Top Ten – The Fives
Business end of the stick now. The final countdown. Insert other momentus cliche here.
Once you hit five you realise that there are only a few places left, four to be exact. Order and placement must be exact in this end of the deal, there are no take backs. Where they end up is where they lie, and you don’t want to look back and regret not switching anything around at the last minute. typing through the nerves can be a task, but you must press on. You must. And I did.
Top Ten Movies
5. Army Of Darkness – Oh that’s just what we call pillow talk, baby, that’s all.
This is the guilty pleasure of my list, except for the fact that I feel no guilt for it at all. The Evil Dead is one of the best horror movies made in an era where video nasties were a dime a dozen. Most nasties have long been forgotten, but The Evil Dead stands up as one that was well made, and bloody well acted too. Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn is the weak link in the trilogy, but still watchable nonetheless. But when the saga was rounded out with this instalment it made me the happiest 11 year old you had ever seen. This movie has everything! Ash schticking it up as usual, mini-Ash’s delivering a Three Stooges worthy performance, and Deadite Ash getting down and nasty. It’s all very silly fare, but delivered so well that I will forever hold a place in my heart for it. It was the first movie I ever watched on my own VHS player and then it was the first DVD I ever owned. As soon as Sam Raimi was mentioned as a possibility for Spider-Man I knew he could do it. Any man who can make an army of skeletons threatening, funny and downright awesome all at once knows how to deal with a guy in spandex who fights villains modelled on octopi, vultures, rhinos, gibbons and sand.
Top Ten TV Shows
5. Tales From The Crypt
As a teenager I used to stay up till 3 in the morning on school nights just to watch this, and it was worth every hour of sleep lost and every time I then got tired and cranky at school. Each episode was just a new creature, not only new actors and directors, but a whole new style. I loved the premise of the show, an horrific anthology show that was adapting the comics from the 50’s. They kept the story titles, and sometimes basic premises and then just took them to an updated level. The gore, the sex, the laughs, it was all perfect for a young kid discovering new horror on his own. I loved that Zemeckis, Hill, Silver, Giler and Donner (all names in their own rights, with some awesome movies to their credits) got together and just decided to bring this back; a quality choice. The Crypt Keeper himself was wonderfully done and perfectly in theme with the old comic. There are so many episodes that are so enjoyable to watch. This was a great anthology show that equally matched up to the great comic it was leaning on.
Top Ten Books
5. In The Skin Of A Lion – Michael Ondaatje
I read this book for Year 12 English. It wasn’t until my final exam was over that I reread it and realised how much I liked it. The structure is fantastic and the characters are all so well developed and used. This is the sort of book that immediately inspires wanky reviews that discuss the rich tapestry of the setting and character meeting to create more than just words, they create a dream. I agree with that, but would never say it that way. I like that the story is being told to a girl on a long drive, so through this the story is allowed to meander and weave in and out of different sections. It was a clever way to allow for different story telling, not everyone talking to someone else about their life would remember everything in order and perfect detail. I love how it all fits together the further you go in. This is one book where so many little things have stuck with me over the years; getting the warmth from the cows ear, being stained at the tannery, a nun falling of a bridge, a man painting himself the same colour as a building so as to have his escape go undetected. Such wonderful little ideas that thankfully built into a larger whole.
Top Ten Comic Books
5. Y: The Last Man
This is such a simple idea just executed so well. There are elements that are a little crazy, but the ease with which Brian K Vaughan makes them seem just is awesome to read. Every man on Earth is dead, every man except for one, Yorick, and his pet monkey, Ampersand. Their journey through an all female populated world is eye opening. Yorick has heaps of great one liners, but he also shows some really mature moments. I like the way Vaughan describes it, it’s the story of the world’s last boy becoming the world’s last man. To see Yorick trek across the country looking for his true love, in Australia, and where he ends up, and in the sorts of situations he ends up, is so much fun. I could see me sitting down and reading all ten trades again in a few years and just loving them still.
Top Ten Songs
5. The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash – Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still
The first time I heard this song, on the opening credits of the Dawn of the Dead remake I just new it was a song for me. The song matched the zombie tone of the flick so well, but is its own masterpiece entirely. The lyrics are very well written, with a lot of obscure Biblical references. Cash’s voice is perfect for this song, you couldn’t imagine many, if any, other people singing it. It’s got such a simple tune, but one that when you hear it you know what you are listening to. It’s a song worth listening to completely, every word, every line, everything.
Only four to go. Not much room to fuck around at all.
Posted on March 16th, 2008 by ryan
Filed under: books, comics, life, movies, music
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