The Best Movies Of The Decade?!

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

Movies.

We all know them.

We all have our favorites.

As I was thinking of blog topics for this post, I was given a suggestion.

"Best Movies of the last decade!"

So, let's do this!

I'm going to pick 9 Movies from the last decade, and then tell you why each one made the list!

Disclaimer, I'm only picking TWO Marvel movies or they will take up the entire list!

Also, this is just a list of MY personal favorites!

Let's get started!

1) Avengers - Infinity War (2018)

2) The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

3) Creed (2015)

4) Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

5) Inception (2010)

6) Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

7) The Raid - Redemption (2011)

8) Ip Man 3 (2015)

9) Avengers - Endgame (2019)

Avengers - Infinity War

This was the one that everyone was waiting for.

This movie is what every Marvel movie since the first Iron Man has been leading up to.

And it delivered IN EVERY WAY!

Josh Brolin as Thanos was a fantastic decision in my opinion.

His voice for Thanos was PERFECT.

Everybody knows what happens in the movie.

Even people who still haven't seen it for some reason still know what happened.

It was a lock for this list.

The Dark Knight Rises

Of all three of the Christopher Nolan "Batman" movies, The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger will ALWAYS be my favorite of the trio, but this one is a close second!

Let's face it, Heath Ledger gave one of the BEST performances EVER by an actor portraying a character.

There is no other Joker that even comes close.

I don't care what anyone says!

When I think of "The Joker", I will ALWAYS think of Heath Ledger's version.

Now with that being said, Tom Hardy's "Bane" was a character that he gave MUCH more depth to than I expected going in.

I had always seen Bane portrayed as nothing more than a "Meat Head".

Someone with muscles, but not very much for brains.

Not this Bane.

This Bane was well spoken.

He was meticulous.

He was methodical.

And he could get away with such a high pitched voice because no one would DARE try to make fun of him for it.

That's where those "muscles" come in.

And he straight up broke Batman's back.

So, there's that too.

In a way, what Heath's Joker told Batman in the interrogation scene from "The Dark Knight" pretty much came to fruition in "The Dark Knight Rises".

Bane had pretty much succeeded where the previous antagonists had always fallen short.

Of course Batman does end up saving the day, but still, it came at a HUGE price!

Creed

I've been a fan of "Rocky" ever since I saw the first movie.

I know people out there who have still never seen "Rocky".

I legit cannot comprehend that.

I mean the movie was added to the "National Film Registry" because it's a NATIONAL TREASURE!!

My personal favorite is Rocky 4 (Ivan Drago), followed by Rocky 3 (Clubber Lang).

However, when i saw the trailer for Creed, it was something I never saw coming.

I don't think anyone did.

Apollo Creed, who died at the hands of Ivan Drago in Rocky 4, had a son.

That son grew up to be a boxer, named Adonis Creed.

He wanted Rocky to train him.

Rocky eventually agreed.

What followed is one of the best movies I've seen in the last 9 years.

It was great to see a spinoff in the "Rocky" universe where Sylvester Stallone is able to take one of the most beloved movie characters of all time, and pass on his knowledge to the son of his greatest rival and best friend!

If you haven't seen it, PLEASE reconsider!

Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens

The last Star Wars before this movie was "Revenge Of The Sith" in 2005.

Let's face it, the prequel trilogy is looked upon very fondly.

Maybe because everyone knew how it was going to end before they even saw it.

Spoiler alert, Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader!

Gasp!

It would be a full decade before this movie would arrive.

This is what everyone was waiting for.

We wanted to see what happened AFTER "The Return Of The Jedi" in 1983.

I remember sitting in that theater.

The lights went dark after the previews that lasted for 25 minutes were finally over.

The ICONIC Star Wars intro played.

And then we met some new faces along with some very familiar ones.

Rey.

Finn.

Kylo Ren.

Snoke.

The First Order.

Luke Skywalker.

Han Solo.

Princess Leia.

Chewbacca.

It was a great start to the final trilogy of the "Skywalker Saga".

Inception

Dream control?

You mean like lucid dreaming?

.......Kind of?

But not really?

Was he dreaming at the end of the movie?

To this day you'll get a mixed response to that last question.

But this movie was a wild ride from start to finish!

The legit mind bending special effects were something I still remember to this day.

This also seems to be a polarizing movie.

People either love it or hate it, no middle ground.

Well, I love it!

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

I believe I have already GUSHED about this movie in a previous post, but that doesn't matter.

I. Love. This. MOVIE.

As a lifelong gamer, this movie was a legit dream come true.

The camera cuts.

The music.

The battles.

I love everything about this movie that is a legit video game from start to finish.

They also made a video game on Xbox 360 arcade, which is one of my all time favorite video games, because it's just as awesome as the movie.

I also feel like this movie really appeals to the "gamer audience" like myself more than it would to someone who's not a gamer.

There are some many "Easter Eggs" and video game references that if you weren't looking for them/didn't know what they were, they wouldn't have any significance to you.

But for someone like me?

Kid in a candy store!

The Raid - Redemption

The premise to this movie is simple enough.

Drug Lord runs apartment building.

Police Task Force attempts to raid the building to apprehend Drug Lord.

What happens from there is one of the best martial arts films I have ever seen.

With plenty of plot twists, and PLENTY of action!

This is one of those films that just goes to show that even with a limited budget, and not much when it comes to "different areas", as the WHOLE MOVIE takes place on a few floors of an apartment building, "Substance" will ALWAYS beat "Style".

I saw this movie in a empty theater.

It was a limited release.

If my buddy from work didn't tell me about this movie, I still wouldn't have known about it to this day!

But I legit couldn't believe some of these fight scenes.

It was also my first time seeing the martial art of "Pencak Silat", and I was blown away from start to finish! 

Ip Man 3

I love Donnie Yen.

I love Martial Arts.

I love Donnie Yen as Ip Man.

The "Ip Man" series is not in English.

I watch it with subtitles.

The films have some of the best fights scenes that I've ever seen.

Ever.

Ip Man's "Wing Chun" is truly a sight to behold.

Don't know who "Ip Man" is?

How about.....Bruce Lee?

Ip Man was Bruce Lee's master.

The first two installments of "Ip Man" were fantastic, especially the first one.

But I'm giving the edge to "Ip Man 3" for one reason.

Two words.

Mike. Tyson.

That's correct.

Ip Man faces Mike Tyson in this movie.

It's a "three minute" fight in the movie.

And it's amazing.

If there's anyone out there that's wondering if Mike Tyson "still has it", WATCH THIS MOVIE.

Or better yet, just find the clip of this fight scene, and you'll see what I mean!

I think there might be an "Ip Man 4" in the works, and if that's the case, I'll be there the opening weekend for sure!

Avengers - Endgame

Of course this was going to round out the list.

Of course this was by design.

We all had come this far with all of the characters, and now it was time to see how it all ends.

Iron Man.

Thor.

Captain America.

Hulk.

Black Widow.

Hawkeye.

Ant-Man.

Wasp.

Dr. Strange.

Spider Man.

Loki.

Star Lord.

Black Panther.

War Machine.

Falcon.

Vision.

Scarlet Witch.

Winter Soldier.

Gamora.

Drax the Destroyer.

Rocket Raccoon.

Groot.

Mantis.

Nebula.

The Collector.

Heimdall.

Okoye.

M'Baku.

Pepper Potts.

Wong.

Nick Fury.

Captain Marvel.

Red Skull.

Thanos.

These were all characters that were intertwined in one way or another.

And it all came to a head in one giant battle for the fate of everything.

This is what everything had led to.

This was the Endgame!

I was sad when the movie was over.

So many characters that were never all going to be in the same place again.

It was truly the end of an era!

And there you have it folks, 9 of my personal favorite movies of the last decade!

What are some of yours? 

Do we share any of the same ones?!

I'm thinking of doing another Q&A for my nest blog post, but in order to give answers, I need your questions! Please send me some good questions however you can!

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Text, E-Mail, whatever method you like, ask away!

Until next time!

YET EVEN MORE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES?!?!

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

Here we are again.

I meant to blog last month.

But then I didn't.

Riveting story, I know.

Now as we've already established, I enjoyed my childhood.

I miss it to this day.

I've already peeled back two layers of said childhood.

Now it's time to peel back the third!

Let's say you could go back to being a kid for a week.

Where would you go?

What would you do?

That's a tall order, but I know one place that DEFINITELY makes the list.

Babb's Roller Skating Rink!

Now if you're around my age and you're from Southwick, this is no surprise.

Babb's was THE place to be, whether you actually skated or not!

I love roller skating.

I still do to this day, and it's because of Babb's!

I'm also on "Team Roller Skate", not "Team Roller Blade".

That's also because of Babb's.

I learned on roller skates.

The roller blades came around.

I wasn't interested in making the switch.

I was loyal.

"But roller blades are faster"

Roller skates have more stability.

For me, stability wins.

As a kid, a place like Babb's had it all.

Music, Video Games, Cheap Hot Dogs, and Roller Skating.

What else could you ask for?!

It also had a very specific arcade machine.

A machine that introduced me to the world of SNK.

Neo-Geo.

Now you have to understand, I was all about video games.

Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega.

Those were the "Big Three" for me.

I didn't even know that Neo-Geo even existed.

Or that it was so GOOD!

King Of The Monsters 2.

World Heroes.

Fatal Fury.

These are games that changed my whole view of video games!

I have Babb's to thank for all of it!

After a few hours of roller skating and playing video games, I never wanted to leave!

When Babb's closed all those years ago, part of my childhood closed with it!

BRING BACK BABB'S!!!

Now what else would I revisit as a kid for a week?

Simple.

"The Match".

That's right.

It was the best wrestling match ever.

In human history.

Of course I'm talking about the five way wrestling match that happened on Sefton Drive.

In Josh Gagnon's grandmother's front yard.

Five kids.

One winner.

Me, Josh, Chris, Manoli, and Chanze.

If you got pinned or "submitted", you were eliminated.

I don't know how it came about.

I don't know how it all worked out so well.

I still remember Josh winning, but he SWEARS that I did.

Either way, it was absolutely incredible.

The stars aligned on that day.

My personal highlight from that match?

The plastic lid.

Confused?

Let me try to paint the picture as best as I can.

I'm laying down on my back on the front lawn.

My arms are spread out to the side (like the old "Nestea Splash" commercial)

I'm just staring at the sky.

Chris, Josh, and Chanze are on my right.

Manoli is on my left.

Manoli is making his way over to the others to get back into the action.

Now instead of just going around me, he decided he was just going to jump over me.

Big mistake Manoli.

Big. Mistake.

Now for some reason, and random giant plastic lid was in the front yard.

We're talking about one of those lids for a plastic container that you would use to store a bunch of clothes and other items and perhaps slide it under your bed for extra storage.

This was a huge plastic lid.

Don't ask me where it came from. 

I have no idea.

It was there, and it just happened to be right next to me.

It also just happened to be in my right hand.

So when Manoli decided to jump over me, let's just say, he didn't make it to the other side.

You know in the old cartoons or when someone would step on a loos wooden board in the floor, and then the board would spring straight up and hit them in the face?

Well, I turned my right hand into that board, right as Manoli was jumping over me.

My right arm, with the giant plastic lid in hand, sprung straight up, and said plastic lid connected with Manoli's head/face area.

Now once again, we were wrestling, so we all knew not to actually hit each other as hard as we could.

You just made it LOOK like you did, and the other person "sells" it, so it looks authentic.

This is something that parents never understood.

Kids are much smarter than you give them credit for, trust me!

Anyway, the lid connected, Manoli sold it perfectly, and I pinned him for the three count.

It. Was. Magical.

I really can't say enough good things about that match.

I mean sure, you have Savage/Steamboat from Wrestlemania 3.

You've got Shawn Michaels/Undertaker from Wrestlemania 25.

And then you've got this match, the one that no one ever saw.

Only those five kids on Sefton saw it.

It was that good.

I'm not being biased or anything, I'm being 100% objective!

I'd also just like to revisit a random winter day.

Having a snowball fight, maybe making a snowman.

Then going inside to play Metroid, eat grilled cheese, and have some star noodle soup to warm up.

Then go back outside and repeat the process.

Really doesn't get much better than that.

I had no responsibility back then.

No homework.

No rent.

No cable bill.

No car insurance bill.

No cell phone bill.

No taxes.

Yes, I could have just said "no bills", but this takes up more words, it's all about the substance!

As a child you don't even realize it.

It's better that way.

Kids should only have to worry about being kids, everything else can be saved for later.

I'd also go back to the last day of 4th Grade.

Why?

Simple. The Four Square Tournament.

I tied for 1st Place that year.

A Tie.

I hate ties.

I just needed ONE MORE OUT.

But I couldn't get it.

I had to share 1st Place with someone else, and it haunts me to this day.

I mean sure, everyone got the same prize, which was a Four Square Ball, but still, I wanted to be THE BEST.

I still have the scars on me knees from when I used to literally sacrifice my body to keep a ball in play and win the point.

On Asphalt.

It's a Badge Of Honor that I'll wear forever!

Another day that I'd revisit?

5th Grade.

The Geography Bee.

I was the lone representative for my entire grade.

6th, 7th, and 8th Grade all had THREE representatives.

5th Grade only had ONE, and it was ME.

Did I feel the pressure?

Absolutely.

One I won against some of my fellow classmates at the "Grade Level" of the competition, it was time to see who was going to win for the entire school.

So all ten students gathered in the gymnasium.

Everyone got a clipboard, and there was a microphone that got passed to you to give your answer to the judge.

I didn't initially understand why me would need a microphone for just ten of us, and a judge.

Then I realized what was happening.

All of a sudden I heard the gym doors open, and kids JUST KEPT COMING IN.

We were doing this IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL.

I HAD NO IDEA.

I WAS TERRIFIED AND EXCITED AT THE SAME TIME.

I had my entire 5th Grade class looking at me.

Their hopes and dreams were all on my shoulders.

I couldn't let them down!

Instead, I got 3rd Place.

Which is still respectable out of 10 total, especially since I was the only 5th Grader.

But I got eliminated on a question that I knew the answer to.

I was overthinking, and it cost me?

The question - "Which U.S. Capital is the farthest west?"

My mind initially went blank.

I've got the entire school looking at me, with a microphone in my hand, and I'm racing through my thoughts to remember what's going on.

Finally I get my bearings back, and I say the first answer that comes to mind.

The problem? I was only thinking about the CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.

In other words, I wasn't including Alaska and Hawaii.

Now that's a problem, since Honolulu is the correct answer.

I said Salem, Oregon.

As soon as I said it, I knew what I had done.

Now to be fair, Salem IS the farthest west.......if you exclude Alaska and Hawaii.

But that wasn't the question.

As soon as I heard the judge say "The correct answer is Honolulu", I was crushed.

That should have been a layup.

Instead I did the Patrick Ewing layup from the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers in Game 7.

Look it up, you'll see what I mean.

But yeah, that's one I've wanted back since the second I had to get up from that chair, in front of the whole school, and rejoin my classmates on the bleachers.

I've known all 50 state capitals, postal abbreviations, and SHAPES since 2nd Grade.

Yet when I needed to open that vault of knowledge the most, I let myself down.

GIVE ME THAT DAY BACK!

But yeah, I've got plenty of childhood memories and day that I'd LOVE to revisit, but I'm going to stop here for now!

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey!

Until next time!