Best Movie Trilogies

With this summer seeing a rash of sequels and trilogies (Spider-Man, Shrek, Pirates of the Carribean, Rush Hour, Bourne series, Die Hard, Harry Potter, and others...I'm sure), I've decided to give a list of my favorite movie trilogies.

Here are the rules for inclusion: 1) I must have seen all 3 movies (sorry Godfather), 2) There can only be 3 movies (a true trilogy at time of posting...sorry franchises)

Criteria for grading: 1) Enjoyment/entertainment, 2) Continued character development, 3) Story elements are consistent, 4) Personal opinion....Basically it all amounts to the desire to watch all 3 back-to-back-to-back.

With all of that said heres the list (in reverse order...of course):

5) Terminator - The story of the original was excellent with good action. The second had amazing special effects and a great action. The third was very entertaining despite being panned by critics. It is an interesting way of doing a trilogy, same characters (not necessarily actors), same story, but 3 different eras. All entertaining and worth watching on their own, but all 3 together tells the story. (Personally, I want a 4th actually set in the future during the war, Arnold not required).

4) Indiana Jones - How can this not be on any trilogy list? The title character is quite possibly the coolest action/adventure movie character ever. The first movie is simply awesome. The second veers a little, but is still entertaining. And the third is arguably the best of the trilogy. Pure fun and enjoyment. The 4th film being filmed this summer should be excellent as well.

3) Star Wars Prequel trilogy - Two things stand in the way of this being the best movie trilogy of all time. Episode I and....well, I'll get to the other thing. Episode I was really pretty bad. However, Episode II was super-fun and a good flick. Episode III is simply one of the greatest films of all time. I can watch it any time and over and over. Plus the desire to watch these films in order over time is often overwhelming.

2) Lord of the Rings - Its hard to put these films second, but the length is the main deterent. As much as I enjoy the LotR, each film clocking in over 3 hours (or nearly 4 hours for extended edition) it is tough to justify watching them frequently or in order. On the positive side, of all the trilogies, these movies tell the most coherent story. Each one tells its episode (as given by the title of the film), but it is not justified until the end. Possibly the most well done and extravagant movie trilogy ever.

And the best movie trilogy of all time....

1) Star Wars - The other reason that the prequel trilogy can't be number one. It contains some of the most memorable characters of film (Darth Vader, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Yoda etc. etc. etc.). The story runs throughout all three movies and is furthered in each movie. Yet, each film could be viewed as a stand alone. Again, watching all three in a row should be done by all fans of the movies. Simply put, this is the best story, the best characters, and the best movie trilogy!

Honorable Mentions: Back to the Future, Spider-Man, the Matrix, X-Men, Die Hard, Predator

I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment if you disagree, or would like to list your top 5. That's all for now, but stay tuned for my post about sequels.

TV thoughts

I watch several TV shows on a regular basis, while I'm not near as bad as my sister (sometimes using 2 VCRs to record so she can watch 3 shows that come on at the same time). Before I give out any awards and complain about certain shows, let me give you a list of shows that I watch.

Can't miss: The Amazing Race (CBS, Sun.), Heroes (NBC, Mon.), Grey's Anatomy (ABC, Thu.), Black Donnellys (NBC, Mon.....more below), Battlestar Galactica (SciFi, Sun.)

Watch if around: NCIS (CBS, Tue.), How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Mon.), Eureka (SciFi, Tues.), Psych (USA, Fri.)

Ok, now you know my baseline of TV viewing. Not all that exciting, but there it is. Ok, now for my award ceremony.

Best Reality show: The Amazing Race (far better than any vote-in or vote-off show)
Best Comedy: How I Met Your Mother (not a lot of competition out there)
Best Drama: The Black Donnellys; Grey's gets Honorable Mention
Best New Show: The Black Donnellys; Heroes gets Honorable Mention
Best Cable show: Battlestar Galactica

Figures that the shows I watch are those that get awarded. The Big 3 networks have all released what shows are returning, cancelled, or starting new for next season. I can honestly say that after reading the quick and dirty synopsis of the new shows, NOTHING sounds that good. In other words, there are NO future shows that have me excited. Further, by making room for new shows (that sound stupid), the networks have to make cuts. I am really not pleased with NBC for this either. NBC has decided to cancel The Black Donnellys (as well as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip).

The Black Donnellys was the best new show I've seen in a long time. Had it been allowed to continue and have a full season, it would very quickly knock Grey's Anatomy from my favorite show. TBD was an amazing show. Drama, action, it had it all. You really could feel for the characters. I mean it, a great show. I highly recommend you go to NBC.com and watch the episodes online. I believe there are only 9 or 10, so you should go watch them (be sure to start with the pilot episode or you will be confused). I am really bummed that this show is not returning. I believe that it really wasn't given a fair shot. It started while Heroes went on its winter hiatus and was taken off right before Heroes returned. So it had no lead-in show, and aired without much hype. I really hope another station (or NBC comes around) and picks it up for next season.

Grey's and Heroes are in need of some really good season finales. Grey's is about to go through some cast changes (a true first for the show) and needs to explain them well. Plus, it has felt like Grey's has been spinning its wheels on most plot lines. Heroes needs to tie up the main story line. If there is a major cliffhanger ending, and nothing is explained, then I'm done with the show. I've put up with it thus far for the promise of answers to come. If it becomes a Lost-like series that never goes anywhere with the story, then I'm done with the show. I don't expect that to happen, thus far Heroes has been decent at progressing the story after all character introductions were done in the first month of the show.

Time will tell what happens, but those are my thoughts.

Post ideas

I've had several great topics for posts, but when I think of them, I'm not in front of my computer with time to post, so they get forgotten. What I'm going to do, is list my post ideas down in this post, and then over the next several days to week(s), I will go through them and make my posts. This way I accomplish a couple of things: 1) I make a post; 2) I put my ideas down so I remember them next time I post; 3) I bait the line and get all of my readers excited about the future posts they know are coming.

Here are my post ideas (inspired by actual events):

1) This past TV season - with shows having season finales and announcements about next years line-ups, I have some thoughts....

2) Movie sequels - lists of ones that I thought were better and significantly worse than the originals....

3) Movie Trilogies - a list of my favorite all-time movie trilogies

Topics 2 and 3 inspired by the rash of movie sequels and trilogies coming out this year.

Alright, now you know where I'm headed, so feel free to think of your own thoughts on these topics, then share them by leaving a comment....it'll be fun!

Until next time...

The Amazing Race

This past Sunday was the season finale for the Amazing Race: All Stars. This continues to be the one (and only) reality show I make a point to watch on a regular basis. It's also about the only one I've considered applying for. Anyway, with that said, I normally pick a team (or two) to root for and a team (or two) to root against. My requirements for rooting for a team are (in order):

1) Nice to each other...the teammates have to encourage, or at least not argue;
2) Nice to others...I'm a little more lenient here, but try not to be malicious and insulting
3) Be competitive...no point in rooting for people that are going to lose early
4) Understand that it is a game...teams that take it too seriously are not much fun

With those stated, I had been rooting for the beauty queens this season and rooting against Charla and Mirna (cousins)...pictures below. The beauty queens were almost always (one spat is all I remember) supportive of each other; were never malicious; competitive; and understood it was a game (plus, they are beauty queens and I'm a guy). Charla and Mirna on the other hand, always argued, insulted other teams (despite getting pissed if other teams picked on them); they were competitive; took it way too serious. The winner of the Race was Eric and Danielle. This team probably suffered the worst luck, but still won. They had awful luck at airports, and were yielded twice. They argued and insulted other teams, so I didn't root for them, but they did persevere and were less annoying than Charla and Mirna. Despite the bad luck, they rarely did the "woe as me" thing.

I'm looking forward to next season.....maybe I'll be in one in the near future.