Top 10 Book to Film Adaptations

Disclaimer: No superhero or comic book movies.

10. The Maze Runner

9. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

8. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

7. Ender's Game

6. The Bourne Trilogy

5. How to Train Your Dragon

4. The Princess Bride

3. Holes

2. Lord of the Rings

1. Harry Potter

My Top 10 Favorite Video Games

A while back I posted a list of the 30 best video games of all time, and while that is very much influenced by my opinions and favorites, it doesn't quite line up with my favorite video games ever. So here we'll be looking at my top 10 favorite video games (but you probably already guessed that from the title).

Disclaimer: Only one game per franchise is allowed on this list barring spin-offs, otherwise it would be all Zelda and Pokemon games, with two or three exceptions.

Honorable Mentions: Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Sonic Adventure, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Most Zelda/Pokemon games.



10. Super Mario Galaxy

I know that lots of people like lots of different Mario games (particularly the platformers), but I've never really been super crazy about them--that is, until Super Mario Galaxy came out. It quickly became one of my favorite video games due to its great level design and fun mechanics. I see this as the perfect culmination of Mario games, and I enjoy it quite a bit.





9. Batman: Arkham City

Arkham City isn't just one of the greatest superhero games of all time. It's one of the greatest video games of all time, and I love playing. You get to be Batman, and everything you loved about Arkham Asylum is back and better than ever. This is one of the greatest sequels in the world because it took the first game, gave it new mechanics, and made the scope huge. The story is no slouch either, and it's one of the most satisfying games I've ever played.







8, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Now, I know that I said Galaxy was my favorite Mario game, and while it is my favorite conventional Mario game, this one edges it out by the slightest bit. The Thousand-Year Door is one of the greatest RPG's ever made. This Mario spin-off is wacky, colorful, and fun, and anybody who gives it a try is sure to enjoy it.








7. World of Warcraft

While it's dropped a little in recent years, there's no denying how massive World of Warcraft was at its peak. It's one of the most successful MMORPG's for plenty of reasons, but if you've played it, you don't really need an explanation. It's an epic, high fantasy game, and it's tons of fun.





6. Age of Mythology

Perhaps Age of Mythology is so criminally unknown because of its more famous cousin, Age of Empires. While that game is more realistic, I find this one to be far more entertaining and interesting. Keeping all of the real time strategy tactics from its predecessors, it adds god powers, myth units, and an actual giant, enthralling campaign. This game is definitely worth the purchase, and it has tons of replay value. Give it a chance if you haven't.









5. Sonic Heroes

I know that Sonic games have gone down in quality quite a bit recently, but this was the last truly great 3D Sonic game before the downfall. While I think Sonic Adventure is a slightly better game, Sonic Heroes is colorful, fast, and has plenty of interesting levels and characters to keep you interested. It can get monotonous at times, but the game is such a blast to play that you probably won't notice.









4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Alright, alright, I get it. I know that Brawl is looked on as the least competitive Smash Bros. game. I know that Melee and Smash 4 are more competitive and fun. I know that a lot of people didn't like the Subspace Emissary and the physics changes and Meta Knight. But you know what? At the end of the day, I'm not playing to win. I'm playing to have fun. And Brawl, with its random items, wacky stages, enthralling single-player, and all-around casual playability, is the most fun Smash game in my opinion. Smash 4 is probably better, but I have so many fun memories with Brawl that it's still my favorite.






3. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

Remember how I said I liked The Thousand-Year Door more than most standard Mario games? That's pretty similar in this case: I love Explorers of Sky more than most other Pokemon games (with a few exceptions). This dungeon crawler is one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had. It has tons of replay value, fun mechanics, and the best plot in a video game that I've ever seen. No, it doesn't get much better than this if you're looking for an epic, heartwarming, and most importantly, fun, experience.




2. Pokemon Emerald Version

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Pokemon Emerald Version is probably my favorite game ever. I played this game when it first came out, and I loved every single thing about it. I loved the graphics, the music, the Pokemon, the plot, the legendary face-off, the post-game content. I spent hours and hours on this game. I collected over 375 of the available 386 Pokemon. I beat all the contests, had a blast with the Battle Frontier, trained my legendaries to level 100. I've never had more experiences, memories, and fun than with Pokemon Emerald Version. However, though it's the hardest decision I've ever had to make, I have to give the top spot to one more game.




1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Yes, while I love Emerald and everything about it, I have to say that my absolute favorite game is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It really is just that good. There's no denying its power. It's influenced every game that came after it and it's almost certainly the greatest video game ever made. And while I had tons of fun with the other games on this list, none of them have the epic feel, the perfection, the satisfaction, and the fun that comes from playing Ocarina of Time.

Top 15 Christmas Books

15. Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect















14. The Polar Express














13. You Are My Miracle



















12. The Last Straw


















11. The Gift of the Magi

















10. Christmas from Heaven

















9. Santa's Stuck


















8. Christmas Day in the Morning

















7. The Night Before The Night Before Christmas
















6. A Charlie Brown Christmas

















5. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree



















4. A Pirate's Night Before Christmas















3. Mooseltoe






















2. How The Grinch Stole Christmas























1. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

Top 20 SBEmails

20. 4 branches
19. rough copy
18. imaginary
17. candy product
16. hygiene
15. techno
14. gimmicks
13. dragon
12. invisibility
11. little questions
10. kids' book
9. english paper
8. virus
7. dangeresque 3
6. unnatural
5. bottom 10
4. record book
3. japanese cartoon
2. the movies
1. independent

Ranking the Harry Potter Movies Worst to Best

Just like the books, the Harry Potter movies are all good in their own right. Here's my ranking from least to most favorite. 

8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Order of the Phoenix is a much, much better movie than the book, but to be honest, that's not really saying much. This movie, like the book, is too angsty and has too many terrible (not poorly-written, just evil) characters. Unlike the book, however, the final battle is much better and more memorable--it's probably the best improvement. However, the source material just weighs the movie down too much to truly be great.















7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Half-Blood Prince is one of the best books, but one of the worst movies. Now, I'll give it a couple of things: the pincers scene, the intensity of the most dramatic parts, and the overall tone are great. However, it suffers from being the *cough cough* penultimate chapter in a great saga, and it's simply a place for the movies to rest before the epic finale--as a result, it suffers a bit. Also, the unnecessary Burrow destruction to add more action was dumb. They should have shown more Hogwarts battle. And Dumbledore's funeral. That's all.










6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Goblet of Fire is passable. It's not the greatest movie, it's not the worst. The Triwizard tournament is a pleasant enough diversion for a while. Its true strength lies in the intensity and power of the graveyard scene, which is its one redeeming factor.














5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

The one that started it all--the one that introduced us to Harry's Wondrous World. Sorcerer's Stone might not have the biggest plot or the best effects (or acting, for that matter), but it creates a wonderfully faithful adaptation of the first book. The cast, the score, the direction. It's a near perfect adaptation, and it's simply magical.













4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Despite starting a nasty trend of Hollywood splitting final movies, Deathly Hallows was the only time it made sense. The seventh book wasn't the longest one, but it had so much content crammed in that it seemed logical to separate the films so they could make it all fit. Deathly Hallows Part 1 should have been a lazy cash-grab, but it turned out much better than expected. The tone, mood, and scenery help set up the finale to come, and while it's not the best Harry Potter film, it's got a lot going for it. The hopeless ending is perfectly orchestrated, and the telling of the Three Brothers's tale is amazing. In short, this movie is greater than the prelude it should have been.









3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Just like the books, the first two movies are often slighted or underrated for some reason. On the contrary, Chris Columbus's films create a world that perfectly captures the magic of the books, and Chamber of Secrets is no exception. This movie takes everything that Sorcerer's Stone began and builds upon it. It's the last movie in the franchise that's truly for children, but adults can enjoy it too. It's an extremely faithful adaptation as well, perfectly balancing the school with the mystery. Chamber of Secrets is amazing, and it deserves to be recognized as the masterpiece it is. 

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The moving and incredible finale that was completely satisfying and epic. This movie gets a lot of credit because it's the last, but most of it is credit well-deserved. There are things glossed over, cut, and changed from the book, but the final battle with Harry and Voldemort, the scenes with Dumbledore and Snape, the fate of the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, and the epilogue make this finale everything it promised to be.

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I suppose it's only fitting that the best Harry Potter book has the best movie. Many of the best parts of the series are in this film, including Lupin, Sirius, dementors, and time travel. The actors are finally hitting their acting stride and the effects are as solid as they've ever been.  The movie manages to find a perfect balance between Chris Columbus's faith to the books and Alfonso Cuaron's visionary direction for an amazing movie. Prisoner of Azkaban is the pinnacle of Harry Potter film, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ranking the Harry Potter Books Worst to Best

This is one of the most difficult rankings I've ever made. I love all of the Harry Potter books so much, and they all have redeeming qualities. However, I love rankings, so here it goes.



7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix


Much like my ranking of Star Wars a few posts ago, I find it extremely hard to rank this series. However, I place Order of the Phoenix at the bottom for the same reason that Attack of the Clones is at the bottom of that list: it's the least great in an amazing saga. Order of the Phoenix has several issues, including being too long (clocking in at 870 pages), too angsty (death, hormones, and depression), and Dolores Umbridge (enough said). That's all. It's got some good stuff in it--Fred and George's escape and the Room of Requirement come to mind--but there's too much and not enough of it is good.








6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire


The Goblet of Fire really only takes this place on the list because of its last hundred pages with the graveyard scene and the revelation of Mad-Eye Moody. The rest of it is really just--meh. There's not much to talk about. The Triwizard Tournament isn't super great. It's enjoyable enough, but nothing to truly rave about. Fred and George are a delight, as always, and their bet and joke shop formation are the best parts of this book.










5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


Sorcerer's Stone is a great book. It's the one that started it all, and it's an amazingly fun read. The only reason this one is here on the ranking is because most of the other books have since surpassed it with bigger plots, more characters, and more magic and expanding the world. It's a great introduction to a magical world, and it really does tell a good story.










4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets


Perhaps the most underrated book in the series, Chamber of Secrets actually succeeds on multiple levels. It's a great "murder" mystery for one thing and has an amazing final showdown for another. It built on the world Sorcerer's Stone created in the way a sequel should. Honestly, it's hard to fathom why it's so hated, because it's really very good.










3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince


Half-Blood Prince is a great book, full of mystery and intrigue. It begins to illuminate upon Voldemort and Dumbledore's pasts and lays the groundwork for the explosive, Horcrux-filled finale. It's also full of plenty of magical mayhem and fun, and it manages to be intense while still containing some of the magical child-friendly glee from the first half of the series.











2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Deathly Hallows could almost be considered the be-all, end-all Harry Potter book because it manages to wrap up the saga in an extremely satisfying and epic way. It manages to cram more story and action in than Order of the Phoenix (and in fewer pages, too). The story never stops going, and it's always intense, but it still manages to capture everything that's magical about the series. It's an amazing book, and it's only surpassed by one other.










1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban


Prisoner of Azkaban is the greatest Harry Potter book (with Deathly Hallows coming in at a very, very close second). It's the greatest book because it has time travel, an extremely great plot, an amazing mystery that manages to be surprising and fulfilling, and introduces the Dementors, werewolves, and Sirius Black. Need I say more? This book takes everything great about Harry Potter while still managing to have a small location and plot for the story. It's focused and small-scale, but still great. Like I said, Deathly Hallows comes close, but Azkaban takes the cake.

Top 10 Final Smashes

One of the best parts of Super Smash Bros. Brawl was definitely the final smashes. Here are the top 10:


10. Giga Bowser (Bowser)

Giga Bowser is definitely one of the coolest final smashes. Bowser turns into the giant end boss of Melee? What more could you want? It's a great game changer and it's really an awesome transformation.










9. Mario Finale (Mario)
While not the most powerful or difficult to avoid, Mario Finale is an interesting Final Smash and it's more useful than some. It also looks very cool and can be devastating if you're caught in it off guard.










8. Critical Hit (Marth)
Marth's final smash, while difficult to aim, is almost always a one-hit KO. The awesome and speedy charge to the enemy followed by the full health bar dropping to zero is a great representation of Fire Emblem that shows that it's good that Marth debuted in Smash Bros.









7. Aura Storm (Lucario)
Aura Storm isn't terribly difficult to avoid, but if you're caught in its path, you're almost certainly dead. Also, it's one of the coolest looking Final Smashes. There's something awesome about shooting giant energy beams at your opponents.








6. Blue Falcon (Captain Falcon)
Another difficult to aim but powerful final smash, this one is mostly here for the visual. It's really fun to watch Captain Falcon mow down his enemies with the Blue Falcon.










5. Zero Laser (Samus)
The Zero Laser would be even higher on this list if it didn't knock Samus's Power Armor off. The laser is just that strong, and woe unto any who are caught in its deadly path.









4. PK Starstorm (Ness/Lucas)

This Final Smash is here not because of how devastating it is (although it can be very destructive), but because of the wow factor. Watch as meteors rain down on you and knock you off the screen. 'Nuff said.











3. Great Aether (Ike)
Great Aether is an amazing Final Smash because it's relatively easy to aim and extremely powerful and looks awesome. Ike beats his enemies senseless with his fiery sword before launching them and anyone else caught in his path far, far away.








2. Triforce Slash (Link/Toon Link)
This Final Smash is incredibly awesome because of its power, but also because of the great visual that comes with it. Link's enemy is rendered helpless inside the Triforce while he slices them up with the Blade of Evil's Bane. Awesome.








1. Super Sonic (Sonic)

Yes, it's overpowered and yes, it's cliche. But you know what? Nothing's as incredibly powerful or as awesome as Sonic becoming Super Sonic and running into his opponents at a high speed. Along with the practical use of getting two or three KO's in a battle, the sight of Sonic instantly grabbing all the Chaos Emeralds is a sight to behold, and it makes destroying the competition all the more gratifying.