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…
Author: Dustin Koski
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…
“The best movie you’ll ever see will never be made. It will exist only in your mind.” (James Cameron) That fake quote from Cameron makes a relevant point about trailers, and is very appropriate since this is an article about fakes. A great trailer can sometimes promise an unbelievable movie that the actual full film…
Obviously, soldiers have amongst the most dangerous jobs in the world. When it’s not the enemy, friendly fire, weather, or disease that gets them, their commanding officers step in to endanger them through stupidity. Now imagine being one of the soldiers under the commanders who ordered things this stupid: 10. Build Those Defenses… Backwards! The…
Ever since the first American woman said “I deserve a right to vote,” we knew there was trouble coming. And guess what? From the available trends and data, it looks like we are looking at a future where American women as a whole have it better than American men. Even though it’s kind of un-American…
After you’ve listened to a song often enough that you can sing the whole thing karaoke –style without a screen assist (and make it even more embarrassing when you screw it up), you can either move on to new music or try to approach it in a new way. Since we can all happily laugh…
The first commercially screened movie was Workers Leaving the Factory, and it was… workers leaving a factory. With competition like that, and in the notoriously repressive nature of Elizabethan times, you probably expect the early movies to all be dull and predictable. Don’t you believe it. In the days before censors, focus groups, or rules…
As we can see from our list on the Strangest Monarchs, leaders can be pretty darn entertaining when they lose their ever-loving minds and just start with the power abuse and quirky behavior. But the things people will do on their way to power can often be good too. Here is a list of the…
Everyone’s heard the clichés about how anime is weird. Robots, magical girls, random fourth wall breaking events, ridiculous gore in the middle of stuff meant for kids, you get the idea. But very often, the creators of these shows and movies can be expected to do some really mad stuff. And if they’re not up…
If you’re anything like us me, your first, greatest concern when you wake up every afternoon is “will something very unpleasant happen to my genitals?” Then we move on to career, finances, family, meaning of life and all that. We like to think celebrities are often the same way. If there’s anything that unites the…
Life debts (owing one’s life to someone else) have been ingrained in our minds by pop culture behemoths from Star Wars to Harry Potter. Or at least we expect gratitude or some sort of glory or respect for it, especially if we risk our lives or livelihoods for another. But some people are capable of…
Many of us poor people have inevitably been within hearing range of someone who says “If I was really rich, I would ________.” Often it’s something intentionally wasteful or indulgent. Well, here are some rich people doing things that really will put whatever that wishful person could come up with to shame. 10. Bono Gets…