Man of the Year (2015)

Here are the people of the year for 2015 as chose by myself.

Robin Lord Taylor: Brought the Penguin to life.

Kansas City Royals: First title in 30 years.

Golden State Warriors: First true super team in a couple decades.

Mick Fanning: Winning titles and fighting sharks.

Rhonda Rhousey: She was everywhere in 2015. Made the other girls jealous.

Iran: They get to play with nuclear weapons (thanks Obama).

Donald Trump: The Summer of Trump.

Holly Holm: Beat the previously mentioned Rhousey.

Lauren Hill: Courage.

Adele: The first time in years an album release was an event.

Jim Harbaugh: Bringing Michigan back!

and the winner is Jim Harbaugh!


Past Winners: Meriam Ibraheem (2014); Mariano Rivera (2013), Miguel Cabrera (2012), Justin Verlander (2011), Drew Brees (2010), Leonard Nimoy (2009), Barack Obama (2008), Al Gore (2007), Rahm Emmanuel (2006)

Man of the Year: 2012

Not as many candidates for Person of the Year as for Douche Bags, but here they are:

Barack Obama: He won re-election…despite the sleaziest campaign in nearly 200 years.

Foo Fighters: They are on hiatus after nearly two decades. Here’s hoping they return soon.

Gotye: Big year for the guy with that weird song.

England: Great job with the Olympics.

 James Bond: Best film in at least two decades, perhaps more.

Christopher Nolan: Wrapped up the Dark Knight series splendidly. Nice use of the French Revolution and Occupy Wallstreet.

Maroon 5: Big year for these guys.

And the winner…

Miguel Cabrera: MVP, Triple Crown, ‘nuf said.

Previous winners: Rahm Emmanuel (2006), Al Gore (2007), Barack Obama (2008), Leonard Nimoy (2009), Drew Brees (2010), and Justin Verlander (2011)

Greatest Movie Villains: #1-10

1. Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins)
2. Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones, David Prowse)
3. The Joker (Heath Ledger)
4. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins)
5. Alex De Large (Malcolm McDowell)
6. Dracula (Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee)
7. Kahn (Ricardo Montalban)
8. Mrs. John Iselin (Angela Lansbury)
9. Hal 2000 (Himself)
10. Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)

Greatest Movie Villains: Honorable Mentions

The Terminator (Arnold)
Bane (Tom Hardy)
Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates)
Magneto (Ian McKellen)
Tony Montana (Al Pacino)
Gollum (Gollum)
General Zod (Terrance Stamp) 

Sci-fi History: Batman and Robin (1940)

During the 1940s, comics began including young sidekicks for their heroes in an effort to attract younger readers. In 1940, Batman teamed up with Robin for the first time. Robin emerged the most iconic of the teen sidekicks. Over time, critics began questioning the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Many felt uncomfortable. Eventually, Grayson left the batcave and became Nightwing. Since then, there have been a number of Robins including Jason Todd, who became the Red Hood, Tim Drake (Red Robin), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), and Wayne's son Damian. 

Greatest Movie Heroes: #11-20

20. Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier)
19. Maximus (Russell Crowe)
18. Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson)
17. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)
16. Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne and Jeff Bridges)
15.Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor and Alec Guiness)
14. John McClain (Bruce Willis)
13. Batman (Christian Bale)
12. The Man with no name (Clint Eastwood)
11. Phillip Marlowe/Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart)

Sci Fi History: Batman (1939)

Superman's success led to imitators. Bob Kane invented Batman in 1939. Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents' murder and swore vengeance against criminals. Kane took inspiration from Zorro, Robert Bruce, Mad Anthony Wayne, the Shadow, and Sherlock Holmes. Over the years, Batman became a cultural phenomenon in comics, radio, movies, and television.The early stories were gritty and violent. Censors forced publishers to clean them up. Before Marvel Comics arrived to challenge the DC Universe, Batman was relegated to playing baseball with Superman.  By the eighties, the character appeared tired when Frank Miller reinvigorated the Bat with The Dark Knight Returns. Wayne and Batman returned to a primal, darker place as did the villains.

Sci Fi History: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

The film version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde debuted prior to the adoption of modern movie production codes. It included strong sexual content and needed editing before its re-release. This version heavily influenced the look of Mr. Hyde in subsequent examinations. The producers wanted Hyde to embody evil and gave him canine teeth and a more ape-like appearance to make him “less evolved.”

The main themes of Jekyll and Hyde involve the dichotomy between good and evil. It also explores civilization vs. barbarism and evolution. The characters later inspired The Incredible Hulk, Batman’s nemesis, Two-Face, and The Who‘s Quadrophenia.

Quotes of the Year: 2011

Quote of the Year:

“Daniel Craig’s my Wookie bitch now!”

-Harrison Ford to Chewbacca

Stupid Quote of the Year:

“I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history.”

-Barack Obama

Meltdown of the Year:

“It's no longer acceptable in mixed company -- meaning bipartisan company -- to use the goddamn word 'climate.' And some of the exact same people — I can go down a list of their names — are involved in this. And so what do they do? They pay pseudo-scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message: ‘This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes.’ Bullshit! ‘It may be sun spots.’ Bullshit! ‘It’s not getting warmer.’ Bullshit!

-Al Gore

Twilight Zone Quote of the Year:

"Dreamt I died in Chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). Need to write my will today."

-Former Weezer Bassist Mikey Welsh one week before he suddenly died.
　

And the rest:

“Interesting though, as we evolve and realize our social prejudices are unacceptable, we are finding new groups to hate.”

-Simon Pegg

“You spend your life fighting the spread of evil. Then you learn a Kardashian is pregnant.”

-Batman

“Ironically, the best defense against a zombie uprising would be a robot army.”

-Grant Imahara

“If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I’m gonna be really pissed.”

-Chuck Lorre

"They picked a fight with a warlock."

-Charlie Sheen on his feud with CBS

“Winning.”

-Charlie Sheen

"There are not any plans to erect a statue to RoboCop. Thank you for your suggestion."

-Detroit Mayor Dave Bing

"God didn't create all men equal, Smith and Wesson did."

-Top Shot

“I for one welcome our new computer overlords.”

-Ken Jennings

"I never hugged him, I bombed him."

-Margaret Thatcher

“Who wants to go to Europe. It’s not Detroit.”

-Jalen Rose

"They say I have no hits and I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing."

-Tom Waits

“People like crap.”

-Getty Lee on popular music

“Will the universe end? many ask. Yes. Not with a bang but a whimper. Not in fire, but in ice. Not in light, but in darkness.”

-Neil deGrasse Tyson

"Why don't you just arrest me?"

-Nicholas Cage to police

"I'm now at the "happiest place on earth". And I'm not happy about it.”

-Brent Spiner

“Clarence doesn't leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die.”

-Bruce Springsteen

"As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford saved my life."

-Stevie Nicks

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band …”

-R.E.M.

“It’s hard to accept being liked.”

-Andy Rooney

“This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

-Joe Paterno

Quotes of the Month: December 2011

Quote of the Month:

“You spend your life fighting the spread of evil. Then you learn a Kardashian is pregnant.”

-Batman

Stupid Quote of the Month:

“I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history.”

-Barack Obama

And the rest:

“I’m going to be the nominee.”

-Newt Gingrich

"I used to think being president was about having power. Now I know it's just a ceremonial position."

-Fred Armisen as Obama on SNL

"I love all karaoke singers. I like all the girl singers who get up and sing with tapes. Shame on you."

-Gene Simmons

“We got disrespected so our gangsters went out and zipped them up.”

-A Xavier Basketball player after a brawl with Cincinnati

“But I think it does show courage from the kids, standing out and doing that, and some boldness.’’

-Tim Tebow on protests over the suspension of two students for “Tebowing.”

“The Taliban, per se, is not the enemy.”

-Joe Biden　

Sci Fi History: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde investigates the dichotomy of good and evil. It also tackles the ideas of modernity, science, and civilization on one hand and barbarism and uncontrolled passion on the other. Jekyll used a potion to create Hyde which provided a Frankenstein-esque warning about unfettered science. At the time, the world witnessed several major technological advances ranging from the telephone to the light bulb. Frankenstein was a reaction to Enlightenment thinking. Dr. Jekyll provided a reaction to Thomas Edison and other major inventors. Eventually, the Hyde personality begins to take over and Jekyll seems willing to submit. Mr. Hyde provided Dr. Jekyll an escape. This last point is an attempt by Jekyll to escape the crushing Victorian ethos against anything sexual.


The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde proved extremely influential. The work led to several movies which helped advance special effects technology as well as provide an archetype for several movie villains. Additionally, the work clearly inspired comic book characters such as The Incredible Hulk and Two-Face.

Quotes of the Month: December 2010

Quote of the Month: "I haven't died. I'm drinking a beer and eating fried chicken."

-Yao Ming

and the rest...

“NASA has found a new form of life? Neat. Call me when it's got heat vision, wears blue pajamas, and flies.”

-Batman

"'When you win, say little. When you lose, say less."

-Tom Brady

“If I'm going to be honest with you, I was angry about it."

-Derek Jeter on negotiations with the Yankees

"I'm not interested in being a dead f--king hero…so forget 'em, forget 'em."

-John Lennon

“Coincidence that Julian Assange looks a lot like "Jigsaw" from the Saw movies?”

-S.E. Cupp

“I thought ‘what the heck have I done?’”

-Hal Smith on his 3-run Homer in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series

"Experts built the Titanic. Amateurs built the Ark."

-Anonymous

"They're in the halls of Congress everywhere, and it means, for example, that you sit on a committee and you say something about concern about Chinese influence or something, you don't even know if in the next election, somehow or another, they manage to send some money to some group that now doesn't even have to say where they got it."

-Carol Shea-Porter on Chinese influence in Congress

"We've become a nation of wusses.”

-Ed Rendell

“If it exists, why not put it out?”

-Chris Mathews on Obama’s birth certificate

Greatest TV Episodes of All Time #31-40

31. MASH: Tuttle (1973): Hawkeye and Trapper invent a surgeon and eventually everyone believes the guy is real. Eventually, General Clayton wants to honor Captain Tuttle. Hawkeye solves the problem by killing Tuttle. The imaginary captain jumped out of a helicopter to help wounded soldiers, but forgot his parachute. Seinfeld used the same storyline for an episode 20 years later.

32. The Munsters: Herman the Rookie (1965): Leo Durocher discovers Herman playing ball with Eddie and gives him a tryout with the Dodgers. Herman destroys the baseball field and Leo has to let him go. Despite his amazing talent, repairs to the field would cost too much if Herman played professionally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHBee9DAKYw

33. Star Trek: Balance of Terror (1966): Kirk and crew encounter Romulans and engage in a deadly cat and mouse game based on films such as Run Silent, Run Deep with the Enterprise serving as a surface ship and the Romulans as a submarine.

34. MTV Unplugged: Nirvana (1993): Nirvana appeared on MTV Unplugged in late 1993. They played a lot of covers and lesser known songs. The stage was decorated with lilies and candles as Cobain wanted it to look like a funeral. He died in April, 1994 and the CD was the band’s first release after his death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eglOHphhpcg

35. Happy Days: They Don’t Shoot Fonzies, Do They? (1976): Fonzie agrees to help Joanie and enter a dance marathon at Arnold's. Joanie wants to beat the captain of the cheerleading squad who had her cut from the team. Fonzie’s bike breaks down and he has to walk it 12 miles and is exhausted. He collapses, but comes to when threatened with a crew cut. Fonzie breaks into a Russian jig and wins the contest. This scene is later used in a Weezer video.

36. Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Inner Light (1992): Picard is zapped by a probe and lives another man’s entire life in a few minutes. He awakes to find that the people built the probe to save their culture as their star was going supernova.

37. Batman: The Purr-Fect Crime & Better Luck Next Time (1966): Catwoman steals priceless art. After the usual cliffhanger, Batman and Robin track her to a cave where Catwoman dies. Luckily, Julie Newmar has 9 lives.

38. X-Files: Jose Chung’s From Outer Space (1996): Mulder and Scully investigate the abduction of two teenagers. Meanwhile, noted sci-fi writer Jose Chung is writing a novel about the incident. Every person involved tells Chung a different story leading to an amusing episode.

39. Married with Children: It’s a Bundyful Life (1989): The bank closes on Al before he can do his Xmas shopping. When he returns home, Al decides to fix the Christmas lights. He is briefly electrocuted and meets his guardian angel, Sam Kinison. Al sees that his family would have lived a wonderful life without him. He wants to spoil it, so he returns.

40. Northern Exposure: The Aurora Borealis- A Fairy Tale for Big People (1991): The Aurora Borealis makes the people of Cicily act strangely. Joel is rescued by Bigfoot and Chris leaves the radio station to work on a sculpture. Bigfoot turned out to be a real man and not a beast.

Greatest TV Episodes #41-50

41. X-Files: Die Hand Die Verletzt (1995): Mulder and Scully meet Satan.

42. Murphy Brown: It’s Not East Being Brown (1993): Murphy needs to improve her image, so she appears on a children’s TV puppet show. The puppets taunt her, Murphy loses it on live TV, and rips the puppet off the puppeteer’s hand; scarring children for life.

43. Bewitched: Humbug Not Spoken Here (1967): In this retelling of “A Christmas Carol”, Samantha introduces the spirit of Christmas to a miserly old man. Santa even makes an appearance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW5Qh9wLs8A

44. Battlestar Galactica Mini-Series (2003): Ronald Moore reworked the 1978 cheese fest. Like the original, the Cylons break a truce and wipe out most of humanity. Unlike the original, this Galactica was gritty and filled with flawed humans as opposed to heroic figures.

45. South Park: Trapped in the Closet (2005): In one of the greatest spoofs of all time, South Park takes on Scientology by simply stating their tenants. The title refers to a R. Kelly song. In the episode, Tom Cruise is trapped in the closet.

46. Star Trek The Next Generation: The Drumhead (1991): An Admiral (Jean Simmons) loses her mind and conducts a witch hunt aboard the Enterprise. She eventually accused Captain Picard of disloyalty. He takes the stand and turns the trial around. She flips out and the witch hunt ends.

47. 60 Minutes: The Clintons (1992): Bill Clinton looked finished when the Gennifer Flowers scandal broke. With nothing to lose, he and Hillary appeared on 60 Minutes with Steve Kroft. The Clintons saved their campaign.

48. Batman: The Joker is Wild/Batman is Riled (1966): The Joker invents his own utility belt and drives Gotham City to the brink of anarchy. Batman and Robin eventually stop him.

49. The Andy Griffith Show: Lawman Barney (1962): A couple of peddlers treat Barney badly. Barney loses his confidence until Andy steps in behind the scenes. The peddlers realize Andy is full of it and confront Barney who develops a backbone and scares them off.

50. Seinfeld: The Opposite (1994): How do you get a job with the Yankees? Tell Steinbrenner off!

Movies of the Decade: The Aughts

Overall, a week decade for movies as Hollywood seems to have run out of ideas. Here is my list of best films for the decade...These are not in any order.

Frost-Nixon

Gran Torino

The Dark Knight

Gladiator

Cinderella Man

Star Trek

The Two Towers

Old School

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2

Letters From Iwo Jima

2009 Quotes of the Year

1. “We’re all victims of our gene pool. Someone peed in yours.”

-Walter Bishop (John Noble) from Fringe

2. “I'm in the Batcave learning to tweet.”

-Adam West

3. “Attila liked to hang by the pool when he wasn’t raping and pillaging.”

- Documentary on Attila the Hun

4. "I started to cry and I said, 'I'll never be able to climb up that hill,' And he lifted me up in his strong, gentle arms and said something I will never forget. He said, ‘I‘ll help you if it takes all day. I know you can do it. There is nothing that you can't do.”

- Ted Kennedy Jr at his father’s funeral

5. “I’m the Reverend Jesse Jackson.”

- Jesse Jackson after being misidentified as Al Sharpton on MSNBC

6. "I think he's that good a melodist, but he's a wanker." Bono added that Martin was "obviously a completely dysfunctional character and a cretin, but he happens to be a great melodist and up there with Ray Davies, Noel Gallagher and Paul McCartney."

-Bono on Chris Martin of Coldplay

7. “I never understood how a great man, a nice guy coached the Bad Boys.”

-Charles Barkley on Chuck Daly

8. “Like Kennedy, we failed to give the Cubans air cover!”

-Pat Buchanan on Watergate

9. “There is no I in team, but there is in win.”

-A humble Michael Jordan at his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame

10. “Kill All The Lawyers!”

- Sandra Day O’Connor at a Shakespeare reading

Greatest Movie Scenes #86-95

86. I’m a Comedian?: Goodfellas (1990): Don't mess with Joe Pesci.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4jz00Eelbk

87. Redford bleeds:The Natural (1984): Hollywood is often criticized for not being realistic. The Natural seemed to fit this bill...until Kirk Gibson in 1988.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54-6yimtjtA

88. Band of Brothers: Henry V (1989): Next to Antony's funeral oration, this is Shakespeare's greatest speech. Kenneth Branagh delivers it seamlessly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAvmLDkAgAM

89. Ripley in the suit: Aliens (1986): Women can be bad-asses too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqzHdKqZAmo

90. The Twist: Pulp Fiction (1994): Travolta's second iconic dance scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLZl6R7JGCc

91. Asteroids: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Star Wars set a new standard for special effects. Empire took it up a notch with this scene and the snow battle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gzf0kR5AvE

92. I’m Batman: Batman (1989): Before Christian Bale, there was---Michael Keaton! This is still iconic despite the film series itself being outdated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9G18qHPhcM

93. The Battle in the Snow: The Empire Strikes Back (1980): Stop motion reached its apex in this scene. Nowadays, it would be CG'd. It also showed why the Empire was bad ass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWjj8EKTkWE

94. Communication: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): Another iconic scene from when aliens were not out to destroy the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUcOaGawIW0

95. It’s a trap!: Return of the Jedi (1983): One newspaper called it a seminal moment for Generation X.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY0ClsW1QX4

Greatest Movie Scenes: 101-105

101. The Pencil Trick: The Dark Knight (2008): Heath Ledger's greatest scene. It almost made me pee my pants laughing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QehZjjwb7-I

102. Lector gets loose: Silence of the Lambs (1991): Classical music provided the background as Hannibal Lector beats a guard to death and skins another.

103. There’s Character: Glory (1989): The 54th Massachussets charges into Fort Wagner. Robert Gould Shaw (Mathew Broderick) eats a minie ball which rallies his troops. The men run into a cannon. The end was poignant as Shaw is buried shoeless with his men in a common grave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2c_BvVBd-Q

104 Phone Home: ET: The Extraterrestrial (1982): An iconic 80s scene.

105. Pickett’s Charge: Gettysburg (1993): More Civil War action. If you want to know why the Civil War cost 600,000 lives, watch this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GupEJXlNKCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iT0Hmu5bXY

Greatest Movie Scenes: De Niro Edition

136. Jimmy cleans house: Goodfellas (1990): Bodies turning up as Layla is playing in the background was genius.

137. Motorcycle vs. Joker: Dark Knight (2008): This not only looked good, but showed the difference between Bats and the Joker. The Joker would have killed Batman. Batman crashed to avoid hitting the Joker.

138. Capone plays baseball: The Untouchables (1987): Cross De Niro and meet his Louisville slugger; even while at the dinner table.

139. Stonehedge: This is Spinal Tap (1984): "I do not, for one, think that the problem was that the band was down. I think that the problem *may* have been, that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being *crushed* by a *dwarf*. Alright? That tended to understate the hugeness of the object."

140. Dueling banjos: Deliverance (1972): Nothing puts the fear of God into a man than hearing dueling banjos...