Author: Dustin Koski

Combining the inherent contradiction of “Warrior Buddhists” with the legendary grand scale of Chinese military history, Shaolin monks have gotten some very interesting stories associated with them since the emperor of China made the order official circa 496 A.D. Some of which are so interesting you just know they’re not quite true, but can’t resist…

We all know reading is good for the mind and for the soul, but many of us just don’t have the time to spend staring at a book for hours. Luckily, we have audiobooks, the adult equivalent of having your parents read to you before bedtime. here are ten great books to start you off on.

Earlier this week, in “celebration” of Left-Hander’s Day, we published a list explaining why it sucks to be left-handed. Proving that there are two sides to every story, here now is an ACTUAL celebration: ten reasons why the 10% of people born with a dominant left-hand should thank their lucky stars.

Short films made by students are usually quite horrible, usually due to the creators’ lack of experience and inability to properly judge what’s good and what’s bad. But sometimes, you get kids who know exactly what they’re doing, and produce awesome cinema as a result. Here are ten of the best to come out of the post-Y2K college generation.

Movies can feature some ridiculous crimes, featuring the most over-the-top, elaborately planned executions imaginable. And yet so often real life comes along and trumps it, with crimes so weird and off-the-wall that even Hollywood couldn’t think of them.

It seems a bit backward to think of there being a top ten sinkholes. These things are, at the end of the day, all about bottoms. Dragging whatever they can swallow down to nightmarish fates. So read on if you want to see just how flamboyantly the Earth can kill you without warning and also…

The public remains fascinated with seeing behind the scenes. Problem is that many of the special features you get on a disc or online are such dull puff pieces. These, however, are much more fascinating than cast and crew members sitting in a chair and delivering platitudes about their project. 10. Dangerous Days/Blade Runner While…

Lying gets a bad rap but, oftentimes, it can help keep life interesting. Lies can inspire people to greater heights of achievement, even as they often sink the liar to lower depths. Lies save more lives and livelihoods than you’d ever believe (trust us; we’d never lie about that.) So here’s to ten of those…

Ever since the Internet came into its own, the debate has raged over whether file-sharing is killing the entertainment industry. While some insist that those who pirate music or books are, in fact, the customers whom do the  most to drive up sales, others say that they’ve deprived the industry of billions over time. While…

Costume playing/live action roleplaying is an ever-expanding hobby and business. You’ve only got to look at some of the ads for this, and other sites, to see how true that is. However, while many sites enjoy showing off examples of people making subpar amateur costumes, or just calling them bad because the person in the…

Artwork drawn out of pure affection for some pop culture has a negative reputation, mainly being considered rank “amateur.” While it’s true that there are many that are more suitable for putting on a fridge than putting on public display through the internet, there are many amazing pieces out there at least as good as…

Fishing is often a great combination of manliness and meditation (Manitation? Sure, why not?)  It offers the best of getting in touch with nature, and the satisfaction of making a big catch.  And some of the best places to fish are located in Canada. With Canada’s well-earned reputation for high-quality fishing opportunities, TopTenz is confident…

In an era where a person like Nickelodeon’s Fred can make about $100,000 a year, thanks to videos that take longer to upload than they do to actually make, it seems positively quaint how, not so long ago, single movies would absorb years of people’s lives to make.  Sometimes the result would seem worth it but, oftentimes…

From July 1 to July 3, 1863, Gettysburg was the site of one of the largest battles of the American Civil War, the deadliest by a wide margin, and one that is widely considered the closest the South came to winning.  On top of that, on November 19, 1863, it was the location where Abraham…

Events such as the Sundance Film Festival, the Toronto Film Festival, and the Cannes Film Festival cast huge shadows over the movie industry.  In the case of Sundance, this has led to numerous complaints about the festival more or less betraying its roots as an opportunity to experience independent, or “indie”, movies.  But numerous opportunities…

When not scratching doors, yowling, making hairballs, or biting, cats can be neat and cute pets.  Problem is, they usually don’t want to.  However, when they choose to, the resulting stories can be worth all of the scratches, yowls, etc.  Well, maybe not ALL of them, but certainly a good percentage. 10.  The Cat Super…

Imagine being embarrassed or betrayed in your relationship, by the person whom you’ve confided your most intimate self to, to whom you are devoting what is meant to be a meaningful fraction of your life.  It is a prospect so terrifying, that millions of people all over the world don’t dare even approach another person…

As we demonstrated here, the writers of Toptenz appreciate a good movie monster. But we also appreciate a really bad movie monster. Not just a lazily made, overdone monster like the sharks from any number of Jaws ripoffs or some SyFy original movie. These are hilarious creatures that were truly deranged in design or execution…

Documentaries are probably the most unappreciated film genre, even as the viewing public seems increasingly enamored with every flavor of reality television. Even worse is when high profile, rabble-rousing pieces from people like Michael Moore or Al Gore discredit documentaries as a whole and steal publicity from smaller, more honest, and more interesting movies.  This…

Standards for gaming are growing exponentially. We’re past the level of graphics that are as good as reality.  We’re past the point where plots, humor, and characterization can only be “as good” as movies, as demonstrated with games like Portal 2, Bioshock 1 & 2, Team Fortress 2, and Skyrim.  But there’s still a lot…

Anyone who has ever watched some cheesy B-movie on SyFy, or some aspiring college kid’s weird and stilted little video, probably never would have thought anything would come of the directors responsible for those.  Well, as we’ll see, perhaps these now-famous directors shouldn’t be written off so quickly. 10. Bedhead (Robert Rodriguez) From the creator…

We’ve all achieved something in our lives, and some of these feats are quite amazing. Just today, for example, TopTenz sent this page to hundreds of millions of homes, and made billions of people happy when they read it aloud for the amusement of friends and family.  If you aren’t doing that now, by the…

Today, for many of us, King has become less a human being than a source of quotes and a saint.  This will not do.   A pedestal is no place to put a great man’s legacy.  So this tribute is intended to not be as sanctimonious as most of those for King have become. 10. King…

Academic books and essays about movies use lofty phrases and multi-layered interpretations to make the fact the authors have watched movies too many times seem like an insightful and meaningful practice. Anyone who has spent much time on a movie set realizes that’s usually giving filmmakers a bit too much credit. In fact, as we’ll…