Listosaurus Rex

The guys over at filmschoolrejects.com have put together a list of the twenty films to most look forward to this year.

Here is their top ten:

1. The Dark Knight
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
3. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
4. Iron Man
5. Cloverfield
6. Wall-E
7. Star Trek
8. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
9. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
10. Hellboy II: The Golden Army

They would have been mad not to put The Dark Knight, sequel to the phenomenal Batman Begins and featuring a psychotic-looking Heath Ledger as Joker, at #1, even though I don’t think it will be the best movie of the year. Nope, I think his #6 pick, Wall-E, Pixar’s next movie, will be the best movie of the year. I am somewhat of a Pixar fan boy, mind you, but I really think Wall-E will be their magnum opus. Pixar’s other movies feature creative and touching scenarios — toys that can talk and have their own little world, a rat that is really a great chef, a lonely clownfish losing his son in the vast ocean, a former superhero going through a middle-age crisis — but Wall-E tops them all: The last robot on Earth is spending eternity at Earth in a junk yard, crushing metal into cubes, before he’s greeted by some extra-terrestrial visitors.

Back to the list: The world is certainly looking forward to the fourth Indiana Jones movie, as the first three are some of the most exciting films ever made. Rumor has it that this one will have more of a campy sci-fi feel to it than previous ones, which should make for some spectacular visuals and exciting cinema.

After that, though, it quickly becomes obvious that 2008 will not be full of as many high-profile sequels as last year. Though this makes the headlines a little bit less exciting, I’m ready for this change. I want to fall in love with a movie I have little expectation for, rather than be constantly disappointed by a movie not living up to the original. Rarely are blockbuster sequels better than the originals. Terminator 2, The Empire Strikes Back, Spider-Man 2, that’s about it.

Iron Man looks to be an excellent Marvel super-hero movie, with one of the coolest trailers around. Cloverfield aims at being this year’s Blair Witch Project, except scarier and deeper. Stoner comedy stars Harold and Kumar need another good movie after their first one was such a hit. Hellboy, work of visual maestro Guillermo del Toro, was decent, and looks to up the ante this time around. The first Chronicles of Narnia was a respectable cinematic translation of the classic children’s book series, but nothing to write home about.

Two movies on the top ten I’m particularly curious about are Star Trek and Zack and Miri. With plenty of franchises seeing grittier, darker, more character-based rebirths (Batman, Bond), it’ll be interesting to see how this Star Trek movie plays out. It could have the potential to convert a lot of casual viewers to the historically nerd-based world of Star Trek.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno, despite its off-setting name, has the potential to be an awkward but warm comedy from director Kevin Smith of Clerks fame. It’s about two people who decide to set up an adult film studio together. I get the feeling it’s going to be something like Little Miss Sunshine but with fewer characters and less cross-country VW Bus riding.

But this is the sort of year when a dark horse could pop out of nowhere and be the big hit of the year, thanks to the lack of big-name sequels headed our way.

What movies are you most looking forward to this year?

Don’t forget to check out the original list, he’s got plenty of good stuff to say.

ThePhoenix.net, a news site, has selected the 20 Greatest Bosses in Video Games, which includes computer games along with all consoles.

Game bosses are a crucial part of video games. Often singlehandedly, they separate the good from the great and the great from the best ever. A great final boss and ending can lift an otherwise mediocre game to memorable status, while an anticlimactic final showdown can demote a good game to soon-to-be-forgotten.

This list is poorly designed, requiring you to click through twenty slow-loading, ad-bloated pages to view every entry. So here is the complete list in a much easier to view format.

1. Shodan - System Shock 2 (PC)
2. Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII (PS)
3. Bowser - Mario games (various consoles)
4. Mother Brain - Super Metroid (SNES)
5. Mike Tyson - Punch Out! (NES)
6. (tie) Don Lechuck - Secret of Monkey Island (PC)
   Purple Tentacle - Day of the Tentacle (PC)
7. Abobo - Double Dragon (NES)
8. The Colossi - Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
9. Red Falcon - Contra (NES)
10. Ganondorf - Zelda games (various consoles)
11. ‘Bark at the Moon’ - Guitar Hero (PS2)
12. Foxhound - Metal Gear Solid (PS)
13. The Cyberdemon - Doom (PC)
14. Vega - Street Fighter II (various consoles)
15. Hitler - Wolfenstein 3D (PC)
16. Metalman - Mega Man 2 (NES)
17. The Hydra - God of War (PS2)
18. Goro - Mortal Kombat (various consoles)
19. Shredder - TMNT games (NES and SNES)
20. Dr. Robotnik - Sonic games (Sega Genesis)

I have quite mixed feelings about this list. I’ve never played System Shock 2, but I’ve seen the ending on YouTube, and if anyone is going to beat Sephiroth for the top slot, Shodan is a good pick. She’s the HAL of video games, a reflection on the impossibility of perfection and the importance of warmth and soul in the world.

And yet, there will never be a greater boss, in my opinion, than Sephiroth. His connection to Cloud, main protagonist, is dark and chilling, he famously kills Aeris, the most lovable character in the game, halfway through the game, and finally faces Cloud and crew in an unforgettable, apocalyptic showdown at the end of the game.

Bowser is the boss archetype, and is a necessary inclusion. I like his spot at #3.

I also think Mother Brain at #4 is a great inclusion. Super Metroid featured such a minimalist plot, but the conclusion was nothing short of epic and tear-jerking, especially with the gutsy move of forcing the player to lose to Mother Brain.

Mike Tyson at #5 is also a great pick. He’s killer-hard to beat and there’s a sense of ultimate around him, making it a satisfying accomplishment to tackle him. It sort of makes me wish that Michael Jordan from the original NBA Street would have gotten a mention, because I felt the same way about him as a sweet final boss in a sports game.

After the Top 5, the list starts to lose steam. Though I haven’t played some of these games, I’ve also never heard a lot of the bosses mentioned among memorable bosses.

I’m glad to see Hitler from Wolfenstein 3D included, though. Let me tell you, after going through an entire game hunting down Nazis in giant dungeons and labyrinths, it was darn satisfying to face Hitler in a robot suit as the final encounter. He was no piece of cake, either.

One odd choice is Guitar Hero song ‘Bark at the Moon.’ I like the concept of having a Guitar Hero song as a “boss” of sorts, but I think Free Bird from GH2 would have been a better pick, and also not as high up.

I think this list is a bit too modern-weighted. I would have loved to see Odd-Eye or Zeon from personal favorite Shining Force II (Genesis), and certainly Kefka from Final Fantasy VI (aka III on SNES) is a notch above the likes of Goro, Metalman, and Vega. Isn’t Psycho Mantis a more notorious boss from Metal Gear Solid?

I also think there aren’t enough RPG bosses here. No genre has mastered the epic, sinister, and difficult (all three important traits for a boss) quite like the RPG.

The mini-articles that accompany each boss are interesting, but not all that great. Overall, I was a bit disappointed by this list because the execution does not live up to the excellent concept for the list. Though it has pretty decent picks, its design and writing are a bit lacking.