By CJ Tiernan I suppose it’s possible someone watched the Harry Potter movies without first reading the books. It’s unfathomable to me, but possible. For those of us that did read the books, we experienced a fantasy world for the ages, full of life and color and possibility. As a result, it set the stakes really high for the movies. Like, really high (James-Franco-at-the-Oscars level high). The characters in the books are so fleshed out and J.K. Rowling utilizes a very visu

By CJ Tiernan Every single person has a name. It’s famously a common way of telling one another apart (along with finger prints, dental records, and whether you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob) and used to gather attention when shouted across a room. If it’s supposed to be a unique designation, why do we end up with so many people named John or Jack or Bort? Names, to make a long story short, need to be more adventurous. We need to normalize having names crazy enough that aski

By CJ Tiernan Shakespeare once wrote something about names and flowers (C’mon, you know the one). Anyway, he was wrong. A name can make or break the essence of a character. Han Solo tells us he’s a lone wolf. Ted Lasso tells us he’s in charge of corralling a group of individuals. Mickey Mouse tells us he’s a mouse. Sometimes, the writer just goes wild with it. Princess Consuela Banana Hammock is a name a character (who already has a name) makes up for themselves. Inigo Mont

By CJ Tiernan This two-human combination was a racing comet through sound and space. They whizzed by, lit up the night sky, and then – poof – it was over. Alan Menken was the composer and Howard Ashman was the lyricist for an absolute musical dream team. They wrote songs for Disney staples like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, as well as an Off-Broadway reimagining of Little Shop of Horrors that became the basis for the 1986 movie. That’s right, these

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 Jay Dixit, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons Character actor is the term often used for people that make a career playing supporting roles rather than starring as your typical leading man or leading lady. When you call J.K. Simmons one of the most prolific character actors to ever grace the silver screen, you pay him great compliment. He has earned it. Simmons has worked alongside countless stars and held his

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 Nicknames of historical figures are curious. Did all of the members of his cabinet refer to Abraham Lincoln as “Honest Abe?” Did he even like that nickname? Did they just whisper it in halls of the parliament building or whatever it is or did they say it to his face? Did that nickname even exist or was it manufactured after he, so to speak, bit the bullet? I don’t know whether some of these nicknames were crafted by contemporaries or issued by historical arbit

By CJ Tiernan I like to watch TV shows that make me laugh. Some of the most fun comedy is the comedy that is born of breaking free of its previously established conventions or commenting on the standard conventions and styles. Meta means self-referential, as in referencing itself or its own genre. Below, I've compiled a list of the TV Shows I consider to be the most meta, or best at being self-referential. Please enjoy and feel free to offer up your own list in the comments.

By CJ Tiernan This list, as most lists are (at least on this site), is pretty arbitrary. Left Field Alert! I have selected celebrities with varied histories and put them up against one another without really revealing my criteria. They're just people whose names and/or bodies of work I enjoy or respect. Heck, I might just be digging on their vibes. Anyway, here is a list of my 11 favorite celebrities that have an animal in their name. 1. Robin Williams Birth Name: Robin McLau