Top 10 Kyle MacLachlan Performances

"Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good hot black coffee"

-Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), Twin Peaks (1990-1991; 2017).

Kyle MacLachlan, one of my very favorite actors in the world of cinema and television, turned 62 years old this week. MacLachlan is one of the most underrated actors in the business - I'm constantly amazed by the range that he has despite always bringing his trademark enthusiasm and energy into his roles. Within that energy, his acting abilities range from despicable villains to lovable heroes, from wildly comedic to dead-serious. Here are my favorite performances from Mr. MacLachlan!

10. Cliff Vandercave in The Flintstones (1994)

Brian Levant's live action Flintstones movie isn't exactly a cinematic masterpiece, but it is quite entertaining in its over-the-top antics. This is especially thanks to John Goodman living up to the iconic role of Fred Flintstone, as well as Kyle MacLachlan stealing the show as the deliciously over-the-top villain Cliff Vandercave.

MacLachlan truly turned his trademark charisma and gusto up to eleven with this hammy role that truly feels like a cartoon come to life - and I mean this in a good way. Not exactly an Oscar-worthy feat of acting, but a perfect bad-guy performance for this kind of film.

9. Dad in Inside Out (2015)

Kyle MacLachlan has done his share of voice acting in the field of animation, including the role of the main character's father in Pixar's masterful Inside Out. While being far from the film's best voice performance (those honors belong to the emotion-characters, especially Bill Hader as Fear), the role is done with an appropriate combination of distance and warmth. The father-character, just like the mother (Diane Lane), is just cold enough to make the main character's feeling of alienation feel believable - but ultimately warm enough to ensure that the parents do love their daughter and want the best for her.

8. David Seton in High Flying Bird (2019)

MacLachlan only has a few scenes in Steven Soderbergh's Netflix original basketball drama, but as the actor has a habit of doing, he steals every scene he's in. He plays David Seton, the CEO of the fictional sports agency that the film centers on. The character is an unlikable one, as he represents the sort of corruption and greed within the NBA that Soderbergh aimed to criticize with the film. The actor plays a remarkable antagonist for the main characters to go up against, being startlingly believable as such a 'hard-ass' boss character who is very far from the types of roles he usually plays.

7. Dougie Jones in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Kyle MacLachlan is so essential to my all-time favorite series that he plays more than one character in it - each one is so unique that I felt a need to include all of his different Twin Peaks role performances separately. The least impressive of his three roles in David Lynch's masterpiece is still a very impressive one; it is the role of Dougie Jones in 2017's revival season.

Now, we only see the "real" Dougie Jones (if there is such a thing; there are various interpretations on the character's origin but I don't want to make this post historically long by diving into the rabbit hole of interpreting Twin Peaks) very shortly in a few episodes, but we see a whole lot of Agent Cooper being stuck in Dougie Jones's body, with the person in question being some sort of mixture between the two people while not really being either. With this unique role, MacLachlan makes for a lot of slapstick comedy and many sympathetic moments. Dougie hearing the word "coffee", and subsequently repeating the word with a smile and walking towards the location of the coffee, is probably the most relatable TV scene I have ever seen.

6. The Captain in How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

This hysterical role was my first introduction to the actor who would go on to become an all-time favorite. As The Captain, MacLachlan reaches a maximum level of eccentricity, and the results are wonderful. He plays a hilariously out-of-touch guy whose personality can be boiled down to "really, really into boats". He has brilliant chemistry with the main characters (the subplot of him going sailing with Ted (Josh Radnor) makes me laugh out loud every time), and multiple amusing characteristics that the actor delivers with perfection.

Also, since I'm discussing this character on my blog for the first time, I must give a shout-out to How I Met Your Mother's writers for making one of the most genius writing decisions of all time: The Captain ending up together with the "Boats! Boats! Boats!" girl (Laura Bell Bundy), who was originally a totally unrelated side character from a different storyline. Pure brilliance.

5. Mr. C in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Yet another separate performance by MacLachlan in Twin Peaks: The Return. This role is hard to discuss without spoilers, as it has to do with a major twist at the end of Twin Peaks's original run. Let's just say that for psychedelic and Lynchian reasons, the actor plays a villainous role in The Return, but don't worry - everyone's favorite FBI agent hasn't gone bad, but rather this villain is a whole different character from Dale Cooper (much like the aforementioned Dougie Jones).

This is as extreme as MacLachlan's good-evil range of characters he can play has gone, and boy, is it extreme. The character referred to by fans as Mr. C is cold-blooded and frightening, and it's amazing how believable the actor is in such a role, in the context of the very same series where we're used to seeing his face in the ultimate good-guy role of Dale Cooper.

4. Claudius in Hamlet (2000)

Speaking of Kyle MacLachlan killing it in villainous roles, this modern take on Shakespeare's Hamlet features him in the role of Claudius, the protagonist's uncle and one of the most classic villains in all of literature. The shoes of such an iconic character are large ones to fill, but the casting choice couldn't have been better, as MacLachlan takes on the role with just the right kind of cold-blooded magnificence that goes with such a role. Arrogant, fearsome and truly despicable in the role while still having a subtle layer of humanity to bring out all sides of the character, the performance is nothing short of amazing.

3. Paul Atreides in Dune (1984)

Speaking of living up to an iconic role from literature that poses challenges for any talented actor, well, Dune. There are many things that David Lynch's adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel failed at, but one of the things it got very right was the casting of a young and largely unknown Kyle MacLachlan as main character Paul Atreides, in what would become his breakthrough role.

MacLachlan's unique energy, complex acting skill and overall ability to excel in heroic roles make him the perfect Paul Atreides - now that one of my generation's most talented actors, Timothée Chalamet, has been cast as Atreides in Denis Villeneuve's upcoming Dune film, I'm excited to compare these two takes on the character with one another.

2. Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet (1986)

My favorite director was so impressed with MacLachlan's work in Dune, that he cast him for the lead role in his next film, which turned out to be one of my favorite movies of all time - Blue Velvet. And from this partnership can be found the core of why the top 3 of this list consists entirely of performances in David Lynch productions - the two of them work incredibly well together, and Lynch's directing brings out the best in MacLachlan. Lynch has a very unique and difficult way of directing, which is why some actors have absolutely hated working with him and many conventional-skilled actors don't exactly shine in his films - but certain types of actors fit David Lynch like a glove.

I've seen enough interviews where Kyle MacLachlan talks about working with Lynch to realize that he truly understands the director and his vision better than most, and therefore he is the perfect man to play the challenging lead roles in works like Blue Velvet. He brings an immense amount of curiosity and likability to the role of Jeffrey Beaumont, and his overall energy fits the strange experimentality of Lynch's directorial style beautifully. Speaking of which...

1. Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks (1990-1991), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) and Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

I'm not exaggerating when I say that Dale Cooper is my favorite fictional character of all time. I've actually made a list of the best characters from all literature, theater, film and television (because of course I have), and he ended up in first place. While this is thanks to many factors, one of them certainly is that the role was brought to life by an actor who played the part with unparalleled enthusiasm and likability.

It's astonishing to cross-reference MacLachlan's villain roles like Claudius and Mr. C to his main role in Twin Peaks, where he plays just the most lovable and heroic character there is. While the performance is impressive enough by conventional acting merits (he shows a lot of emotional range and growth especially in season 2), it's the unconventional way of acting in a way that fits a David Lynch production that really makes it so impressive. One of the main themes in Twin Peaks is the idea of the "light within the dark", which comes across brilliantly from the way MacLachlan plays the lead role - the series is filled with violence, disturbing imagery and nightmarish surrealism, yet it's still one of the most fun and cozy shows to watch, and that is largely thanks to the character of Dale Cooper.

From his very first scene in the pilot episode, MacLachlan stole the show with his character's unbridled optimism, constant words of wisdom and peculiar methods of investigation. Every line is delivered with just the right energy, and the existence of this character (much thanks to the actor playing him) has made the world (or at least my world) a better place.

Thank you for reading! Starting next week, I'll be doing something a bit different - for March 2021, my blog will be doing "Literature Month". Every post in March will be a top 10 -list relating to literature, differing from my usual movie/TV themes. Literature Month begins next Thursday with my list of the top 10 books by J.R.R. Tolkien!

Top 10 Stranded-in-the-Woods TV Episodes

Hello, dear reader!

I was watching Atlanta (2016-Present) with my dad, when we stumbled upon an episode where major character Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles (Brian Tyree Henry) gets lost in the woods and winds up spending most of the episode there. Dad commented on how this was similar to that one The Sopranos (1999-2007) episode, after which I started thinking that it was also similar to that one It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-Present) episode. More and more shows came to my mind, and so it dawned on me - a weird amount of television shows have one individual episode where one or more characters get lost in the woods for a majority of the episode.

And here's the kicker - when I googled this phenomenon, nothing came up. So I may be among the first writers to publish anything about this phenomenon. So, without further ado, these are my favorite stranded-in-the-woods television episodes.

10. Das Bus (The Simpsons, Season 9 Episode 14)

"So the children learned how to function as a society, and eventually they were rescued by, oh, let's say...Moe"

Das Bus begins like a standard Simpsons episode, as students from Springfield Elementary School are going on a field trip. However, within the opening minutes, an accident with the brakes causes the school bus to drift off a bridge, leaving the students stranded in the wilderness. Campfires, survival methods and Lord of the Flies (1954) -shenanigans ensue, with Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and Lisa (Yeardley Smith) calling the shots.

9. In the Forest of the Night (Doctor Who, Season 8 Episode 10)

"It's that way...

...Are those trees??"

This one is a bit of a rule-bender (I had to get creative to come up with ten episodes for this premise; no one wants to see a "Top 9" list). Sure, the main characters are stranded in the woods for a majority of In the Forest of the Night, but only because the woods are everywhere. This Doctor Who episode begins with a mysterious alien invasion that causes trees to grow everywhere on Earth instantly. Suddenly the whole planet is one gigantic forest, and the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) must navigate his way through those large woods to find out what is causing the sudden forestation. A fun sci-fi twist on the lost-in-the-woods phenomenon.

8. Left Behind (Lost, Season 3 Episode 15)

"Welcome to the wonderful world of not knowing what the hell is going on"

Sure, the whole series is about a group of people stranded on an island (well, in the later seasons, it's about a lot more than that, but I'm going to save my thoughts on the wonderful escalation of Lost's premise for another day). But within the premise, there are a select few individual episodes where one or more characters spend their time in the mysterious forests of the island, and this season 3 gem is the best of the bunch.

The Others have left major characters Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) handcuffed to each other in the middle of the jungle. While the episode does feature a subplot taking place in the main beach camp of the survivors, a majority of the runtime is devoted to Kate and Juliet making their way through the woods. Like many episodes on this list, the stranded-in-the-woods premise is used as a means to get two characters who don't get along to get some much-needed one-on-one time. Kate and Juliet confront each other on their differences, and the relationship between the characters starts to build towards some sort of friendship.

7. The Ascent (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 5 Episode 9)

"I'm not trying to rescue you; I'm taking you along as emergency rations. If you die, I'm gonna eat you"

Speaking of putting two characters who don't get along into a situation where they must work together, this episode from my favorite Star Trek series takes that to a maximum. One of the best character relationships in the Star Trek franchise is the love-hate relationship between the shady Ferengi bartender Quark (Armin Shimerman) and the tough, by-the-book Changeling security chief Odo (Rene Auberjonois). Throughout the series, it is extremely amusing to follow Odo trying to bust Quark for his various less-than-legal endeavours, Quark trying to get Odo to loosen up on his strict morals, and the two working hard to hide the fact that they actually care for each other on some deep-down level.

In this episode, the frenemies crash land on a planet and must hike up a nearby mountain in order to send an emergency signal. As the two make their way through the woods and up the mountain, their differences and mutual respect come to a head, as they end up saying things they have refrained from saying for a long time. Hilarious at times and harsh at others, this episode really knows how to use the stranded-in-the-woods premise for some great character building.

6. Still (The Walking Dead, Season 4 Episode 12)

"Ain't gonna have your first drink be no damned peach schnapps. Come on"

This divisive The Walking Dead episode is strikingly similar to the equally polarizing Breaking Bad (2008-2013) episode Fly. While Fly takes place in a meth lab and Still in the woods, they both put the show's larger plot lines on hold and focus on just two characters and their relationship in a peculiar situation. While many fans weren't happy with such a "filler" episode, I found it delightful.

After the main characters had divided into smaller groups, one of the many ongoing storylines in season 4 of AMC's post-apocalyptic drama was the one of Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Beth (Emily Kinney) surviving together. This episode follows only that storyline, as Daryl and Beth are the only characters to appear in the 42-minute runtime. Their trip deep into the woods features harsh conflict, emotional moments of the two characters opening up to each other, and an amusing search for alcohol in an abandoned cabin, making for a nice and different character-driven episode.

5. Darmok (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 5 Episode 2)

"Mirab, his sails unfurled"

What is even worse than being stuck in the woods on an alien planet with a total stranger? Being stuck in the woods on an alien planet with a total stranger who doesn't speak your language. The language barrier in this Star Trek episode is clever; throughout its history, the Trek franchise has avoided language barriers by having a universal translator as existing technology in its utopian universe. But in this episode, the Enterprise crew faces an alien species that speaks exclusively in metaphors, therefore making their sentences sound like gibberish even when the individual words are translated to English.

A majority of the episode follows captain Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart), who has been beamed down to the planet against his will, and he finds himself in the wilderness with a member of the alien race. It is intriguing to follow their interactions, as Picard tries to get a grasp on the metaphor-based language that the alien is speaking, as they fend off enemies and survive the woods together. Classic Star Trek creativity.

4. Woods (Atlanta, Season 2 Episode 8)

"The only people who got time are dead. And if you dead, I'm gonna take them shoes"

Ah, the episode that inspired me to make this list in the first place. Atlanta is filled with concept episodes that just seem random at first glance, but have some deeper meaning to them, and Woods is no different. While watching the episode, the viewer (although entertained) might be wondering just why the bulk of the episode is devoted to Paper Boi running through the woods alone (or with a crazy man who may or may not be his imagination). The episode's first act features him getting jumped by a group of thugs, and his escape into the nearby forest turns out to be a long one.

Only after seeing the episode and reading about it on IMDB did I figure out that the episode is a metaphor for grief. Not only that, but it was written with Paper Boi's actor Brian Tyree Henry in mind, as he had lost his mother during the shooting of season 1, and filming this was seen as a way of processing the emotions that came with such a loss. This series is amazing.

3. The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 6 Episode 11)

"See, this is why I don't leave Philly, all right? You leave Philly and bad shit happens - I mean trees? Everywhere, trees? What the hell is this place?"

This line, uttered by one of comedy television's top tier characters Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), is comedy gold. This episode, as you might guess from the title, is a very straight-forward example of the stranded-in-the-woods trope. On their way to a charity benefit in Atlantic City, the gang ends up crashing their car whilst taking a questionable shortcut somewhere in Jersey. They wind up surviving in the middle of the woods, and this premise with this particular sitcom cast makes for all sorts of hilarious happenings throughout the fantastic episodes. Poor Charlie spent six seasons avoiding ever leaving his hometown, only for his worst fears to come true.

2. 404 Not Found (Mr. Robot, Season 4 Episode 4)

"You were right about one thing. I've known we were gonna die since we walked out of that gas station and the van was gone. I don't think there's a way out of this for us"

"Then why do you want to keep going?"

"My sister. I have to warn her. I have to at least try"

The fourth and final season of Mr. Robot is a masterpiece that some experts saw as the final straw in television rising to the level of (or even surpassing) cinema as an art form. All of the 13 episodes are gold, and one of them happens to follow two (or technically three) major characters as they end up in the middle of the freezing woods after a chaotic sequence of events. The episode has it all: confrontations, survival methods, harsh realities, moments of humor and levity, and a subplot where Darlene (Carly Chaikin) is driving to find the lost duo but winds up bonding with a drunken mall Santa (Jon Glaser) instead.

While most of the stranded-in-the-woods episodes on this list are somewhat filler episodes, 404 Not Found (quite a genius title for the fourth episode of season 4 in a computer-heavy series) manages to end its story by making a major leap in the show's larger story arch. An important character gets a majestic exit, made all the better by the show's impeccable soundtrack and magnificent cinematography, making the final sequence feel very emotional and large in scope.

1. Pine Barrens (The Sopranos, Season 3 Episode 11)

"Dad and me used to go every year. One time we went hunting, saw a sign that said 'Bear left' - so we went home"

Despite being a drama series about organized crime, toxic families and mental health struggles, The Sopranos always had a stronger comedic undertone than most of its counterparts in the field of critically acclaimed TV dramas. And Pine Barrens, with its 9.7 IMDB rating, is what happens when the comedic side of the series takes over.

Throughout the third season, one of the main plotlines had been the slowly deteriorating relationship between Paulie (Tony Sirico) and Christopher (Michael Imperioli). This comes to a breaking point in Pine Barrens, where the two of them are en route to dump a body in the woods, only for the surprise that the man they tried to whack is very much alive. This mysterious Russian escapes from their car trunk into the freezing woods, and the dynamic duo goes after him. Much of the episode is spent with the two characters getting increasingly fed up with each other, with the dialogue between them being a golden balance of serious "These two might kill each other any second" tension and hysterical moments of humor. In this subgenre of television episodes that I've discovered, Pine Barrens is without a doubt the gold standard.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I celebrate the birthday of one of my all-time favorite actors, Kyle MacLachlan, with a list of his 10 greatest performances.

Valentine's Day Approaches: Top 10 Romantic Comedies Of All Time

Hello, dear reader!

During the tenure of this blog, several of my friends and acquaintances have requested that I do a post on the top 10 best romantic comedies - I haven't kept count, but I'm pretty sure it's the single most requested topic so far. And, with Valentine's Day approaching this week, what better time to grant this wish?

Please note that I've ranked these films specifically based on how good they are in the context of the genre. The order of these films isn't the same as if I'd rank them based on how good they are cinematically, but rather how well they succeed as rom-coms. Without further ado, these are my all-time favorite romantic comedies!

Here are my honorable mentions: Amélie (2001), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Notting Hill (1999), Penelope (2006), Pretty Woman (1990).

10. Some Like It Hot (1959)

This whimsical cross-dressing extravaganza from the late 50's has stood the test of time with its well-timed comedy elements and heart-melting love story. While posing as woman in order to get away from the police, Joe (Tony Curtis) falls for singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), leading to all sorts of hijinks. In between the film's shenanigans, the chemistry between Curtis and Monroe is startling as the viewer becomes invested in their romance. A true classic of the genre if I ever saw one.

9. The Terminal (2004)

The romance element isn't quite the strongest suite of this underrated Spielberg flick - that would have to be the sheer premise of an immigrant temporarily living in JFK airport, due to a legal loophole not allowing him to leave before his paperwork is processed. This allows for a fantastically chill and cozy atmosphere throughout the film, as the airport becomes an unlikely home for protagonist Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks).

However, a close second in the film's greatest elements is the sweet love story between Viktor and flight attendant Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Their slow-burning romance is wonderful to follow, as the two gradually fall for each other and she becomes the reason for Viktor's ridiculously long layover being worth it.

8. Wild at Heart (1990)

I wanted to place this David Lynch film much higher on this list, because I feel a compulsion to praise my favorite director whenever I get the chance. But I had to face the facts: as a rom-com, Wild At Heart isn't quite as impressive as the films that ended up forming my top seven. It still made my top 10, because it truly is a surprisingly awesome rom-com despite all of the Lynchian dialogue and various witch sequences making it into a rather unique film within the genre.

Nicolas Cage, the actor with the world's greatest range (when talking about range from terrible performances to amazing ones, that is), is wonderfully cheesy as leather-jacket-wearing cool-guy Sailor Ripley, while Laura Dern is absolutely fantastic as Lula, the young woman who runs away with Sailor despite her mother's (Dianne Ladd) objections. Cage and Dern make for an odd couple, but certainly a memorable one, as their unconventional chemistry makes for the perfect love story in the context of a David Lynch film. Wild At Heart is wildly bizarre, excessively entertaining, occasionally supernatural and ultimately quite uplifting.

7. About Time (2013)

This magnificent film would be even much higher on this list, had I ranked these movies based on how good they are as overall pieces of cinema - as a mere romantic comedy, it doesn't quite measure up to some of the greats, but still manages to be deserving of seventh place. The film is written and directed by Richard Curtis, who does a great job balancing the conventions of the genre with a rather fascinating fantasy element that makes the movie stick out.

The aforementioned element isn't just a fun gimmick, but is rather used to its full potential as the story taps into some major philosophical questions - if I made a list of the films most likely to teach one the key to happiness in life, About Time would honestly make the top three. There is a lot of wisdom and a lot of emotion to this peculiar film, and the love story at the center of it all is a sweet and delightful one.

6. It Happened One Night (1934)

My grandmother from the Finnish side of my family is one of this blog's most avid readers, and I often feel bad for her as my texts feature so many films that aren't familiar to her. Today's list should be a delight to my Mummi, as it features many old-time classic that she very likely has seen and hopefully remembers them fondly. Those films undoubtedly include this 1930's classic, as I recall discussing the film with her after watching it for the first time some years ago.

In addition to being an astonishing piece of cinema (one of the three only films that have won the "Big Five" Oscars of Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Lead Actor and Lead Actress), It Happened One Night is an excellent romantic comedy - one of the pioneers of the genre, in fact. Claudette Colbert does a great job playing a rich heiress escaping from the expectations of her parents, while Clark Gable is his dandy self as a reporter who tries to get a story out of the heiress but ends up falling in love with her. Laughs, smiles and heart-warming moments ensue.

5. Palm Springs (2020)

One of the very best movies of any genre from last year, Palm Springs is more than just a romantic comedy - I won't give any specifics away, as it is the kind of film you should watch for yourself without knowing anything about the plot beforehand. Let's just say that it's an odd and creative blend of genres that works wonders. But here's the cool thing: despite my love for creative and norm-defying storytelling such as the premise and plot of this film, my favorite part of Palm Springs is just how well it works as a rom-com.

Sure, the imaginative twists and unexpected turns are a delightful plus, but the film's strongest asset is its sweet and real-feeling love story. Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti have impeccable chemistry together, and watching their characters grow together is an absolute joy. Two thumbs up for this film!

4. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

I feel like I should briefly address the elephant in the room - Mickey Rooney playing side character Mr. Yunioshi, the most offensive Asian stereotype I've ever seen, in full-on "yellowface" is one of the more extreme examples of a movie aging poorly that I have seen. That diminishes the re-watch value of this otherwise flawless film, every other aspect of which deserve to be praised.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is as impressive as an overall piece of cinema (it won two Oscars and got nominated for several more) as it is as a fun romantic comedy. Audrey Hepburn provides what is probably my all-time favorite female lead performance from this particular genre, as she is equal parts funny, complex and unique as Holly Golightly, an out-of-touch-with-reality member of New York's "café society". George Peppard is delightful as male lead Paul Varjak, and the romance between the two will make you believe in a better world.

3. City Lights (1931)

This early Charlie Chaplin flick is one of the most pure and wholesome movies I've seen. Chaplin plays his iconic Tramp character, who in this film falls in love with a blind woman, played by Virginia Cherrill. The film consists mainly of the Tramp taking part in various hilarious activities in order to gain enough money to help the woman medically.

One of the earliest examples of romantic comedies in cinema, this trailblazing film set the mood for the genre and hasn't been bested by hardly anything that came afterwards. The film is sweet and funny, and its ending is a groundbreaking tears-of-joy occasion that took the use of emotion in cinema to a whole new level back in the day of its release. Outstanding and beautiful.

2. The Big Sick (2017)

Written by Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon, and closely based on their real-life love story, The Big Sick gains a lot of points for just how realistic it is. Unlike many other movie buffs, I don't have a problem with cliché rom-coms where everything goes well in a fantasy-like way - but that being said, it felt like a fresh change to see a romantic comedy where everything feels so much like real life. The interactions between the characters are awkward, and not over-the-top quirky-awkward like in many Hollywood films, but awkward in a way very present in our everyday lives and almost never present in blockbuster movies that fail to capture the feeling.

The film's realism is most apparent in the central love story, as main characters Kumail (played by Nanjiani himself) and Emily (played by actress Zoe Kazan) have incredible chemistry together, but it isn't the same sort of chemistry that most rom-com leads have - it's possibly the most accurate and believable depiction of true love that I've ever seen in a movie. The characters have their awkward moments of not seeing eye to eye, yet their overarching connection with one another becomes more and more evident throughout the film.

Also, bonus points for balancing comedy with more serious elements so well! The film deals with a variety of heartbreaking subjects, from Emily dealing with a serious illness to Kumail and Emily's families dealing with the culture clash at hand. In the end, it's all very heartfelt.

1. Love Actually (2003)

I think that the Top 2 of this list says a lot about the variety in my movie taste. I enjoy The Big Sick for how down-to-earth and realistic it is, yet I also love Love Actually for being the exact and literal opposite of down-to-earth and realistic. In the field of feel-good, entertaining popcorn cinema, you can't do any better than this modern yuletide classic. Every cliché in the book can be found in this film, but as I mentioned in my list of the best Christmas movies, I really don't care. If you turn the cynical part of your brain off (as we all should do from time to time), this film is incredibly fun, immensely cozy and just an overall good time. And we need movies like that.

Most of the movies on this list feature one awesome love story, or maybe two. Love Actually features several. Sure, some of them are better than the others, but a vast majority of the romances in the film are sure to leave a smile on one's face. Whether it's Jamie (Colin Firth) and Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz) hilariously fending off their language barrier, Prime Minister David (Hugh Grant) fighting the norms after falling for staff member Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) or the heart-melting affection between little kids Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Joanna (Olivia Olson), the movie has a love story for pretty much everyone ('everyone', as it happens, is also the answer to the question "Which Hollywood actors appear in Love Actually?").

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a peculiar and specific list: the top 10 stranded-in-the-woods TV episodes!

Black History Month: 10 Movies To Celebrate With

Hello, dear reader!

It is February, a.k.a. Black History Month. I figured I'd do my part in spreading the word by recommending the movies that I find to be most enlightening, informative and powerful regarding the main themes of Black History Month. Some of my picks on this list focus more on the grim history of racism that needs to be talked about and understood in order for things to get better, while other focus on the positive accomplishments of African-Americans in society and culture.

Here are my honorable mentions: Bamboozled (2000), Black Panther (2018), Becoming (2020), Do the Right Thing (1989), Invictus (2009).

10. Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (2019)

"If anybody wants to keep creating, they have to be about change"

Miles Davis is undoubtedly one of the giants of popular music history. I'd argue that no other individual has had as much of an impact on jazz music - sure, the genre was around way before he came around, but Davis was there to take it forward in many different ways throughout several decades. The role of non-white musicians has always been downplayed by various systems when talking about music history, but jazz is a genre where African-American culture was so crucial to its birth and direction, that even the Jim Crow -era U.S. couldn't keep musicians like Miles Davis from getting the recognition they deserved.

Of course, Davis did get his share of racist treatment, which is dealt with in a serious manner in this documentary. But a majority of Birth of the Cool focuses on Davis's positive accomplishments, from his genius composition and amazing instrumental skills to his creation of whole new subgenres and his role as the guiding beacon of jazz for a long period of time.

9. The Butler (2013)

"America has always turned a blind eye to what we done to our own. We look out to the world and judge. We hear about the concentration camps, but these camps went on for two hundred years right here in America"

While it is inspired by a real-life person, Lee Daniels' The Butler is ultimately a fictional movie. But it sure has a lot to say about modern American history. It is the story of African-American butler Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), who serves in the White House under several different administrations. The film has a lot of fun in it, as we see various famous actors playing various famous presidents, but there's a much deeper layer to all of it - The Butler is a reflection on the ways that civil rights, racial relations and dialogue about race have changed over the years.

This is especially evident in the storyline of Cecil's son Louis (David Oyelowo), who has the spirit of an activist as he joins the civil rights movement and eventually the Black Panthers - a group often misrepresented in movies and other media, but quite realistically depicted in films like this one. The debates between the protagonist and his son, concerning whether it is worth it to take risks trying to change things when it might put a target on your back, are very gripping and engaging to follow. The Butler paints a complex picture of what those difficult decades were like for many African-American families, and how society's treatment of minorities has shifted over the years.

8. BlacKKKlansman (2018)

"If I am not for myself, who will I be? If I am for myself alone, who am I? If not now, when? And if not you, who? We need an undying love for Black people, wherever we may be. All power to the people"

The defining movie of the Donald Trump era, BlacKKKlansman relays the incredible true story of Ron Stallworth, played here by Denzel's son John David Washington. Stallworth was an African-American police officer who managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan - just think about the skill and cunning required to pull that off for a second. The film features connections to various societal phenomena of the 1970's, from racism within police ranks to the divides within the civil rights movement concerning just how extreme their actions should be. These themes, along with the film's incredible central story of a black police officer sticking it to the KKK, make the film into quite a fitting choice to watch during this month.

Why did I call a film set in the 70's the definitive movie of the Trump era, you ask? Well, for those who have seen the film, the answer is quite obvious - director Spike Lee isn't exactly subtle about the connections between America's history of white supremacy and the Trump presidency, which was the right thing to do (pun intended) in a time when all subtlety was thrown out of the window. This makes BlacKKKlansman into an even better Black History Month film, as it has a lot to say about present-day problems with racism, in addition to telling an empowering and inspiring story from the midst of a grim chapter in history.

7. Marshall (2017)

"The Constitution was not written for us. We know that. But whatever it takes, we're going to make it work for us. From now on, we claim it as our own"

Thurgood Marshall was the first-ever African-American Supreme Court Justice. Before he achieved this milestone, he was a successful attorney with a keen eye on justice and equality. The film Marshall focuses on a defining court case of his career from that time, and Marshall is played by the late great Chadwick Boseman.

In addition to being quite a riveting courtroom drama, the film has a lot to say about important topics - it is set in a time when society was very much set up against any chances of people of color getting ahead in life. As gripping as that is to watch, it is also inspiring to see someone like Thurgood Marshall struggling to fight said obstacles, doing his own part to make the world a better place.

6. Malcolm X (1992)

"We didn't see any democracy on the cotton fields of Georgia, wasn't no democracy down there. We didn't see any democracy. We didn't see any democracy on the streets of Harlem or on the streets of Brooklyn or on the streets of Detroit or Chicago. Ain't no democracy down there. No, we've never seen democracy! All we've seen is hypocrisy!"

In all his controversy, activist Malcolm X is undoubtedly a hugely important figure in Black History. Whether you agree with his polarizing philosophies or not, there's no denying that his words and actions spoke to a lot of people living in anguish and caused some major societal change, and that he met a tragic fate that he didn't deserve. Spike Lee's biopic of the man is an honest portrayal of both his virtues and flaws, and Denzel Washington plays the role with absolute brilliance.

Malcolm X is a gripping film that takes a serious look at the depths surrounding racism in America, and just as you may expect from Spike Lee, the film is far from being black-and-white or over-simplifying. The 3-hour-22-minute epic is filled with dialogue that will definitely make one think - even if you don't agree with Malcolm X's views at all, chances are that this movie, with its depiction of the pain that he and his family endured, will help you understand where he was coming from and why he insisted on the country needing such radical change.

5. 12 Years a Slave (2013)

"I will not fall into despair! I will keep myself hardy until freedom is opportune!"

Hollywood has a long history of belittling the horrors of slavery and the pain the African-American community had to endure in the antebellum United States - films like Gone with the Wind (1939), no matter how great on a cinematic level, are hard to watch due to the offensive notion of slavery being such a smaller deal than it was in reality. Many historians considered Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave to be the first mainstream film to accurately portray what the era was like for African-Americans - quite sad that it took so long to make such a film, but I'm glad someone finally did it.

12 Years a Slave isn't a fun film to watch, but an important one. We live in a time where the Confederacy is somehow still glorified by many (I doubt the image of a Trump supporter carrying a Confederate flag through the halls of the Capitol this January will ever leave my mind), which is why films like this should be watched by all who have been failed by the U.S. education system and don't have a grasp on what that era in history really meant.

4. Hidden Figures (2017)

"Separate and equal are two different things. Just 'cause it's the way, doesn't make it right, understand?"

Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe star in this fantastic film about a truly important true story. I didn't know about the story beforehand, as didn't many other people, for this was the kind of story that the society of the time wanted to keep under wraps - African-American women having a major role to play in the space race of the 1960's didn't sit well with the dominance of the white male at the time. This is why it's great that a book was written about it, and the book was turned into an Oscar-nominated movie, thus educating a lot of people concerning this cool-as-hell story.

The racism (not to mention sexism) of the time is very evident in the film, but so is the perseverance of the community's members and the inspiring struggle against oppression. The film manages to be more inspiring than it is gripping, as the sheer power of those three women breaking through the ranks in NASA to play a vital role in U.S. history is amazing. If you want to watch a film that focuses on the accomplishments and achievements of the Black community, you can't do much better than this.

3. 13th (2016)

"We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities, we could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did"

-John Ehrlichman, former advisor to the Nixon administration

If you want your Black History Month movie choices to be nice and feel-good stories of people coming together to stand up to racism, this might not be the best choice - I can recommend Green Book (2019) for that purpose. But if you're in the right frame of mind to watch a movie that really reflects on realities that many of us should face even though we don't want to, concerning just how racist our history has been, how much pain the African-American people have endured, and how much still needs to be done, this film will certainly fill those purposes.

13th is an expertly done Netflix original documentary about systemic racism in the United States. While the main point is in explaining present-day issues, the film taps into a lot of history in order to truly explain how we came here - lines are drawn all the way from slavery and the Confederacy, through the Jim Crowe era and Nixon's "war on drugs" (read: war on Black people), all the way to the mass incarceration and police brutality that we see today. If there's one film that might inspire you to concretely do something about racism, whether it's a donation to organizations fighting for equality or gathering the courage to speak out against racism when you encounter it, it's this one, which is why I recommend it to exactly everyone.

2. 42 (2013)

"Maybe tomorrow, we'll all wear number 42, so nobody could tell us apart"

I'm glad that more than one film starring the late Chadwick Boseman made it onto this list. The man built a career out of playing various major figures in Black history: Thurgood Marshall in this list's #7, James Brown in Get On Up (2014) and baseball legend Jackie Robinson in this film. It's the gripping-at-times, incredibly-uplifting-at-others story of Robinson becoming the first African-American player in the MLB, and what a true story it is. This major milestone on the road to equality is told in a dramatic, exciting and poignant way by writer and director Brian Helgeland, and Boseman plays the main role with perfection.

42 gains extra points for this list due to the fact that it stars a man who had his own part to play in Black history: Chadwick Boseman starred in the main role of Black Panther (2018), a groundbreaking superhero movie set in Africa with a nearly all-Black cast. The film had an enormous impact on a lot of people, just as the original Black Panther comic books did, due to the genre traditionally being dominated by white people and suffering from lack of diversity. I watched 42 just a day after Boseman's death, and cried my eyes out at a scene where some little kids see Jackie Robinson at a train station, wave to him, and weep in joy as their hero throws them a signed ball. This was the exact same impact that Boseman as an actor had on tons of children of color around the world, by being the Black Panther and living up to the role both on and off the screen. Rest in Power, King.

1. Selma (2014)

"What happens when a man steps up and says, 'Enough is enough'?"

No film that I have seen epitomizes Black history quite as fully as Selma. The movie has it all: an honest account of the racism within our history, the inspiring nature of the civil rights movement and the struggle against racism, a beautiful portrayal of the strength and courage of Black history giants such as Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, and an uplifting message about equality. Watching Selma will make you angry at how some things haven't changed in 56 years, but other parts of the film will make you glad that things aren't nearly as bad as they were then - I don't mean this as a point to downplay the struggles of today, but rather as a point to honor and respect the sacrifices that the Civil Rights movement of the 60's made in order to take things in the right direction.

Selma rightfully won the Oscar for Best Original Song, as Common & John Legend's Glory is a powerful and tear-jerking testament to the heroes of the Civil Rights movement and everything they stood for. David Oyelowo plays the larger-than-life role of Dr. King about as well as such a challenging role could be played, and if you're not that familiar with that part of history, this film will certainly explain why MLK is considered by many (myself included) to be one of the most important, most inspiring and simply best people in history.

Thank you for reading! Next week is Valentine's Day, so I'll finally post a list that has been recommended for my blog by friends and family more than any other topic: the top 10 romantic comedies. Stay tuned!