The Room turns 20: Top 10 Insights into 'The Citizen Kane of bad movies'

Oh, hi, Mark!

Just two days ago, the iconic mother of all so-bad-it's-good cult classics, The Room (2003), turned 20 years old. I'm taking part in the festivities by ranking 10 insights into this obscure film, from fun facts and deep-diving analyses to viewing suggestions and conspiracy theories.

10. With so many bad movies out there, what makes this one stick out?

This is an interesting one to ponder. It's not like The Room is the bad movie - I mean, it sort of is, but why? There are many bad movies in this world of ours, even in the view of us glass-half-full critics who argue that there are many more good ones. But for whatever reason, The Room is better-known, more beloved and more of a cult hit than any of its compatriots.

Is it because the story behind it and the mysteries surrounding it (more on these later) are so bizarre? Or because its lousiness is downright beautifully balanced, with elements like writing, directing, acting and editing all pretty much equally terrible? Or is it because of the honestly heartbreaking fact that the film sticks out from the typical bad-movie archetype (cash grabs with no soul, just trying to make money etc), because Tommy Wiseau honestly wanted and tried to make a masterpiece, therefore making this film a remarkable failure (sorry, Tommy)? It might be a combination of these or something else entirely.

9. The sheer amount of sex scenes

No matter where your expectations are, chances are you'll be surprised by just how many sex scenes there are in The Room. All of them equally poor in terms of choreography, lighting and cinematography, these scenes don't serve the 'story' in a particularly important manner, yet it still seems that they aren't there just because the director was horny - they clearly had some place in Mr. Wiseau's indecipherable artistic vision.

Whatever the thought process was behind them, I'm sorry to report that the plentiful sex scenes are an awkward addition, although it is inescapably amusing how they just keep coming and coming.

8. Worth seeing once; avoid seeing twice

Yeah - I've seen The Room twice. In my defense, the second time was due to me and my friends doing a double feature of watching both The Room and The Disaster Artist (2017) - for those who don't know, the latter is a biopic of the story behind the making of the former. The double feature was worth it as a whole, but still, as a rule of thumb I cannot recommend watching The Room for a second time. Once is enough.

7. Rebel Without a Cause blew my mind

I didn't even know that James Dean was a major inspiration for Tommy Wiseau until I watched The Disaster Artist. And even then, there was one key thing I didn't know - until I eventually saw Rebel Without a Cause (1955) a few years ago, having not seen said classic earlier.

You see, one of the more infamous and memed-up lines in The Room is Wiseau's hysterically over-acted "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART, LISA!". But I didn't know that this was Wiseau channelling his all-time favorite actor - there's a scene in Rebel Without a Cause, where Jim Stark (James Dean) yells "YOU'RE TEARING ME APART!", in a frighteningly similar fashion (but just well-acted). It was a major "Aaaaaaahhhhh, I see" moment to witness that line, immediately connecting the dots in my mind.

6. We need more cult cinema

Yeah, the 'so bad it's good' movies often end up becoming what one might call 'cult hits', but rarely do they get as cult as The Room. It has become a worldwide trend for certain cinemas to have midnight screenings of The Room, where a part of the culture often is for viewers to dress up as the characters, throw plastic spoons, toss footballs to one another throughout the film, and quote famous lines as they appear.

This sounds fun as hell, and I'm devastated that there's no such culture (yet) in my hometown. Whenever Jyväskylä hosts a midnight showing of The Room, I'll be sure to be there, spoon in hand.

5. Just how far the Citizen Kane analogy goes

The phrase "The Citizen Kane of bad movies" has been thrown around a lot when discussing The Room. At first glance, one might think that this is just because Citizen Kane is a solid example of an iconic good movie to throw around, therefore making The Room into its counterpart among the reverse classics.

But it's more than that - Citizen Kane was remarkably written, directed and starring Orson Welles, and is often seen as the ultimate cinematic masterpiece from one mastermind's vision. And The Room was written, directed, and starring Tommy Wiseau, which really nails the coffin on the metaphor - Citizen Kane is the "how could one person do everything so well" film, and The Room, well, isn't.

4. The Disaster Artist is f**king great

Sure, my viewing experience of The Disaster Artist was enhanced by the double-feature package of watching The Room and the story behind The Room on the same night, but even beyond that, it's just a great film. The story behind The Room is just so intriguing with its train-wreck brand of glory, and this film does a fantastic job capturing it with an expert combination of humor and drama in the mix.

The Oscar-nominated screenplay covers the bizarre true story well, following the inner workings behind the notoriously chaotic movie set is fascinating, and the casting of the Franco brothers as Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero was pure genius. Dave Franco is very solid as Sestero, but James Franco knocks it out of the park as Wiseau, pulling off what I consider one of my all-time favorite acting performances, as he channels Wiseau's inherent strangeness so authentically.

Oh, and the real Tommy Wiseau's cameo? Magnificent, and weirdly moving.

3. The DB Cooper theory

In the 1970's, an individual known simply as "D.B. Cooper" hijacked a plane, and parachuted off with loads of ransom money. His age and real name remain unknown, and the money was never found. The man simply disappeared off the face of the earth, and his fate has been speculated to this day.

In the early 2000's, Tommy Wiseau appears in Hollywood, wanting to make a game-changing movie. He has the budget for it, and has always remained secretive and cryptic when asked how he secured this large sum of money. It is not publicly known how old he is exactly, or where he came from, as his background is shrouded in mystery.

So, yeah, someone on internet was bound to make the connection, leading to one of the most epic conspiracy theories ever. I'm not saying I believe it, but...just imagine.

2. I swear, every fact I hear about this film is more chaotic than the last

Tommy Wiseau fought to keep the scene where we walks out of bed naked in the final cut of the film, insisting that the movie won't sell unless he shows his ass. Wiseau has often claimed that he gained the money for making this film by selling leather jackets from South Korea, but has refused to elaborate. Producer Greg Sestero has revealed that Tommy Wiseau originally planned for main character Johnny to 'maybe be a vampire', because he was fascinated with vampires and enjoyed cultivating impressions that he is one. Wiseau was a big Matt Damon fan and specifically named the film's characer Mark after him - apparently he had misheard/misremembered Damon's first name despite being obsessed with him.

So, yeah, everything about The Room is gloriously unhinged.

1. Tommy Wiseau should play Donald Trump

No, really - it makes perfect sense, it's in the cards, it's destined to happen. When thinking about the Trump Presidency, it feels obvious that Hollywood will eventually make a film about it, and it'll probably be the greatest movie ever made. On one hand, one might imagine it being a tightly-knit Aaron Sorkin drama about the fascinating inner workings of the Trump White House, "The Worst Wing" if you will, or "The American President meets Mein Kampf" - but as massive of a Sorkin fan as I am, that's not the most ideal case. The Trump Presidency was just so weird, so unsettling and so bizarre, that a conventional biopic just won't do.

First of all, it should be directed by David Lynch or some other absurd surrealist. And the role of Trump himself shouldn't go to the 'obvious' choices - Clint Eastwood, Daniel Day-Lewis et cetera. As great actors as they are, they'd still make the role a bit too human, because I do not believe that the sheer weirdness of Donald Trump can be truly captured - unless you're authentically weird yourself.

I believe that Tommy Wiseau was born to play this role even more than he was born to make The Room. I believe that without effort, he would capture the random intonations, off-putting outbursts and wildly emotional speech patterns of The Donald by more or less being himself while reading the lines from the script. He will go on to win an Oscar for the authentic performance, and his redemption arch will be complete.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I begin my latest theme month; doing a Literature Month a few years back was so fun, that I'm returning to that concept for July 2023. Literature Month II begins next week, with my ranking of the top 10 Great American Novels!

Top 10 Blumhouse Movies

Greetings, reader!

This topic was suggested to me earlier this year, and I saw this as a solid time for the release of this post - the original The Purge (2013), one of the more influential and well-known films produced by Blumhouse, turned 10 years old this month. So, out of the ones I've seen, these are the the top 10 films by the production company Blumhouse!

10. The Purge: Anarchy (2014)

The second Purge flick may not be a cinematic masterpiece, but it is a significant step up from the first instalment - the film of the hour, turning 10 years old this month, barely missed out on the top 10. While The Purge (2013) introduced us to the franchise's silly but intriguing premise, it failed to really do anything particularly interesting with the concept, as a vast majority of the film follows the house of a rich family who aren't taking part in Purge Night. 

In this improved sequel, the action is taken to the streets, as we truly see what society looks like on the annual night when all crime is free game and people go wild. We follow multiple converging storylines, featuring plenty of intense action and exciting twists. An all-in-all solid sequel that does a much better job proving the premise's potential than the first film.

9. Mr. Harrigan's Phone (2022)

With a decent lead performance by young gun Jaeden Martell and an excellent supporting role by the iconic Donald Sutherland, this co-production of Netflix and Blumhouse is memorable for being what I'd call "a horror film without the horror". The whole film has the stylistic flare and overall atmosphere of a horror flick, but without things really escalating or leading to anything particularly frightening or intense. The film divided opinions as many saw this genre-bend as a recipe for a film that feels like the first act of a good horror movie, or as an anti-climactic film where nothing really happens. But for me, this out-of-the-box style worked: the mystery atmosphere was enjoyable, and the way things progressed was delightfully different.

The story and premise are cool, as can be expected from a film based on a novella by Stephen King. As people who have had a social interaction with me during the past 6 months will surely know, I'm going through a major Stephen King phase right now and plowing through all his books, and I can thoroughly recommend his works to fans of imaginative, powerful and unique writing. He's quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite authors and overall storytellers, and there are definitely some King-themed blog posts coming up in the near future.

8. The Purge: Election Year (2016)

Most people seem to consider the third Purge instalment to be better than the first but not as good as the second - I, however, see Election Year as the franchise's high point. The concept hadn't yet grown stale, so this feels like an even more intriguing dive into the premise and its implications than the previous one. I also greatly enjoyed the political storyline, with a movement to get rid of Purge Night gaining traction and a group planning to assassinate their leader during the night, making this film into a high-stakes thriller. Election Year is also paced very well, with things escalating in an entertaining fashion.

7. Halloween Ends (2022)

Not for a second do I believe that this is the last-ever Halloween film, as these franchises have a stubborn way of always finding a way to come back no matter how beaten to death they appear, much like the antagonists found in such slasher films. However, I do hope that this is the last one, because it makes for one hell of an ending.

Halloween Ends doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but it does enough things differently in order to stick out as one of the more memorable and less generic Halloween flicks, while working particularly well as an ending for the franchise. The film divided opinions among fans of the franchise, but I for one am all for it.

6. Split (2016)

This very fine M. Night Shyamalan flick offers just the sort of some-cool-twists-and-some-misfires storytelling one can expect from the creative and polarizing filmmaker. The true carrying force of Split is the lead performance by James McAvoy, who plays a man suffering from dissociative identity disorder in a truly memorable fashion. He realistically depicts the man switching between the 23 distinct personalities he's been diagnosed with, and it is a true marvel of acting to witness just how much his voice, facial expressions, body language and just everything changes throughout it all. All in all, a very solid psychological thriller.

5. Us (2019)

Jordan Peele's second film is a powerful one, as he draws lines between American history and supernatural fiction, real social issues and unreal horror, in a way that only Jordan Peele can master. Out of the three feature films the mastermind has done so far, Us is my least favorite, but that is a high bar - the reason for it being slightly below Get Out (2017) and Nope (2022) is my minor critique that Peele's signature humor doesn't mix with the darker elements as smoothly as it does in his other movies, and the moments of comedy often feel a bit clunky and out of place.

Everything else in Us is prime stuff - Lupita Nyong'o's sledgehammer performance, the gradually built high-stakes tension, Peele's expert use of colors and shadows in the film's overall tone and imagery, you name it. And that haunting ending really stays with you.

4. Halloween (2018)

For the life of me, I couldn't have expected the reboot of such a done-to-death franchise to be this good. However, from the very first scene, David Gordon Green proved me wrong - this was not the cheap and lazy cash grab further milking out a money-making franchise, this was a product that some serious thought was put into, a love letter to the franchise and the beginning to a trilogy that (hopefully) put Michael Myers to bed for good.

The horror feels authentic, and the overall style is a delightful mix of what John Carpenter was going for in the original and how horror films are done these days. Oh, and for the cynics who were doubting if Jamie Lee Curtis could still kick as much ass in the role of Laurie Strode at this age, I'm happy to report that she kicks more ass than ever.

3. Whiplash (2014)

I used to always joke that J.K. Simmons' band instructor character in this film is my biggest inspiration as a music education student, as he's the sort of music teacher I want to become. After one interaction where the person I was talking to didn't realize it was a joke and shot a worried and frightened look at me, I've retired the joke in order to avoid scaring people.

But, yeah, Whiplash is a great film. Justin Hurwitz's score really snares you in, Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons' performances fill you with emotion, and the overall beating pulse, well-paced rhythm and driving intensity throughout the film really sticks with you. The end result is a real banger, destined to stand out of the crowd as a future classic. (And if you caught all 7 drum-related puns in this paragraph, you're a legend).

2. Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele's debut film remains his best. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the combination of elements that Get Out is built upon SHOULD. NOT. WORK. - seriously, on paper, it just absolutely shouldn't work. A supernatural horror film, that takes a stand on multiple social issues and subtly yet boldly discusses many hot-topic political questions, while also having a heavy dose of humor in the mix, should not work. I can't stress it enough, if the producers had said no to Peele's political-horror-comedy pitch, no one could've blamed them. One element seems bound to fall flat in such a recipe - either the horror won't feel real and spooky at the expense of the social commentary and comedic stuff, or then the politics feel preachy and on-the-nose at the expense of the horror&comedy elements, or at the very least the humor would feel out-of-place amidst the creepy horror and subtle politics.

But none of this happens.

It all flows perfectly, with the horror being truly authentic and unsettling, while the social commentary is expertly subtle and powerfully effective, and the humor is a welcome blast that fits in to the rest of the combo with aplomb. I still don't know how Peele pulled it off, but he sure did.

1. BlacKKKlansman (2018)

Mmmm, the Spike Lee joint that had me crying my eyes out in the cinema. BlacKKKlansman is best described as a scathing indictment of the hold white supremacist values continue to have in American society, disguised as a funny and entertaining police flick, disguised as an inspiring true story of an African-American detective who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970's. Mind you, it is an inspiring true story and an entertaining police comedy, and it works well as such, but the deepest layer is what hits the hardest - by drawing lines from past to present, the Spike makes it painfully clear how the problems still haven't gone away and the structures of our society, embedded in systemic racism, still need fixing.

For anyone who doesn't see a connection between the United States' history with slavery, segregation & the KKK and the 2016 election of Donald Trump as President (not to mention the very solid chance of either Trump or DeSantis being chosen as the next Commander-in-chief) - first of all, they should really read some history books before Big Ron has them all burned, but if that feels like too much of a chore, just watching this informative film will do a lot to get one started. Across Spike Lee's magnificent filmography, BlacKKKlansman is second only to the unbridled masterpiece Do the Right Thing (1989) but no others in my view, as this film gives you a good time with its humor and payoffs, while also gripping your heart with its eye-opening, hard-hitting look at a truth as important as it is devastating.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I celebrate The Room's (2003) 20-year anniversary by sharing my top 10 insights into 'The Citizen Kane of bad movies".

Top 10 Arabic Numerals

Greetings, reader!

Yes, I'm fully aware that today's post has very little to do with movies and television. But hey, I don't make the rules. My Uncle Dan, one of my idols in life humor-wise, recently suggested this topic, and obviously I had to roll with it. So, here is my official ranking of the ten Arabic numerals!

10. 9

Yeah, I reckon we can all agree that 9 is just one sorry excuse for a number. This fucking mess of a numeral is associated with negative shit like the circles of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy, the Rings for Men that ended up corrupting humanity and creating the Nazgul in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and the notoriously self-indulgent Beatles 'song' Revolution 9. Even the number's visual look is a problem: society just can't decide whether it should be drawn with a straight line or a curve, and the whole 'upside down six' causes confusion in card games while making it clear that the number 9 is just a lazy rip-off of a much better number.

Furthermore, iconic classical composers from Beethoven and Mahler to Bruckner and Dvorak all died after composing their ninth simphonies, so this god-awful number has some serious blood on its hands. And don't get me started on the absolutely nonsensical idioms such as "cloud nine", "the whole nine yards" or "cats have nine lives" - does anyone know what the hell they're supposed to mean? Even in The 12 Days of Christmas, the objective low-point is "Nine ladies dancing" - what a weird thing to receive as a gift, and so plainly worded as opposed to the poetic majesty of "Geese a-laying" or "Lords a-leaping".

And if you've followed the news lately, you might have noticed that between the striking-down of Roe v. Wade and the shady luxury trips of Clarence Thomas, the U.S. Supreme Court hasn't exactly been getting the best press. So take a wild guess how many justices sit on that damned bench - that's right, f**king nine once again. And as the absolute nail on the coffin in this anti-9 rant, I must share that the Finnish word for 'nine' is 'yhdeksän', which has got to be one of the ugliest words in an otherwise beautiful language.

9. 1

Now this might be a hot take, as 1 is such an iconic and relevant number - many might put it all the way on the #1 spot. And I get it - between the decent U2 song and the much-better Metallica song, the fact that the first instalment of almost any movie franchise is the best one, and the general winning energy of being #1, the numeral has a lot going on for it.

But there's a massive downside to this general crowd favorite. May I remind you of the tragedy in Tolkien's Middle-Earth - everything was fine when multiple rings were divided amongst the Quendi, but when Sauron broke the balance by creating one ring to rule them all, everything went to shit. And this is far from the only tragedy associated with the slightly overrated number - Episode I: The Phantom Menace is often considered the worst Star Wars film, and what was the first day of the week again? Oh, that's right - M*nday. And we all know how we feel about that bullshit.

8. 2

The chronologically second numeral doesn't really have a strong personality to it, when compared to the distinct associations drawn to most numerals. It's a bit of a dud, but inoffensive enough to make it ahead of the slightly problematic 1 (not to mention the goddamn train-wreck known as the number 9). The most personable thing about the number 2 is probably the slang-term 'deuce', which on one hand is used when talking about taking a dump, but on the other hand, makes for 'Deuces are wild', which is an exciting factor in the card game Black Malarkey, as well as a kick-ass Aerosmith song.

7. 5

The number 5 was a difficult one to rank - having more positives but also more negatives than most numerals, this truly is the Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) of numbers. To start off with the negatives, the five stages of grief often appear under circumstances of loss and sorrow, while the iconic five-second rule can't possibly be good for one's hygiene. Furthermore, bands with this number in the title seem cursed - Five Seconds of Summer is as offensive to punk rock as Five-Finger Death Punch is to metal, as well as Maroon 5 to music in general.

Well, if you're wondering why a number with so many negative associations has made it ahead of the thoroughly solid 2, that is because the positives are even more plentiful. Kurt Vonnegut's masterpiece Slaughterhouse-5 is one of the hands-down best books I've ever read, and Dave Brubeck Quartet's Take Five is one of the greatest jazz songs of all time. Fans of fantasy franchises have long been fascinated with the Five Wizards in Tolkien's lore, the War of the Five Kings in Game of Thrones (2011-2019), and the physics-defying franchise-best film Fast Five (2011). And who among us hasn't enjoyed a five-act Shakespeare play, chewed a delicious piece of 5 gum, or landed a perfect edition of humankind's most kick-ass gesture - the high five?

6. 10

I really, really, really like 'Top 10' lists. Also, the number can be found on the shirt of the greatest to ever kick a football - Lionel f**king Messi. 'Nuff said.

5. 7

One big downside to this famous lucky number is that its visual outlook is always a bit of a mess - I dream of a society that one day comes together to decide, for once and for all, if there should be a line in the middle or not. On the other hand, one massive upside (and the biggest reason for 7's placement in my top 5) is that as a drummer and general rhythm enthusiast, I've always loved 7/8 rhythms, and playing to seven is just such a fun groove.

Other than that, 7 is associated with a multitude of things that are good but not the best. The Faith of the Seven is an intriguing fictional religion in A Song of Ice and Fire, but I've always been more of an Old Gods guy. Seven rings were given to the dwarves in Tolkien's fantasy world, but I've always been more of a hobbit guy. 7-Up is a thoroughly decent soft drink, but I've always been more of a Coca-Cola guy. Se7en is one of the better David Fincher films, but I've always been more of a Fight Club (1999) guy. Seitsemän Veljestä ('The Seven Brothers) is a legendary play by Finland's Aleksis Kivi, but I've always been more of a Nummisuutarit guy. Do you see a pattern emerging?

4. 6

While not the most mainstream or obvious favorite, the number 6 has many quite obscure connections that absolutely delight me. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is an excellent album by prog metal band Dream Theater, while Hexagon Force was one of the coolest levels to play in the classic phone game Geometry Dash. Furthermore, there's some comedic mileage to how the number translates to other languages - just ask our Swedish, Norwegian or Latin-speaking friends.

3. 3

Ah, I'm glad that in just one case, the numeral in question corresponded with its ranking on my list.

This is a big one - between Rings of Power divided amongst Elves, acts of storytelling in traditional screenwriting, and celebrity deaths accoring to Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) on 30 Rock (2006-2013), many things come in threes. The number is especially evident in many religious movements - the Holy Trinity of Christianity, the Three Jewels of Buddhism, the Triple Goddess of Wicca and the Stone, Cloak and Wand forming the Deathly Hallows all hold a lot of meaning for a lot of people. There seems to be something truly special, even magical, about this number.

And let's not forget that the third time's the charm!

2. 8

I mean, this severely underrated number just feels to good to be true. Forming an octave and having a hand in the Dream Theater album Octavarium, forming the 8-) emoticon and and having a hand in 8-bit video games, the number eight sure gets around. Turn it sideways and you get the symbol for eternity, which is a pretty cool feat (I'd like to see suckers like 9 accomplishing something so cool).

This number also finds itself at the epicenter of many classic number-related jokes, like the legendary "Why was 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9" - obviously, many numbers make an appearance, but 8 is absolutely carrying the joke with the humorous value of 'eight' and 'ate' having the same pronounciation. Furthermore, I wouldn't be a trule Beatlemaniac if I didn't mention the majestic Eight Days a Week, and this sure wouldn't be a movie blog at heart unless I pointed out how both 8 Mile (2002) and The Hateful Eight (2015) are peak cinema.

1. 4

"There...are...FOUR...LIGHTS!"

- Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), in one of the most iconic moments of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) and one of the best-acted scenes in television history.

Four Gospels in the New Testament, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Four Houses of Hogwarts, Four suits in a card deck. Four cheeses in the best damn pizza I ever ate. Everything interesting in the world seems to more or less begin and end with this utterly glorious numeral.

Take the concept of 'Four Seasons' - this mere pairing of words makes for a decent year structure, an iconic hotel chain, a series of Vivaldi masterpieces and one hell of a doo-wop rock n' roll group. And speaking of music, perfect fourths make for one hell of an interval, while 4th degree chords are the cornerstone of many a composition (I especially like turning the major 4th into a minor 4th at the end of a chord progression, also known as 'the Green Day chord'). And all the best and most influential bands seem to have exactly four members - The Beatles, Queen, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Säätövara, need I go on?

Every year on May the 4th, the world puts aside its differences and comes together to celebrate International Star Wars Day - and righfully so, because what was the best Star Wars movie again? Oh, that's right - Episode IV - A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars, but gaining its better-known title due to its placement as the chronologically fourth film of the Skywalker Saga).

And one more thing - what's the very best thing a sitcom or movie can do, when wanting to get meta and address the audience? That's right - breaking the fourth wall. Many a good thing comes from this magnificent numeral, the best of the best.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my ranking of the top 10 films by the production company Blumhouse Productions.

Ranking the Spider-Man Movies

Greetings, reader!

With Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in theaters now, I figured it's about time that I share my controversial ranking of Spider-Man movies with the world. The franchise has seen many ups and downs, from the first film and its sequels to the reboot and its sequel, not to mention the MCU reboot with its regular sequel and its multiverse-related crossover sequel, and of course the entirely separate multiverse-themed reboot and its sequel (which, like all sequels, originally had "PART ONE" in its title before they changed it). I think the absolute headache of how this franchise (or rather this collection of different franchises built around the same character) works is best described by the iconic tweet by @horsedivorce: "Do I have to have watched Spiderman 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 1 and 2 to understand what's going on in Spiderman 3?". (The answer, by the way, is somehow both 'yes' and 'no').

Anyways, here's my ranking.

10. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

I consider the entire original Spider-Man trilogy by Sam Raimi to be a tad overrated, which means that each of its three films is a bit lower in my ranking than they would be in the rankings of many other fans. While the films do many things right, I always found their legacy to be too colored with nostalgia, as people seem to overlook the fact that due to the films being from before the time when Hollywood took its superhero films somewhat seriously, elements like pacing and dialogue have more than a bit of cruddiness to them.

The first and second films are still very, very decent despite having some flaws to them - but the third film is where things just fall apart. It tries to be multiple films at once, and while sometimes this trope works, here it does not - Raimi tries to fill too many storylines and villain archs into the film without giving any of them enough depth and breathing room, therefore making it feel downright aggressive how superficially and quickly everything goes down. He tries to give a gripping character arch to three different villains, and due to the limited runtime, these archs take place across just a few scenes and feel laughably forced. The end result is, quite simply, a mess.

9. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

There are some select positives to this overall negatively received sequel to Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man - Andrew Garfield continues to dazzle as Peter Parker, the plot takes some ballsy moves towards the end, and I just love that the director's name in this Spider-Man film is Marc Webb.

And, well, that's about it for the positives. There's some potential for the villain Electro (Jamie Foxx) but his arch feels rushed, not to mention the completely generic and unnecessary-feeling side villain, the poor man's Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan). And while I'm a huge fan of Andrew Garfield in the main role, the script really keeps getting in the way of how good he could've been, with Peter inconsistently switching between random asshole moments and cliché heroics throughout the film.

8. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

The first Amazing Spider-Man is more or less what you'd expect from a reboot of a popular franchise - it doesn't re-invent the wheel or blow one's mind, but it does enough things differently to justify its existence in contrast to Raimi's Spider-Man films, while still feeling like Spider-Man at heart. It's not as good as the first of the original films, the first MCU Spider-Man film or the first of the animated Spider-Verse films, but it's still a decent and entertaining flick.

Now that I think about it, there are quite a few negatives to the film - The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) may not be a downright bad villain but he's not especially good either, with the cliché origin story and uninteresting motives, and the same could be said for Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) as a love interest - not especially bad, but fairly generic. So when analyzing why I still like the film quite a bit, I arrive at the conclusion that The Amazing Spider-Man is more or less carried by Andrew Garfield, who plays the role of Peter Parker with lots of heart and personality.

7. Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)

I'm a pretty big fan of the MCU take on Spider-Man; with absolutely no disrespect to Maguire or Garfield, my personal favorite Spider-Man will always be Tom Holland. So, even the least good out of the three Spider-Man adventures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is placed semi-well in my ranking; it has its flaws, but a multitude of the trilogy's overall great elements make it into an overall decent flick worth watching and re-watching.

The flaws are quite minor, such as the occasional collision between the film's identity as a Spider-Man flick and as a part of the larger MCU, with the high-stakes cataclysmic action sequences across Europe not feeling all that "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man". But, as mentioned, the elements that make the Homecoming - Far from Home - No Way Home trilogy into an overall fantastic collection, are quite strong and pronounced in the second instalment. Chief among them is the love story between Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and MJ (Zendaya), which across these three films makes for the best romantic arch in superhero cinema, and honestly one of my favorite romances in cinema. And many of the greatest moments in this heart-pounding love story can be found from this film.

Then there's the overall signature humor, character growth and lovable nature of Holland's Peter Parker, as well as a thoroughly decent villain in Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). So, while the film may pale in comparison to its predecessor and successor, it still does many things right and deserves to be ranked ahead of quite a few lesser Spidey flicks.

6. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

I wasn't quite as blown away by the first of the animated Spider-Verse films as many others - between its Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and IMDB rating higher than any live-action Spider-Man flicks, this film sure got its share of acclaim. And deservedly so - while I don't personally see it as quite the masterpiece that people make it out to be, it still is a technically marvelous and creatively wild film that does many things right.

The film's characteristic animation style deserves all the praise it has gotten, as does the overall vibe that comes from the funky editing choices, comic-book style visual touches and the constant, smooth background soundtrack. Shameik Moore provides one banger of a lead performance as the voice of Miles Morales / Spider-Man, not to mention the raw emotion of Mahershala Ali as Uncle Aaron. Into the Spider-Verse leaves a lot to be explored (and a bit, although not terribly much, to be improved upon) in the sequels, but manages to stand on its own as a cool and fresh addition to Spider-Man's cinematic legacy.

5. Spider-Man (2002)

So, here's the thing. Is the original Spider-Man movie, directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, a massively important film in comic book movie history, and a nostalgic experience for my generation? Absolutely yes. Is the original Spider-Man movie overrated, with people turning a blind eye to the same critical thinking that they used to put down the Amazing Spider-Man films and the MCU Spider-Man films because their judgement is clouded by nostalgia? Also yes.

The film does many things right, but it never was the flawless classic that people make it out to be. This was a time before the people making comic book films put the same amount of thought into the end product as they do nowadays, and this can be seen - the plot is semi-generic and predictable, the dialogue can be a bit painful at times, and the chemistry between Maguire and Kirsten Dunst is on par with Anakin and Padme in the Star Wars prequels (this is a big example of why I slightly prefer the MCU Spidey flicks - a big part of the runtime in nearly all Spider-Man films is devoted to the love story, and the toxic, generic and forced romance between Peter and Mary Jane is cringe-worthy when compared to the authentic and well-written story of Peter and MJ in the Tom Holland films).

That being said; Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin is an iconic villain, the hero's origin story with Uncle Ben's (Cliff Robertson) death and the "great power, great responsiblity" speech is in its purest form, and the film had a lot influence in the shaping of modern superhero movies. So, it's a pretty awesome superhero flick in its own right, even if I am a bit pissed about the multitudes of fans who put these films on a pedestal above questioning, while picking apart every detail of newer Spidey films with merciless judgement.

4. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

When thinking of the fairly rare yet quite prononunced archetype of "sequel slightly better than the original", a formula including classics from Terminator II: Judgement Day (1991) to The Dark Knight (2008), one of the purest examples is Spider-Man 2. Many fans would rank this films higher, as quite a few people have it as their #1 favorite Spidey film, but with that I disagree - while it is a step up from the original, a lot of the flaws from the Sam Raimi trilogy are still there, from the slightly clunky and cheesy feel of pre-2008 superhero cinema to the absolutely woeful nature of the Peter & Mary Jane scenes.

Other than, it's an excellent middle instalment for the trilogy - the themes of the first film are continued and built upon, other storylines are built up towards the third instalment (heh, what could go wrong?), and the pacing is sublime. Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus is definitely among the very best Spider-Man villains on the big screen, and the train fight sequence, with its expert stunt coordination and beautifully flowing action exhilaration, is one for the ages.

3. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

After the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Peter Parker, played by the wonderful Tom Holland, was introduced in Captain America: Civil War (2016), expectations were high for his first solo film. People were concerned about there being too many Spider-Man films out there - we've seen so many versions, that will it be boring to see the same origin story and same iconic villains re-hashed once again?

The answer was a very likely yes, which is why the people behind Spider-Man: Homecoming did the smart thing and went for something totally different.

No origin story needed; Peter Parker is Spider-Man and that's it. No attempts to re-create the millionth on-screen versions of the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus - here we have Michael Keaton playing the Vulture, a delightfully different villain. Not too much superhero clichés either, as Homecoming is just as much a coming-of-age high school comedy as it is a MCU blockbuster. The shot of unrealistically bright-blue and fresh New York water in the film's poster is the perfect mood-setter for the chill atmosphere that this trilogy-opener went for.

Oh, and then there's the beginning of superhero cinema's greatest love story. When watching the film for the first time, I was completely in love with side character Michelle (Zendaya), and thus very frustrated that Peter Parker's romantic arch focused on the much more generic love interest character Liz (Laura Harrier). And then, at the end, it hit me - Liz was just a side plot for this film, and as Michelle reveals her last name to be Jones ("Friends call me MJ"), I realized that they were just building anticipation for the real love story to be built in the upcoming films, which was quite the genius piece of build-up from the writers. Big stuff.

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

My friend Jaakko and I went to see this new Spider-Verse sequel in the cinema last week. He was blown away even more than I was, claiming that it probably makes it into his top 3 movies of all time - no, not top 3 Marvel movies or top 3 superhero movies - just movies. While my reaction to the film wasn't quite on that level, I do see where he's coming from - Across the Spider-Verse exceeded every expectation, leaving audiences speechless all over the world. It's a damn fine film, and the feeling I had once the credits started to roll was not unlike the feeling after seeing Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in the cinema.

The film's style is similar to the first but even more of an expertly created, downright physical experience: the way the soundtrack weaves into the background while the visuals make the film feel like a comic book coming to life, the film taking place across six dimensions (with 240 characters in the story and over 1000 animators working on the end product) truly feels large in scope. But not for a second does the film take itself too seriously, with just so much authentic humor and fun easter eggs sprinkled between all of the fantastic storytelling. I can't really discuss the film's plot and pace too much without going into spoiler territory, but damn - the out-of-the-box nature of the whole story arch and especially the note the film is left on are just something else.

Go see this in the cinema (and watch Into the Spider-Verse first, if you haven't already). It'll be worth it.

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

I'm guessing that quite a few people will end up placing Across the Spider-Verse as their #1, just like a lot people are of the opinion that Spider-Man 2 is the invincible one that will always be #1. But for me, there's just no beating No Way Home. This emotionally charged extravaganza just worked so well as a part of the MCU, as a conclusion to the trilogy of this particular Spider-Man, and as a climax to decades of storytelling in the larger Spider-Man multiverse.

As a part of the MCU, the film changes the timeline in a major way that went on to have an effect in multiple other films. The presence of characters like Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) adds a lot to the story, and dammit if that portal-fight sequence isn't one of the coolest and trippiest action set-pieces in the Marvel universe.

As a conclusion to this particular trilogy? Oh, man. Tom Holland and his version of Peter Parker had grown so much - in Homecoming he was an insecure and squeaky teenage boy, struggling to find out what it means to be a hero in the shadow of Iron Man, and in this film, he feels like the realistically same character yet has grown into a major force to be reckoned with, a mature leader and fierce warrior in his own right. And Tom Holland's acting performance here is one of the very best roles seen in superhero cinema, while the remarkably powerful love story between him and MJ reaches its bittersweet conclusion.

And then there's the whole multiverse thing - I won't spoil too much to those who haven't seen the film, but man, this film has some stuff that Spider-Man fans had thought they'd never see. The amount of authentic fan service and epic payoffs is off the charts, with so many moments where fans of comic book movies are bound to pump their fists as the cool shit just keeps on happening.

My only critique of No Way Home is that I found the very ending to be a bit too harsh for the type of movies that these are, but even there I understand the reasoning of the writers and do admit that the ending can't be all bad based on how deeply emotional my reaction to it was. I won't go into that further due to spoilers, but it's safe to say that this minor critique doesn't keep the film from being in the #1 spot, because this emotional roller coaster of zany comic-book fun and heart-wrenching emotion is easily the most memorable and powerful Spider-Man instalment I've seen, and one that only improves upon being re-watched and analyzed further.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a post recommended by my Uncle Dan - my ranking of the 10 Arabic numerals. No, really. Worth checking out.

Top 10 Movies / TV Shows Written by Aaron Sorkin

Greetings, reader!

I recently finished watching The Newsroom (2012-2014), one banger of a series penned by my all-time favorite screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin. Between his distinct style, insanely clever dialogue, fast-paced high-stakes storytelling and powerful themes with the storyteller's idealistic heart in the right place, Sorkin is a massive inspiration for me as a writer. Across his impressive gallery of movies and TV shows written, these are the best of the best.

10. Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

On the high standards of Sorkin films, Charlie Wilson's War doesn't quite reach the heights of many others, mainly because I found some of its themes to be a bit short-sighted for a writer who is usually downright predicting the future with his sharp vision. The plot, based on a true story, brushes off many of the negative implications of the events, and it feels like those lines would've been drawn and connected in a typical Sorkin project, and such juxtaposition would've made the film even better and into classic, vintage Sorkin. However, the end result is still a very fine film with many positives to it.

The atmosphere, looking at the fascinating inner workings of Washington D.C., is classic vintage Sorkin. The films written by him also have a tendency to cast some of Hollywood's most fantastic actors, with Sorkin's scripts pushing them into performances among the best in their careers, and this one is no different. Tom Hanks is fantastic playing a role out of his comfort zone (a low-key douchebag, as opposed to his usual lovable golden-boy roles), while the late Philip Seymour Hoffman earned every bit of his Oscar nomination, and Amy Adams steals the show with her sharp performance.

9. Moneyball (2011)

Here we have a prime example of a good writer telling a story with such universal themes and compelling storytelling, that a viewer who knows and understands next to nothing about the actual subject matter will still enjoy the end result. I still don't know hardly anything about Major League Baseball, and this especially was the case when I watched Moneyball for the first time at the age of fourteen years. And I knew even less about the sort of math-computer-algorithm world that the true story behind the film is all about, in addition to baseball. Yet still, Sorkin deals with it all in such a humane fashion that I ended up completely invested and fascinated.

The true story of Oakland A's manager Billy Beane's game-changing approach to acquiring players and building a team comes to life on the big screen in true Sorkin fashion - the plot is as witty as it is inspiring. Brad Pitt has a ball (pun intended) with the lead role, while Jonah Hill knocks it out of the park (I'm so sorry) with his Oscar-nominated performance, and the likes of veteran Robin Wright and newcomer-at-the-time Chris Pratt provide total home runs as well (I can't help myself).

8. The American President (1995)

The film that walked so that The West Wing could run, this White House rom-com is Sorkin at his absolutely cheesiest and mushiest - and being an old softie at heart, I'm not complaining. It shows some serious range when the guy who wrote the high-pressure intensity of The Social Network and Steve Jobs manages to write something as corny, heartfelt and watch-it-while-eating-ice-cream-and-fighting-the-urge-to-cry as The American President.

Mind you, it's not all hugs and kisses - the film does take a very interesting look at the inner workings behind the Oval Office, and Sorkin himself has credited his work on this film as being the catalyst for eventually creating a certain TV-history-changing masterpiece that we'll get to later. Michael Douglas is his charming self in the lead role, while national treasure Martin Sheen shines as the President's Chief of Staff, and Michael J. Fox's supporting speechwriter role had me pumping my fist on multiple occasions. Out of all the Sorkin films I've seen, this is the least likely to get your heartrate riled up with fast-paced and thrilling storytelling, but one of the more likely ones to leave a big old smile on your face.

7. Molly's Game (2017)

Once again a high-stakes true-story flick, Molly's Game is a decent sports film, an excellent crime/courtroom drama, a fantastic character study and a remarkably intriguing poker flick. Based on the autobiography of Molly Bloom, this film truly answers the age-old question: can a girl really have it all - being an Olympic-level downhill skier, running the world's most exclusive poker game and dealing with a dramatic court case after becoming an FBI target?

Jessica Chastain is unreal in the lead role, and the supporting cast is an absolute delight between Idris Elba's stone-cold lawyer role, Kevin Costner being perfect as the emotionally unavailable father, and Michael Cera being surprisingly compelling in a performance very different from his usual roles. With its semi-criminal setting and not-all-that-likable protagonist, Molly's Game is less inspiring and more cynical than most Sorkin-penned films, but there's still a good chunk of heart underneath.

6. Steve Jobs (2015)

Speaking of Sorkin's colder and more cynical side, this biopic doesn't paint a very rosy picture of Apple founder Steve Jobs' personality - but by all accounts, it does appear to paint a very accurate one. Having made a career as one of modern Hollywood's most talented names between acing roles from Magneto to Macbeth, I'd argue that Michael Fassbender's #1 best individual performance can be found from this film, as he truly brings to life the torchered-genius, inspiring-yet-arrogant-asshole, real-life antihero antics of Steve Jobs that the script was going for.

Many Sorkin films deal with the "co-founder/colleague who was originally on good terms with the protagonist but starts to feel betrayed and heartbroken over the protagonist's overly ambitious and selfish antics" trope, and one of its most gripping instances is the dynamic between Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) in this film, with Rogen playing the more humane approach of his character as a powerful contrast to the portrayed cold nature of Jobs.

5. The Social Network (2010)

Not to discriminate against subject matters, but it never ceases to amaze me how a movie about Facebook became about a thousand times better than it had any right to be. The atmosphere throughout this film, through Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' vibrant soundtrack and the distinct lighting and the sharp editing and David Fincher's directing, comes across as memorable and unique. The acting is incredible even by Sorkin movie standards, with Jesse Eisenberg's career-defining performance as Mark Zuckerberg and Andrew Garfield acting his heart out in the role of Eduardo Saverin (the outburst scene is peak cinema).

But the true star of the show, once again, is Mr. Sorkin's dialogue. Any moment in a Sorkin movie is bound to have sharp and clever dialogue, and his openings have always been memorable, but this just hits different - the 10 first minutes of this film feel like Sorkin's magnum opus. It feels like the thesis of a person who has completed screenwriting as an art form, showcasing his powers in full effect before rising to a godlike form. The amount of information relating to the characters, the humor and intertextual references sprinkled within, the entertaining wording in the banter and the way in which the opening conversations shed light to the viewer on what kind of film this is going to be - it's perfection.

It's a bit odd that Sorkin has only won one Academy Award if you ask me, but it's quite appropriate that his sole win (so far) came from this film's screenplay.

4. A Few Good Men (1992)

I just can't get over the fact that the first feature film written by Aaron Sorkin, his debut work as a screenwriter, became 12 Angry Men's (1957) biggest competitor for the title of "Hollywood's quintessential courtroom drama". I mean, what kind of F**KING WIZARD makes a genre-defining masterpiece as his DEBUT WORK?

Sorkin originally wrote A Few Good Men as a play, which was then adapted into the movie script that went down in history. The story is built in such an exhilarating fashion, with the information of the murder case in question being uncovered slowly but surely in a series of escalatingly captivating scenes, the dialogue being absolute gold all the way through. The film's famous 'big line', spoken by the one and only Jack Nicholson, is quite the payoff, arriving at a moment of climax where everything that was built comes to one hell of a dynamite conclusion. Magnificent.

3. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

If the world ever needed Sorkin at his most inspiring, it was in 2020, after the George Floyd murder and subsequent mayhem. For this based-on-a-true-story film, which ended up being my #1 favorite movie of the year 2020, Sorkin threw away the levels of cynicism seen in Steve Jobs and Molly's Game, and returned to the fist-pumping idealism that made him known in the first place. And he got there, in a fashion more pure than maybe ever before. And with the frustration in society seen that year, people like me really needed to hear that message.

Recounting the aftermath of the infamous 1968 protests in Chicago, this film appears to have been quite a personal passion project for Sorkin, as he directed the film in addition to writing it, which is quite a rare occurrence. This multi-tasking allows the film to feel even more Sorkin-y in style than what we're used to, or to put it in another way, it's "Sorkin on steroids" - just watch the way the main characters are introduced, in a delightfully fast-paced montage where we cut from one storyline to the next mid-sentence with humorous connections between what the characters are talking about, to get the idea.

Eddie Redmayne encapsulates the inspiring beauty of the progressive movement in his heart-lifting performance as Tom Hayden, while Sacha Baron Cohen balances humor with heart in his performance as legendary hippie leader Abbie Hoffman. The film deals with heavy themes in a powerful manner, with the story taking place in 1968 but being heartbreakingly relevant and important today. For a pacifist like myself, the final scene is impossible to watch without becoming an absolute mess of tears.

2. The Newsroom (2012-2014)

As great as his movie scripts are, I'd argue that Sorkin is at his very best when writing television. Exhibit A of my two-part argument for this claim: The Newsroom.

For this series, Sorkin took the idea behind his best-known series ("We all know how the American political system doesn't work; now let's show them how it should work") and transfered it to a different broken system - the American media. The Newsroom balances realism and idealism with brilliance, constantly being aware and boldly critical of the problems, biases and money-driven narratives in news, while using its main characters to showcase a roadmap to a better, more moral way of doing the news. This quest is encapsulated in the character Charlie Skinner (Sam Waterston), who identifies with Don Quixote and his 'mission to civilize'.

Speaking of characters, this series does them better than almost any other. You got the protagonist Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) who, between his deeply rooted father issues and his Republican beliefs being in crisis as the Tea Party movement takes over (by the way, from one Democrat-voting liberal to another, major kudos to Aaron Sorkin for writing a likable Republican main character), is one of television's most complex leading characters (not to mention that he has some of the funniest and wittiest lines in drama TV). You got magnificent character archs like Don Keefer (Thomas Sadoski), who goes from shallow douchebag to stand-up guy and class act in just 3 seasons, while still remaining the same person in a way that makes his growth feel realistic and earned.

But the show's best character and true hero is MacKenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer), a creation who feels like the very personification of Sorkin's brand of idealism. Most writers tend to occasionally write elements of themselves into some characters (either consciously or unwittingly), and based on what I know about my favorite writer, I'm guessing that both Will McAvoy and Jim Harper (John Gallagher Jr.) have a good chunk of Sorkin's psyche written into their DNA - yet I'm guessing that McHale is the one who Sorkin wrote as his 'better angel', the sort of person he strives to be and the sort of humanity he wants to see.

In the milieu of a fictional newsroom, dealing with very non-fictional news stories in a startlingly real-feeling America, these characters take the viewer on a mission to civilize and leave them with a multitude of profound, larger-than-life moments (between the 'America isn't the greatest country in the world' monologue from the pilot, the heart-wrenching 'I'll try to fix you' sequence, the shivers-down-your-spine dramatics of "Neal, run" and many others, it's hard to choose a favorite).

1. The West Wing (1999-2006)

And here's exhibit B: the series that my parents always talked about, which I considered to sound like boring comfort TV for middle-aged people, until I watched it and realized how I've never underestimated anything as severely. The West Wing immediately went into my top 3 TV shows of all time, and the more I think about the impact it had on me, the more I have to consider the possibility of it usurping the #1 spot. For me, The West Wing is among the very best TV shows in a manner similar to how Rise Against is among the very best bands - in addition to being great on all the usual merits, it's also the one that resonates with my worldview the most, as it speaks powerfully about themes that I'm very passionate about in an inspiring, majestic fashion.

Where to start? The characters, oh, the characters. The role of President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet, more than any other of his roles, demonstrates why Martin Sheen is a national treasure who should be made Grand Emperor of planet Earth. The character of C.J. Cregg (Allison Janney), nothing short of a feminist icon, shows how much Sorkin had grown from the days when he was (quite deservedly) criticized for not being the best at writing women. The character of Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff), both Bartler's loudest critic and better angel, showcases the duality of man and of Sorkin's own worldview, as he manages to somehow be the most cynical and the most idealistic of the main characters, in a way that makes perfect sense. And then there's Josh Lyman (Brad Whitford) - I won't even go into it here as my post would become way too long, but let's just say that after finishing the show, I processed my thoughts on the character by writing a five-page essay on why he's the true hero of the story. And Sam Seaborn? Let's just say that a young Rob Lowe, in that role, really made me question how there ever was a time when I considered myself to be 100% heterosexual.

Then there's the show's signature atmosphere - W.G. Snuffy Walden's music and the Emmy-winning set design really help in elevating the 'Sorkin feel' to its all-time peak. Across seven over-20-episode seasons, I never got tired of the downright magical feel of the walk-and-talk sequences, with a vibe so unique that it has caught on in real life (as the Vice Chairman of our student organization, whenever I have an especially busy day filled with meetings and running errands and running-into-people-with-important-topics-to-discuss-with-on-the-hallway, the "Walking the West Wing" track literally starts to play in my head, suddenly making the hurry and stress feel all romanticized and meaningful).

And the themes the show deals with, fully coming into their element through some genius long-term storytelling with ultimate payoffs - oh, man. Like The Newsroom, there's a good balance of hard-hitting real-world elements showcasing how deeply Aaron Sorkin understands the pitfalls and inner workings of American politics, and of almost-utopian feeling hope, stemming from the one major difference between real-life American politics and the landscape of the series: the people in charge and the people behind them, in this scenario, are so passionately behind their values and the progressive movement, that they're willing to stick it to the status quo and the big-money lobbyists and fear-of-losing-re-election compromises, in order to truly fight for meaningful change. I'm guessing that when the series aired, it felt like a nice and warm look at how things should be run. But, let me tell you - watching the series after following four years of the Trump White House - it was downright escapism, it was therapeutic, it was everything. Now more than ever before, we could really use a real-life Jed Bartlet, with real-life Leo McGarrys (John Spencer) and Josh Lymans and C.J. Creggs behind him.

So, yeah, there's a lot more that I could say (once you get me talking about The West Wing, it's next to impossible to shut me up), but I think those were my main points. The West Wing was a life-changing viewing experience, very possibly the greatest television show I've ever seen, and the finest out of Mr. Sorkin's works.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I celebrate and review the new Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), in the context of my ranking of all Spider-Man films.