Off-Topic: The Best Movie Series of All Time

With the recent spate of sequels, prequels, reboots and remakes, I was curious what people consider the best film series of all time.  Searching the web provided some individual lists and a compilation based on IMDB scores, but I could not get any sense of the completeness of these lists.  Did they look at every film series?  How did they rank them?

As an alternative, I compiled a list of every movies series I could find and ranked them according to their Rotten Tomatoes rating.  Every film in each series is weighted equally, so it doesn't matter how great Jaws scores (100 rating) if Jaws: The Revenge is wretched (0 rating).

One big caveat: Because I used Rotten Tomatoes, this is probably more appropriately titled "The Most Consistently Good Film Series of All Time."  Rotten Tomatoes' scoring simply reflects is it worth seeing, not how great it is.  So, Mad Max and Evil Dead edge The Godfather because of The Godfather III's low score.

Without further ado, the top ten film series based on Rotten Tomatoes scores:

	Film Series	Rotten Tomatoes Average
1	Toy Story	99.67
2	Man w/ No Name	96.33
3	Lord of the Rings	94.00
4	Mad Max	92.00
5	Evil Dead	89.33
6	Godfather	88.67
7	Iron Man	86.67
8	Indiana Jones	86.25
9	Harry Potter	84.88
10	The Thin Man	83.50

The bottom five?

78	Resident Evil	25.25
79	Police Academy	21.40
80	Highlander	20.75
81	Leprechaun	17.00
82	Beethoven	14.50

For the full list, click here.

Some brief notes:

• To be included on the list, a series had to have at least three entries. Also, no loosely connected films (like Baz Luhrmann's Red Curtain trilogy or Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors trilogy) are on here.
• Horror (not surprisingly) receives little love from critics.  Evil Dead, Paranormal Activity and Scream are the only three in the top half of the list.  There are 12 in the bottom half.
• Comedies are terrible as well in the long run.  Unless you count Back to the Future or The Muppets, The Naked Gun series was the highest entry at 31.
• Rocky (one of my personal faves) just makes the top half of the list at 41.  Not surprised that Rocky V was hated.  Shocked that Rocky III and IV (Drago!) were.
• Batman is all the way down at  number 30 (thanks Joel Schumacher!) 
• There are two instances where one film counts for two series.  Iron Man and Hulk both include The Avengers (which really helps their score). Friday the 13th's and Nightmare on Elm Street's tallies include Freddy vs. Jason (helping Jason, but not Freddy)
• Nine movies had zero ratings.  Leprechaun, Beethoven and Police Academy account for 2/3 of those zeroes.
• Nine movies also had perfect 100s.  Toy Story is the only series with two films at that score.
• Jaws is the only film series to boast a 100 and a zero rating.  
• I stayed away from characters who have become omnipresent (Zorro, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Frankestein, etc.).  It's harder to figure out what the series there would be.

If you look at the full list and see a series you think I missed, let me know in the comments.

Photo credit: CHUD

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Off-Topic: Top Ten Lines from The Broadway Melody that Sound Dirty But Aren't

Yup, they are sisters...

Sometimes, a movie is so bad, your mind drifts while watching it and you notice things about the film you wouldn't otherwise. It may be Rudolph Valentino's crazy eyes in The Sheik or some lines in a film that sound a little off-color.  In that spirit, here are ten lines that sound dirty but aren't from The Broadway Melody:

• Queenie, you better be here when I get off. 
• I'm gonna lay that dame like a roll of linoleum. 
• Why, it's cream in the can, baby!
• Screw.
• Gosh, what a big girl you are!
• Say, what'd we do to them on the Gus Sun Time? (I have no idea what this means, and researching it would destroy what I imagine it to mean...)
• I'm just crazy about her, Eddie. She's so young and beautiful. (Note: Not dirty per se, until you realize it's a character describing her sister)
• Babies, smack it over big.
• Next time I'll give you a facial instead of a scalp treatment.
• Let's see your gusher.

And as a bonus, here is the number one quote from The Broadway Melody that belongs in an Activia commercial but isn't:

• You sure are regular, Hank.

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Off-Topic: Tips for Making a Great Film Podcast (from a Humble Listener)

Off-Topic features post that deviate from my normal 100 Years of Movies marathon.  Topics can be anything in the world of film.

I am a podcast addict.

I listen to podcasts constantly. While 90 percent of them are film-related, I also listen to some news, television and science podcasts. I have some I listen to religiously, looking forward to each new episode like others may anticipate an episode of The Walking Dead or Grey's Anatomy. Some sit on my iPod and are heard when I get a chance. And some others get sampled and discarded after a couple of episodes.

That's a long-winded way of saying I have some thoughts on what separates the good from the bad in the world of podcasting. I will say right up front that I am not a podcaster myself and cannot offer any opinions on equipment or software (though there is plenty of information about that on the web).

Without further ado, my top ten tips for great podcasting:


1. Go into it with a mission.
I have abandoned a number of podcasts that were frankly aimless. If you just want to talk about the latest release with your friends and beam it out, that's fine. But unless your name is Roger Ebert or A.O. Scott, most people aren't going to care. Try to come with some hook. Maybe you focus on a particular obscure genre of film. Maybe you do a more detailed scene by scene analysis of movies than anyone else. Maybe you challenge your cohost to watch a particular film and review that. Give yourself something to stand out from the crowd.

2. Have a format.
This should be a nobrainer but it's often not. Are there segments to your show? Is someone the host? Are you going to give spoilers (definitely announce that in advance)? Be sure to set an agenda.

3. Treat every podcast like its the first (because for someone it will be).
This is a big pet peeve of mine. Look at that mission and your format. Now come up with a short, punchy explanation of what your podcast is. There are bonus points if you can make it entertaining. Repeat that introduction to your podcast before every episode. EVERY. EPISODE.

There is nothing more frustrating as a listener than to hit play on their first episode of a podcast (which may actually be the 12th  or the 112th released ep) and hear three people just start talking. Sure, I can stick around and figure out your format and mission over the next three episodes. But unless you're immediately entertaining, you're going to lose me to someone else's podcast.

4. Limit the number of participants.
Another pet peeve and potentially controversial for some. My ideal is two or three speakers. You can get away with four, but that's pretty much the upper bound for not creating confusion for the listener. I'm listening while I run or drive my car. I do not want to be worrying about whether it's Tom or Joe speaking right now.

If you have more than four people who want to be involved, there are practical ways around that. The AV Club's Reasonable Discussions podcast will include different people in different segments to keep the numbers down. The LambCast rotates amongst a dozen or more members, only retaining its host from episode to episode.

5. One at a time and include any guests.
Again, a common sense one but do not talk over each other. It's frustrating and annoying for listeners. It's okay for one of the participants to interrupt the speaker, but don't make your point until you have the floor. I have dropped podcasts out of frustration with this issue.

On the opposite side, if it's you and your best friend hosting with an occasional guest, realize your natural chemistry may lead you to exclude that guest. Make efforts to include everyone. It should not be a two person conversation where you ask someone else's opinion at the end.


6. Expletives? Just shut the $&@? up.
Another potentially controversial stand, but expletives in podcasts should be used sparingly. It's okay to use it to underline a point (as in "I $&@!?@$ hated this movie!"). But if every other word out of your mouth is on George Carlin's list? I stop listening.

Now, I am no prude, but I have two reasons for feeling this way. First, it frankly sounds immature. I want to get the opinions of people I take seriously as a reviewer. And if you have to rely on expletives to get your point across, you sound less professional. Second, and more practically, I am a parent. I do most of my listening in the car. I do not want to worry about what will come out of the speakers when I press play. If you revel in your explicit tag on iTunes, realize you are immediately limiting your potential audience.

7. Prepare.
This is one that never fails to shock me. If you are going to talk about say Prometheus, have a plot description ready to at least refer to if not read. If you are going to read listener emails, don't openly comment that you can't find them on your computer. Listeners do not want to hear you stumble through items that should be readily at hand.  Mistakes are fine, but when it becomes a trend...

8. Audio quality and presentation matters.
Another pet peeve. If you listen to your podcast and it sounds like one of the participants is in another room, that's a problem. One that needs to be fixed.

In the same vein, the way you sound makes a difference. You need to articulate words, speak clearly and not pepper your discussion with "like" an "um."

9. Focus on the task at hand.
Look, you and your podcast partner may have been best friends since kindergarten. He may have introduced you to your wife. For the time you are recording, focus on the purpose of the podcast. I'm not saying don't have a personality and don't have a brief conversation about what's going on in your lives. But if you are eight minutes into recording and still haven't gotten into the point of the podcast? Your listeners are frustrated.

10. Content.
It's last because it's a forgone conclusion, but your podcast needs to inform or entertain or preferably both. I have laughed out loud listening to a podcast and I have also seen a movie in a new light. Make sure you have something to say.

Feel free to add your thoughts or additional tips in the contents below.

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