My Top 30 Favourite Movies: Part 1

By Geeky Gem

Now a few weeks ago Hmsbeefnuts told you all about his Top 20 movies and not to be outdone I started to think about what my Top 30 movies. When you look at my list you may well go back to Hmsbeefnuts list and find some movies are the same and that’s because well they are my favourite too. Shall we get down to it then?

Tron

Tron is a movie I have spoken about on All Geek a few times so is it any wonder that it is on my list. It’s a fantastic movie and brings back a memory of my childhood every time I watch and in the end isn’t that what a great movie should do.  Its simple yet thought-provoking story is both fantastic and fun.

Back to the Future

What kind of child of the eighties would I be if this wasn’t n my list, I have lost count of how many times I have watched. Who knows how many times I have day dreamed about time machines being really and where and when would I go? What and who would I see.

Lord of the Rings

Yes I am doing the same as Hmsbeefnuts and including trilogy’s on my list, all the movies are good apart but together they add up to one epic, fantastic adventure through worlds unknown, mix in some epic battles and Orcs and what more did this movie have to be. I can’t wait for the Hobbit, it going to be brilliant plus it will have a dragon and we know I love those.

Hellboy

I don’t even know where to start with Hellboy, its everything I love about movies and comics. It dark, edgy and Ron Perlman is just fantastic as the Demon from another realm. If the BPRD where real I would so want to work there, I’ve seen enough movies to banish a few demons.

Superman

This was one of the first Super Hero movies I ever saw, and it sounds cheesy but to quote the tag line I really did believe man could fly. This is where y love for Super Heroes came from and that can only be a good thing in book. That’s why I enjoyed written about The Sons of Krypton back in Avenging April.

Star Trek

I had to have Star Trek on this list; yes I know there is more than trilogy. There’s 11 in fact and with the newest one they broke the myth that every odd-numbered Star Trek is shit. These movies vary and not all of them are good but they are worth a watch, there are fantastic and run alongside the show nicely. However I really wish Deep Space Nine and Voyager had been given a go at the big screen.

Batman Begins

Did you really think I would include Superman and not include Batman? After having watched all six movies for Bat-A-Thon for Summer Knights, I sat there and had a good hard think about which of the six I like the most and this was it. This was everything I love about The Dark Knight with Nolan’s flare and a whole lot more.

How To Train Your Dragon

I have mentioned my love for Dragon’s many times and this movie even made it on to a list of favourite dragon movies. It was then I realized it’s actually one of my favourite movie, the animation is stunning and musical score is brilliant the voice cast is rich and the story line is brilliant. I can’t wait for squeal.

Krull

Krull came out about month after I was born, not a lot of people remember it and Hmsbeefnuts is the only other person I know to have seen it. Put this with The Princess Bride and you have one of favorite weekend double bills. A prince and a fellowship of companions set out to rescue his bride from a fortress of alien invaders who have arrived on their home planet. What more could you ask for.

300

Oh 300 where do I start. This was just the height of epicness for me. It has a brilliant story and fantastic effects. The graphic novel is really good as well if you can get your hands on it read it. The soundtrack and dialogue for this move was just everything it should have been.

Well that is the first part of my top 30. Come back soon to find what else made it on the list that I have already changed five times.

Summer Knights: My Favorite Comic Book Guys

By Geeky Gem

We here at All Geek like our comics, which at times can cause a debate over the best writers, artists and story arcs. However, there is one thing we do agree on, and that is comic books on a whole are a great way to spend some time. This got me thinking, just who do I spend my time reading? It would appear just looking at my loans from the library this past year that I have already started picking my comics by certain people. That brings me to this article and the list of the writers I enjoy the most in no real order.

Frank Miller

Frank Miller is a comic book artist, writer and movie director. He is best known for his dark, film-noire comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns along with Sin City and 300. The latter two both being turned into movies and reaching even more fans all over the world. I like Miller’s style; it’s just so rich and reaches the dark side of any subject matter he looks into. When you look at 300 and then watch the movie his pages are right there on the screen, which always look fantastic.

Jeph Loeb

Joseph “Jeph” Loeb III is a film and television writer, producer and award winning comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost.  He was also the writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf he was also a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the show Heroes from its premiere in 2006 to November 2008. In 2010, Loeb became Head of Television for Marvel in charge of drama, comedy and animation.

Loeb is a four-time Eisner Award winner and five time Wizard Fan Award winner, Loeb’s comic book work  on many major characters, including Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Hulk, Captain America, Cable, Iron Man, Daredevil, Supergirl, The Avengers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Many of these works he has done with artist Tim Sale.  I like Jeph’s style as well, I can really get lost in one of story’s it’s that easy.  Some of the work he has done is that good I just couldn’t put it down.

Alan Moore

Now Alan Moore penned one of my all time favorite Batman graphic novels so to me it was a crime to leave him off the list. The graphic novel in question is The Killing Joke if you didn’t know. Alan Oswald Moore is a writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchman, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He is frequently described as the best graphic novel writer in history, he has also been described as “one of the most important British writers of the last fifty years”. He has occasionally used such pseudonyms as Curt Vile, Jill de Ray, and Translucia Baboon.

Alan Moore was picked up by DC Comics and became the one of the first comic writers living in Britain to do prominent work in America; he worked on big name characters such as Batman in which he wrote the Killing Joke and Superman in which he wrote Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? The Killing Joke was one of the first Batman graphic novels I read and it will stay with me forever because it was frankly fantastic. I have since read more of Moore’s work and I just can’t get over how much he brings to the characters he writes for.

　

Mike Mignola

Many people may know that I have a bit of thing for Hellboy and that I think he totally rocks. The gentleman I’m about to tell you about now created Hellboy. Michael Joseph “Mike” Mignola again as are the rest of the people on this list is a comic book artist and writer who as I mentioned created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book The Amazing Screw-On Head.

Up until 1994 Mignola had only ever illustrated the work of others. In 1994 he illustrated his own work, his first Hellboy story, The Seed of Destruction, which was scripted by John Byrne, and published by Dark  Horse Comics, followed by further stories, with associated merchandise. The Hellboy story Wolves of St. August and later stories were scripted by Mignola, though other writers and artists have also worked on the character. All major story arcs were drawn by Mike Mignola, but in 2007 artist Duncan Fegredo took over drawing, with Mignola remaining on as writer and cover artist. He also writes the spin-off BPRD with John Arcudi which is drawn by Guy Davis with Mignola as cover artist. The 2008 one -shot In the Chapel of Moloch was the first Hellboy comic he provided the script and art for since The Island in 2005. The reason I like Mignola so much was that he took the risk in creating Hellboy and running with it. All comic book writers take risks with their characters and its one thing I admire about them. Hellboy is just so rich and deep with elements of darkness. It’s a great read.

Robert Kirkman

If you know me at all, and I hope some of you do by now. Then you’ll know not only do I like things that go bump in the night but I like zombies. A little too much some people may say but I can’t help it. There is just something about the end of the world being bought on by the reanimated corpses’ of the dead that I find fascinating.  That being said, it seems only right that I tell you little about the man who is in the zombie spot light right now.

Robert Kirkman is a comic book writer best known for his work on The Waking Dead and Invincible which are published by Image Comics. He is also known for his work on Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies which he did for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of its co-founders.

Although The Walking Dead has zombies in, they are not the main focus of the comic it is all about the characters. It’s about how they cope with trying to live day to day in a world no overrun with the dead. I have touched n this subject in other articles about The Waking Dead which can be found on the site.

That brings us to the end of this list I hope you had a good time looking at just some of the guys that keep me reading comics.

My Geeky Trivia

By Geeky Gem

This week I thought I would mix up the trivia a bit, instead of doing the normal TV show or movie trivia, I am going to do trivia on a single man. This man is from Mexico, and was born in 1964 he has been bringing us movies in Spanish and English since 1985. This man is none other than Guillermo del Toro. I was a little late to the del Toro party, having not heard about him until Hellboy came out. I have since seen his entire back catalogue of films and they truly are brilliant. Here are some interesting facts about this brilliant director/writer/producer.

  

Guillermo became a vegetarian for 4 years after seeing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

He turned down the chance to direct Blade:Trinty, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, all in order to work on Hellboy.

He fought the film studios for almost seven years to get Ron Perlman for the title role in Hellboy. The studio wanted a bigger name to ensure the success of the movie, but del Toro thought that Perlman was the perfect choice, and wouldn’t make the movie if he wasn’t cast.

Guillermo has a photographic memory.

In 1997 his father was kidnapped in Mexico and held for seventy-two days until his ransom was paid.

His favourite movie monsters are Frankenstein’s Monster and the Creature of the Black Lagoon.

Lost 45 lbs. while making Pan’s Labyrinth, which he admitted in the DVD’s video prologue.

Turned down a chance to direct I am Legend, One Missed Call, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, to work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

His movie and comic book collection is so huge that he had to buy an extra home to accommodate it.

His favourite album is The Wall by Pink Floyd.

There we have just a few fun facts about this guy from Mexico who took on Hollywood to get Ron Perlman in a big red suite and made him one of my most favourite characters ever. Thank you Guillermo.