Top 10 superheroes

1. Spiderman

Real name Peter Parker. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for Marvel Comics in 1962. "Spidey" is my favourite superhero because his superpowers are a lot of fun and underneath the mask he is a shy and nerdy teenager, and thus the most relatable of all superheroes.   





2. Batman

Real name Bruce Wayne. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger in 1939 for DC Comics. Although technically speaking not a superhero (if you define superheroes by their superpowers), more of a masked vigilante or crimefighter, but you can't have a list of great superheroes without the Bat Man, the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight. Love the look, the mythology, the movies.












3. Superman

Real name Kal-El. Alias Clark Kent. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in the 1930's and published by DC Comics. If you need to know why I think Superman is such a great character, check out David Carradine's monologue at the end of "Kill Bill: Volume 2." Many consider Superman to be the blueprint for superheroes as we know them today. I do not disagree.




4. Silver Surfer

Real name Norrid Radd. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966. He's an alien with a humanoid silver body that rides around on a surfboard in space, what's not to like? He should get a decent film series of his own, he's that cool.














5. Wonder Woman

Real name Princess Diana of Themyscira. Alias Diana Prince. Created by William Moulton Marston, a psychologist, for DC Comics in 1941 (during the Golden Age of superheroes). One of few superheroines with enough prowess to equal Superman himself, she's got a ton of cool gear and is about as iconic as they come. We're all very excited to see what she'll be like in the upcoming Justice League film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.










6. Deadpool

Real name Wade Winston Wilson. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld for Marvel Comics in 1991. A good superhero should verge on antihero, like Deadpool. Although he's a villain originally, he's proven popular enough to merit a film of his own (to be released in 2016). I like Deadpool because his costume is great, he's armed with samurai swords and has supernatural healing abilities. He's also a bit of a wacko.











7. Wolverine 

Real name James Howlett. Alias Logan. Created by Len Wein and John Romita Sr for Marvel Comics in 1974. Although Wolverine's original costume was pretty cool, what they did with the character in the X-Men movies really cemented him as one of the great iconic superheroes. Like Deadpool, Wolverine has regenerative powers, but it's those adamantium claws that makes him awesome.












8. He-Man

True identity Prince Adam of Eternia. Created by Mattel in the 1980's. He-Man may not be your typical comic book superhero, and not a character a lot of superhero fans would even consider one of the ten greatest, but He-Man was a huge part of my childhood and as such inevitably one of my top choices. That he was created by a toy company to sell merchandise is quite obvious when you have Battle Cat, Skeletor and Castle Greyskull, amongst other things. But the most important quality for a great superhero is that they're iconic, and there's no denying He-Man certainly is that at least.





9. The Hulk

Real name Bruce Banner. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962 for Marvel Comics. The Hulk is a character that manages to have the symbolic depth of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while at the same time being a kick-ass action movie monster. I think the Hulk is more of an antihero than Deadpool and Wolverine, yet he is mostly classified as just a superhero. Embodies the subtext of all science fiction, that scientific knowledge is powerful and dangerous.

10.  The Phantom

Alias Kit Walker. Created by Lee Falk in 1936. Like Batman, the Phantom is not technically a superhero, but I consider him the prototype or the grandaddy of the whole superhero genre. The Phantom was the first comic book character that wore a skintight costume and a mask without visible pupils to fight crime. He has a great backstory that includes passing on the mantle of the Phantom from father to son, making people believe he's immortal. The Phantom lives in a cave in Africa called Skull Cave with his wolf Devil and horse Hero. You can't get more iconic than this guy! 

Top 10 films of 2014

1   Godzilla

After the disastrous 1998 remake, I was very excited to see how Gareth Edward's version would be, specially since he showed quite a lot of promise back in 2010 with the similarly-themed 'Monsters.' Thankfully, he had the good taste to stay as close to the original movie as possible. It takes an hour or more for the big guy to finally appear, but when he does, it's truly magnificent! I love the way the director has managed to film the monster that captures the sheer enormity of his size. He is often too big to fit the screen! Very thrilled that there are sequels in the making. If they're this good we've got a lot of joy to look forward to for years to come.

2   Interstellar

Christopher Nolan is one of few filmmakers that always delivers very clever, beautiful, spectacular and at the same time emotionally engaging movies, and 'Interstellar' is no exception. One of the few films of 2014 to actually live up to the hype (I'm looking at you, 'Birdman'), what really impressed me was the fact that despite all the talk about 'them,' there were no aliens in this epic science fiction drama. 'Interstellar' is not dystopian. It is utopian, because in the end love transcends all boundaries, even that of time.
 
3   Boyhood

Richard Linklater's film was made over a period of twelve years, a feat in moviemaking that will make 'Boyhood' go down in history as a very important movie. Aside from that it is also a heartfelt and funny coming-of-age drama with a subject matter that at times verges on pedestrian yet always remains exciting.






4   Guardians of the Galaxy

After the disappointment that was 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' and the slight letdown that was 'Captain America: Winter Soldier,' I had almost given up on Marvel movies. But then along comes 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' and not only restores my faith in the Marvel cinematic universe but also turns out to be best of the bunch!





5   The Signal

'The Signal' is an independent film that almost passed by with nowhere near as much attention as it deserves. It starts out as a drama about three friends on a road trip, turns into a sci-fi thriller with alien abductions and secret government labs, veers off every now and then into horror before it transforms into a superhero movie and finally ends on a very surreal and arty note. If that sentence isn't enough of a qualifier, nothing I can say in its defence will do. 



6   How to Train Your Dragon 2

Fans of dragons, vikings and world-class animation will not have missed these two lethally cute and oftentimes hilarious family films. When the Alphas appear halfway in, that's when it hit home that this was going to be 2014's best animated movie experience.





7   300: Rise of an Empire

Unlike the sequel to 'Sin City,' the sequel to '300' was as good as the first film. Eva Green was a welcome addition to the franchise, and a worthy successor to Gerard Butler. Not very popular with critics, then again it's their job to be critical. Our job is to just enjoy, and there is plenty to enjoy here! Although I'm partial; even if '300: Rise of an Empire' were awful I would still love its style.


8   Gone Girl

Maverick filmmaker David Fincher's career had started to wane considerably after 'Zodiac' in 2007, but with 'Gone Girl' he shot back up to highest of forms like a rocket. He has found a pair of equals in Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (they have produced the music to his last three films), and the story of 'Gone Girl' is complex and powerful. Kudos to Rosamund Pike as well, her performance sort of carries the whole film.



9   Tusk

Warning, this movie definitely will not appeal to all tastes! Kevin Smith is one of my favourite directors, the kind of filmmaker whose lowest points ('Jersey Girl,' 'Mallrats,' 'Cop Out') are nevertheless highly entertaining in their own way. The 'body horror' genre is also a personal favourite, although it's hard to pull off. Smith has just the right amount of wit and grossness to make a film that in anyone else's hands would just be silly, and considering that the story about a podcaster who is kidnapped and surgically turned into a walrus started life as a joke (similar to 'The Human Centipede'), the end result is even more impressive!

10  The Grand Budapest Hotel

Last but not least, what may be the crown of Wes Anderson's career. With 'The Grand Budapest Hotel,' the auteur has managed to find a vehicle that perfectly encapsulates everything he loves. The quirkiness, the details, the humour, the historical backdrop, the cast of characters. It kinda feels like his whole film career has been practice for this.



 
Honourable Mentions: The Babadook, Noah, Maleficent, Edge of Tomorrow, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Big Eyes, The Penguins of Madagascar, The Raid 2, Wild, The Homesman.

Top 10 strangest buildings

1. Stone House (Casa de Penedo)

Location: Guimarães, Portugal. Residential house constructed between four huge boulders, which we presume were there already and not a part of the design.










2. Forest Spiral (Waldspirale)

Location: Darmstadt, Germany. Residential building designed by architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Interesting details about this building include the fact that there are no two windows that are the same and no sharp corners anywhere.



3. Cubic Houses (Kubus Woningen)

Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands. Designed by Piet Blom in 1984. Popular tourist attraction. Conceptual architecture at its finest, the cubes are supposed to represent a forest of trees. The cubes contain the living areas, which are split into three levels.


4. Crooked House (Krzywy Domek)

Location: Sopot, Poland. Designed by Szotynscy Zaleski, who drew inspiration from fairy tales, in 2003, this irregularly shaped building is part of the Rezydent shopping center. Has become the most photographed building in Poland.



5. Thin House

Location: London, UK. This residential house is only 6 foot deep. Houses in London are famously narrow, but this is ridiculous!













6. Low Impact Woodland House

Location: Wales, UK. This hobbit-like residence was designed by Simon Dale and built for himself and his family as part of a low-impact or permaculture approach to life. This sort of life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology. The fridge is kept cool by air coming underground through foundations, and solar panels were installed for music, lighting, and computing.


7. Nautilus House

Location: Mexico City, Mexico. Another private house, designed by Javier Senosiain to look like a sea shell and inhabited by a family tired of living in a conventional home.









8. Habitat 67

Location: Montreal, Canada. Architecture Moshe Safdie created this residential block in 1964 as part of the 1967 Expo to illustrate the new lifestyle people would live in increasingly crowded cities around the world. It was designed to integrate the variety and diversity of scattered private homes with the economics and density of a modern apartment building. Each house has a private garden.



9. The Church of Hallgrimur (Hallgrímskirkja)

Location: Reykjavik, Iceland. This 244 ft (74.5 m) church looks like it belongs in The Lord of the Rings, or some other fantasy world. A Lutheran church designed by architect Guðjón Samúelsson in 1937. He is said to have designed it to resemble the basalt lava flows of Iceland’s landscape. It took 38 years to build. Construction work began in 1945 and ended in 1986.





10. Poland Heights (Ramot Polin)

Location: Jerusalem, Israel. Zvi Hecker's residential house from the 1970's was designed with emphasis on geometry and modularity. It resembles a chemical structure or a beehive, which is why it has become known as "Honey Bee Hive House".