A view into Marcus: Top Tens

A View into Marcus - Top Ten lists
Posted by Marcus

Truth be told, I'm not really the "bare your soul" type. From my perspective, baring your soul is like stripping in front of someone. There are certain people that you can be half naked in front of, and completely naked in front of. The audience that reads my blog, truth be told, is neither. However, because I love people who read my blog, I am going to give some insight into my tastes. Here's a few top ten lists.


Favorite Movies.

10. Saving Private Ryan - One gripe I have with war movies like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket is that they ham-fistedly try to shove the hippie idea of war turning everyone into monsters down your throat. This movie doesn't do that. It portrays soldiers as real people in a rough situation, and you get to see how they work through it. It's Spielberg's second best movie, easy.

9. Predator - Good luck trying to find a sci-fi movie based in the real world with a concept as good as this one. The idea of taking humans in their deadliest form, and having something not of this world hunt them like deer is a great concept, tied with suspense and horror that are filmed so well that you wonder why horror movie directors don't take notes. Not to mention we get to see the Govenator actually act, and that he's not too shabby.

8. The Dark Knight - I'm a comic book buff, and I can tell you right now there really isn't a comic movie that can truly equal this film. Aside from the great cast, and great performances from all of them. Say what you want about Bale's Batman, but he's the only man in Hollywood who can play Bruce Wayne and Batman and make the two personas seem linked, and yet separate, just like the comics. The one thing that was best done is the treatment of the Joker. You're not supposed to know who he is. He feels like Anarchy personified, and it's perfect.

7. Remember the Titans - Greatest sports movie of all time. No backtalk. There's no overacting. Nobody makes any acting botches. Everyone plays off each other well. It also allows the audience to make their own observations about how unimportant race is, and how stupid everyone looked back then.

6. The Silence of the Lambs - One of the few movies that I own that actually horrifies me. Aside from the fact that there isn't a bad performance in the entire film, Johnathan Demme does a great job of directing the audience into the minds of the characters. You understand Clarice Starling, and what makes her who she is. You see how Hannibal Lecter is disgusted with people, and why he does what he does. It's a stellar film, and its perspective on the mind of the mad is unforgettable.

5. Amadeus - This is one of the two films on my list that I have actually watched less than ten times, just because it is an odd combination of great quality, but is difficult for me to sit and enjoy. I enjoy it simply because I love its take on Mozart, and the world around him, and how beautifully twisted they made this fictional history piece. It's simply full of complex characters, dark tone, and yet can be incredibly fun to watch at points.

4. Schindler's List - This is the second film that I've watched less than ten times. Spielberg's best, and oddly enough, I think both of his best films take place in this time period. This was the film that introduced me to two of my favorite actors. Liam Neeson's performance as Oskar Schindler and Ralphe Fiennes' performance as Amon Goeth are chilling, and amazing. This is truly a movie that also shows man's true inhumanity to man, and shows it at its ugliest. My favorite part is simply that it pulls no punches, leaving strong men crying their eyes out for the lives lost in the Holocaust.

3. First Blood - I know it sounds odd to have a movie like this so far up, but this film holds a very special place in my heart. You see, the character of John Rambo is almost a commentary on everyone's view of the Vietnam War. He almost seems like a walking reaction to films that fill one's head of the hippie ideal of a solider during that time period, and turns that idea on its head. Rambo is a character who fought for country, and fought for friends, and when he came back to America, his friends were dead and his country had betrayed him. What follows is simply a great story as a man finally decides to stand up for what he feels is right, and what ensues when a deadly man pushes back. "They drew first blood."

2. Equilibrium - There are certain people out there that simply see this film as "Gun Fu." Truth be told, there is that element, but at the same time this film holds something more inside of it. It brings in the idea of what would happen if man sacrificed his emotions for the idea of security and safety. You see quite possibly the best roles that Taye Diggs, Christian Bale, and Emily Watson have ever been in. Bale specifically plays an incredible role in Cleric John Preston, which is a role that at points he plays so well that you feel what he feels as he feels it, which is incredibly difficult to pull off.

1. Gladiator - My favorite film by my favorite director. It's really hard to describe, so I'll just simply put in a couple sentences. Russel Crowe plays the greatest hero introduced in the year 2000. Juoaquin Phoenix plays the best villain introduced in they year 2000. Ridley Scott directed the greatest film of 2000. Enough said.

Favorite Video Games

10. Doom 3 - I've played through this game a few times now, and I still get both goosebumps and genuine frights out of it. The mix of great lighting, graphics, and sound paint an eerie picture that is consistently unsettling, mixing fear of the unknown, the paranormal, death, gore, and so forth to consistently have you frightened, one way or another.

9. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - For me, this is a shooter that set a very large standard for me. It was bloody, creepy, atmospheric, intense, and fun. It had a great variety of weapons, enemies that looked and fought like legit threats, and boss battles that were downright epic. Because it had all those elements, there hadn't been a shooter until Gears of War that was capable of matching that, which was eight years later.

8. Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast - When people tried to tell me that The Force Unleashed was an attempt at making the best Star Wars game yet, I told them that those two games had already been made. Outcast continues the story of Kyle Katarn, and is a great story of a Jedi who walks the razor's edge between good and evil in the pursuit or someone he cares for, and stopping a new Sith Lord from conquering space. It's not only a good Star Wars game, but a solid revenge story as well.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Though it's hard for me to choose between this game and Majora's Mask, I had to go with this game because it really had the best storyline of any Zelda game. Though there isn't a lot of character development, you really feel like you're playing through a fairy tale. Everything makes you feel like a hero from a storybook, and the game delivers, even to this day.

6. Starcraft - There really isn't a whole lot to say here. It's essentially the one RTS game that still hooks me to this day. It's fun to play, you take an odd role in the story's development, but more than anything it's incredibly easy to pick up and play, but hard to master, and I like that in a video game. What will shock you more is that I'm not that big into RTS games, but this is on the list.

5. Mortal Kombat 2 - I really admire this game, simply because in the midst of combo heavy fighters like King of Fighters and Street Fighter 2, this game had the balls to take two approaches. The first was to keep it simple, so people could easily get into it. The second was to appeal to the love of pixelated destruction, as every fight was brutal and bloody. It's these simple concepts that keep the game as such a hot property, and well loved in the hearts of fighting game fans.

4. Gears of War 2 - Truth be told, I think that both games really tie for this spot, but I have to say that it says a lot that this is the first shooter that really stood out since the N64 days. This was the first shooter series that took the time to NOT copy anything that id Software had done, and what Epic had done before. There are great weapons, epic moments, brutal combat, and a great Sci-Fi story that isn't focused on over-explaining the universe, but rather treats it like a war movie, which works well, because every game mode you play in makes you feel like you're in a war zone, which FPS games have really failed to do thus far.

3. Half-Life 2 - This is the realization of FPS perfection. It took everything the genre had done right up until that point, but also gave total character immersion. There is a great mix between science fiction, civil conflict, horror, and survivalist ideas that had never been seen in a game before, or had been repeated until Bioshock. It's a game that frees you to truly take the reigns of Gordon Freeman, and give you the freedom to slip into that persona, which other FPS games still fail to do.

2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - The other great Star Wars game. Truthfully, I think this may best the best RPG of all time. I can't find a game that has such a great combination of engrossing story, developed characters, fun gameplay, and so many ways to do it all. Not to mention the voice acting is phenominal, the planets are fun to explore, and it has one of the biggest plot reveals that messes with your head present in gaming. Easily Bioware's best game, and that says a lot.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - The greatest game from the greatest series of all time. In the third installment, we see the closest that video games has had yet to its "Watchmen." We're introduced to the backstory of the first, second, and fourth games, and get to see the fuel that was thrown on the proverbial fire, with many events sending chills up your spines, because you know the horrors and events that await in the future for each character. Not to mention easily the best story, voice acting, gameplay elements, gunplay, arsenal, mood, and so forth in gaming, I think it's safe to say that not only is this game the greatest of all time, it's easily my favorite.