Spanish Castle Magic: Ranking the Harry Potter Films

Since Harry Potter is now nothing more than a beautiful memory, it's time to look back on the entire franchise. It was good run, with more ups than downs, billions of dollars in the bank, and countless imaginations captured. It's a series that defined a generation, and one that, I think, will be looked on twenty years from now with as much respect, admiration, and awe as Star Wars.
...
Ok, that's all well and good, but there's one thing prying on my mind. I know, for a fact, which Harry Potter film was the best, but where do the others rank? Which films lived up to the legacy of JK Rowling's rich, engrossing novels, and which one's squandered the material. Find out, after the jump.

Me And My Shameless Following

So, I was perusing the blog-o-sphere yesterday, reading some stuff on my blogroll, and I come across this post by one Vancetastic over at The Audient. The post in question concerned a site by the name of Flickchart, a place where people go to rank movies. Basically, you are shown two films, and forced to pick one, and all the answers are added up until you have a list of your favorite movies. I've only been at it for a day, and DAMN, is it addicting! Right now, there are 500 films on my list, but since listing off all of the them would take time that you and, especially, I don't have, I'll just you give the top twenty. The creme de la creme! The cream of the crop! The big kahunas, if you will!

1. Monster's Inc.: I'll bite... for now. It's a fun little Pixar film, though far from their best.  


2. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events: Uhhhhhhh... no!

3. Die Hard: Most badass action movie of all time cracks my top 5? Alright, I'll go with it.

4. 28 Days Later...: Even if it wasn't on some algorithm or whatever it is that powers the site, this one would probably be just as high on the list!

5. The Departed: Same story.

6. Sin City: Ok! Hella fun, visually awesome crime epic? I can live with that.


7. Closer: This film doesn't get the credit it deserves. Just sayin'...

8. The Dark Knight: I'd say this one's pretty obvious.

9. Citizen Kane: A bonafide classic and game changer.


10. Notting Hill: Not my favorite rom-com, but certainly a gem.


11. The 40-Year-Old Virgin: The coming out party of Judd Apatow and Steve Carrell! All around excellent!

12. Zombieland: Eh, why not?

13. The Godfather: This sure as hell ain't high enough on this list!

14. Pulp Fiction: Only 14? Tarantino would be insulted!

15. No Country For Old Men: Will be considered a classic in a couple years.

16. Toy Story 2: How sad is it that Monster's Inc. is at the tippy top, and this masterpiece is at number 16?

17. Little Miss Sunshine: Whatever...

18. The Empire Strikes Back: God, remember when George Lucas wasn't a hack?

19. Grindhouse: Was I the only one who saw this in theaters? Man, this was awesome!

20. Saving Private Ryan: Definitely deserves to be on this list somewhere.

27 Greatest Movies That Made Going to the Movies Suck - #4

What follows is my entry into an event that Mike Lippert over at You Talking To Me? is heading up. If you're in need of a refresher, here's the deal. We are counting down the 27 Greatest Movies That Made Going to the Movies Suck! The idea is that myself and my fellow film junkies would each pick a film that we love and write about how it has influenced the movie industry in a bad way, i.e: how a really good movie "inspires" directors to make cheap, soulless knockoffs of it. The countdown to the number one worst offender has been going steady all month. The film I have the privilege of writing about settles in nicely at number 4.

So, Pulp Fiction. It is a title that is synonymous with wit, absurdity, violence, vulgarity, and all around brilliance. A film this original, smart, and consistently entertaining only comes around every so often, and when it does, it ignites a firestorm of praise and mayhem! Quentin Tarantino's meisterverk did just that. Before Pulp Fiction, no one had really seen anything of the sort. Characters had never talked that way; events like that had never occured. Plots were a strictly linear affair, and changing it up and going back and forth in the timeline of the film was unheard of. The vulgarity was never so vulgar, the violence was never so violent, and the comedy was never so comic, as it was in Pulp Fiction. It proved to be uber popular, winning the Palme d'Or at that year's Cannes festival, raking in tons of cash, and winning the Best Original Screenplay oscar. It took the world by storm, which, depending on how you look at it, was a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, Tarantino had ushered in a new era of moviemaking, one that celebrated the conventions and reveled in prolonged, elaborate stories. On the other hand, it quickly became apparent, as various writers and directors attempted to emulate this style, that filmmakers like Tarantino were a rare breed. To this day, he is still the master of his craft. No one has come close to touching him.

"Do you know what divine intervention is?"

Quality Begats Tripe

Mike Lippert over at You Talking to Me? is hosting a little event. He gathered a bunch of bloggers, and together, we are counting down a list of the 27 Greatest Movies That Made Going to the Movies Suck! Each writer gets a top tier movie that is widely regarded as good, in some cases, excellent, and then writes about it and its bad influence on modern day cinema. The event started on May 2 and will go until the last entry, the write up on biggest culprit of them all, is posted on May 29. So far, articles discussing the legacies of It Happened One Night, Gladiator, Spider-Man, Trainspotting, Terminator 2, Toy Story, Deliverence, and a damn good write up on Scream have been put up. My film is ranked pretty high on the list, so you won't get to see my contribution until late in the game. Check it out. There's been some great stuff already, and more to come! Comment. Agree. Disagree. Be good little worker bees! See ya next time!