Christmas Movies

Here are ten films we'll be watching in this house over the month of December. They're in alphabetical order... until you get to my favourite "Christmas" movie.

Science Fiction films of the 90s

Here are my favourite Science Fiction films of the 1990s.

No less than four of them feature time travel.

90s Action

More explosions, more car chases, more complicated plans to steal all the gold or rule the world. It's time for my favourite 90s action films.

This list features:

• 3 starring Bruce Willis
• 2 starring Nicolas Cage
• 3 directed by Michael Bay
• 4 directorial debuts (Bad Boys, Speed, Boondock Saints, Con Air)
• 7 with police/FBI officers as major characters
• 1 with oil-rig workers as major characters
• 0 featuring space aliens... unless you count Peter Stormare's cabin-fevered cosmonaut.

Top 10 (Movie) Musicals

I finally got around to seeing "Les Misérables" at the cinema on my Monday off.

For one reason or another, these are the musicals that I have enjoyed the most.

I should point out that for as is the case for every one of my top 10 lists of movies, they are movies I've seen. There are probably awesome musicals out there that I haven't seen (yet), but they won't appear on my lists just by virtue of being critically acclaimed, or Oscar-winning.

This list features:

• 3 movies that are original film musicals
• 4 movies adapted from stage musicals
• 3 movies with plots arranged around a selection of previously written songs
• 2 movies featuring both Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen

So without further ado...

Albums of 2009

The following are the albums of 2009 that made me hit the play button once the last song finished.

Albums of 2008

The following are the albums of 2008 that made me hit the play button once the last song finished.

Albums of 2006

The following are the albums of 2006 that made me hit the play button once the last song finished.

Albums of 2007

The following are the albums of 2007 that made me hit the play button once the last song finished.

Albums of 2010

The following are the albums from 2010 that made me hit the play button once the last song finished.

Action - 80s style

The 1980s were a great decade for over-the-top action. Big explosions, big guns, fast vehicles, and big (and often muscle-bound) stars. Arnie, Sly, JCVD and Chuck Norris each average about a film a year over the decade.

This list features:

• 3 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger
• 2 directed by John McTiernan
• 2 directed by James Cameron
• 3 with police officers as main characters
• 5 with soldiers/pilots/marines as main characters
• 2 featuring deadly aliens

Top 10 science fiction films of the 00s

Here are my favourite science fiction films of the previous decade, 2000-2009.

All the following is my own personal opinion, of course.

Top albums of 2012

Yet again, another subjective album list. My criteria is simple: it has to make me hit the play button once the last song is finished.

My standout tracks are pretty much picked the same way - the songs (not necessarily singles) that I play over and over.

Top 10 Science Fiction Films of the decade so far...

Top 10s. They're everywhere, I know, but I am going to put some of mine on this blog. Any such list is of course going to be highly subjective - I welcome comments.

The hardest thing about this list was figuring what order to put these films in. So without further ado, here are the science fiction films of the last three years that I have enjoyed the most. (* = saw it at the cinema)

My top albums from 2011

Once again, my perfect CD would be by an African Christian reggae/metal band made up of female singer-songwriters...

My 2011 top 10, in order of release:

Vusi Mahlasela - Say Africa

Jeff Martin 777 - The Ground Cries Out

Becoming The Archetype - Celestial Completion

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

Seeker Lover Keeper - Seeker Lover Keeper

Trivium - In Waves

Jeff Bridges - Jeff Bridges

Opeth - Heritage

Mastodon - The Hunter

Switchfoot - Vice Verses

Honourable mentions: The Lonely Island's "Turtleneck & Chain" (Jack Sparrow!), and Alice Cooper's sequel album, "Welcome 2 My Nightmare".