Top 5 Fridays – Rainy Day Activities

I live on the west coast of Canada. Vancouver to be exact. And as most of the world knows, it rains here. A lot. We I am assuming a lot, since I have never lived anywhere else I have nothing to judge that on. What that means is this, you never complain that its raining, you still wear shorts in the summer when it rains, you don’t carry an umbrella (those are for tourists and newbies) and most importantly, you get to waste whole days doing nothing but watch movies and TV  because “Hey, its raining out” Here are my top 5 activities to help kill a rainy day.

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - This is quite possibly the best videogame ever made. Its online component is second to none and the addition of cooperative play is so great. Basically what that means is that you and a friend, can play together on missions and you don’t have to be in the same room, or city for that matter. I remember when I used to sit around with my friends and we would play Golden Eye on the N64 and we would dream about a time when we would be playing this game on 4 separate screens, in 4 different rooms so that no one could cheat and look at the other guys screen. It seemed like an impossibility  at the time. Now its a reality and a thing of beauty. If you are a fan of first person shooters then you probably already know what I am talking about. If your not, go find a friend who owns it and give it a whirl, you will not be disappointed.

4. Goodfellas – I have never kept count of how many times I have watched Goodfellas. The thing is, I have an unwritten rule that no matter what I am doing, if Goodfellas comes on the TV I have to watch it. I have probably only seen it from beginning to end about 10 times and have come in once it has started about 18. So I actually have kept count how many times I have seen it. Not important. What is important is that this is my all time favourite mobster movie and the best thing Scorsese has ever done. The casting is perfect, the shots are stellar and the story is so good. It is worth it just for the shot of Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco entering the Copacabana. Genius.

3. The Star Wars Trilogy – Yes I said trilogy. And I mean the original trilogy not the latest 3 “films” that were put out in order to destroy the collective desires of nerds everywhere. This original story from Star Wars to Jedi is the perfect way to spend almost a whole morning and afternoon. You get the blood going with Wars and the set up for the epic-ness that is to come, then you get blown away by the strength and horror of Empires and finally get put down peacefully with the happy fuzzy resolution of Jedi. It is quite possibly one of the near perfect trilogy experiences. Yes I know they are not the best movies ever made but as a whole they work extremely well together.

2. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy - I love to laugh and have stated on many occasions that this is one of my all time favourite movies. Not for any reason other then I can quote the whole thing and find myself talking along as the movie plays. It is also responsible for my ardent appreciation of the comedic talents of Paul Rudd. I have since gone back and watched almost everything he has done and most of it has been exceptional.  Also one day I will own a dog. And his name will be Baxter. He will eat a whole wheel off cheese and I won’t get mad. In fact, I would be impressed.

1. Arrested Development – So many good things are ruined by FOX and middle america. This is quite possibly the best TV comedy ever written. It got funnier the more you watched it and actually had jokes you wouldn’t get the first time because they were referencing something that hadn’t happened yet. To be able to pull that off is remarkable. Well okay, they didn’t actually pull it off since no one watched and they got cancelled but still they tried. I can watch this show all day any day and only use the rainy day as an excuse to not get dressed when I watch it. (PJ’s are way more comfortable to lie on the couch in) This show is the measuring stick as to which all new comedies are held up to. Is it as funny as Arrested Development? is that even possible? The answer is probably no. Any show that would combine Analysts and Therapist into the most brilliant word play ever put on broadcast TV is gold in my books.