1) You aren't special, you are unique

I've come to realize that I have no special talents. And no, this isn't a pity party. There is barely anything that I am better than everyone I know at. And the things I am the best at, are nothing extraordinary.

My greatest talent is this game. Nobody, that I know, is better then me at that game. I finished that puzzle in 11 seconds. Special, huh? I'm above average at other types of puzzles. I can fill out almost any sudoku. I dabble in crosswords, I even try to produce them. I can't finish them, but I have gotten a lot better over time. After 7 tries, I was able to finish this puzzle as well. I am, by no means, better than other people at these games.

However, I am a unique person. I might not be special at anything, but the combination of everything I choose to do and be is unique. My style is different than yours, and if your style isn't different from everyone you know, you are failing in this life.

What makes you remember someone unique? It definitely isn't their ability to be like someone else.

Don't go outside of your personal style. The people you choose to be around should be effected by your personality, your uniqueness. Your uniqueness should not depend on the people you around. That is my life lesson. Be unique, don't try to be extraordinary, or special. Nobody likes special.

Case for the Butterfly Effect

Although most people seemed to have no problems with my Movies of the Decade, there seemed to be one general disagreement with it, which was having The Butterfly Effect at #2. Let me first say, if there is only ONE problem in FIFTY films, I think I did a pretty good job!

Okay, preface here. What I am going to argue will severely ruin the film if you haven't seen it yet. So, exit now if you don't want to know major elements of the movie.

First, the Ashton Kutcher argument. Ashton Kutcher is an entertainer, he isn't necessarily the greatest actor. However, if there is a film that he does actually act in, it's The Butterfly Effect. He doesn't rely on wit, humor, or sex to get his laughs. In fact, there aren't laughs in the movie. He grew his hair out to portray the kind-of-crazy-college-student on the brink of going completely nuts. Was he the best fit? Probably not. But, did he do the job? Definitely. I don't think you can discredit a film just because it has a certain actor (See: Gone in 60 Seconds for you Nicholas Cage haters).

Second, the critics argument. I will admit, its tough to argue against critics and aggregators, such as Rotten Tomatoes. However, other movies (The Air I Breathe, Boondock Saints) are highly underrated, while other not-so-good movies (Crank) are very overrated. Rotten Tomatoes is good, but not perfect. A lot of critics point to Kutcher as a reason for failure. I've already argued against this. Other reviews say it's too dark. Terrible argument, period. Even others point to its unbelievability. Almost every movie is unbelievable, another terrible argument.

Third, the style. Nonlinear narratives are my favorite style. Other movies, such as The Air I Breathe, Elephant, Slumdog Millionaire, City of God, The Prestige, Crash, Eternal Sunshine, (500) Days of Summer, Amores Perros, and Memento (6 of my top 10) made my list. This movie does it differently than say, Crash. Crash takes multiple story lines and runs them next to each other until they eventually all intersect. Butterfly Effect was more like (500) Days of Summer, where they kept jumping back and forth from the past to the present to the past and back to the future.

What separated Butterfly Effect from the others was its psychological component. I'm also a sucker for psychological movies (Donnie Darko, A Beautiful Mind, Unbreakable, The Prestige, Eternal Sunshine, and Memento). Butterfly Effect hid its cards towards the beginning of the movie. It showed Evan growing up and blacking out huge events to his life and the story. It built the suspense early, and let you try to guess what had happened. Later, he was able to go back to see these events and try to change them.

This brings me to my final point, which was the concept of the movie. This is definitely the most intriguing part of the film. This actually ended up being a love story behind a psychological thriller. Evan (Ashton Kutcher) was trying to change the past in order to better the future of his love, Kayleigh (Amy Smart). In doing so, even the littlest changes would severely alter the future. For instance, he tried to keep Kayleigh from being molested by her father at a young age, which made her father turn all of his attention to Kayleigh's brother, Tommy. When the story went back to the future, Tommy was now the psychotic one, that eventually forces Evan to go to prison. At another point, Evan saves his neighbors from a terrible prank gone wrong, but it leads to losing both of his arms. When the story fast forwards, Kayleigh is in love with someone else, Tommy is very religious, and Evan's mom has cancer from chain smoking resulting from Evan's injuries. He has to try to set it right again.

After multiple failures to change the past and alter the future, Evan realizes that there isn't a way to please everyone. The best line that sums up the movie, is where Evan's dad says "You can't play God son." Eventually Evan realizes there isn't hope for helping everyone. He realizes the best thing to do, and his last thing he can do, is to travel back in time and scare Kayleigh away. This will force Kayleigh away from her abusive dad and to her loving mother. With Kayleigh and Tommy out of Evan's life forever, they can all live happy lives. Evan ends up sacrificing what he cares for so the others can have their perfect lives. For those that don't like its unrealistic story line, this is the drive home point, not that people can change their pasts by reading a journal.

In conclusion, obviously, I don't expect everyone to jump on the bandwagon and hail this movie like I do, but I hope that you can see where I'm at least coming from. It's a thrilling movie that takes minor twists and turns that greatly effect the future drastically. Every character meet's his or her demise at some point. I don't think there is a movie that does anything close to this. It truly is unique.

Movies of the Decade

Okay guys, heres my disclaimer: I fully understand that I have biases. However, I believe that these are the best 50 movies of the decade. If they were my favorite, I think the order would be switched up just a bit (such as Dark Knight #1). I will admit that I realized that movies I have seen more times, usually end up further up. I attribute this to mean that because they were better, so they ended up being played more times. Also, before you tear my list apart, which you can, realize that there are a few movies I haven't seen. This includes, but isn't limited to, Babel, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Pan's Labyrinth, Sideways, Spirited Away, Syriana, The Wrestler, There Will Be Blood, Traffic, Up In The Air, Vanilla Sky,

50-10
50) The Air I Breathe: Sort of a rip off of Crash, but still powerful
49) Paper Heart: Cute as hell
48) Wall-E: Different, in a good way.
47) Inglorious Basterds: Great dialogue
46) The Kingdom: Pretty good depiction of overseas conflict
45) Zombieland: Perfect horromedy
44) Oceans Thirteen: Great save after a subpar Oceans Twelve
43) Frost/Nixon: It's about an interview, but still incredible!
42) Almost Famous: Portrays a different era very well
41) Finding Nemo: Find me a Pixar movie that isn't good
40) Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy: Comedy unlike any other
39) Batman Begins: Great reboot to a series, set up further movies
38) Donnie Darko: Low-budget classic
37) Avatar: So vivid and revolutionary
36) Elephant: Powerful and intense
35) Inside Man: Clive and Denzel, how can it be bad?
34) Casino Royale: Broke a streak of subpar Bond movies
33) Burn After Reading: Intelligent and hilarious
32) Slumdog Millionaire: Inspirationally independent
31) A Beautiful Mind: Took me time to realize it was very good
30) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring: Start of an epic trilogy
29) Gladiator: I was told this movie was great, wasn't disappointed
28) Up: Cute, sad, cute, sad, funny, sad, and then cute again
27) I Heart Huckabees: Existentialistically strange
26) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Cinematography at its best
25) Requiem for a Dream: Truly messed up, but good
24) Hotel Rwanda: Great story about a terrible genocide
23) Juno: An awesome awkward love story
22) RockNRolla: I just love Richie's style
21) Thank You For Smoking: At the end, I sided with the smokers
20) Little Miss Sunshine: What a dysfunctional comedy
19) Unbreakable: Samuel L has top 5 performances of the decade
18) Man on Wire: Only documentary to make it, that says something
17) 300: Visual masterpiece and Butler's emergence in Hollywood
16) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: You can't disagree
15) Black Hawk Down: Best war movie til 2009 (see the Hurt Locker)
14) City of God: Violence from a different perspective
13) Children of Men: Style fits story line, flawlessly
12) Snatch: Brad Pitt is an acting god
11) Runaway Jury: I didn't know the true intentions of the film until the very end. In my opinion, that's what makes a good movie.

Top 10
10) The Prestige: This is Christopher Nolan's 2nd movie on the list so far (Batman Begins). The whole time I had no idea who to root for. The movie had Nolan's style and can only be described in one word: mindfuck.

9) No Country for Old Men: Cold movie with one of the best villains ever (until The Joker came along). People criticize the ending, but it makes you think about more than just the story itself.

8) Crash: Some people think its the worst Best Picture winner ever. I, however, think it is a gripping and powerful picture. The stereotypes are highly exaggerated, but the progression of a story through nonlinear storytelling will never be replicated to such perfection.

7) Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind: I had no expectations before this movie and I didn't expect a performance like I saw from Jim Carrey. A trippy look at love and all it has to offer, in both a good and bad way. I have no problem with this movie being regarded as the top of the decade. I feel like if I had seen it once or twice more, I could maybe put it in my top 5.

6) (500) Days of Summer: Although it claims to not be a love story, and inevitably isn't one, it shows the real nature of what we call "love." The acting seemed real, the story seemed real, and the emotions definitely are real. Try to watch this movie and have the same outlook on love.

5) Amores Perros: If you like non-linear story lines like me (see The Air I Breathe, The Prestige, Crash, (500) Days of Summer, The Butterfly Effect, and Memento), watch this. It's the best foreign film I've ever see. The title translates to both "Love's a Bitch" and "Love's a Dog." Both make a lot of sense after you see the film.

4) The Hurt Locker: I've never been on the edge of my seat for 2 hours. Again, I came into this movie knowing almost nothing and left wanting much, much more. Initially, I was unsure of the ending and how I felt. Later, I realized if it had ended differently, this movie would've been near the bottom of this list (see The Kingdom). I like that the movie talked about Iraq without involving politics. It added a psychological element I wasn't expecting.

3) The Dark Knight: My favorite piece of film production ever. Is it the best? I tried to convince myself that a movie about a vigalante dressed as a bat couldn't be the best movie of the decade, but I had a difficult time. The movie is so much more than an action-hero movie. Human character is questioned throughout the film and of course, leaves the interpretation of society and culture up to you. Oh, and it has the best performance I have ever witnessed.

2) The Butterfly Effect: Psychological movies are my favorite, if you can't tell. This movie is trippy and goes a long way to show how one action can change the rest of your life. This movie portrays it literally. Ashton Kutcher didn't seem like a good fit, but acted beautifully in this one. This was a movie that I didn't originally want to see. I thought it wouldn't be good, but it was the first time I ever had my mind blown during a movie.

1) Memento: After this movie ended, my mind was a stew. I didn't know what to think, at all. I resisted looking up what happened online. I didn't want to have somebody else tell me what to experience. Ironically, I wish I could forget this movie, and watch it again, just to get that feeling. I've watched it again, and again, and again, and everytime I catch something new.

Dark Knight Psychoanalysis

According to Jacques Lacan, human beings have a stage called “the mirror stage.” During this stage, Lacan says it is “the transformation that takes place in the subject when he assumes an image” (442). In other words, when an infant knows that he/she has a self. The problem occurs afterwards, when there is an anxiety between the self and the thing we see in the mirror. According to Lacan, these images or symbols that we are transformed into are affected by the systems around us. For example, language, rules, social order, and systems are constructed in society. As humans, we struggle to fit these systems. In a popular film, The Dark Knight, principles of self and the anxiety between ourselves is very evident. The Joker and Batman have almost contradicting roles and dissimilar values, but the hero of the story has the struggles that the villain does not.

To begin with, it is important to understand the movie itself. The movie centers around three main characters, two of which will be talked about extensively. This essay will focus on Batman (and Bruce Wayne) and The Joker. The movie is ultimately about The Joker, a clown costumed lunatic, spreading mayhem through Gotham in an attempt to disarm Batman, a super vigilante. Batman is all-powerful against most criminals, but struggles to keep the town in order when The Joker completely hijacks the city. He steals, kills, and destroys parts of a town that was seemingly ready to forget it’s criminal past. The Joker turns the prominent future of Gotham, District Attorney Harvey Dent, into a psychotic killer. Dent ends up dying in attempt to seek revenge on, essentially, the social order (in the case, the police system).

First, it’s important to focus on The Joker and his place in society. According to Lacan, everyone fits into a system that is constructed by themselves and society. However, The Joker goes completely against the grain. He says “You have all these rules and you think they’ll save you…The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules….” The Joker continues later by saying “Schemers try to control their little worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.” One last quote that sums up his ideas about culture and society is “Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos.” The Joker is a perfect example of the antithesis to social order. According to Lacan, he completely subverts the anxiety between the system of society and his psychological self. His self doesn’t care about the rules of society, how they are constructed, or the social order that results from it.

On the other side, is The Joker’s arch-nemesis, Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman. Bruce Wayne is a normal guy on a quest to rid Gotham of crime. His motivation stems from brutal murder of his parents when he was younger. As an observer, you see that Batman is the good guy in all of this. However, Joker doesn’t see much of a difference between him and Batman, saying, “To them, you’re just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don’t, they’ll cast you out, like a leper!” Throughout the film, Bruce struggles realizing that he may not be the hero that he once thought he was. He remarks “People are dying…today I found out what Batman can’t do. He can’t endure this.” At the conclusion of the film, Batman is forced to take the fall for the death of Harvey Dent, in order to keep Gotham from falling back into a culture of crime. He realizes that he must be the one to take the fall, saying, “You’ll hunt me. You’ll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that’s what needs to happen.” Batman is clearly struggling like Lacan would expect. There is clearly anxiety between what Bruce, or Batman, sees of himself compared to society. He was trying to eliminate crime, but instead had to create it. In the end, he had to take the fall for it as well, looking like the villain to Gotham for killing their future, Harvey Dent.

In closing, it’s important to realize that Lacan focused on the inner self within society and culture. There is a definite difference between how you see yourself in a mirror and your actual self. Society may construct how you are supposed to act, but there is a gap between how you are supposed to act and how you do act. In The Dark Knight, the issue becomes very evident. The Joker does his best to deconstruct society and causes society’s hero, Batman, to become a type of villain himself.