3. Jeff Probst

If you don’t know this already, Jeff is the host of the CBS Reality Show “Survivor” which will start its 19th season sometimes this fall. For the past 9 years, Jeff has been travelling here and there just to tell the contestants the same silly remarks like “Once again, immunity is back up for grabs” / “Wanna know what you’re playing for?” / “Worth playing for? I’ll give you a minute to strategise and then we’ll get started” / “Once the votes are read, the person voted out will have to leave the Tribal Council area immediatly. I’ll read the votes” and soooo onnnn. He even won an Emmy for being the best Reality Show host in 2008. How can’t you hate him if you know he has visited countries/territories like: Borneo, Australia, Kenya, Thailand, Vanuatu, Palau, Cook Islands, Gabon, Fiji, China or Brazil ?! Jeff, from the bottom of my heart, you are an amazingly lucky guy.

2. Matt Harding

If you have never seen one of the “Where the hell is Matt?” videos then I guess you are not very keen about surfing the internet, right? Silly dancing in all kind of places, nice music on the background which makes you cry? Glasses? Any of those ring a bell? Ok, here, let me give you a hand and make you cry/drool/eliminate liquids?!

Ok, now you know what I am talking about. So, this guy, Matt, was in Vietnam with one of his friends who told him to do that silly dance of him in front of the camera. After travelling to more places in the following years, Matt managed to compose a 15-dances-viral with him dancing (doh!). After gaining this notoriety over the internet, Matt managed to release a full length dancing video in 2006 (the first video seen above). This one made him even more popular so the American chewing gum company, Stride, offered him a sponsorship which he obviously accepted. In June 2008, Matt released his last video so far, which is the product of 14 months travelling to 42 countries.

1. Phil Keoghan

Phil gained his notoriety while being the host of the CBS show “The Amazing Race” which just ended its 14th season. As you might expect, he has visited a lot of countries with this ocasion but you might not be familiar with his background.

He was born in New Zealand but spent most of his childhood in Antigua and Canada. When he was 19, he succesfully auditioned to be the host of the children’s show “Spot On”. After this success and some other work for the television in New Zealand, Phil decided to pursue his career abroad, in search for wider perspectives. Since he wasn’t from the USA, he got rejected from hosting the show “Survivor”. Well, that was just one reason but that is not the point over here.  Following below is a quote taken from wikipedia which shows just why this guy is so cool:

According to his book, No Opportunity Wasted, Keoghan set out to live his life to the fullest by accomplishing exotic goals and taking risks after a near-death experience at the age of 19. Since then, he’s broken a world bungee jumping record, gone diving in the world’s longest underwater caves, eaten a meal on top of an erupting volcano, and renewed his vows underwater. He was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he shared with Oprah his list of things he wants to do before he dies. The focus of many of his shows is helping others live their lives to the fullest.

Needless to make any other remarks. Maybe Phil doesn’t show his entire personality in the show he is most known for but I am sure as hell he would be a pretty damn good storyteller and motivational speaker. With all the respect, I envy you, Phil!

And since everybody asked me: “Are you fucking dumb? You are watching reality shows like The Amazing Race and Survivor!” I’ve got one thing to say: sure, they’re American, they’re full of shit, the contestants are chosen so the ratings would be as high as possible but at least they’re entertaining and their season finales actually come up with a conclusion! And since I brought the word up about Survivor, am I the only one who thinks that Erinn is awesomly hot?

Nevertheless, there are other bunch of shows which are due to end their seasons pretty soon. Let’s just hope that Prison Break won’t be one of them and the stupid story about the 2 brothers not being brothers and their resurrected-out-of-nowhere-mother will end this year.

5. Forrest Gump (1994) – Lt. Dan jumping into the water scene

Sure, Tom Hanks is the main character of this movie but we should never forget about the role Gary Sinise has had in this movie as Lieutenant Dan. After being a very successfull army guy back in Vietnam, the character loses both his legs. The scene that made me cry was consisted of his.. let’s say suicide. Gary Sinise jumps into the ocean and swims away with only the help of his hands. The scene is at 5:00 in the next video:

4. Finding Forrester (2000)

Directed by Gus van Sant, the movie presents the story of an afro-american teen who finds a mentor to develop his writing skills. The friendship developed between the two of them and the unlikeliness of this friendship being developed in real life makes it all look special. Superb scenes involving Sean Connery, Matt Damon and Rob Brown are presented in the following video. Watch if and only if you watched the movie before.

3. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)

One may say that with such good actors in this movie, it can’t suck. Not only it doesn’t suck but it is extraordinary. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet used to form a couple and in the moment of the breakup, they decide to undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories. The movie itself is about rediscovering what they started with in the first place. Incredible, full of emotions, adorable Kate Winslet and genious Jim Carrey. Watch this movie every once in a while and you will fill fulfilled with yourself. I would put a scene but the entire movie deserves to be here.

2. Se7eN (1995) – the ending

Se7en is one of David Fincher’s masterpieces. Actually, everything he has touched so far turned into gold: Fight Club, The Panic Room, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, etc. You might say that Se7en has some disturbing scenes and ask “how in the world did this one make you cry?”. Well, let me put it this way: If you think about Brad Pitt being only a good-looking actor and not a good actor, the ending scene definetly didn’t look the same to you as it did to me.

So, the scene I am talking about involved Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and the one and only Kevin Spacey. It is beautifully crafted, directed and edited, add a brilliant reaction from Brad Pitt and you get a masterpiece!

1. Leon (1994)

I just realised that most of my favourite movies and modern masterpieces are made in 1994: Leon, Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction and the list could go on.

I consider Leon to be the movie where Natalie Portman and Jean Reno do their best jobs ever. Reno is a hitman who helps Portman survive and then they develop a beautiful friendship which ultimately leads to Portman being left alone. Gary Oldman also does one of his best roles (competing with his role in Dracula) as the villain. The following scene is purely.. amazing. Just so you know, in case you haven’t seen the movie, the plant was Leon’s only friend before he met Mathilda. Oh, and that song from Sting may do most of the trick.

I don’t know about you guys but I started drinking more and more milk after seing Leon.

Back to the Future (1985)

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd
My rating: 4/5

Probably one of the most known movies about time travelling, “Back to the Future” set up some new standards in the period, making people more and more curious about travelling back in time. Directed by Steven Spielberg, it is the story of a teenager who travells back in time and accidentally stops his parents from meeting each other, putting his existence at risk. The movie itself is a combination between the sci-fi, adventure and comedy genres and the overall time travelling idea is good but not strongly developed for a passionate.

The Time Machine (2002)

Starring: Guy Pearce
My rating: 4.5/5

Being based on a classic Sci-Fi novel written by the well-known H.G. Wells, “The Time Machine” stand out as being one of the movies which is flawless in many aspects: image, cinematography and story. The main character of the movie is Alexander, an inventor living in 1899. His declared purpose is to prove that time travelling is possible and due to a personal tragedy he goes too far away in the future, 800.000 years in the future. If you plan on seing this movie, pay attention at the story behind his personal tragedy and the way he tries to fix it. That was one of the best time-travelling points presented in the movie while the rest is more of an adventure than of a travelling through time concept. Nevertheless, a great movie.

Los Cronocrimenes (2007)

Starring: Karra Elejalde, Candela Fernandez
My rating: 4.5/5

As far as I remember, this is one of the few Spanish movies I watched and fully enjoyed. Its simplicity and small number of characters (five) is shadowed by the complexity of the thoughts it brings to your head. Just so you know, every scene in the movie is important for the solving of the puzzle so pay attention to them. I would love to present more of it but I would just give you a lot of spoilers and it would ruin your experience while watching it. Definetly a must-see for any fans of the genre.

Groundhog Day (1993)

Starring: Bill Murray, Andy Macdowell
My rating: 3/5

I think this is the only movie where I actually enjoyed seing Bill Murray on screen. Not that I have anything against his curly fluffy hair but I just don’t think he is constantly good actor. However, it’s not the case with this movie where he deliveres a flawless performance. He is a weatherman who finds himself stuck in the same day over and over again, the Groundhog day. The movie is mostly a comedy and the theories about time travelling aren’t really present, the movie being the story of Bill Murray’s quest in waking up in the day after the Groundhog Day. Enjoyable, smart and funny.

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Starring: Ashton Kutcher
My rating: 4/5

I was pretty subjective in giving the rating for this movie since I have a thing against Ashton Kutcher and his annoying MTV show, “Punk’d”. Well, ignoring that, Kutcher was the right actor to star in this movie. He is a young man who blocks out some painful, significant moments of his life and as he grows up, he finds a supernatural way of going back to those moments and alter his life. This movie relies on the “multiple timelines” theory, unlike “Los Cronocrimenes” which was based on a “single timeline” time travel theory. The main idea (and I hope you don’t consider this a spoiler) is that the more you go back in time and change your past, the more different it becomes from the point you started from. Pretty entertaining and it also has a prequel (The Butterfly Effect 3) and a sequel (The Butterfly Effect 2) which ar both worth watching but not as much as this one.

Primer (2004)

Starring: David Sullivan
My rating: 4.5/5

Primer is considered to be one of the most intelligent movies on the topic of time-travelling, mostly because of the fact that it relies on the viewers rethorical questions about “what the hell is going on here?” or “But what if…”. One of the best scenes in the movie is when one guy travels one day back in time with his cell phone, his wife calls him and he realizes that if he answered the phone, the normal-him-in-that-timeline couldn’t answer the phone and his future would be altered. Watch this movie only if you didn’t drink anything before. It isn’t a movie for the masses but for people who like to see some timeline paradoxes.

Click (2006)

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kate Beckinsale
My rating: 4/5

Adam Sandler is a workaholic architect who finds an universal remote that allows him to rewind or fast forward his life to any moment he wants. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices. As most Adam Sandler movies, it’s worth watching. The difference is that this is also a drama as tears will surely get into your eyes at the end. Somehow similar to The Butterfly Effect in idea but the overall feeling is way different. Don’t miss this one!

Deja Vu (2006)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, James Caviezel
My rating: 5/5

Yet another movie released in 2006 which has a great time-travelling concept! Denzel Washington is an ATF agent who gets attached to a FBI surveillance unit that dirrectly uses spacefolding technology to look back a little over four days in the past.  While using the technology, Denzel has to prevent the bombing of some ferry but while using it, he thinks wonders if they could not only prevent the bombing but also the murder of a local woman whose truck was used in the bombing? Excellent performance by all of the actors, beautiful crafted adrenaline and great idea about time travelling!

Timeline (2003)

Starring: Paul Walker, Gerard Butler
My rating: 2.5/5

There are actually no time travelling concepts presented in this movie as it is the story of some archeological students who become trapped in the 14th century while on a mission to rescue their teacher. It isn’t mind blowing but it’s a nice adventure flick to watch while enjoying a bag of popcorn and 2 litres of Coke. And for the girls.. where else can you seeboth  Paul Walker and Gerard Butler in the same movie?

The Time Shifters (1999)

Starring: Casper Van Dien
My rating: 2.5/5

Being released only for TV, The Time Shifters fails in its attempt of being more than what it truly is: a good action movie. Casper Van Dien is a reporter who finds out about time travellers from the future visiting the 20th century disasters so he tries to stop those disasters from happening. A small glimpse of an idea is when some guy from the future says something about how the future is changing according to the actions in the present. If you manage to get your hands on it, you won’t waste 90 minutes watching it.