1#: Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
Of the three Indiana Jones films (yes, I know said three), The Last Crusade is by far my favourite. For the longest time I went without seeing any of the films in the series, but after finally purchasing all of them and marathoning them, I realized what I had been missing out on. The film is fun and exciting the whole way through with a straightforward but interesting story. The set pieces were amazing and made the film that much more entertaining to watch as they jumped from Venice, to Germany, to the desert. As well, Harrison Ford remains one of my favourite actors to watch in action and adding Sean Connery to the equation only makes it that much better. Ford and Connery together never fails to make me laugh and their father-son dynamic was fantastic carrying the film wonderfully through every scene. It's a movie that knows how to have fun and how to do it well. It's become a mainstay in my list of favourite films, by far one of my favourites from the 80's, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
2#: Batman: The Killing Joke
The iconic Alan Moore comic, The Killing Joke, is known as such for very good reason. The comic centering deeply around the Joker, his relationship with Batman, and why he is the way he is, is dark, intriguing, and dramatic, much like the Joker himself. In the story, Moore develops what is still the most used story for the Joker's origin, a simple but tragic story that gives some reason to the madness and even makes the reader feel bad for our favourite psychopath. It also takes a fascinating dive into the relationship between him and Batman, particularly why Batman refuses to kill him and the Joker will never see Batman's reasoning. Along with the torture of Commissioner Gordon and the iconic paralyzing of Batgirl Barbara Gordon it makes for a gripping Batman story. The art within the comic is also wonderful. It's straightforward but portrays each scene effectively, framing shots like a storyboard for a film; it helps drive the impact of the narrative home. I love the Joker as a character and what makes the comic for me, though, is the Joker's "Memories can be vile/One bad day" monologue in the Tunnel of Love towards the end. To me, it is the pinnacle of the Joker as he is in the comics as well as most other forms of media and never fails to suck me in and keep me there.
3#: Fallout 4
I've been a fan of the Fallout franchise ever since I first watched my brother play Fallout 3 on the PS3 when it came out back in 2008. Since then, its games have ranked amongst some of my all-time favourites, with me always able to come back to them and enjoy myself. One of the things Fallout has always done is create an interesting and vibrant (if not strange and somewhat depressing) world for its audience to explore; Fallout 4 does exactly that. The revamped graphics and new engine did wonders for bringing The Commonwealth to life. The new story was intriguing as well; allowing the player an unexpected glimpse of the world before the war right before having them watch it ripped apart by the first nuclear blasts. It then takes the player all over The Commonwealth, through real life landmarks to ground zero of the first nuke in search of answers.
The game was also acknowledgeable because Bethesda was treading a lot of new water with the newest installment in the franchise. They took many of the systems within the game and made them completely new, adding new features along with it; like perks and skills, as well as the new immense crafting and modding systems. This coupled with the modern marvel graphics made it feel like an entirely different experience in the world of Fallout. That's not to say that the game was flawless, mind you, the game had it's share of issues. Some of the features Bethesda revamped became somewhat watered-down in lieu of the new crafting system and condensed the dialogue system. This left some players feeling as though Fallout was less of an immersive RPG experience. In the end though, I really enjoyed this game-loved it, in fact, and while it may not be my favourite of the series, I still highly recommend it.
4# The Walking Dead
For me, The Walking Dead for a long time was one of those popular series you hear about that you keep meaning to get into but just can't find the time to do so. But I finally did quite recently, more so the comic than the show, and I'm glad I did. After getting a few seasons into the show and several volumes into the comic I found myself really enjoying them. Both forms provide drama-heavy and immersive stories detailing the lives and struggles of the people caught in this world. It begs the question, 'What would we really do if faced with a world like this?' and begins to answer it right away with the tagline "Don't fear the dead, fear the living". The characters are dynamic and don't feel like archetypes, and, particularly in the comics, you care about what happens to them. Very few are no more than zombie fodder and each death feels like it matters and carries weight. It then comes down to a matter of which do I like more. Well, while I do enjoy the television version of the story, I find myself drawn more towards the comics. I enjoy some of the changes Rob Kirkman made when the comic was brought over to television, but in the end, I enjoy the comic more. It moves at a better pace and it feels like it has more weight to it, as opposed to the show that can get bogged down due to the restraints of television. Overall though, The Walking Dead is still a very good series.
5# Blade Runner
Blade Runner is yet another one of those iconic films that I always said I'd watch but never did until I was sat down and made to. And just like many of the other films I have had a similar experience with, by the end I had realized what I had truly missed. From the beginning it had a different vibe from what I was used to in action films, the city's wet and grungy vibe lending nicely to the movie's atmosphere overall.I found the plot interesting as well. Although it may have been a bit philosophical for a media studies class, I enjoyed the questions it raised about what it means to be human and alive, and what makes us so. The conflict between humans and replicants was intense and carried a lot of weight. Harrison Ford, as usual, was great to watch in this film as well but, for me, he was kind of out-shined towards the end. As much as I love Harrison Ford, Rutger Howard made the film for me. His famous "Tears in the rain" monologue on the rooftop with Deckard at the end gave my chills and really drove the whole 'replicants are people too' argument home for me. You can hear so much emotion in his voice, and hear that fear of dying and it makes the scene as well as the movie. Combining the awesome acting of Howard and Ford along with the cool vibe and interesting story the film has, it comes together to make a film that is both memorable and thought-provoking.
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