of time on the island without using any words and you know every emotion going through his mind.  Plus, he is able to create a character out of a volleyball fully through the power of his performance.  Very few actors on the planet could pull this role off, but Tom Hanks did it.

#8.  Year 1974.  Al Pacino (Godfather 2) over Art Carney (Harry & Tonto).  Godfather 2 is considered one of the greatest movies of all time and Al Pacino was the heart of that film.  How did he lose the Oscar, even to a legendary actor such as Art Carney?  Then, because Al Pacino did not win this award, later on in his life, the Academy had to give him an award for a much inferior performance in Scent of a Woman (still coming on this list…) that cost other deserving their chance for an Oscar.

#7.  Year:  1991.  Robin Williams (The Fisher King) over Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs).  Now, yes, Anthony Hopkins’s Hannibal Lector is in the EYG Hall of Fame.  And yes he was brilliant.  But the truth is that Hopkins was only on screen around 16-17 minutes.  That is a supporting actor.  Robin Williams gave one of his greatest performances as The Fisher King!  The homeless man who had slipped into a horrible life after the death of his beloved wife, Robin Williams showed the full range of his skills.  Oh, and of course, Robin Williams is also in the EYG Hall of Fame.

#6.  Year:  1943.  Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca) over Paul Lukas (Watch on the Rhine).  I will admit that I do not know who Paul Lukas is and I have never seen Watch on the Rhine, but it is Casablanca!  And it is Humphrey Bogart.  Another one of those actors/characters so iconic that you cannot imagine that he did not win the award.  I was shocked when I saw that he had not won for this role.  He was the heart of this film and he helped make it one of the most recognized and beloved film of all time.

#5.  Year:  1992.  Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)/ Denzel Washington (Malcolm X) over Al Pacino (Scent of a Woman).  I could not make a decision with this one, so I decided to give it to both of them.  This was Eastwood’s best performance in my eyes and Denzel becomes the radical activist.  All because Al Pacino was given an award for a film that was below his past filmography.

#4.  Year: 1993.  Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List) over Tom Hanks (Philadelphia).  Another performance that is great, when speaking about Hanks.  Yes, it had the whole AIDS thing working for it, but there is just nothing more powerful than the true story of Oskar Schindler as a Nazi who went out of his way to try and save as many Jewish people as he could by putting them to work in his own factory.   Another performance that has to be considered the best of an actor’s career.  Liam Neeson is amazing in this role and the emotions are real.  The film is a tough watch, but Liam Neeson’s character arc is tremendous.

#3.  Year: 2014.  Michael Keaton (Birdman) over Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything).  Sure, Redmayne does a nice job as Stephen Hawkins. but the fact is that movie is at best average.  Michael Keaton returned to significance here as the washed up actor who had played a former super hero.  Many people considered this like an autobiography of Keaton himself.  Birdman was a great film and Keaton rebuilt himself to get roles in Spotlight and Spider-man: Homecoming.

#2.  Year: 1964.  Peter Sellers (Dr. Strangelove) over Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady).  Peter Sellers is brilliant in Dr. Strangelove.  He plays three distinct roles:  Dr. Strangelove, President Merkin Muffley and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake.  Each of the roles were separate, and you never doubted that they were different characters.  He is hilarious.  Many times the Academy likes these kind of multiple roles, so I am not sure why this one was overlooked.  Peter Sellers, another EYG Hall of Famer, brings so many layers to his three characters and helps to make this a classic film.

#1.  Year:  2008.  Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) over Sean Penn (Milk).  When this topic was first mentioned, this was the first thing that popped into my head.  As a wrestling fan, I remember how this film came out and everyone fell in love with it and how it brought Mickey Rourke back from nothing.  Randy “The Ram” Robinson was a character who I could, sadly, see in many of my favorite professional wrestlers of the past.  One of the most realistic portrayal of the world of professional wrestling without sacrificing character.  I remember watching the awards ceremony with full expectation that Rourke was winning.  Everyone I had hear said that Rourke was sinning.  It wasn’t even close.  And when the announcement was made that it was Sean Penn, I felt robbed and I can’t imagine what Mickey Rourke must have felt.  Brilliant performance.

Honorable mentions:  Deniro (Taxi Driver) over Finch (Network), Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption) over Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump), Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd) over Daniel-Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) over Jean Dujardin, Denzel Washington (Fences) over Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), Clark Gable (Gone With the Wind) over Robert Donat (Goodbye, Mr. Chips).

Good luck to all the nominees this coming Sunday at the Academy Awards.

I am excited about this week’s Top 10 list.  I really enjoy the lists when John Rocha and Matt Knost do something a little different and do characters instead of just movies.  The Top 10 Monsters is the list that inspired me to start doing my own lists along with them.  So this week, in honor of this weekend’s release of Annihilation, the boys made their lists of the Top 10 Female Sci-Fi characters.  And joining them was the wonderful “Classy” Clarke Wolfe.  Clarke was a wonde3rful addition this week and I loved listening to her perspectives on the topic.

Clarke gave a definition of science fiction on the show which said, “fiction based on imagined future scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes frequently portraying space or time travel and life on other planets, but that is not a requirement.” Clark said that this definition was on dictionary.com, but I could not find it.

Because of that definition, I have eliminated some of the potential choices.  There will be no Star Wars on my list.  There will be no super heroes on my list (and I include Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor:Ragnarok as super hero movies). There is no Lord of the Rings/Hobbit on this list.

So here is the list…

#10. Dr. Zira (Planet of the Apes).  Dr. Zira was the ape who showed us that these ‘damn dirty apes” actually had humanity in them.  Dr. Zira took to the side of Taylor as something more than just a savage.  She communicated with him.  She helped him.  She and her fiance/husband Cornelius, aided in Taylor’s escape and ability to escape and discover the truth about the world.  And she shared a kiss with the human.  Dr. Zira and Cornelius also come back from the Planet of the Apes and ends up in a tragic death.  That tragic death was one of my favorite endings as I did not expect the creators of the movie to kill her off.

#9.  Minister Mason (Snowpiercer).  Snowpiercer is one of those movies that gets lost sometimes, but it is tremendous. And one of the best parts of that movie was the villainous Minister Mason, portrayed by Tilda Swinton.  Mason was the voice of Wilford, the creator of the train that they were all on, She was such a hoity-toity character and she lorded her very life over the tail section people.  She represented the upper class in the world and she is simply a slimeball and Tilda Swinton embraces that slime so well.

#8.  River Tam (Serenity).  Coming from the Firefly television series, River Tam is one kick ass female.  Played by Summer Glau, River Tam was the main hero of the film Serenity.  River had been tortured for a couple of years by The Academy as they tried to tap into her potential power, and that power is on display in Serenity as she kicked the Reavers around.

#7.  Rita Yrataski (Edge of Tomorrow).  Played by Emily Blunt, Rita was the heroic soldier in the United Defense force which opposes the invasion of the aliens in the Mimic War.  Rita was approached by Tom Cruise with some specific details that was surprising.  He was reliving the same time frame every time he died.  The info he could garner from this power (which is a skill that the aliens had) gave them a chance.  Tom Cruise, however, is anything but a warrior.  That was where Rita would come in.  Nicknamed “The Angel of Verdun,” for her bravery, Rita Yrataski created hope.

#6.  Dr. Ellie Sattler (Jurassic Park).  Laura Dern is awesome, and she created a great character in the first Jurassic Park.  She was a paleobotanist that came along to Jurassic Park to get a chance to see some long extinct plant life (and some dinosaurs too).  Ellie helps save the grandchildren of Hammond, the man who invited her to the island with Alan Grant.  Alan and Ellie were, at one point, a couple, but children seemed to be a hurdle between them.  After the events of Jurassic Park, things looked to be better.

#5.  Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games series).  Katniss is one of the great heroines from the future world of the Hunger Games.  Katniss initially became involved when she volunteered as a tribute to save her sister from having to go.  Then, along with Peeta, Katniss won the challenge of the Hunger Games, becoming the Girl on Fire.  Jennifer Lawrence really hit her first stride in The Hunger Games.  Yes, the remaining Hunger Games films never really hit the heights of the first one, but Katniss was always beautifully done.

#4.  Trinity (The Matrix).  Carrie Ann Moss was the one who believed beyond everyone else that Neo was the chosen one.  She knew it and she could not be convinced otherwise.  And it turned out to be Trinity’s belief that actually made Neo the hero.  The Matrix was a mind-blowing film that no one saw coming.  Trinity and Neo make an awesome pair and she is a true star of the film.  She and Keanu have great chemistry and they make the film transcendent.

#3.  Ripley  (Alien). Ripley is one of the great characters in science fiction.  Sigourney Weaver is the queen and Ellen Ripley is one of the first female lead characters.  The first film, Ripley has to use her brains and her survival skills to avoid being killed by the Xenomorphs.  And as a cat person, I appreciate how she had to save the cat.

#2.  Sarah Connors (Terminator and Terminator 2).  She had an affair with a man from the future and gave birth to a boy who is foretold to save the universe from the rise of the machines.  Because of this prophecy, Sarah Connors trained herself and John, her son, to be a warrior and prepared for the return of the Terminator.  Sarah was borderline crazed, spending many years in an asylum, but she was always ready to protect John above anything else.  Linda Hamilton was the first and best version of Sarah Connors.

#1. Leeloo (The Fifth Element).  Okay, I was always a Bruce Willis fan, so I came to this movie because of him, and I left in completely in love with Leeloo.  To this day, I say “Leeloo Dallas, multipass” and “Chicken…good.”  Leeloo has one  of the most amazing costume designs and is one of the most intriguing character.  Leeloo, the Fifth Element- the Ultimate Being, is like a super hero and I have always loved a kick ass woman with a cool accent.  Leeloo is really funny, playing off Bruce Willis’s Korben Dallas extremely well.  I have never been a fan of any other film starring Milla Jovovich, but The Fifth Element is just a tremendous and unexpected treat.

Honorary Mentions:  Louise Banks (Arrival), Ava (Ex Machina), Borg Queen (Star Trek: First Contact), Uhuhu (Star Trek), Furiosa (Mad Max: Fury Road), Gertie (E.T. the Extra Terrestrial),

Welcome back to the Top 10 list of the week.  This week, John Rocha and Matt Knost were joined by special guest Chris Burns from the Store Horsemen podcast to do the Top 10 Superhero Origin Movies.

So, I made my list of origin movies and I eliminated a couple of the possible choices because I did not feel that they were origin movies.  My definition of an origin movie had to either show a superhero gaining his/her powers or how they came to be known as the hero/team that they are known for.  If the movie was the introduction of a character but felt more like just another adventure of that character, I did not consider it.

So, Spider-man: Homecoming, which Matt had on his list, and Thor, which was also mentioned, do not make my list because they are not origin movies.  This is, of course, my opinion.

Starting off the list…

#10. Chronicle.  Josh Trank’s film that showed the creation of a super hero (and villain too) through the use of found footage was such a wonderful film.  The found footage genre had really felt like it had played itself out and was getting way too boring.  However, Trank, and screen writer Max Landis, was able to find the originality in the technique and brought something different to it.  It also showed us how amazing actors Michael B. Jordan and Dane DeHaan were and how great these young men will be in the future.  Michael B. Jordan is of course in his next super hero movie this weekend as Killmonger in Black Panther.

#9. Ant Man.  This film had so many strikes against it before it ever came out.  After such a public break up between Marvel Studios and Edgar Wright, who had been working on getting Ant Man completed for years, many people had no intention of liking Ant Man.  The thing was that Peyton Reed came in and resurrected the film and made people love it.  He had Paul Rudd as a super hero, which was strange at best, but the comedic actor was great as Scott Lang and the film cast Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.  The film had a great heist film flavor to it and featured a surprise cameo by Falcon.  Michael Pena appeared as one of Scott’s friends and stole every scene he was in.  We may never know what caused the separation of Edgar Wright and Marvel, but it sure seems as if it were for the best.

#8.  Dr. Strange.  Marvel took the MCU to different dimensions for the first time with the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange.  Once a skilled surgeon, Stephen Strange is involved in a tragic car accident that robs him of the use of his hands.  In search of a way to fix his hands, Strange heads to the mountains of Tibet and find the Ancient One, who shows the doctor that there is much more to the universe than he ever would have believed.  Dr. Strange features one of the greatest fight scenes in comic book movies as Strange and his colleagues fought the villains as time reversed.  Plus, “Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain…”

#7.  Batman Begins.  The movie that reclaimed the Dark Knight after the travesty of Batman and Robin, Batman Begins is the first film in the Christopher Nolan trilogy of films and is, arguable, the best.  This film looked at the life of Bruce Wayne before he ever donned the cowl and showed his training in the process of becoming the World’s Greatest Detective.  The film did not use one of Batman’s most famous foes.  Instead, it used Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul, and it never missed a beat.  Because they were able to use these villains in the origin story, it saved the Joker for the second film, and you know what happened there.

#6.  Unbreakable.  We did not even know that this was a super hero origin story until the very end of the film.  That was when Samuel L. Jackson’s Mr. Glass revealed himself to Bruce Willis and told him that he had been searching for him for years.  Mr. Glass needed an adversary, a nemesis, an arch enemy.  By this point, you understand what it is you have been watching.  M. Night Shyamalan was as hot as you could be after this film, but he took an unfortunate turn into the garbage heap, but the surprise sequel to Unbreakable, Split, made for brand new excitement around the director.

#5.  Iron Man.  If this one did not work, the MCU would not be what it is today.  Marvel took a risk, throwing out what many considered a B-level super hero, but with most of their biggest guns’ rights at other studios, they did not have much chance.  They brought in Robert Downey Jr. to play Tony Stark, which with RDJ’s troubles was also seen as a risk, and gave the director’s chair to Jon Favreau.  But there was something magical about this film and Iron Man took off, thrilling fans everywhere.  And after the credits, suddenly there was Tony Stark talking to… is that?  Could it be?  Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, who was speaking to Tony about the Avengers Initiative.  What did he say?  Avengers?  Seeds planted.  Huge success.

#4.  Captain America: The First Avenger.  “I could do this all day” were words spoken by the scrawny and bullied Steve Rogers just before being rescued from the beating by his friend Bucky Barnes.  However, it showed what would make him the most inspirational hero of the Marvel Universe.  Steve Rogers had heart.  He had guts.  He never gave up.  And he would become Captain America.  This film was a tremendous origin for Steve Rogers, and it showed the man as the hero he is without it being boring, dull or cheesy.  It featured one of my favorite songs too, “Star Spangled Man.”

#3.  Deadpool.  Ryan Reynolds fought for Deadpool for years. After the character was completely neutered in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool was a punch line.  But Reynolds did not give up on him.  He fought to get the film he wanted made the way he wanted it made.  And he succeeded.  Deadpool is one of the funniest super hero movies around, and it featured maybe the best romance between hero and significant other ever.  The film was released on Valentine’s Day and was marketed as a romance, and it did not lie.  The marketing campaign of Deadpool was brilliant and showed the dedication of FOX and Ryan Reynolds to this character.  Deadpool became a monster hit as an R rated, dirty, foul-mouthed, 4th wall breaking smash.  Thank you, Mr. Reynolds.

#2. Spider-man.  I don’t think I can sufficiently explain to you how scared I was heading to the theater to see Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.  I love Spider-Man and I was so scared that this film would not be any good.  I was afraid that this would be one more failure in super hero movies at a time before they were so beloved.  I remember the exact moment I knew this film was going to be great.  As Peter Parker held Uncle Ben in his arms on the ground outside of the car, watching his amazing uncle die, I knew the film had the wall crawler right. Sure the Green Goblin looked silly.  I did not care.  Sure the organic webbing made me pause.  That was fine.  I loved this movie and having a big screen rendition of Spider-man that I could be proud of made me as happy as I could ever be.

#1.  Guardians of the Galaxy.  How was this ever going to work?  How could this property, which honestly was not that well known even among the comic book reading crowd, and featured a talking raccoon and a walking tree that could only say three words, “I  am Groot,” not be a complete failure.  Had Marvel Studios gone mad with their own success?  Apparently not.  Guardians of the Galaxy, helmed by James Gunn, became of the studio’s most consistently loved films.  It was dripping with originality and gravitas.  It had amazing chemistry among its five main stars, even the raccoon and the tree (maybe even especially them).  It had an unbelievably cool soundtrack of 1970s music.  It was more of a space opera than a super hero movie.  At its core, Guardians of the Galaxy is about family and these characters are a family that we loved being a part of.  We are Groot, indeed.

There they are. My top ten Super Hero Origin Movies.

Honorable Mentions:  Big Hero 6, Kick Ass, Wonder Woman, Blade, Superman: The Movie, X-Men, X-Men: First Class, Robocop, The Incredibles (Not sure that one counted with my rules).

Another week, another Top 10 list from the Top 10 Show starring John Rocha and Matt Knost.  And, for the second week in a row, we get a huge category.  Last week, with Top 10 70s movies, there were all kinds of choices. This week may not have that wide of a reach, but the topic remains as a big one.  Top 10 Third Movies in a Franchise.

We are under three months away from what could be the biggest third movie in a franchise ever in Avengers: Infinity War.  There is no doubt that every little scrap I see from that thing has EPIC written all over it, figuratively.  Honestly, I do not need to see any more.  After that Super Bowl TV spot, I need no more. Honestly, they had my money a long time ago.

Coming back to this list, I had more trouble with the final three spots on this list than I have had for any other list I have come up with.  There are legitimately two or three that could be interspersed with what is on this list.

Here we go:

#10.  Rocky 3.  I loved this movie.  As a youth, I was a fan of Mr. T, so seeing him fight Rocky was tremendous.  This film also gave us exposure to Hulk Hogan who was just getting ready to explode in the world of professional wrestling.  The training scenes with Apollo Creed were some great ones and the ending scene with Rocky and Apollo sparring in the ring was a wonderful cliffhanger.  The Eye of the Tiger was one of the great 1980s songs and fit perfectly here in the movie.  Rocky 3 might have been the first Rocky movie that I saw.  And it was great.

#9.  Die Hard with a Vengeance.  I was a huge fan of the Die Hard series.  I loved Bruce Willis from Moonlighting and I loved his turn as John McClane in Die Hard.  Die Hard 2 was a favorite as well.  So when the third film came around, my first feelings were that I was not as fond of it as the first two.  However, it is one that I have grown to appreciate more as the years have gone on.  I think Samuel l. Jackson as Zeus is a fantastic partner for Bruce and brings a different level of trouble with him.  I will admit that I think the ending is pretty weak in comparison, but it is funny and exciting and ties nicely back to the first film.

#8.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  This might be the best of the Harry Potter series.  If it is not, it is certainly in the top two or three.  The Prisoner of Azkaban has the most creative use of the kids, deals with time travel and brings us the awesome Gary Oldman.  The story has a great mystery and it takes it time to unfurl it as the film goes along.  This is also one of the first of the Harry Potter movies where the cast starts to become more of an adult crew and they start to show some acting skill.  A great entry in the series.

#7.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.  The amazing final chapter to the JRR Tolkien trilogy is an epic.  Beautifully shot and directed by Peter Jackson, the film does not disappoint in any manner.  There are several brilliant stories that come back together in this final installment.  One of the best moments is certainly the fight between Frodo and Gollum on the edge of Mount Doom.  There is so much passion and emotion here and these characters pay off three movies worth with amazing scenes.  Sure there are a bunch of false finishes to the film, but none of those take away from the masterpiece that it is.

#6.  Thor: Ragnarok.  Taika Waititi took the Thor franchise, which by all accounts was the least successful among the Avengers lineup, and completely redid the film.  It became less of a Scandinavian myth and much more of a comedy.  And he threw in the Incredible Hulk.  And yet, he lost nothing of what made these characters special.  Thor, Hulk, Loki, Odin were still here and were the characters we knew, but they found themselves in a different tone.  And it was wonderful.  One of the funniest Marvel movies ever, but also a film with the most stakes ever.  Plus we got Jeff Goldblum as the Grandmaster and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie.  Thor: Ragnarok took the MCU in a different direction and I, along with many others, were extremely happy about it.

#5.  Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.  This film has one of the best opening scenes of any film on this list.  The adventure into Jabba the Hut’s palace to rescue Han Solo is exciting from the first moment that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker strolled into the place to have a meeting with Jabba.  And I still use the line, “Boba Fett?  Bobba Fett? Where?”  However, Return of the Jedi was not only that opening scene.  It had a conclusion that might be the most emotional one in the Star Wars franchise.  With the final fight between Luke and Vader, and then eventually the Emperor, everything that had been building up from three movies came to a head in the redemption of Anakin Skywalker.  Sure the Ewoks are clearly a attempt to make money on toy sales, but many movies do that.  And the Ewoks aren’t that bad.

#4. Logan.  This is the third Wolverine movie, and I think it qualifies, even though that would not be considered a trilogy.  John Rocha had indicated that Skyfall was not eligible for the list because that was the James Bond series.  Logan is the third Wolverine movie, so it counts.  And it is one of the best movies made.  In Hugh Jackman’s final appearance as Logan, he delivered the most emotional and powerful performance of his career.   Plus, the film had powerhouse performances from young Dafne Keen as Laura and the venerable Sir Patrick Stewart.  Stewart’s final run as Charles Xavier was heartbreaking and memorizing.  I cried every time I watched Logan because it struck a chord with me involving characters that meant the world to me.

#3.  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  This is my favorite Indiana Jones movie of all time.  The pairing of Harrison Ford and Sean Connery as father and son might be the best duo ever cast together.  They are pitch perfect as the Dr. Joneses.  This film is so much fun and exciting.  It brings back all the joyousness of the Indy movies and gives you even more to the character than you ever thought you could get.  A father and a son who were so very much alike that they could not see past each other’s flaws.  That is, until the chips were down, and then they were ready to take a leap of faith.  Remarkably entertaining.

#2.  Toy Story 3.  I love this movie.  I have mentioned that I think one of the best movie villains of all time is Lotso Hugginbear.  I found his tragic tail as relatable as you could ever get and I have always believed that a relatable villain is the best kind.  But that is not the only thing about Toy Story 3 that I love.  There was actually a moment, as the group of them were heading toward the incinerator, that I believed that they were all going to die.  Can you believe that?  In a Disney-Pixar movie, I legitimately thought these characters were all going to burn to death.  This movie perfectly tugged on emotions.  And that final scene where Andy was giving his toys away to the little girl was such a tear-inducing moment that you couldn’t help but be ripped apart.  Toy Story 3 is a perfect end to the trilogy.

#1. Captain America: Civil War.  The Captain America trilogy is one of the best ever and it does more with Captain America than you ever would believe they could.  This film succeeds as a stand alone Captain America story.  Sure there are other heroes in it, but it is distinctly a Cap story.  Of course, it also is an Avengers story.  It introduces us to Spider-man in the MCU and to Black Panther.  It does these roles beautifully as well.  It gives us one of the best, if not THE best, fight scenes of all time in the airport scene.  And yet it gives us personal stakes between Cap and Tony Stark at the end that feel real and devastating.  This is my current favorite MCU film and it is an undertaking like few films can try.

There they are.  There are several honorary mentions.  Films such as Goldfinger, Back to the Future III, Star Trek : The Search for Spock, Shrek the Third, Iron Man 3, War for the Planet of the Apes,  The Good, the Bad, The Ugly, Lethal Weapon 3, The World’s End, The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies(I did like the end).

Okay, what an insane topic.

This week’s Top10 Show with John Rocha and Matt Knost featured a guest star, a friend of Matt’s, but also a character actor, writer etc named Wayne Federman.

It is an impossible topic, by the way, to find the Top 10 List of 70s Movies.  Yes, that is what I said… 70s Movies.  An entire decade of films to choose.  The other issue was a lot of these movies are films that I have heard of, seen parts of, but never seen the whole film, so there are some missing films from my list.

#10.  Smokey and the Bandit.  A personal favorite that probably should not be on a list like this, but it is a guilty pleasure and I wanted to add it.  Burt Reynolds, Jerry Reed and Sally Field as our beer runners and Jackie Gleason himself as Sheriff Buford T. Justice, the most dedicated hick cop of all time.  Smokey and the Bandit is redneck fun and, albeit a silly film, I love it.

#9.  Alien.  One of the great science fiction movies of all time and a film that spawned an amazing series of films and one of the greatest, baddest female heroes of cinematic history in Ripley.  Then, the creature that is to be known as a Xenomorph is tremendously scary and fear inducing.  Alien is a great film with some serious horror elements to it as well.

#8.  Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  One of Steven Spielberg’s great early films, Close Encounters brings the nation’s fascination with aliens and UFOs into the movies once again.  This time, the film focuses on how the hysteria surrounding UFOs could affect a human being. Richard Dreyfus seemingly loses his mind after his close encounter and it ends up costing him his relationship with his family.  However, in the end, he does get to step upon the space ship and head into a new adventure.  There is so much beauty in the film, from the way it is shot to the iconic music.  Close Encounters is wonderful.

#7.  Rocky.  Rocky Balboa was the ultimate underdog.  In his chase of Apollo Creed, Rocky had to put everything on the line.  In the end, the Italian Stallion just could not overcome the champ.  Who thought Rocky would lose?  It’s a surprise at the end that really makes this an uncommon sports film.  Sylvester Stallone became a household name because of this film, a film he wrote and directed and starred in.  Most of these film have that iconic score to them as well, helping secure their place above the other films of the giant decade.  Rocky’s theme is known by everyone and it helps create the character and the feeling of the film.

#6.  The Godfather. I have actually not seen Godfather 2.  I know.. I know.  Truthfully, I just saw Godfather last year during a Fathom Event.  There is nothing I can add to the limitless discussions of this movie.  The Godfather is a masterpiece of a film in style and substance.  The acting is amazing.  The music is perfect.  There are so many key storytelling elements that continue to keep people coming back to the story of Don Corleone.

#5.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Here come some of the films that might not make some people’s lists, but I love so they are here.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail is amazingly quotable and continually funny. “It’s just a flesh wound.”  “I’m feeling better now”.  What… is your favorite color?– “Blue…. no, yel–aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh”  “What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?”  Of course, there is also the classic Black Knight and the Knights who say Ni.  My favorite of the Monty Python movies.

#4. Young Frankenstein.  Puttin’ on the Ritz.  This is one of my absolutely favorite scenes in movie history.  Gene Wilder putting on a fantastic show as Dr. Frank-en-stein, the grandson of Victor.  He was successful in re-animating life from dead tissue and the brain of someone by the name of Abby Normal.  LOL.  Igor and his moving hump.  The Frau Blücher -WHINNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.  Young Frankenstein is one of Mel Brooks greatest films and works to this very day.

#3.  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  One of my favorite movies of all time.  Willy Wonka has great music, a awesome story that is darker than one would think when first viewing it. It seems like a kids movie, but this is anything but.  There is a subversiveness about Willy Wonka and his Chocolate Factory that weds out the bad little girls and boys and rewards those who can follow his rules.  We never see Augustus, Violet, Veruca, and Mike again, do we?  We are TOLD that they will be fine, but Willy Wonka does not seem to be the most legitimate source.  Gene Wilder’s iconic performance highlights this brilliant film.

#2.  Star Wars.  Out of respect for the guest this week, Wayne Federman, I will only refer to this as Star Wars.  This film that led to the greatest franchise of films ever put together, Star Wars was truly a simple story.  A story of a boy in search of a family, a father and a purpose.  Luke Skywalker found all three by joining the Rebellion against the evil Empire.  Yes, we do not know yet that Darth Vader is, in actuality, Luke’s father, but there is certainly enough drama to hold the viewers attention.  We meet the awesome character of Han Solo.  Princess Leia.  Obi-Wan.  R2D2 and C3PO.  The Millennium Falcon.  It goes on and on.

#1.  Jaws.  One of my favorite movies of all time.  I remember being scared out of my mind as a kid by Jaws, especially at the scene where the shark is slowly eating Quint.  That scared me silly.  Now a days, I love the scene with Quint, Brody and Hooper drinking below deck and comparing scars.  This led to a completely compelling tale spun by Hooper about the USS Indianapolis.  Jaws is a horror film that becomes an adventure film that end with a fantastically intense final act.  It is a near perfect movie and it is my favorite 1970s movie.

Plenty of Honorable mentions such as…

Honorable mentions:  Carrie, Bad News Bears, The Exorcist, Grease, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Blazing Saddles, Airplane, Superman.

Well, here we are once again with the EYG Top 10 list following the Top 10 Show.  We took last week off since John and Matt did a Best of 2017 Show and I had already done that list.

During that time, I joined up with the Patreon for the show and I am happily donating to them.  I figure I can donate at this higher level for a little while and then drop down to something that fits the budget better.  I am happy to contribute to the week fun.

However, one of the other Patreons suggested Top 10 Paul Newman films and I knew I would be in trouble. I have not seen very many Paul Newman films.  In fact, it was easier compiling the Clint Eastwood list than this one would be.

I still listened to the podcast because I enjoy the pairing of John and Matt.  They are very funny and entertaining, discussing movies.  Even if it is a movie that I was unfamiliar with, it is great listening to these two discuss it.

But as I am scouring the IMDB page for Paul Newman, I realized that I was not going to be able to fill out a Top 10 list… so I made it Top 5.

The EYG Top 5 Paul Newman Movies

#5.  The Verdict.  Newman as a down on his luck, struggling lawyer who has taken his life and his honor in a different path is a strong story.  How he went from prestigious lawyer to ambulance chaser is a warning to all of us.

#4.  The Color of Money.  Not my favorite Tom Cruise movie, but I do like how we see Newman as a pool hustler, Fast Eddie Felson, returning from his iconic role in The Hustler.  Fast Eddie has become the old, wise mentor looking to pass his skill on to the younger one in Cruise.  This was a Martin Scorsese film as well.

#3.  The Hustler.  Fast Eddie’s first appearance.  The story of a pool player who crashed and burned, losing all his money only to try to redeem himself.  What a cast this film had with Jackie Gleeson as Minnesota Fats, Piper Laurie and George C. Scott as well.

#2.  The Sting.  When you matched up Paul Newman with Robert Redford, you got magic.  This was one example. The pair got together to try and recoop loses in cards games with some real dangerous people, including crime lord Lonnegan played by Richard Shaw.

#1.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Another team up between Newman and Redford, creating some of the most iconic scenes of any movie.  The crooks on the run story was able to truly show off the skills of its two main leads.  This is based on two real life characters.

Looking at the list of movies Paul Newman starred in, it surprised me how few of the movies I had actually seen.  I know some by name, such as Cool Hand Luke and The Drowning Pool, but I have never seen them, or, if I had seen them, it was so long ago that I do not remember.  This would be a hole in my game if I were ever involved in the Schmoedown.

It is 2018 and this is the first Top Ten Show with a list for the year.  In honor of the release of this weekend’s Commuter, John Rocha and Matt Knost came up with a Top Ten List for Best Liam Neeson movies.

Good news.  I feel more confident in my own list here than I was with Clint Eastwood.  I was able to come up with over ten Liam Neeson movies that I actually have seen and liked which makes it considerably more interesting for me.

So, here are the Top Ten Liam Neeson movies at EYG.

#10.  Run All Night.  This one has fallen into Liam Neeson’s ballpark- that is a father who is out trying to save a child from a dangerous world.  In this case, Liam is a former hitman whose estranged son Mike wound up involved in the death of Liam’s former mob boss friend’s son.  There was a really nice chemistry between Liam Neeson and Joel Kinnaman as estranged father and son.  And Liam Neeson is always a kick ass.

#9.  Non-Stop. This is now Liam Neeson, kick ass stud, on a plane.  This time, Liam plays an air marshal and a villain is texting him saying that if they do not wire him millions of dollars, he would start killing passengers every 20 minutes.  Liam has to find out who this nutbag is and how he is pulling off his threat.

#8.  Rob Roy.  I haven’t seen this one in years.  My memories were that I enjoyed it.  However, I know that it came up on today’s Top Ten Show and it received some shade from John and Matt.  This could be a situation where my memory is not as clear as what I recall.  From what I recall, I liked Rob Roy.

#7.  Darkman.  I am putting it at number 7 just like the Top Ten boys.  This was a really fun “super hero” movie prior to the outbreak of the current genre.  Co-written and directed by Sam Raimi, Darkman is a fun and exciting hero in a story that can be very dark.

#6.  A Walk Among Tombstones. This one was a real surprise.  I had gotten tired of the “Liam Neeson” type of film that had populated the last several years, especially the Taken sequels, and then this came along where he was an unlicensed private investigator, a former police officer who had a tragic event in his past.  As he is working the next case, he was making it clear that he was willing to do what it took.  This was a great surprise of a film.

#5.  The Lego Movie.  The first movie on this list where Liam Neeson provides his vocal talent is the Lego Movie.  He may not have as big of a role in the film, but his performance as Bad Cop/Good Cop was one of the film’s greatest characters.  The Lego Movie was one of the best films of that year.

#4.  A Monster Calls.  Here is the other film on this list where Liam Neeson provided voice work.  Here he is the giant tree that tries to teach the lessons to the young boy in a movie that is a devastating tear jerker.  And he did it without ever saying “I am Groot.”  His voice performance was beautifully done and the movie is woefully underrated.

#3.  Batman Begins.  Liam Neeson was the main villain in the first Batman movie after Batman and Robin nearly killed the genre.  And he was fantastic.  Ra’s Al Ghoul was one of Batman’s lesser villains to the rest of the world, but the avid comic fans knew who he was and we were extremely excited to see him in Gotham.  Neeson was great here and set the stage for one of the great films in comic book history.  Batman Begins is damn good in its own right.

#2.  Taken.  I wasn’t sure where this movie would fall, because the fact is that the subsequent sequels to this film were atrocious.  I know it is not fair to hold the original to bear for the sequels, but, being honest, there is a downward trajectory when I think about Taken because Taken 2 & 3 were so bad.  However, as I thought about the list more and more, I tried to think back to how much fun and enjoyment Taken brought me.  I really loved that first film.  And I did not think I would.  Plus, there is an iconic line delivered by Liam Neeson that everyone in the world knows.  It goes like this: But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you. Ah…epic!

#1. Schlinder’s List.  What else was going to be here?  I just saw this movie at the end of 2017 and it was haunting… beautiful… traumatic… masterful.  I absolutely loved the film despite having to then rock myself to sleep in the corner.  The black and white.  The splash of red here and there.  The amazing performances.  I was sobbing through the whole thing.  It was a masterpiece of cinema.  And easily Liam Neeson’s greatest performance and movie.  When he found that gold medal that could have saved a few more lives and he broke down in tears, it ripped out what remaining heart I had.  Just an amazingly emotional film of a horrible time of the world.