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Posts tagged Top 10
Top 10 Most Awesome Parents in Film
Nov 18th
I’m not a parent and don’t really have any amazing stories about my parents. So, my friends, I have chosen to compile a top ten list of the most awesome parents in film. The list is by no means inclusive of all of film, as there are still many classics I’d like to see, and because I basically used my movie collection as reference. So here are the best parents (in my film collection). Also, HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!
Best Parents
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10. Last House On the Left – John and Estelle Collingwood would be a lot higher on the list if their daughter hadn’t been killed. Not that the average parent knows their daughter is going to run into a gang of rapists and killers, but there are other parents on this list that would never have let her go out that night, or at least taught her to better look after herself. Aside from all that though, of course, is the reason they are on the list. It takes a passionate heart and a keen mind to outwit and take revenge on a group of killers, and the Collingwoods manage it in fine style.
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09. National Lampoon’s Vacation – Come on. Who wouldn’t want Ellen and Clark Griswold as parents? Despite the horrible outcomes to so many of the family vacations, they prove that their heart is always in it, and they’re always thinking about the family.
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- 08. The Jerk – Now this is awesome. A big happy family all under one roof. Singing and dancing every day, dinner together at the table, and unbreakable gems of wisdom about shit and shinola. Mother and father Johnson take care of all of their kids as well as Navin, who was left on their doorstep when he was a baby. Even when Navin loses his fame and fortune, his parents show up to take him home again.
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07. Little Miss Sunshine – Richard and Cheryl Hoover don’t seem like the greatest parents right away, but their time together with the family helps them learn a few things about life, and in the end, they understand which things matter the most in their lives. There aren’t a whole lot of things in recent memory that are much more awesome than what the Hoover family manages at the end of the movie.
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- 06. Dumbo – Miss Jumbo is great. She’s a single parent, raising a child in the middle of a circus (literally). She’s gotta deal with asshole circus attendees and all the other gossiping cold-hearted elephants. As you can see in the movie, she’d rather bring down the whole circus than see her baby come to harm.
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- 05. Coneheads – Beldar and Prymatt have the classic immigrant story. They come to America in search of a new opportunity (just happens to be enslaving the blood-skulls), and find not only that they are stuck on Earth for seven zurles, but that they are with cone. They manage to evade immigration and provide a great life for their daughter on an alien planet, and eventually give up the life for which they were hoping and waiting… for her.
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- 04. Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels – Big Chris keeps Little Chris close at all times. They work together in their business ventures like partners and father & son at the same time. Despite the rough nature of their work, Big Chris still keeps Little Chris in line by reprimanding him when he curses or steps out of line with a client. You see just how much emotion is in Big Chris near the end of the film when Little Chris becomes threatened by the character called Dog.
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- 03. Donnie Darko – Eddie and Rose Darko prove to be quite awesome a few times in this movie. The main reason is that when Donnie gets in trouble with a teacher the parents know to be an idiot, they buy him a bunch of “new shit” for standing up for himself and making the teacher look stupid. It’s rare that the parent will take the child’s side in a situation like this (in movies at least). They also seem to have a great sense of humor.
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- 02. Kill Bill Volume 2 – “The Bride” proves to be a great parent when she tells Bill her story about leaving the assassin racket after taking a pregnancy test. Her entire life took a hard right-angle turn when she found out she was pregnant. It’s true that she thought her daughter was dead throughout the whole first movie, but that was a major motivator for her revenge. All she wants to do (from the time she finds out she’s pregnant) is get away from her violent life and start a safe family for her daughter.
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- 01. The Incredibles – What family could be more awesome than this? Bob and Helen Parr put away the hero duds so as not to get sued by people who “didn’t want to be saved”, and start a family. In the interests of safety, they never allow the kids to use their powers. But of course, the situation comes up where the powers are absolutely necessary and the family works as the ultimate superhero team in order to protect each other (and everyone else).
Top 10 Epic Comic Book Deaths
Jul 17th
Any comic book reader knows that characters die at the drop of a hat. Featured below is a countdown of the 10 most epic comic book deaths. The list below is comprised of deaths that really count, the shockers, the deaths that haunt the reader. So without further ado…
10 Edsel: Mage
Edsel functioned as Kevin Matchstick’s squire in Matt Wagner’s epic comic book “Mage”. She was always ready to serve and protect her leader. Her great downfall came in the line of duty throwing herself on a mystical bullet of sorts to protect Kevin. Edsel’s sacrifice was not in vain however since it allowed Kevin to defeat the malicious Umber sprite.
9) The Joker: The Dark Knight Returns
I know that this is by far one of the most spoken about epic death moments ever, but it sits at the bottom of this list because it is a moment that is outside of standard continuity. The Joker, as all comic fans know, is the epitome of all evil. After being paralyzed by Batman in Frank Miller’s legendary comic, the clown prince of crime forces his broken neck just the few inches more it takes to sever his spinal cord and frame the Dark Knight for murder. Now that’s commitment!
Agent 355: Y: The Last ManIn the most heartbreaking moment in the entire series, Yorick Brown professes his love for protector 355. Everything is right in the world, the concern for saving mankind has been resolved and it is time for 355 to retire. Just as she and Yorick come to terms with their mutual feelings for each other she catches a snipers bullet in the “All Quiet on The Western Front Style” Leaving Yorick Holding the broken limp body of his one true love in his arms.
7) John Hartigan: Sin City: That Yellow Bastard
Hartigan is the hardest of all cops on the beat. After years of solitary and physical rehabilitation he finds himself protecting the one thing he has a soft spot for, Sin City’s own stripper with a heart of gold Nancy Callahan. After protecting Nancy from the evil Jr. Roark the only way that Hartigan can be sure she will be safe is blow his own brains all over the black and white page.
6) All Father D’Aronique: Preacher
We are talking Epic Death here and there are few that are more epic than the fate that befalls All Father D’Aronique. The all father meets his untimely demise at the hands of preacher villain Herr Starr. The massive D’Aronique is dropped from a helicopter to splatter satisfactorily on the cement below. It isn’t just his death though but the death of on a couple of soldiers and the last scion of Jesus Christ that he lands on in the process.
5) Morpheus: The Sandman
We all knew that it was coming. Even though he was one of the Endless, it was made clear on several occasions that they were not immune to death. Yet it is the quite dignified way that Morpheus is taken away that makes the whole thing so sad. As a reader it feels like losing an old friend or mentor and any reader just like the characters Morpheus is survived by would not be human if he or she did not feel the sting of the dream kings replacement by Daniel.
4) Mr. Hyde: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
In the second volume of League, Hyde really came into his own. Shown to be nothing more than a blood thirsty monster in the first arc, Alan Moore gives the reader greater insight into the workings of Hyde’s mind. Hyde sacrifices himself to buy the League time as they try to beat the Martians. The thing that is amazing is that the hulking murder makes note of the fact that he is not concerned with anything other than bloodshed and that he will be mistakenly seen as noble and noble he does appear.
3) Eben Oleamun: 30 Days of NightEben succumbs to a fate worse than death in Steve Nile’s and Ben Templesmith’s vampire story. In order to protect his town and family Eben must become what he is trying to fight. Knowing full well that he will become an out of control blood sucker, Eben chooses instead to watch the sun rise with wife Stella after a month of darkness, as they have so many years before. The chilling last page of Stella sitting alone on a hill after the disintegration of the vampiric Eben is the most shocking of all of the images contained within the comic.
2) Rorschach: Watchmen
His commitment to truth is his undoing. The true hero of Watchmen finds his end at the tip of Dr. Manhattan’s finger. I am almost incapable of saying anything other than heart wrenching. No one who has read this comic will forget the look on Rorschach’s face as he screams at Manhattan to “Do It!”.
1) Jason Todd: Batman: A death in the Family
Jason Todd was, by far, the most hated of Batman’s sidekicks and I know that many will disagree with this as the number one most epic comic book death but there is one thing that makes this death unique. After being beaten close to death with a crowbar by the Joker, Jason is left in a warehouse with a ticking bomb. Batman readers were left to choose the fate of the new Boy Wonder by calling one of two 800 numbers. After the calls were tabulated it was found that Jason was voted dead, the bomb exploded and The Dark Knight’s sidekick went up with it. This was not a murder by a random psychopath, as the comic world would have you believe, no this was a hate crime committed by Batman fans all over this land, and that is why it is the most epic comic book death of all time.
