Top Five guilty dis-pleasures

We all know what guilty pleasures are.  Those things you like that you hate admitting because you know people will laugh or tell you how terrible that is.  I have many of these, here are a few examples:

Brittany Spears, Flavor of love, The OC are just a few examples. You feel guilty because you know that people consider these things for a specific group that you should not be a part of. Also because most people that think they have good taste hate these things. 

I would say even the fact I like cartoons or Disneyland somewhat fits into that category.  I almost hate sharing these facts about me because I know the person is going to say "isn't that for kids?" which even after the 3000th time is still annoying

Guilty dis-pleasures (I came up with this phrase, as far as I know I have never heard anyone use it) is the exact opposite.  Meaning, you don't want to have to mention that you dislike something because most people like it.

Because most of the population likes something you are now going to have to have an awkward conversation explaining why you don't. In some cases the people you tell will berate you and tell you how stupid you are for not liking it. An example might be:

You don't like The Beatles, most people do.  Someone talks about how amazing they are at a party you mention you don't like them.  The entire party stops and everyone weighs in as to why you are weird and have no musical taste. It’s not that you hate discussing this it's just definitely not your favorite conversation to have.

In compiling this I got to really realize how unpopular my opinions really are.  It was near impossible to find pictures and in most cases I had to get creative. Here are my top five Guilty Dis-pleasures:

5) College Football and Professional Soccer (Tie)

This is what I do when I watch either of these sports.

College Football
Living in the Northwest my entire life, in a combination of both Oregon and Washington I can tell you first hand people love college football in this area.  I would say even more so on the Oregon side because they have no professional team. Because of this they cling to a beloved college team.  Honestly, I just can't watch it.  I feel like I am watching high school students try to perform a complicated monologue written by Shakespeare.  The concept is there but the execution is just not as entertaining to watch as a professional.  Most of the world however, (at least the one that surrounds me) does not feel this way.  I always hear the "College players just have more heart" argument.  This to me is B.S. The politics and the "Heart" that go into college ball are just because those players want to go pro or they want to live up to the colleges expectation who is probably paying them under the table or compensating someone in some way.  The sport has too much corruption and the bowl game system does not make sense.  It appears to entirely be about money and doesn't even try to hide it.  My biggest complaint is that these are kids that are supposed to be learning and I feel like they leave the corrupt college system and then become a corrupt pro which destroys the game altogether.  We have seen this many times and usually hear about one of these controversies at least once a month.  I think there needs to be some cleaning up of the college game before I could ever be a fan.

Professional Soccer
My response here is simple; I just can't get into it.  When you are playing it's a fun game but as a spectator I just don't find it entertaining.  I have never been to a game live yet but this is mostly out of cost.  It has become so popular here in Portland that tickets are too expensive for me too experiment and see if I like it.  When you tell people you don't like soccer in the North West it's like you are telling them that the god they believe in does not exist.

4) Lord of the Rings
I don't like wizards, warlocks and dragons.  The mythical medieval time is just not a place I want to spend anytime. I just don't understand the fascination. I get liking medieval times but once the mythical magic stuff comes in I am heading for the exits. Something about it is burrowed into my DNA that when I see something containing these things that I tend to cringe and cannot take it seriously.  Maybe it is some deep burrowed thing planted there in high school when I watched people play Magic the gathering. I didn’t understand why they were wasting their time on this game when there were plenty of girls to talk to. There are of course exceptions to the rule (Harry Potter) but for the most part it is really hard to sell me on this genre.  I can respect it and understand what it has done for literature and cinema but I personally don't enjoy it.

3) Monty Python

I have watched every movie I can imagine that they have done.  It is just not funny to me.  I have heard people perform segments from the movies without accents and with different timing and then I find it funny.  But for whatever reason the movies just feel off to me.  Like the punch lines being delivered are off just a split second that make the joke lost.  This is one of the many items on this list that I dread mentioning.  Because usually after saying it I have to hear countless hours of people quoting it in terrible accents trying to convince me how funny it is.

2) Princess Bride
I think I have met two people in my entire life who agree with me on this.  But this movie is terrible.  I know let the death threats begin, right.  But seriously I don't get why people love this movie.  My theory is I did not get to see it until I was an adult so some of the wide eyed magic is just lost on me.  The entire movie just seems like a made for TV movie starring Fred Savage and Andre the Giant.  It just seems like it couldn't decide what type of movie it wanted to be, is it a spoof or a comic love story or a cheesy family flick. Being a theatre major I have been pretty much laughed at when discussing my feelings about this movie. Once I was even asked to leave an audition when I mentioned my distaste for this film.

1) Bob Dylan

Man where to begin...oh wait his TERRIBLE VOICE! This guy cannot sing! He sounds stoned and sing songy in everything he does. I will give him the fact he writes beautiful poetry and lyrics, but this guy should not be singing them.  I remember first hearing a Bob Dylan song (I want to say it was on a movie soundtrack in middle school) I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a parody of a 60's or 70’s song.  It is just really hard for me to take anything that guy does seriously.

Honorable mentions:

The Cure
They are always mentioned in the category of punk.  Which utterly confuses me.  I guess the way they dressed, but there music is more goth and emo then anything else.  I don't really like Robert Smith's voice and every song is depressing and boring to me.

Depeche Mode
I have a lot of friends who enjoy this band but much like The Cure it just seemed ultra depressing and the music just never clicked with me.  I couldn't connect to it.  Even at the time when they were releasing music I felt like it was already dated. The other day I had a great moment where I heard a song on the radio and it was horrid.  I began making fun of it and the realized it was a Depeche Mode song and it made sense why it sounded terrible to me. 

1980's Butt rock-Bands like Poison, White Snake, Skid Row, Motley Crue, Etc.
People from my generation either love this type of music or hate it. I am in the hate camp.  I just never understood acting overtly masculine and misogynist while wearing women’s clothes and makeup. I would much rather be listening to hip-hop that was produced at the same time.  It could be my distaste for High pitched voices and screaming in music.  However, every once in a while there is a gem of a song that I hear that I enjoy.  They are rare though and far between.

Top Five Comic Based Super heroes

This is a pretty obvious one for me, I probably should have done this a while ago.  I want to point out that these are heroes originally based on comic book characters. So this means no Incredibles, Gizmo Duck or Super Grover.  Down below I broke down each hero into three sections:

1) Who he is - This is for those who don't know super heroes that well.
2)You might know him from - I included this to showcase what I believe the character's most popular things are outside of the comics.
3) Why I like him- My opinions as to why these heroes are on this list.

I stayed away from listing the comics the heroes are based on in the You might know him from section.  If you know comics thats what you know him from. If not its probably one of the things I talk about.  My top three are pretty set in stone in my mind and have been for a while. My last two I went back and fourth on but I ended pretty confidently. I also want to point out that am not a true afficiando on any of these heroes (except for maybe a degree in Spider-man with a minor in Batman) so I am sure I could be saying something that you think is off base.  Sorry, you might be reading the wrong blog if you are looking for perfection on this subject matter.

With that said let's get to the main course:

5) Flash

Who he is:
Flash has had various people take on the mantle: Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West and Bart Allen. However I would say most people consider Barry Allen to be the incarnation most people like and are familiar with.  All four incarnations of the Flash have had the ability of "super speed"

You might know him from:
The Flash TV show in the 90's.  He has also been in "The Justice league" animated Series and his character has appeared in smallville.  Probably his most recent claim to fame outside of comics is Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory dressing up like him in an episode and running around his apartment.

Why I like him:
To be honest I am not sure anymore.  The more I have read about him the less I am interested in his character.  I have found the comic somewhat boring along with his other incarnations. The TV show really seemed like it was trying to be a little like the Batman movie that was out at the time.  The Justice League cartoon character seemed to take on what Plastic Man's persona is in the comics. This was show cased mostly on how he interacted with people which wasn't true to the character in a lot of ways. I think the biggest thing that attracts me to him is simply his super power.  If I had to choose, super speed would be it. The power of speed could take on several powers as long as it was harnassed correctly.  I also like the flash symbol (I know it's materalistic but deal with it).  Quite honestly I am not a DC comic guy.  Batman is the only one I truly enjoy the rest seem to be to flawless and have to generate flaws to stay interesting.  I have a feeling in a few years Flash might be moved out of the top five if they don't do something with him soon.

4) Iron Man

Who he is:
Tony Stark, genius, billionaire playboy, philanthropist. Tony suffered a chest injury and built a suit to help keep him alive and escape from his captors. He has no superpowers but is considered to be a genius. He graduated from MIT when he was 17.  He is considered to be one of the most (if not the most) intelligent person in the Marvel Universe.

You might know him from:
Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron man 3, The Avengers.

Why I like him:
I cannot tell a lie, this is all because of the movies.  I did not know Iron man that well and quite frankly I did not think it would do that well at the box office.  The character was relatively unknown  unless you were a comic guy. Another possibility of knowing him was you could of been one of the ten people that recognized his character from one of his many cartoon cameos. He seemed boring and the villians seemed weak in any comic or cartoon I saw. The movies however have proved me wrong.  Robert Downey Jr. brought something special and engaing to the role and makes me want to watch the character. He is funny, smart and knows his way around a spectacular fight. The character went from relative mainstream unknown to one of the first heroes kids talk about.  This has to be credited to Robert Downey Jr and the characters appearances in the marvel cinematic universe.

3) Daredevil

Daredevil is even better in bear form.

Who he is:
Matt Murdock, he was blinded by a radioactive substance that fell from an oncoming vehicle. This heightens his senses beyond normal human ability. He is a master of several martial arts and he is skilled and respected attorney.

You might know him from:
The movie Daredevil staring Ben Affleck.  If you ever watched the 90' Spider-man animated series he also made quite a few cameos throughout the run of that show.  Some people who normally don't read comics also got into him because film maker Kevin Smith wrote a few of his issues.

Why I like him:
I first noticed him in a cameo on a Spider-man cartoon and thought he seemed fascinating.  I then read a few of the comics and then a few years later I saw the movie.  Unlike most people I liked the movie, it actually made me want to read more about him.  The movie wasn't the greatest, but I liked the character enough and thought enough elements of the charatcer were there to make the movie a decent watch. I enjoy the concept of a blind attorney fighting crime. Not only does he put on a suit and fight crime but he also does it when the mask comes off.  There are not too many characters I can think of who are still fighting crime as their occupation when they are not in costume.

2) Batman

Who he is:

Bruce Wayne. (However other people at times have taken over the mantle) After witnessing the murder of his parents as a small child he swears revenge on criminals and gives them his own brand of justice.  He does not posses any super powers. He is immensely wealthy and has a very high intellect. This allows him to have great detective skills and a high knowledge of science and technology.

You might know him from: Countless TV shows, cartoons, movies and probably your childhood in some fashion.

Why I like him:
Batman is a man in a costume. A man who fights for what he believes is right.  He fights everyday so he might prevent anyone ever having to go through a similar pain he did when he lost his parents. He is someone who sacrifices his fortune, his mind and his body to better humankind and specifically his city of Gotham. The main thing I like about Batman is unlike other heroes who I can relate personally with, Batman is not like that. He is the man I wish I was.  The intelligent detective who is a martial arts master and who is always one step ahead of everyone else. Who doesn't want that?

1) Spider-Man

Who he is:
Peter Parker (Depending on the universe there have been others, but he is the main one) Science genius high schooler (sometimes college) student gets bit by a radioactive spider.  He then struggles with his love life, super villians and his Aunt May.  I also forgot to mention he is very quick witted and funny.  He has a one liner for just about every interaction with a villian.

You might know him from:
Well if you know me: my house, my ranting and my wardrobe. If not, the three movies directed by Sam Rami; Spiderman 1-3 (2002-2007), The Amazing Spider-man (2012), and a variety of animated shows. The Ultimate Spider-man being the most recent one that currenlty plays on disney XD.

Why I like him:
I have already written an entire blog on my love affair with him a year or so back at my other Blogger page:

Spider-man: Your friendly neighborhood Tom

But to give a quick summary, he is the most relatable hero to me.  Growing up I watched how he struggled in relationships and how he always wanted to do the right thing.  He often didn't make the best choices, but always had good intentions. He seemed different then the other mainstream heroes.  He was quick witted and humorous.  He dated different girls and had normal everyday problems in not normal extraordinary situations. If I was on a dessert Island and had to pick one fictional character to hang out with, it would be the web-head.

Top Five Documentaries!

I hear a lot of people complain about not finding anything to watch on Netflix.  To me that is like saying there is nothing to do in New York City. Those people are not doing it right. The Netflix of today has so many TV shows and movies to watch, I usually have to stop adding movies when I hit a certain number of titles before I add more.

This was not the case when I first got Netflix. When I began streaming movies about five years back, I did nothing but watch documentaries. At that time it was really all you would want to sit through. I am thankful for that time because it allowed me to learn what I liked and what I didn't in terms of documentaries. It also made me watch movies I normally would not have. This made me have a great respect for this type of cinema and allowed me to seek out documentaries that I normally would not have. So out of the many I have watched, here are some of the ones that stuck with me as my favorites.

5) When You're Strange

I love the Doors. I love Johnny Depp. These are two great tastes that taste great together. This movie beautifully tells the rise and fall of the band and Depp does a great job telling the story. This movie basically eliminates ever needing to watch the Oliver Stone film starring Val Kilmer. It's just as entertaining but is more realistic and does not stretch the truth for entertainment purposes as the previous film did...and I ought to know. Up until 2000 I had read every book published about The Doors. This film sticks to accuracy while still keeping your attention. A great Rock doc.

4) Spellbound

For a few years I worked at a video store. The cool thing about working at a video store is you get to watch movies before they get released. The week this came out there was nothing else being released so I gave it a shot. This is such a stressful movie! It revolves around eight kids and a spelling bee. I never would have thought this type of competition would be as compelling, thrilling and funny as it was. The eight kids involved are a very interesting study into the minds of these young intelligent kids.

3) Hands on a Hard Body

This is the first documentary in my life I remember choosing to watch. I was a sophomore in college and I was dating a junior. I remember being a tad nervous because we went over to hang out with a group of her friends that I did not know too well and it was in a tiny one bedroom apartment. The plan was to have some drinks and watch a movie. I heard we were going to watch a documentary and I was not looking forward to it. My impression of those kind of movies is what they made us watch in social studies in high school. Man was I wrong! This movie blew my mind. It is about a yearly competition that puts twenty-four contestants against each other to see who can keep their hand on a pickup truck for the longest amount of time. These people were ridiculous! Mind you, this movie was long before the main stream reality television shows. I could see someone watching this now and not understanding its humor because there are so many incarnations of this that exist on television and are not as dated. I have also heard it is talks to become a Broadway musical and also there were a few rumors of an acted film adaptation a few years back.  It's funny, intense and very, very weird. This movie is currently out of print and is not the easiest to locate. So unfortunately I have not seen it in its entirety since the original evening I watched it. But man I want to.

2) Waking Sleeping Beauty

I am a man who grew up on Disney cartoons. The movies, the television shows and everything in between. Waking Sleeping Beauty documents the history of Disney from 1981 to1994. Highlighting a successful period of time known as the Disney renaissance. The film specifically covers the rise and fall of the animation division that brought us movies like The little Mermaid and The Lion King. This film is what is commonly referred to as a "warts and all" documentary. Meaning they are not censored about things that happened. They don't always paint Disney in the best light either. I like this Movie so much because it uses no new on camera interviews, instead relying primarily on old interviews and personal film/videos shot by the employees of the studio. A brilliant portrait of the company rebuilding the Disney animated film legacy.

1) Dear Zachary: A letter to a son about his father

This movie breaks your heart, over and over and over again. Just when you think you are safe this movie rips our your heart again and takes a bite and then puts it back in your chest. It is the story of a film maker whose best friend Andrew Bagby was murdered. After his death his friend now wants to investigate it deeper and get to know the people that Andrew associated with before he died. All of this is being documented for Andrew's infant son. I think this film is nearly impossible to watch and not sob. I have a love hate relationship with this movie. The love part comes because I think it is a brilliant film that has many layers and is highly engaging on every level. But the hate part comes from the way I feel when I am done watching the movie. You feel like crap when it is done. Depressed, sad and sickened by the way that one person could treat another. But I can honestly say this movie changed my life upon viewing. I knew at that moment that you have to be careful who you trust in this world and that your family and the people you love will ultimately be there for you when you need them. Watch this movie, but be prepared to be touched...and not like that sicko.

Honorable mentions: There are plenty of movies I wanted to name here but these stuck out as ones I would have included but I ruled them out for one reason or another. I have two that come to mind that are straight documentaries and two that are a television mini documentary series.

America: The Story of US
An amazing mini-series about Americas creation all the way through to current day. Very interesting reenactments and a new creative way to look at our country.

Brando: The Documentary
This aired on TMC in 2009. When they aired it the first time I put it into my DVR and watched it a few times. My love affair with Brando and watching his rise and fall was massively revealing and also very appealing. I loved learning about the actor who defined a generation of many other actors and the path of his interesting career.

The Battle over Citizen Kane 
This was a movie that revealed why Citizen Kane is so important. Many people now just watch the movie but don't understand its true significance. This doc tells the stories behind the feud of William Randolph Hearst and Orson Welles. It also makes you really understand Orson's vision of the movie and why still many years later people regard Citizen Kane as one of the greatest movies of all time.

ESPN 30 for 30 series and ESPN Film Present and ESPN SEC Storied
These are three different tiles for a series of sports documentaries that were originally shown on ESPN but have now been shown on other networks such as ABC.  All of the ones I have seen were on Netflix, and as far as I know most of them still are.  I like some of these so much I probably would have put them in my top five but I tried to keep my list to films released theatrically. There are quite a few of these documentaries and I have listed the ones below that I enjoyed.  I tried to put them in order of my favorites but they are all great. Here you go:

Going Big This is the only one from the ESPN SEC Storied collection.  This is all about Sam Bowie and his rise and fall in college and professional basketball.  A must see for a Portland Trail Blazer fan.
The band that wouldn't die This is about the move of the Baltimore Colts to Indiana and the struggle the city and the team band had throughout the years before the new franchise, the Baltimore Ravens arrived.  Very interesting even for a non sports fan.  The band pushed forward through some tough times.
The announcement This one is all about Magic Johnson's very famous announcement that he was HIV positive.
Straight outta LA All about the Raiders coming to LA and leaving LA.  The cultural impact the Raiders had on Hip-Hop and on entertainment.  It is narrated and hosted by Ice Cube.
Once brothers Probably the most touching and sad one on the list. It's the story of two NBA players (Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic) who were both from the same country and became great friends.  Then something tears them apart and they have a giant feud.  It gets worse from there. 
Jordan rides the bus all about Michael Jordan's retirement from basketball and attempted baseball career.  Not the best documentary but if you are a Jordan fan it is entertaining and a quick watch
You don't know Bo I really liked this one.  I didn't know much about Bo Jackson and I thought this documentary was very well put together.
Winning Time: Reggie Miller VS the New York Knicks there was a time when there was a huge rivalry between the Knicks and The Pacers; Reggie Miller.  Spike Lee was part of this feud.  A fun watch.
Catching Hell this was the story of Steve Bartman the fan who messed up the chance the Cubs had at winning the world Series.  If I was a bigger baseball fan this would be higher on the list.  With that said the story is fascinating and examines how much pressure is put on athletes and fans who make one vital mistake. It showcases a few instances of this happening.