By CJ Tiernan I played multiple Pokémon video games as a kid. I had the blue version, played my brother’s yellow version, and then had silver version (Plus, I played some Pokémon Pinball. Anybody else? With the rumble pack? That was a fun one). All for the GameBoy. What a time! I then took a disappointing stretch of time off (life, am I right?) but got back into it when PokémonGo came out. We all have our own favorite Pokémon for any number of reasons. These are mine and, a

By CJ Tiernan Remember School? That was crazy, huh? We basically worked a 9-5 (well, 7-3) everyday but, unlike most jobs where you learn what you’re supposed to do and it gets easier, we had to keep learning new stuff. Like, all the time. A constant barrage of new stuff. It was tough! Throw in cliques, bullies, and hormones and you’re talking about running through a non-stop, ruthless gauntlet at an impressionable age. However, now that it’s in the past, there is a wistful

By CJ Tiernan A mockumentary is a film that is crafted like a documentary in almost every way. It is telling a story with talking heads, wherein the characters are interviewed. They may break the fourth wall and the camera work will often utilize techniques like “shaky cam” that mimic a handheld, improvisational style. The difference is, the story and the characters (almost always) aren’t real. It is a small, but important difference, allowing what is otherwise an often sto

By CJ Tiernan Jim Carrey is one of the funniest actors to ever grace the silver screen. His comedy chops are unmatched by absolutely everyone in history (with the possible exception of Robin Williams). As such, he has amassed an impressive filmography over the last 35 or 40 years. His signature move is an elastic face coupled with a Gumby body. He moves as though he is made of rubberbands and Jell-O brand gelatin and his comedy is better for it. Below is a list of the Top 1

By CJ Tiernan With acting, as with most professions, there is typically a ramp-up period. You don’t hit the ground running, and you don’t expect to. You slowly learn and grow to reach your destiny of greatness over time. This is a list designed to honor the exception to the rule. For whatever reason, the following humans managed to blow us out of the water right off the bat (Yikes! That sentence was one idiom short of a Bingo). This is the list of my Top 11 Debuts by Actors

By CJ Tiernan Fun fact: You can actually do a countdown from 11 to 1 using movie titles as the numbers (you can actually go all the way through number 146, but I won't waste your time). Please enjoy as I demonstrate: Ocean’s Eleven (2001) 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) District 9 (2009) 8 Mile (2002) Seven (1995) Six Degrees of Separation (1993) Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) Fantastic Four (2005) ¡Three Amigos! (1986) Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) One Flew Over the

By CJ Tiernan You ever stop and look around the English-language landscape? It’s wild out there. We have words that sound the same but are spelled differently. We have words that mean multiple, palpably different things. We, the denizens of the melting pot, have words inherited from seemingly every other language under the stars. It can be a lot to handle. Worse yet, we often ignore the available words with imbued pizazz and lean on the rudimentary and familiar (unforgivabl

By CJ Tiernan In the immortal words of John Mulaney, “We’re all on board. We all love mom.” Our moms are almost universally meaningful to us. Caring, nurturing, steeped in unconditional love, the mother is the quintessential symbol of familial love. All that said, it’s fun to watch a show that plays on the troupe by showing the other side of motherhood or taking love and adoration too far. Below is a list of my Top 11 Favorite TV Show Moms I’ve ever seen and, as you will no

By CJ Tiernan Over the years, my vernacular has become heavily populated with movie lines. There are certain circumstances that arise that you can more or less set your timepiece to me delivering a line from a movie, like Woody with a pull string. Off the dome, I’m remembering “Reach for the sky,” “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us,” “There’s a snake in my boot,” and “Somebody poisoned the waterhole.” In that sense, I'm a walking if-then statement. One’s youth is

By CJ Tiernan Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. If you're in the midwest like me, you experience cold, snowy days imploring you to while away your hours indoors by the fire with a mug of cocoa in hand watching Christmas movies. Nearly every Christmas movie has its foundation built from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol . One of the main characters has a change of heart at the end and discovers the true meaning of Christmas and basic human decency. My dad like

By CJ Tiernan The United States is comprised of 50 states. Each and every one of these states has its own unique qualities, people, and landmarks. It is so cool how singular these states can be. From the physical characteristics like climate and terrain, to the cultural qualities and traditions, each state has a special charm and one-of-a-kind vibe. As such, each of these states harbor their own nickname(s) which help encapsulate their originality. Below is a list of my Top 1

By CJ Tiernan Laughter is famously the very best medicine. It adds some levity and perspective to life. Life is too short to push through day in and day out without stopping to laugh at the absurd things all around us. In my opinion, stand-up comedy is best when the comedian taps into something we all see and experience and subverts it or looks at in a way that none of us have thought about. It is a satisfying thing to hear because not only are we Rolling On The Floor Laughin

By CJ Tiernan Will Ferrell burst on the comedy scene in the mid-'90s on Saturday Night Live. He was fearless in his commitment to the bit. It seemed as though he was willing to push the audio/visual medium as far as possible for a laugh. He quickly became the star there. He walked away in '02 to pursue a film career full time. I reckon I'm not the only one to feel this was a good decision. He was an absolute staple in comedy movies throughout the 2000s. Below is a list of my

By CJ Tiernan Adages, Idioms, Axioms and Proverbs. These are phrases that we use, some almost daily, to convey our thoughts and our meanings. They're often things we've heard from others over and over again and they serve as a shortcut (our brain is always down to clown with a shortcut) to deliver our message or an opportunity to avoid answering the truly daunting questions like "How are you" and "How have you been?" I am always positively smitten when I encounter a character

By CJ Tiernan The Coen Brothers, comprised of actual brothers Joel and Ethan, have created an untouchably eclectic oeuvre. They can go broad and slapstick or dark and understated. They have a very unique sense of humor that helps to cut their often violent films' tension to pieces with a wood chipper. They can just as easily pull the rug out from under you. Apart from recurring cast members, you never really know what you're in for when you plop down on the sofa to watch one