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 My top 50 greatest things. Number 3: Planet of the Apes It's a madhouse! This entry refers to the entire franchise of Planet of the Apes including movies, television series, and comics. I would love to exclude the Tim Burton directed reboot from 2001, however it's preproduction history, make-up and special effects work, and baffling ending are all interesting enough that I do begrudgingly include those aspects in this entry, but will not be speaking on it again. Planet of the Apes is a science fiction franchise that presents the debate about the nature of civilization, questioning whether intelligence and power inherently lead to progress or inevitable self destruction. The first film features a nihilistic astronaut being captured by grown adults dressed as apes and as he fights for his freedom witnesses these apes argue over politics and philosophy. I mean, come on . It's a genius premise that is executed well beyond any expectations thanks to the effective directing of F...

 My top 50 greatest things. Number 4: Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock was a filmmaker and directed over 50 feature films. Whether or not someone has seen a Hitchcock, they may already have a grasp on the thematic elements used in most of his movies as they've been a direct influence or parodied in an infinitude of things. He was the "Master of Suspense" as he knew exactly when and how to deliver information to the audience. And most importantly that info was delivered visually in order to make the audience feel like they were uncovering secrets with the characters, and in some cases a step ahead of the characters. There's so much to be said about Hitchcock, but I would recommend reading Hitchcock/Truffaut which contains things about his life and work in his own words.  I was introduced to Hitchcock as a child through his anthology series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", which usually featured the man himself in an introduction and outro for each episode making...

 These are my top 50 greatest things. Number 5: Star Trek Star Trek is a science fiction franchise that contains several television series, movies, comics, novels, board games, basically a whole lot of media. Every fan has different things they like and it's largely dependent on their entry point into the world. It's kind of fascinating to me because someone can be a huge fan of this franchise without even seeing a second of anything released in the 20th century. For me, I've only seen Star Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, and the 10 movies involving the original and TNG casts. Right now I've been rewatching Deep Space 9 coinciding with Voyager depending on the air date, which the latter is a first time watch for me outside a handful of episodes.  The first Trek I watched was a long time ago at a hotel with my dad. I was flipping through channels until I landed on something that piqued my interest. I wasn't sure what I was watching until my dad said "I ...