Like most people on the internet, we at
Cinematical love
lists. I love them so much that I wish I could write about everyone I read, but unfortunately there are too many geeks out there making up too many lists, and not enough love to go round (can't you see this is the land of confusion .... ). But since another thing we love around here is
Star Wars -- not just the movies but also the fans, the debates, the complaints, etc. -- I figured that these four lists were worth sharing. Because they all mention something related to
George Lucas' popular universe. Three of the lists also reference a lot of
Star Trek, but with
J.J. Abrams rebooting the franchise and all, I think Trekkies have enough love right now. Meanwhile, the
30th Anniversary of Star Wars occurred this year, and we still had to read about things like
the Harry Potter franchise out-grossing the Star Wars series and
Serenity beating out Star Wars as a best sci-fi film poll. So, thanks to the people at
Fark.com, who love lists even more than we do, here are four movie-related lists that give some appropriate props:
- First we have the Times' countdown of the 40 most memorable aliens. Unfortunately, the only Star Wars aliens listed are at #32 and #26, and they're the Ewoks and Max Rebo, respectively. Considering most of the characters in the series can be considered aliens, this is harsh, but since I'm one of the few Ewok fans out there, I appreciate the gesture. Even if ALF is higher up on the list than they are. At least they're still better than the Coneheads. Anyway the top ten here is full of other significant movie aliens, including the arachnids of Starship Troopers, E.T., the Transformers, Superman, The Blob, The Thing and, at the top spot, God.
- Next there's Kunochan.com's countdown of the top twenty starship captains. Once again, Star Wars doesn't get the #1, but it's understandable that Star Trek's most famous captains get the first two slots. At #3, though, is Han Solo. However, the list's author does point out that he had to put a Star Wars character in the top five to avoid having his house firebombed. I don't mind the disingenuous comment; Solo deserves to be higher up than Captain Janeway and the dude from Firefly/Serenity. Down the line at #11 we've also got Grand Moff Tarkin.
Something Awful has an interesting list about the 22 most awful moments in science fiction history, many of which are cause for serious debate. Like, is it really bad that James Cameron developed a fascination with the depths of the sea (#22)? And is the psychedelic sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey (#19) really that terrible? Personally, I kinda enjoyed Frank Miller's stints writing the two Robocop sequels (#16) and I don't think anyone really cares this seriously about The Chronicles of Riddick (#13). I will agree with the following: It sucked that Newt and Hicks died lame off-screen deaths at the opening of Alien³ (#10) and I think Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes (#6) was a disaster. I especially agree that the whole explanation of the-Force-is-actually-midichlorians-in-the-blood thing in the Star Wars prequels (#9) was one of the worst things I've ever heard. But the list kinda lost me with the top spot, which goes to the connection between Star Wars and the Strategic Defense Initiative and how it won the Cold War.
Finally there's a list in which Star Wars holds the top spot favorably. And no other sci-fi contenders made it anywhere near the thing. London's Evening Standard has the top ten best movie hairstyles, and Princess Leia's buns was honored with #1. Surely, you can't think of a more iconic hairdo than that, can you? Certainly not the two beehives that follow it on the list, or the three greaser 'dos. I'm surprised to see Rita Hayworth's Gilda and Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra styles being so far down, but I guess these days it's enough to even see the classics make it. That said, shouldn't Veronica Lake have made it on there before Sienna Miller?? And where's Travis Bickle??? 
1. Seriously, lists are awesome. In fact, I rank these four lists:
4. Greatest aliens
3. Best hairstyles
2. Best starship captains (yeah, I'm also a big Star Trek fan)
1. Awful moments in sci fi
Hope you enjoy debating my list.
*******
Michael C. Sherrin
http://www.prodigeek.com/
Posted at 6:43PM on Oct 7th 2007 by Michael C. Sherrin