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10 Flicks Movie Lists

I’m a proud movie nerd.

We’ve covered that so it shouldn’t surprise anyone who reads this blog that I follow box office numbers closely.  The only place I go for box office information online is Box Office Mojo.

Recently, I was checking the all time domestic numbers and decided to see if I could narrow the top 100 down to 10.  Can you?

Click here to see the Top 100

So here are my 10 favorite box office moneymakers.

Honourable Mention: Avatar, 300, The Sixth Sense, Saving Private Ryan

Star Wars

Star Wars Episode 4

#4 – $460,998,007

I adore the original trilogy and enjoyed the prequels but A New Hope will always be my favorite. (Followed closely by Empire Strikes Back.)

XTRA | If I Could Only Recommend ONE Science Fiction Film

Spider-Man

Spider-Man

#9 – $403,706,375

It may not be my favorite superhero movie of all time but it certainly paved the way for some of the most entertaining movies in history.

“Go web go!”

Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King

Lord Of The Rings

#12 – $377,027,325

It’s tough to pick one movie when all three are in the top 100.  I look at the series and see one giant incredible movie but I had to pick one so ROTK was the winner.

XTRA | Movies That Changed Everything: The Lord of the Rings

Transformers

Transformers Optimus Prime

#22 – $319,246,193

Even though I absolutely hated the sequel, the original is one of the most entertaining popcorn movies I’ve ever seen on the big screen.  It had giant fighting robots and some of the best and most complex visual effects ever created.

XTRA | Transformers 3?  Apology accepted Michael Bay

Independence Day

Independence Day Area 51 Attack

#30 – $306,169,268

Will Smith is my favorite actor.  I’m one of the reasons his movies always make 100 million+ in theaters.  Independence Day will always be one of the greats.  ID4 is a perfect example of a huge box office blockbuster.  Big stars, big FX and big thrills.

XTRA | Wouldn’t it be awesome if Independence Day 2 was about…

Signs

signs_mel_gibson_shyamalan

#70 – $227,966,634

I talk about Signs a lot on this site. I even thought about leaving it off this list to avoid ‘Signs fatigue’.  However, I simply couldn’t bring myself to leave my all time favorite movie off the list.

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded Trinity

#41 – $281,576,461

It’s ambitious, it’s explosive, it’s cool and it’s confusing.  It was once the record holder for most anticipated movie until it was toppled by The Dark Knight years later.

XTRA | What THE MATRIX screenplay taught me

Twister

Twister Helen Hunt Tornado

#61 – $241,721,524

Twister may surprise some people but I’ve always loved this movie.  When I was a kid, I used to be terrified of tornado warnings.  This eventually ignited an interest in weather and this movie came along right in the middle of that childhood obsession.  Twister is a fun movie. Plain and Simple.

Jurassic Park

jurassic_park_trex

#15 – $357,067,947

To this day, I’m still fascinated by how well the effects stand up compared to today’s standards.  Such a fun movie.

The Dark Knight

dark-knight-joker

#3 – $533,345,358

My second favorite movie ever.  I’ve never been so excited to see a movie in my entire life and to have the film deliver on all the hype was amazing.

Try narrowing down your own list of 10 box office favorites.  It’s not that easy.

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Sucker Punch Has A New Trailer

November 11th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Movies - (0 Comments)

Sucker Punch has an awesome new trailer

Zak Snyder really hasn’t directed a film I haven’t enjoyed yet.

Click here for 10 Flicks: Movies From Awesome Directors

I especially loved 300 and Watchmen. (I haven’t seen his recent animated film Legend of the Guardians but I will.)

He is now set to direct the new Superman movie for Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros.

Basically what I’m trying to say is Zak Snyder is an incredible and visionary director.

His new film, Sucker Punch, looks just as awesome.  It’s easily the strangest concept he’s ever done but I’m willing to play along because the visuals and action look stunning.  You know you’re in for one hell of a ride filled with slow motion effects, explosions and fights.

Sounds to me like the best kind of fun you can have at the movies.

Here is the first trailer for the film:

A second trailer has been released and it’s just as explosive and entertaining.

What is this movie!

What do Samurai Warriors have to do with Blimps, Dragons and giant robots?

Whew.

Luckily, the good folks at IGN have taken an in depth look at the second trailer.

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Sucker Punch Trailer Is Awesome.

Zack Snyder is extremely busy these days.

With the stylized owl battles of Legend Of The Guardians and Sucker Punch he’s managed to truly flex his directing muscle.  Between these two fantastic looking projects and his existing credits including Watchmen and the incredible 300, I’d say he’s one of the best directors working today.

Check out this trailer for Sucker Punch:

What is Sucker Punch?

I’m not sure but it looks like one hell of a show.

Samurai swords, guns, robots, fire breathing dragons, air battles, explosions, crashes, mental institutions…

This is just a trailer!

What else does Mr. Snyder have in store for us in the coming months?  I can’t wait to see this movie.

Look at the face on that robot! Nice.

Sucker Punch Poster Zack Snyder

PS:  Whether you are a fan of his work or not you have to admit his trailers are always awesome.

[UPDATE] The synopsis has arrived!

“Sucker Punch” is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.”

Click HERE for more

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10 Flicks: Movies I've Seen In Theaters More Than Once

I’m going to go ahead and assume that since you’ve found this blog, you enjoy movies immensely.

Furthermore, I’m going to assume you love going to the theater to watch the latest big release.

However, are you a multi-viewing person?

For me, going to the movies is one of my favorite things to do.  Sometimes it’s hard to find time to catch a flick with my work schedule.  It’s even harder to see a movie I love more than once…

But every once in a while, a movie comes along that I will have to see more than once.  It’s the biggest compliment I can give to a film.

How many movies have you seen more than once?

Here are 10 Flicks I’ve been happy to revisit:

We Were Soldiers

We were soldiers movie

In high school, there were 2 things to do besides party.  Movies and bowling.  I didn’t care that I had already watched We Were Soldiers.  If my friends wanted to see it, I was more than happy to see it again.

Paranormal Activity

paranormal activity movie

I saw this movie on back to back nights and I had trouble sleeping for a week afterwards.  One of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen in theaters.  Ironically, I haven’t seen it since… I’m too frightened.

Not to mention it was my favorite movie of 2009.

Bad Boys 2

bad boys 2 movie

I loved the original Bad Boys and the second was among the most entertaining movies of that summer.  Lazy day…  Kick ass action movie…  Done.

Spider-Man

Spider-Man Movie

Movies don’t come nerdier than this.  I literally had plans to see it twice before it was even released.  In the end, I saw it 3 times in 3 weeks.

300

300 movie

This was the first movie I saw the second time by myself.  I couldn’t find anyone who wanted to catch a matinee with me so I went alone.

Mission Impossible 2

mission impossible 2 movie

I love this entire series.  Even though M:I 3 is my favorite, I still loved the action in the second installment enough to see it twice.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest

Pirates of the caribbean Davy Jones

Who doesn’t love an old fashioned adventure film with state of the art visual effects? I loved it twice.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace

Darth Maul Movie

The first and only movie I’ve ever seen 4 times in theaters.  4 visits in the first 2 weeks of release.  That’s pretty good for a high school student without a car who lived 25 minutes away from the theater.  When this movie came out, I got my parents permission to skip school and went downtown with my friends to wait in line for HOURS!  Every second was worth it.

Note: People clapped when Darth Maul died…  That bugged me.

The Matrix Reloaded

The Matrix Reloaded Movie

The Matrix will always be one of my favorite film franchises.  I still wish I loved the 3rd chapter as much as the first and second but it wasn’t meant to be. I still saw this movie twice on opening weekend.  That counts.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Joker

Ah The Dark Knight.  My most anticipated movie of all time.  I waited almost 4 hours in line to see the first midnight screening of this movie.  I went back at 3pm the next day.  The following day, I caught a matinee by myself.

Basically, what I’m saying is I saw The Dark Knight twice in the same day and 3 times before it’s first record breaking weekend ended.

Point. Nolan.

XTRA | Director Wars: Nolan vs Shyamalan

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10 Flicks: Bad Ass Movies | Top 10 Bad Ass Movies

It’s time for another feature to launch on The Athletic Nerd. Just about every blog about movies has lists.  It’s inevitable.  I’m about to join the team but I’ll be taking a different approach.  By now, many of you are aware I earn a living editing professional sports.  Sports is another area where lists are a must.  On my network we countdown 5 highlights just about every day in categories like plays, misplays, fights, hits etc…

Now, I’m a sports fan in general so I do watch shows on ‘the other guys’ network.  They create a top 10 list everyday that isn’t necessarily based on plays from that week.  They base their list on current events using big news as a spring board to list similar stories.

This is the approach I plan to take with my lists and so in honour of yesterday’s ’44 Inch Chest’ post, here’s are 10 Bad Ass Movies.

XTRA: Bad Ass Movies 2

300

I’m not afraid to go to the movies by myself and those Spartans got me twice for a total of 4 trips to the theater.  From a visual stand point, this movie brought something new to the table that blew my mind.  The fights are incredible and be honest, you’ve yelled it…

‘This is Sparta!’

Terminator 2

One of the best action movies of all time.  Thinking about T2 has me even more excited for Cameron’s Avatar this month.  Terminator 2 is one of the best sequels ever with better action, better effects and better gigantic explosions.  It’s as bad ass as it gets.

“Come with me if you want to live.”

In Bruges

This movie made my list purely because of story.  A simple concept told well and it all started with an original and hilarious script by Writer/Director Martin McDonagh.  (I’m a big fan of original scripts.  There’s only so many remakes and sequels I can take.) I bought this movie without seeing it thinking it could be good but I never thought it would become one of my all time favorites.

Predator

Oh Arnold, so many awesome movies.  Predator is one of those movies that every bad ass movie fan has seen at least 457 times.  Give or take.  Don’t believe me?  Stand in front of a group of people and yell:

“Get to the choppah!”

You’ll find out who the fans are.  They’ll be the ones laughing.  However, make sure you set it up.  Don’t just randomly yell it because there is a chance you could look like an idiot.  Attempt at your own risk.

“Soon the hunt will begin…”  That old school voice over guy really doesn’t read with much enthusiasm does he?

Boondock Saints

I saw this movie years after it was released.  The story of how it was produced is absolutely fascinating.  I highly recommend you watch the documentary Overnight as well.  Regardless of the trouble surrounding the production, Troy Duffy’s movie has so many memorable moments, it’s hard to ignore.

Not sure if I’m ready to see the new movie though…

Resevoir Dogs

Admit it, when you saw the title of this post, you knew Tarantino would show up eventually.  What more needs to be said?

Snatch

I really didn’t know what to expect when I first saw this movie.  A friend of mine showed it to me one day and I went out and bought it a few days later.  It’s one of those movies that makes you ask a question I consider to be one of the highest compliments you can give a filmmaker.

“How did you come up with that?”

Such a good flick.

Goodfellas

Admit it, when you saw the title of this post, you knew Scorsese would show up eventually.  What more needs to be said?

Seven

Story.  I’m all about story.  In my opinion, Seven has one of the best endings in the history of film.  If you haven’t seen this movie and it hasn’t been ruined for you go out and buy it.  I’m literally jealous of everyone who hasn’t experienced Seven yet.  I would love to experience it for the first time again.

“What’s in the box!”

Pulp Fiction

Tarantino again.  Is anybody else shocked two of his films made this list?  Pulp Fiction is a true classic bad ass movie.  It changed the way people looked at films and inspired young filmmakers everywhere.  There have been countless emulators out there and while none have truly duplicated Tarantino, we still have him to thank some pretty great movies.  It’s the bad ass flick that started it all, for me at least.

There it is.  My top 10 Bad Ass flicks. I’m sure there are people out there who disagree.  I recommend commenting below. I probably overlooked about a million movies.  That’s the beauty of runnin my own site.  I’ll just make another list.

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