I love xmas. In addition to it being the best time of the year, it’s also the time I get to crank up my xmas playlist. My Top 5 xmas songs certainly aren’t traditional, but they are AWESOME.

#5 – Plain White T’s – “Season of a Lifetime”

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#4 – Saosin – “Mookie’s Last Christmas”

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#3 – Unwritten Law feat. Sum 41 – Unwritten Christmas”

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#2 – Eve 6 – “First Noel (I Like Christmas)”

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#1 – Blues Traveler – “Christmas”

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#5 – Jack Shephard

Wikipedia summary: “A neurosurgeon with father issues, Jack is the survivors’ leader. He has feelings for Kate. After escaping the island, he ends up in a relationship with Kate but after a dramatic breakup he becomes drug-addicted and suicidal because he longs to return to the island to save everyone left behind, and return to his relationship with Kate. He returns to the island and appears in 1977 with Kate and Hurley, and they all join the Dharma Initiative.”

My thoughts: As the hero and the leader early on, Jack had the potential to be the best character. He was determined to a fault and it was admirable. The problem with Jack is that he’s so contradictory. For someone so determined and brave, he was often a coward when it came to Kate. He also suffered from the most unsympathetic, to me, of all the character flaws. He had a huge drinking and drug problem, and it was all to escape that which pained him. For a character that’s depicted as being so brave, falling into that world is an incredibly cowardly path. If it was something that came up in his past, like Charlie, it wouldn’t have mattered as much, but we saw how much he crumbled after initially returning from the island. In the 5th season, he seems to have gained some of the faith that Locke had been trying to push on him for so long and has emerged as a leader again, but at this point his character is motivated much more by helping himself than others.

#4 – John Locke

Wikipedia summary: “After having his paralysis healed during the crash, Locke lives out his dreams of becoming a hunter on the Island. John Locke is also the name of a philosopher. Being a man of faith, he believes he has a special connection with the island, leading him to clash with man-of-science Jack. Having been “chosen,” Locke becomes the leader of the Others at the end of the fourth season. Locke is eventually murdered by Ben shortly after leaving the island. When most of the “Oceanic Six” survivors return to the island, they transport Locke’s body with them. Locke apparently returns to life, but this is revealed to be a deception; Locke is still dead, and the individual in Locke’s form is actually Jacob’s rival.”

My thoughts: In the first few seasons, Locke was a very likable character. He felt like the “wise old sage” that seemed to have the experience and story to fit any problem anyone was having. His connection to the island through his regained ability to walk and his dreams was the first big sign that this place was something much more than a normal island. He also has a huge set of survival skills along with the ability to turn badass at the drop of a hat. While this stuff is all cool, having it paired with such a tragic background really made Locke stand out. I found myself cheering for him at every turn and hoping he would succeed with whatever he attempted. He would be higher up on the list, but I found that after the introduction of Ben and The Others his character started to take a turn for the worst and I just wasn’t cheering for him as much.

#3 – Daniel Faraday

Wikipedia summary: “Faraday is a physicist hired to go to the Island by Charles Widmore. He initially claims to have intentions to save the 815 crash survivors, but this proves to be untrue. Daniel is connected to Desmond in several ways – Desmond visits him at Oxford during a flashback in time. Later, when John moves the island, Daniel travels back in time and visits Desmond in the hatch, to tell him how to save the island. Even though he initially lied about his intent to save the survivors, Daniel ends up ferrying several of them, including Sun and Jin, to the Kahana. He is the son of Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore. He is shot and killed by his mother in the season 5 episode The Variable.”

My thoughts: Donatello was my favorite ninja turtle. I like smart characters, always have, and Faraday’s brilliant. Not only is he intelligent, but he’s just plain likable. He’s the first of Widmore’s group to really trust anyone on the island. While the audience is led to believe he might have bad intentions, it turns out he’s always just been trying to help out. One thing that I find particularly interesting is his connection to Desmond. He even jots down in his journal that Desmond is his “constant.” This becomes even more interesting when we learn that unknown to him or her, Daniel is actually Penny’s brother (or half-brother, they weren’t that obvious yet).

#2 – Mr. Eko

Wikipedia summary: “Mr. Eko is a former Nigerian drug lord turned priest who crashes on the island with the tail section survivors. For the first 40 days, he does not speak. Upon joining the fuselage survivors’ camp, Eko becomes part of the group involved in pressing a button in a hatch. He begins building a church on the island with Charlie, but this is abandoned when he becomes obsessed with the hatch and the button within. Eko is haunted by visions of his brother, who died in Nigeria and whose body was on a plane that crashed on the island before Eko’s arrival. These visions lead Eko and John to discover another Dharma station. Eko meets the smoke monster on more than one occasion in the Island’s forests, and is eventually killed by it.”

My thoughts: Mr. Eko is awesome. Sure, he might start off with one of the most evil back stories out of anyone, but for some reason it becomes more acceptable when you see how he went down that path in the first place. There’s always something interesting about someone on a mission of redemption as Eko decides to become a priest and swing his life in the other direction entirely. Like Locke, Mr. Eko has a mysticism about him, being one of the few characters that truly connects with the island on a spiritual level. Also like Locke, he can become a total badass when the situation calls for it. I was annoyed more by his death than anyone’s because it felt very unnecessary.

#1 – Desmond Hume

Wikipedia summary: “Desmond, a former monk and member of the Royal Scots Regiment, undertakes a boat race around the world after splitting with his girlfriend Penelope Widmore. He shipwrecks on the island while on this race, and he lives in a hatch for three years, pressing a button every 108 minutes. One day he neglects to push the button, and on this day Flight 815 crashes. The survivors find the hatch and blow it open, and when they take over pushing the button he attempts (unsuccessfully) to escape the island. After he returns to the island, he moves in with the crash survivors. At the start of the third season, Desmond starts seeing flashes of future events, most of them being about Charlie’s death. Later, he experiences flashes into the past. He escapes the Island with the Oceanic Six at the end of season four and is reunited with his girlfriend, Penny. They are married and have a baby boy named Charlie. Desmond has various meetings with Eloise Hawking who urges him not to marry Penny Widmore. He later finds out she is Daniel Faraday’s mother, locates her through Charles Widmore, and visits her at the Lamppost.”

My thoughts: I simply find Desmond to be the most charismatic and interesting character on the show. He has so many things going on between being in the hatch for so long, having visions of the future, time travelling, and his constant mission to reunite with Penny. Compared with so many of the other characters, he also seems to be one of the few that doesn’t have any huge character flaws. If anything, his worst is that he trusted Eloise and thought he had a destiny to follow. Desmond is also fascinating because it feels like his is the only character without any true, set destiny. This gives him the most potential to create change, as was backed up by Faraday. I’m curious to see what role he will play in the final season. I also have a feeling “brotha” might become part of my regular speech pattern.

My gaming guilty pleasure: Kingdom Hearts…those games RULE!!

By Rick K
February 28, 2009
Source: Cracked

Life is a relentless parade of horrors. Adults try to shield the kiddies from that fact, but every year animated film studios work hard to make sure the real world comes crashing in on little Timmy years ahead of schedule.

Want proof? How about…

#10. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

The plot:
A family of raccoons, forced from their home by evil construction workers, take a stand to reclaim their homeland …

Why it scarred us:
… using their magical raccoon testicles.

MAGICAL

RACCOON

TESTICLES.

WHERE IS YOUR GOD, NOW?

How it could have been worse:
Although us narrow-minded Westerners may have issues about our kids watching racoons bludgeon construction workers with their massive genitals, this kind of thing is pretty much par for the course in Japan. “Tankui” as the anatomically-improbable monsters are known, are traditional Japanese folklore creatures. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the Japanese version of Davy Crockett wears a coonskin cap made entirely of scrotum.

Come on, it’s Japanese. What did you expect? It’s probably from the fine people who brought us such abominations as catgirl fetishes, tentacle rape and the transformers. This type of film would never be distributed by a major film company in the United States.

Oh, wait. It was distributed in the United States by the Walt Disney Pictures.

You see, Disney, in their ongoing quest to release other talented filmmakers’ movies so that they don’t have to make their own, signed a very generous distribution deal with Studio Ghibli, a popular Japanese animation studio. As part of the deal, Disney agreed to release all of the studio’s upcoming films uncut, unedited, and, evidently, unneutered.

Although, we have to applaud Disney for going ahead with this deal. Attatching your family-friendly name to something that you haven’t even seen is the kind of decision that requires huge … amounts of courage.

Article courtesy of Mania.com: http://www.mania.com/10-animated-movies-for-traumatizing-kids_article_113393.html

#10 – Missy Peregrym – “Reaper”

#9 – Eliza Dushku – “Dollhouse”

#8 – Erica Durance – “Smallville”

#7 – Barbie Blank aka Kelly Kelly – “WWE RAW”

#6 – Ali Larter – “Heroes”

#5 – Danneel Harris – “One Tree Hill”

#4 – Bridget Regan – “Legend of the Seeker”

#3 – Katherine Heigl – “Grey’s Anatomy”

#2 – Sophia Bush – “One Tree Hill”

#1 – Emmanuelle Vaugier – “CSI:NY”

9. Max Payne - You may disagree, and that’s fine. I’ll admit that this is almost a purely nostalgic pick for me. I spent a lot of time playing both these games in college as did my suite mates. That being said I thought it was one of the best video game to movie translations I’ve ever seen.

8. Vantage Point - If you’re a fan of different film styles and methods of story telling, you have to like this movie. I’ve heard complaints from people that “it’s the same thing over and over”. To me, that’s what makes it interesting! Piecing together a puzzle by catching pieces of the same story from different perspectives is brilliant, and in this movie it was well done.

7. The Bank Job - Again, the “outsmarting” thing. And who doesn’t like a good heist movie? Seriously? Add to it that it’s based on a true story and you’ve got yourself a winner.

6. The Wrestler - Probably a movie people would have expected me to rank higher. There’s no doubt that Mickey Rourke’s performance was unbelievable. There was also something very surreal about watching the wrestlers in the back room getting ready and post match, scenes I encounter constantly. I think the conclusion just left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, but I won’t ruin it for those who haven’t seen it.

5. The Incredible Hulk - “Rob, how could you rank this above The Wrestler?” It may not have been a better movie from a cinematic perspective, but I honestly enjoyed it more. I love the feeling of watching the Hulk scream with rage and tear things apart. It taps into a primal part of me and gets me pumped up.

4. Slumdog Millionaire - Wow. This movie is not only great, it’s an achievement all its own. The story is amazing, the director pieced it together fantastically, and in a way it’s a “real world” fairy tale. There’s an incredible attachment built to the characters that few films seem to achieve anymore.

3. Wall-E - I was amazed watching this movie. I remember thinking how challenging it is to create something so expressive with virtually no dialogue to fall back on. The characters were lovable, the story is classic, and the animation was superb.

2. The Dark Knight - Not #1? Big surprise #2 I suppose. Yes, I am a HUGE Batman fan, and that might be the downfall for me with this movie. My biggest complaint…not enough Batman. The depictions of the Joker and Two-Face were indeed great, don’t get me wrong. It could also be said that the best way to understand Batman is to look at his villains and how he relates to them, but I would still argue that overall Batman Begins was a better movie.

1. Iron Man - For me, it’s important that a good movie be one that can be watched and enjoyed again and again. I still enjoy Iron Man just as much as I did the first time I saw it. Great casting of Tony Stark. Great story that holds true to the source material. Great special effects and great action. All these elements make up the best movie of 2008.

Honorable mentions that I would still recommend:

Kung Fu Panda, Never Back Down, Bolt, Wanted, The Spirit (warning: pulp comic fans only!)

Huge Let-downs:

Be Kind Rewind, Hancock, Step Brothers

#10 – Our Lady Peace – Thief

Why is it on the list?

For me, Our Lady Peace is the greatest band ever, so you had to know they were going to make the list eventually. Unfortunately, the quality of their videos has never been stellar with the exception of Thief. The video may seem to be tedious, but it’s the simplicity that does it for me. The mood of the song is captured flawlessly.

#9 – Stabbing Westward – Save Yourself

Why is it on the list?
Stabbing Westward is a great band that should have never broken up. They got me through a lot in the 90′s. I wanted so badly to be Chris Hall screaming into that vintage hanging mic. Visuals like that are what put this video in the 9 spot.

#8 -Powerman 5000 – When Worlds Collide

Why is it on the list?
Powerman 5000 is simply put…”fun rock”. So if you’re going to be fun, go all the way with it. Let’s make a music video on a spaceship in cool industrial gear. While we’re at it, let’s have Spider One blast an alien emperor with cheesy looking laser beams while he’s singing. Sheer brilliance.

#7 – Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity

Why is it on the list?
While I like the song, in comparison to the others on the list it’s nowhere near as good. So how did it make it? The video…this one’s all about the video. It’s almost hypnotic to watch. When making the list, it was one that just popped into my head and couldn’t be left out. It’s just far too creative and executed so well. Who knew a moving floor was capable of so much?

#6 – Guns N’ Roses – November Rain

Why is it on the list?
This video is friggin epic. Guns N’ Roses had a lot to offer in the form of videos back when MTV was still ruled by rock and roll. This was the best of those offerings. It’s got everything from a cool story, to Stephanie Seymour, to Slash cranking out a solo in front of the church (argueably the most badass scene in a music video ever). The better question is, how could it NOT make the list?

#5 – The Offspring – Gone Away

Why is it on the list?
I can’t totally explain it. Whenever I’ve thought about what videos I really like this one always seems to pop into my head. Maybe it’s the song. Maybe it’s a nostalgia thing. Maybe it’s the imagery of the swinging orb of a lightbulb casting shadows along the walls, or maybe it’s simply a predilection for hanging microphones.

#4 – KoRn – Freak on a Leash

Why is it on the list?
Bullets busting through shit looks cool…really cool. KoRn playing in a room lit by bullet holes in the walls…really cool. Intro and outro animations by “Spawn” creator Todd MacFarlane…insanely cool. There’s simply nothing “un-cool” about this video. (additional coolness: The ending of this video flows directly into the beginning of KoRn’s video for “Falling Away From Me”, which I’ve included as well to illustrate this point)

#3 – Disturbed – Land of Confusion

Why is it on the list?
Easily one of the best cover songs I’ve ever heard. (the original was by “Genesis” if you’re that out of it) This video should feature familiar-looking animation if you’ve been following along. Todd MacFarlane makes a 2nd appearance on the top ten as the animator of this masterpiece. There are so many subtleties to notice when he does something. For instance, the “S” paper getting blown into “the disturbed one” at the appropriate moment. Also, notice how the Nazi-like logo is a modification of a dollar sign. It actually glows green at one point when the fat man puffs his cigar. After watching this, don’t you just want to riot? How has that not happened yet?

#2 – Goo Goo Dolls – Iris

Why is it on the list?
This is the song and video that caused me to both take a guitar class and add blonde highlights to my hair in college. For me, it’s one of the most beautiful songs ever written combined with a beautifully made video. Every time I listen to the song now, I feel like I’m the one in the tower looking down on a world that doesn’t notice me. The familiarity is almost creepy…

#1 – Pearl Jam – Do The Evolution

Why is it on the list?
Is it really a surprise that 3 of the 10 videos on this countdown featured cartoons? It shouldn’t be. This one is also done by Todd MacFarlane, although this was his first and best venture into the music video realm. The transitions are flawless and the overall message conveyed by the video matches the song perfectly. If you pay attention, you’ll also quickly see a Yield sign making a nod to the album cover towards the end. It’s that creativity and attention to detail that makes this our 1.