The Top 100 Reviews

Top 100 Movie Review: #26 – Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Not necessarily LOL Funny.

But still very entertaining and edifying.

Peter Sellers character number one: Dr. Strangelove.

American Film Institute Ranking: #26/100
Academy Awards: Four nominations winning none.
My Rating:

During a time consumed with Cold War concerns, Stanley Kubrick decided to nail it by showing the ridiculousness of missile gaps, mutually assured destruction, and doomsday devices. I’m not quite sure how he got away with it. He makes fun of the two major world powers and everyone in both governments. It strikes the necessary balance needed for a dark comedy — it makes you chuckle, but it also makes you think.

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Top 100 Novel Review: To Kill A Mockingbird (1960)

So. Much. To. Like.

An endless recess of things to discuss, turtles all the way down.

My Rating:

There is something just perfect about “To Kill a Mockingbird.” No matter the specific element, it dually can augment the whole or brightly stand alone. This gives meaning to every point in the novel, leaving no page to waste.

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Top 100 Album Review: #99 – There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971)

Funk Muzak.

Perfect background music for shopping at the Dollar General, awful for everything else.

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Rolling Stone’s Ranking: #99/100
My Rating:

The joy of the “Top 100 Albums” of all time is that you are going to find hidden gems. If you like music, you already know some Sly and the Family Stone, but you probably don’t know the whole catalogue. This gives you an opportunity to find good music from their best work. Think about all the hits they had; they probably had some killer tracks that didn’t receive airtime!

“There’s a Riot Goin’ On” doesn’t have a single hit. Worse, the album is an overdose of NyQuil: you get 47 minutes of repetitive base lines and nondescript music that never arrises to any occasion.

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Top 100 SNES Review: #43- Super Star Wars (1992)

Geeking Out.

Everyone wants the same things: to use a lightsaber.

Screen Shot 2018-12-02 at 8.45.17 PM — Luke Skywalker with Bell’s Palsy.

Sydlexia’s Ranking: #43/100
My Rating:

The bar is set very low for Star War games. All any fanboy wants is a chance to play out their galactic fantasies. Even the most fumbling games are greeted with praise and play due to it satisfying the deep-seated need of adventure and acting out heroics.

I remember these games being a big deal to my childhood-self as the idea of a multi-medial approach was something to get excited about. The thought that you could watch the Star Wars movies PASSIVELY and then play them out ACTIVELY so unique.

This game has a hard time making the same claim in 2018 — it’s grown quite rough around the edges.

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Top 100 Movie Review: #45 – A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

She Fooled Me.

The wait through the first 3/5ths is worth the firecracker of an ending.

Kim Hunter, Marlon Brando, and Vivien Leigh.

American Film Institutes Ranking: #45/100
Awards: Nominated for 12 winning four with three of them in the acting categories (a feat only matched by Network).
My Rating:

Things were be-bopping around for a good while, and I started to get worried: this could be a dud. Was this a classic movie just because it dealt with some “risque” themes?

My concerns were ungrounded. When Blanche DuBois started to become unhinged, things become phenomenal. A switch instantly flipped and all the ground work hitherto became immensely signifiant. I was on the very same ride that Blanch had put everyone through, and it was very unsettling when it was time for the ride to end.

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Top 100 Movie Review: #69 – Shane (1953)

Kids Can Ruin Movies.

A typical Western made unbelievably bad by a child.

American Film Institutes Ranking: #69/100
Awards: Six Academy Award nominations with one win for Best Cinematography.
My Rating:

Renaissance artists conceptualized how to create the illusion of depth on a 2D surface, and drew some of the most well-known works of human history. They aren’t without their faults though; they had no idea how to draw children. The contorted, homunculus interpretations are of nightmares.

Enter Joey Starett, the child of “Shane.” It is a prototypical Western that goes for a few twists, the main one being infusing the typical motifs with the perspective of a pre-adolescent. Like the Renaissance artists, however, the director doesn’t quite know what to do with him, having his presence turn into a nightmare.

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Top 100 SNES Games: #32 – Spider-Man & Venom: Maximum Carnage (1994)

Hurts The Mind and Fingers.

A unique use of repetitive challenges that tests the human spirit.

Screen Shot 2018-12-15 at 5.22.46 PM — A city perilous with fraughts: an umbrella wielding citizen.

Sydlexia’s Ranking: #32/100
My Rating:

A superhero beat-em-up game shouldn’t be hard to pull off: make the rewards equal the challenges, give some nice tight control over the superhero, and provide a nice array of combos. Simple.

I guess if you were to make it insanely difficult, have poor control over the character, and make combat moves suicidal and random, it could affect the quality of experience. Oops.

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