My Top 10 Disney Movies

            I have not been posting nearly enough this year and I want to steer back from that.  To that end I have found a 30-day blog challenge and fluffed it out to 31 entries (since December has 31 days).  I have done a 30-day challenge before for movies, though that one was poorly executed (I started it in the middle of a month, at one point I posted 2 entries on one day, it is a mess).  I did another one just this year in August on Video Games, that one was better, go read it after this one, all of it.  Or don’t, no pressure.

            Today is day 31 and the topic is “Top 10”.

Before I start let me drop in a few more Honorable Mentions.

Honorable Mention: “Moana”

I only saw this last night and I am super impressed.  It has elements of other Disney movies I like but the new setting, great music, and fun performances set this one as a cut above pretty much instantly.  The only reason it is not on my list is because I have had less than 24 hours to ruminate on it and as such can’t give a substantive commentary on the thing.

The adorable piggy has far less impact on the narrative I was anticipating by his presence in the advertising.

It is not perfect and will not be unseating “Zootopia” from my top movie of the year spot, but I do think that if some kid were to recall “Moana” as their first Disney movie they are starting off on the right foot.

Honorable Mention: “Beauty and the Beast”

            It is fine, I have talked about it in context of it being a great romance and having a great villain, but overall it just doesn’t hit me too deeply.  I guess this is what happens when you talk subjective opinions, sometimes there is no distinct element or quantifiable reason to not like something as much as most other people.

Honorable Mention: “Brave”

            I consider this movie underrated, but not fantastic.  Much like “Mulan” from yesterday it is very GOOD, but does not stab deeply enough to be particularly great.

Honorable Mention: “The Rocketeer”

            This one is live action and is thus out of consideration, but I watched the hell out of it growing up.  The pacing is rock solid, the bad guy is razor sharp, and the hero and action are both daring and fun.  The only reason this movie is not considered a classic of the superhero genre is because modern Marvel productions have so outpaced it in production values.  But for its time it is amazing.  I would go so far as to say it influenced my current love of the noir/pulp style that I still see as an underappreciated and awesome aesthetic in movies.

Honorable Mention: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”

            This is my favorite Marvel movie.  I have talked about it before.  Much like Star Wars, Marvel was taken off the table at the start of the month.  Still out.

Now on to the List.  These are in no particular order, I had a few movies I said, “Definitely, yes, yes, yes, okay, now let’s go over the list and pick a few more, and a couple more, and a couple more” just to fill it out to a full 20.  Then I just shuffled them up.

Number 10: “Tangled”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            It is the story of Rapunzel, a young woman kept in a high tower with hair that is long, golden, and magical.  But this iteration has adventure, romance (substantive romance, not just, “he rescued me from the tower” obligatory romance), and a reason for why the girl with the hair is in the tower to begin with, that her hair is the receptacle of healing magic.

My Thoughts:

            This movie is great.  Fighting with frying pans, daring chases, and the most romantic moment in Disney according to me.  It is perhaps the most conventional of the picks I made for my Top 10, so there is not much to talk about beyond saying that the elements you would expect from a Disney princess story came together especially well in this one.

Number 9: “The Rescuers Down Under”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            An international peace keeping force sends agents to Australia to stop a poacher from murdering a young boy and destroying a giant gold eagle that is both endangered and a fantastic set piece for the movie—it almost makes this movie an entry in the Classic Movie Genre of “Child and Big Thing” I identified earlier this year.

            Also, the international peace keeping force is made up of mice and this is ostensibly set in the real world.  Kind of like “Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers” or “The Great Mouse Detective”.

My Thoughts:

            While I am sure the “How to Train Your Dragon” series is the first that comes to mind when picturing a child flying on a big magical animal—another entry for “Child and Big Thing”—but for me, that feeling of flying on the back of a wild animal that an instinctive connection has been formed with came from “The Rescuers Down Under”.

The strangest aspect of this movie is how out of place the titular Rescuers feel.  If they had just made a movie about a young boy and his animal companion trying to escape the clutches of a poacher in the Outback coupled with the natural hazards and predators of that environment the movie would still hold together, it would even be a marked improvement.

You could cut the mice and lose very little from the story, even though they have a substantial amount of screen time and a funny little sub-plot with good voice acting.

I actually didn’t know this was a sequel when I saw it as a kid and when I saw the original “The Rescuers” it was such a step down in quality I felt somehow betrayed.

Number 8: “The Great Mouse Detective”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            After a little girl sees her father taken by a menacing figure with a peg leg she is taken by a kindly doctor to the home of a genius detective.  After displaying his penchant for being a dangerous and moody—but high functioning—psychopath, the detective is on the case.

            While chasing down clues and leads they are led to the menacing camp gay villain and arch-nemesis of the detective who is out to take over the nation thru the use of a steam punk doppelganger of the queen.  One death trap and a dramatic confrontation later the heroes return home to find the promise of future adventures—adventures Disney apparently will never deliver on.

            Also, the characters are all mice and this is ostensibly set in the real world.  Kind of like “Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers” or “The Rescuers Down Under”.

My Thoughts:

            I already talked about why I like this movie extensively when I wrote the “My Favorite Male Protagonist” entry.  I actually spent more time explaining why I like the movie than I did why I like the character.  Because Basil is Sherlock Holmes, he appeals in all the same ways to me that he does to everyone—by being good enough at his chosen profession that he can get away with being a bastard to everyone he meets, something we all secretly aspire to.

Number 7: “Wreck it Ralph”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A man with an important job that gets no respect sets out to reinvent himself seeking accolades in other workplaces.  The unintended consequences of his actions create a crisis in multiple communities as the problems of one start to bleed out like a plague.  Ultimately he finds and confronts a lunatic who has been usurping a position of power and causing chaos and restoring a new found friend to her rightful place in the world.

            Also he is a video game character and this all takes place in a number of different game machines in an arcade.  There are a lot of cameos.

My Thoughts:

            The only thing that really holds this movie back would be the number of strange rules dictating the universe.  The way characters become refugees in other systems, the nature of extra lives in games, the villain’s motivation, and the big monstrous plague of space alien bad guys all seem to work via slight addendums to each other’s rules making a weird little book of cross references.  I can’t say it makes no sense, but it gets a tad too complicated.

            In general, the positives outweigh those issues.  The character and world designs vary wildly from one another allowing for huge variety of color, art style, and action.  Ralph and his supporting cast are fun not only in how they act individually but in contrast with one another, the best kind of ensemble cast.

Number 6: “Toy Story 3”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A community must leave their home behind and find a new place to live safely and comfortably.

            They are toys and they are being left behind by the now grown owner of them.

My Thoughts:

            I have talked enough about this one.  I am going to shove this off to those entries.

Number 5: “Aladdin”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A young man gains the ability to make all his dreams come true via the use of a magic lamp.  As his friendships grow and his future brightens his true nature as an impoverished thief threatens to undue all his wishing.  Meanwhile a sorcerer takes control of the lamp and causes havoc.

My Thoughts:

            I have talked a good bit about this one too, so read about that over here.

Number 4: “Up”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            An old man morning his deceased wife and fearing the impending destruction of his home for the construction of some new urban development decides to embrace his childhood dreams and go on an adventure to honor his wife.

My Thoughts:

            This movie has a few strong elements but it also has iconic images, like a house flying thru the air pulled by numerous balloons, a giant crazy bird, and talking dogs flying biplanes.  This whole thing holds together as a stronger product than discussion of any individual part can illustrate.  Though there are a couple of parts that stand out amazingly well.

Number 3: “Zootopia”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A rookie cop works to unravel a series of mysterious instances of violence and the government conspiracy to cover it all up.  She is aided by a conman, and via their exploration of the city’s politics and their interactions with one another they learn to confront their prejudices and grow as people.

            The whole thing is talking animals.  That is to say non-human animals.  Cause humans are animals.

My Thoughts:

            I have talked about it.  Read about it all over the place.

Number 2: “The Incredibles”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            Exceptional individuals who spent their lives saving and protecting the general population by way of their fantastic gifts have been forced into hiding by a bunch of bullshit lawsuits.  Isn’t it always the way of things?

            One of those individuals is trying to get back to the game of heroism via a mysterious organization that is building killer robots in a hidden island fortress—somehow this obvious red flag is allowed to slide.  The desire to use his gifts for what he thinks is good will imperil himself and his family, but they will all have to come together to save the world… from having lots of convenient gadgets?

My Thoughts:

            I love superheroes and this is one of the best superhero films ever made.  The action is fantastic and varied, with feats of strength, speed, infiltration, and a grand fight with a giant multi-limbed robot.  The humor, style, and underlying thesis all have appeal (though I do not agree with the thesis).  I consider this a damn near perfect movie, except for the bad guy’s bizarre plan.

            Let’s go a little deeper.

Yesterday I joked about Ayn Rand doing re-writes to “A Bug’s Life”, well… “The Incredibles” might have been penned by her ghost.  It is all about special people being held back by a system that looks down on exceptional people doing their best.

The bad guy, Syndrome has inventions that can allow normal people to do fantastic things.  So, instead of just selling them he wants to use them to mock and degrade people with naturally occurring super powers?  Why?  I know he is an asshole, but he does this just because he feels his superhuman intelligence wasn’t respected enough?

I don’t really get Syndrome’s deal when I give it a hard look.  Just let it go you dipshit.  You are so wealthy as to afford an island fortress, an army of goons, and a giant robot, while your arch rival lives in the suburbs and works a job he hates (and can I just ask why the government didn’t give Mr. Incredible a job in the police or other law enforcement?)  Syndrome, Buddy, you won at life.

Number 1: “Inside Out”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            It is a road trip thru the mind and imagination of a young girl navigating a complex time in her life.  Along the way we all learn about the importance of being emotionally complex and nuanced individuals instead of just trying to be happy all the time.

My Thoughts:

Much like I pointed out with “Toy Story” yesterday, this is another story in which a big move to a new place is the backdrop to a transitional state of mind.

            I have talked about this several times.  It is a great movie and should be watched.

The End: Disney’s Legacy

            And with that my month long Disney blog-venture (wow, that is rubbish) comes to an end.  It did its job of helping me further push up the number of words I have written and has allowed me to flex my critical mental muscles on things that both do and do not get enough scrutiny.

            Disney is a company that I have complex feelings on.  On one hand they do their best to maintain a standard bearer position as definitive Americana and a moral guardian that emphasizes self-actualization and creativity.  On the other side their work is primarily one of modern interpretation of very old stories that they have access to via the public domain, a legal system and creative tool that they have done tremendous damage to via their work in protecting their corporate IP holdings.

            I see why they want to keep “Steam Boat Willie” in the vault.  But, Walt is dead, 50 years this month.  His creations have become iconic parts of American culture and by preventing those works from belonging to everyone, and by extension allowing a single company to have this much control over the world of animation and culture there is a danger of cultural stagnation taking place.

            People only have so much space in their minds and money in their wallets for entertainment.  If a company can hold onto a piece of media indefinitely and keep releasing its variations, they are eating up mental space and money that could go to an original work that might not be able to get its foot in the door.  New things get crowded out.  But then, many of the works I put on my list are original properties made in the last 20 years, with special commendation going to Pixar for this bevy of new ideas.

            What do you think?  Is Disney a force for good?  Or is it a force of corporate greed with good PR?  There is no wrong answer.  There probably is a wrong answer, but finding a right one would require a lot of research and several judgement calls that I a no interested in making.

            Share your own thoughts on this in the comments.

Conversely, what are some of your favorite Disney movies?  Do you have a top list?  Do you have a blog like mine talking about it?  If so, then post a link below.

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If you like or hate this please take the time to comment, +1, share on Twitter, Tumblr, or Facebook, and otherwise distribute my opinion to the world.  I would appreciate it.

My Top 20 Disney Films: 20-11

            I have not been posting nearly enough this year and I want to steer back from that.  To that end I have found a 30-day blog challenge and fluffed it out to 31 entries (since December has 31 days).  I have done a 30-day challenge before for movies, though that one was poorly executed (I started it in the middle of a month, at one point I posted 2 entries on one day, it is a mess).  I did another one just this year in August on Video Games, that one was better, go read it after this one, all of it.  Or don’t, no pressure.

            Today is day 30 and the topic is “Top 20: 20-11”.

            This was tiring to write.  I should have just picked two of the thinner entries earlier in the month and made four entries of 5 movies each, or even five parts if I gave the Honorable Mentions their own section.  Live and learn.

Before I start let me just drop in a few Honorable Mentions.

Honorable Mention: “Mulan”

            This has a song that stands out as one of the best workout montages ever.  It has some good action; good lessons about using intelligence to circumvent challenges and defeat enemies; interesting themes about gender roles in society; and it is well animated doing their best to replicate the armor and styles of historical China, but stylizing them to keep the animators from dying of exhaustion.

            So why is it not in the top 20.  Mostly it is the Eddie Murphy dragon, I did not care for him.  But beyond that everything is very GOOD.  Not great, not amazing, but very good.  Nothing hits me especially deep.

Honorable Mention: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”

            Frollo is my favorite villain overall, and while I do like the movie there is one thing that drags it down greatly.  The Gargoyles.  They are just the worst.  It is not the fault of the actors or animators; these things just do not belong in this story.  Unlike “Mulan” in which everything was just good, this thing had the potential to be better but the tone was destroyed by those gargoyles.

Honorable Mention: “Princess Mononoke”

            I like this movie and other Studio Ghibli productions more than most of the stuff on my list.  That being said their relationship to Disney is secondhand, as this was distributed via Miramax and is not tied into Disney studios directly.  They are most certainly a compatriot and ally of the Disney machine and animation culture, but they are not strictly in there. 

Honorable Mention: “The Force Awakens”

            I excluded the Lucas Film stuff at the start of the month, but this movie made me feel okay with the direction Disney would take the franchise.  I love it.  “Rouge One” not so much, but that will have to be a thing I talk about next year.

Now on to the List.  These are in no particular order, I had a few movies I said, “Definitely, yes, yes, yes, okay, now let’s go over the list and pick a few more, and a couple more, and a couple more” just to fill it out to a full 20.  Then I just shuffled them up.

Number 20: “The Lion King”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            The Prince of an African nation goes into exile after the assassination of his father.  He is framed for causing the death of the king and his personal shame keeps him from returning home. His nefarious uncle allows a foreign military to invade the country as part of his scheme to keep control.  After a decade the nation is run into the ground and the exiled Prince is pulled back home to kill the usurping uncle, banish the foreign interlopers, and assume the throne as the divine right king.

            Also, they are all lions.

My Thoughts:

            I actually have some problems with this story because I am not a fan of Monarchies or the idea that there is some supreme order to the world that only functions properly if certain people sit on a throne.  Mostly because this sort of thinking has been used to justify a great deal of historically bad mismanagement of governments.  These people are on the throne not because they are competent or have merit, but because they were “born to it”.  That is not a healthy world view.

            That being said, I still like political machinations, betrayal, power struggles, and one’s own hesitance to take on power because of a fear of not measuring up to those who came before.  And it has all those things that I like.

            And as far as philosophy goes, the Circle of Life is a good one.

Number 19: “The Princess and the Frog”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A young woman who has bought into the idea that hard work eventually pays off (she is surprisingly naïve), dreams of one day owning her own restaurant.  This dream goes off the rails when (sub textually) racist bankers deny her loan.  After having her dreams dashed she is then transformed into a frog via Hoodoo curse and must make it home quickly in hopes of breaking the curse.

My Thoughts:

            This one is heavily weighted toward my enjoyment of the bad guy and the setting.  I feel that New Orleans is a crossroads of numerous cultural traditions that have permutated into something distinct, this has also lead to it being mystifying to outsiders and ripe with story juice waiting to be squeezed.

Shadow Man is voiced by one of my favorite voice/genre actors Keith David and as I expressed before, has both strong motivations and clever confrontation with the hero.  One that few other characters’ match.  Unlike “Hunchback” the goofy sidekicks do not break drastically with the tone of the film, instead complimenting the action and being entertaining.  Shadow Man kills one of them and it is a pretty brutal character establishing moment.  Overall I think the elements hang together well.

Number 18: “Alice in Wonderland”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A young woman of prose tries to make sense of a world of poetry.  Disney takes out a lot of the creepiest vibes from the book.  And then puts in some stuff that completely fits the lighter tone they were shooting for.  It still has some edge to it, but not likethe book does.

           

My Thoughts:

            I feel this is an adaptation true to the spirit of the book it is taken from.  I have talked about it enough really.

Number 17: “Finding Dory”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A lovable fish played by national treasure Ellen DeGeneres goes on an adventure to find her home.  Along the way she learns how she became who she is and the friends and family that helped her grow into such a wonderful person. 

My Thoughts:

            I didn’t watch its predecessor, “Finding Nemo”, and I still thought this movie was great.  It is a mystery story in which the clues are pieces of memory, skills, and pneumonic devices.  It is “Memento” for children.

I have not talked a lot about this one this month but it is a solid film that I would recommend to anybody really.  So long as they are not the sort of joyless dipshit who can’t watch a cartoon about talking animals without bitching about how, “Real fish can’t talk” as Aesop spins in his grave.

Number 16: “Duck Tales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A billionaire who could already afford anything he could ever want is given a magic lamp to wish for whatever he wants.  Hashtag .1% Problems. 

My Thoughts:

            DuckTales is a quintessential adventure series and the movie takes them on as epic an adventure as it could.  The humor is a bit silly and overall the film skews closer to “kid’s movie” than “family movie” but the action moves at an excellent pace, the antagonist is a threat, and the treasure they are trying to find and protect is not just more money, but something that affects the plot in a meaningful way. 

Not all action movies have those elements working for them.  Too frequently the treasure/tchotchke driving the plot is just more money, and that is boring.

“Treasure of the Lost Lamp” is similar to another movie with a Genie in it, but not to a distracting level.

Number 15: “The Fox and the Hound”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            Two childhood friends are driven apart by social forces as they grow into the roles society has set for them.

            Also, they are a dog and a fox.  This movie might be (sub textually) about segregation.

My Thoughts:

            Sad!

It is very sad!

Screw society!  Their social conventions that break friendships!

Society should not set us at each other’s throats and tell us it is our way!

Number 14: “A Bug’s Life”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A community is under siege, as an ostensibly more powerful militant group is extorting them for crops.  The local eccentric inventor strikes out to search for help and employs a cadre of actors thinking that they are a group of mercenaries.  Ultimately the community is spurred to band together and confront the invaders as a united front and win their freedom.

            Also, they are all bugs.

My Thoughts:

            I haven’t mentioned this one at all this month.  Oversight!

            I generally like narratives that revolve around the community’s odd duck concocting a plan that allows them to save the day via the power of team work.  Cause that is basically me, and most of my life philosophy is about the power of collective action.  This movie hits that mark with air strike force and precision.

There are some things holding “A Bug’s Life” back a bit, like the community being a little too resistant to the oddball’s ideas.  As if Ayn Rand threw in some script edits with “Anthem” on her mind.  But overall a solid movie.

            I still remember seeing this in theaters with my dad and brother at the Hollywood 20 at the north end of the county when the first opened the new theater.

This movie came out the same time as the film “Antz” which I have never seen.

Number 13: “A Goofy Movie”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            After a popularity stunt goes off like fireworks the high school doofus becomes a made-man on campus and is about to go on a date with his dream girl.  His father throws a wrench into the plan by wanting to take the boy on a road trip to reconnect.

A chain of funny, sad, and complicated father-son bonding commences and culminates with sneaking into the biggest concert on Earth cause Goofy is a ride or die fam who goes to great lengths for the sake of his son. 

My Thoughts:

            I already talked about this movie as the underrated comedic treasure that it is.  Go read about it there.

Number 12: “Toy Story”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A favored son and community leader is feeling himself be pushed out of the spotlight by a new favorite.  After getting lost far from home the favored son and newcomer become trapped by a demented and abusive monster.  Banding together with the tortured and malformed prisoners of the monster they must escape and reunite with their community before they relocate forever to parts unknown which would leave the favored son an newcomer lost forever.

            Also they are a toy cowboy and spaceman respectively.

My Thoughts:

            On paper the idea that toys are secretly alive with their own personalities is terrifying and sad.  Very much a, “I have no mouth and I must play” scenario coupled with a creepy sense of voyeurism.  Somehow this movie not only makes it work, but does so in an emotionally affecting way.

            The idea that Andy, the toy owner, is moving with his family is the perfect backdrop.  Childhood playthings being left behind as the child who plays with them moves thru life is a pretty literal metaphor and that the toys must work to stay in his life could be read as grappling with keeping one’s own sense of fun and adventure while growing.

            It might be seen as a complaint by many that moving is such a common backdrop for kids’ movies, just last year “Goosebumps” had it, and in the past others like “Karate Kid”, “Casper” … and “Twilight”.  Along with TV shows like “Gravity Falls”, “Eerie Indiana”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, and “Spooksville”.  It is a common trope because it works.

Moving is a transitional period which pairs naturally with the concept of growing up.  It also allows the main character to start the story out of their element or familiar local, this means that making new friends and being drawn into a story has a sense of adventure and tension in it even without extra-normal elements.  It is also easy for the writer to work explanations into the script, when characters explain things to the protagonist it makes sense that they would, because the main character is the new person who doesn’t know things.

Number 11: “The Nightmare Before Christmas”

The Plot Goes Thusly:

            A local community leader is going thru a midlife crisis and after getting lost in another community while on a walk far afield, he decides to expand his horizons and try out a radically different career.  Ignoring that he has no idea what he is doing and that such attempts will endanger lives and property.

            Also, he isa ghoul and he orchestrates the kidnapping of Santa Claus and the usurping of Christmas into a horror show of monsters and demonic toys.

Have you noticed how I keep giving descriptions of the plot and then throw in the elements that set it apart from all the other times you have seen a similar story?  It is a joke, but it is also a comment on how Disney tells stories that should not be dismissed just because they have cartoon lions or talking toys in them.  Maybe similar considerations should be afforded animation in general so that stories with different levels of scale can be attempted with the freeing medium of animation rather than being compromised to fit into live action adaptations.  Or, WHATEVER!

My Thoughts:

            I already talked about the fantastic design work and originality in this movie.  Beyond that it has one of the best villain protagonists in any family film, and a great character arc/moral lesson.  You may get bored with your life sometimes, but don’t use that as an excuse to terrorize people, just try to remaster what you know and find joy in the world and friends around you.

            Tomorrow is my Top 10.

  

            Share your own thoughts on this in the comments.  I know I am not the only person out there who is nostalgic for Disney products, and I am sure many people disagree with my selection for today’s entry. 

I picked Disney stuff just because I knew there was so much of it to talk about and it lends itself to discussion in the comments.

What are some of your favorite Disney movies?

Do you have a top list?

Do you have a blog like mine talking about it?  If so, then post a link below.

______________________________

If you like or hate this please take the time to comment, +1, share on Twitter, Tumblr, or Facebook, and otherwise distribute my opinion to the world.  I would appreciate it.

My Top 10 Video Games

            I have not been posting nearly enough this year and I want to steer back from that.  To that end I have found a 30-day blog challenge and will be writing out entries, hopefully I can get all thirty days without any breaks, and if I manage to do that (since August has 31 days) I will think of an additional entry to write about.  I have done a 30-day challenge before, it for movies, but that was a while back, feel free to read those too if you like.

            Today is day 31 and the topic is “Top 10 Video Games”.

            This and yesterday’s entry (which were my favorite games "20-11") were not a part of the original 30-day challenge, I added them to replace categories that I decided to excise for being lame.  Some of these games I have talked about before in this series, and some I have talked about before that, so I will link to those when apropos.  Cause I have written more than 25,000 words on freaking video games this month and I am pretty tired so I am not going to bust my ass on a rehashing of what I have already done.

SO LET US BEGIN!

I sincerely doubt this game is in many top 10's.

10) Fable

I have already talked about this one.  But to give a quick rundown of that: a game that emphasizes humor and a whimsical tone with basic gameplay and basic fantasy story.

           

This is probably on more lists.

9) Resident Evil 4

            Haven’t talked about this one yet.  This is the only good “Resident Evil” game.  It drops most of the BS science fiction to instead focus on a Lovecraft type horror, with giant monsters, twisted monstrosities, cults, zombies caused by parasites rather than a virus, and a plot to insert mind control parasites into the white house.  It is often playing things with a tongue firmly in its cheek, goofy elements, and random puzzles.  While most RE games take themselves too seriously RE4 lets you throw eggs at people.

As for mechanics it has the best quick time events I have seen in a game, though it is also probably responsible for that mechanic being added to every other action title that came out around that time.  The controls do not allow you to move while aiming, instead requiring you to be still while lining up shots in an over the shoulder camera model that works shockingly well.  There are also siege-defense, which allows you to push furniture in from of doors, or shove ladders away from windows, a small but really cool way to interact with the environment that adds to the survival horror element.

Lastly, the game is all about escort quests, as you attempt to save a damsel (the president’s daughter, Ashley) from the monsters, and it is the gold standard in this type of gameplay; Ashley anticipates your movements and gets out of the way, she takes cover behind you, she ducks when she doesn’t have time to get behind you, she can be sent thru some windows to unlock doors or throw switches while you keep the cultists off her, and in one of the cutest aspects of the story she gives a “yeah” mini fist pump when you kill a bad guy.

Resident Evil 4 is a fun and adventurous game that has a good sense of humor and solid gameplay.  I love it. 

           

This is definitely on top 10 lists.  Everybody loves this thing.  I kind of feel mainstream by picking it.

8) Portal

            I have talked about this one too.  And mentioned it positively a couple times.  To some up, it is a tightly designed puzzle game with one of the best mechanics, best bad guy, and best senses of humor in all of gaming.

           

I imagine people's negative reception to the ending of 3 might make this game unfairly neglected during award season.

7) Mass Effect 2

            I have talked about the characters of the Mass Effect series, but this is my favorite entry in the series specifically because of how good those characters are.  While I do find the action gameplay fun what I am really here for is the space politics and the space drama.  I like seeing the bigger issues of the galaxy explored thru the microcosm of diverse crew members you interact with.  It is funny, sad, and awesome in numerous measures.  One of the truly great games of its time and one of my personal favorites.

           

I am so out of juice these captions are giving me trouble.

6) Super Smash Bros Brawl

            I talked about how Nintendo is my favorite developer and this is a good example of why.  The only fighting game I like because it is so easy to play, and much like the rest of Nintendo, it is about having fun not really about giving everyone a competitive system to waste one’s life mastering.  (Note: I think E-Sports are stupid, they are as inane as any game and give you none of the exercise of sports and none of the creative or educational benefits of non-competitive games like Dungeons and Dragons).

            “Smash Bros” just takes bright characters and goofy environments and tells you to have fun with them.  The meta-narrative is that of all the characters all being toys and acting out the play battles of the “Master Hand”.  This even ties back to my discussion of “Alan Wake” yesterday, that I like the idea of characters taking on a life of their own and fighting to break free of their creators as the characters in this game square off against the Master Hand at the game’s ultimate conflict.

            I am sure if I had a WiiU that would be the iteration of the series that I like the most, but I don’t, so it’s not.

I've got to find a way out of here...

5) Spec Ops: The Line
Already talked about this one.  It is a dark exploration of the impulses that make people want to be a hero and the destruction such a self-serving drive has on the world.

Said the Joker to the Theif.

4) Age of Empires III

            Already talked about this one.  It is a Real Time Strategy game set in the colonial era of history.  It has lots of different units and a fun system for gathering and managing resources.

           

Breath that glorious desert air.

3) Fallout: New Vegas

            I beat this thing into the ground with my praise and the amount of time I have spent discussing it.  A mailman is left for dead, and now he is back and out for revenge in the post-apocalyptic desert of Vegas.

           

My brain is tired.  Maybe I wouldn't be cut out for it.

2) Psychonauts

            I already talked about this thing with a glowing review of how I wish I could live in this world.

This is from the opening cinematic of the game, but I have my doubts as to whether this would be the best place to settle down.  The river has advantages, but the mountains might make it too difficult to get enough workable tiles.

1) Civilization V

            This is my favorite game.  At time of writing I have 4100+ hours logged on this game via Steam.  This game introduced me to Steam and I have spent many a long night up playing it.  I love it, and I still to this day suck at it because I have no interest in ever playing it against anyone else.  “Civ” is what I do so as to busy my hands and mind while watching Netflix, Channel Awesome, or whatever else might be on the internet.

I have innumerable complaints and compliments for this thing (I still have no idea how the religion mechanic works), but I don’t want to list them all.  It would be pointless to as that 4100+ hours count would just underline how I have not let anything stop me from playing.  I have learned a lot about historical figures and great wonders of the world because of this game, and I look forward to “Civilization VI” later this year.

            What are your top 10?  What do you think of “get gud”?  How much time have you spent on your favorite game?

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Top 20 Video Games: 20 to 11

            I have not been posting nearly enough this year and I want to steer back from that.  To that end I have found a 30-day blog challenge and will be writing out entries, hopefully I can get all thirty days without any breaks, and if I manage to do that (since August has 31 days) I will think of an additional entry to write about.  I have done a 30-day challenge before, it for movies, but that was a while back, feel free to read those too if you like.

            Today is day 30 and the topic is “Top 20 Video Games: Twenty to Eleven”.

            I initially only gave out 8 honorable mentions in addition to my top 10, because I couldn’t find 2 more games that I liked enough that I could just make a top 20 rather than a top 10.  Isn’t that a bitch?

            Well, that mostly had to do with my unwillingness to just laud the various entries in one series or from one company.  Some top lists on the internet contain 3 games in a series in three different slots.  Just lump those together, there is no reason to eat up 3 entries on what amounts to one set of games.  You are not providing greater context on your tastes and interests by emphasizing those titles so much.  Eventually I realized that I should reach much further back in my memory to games that I liked a lot as a child to grab some more… Then I started to have too many entries and started cutting things because I don’t think nostalgia is a reason to love something beyond whether I still like it now.

            I am also a bit lazy in that I tried to talk about most of these over the course of the month so that I could just link to them and save myself from having to write too much here.  And I have talked about a lot of these in the WAY BACK of “before I started writing this 30-day challenge”.  So hooray for me for making all of this slightly easier to get thru.

 

And just like yesterday I am posting to the music.

20) Sonic the Hedgehog 2

My family was not wealthy and we waited several years before getting a new game system for the kids to play with, and by the time I got a Sega Genesis the game that was packaged with it was “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”.  I still consider it to be an adequate platformer from the era and I played the hell out of it.  I generally like Sonic as a character (I grew up on two wildly different yet completely acceptable takes on the guy) and still have a sort of soft spot for the whole thing.

A lot of Sonic’s themes are nature vs technology and perhaps it is because I grew up in the era of “Captain Planet” and other such environmentally conscious kids’ entertainment that I consider Sonic to have a little more meat to it (on a foundational level) than the straight forward goofy adventures of “Super Mario Bros”.  I would also point to those factors as to why the franchise has endured even though the game series has become a laughing stock, the cartoons are garbage, and the fandom is an overflowing asylum of creepy weirdos.

Look at these pricks with their flawless character design.

19) Tales of Symphonia

I already talked at length to this game’s merits, not only having a good story with good characters, but the art and gameplay that mark it as being a cut above.

Getting real lazy, reusing images from past blogs.

18) Batman: Arkham Franchise

I have already talked about this one and I again point to how its flowing combat system, stealth elements, and the iconic characters of the Batman mythos make this one of the most well regarded franchises in video game history.

I guess I should have done a screen grab of my version of the protagonist.
Well, just picture Harley Quinn but with giant gag-boobs and dressed in wrestling gear.  Voiced by Lust.

17) Saints Row the Third

I haven’t talked about this one yet and I imagine some people will point to the final complete game in the series “Saints Row IV” (a game I enjoy) as the best of the lot but I disagree.  “IV” had the burden of tying up the series and paid homage to all the previous entries with callbacks to characters, voice actors, game mechanics, and events… all jokes and references that went right over my head because I only played 3 and 4.

“The Third” does not have the issues of putting the series to bed, so it can instead focus on introducing new characters and locations that are treated as new places (and thus I, the player don’t feel like I am late to the party).  The tone is pure madness as I fight a legion of luchadores with grenade launchers, genetically engineered giants, weebo hackers, and an invasion of space age soldiers meant to take the city back from me.  The action is fun, the music is fun, and the dialogue is all fun.  The game sets a tone of silly and strange and keeps the pace at a steady escalation right to the end.  I love it.

          

This game is all about the tunes.

            16) Zelda Ocarina of Time

            Already talked about what is probably the definitive fantasy game of the last 20 years.

 

Waaargh.  Waaargh never changes.
Wait... Wrong franchise.

15) Dawn of War: Complete

I mentioned this game in my “Disappointing Sequels” entry and I think that blog covered most of my feelings but I would also like to again point out that the mythology of the Warhammer 40K universe is just delightful in all the oddest ways.  Violent to the point of self-parody, grim to the point of farce, and so earnest in its stupidity that I can’t help but like it.

This game is so old that it still has cool classic style fantasy art in its promotional images.  Boris Vellejo style.

14) Diablo II

I tried playing “Diablo III” a little and honestly it was one of my most anticipated games for a LONG time before it came out… and I could have (and should have) written about it in my “Disappointing Sequels” entry.  (Funny thing, I was anticipating the game for so long, the blog I wrote about my anticipation is on the site I used before blogger and I can't even provide a link, because I can't find it.)

For the time it came out “Diablo II” scratched an itch I did not know I had and I still think back on it fondly.  Much like Dawn of War the earnestness of its stupid plot about gory devils, skeletons, and goblins is just too sincere to hate.  It is a dumb little RPG beat’m up which has (literally) caused a mouse of mine to stop clicking from overuse.

I would point to “Torchlight II” as another title in this genre that I loved and I actually managed to play “Torchlight II” all the way to the end.

 

I am betting some people are telling me I got out while the getting was good.  But here is the thing, the only reason I quit forever is this: I got mad at them for charging me.
At some point they set up auto renewal and kept charging me even though I did not log in for a 6 month stretch and when I realized they had changed me 90 dollars for ZERO time spent logged in I left forever.

13) World of Warcraft

The appearance of two games by the same company back to back will be a onetime thing, though I am sure there are people out there who could make a personal best games list that would have lots of Blizzard titles filling slots.  Korean players certainly.

I got into “WoW” in undergrad and played regularly (30+ hours a week) for few months, then I would take a break and go back to a patch, play for a few months, take a break, and repeated that cycle for years.  I played thru “Burning Crusade” and felt no special attachment to any iteration of the game, I actually liked the game more each time I came back because of how much more accessible it had become (I do not have time to find the region the particular breed of slimes I am hunting is in).

I do think that “WoW” has had an influence that people might be aware of but do not fully appreciate.  That right now, in the cultural zeitgeist there are 4 fantasy properties that define the genre to people, “Harry Potter”, “Game of Thrones”, “Lord of the Rings”, and “World of Warcraft” each of them being more and more fantastical or distant from the real world than the last and these things have done a lot to bring the masses to the genre.  Even though I have not played “WoW” in 8 years, the fact that it is still going and that I have met people who met their spouse thru the game shows how wide and deep its impact is and how much longevity it has.

Call me crazy but any fantasy world that has room for Dwarfs dog fighting in biplanes is just making fantasy a more interesting place.

Not a very evocative title.

 12) Alan Wake

This will be a surprise to people reading this series, because I only mentioned this title once, and even then only in passing among other titles.  But, I have actually kicked around writing a blog about this for a while and for whatever reason it just would not crystalize, here is my best attempt at making my feelings readable.

To contextualize I am a big fan of the work of Grant Morrison, a writer who very much likes to write on the idea of creations coming to life and talking to their creators.  The idea that ideas and characters can take on a life of their own and have an effect on the world is a tantalizing concept to me as an amateur writer.  I am also a fan of HP Lovecraft and the idea that there are dark and hidden monstrosities in the world that seek to destroy us or drive us into a state of mass insanity.  Coupling these two ideas of a creeping darkness bringing to life the nightmares of a writer whose inner demons we do not want getting out, all of that is a very big and cool idea.

The plot is Alan trying to save his wife from the abominable terror, it took her into some world of darkness while Alan and her were going on a respite (really it was a trip to a detoxing resort) to help him get his creative spark back.  The game’s basic mechanic is having to weaken your opponents’ protective shadows via the use of light before attacking them with lethal force, that is a good metaphor, shining a light on the problem to reveal the greater crux of a personal issue and excising it.

The game also has lots of little fun things, like short segments of a “Twilight Zone” type show that Alan wrote for, one of the few instances in which I enjoyed a “Cut Scene” (the TV cut scenes in the mini-sequel “American Nightmare” totally failed in that regard).  There are also a good number of fun supporting characters with good dialogue and roles in the story, nobody has a bad thing to say about Barry, Alan’s agent, who comes to rescue him and actively helps in fighting the shadowy terror.

I would point to “Alan Wake” in much the same way people point to “Stranger Things”.  That it borrows a great deal from other stories in the genre (Alan takes a lot of Stephen King, Lovecraft, and “Twin Peaks”) but uses those elements to make their own thing with them.  A good apple pie does not have to be “original” so long as it is delicious.  “Alan Wake” is a delicious pie.

You can also thank this game for the lazy fucked up trend of every cover being some guy walking toward the camera away from explosions.  Maybe that was to indicate he was letting his health regenerate.

11) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

I have already talked about this game in the context of it surprising me and how it surprised me.  It is the shooter that launched the contemporary setting for the genre because it has a very real feeling story in addition to its solid game play.  It crosses certain lines, but does so in a way that feels earned and impacts the player.

            What do you think of my list?  Do you have a list you would like to link to?  Do so in the comments.  Would you like to make a guess at my top 10?  Considering you are probably reading these months after I published it, you could just click on the link to tomorrow and read it (please do) but why don’t you make a guess first?  I offer no prize for a correct guess.

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If you like or hate this please take the time to comment, +1, share on Twitter, Tumblr, or Facebook, and otherwise distribute my opinion to the world.  I would appreciate it.