Top 10 Favorite Superhero Movies

10. The Dark Knight Rises

The final installment of Christopher Nolan's epic trilogy is a whole lot of movie. Points deducted for breaking the cardinal rule: Batman only works by night, unless of course you're Adam West.

9. X-Men 2

This is easily the best of the X-Men series thus far, with X-Men First Class nipping at its heels. However, X2's amazing Nightcrawler opening sequence edges this one to the top of the X-Men heap.

8. The Avengers

Some may question this as one of the top 10, but I'm sorry, it was just good fun. Easily the best ensemble comic movie made to date. The Hulk scenes alone get this one soundly into my top 10.

7. Superman

Everything about the inception of Christopher Reeve's Superman, from the John Williams score to Marlon Brando as Jor-El, is as classic as they come.

6. Iron Man

Marvel's version of Bruce Wayne/Batman is Tony Stark/Iron Man and we all know that Robert Downey Jr. effortlessly nails it in style and humor.

5. Batman Begins
Once you realize exactly what Christopher Nolan has done with the Batman story line—pushing it into a much more realistic realm—this trilogy quickly becomes the best superhero franchise of all time. 

4. Unbreakable

Speaking of realistic superheroes, M. Knight's follow up to The Sixth Sense resides in my mind as his best and is deserving of far more credit and perhaps even sequels.

3. The Incredibles

Not only is The Incredibles one my top 10 favorite superhero flicks, it's one of my top 10 of all time and arguably Pixar's best. It has all the action and emotion of any live action feature—if not more. 

2. Batman

Tim Burton's Batman will still go down in history as the quintessential Caped-Crusader flick. Some of my most memorable movie-going moments happened in the theater on its opening night. Not to mention, it still has the best Batmobile design ever.

1. The Dark Knight

For a tried and true Batfanatic, The Dark Knight has it all, including the perfect degrees of action, intrigue and villainy. 

Bondmobile Supercut

Digging this montage of James Bond's cars over the years—sure there are some mysteriously absent examples—but tons of fun nevertheless.

The Whole Entire Love

Wilco's double-encore super set at Red Butte Gardens in the foothills of the Salt Lake Valley last Monday was a gem of a concert. And I realized something about them for the first time. 

Wilco's sound is defined by tension. This tension is most evident in the harsh juxtaposition between Jeff Tweedy's laid-back, mellow voice and Nels Cline's aggressive, attacking guitar. The result is a give-and-take relationship that provides the best of folksy alt-country and face-melting rock—and Wilco manages to cover everything in between.

The Daily Grind

Loving this vid from StanceWorks of a rat rodded E28.

Marvelous Moonrise

There's nothing worse than when a Wes Anderson movie comes out and I haven't made it to the theater just yet. I'm constantly dodging any mention or online review right up until the moment I see it, which is an art in and of itself. Luckily, I managed to catch Moonrise Kingdom last night in a zero-spoiler condition.

Wes has always had a knack for discovering young actors who can deliver his lines just the way he wants. But in Moonrise Kingdom, he manages to take this skill to new heights in the form of his superb leads: Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward. Gilman perfectly plays that doesn't-know-he's-hip geek named Sam capturing the heart of Hayward's character Suzy whose irresistible Margot-Tenenbaum-meets-Lana-del-Rey vibe nearly steals the show.

Everything you love about a Wes Anderson film is present—record players, hand-drawn book covers, long super-symmetrical camera angles, richly vintage sets and of course, Bill Murray—with three exceptions. Futura, his signature font is replaced with beautiful, scritpy, custom typeface by Jessica Hische. The token Wilson brother is more or less replaced by Ed Norton. And the score, typically penned by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo fame, has also been reduced without a major misstep.

Moonrise's music is a fantastic combination of true-to-the-era orchestral arrangements by Benjamin Britten mixed with new Wes-Anderson-esque tracks composed by Alexandre Desplat and supplemented with a healthy dose of Hank Williams. I highly recommend staying through all of the end credits, not only are they wonderfully animated, the instrumental awesomeness narrated by Jared Gilman is a flawless final touch.

Bottom line, Moonrise Kingdom nails that very analog, very Norman Rockwell look and feel that's chockfull of #campvibes. It's the type of story that makes you wish you'd snuck away with the gal that ran the nature tent at your Boy Scout camp in upstate NY, rather than attempt yet another boondoggle keychain.

British Field Day

For Father's Day weekend, Mrs. Kyality and The Kyality Kids took to me to Liberty Park in SLC to the annual British Field Day and Car Show. Some beautiful autos were in attendance, including this amazing pair of Jags.

Mrs. Kyality takes a peek at the interior.

A loverly Series I.

This lil Coop's for sale!

Totally dug the fogs on this gran turismo.

They also set up a little obstacle course. Had to .gif it up!


WEEEEEEEEEEE!

Mobile MINI Stores Invade Paris

Check out this stellar little vid about MINI's new mobile salesrooms scooting around Paris. I want four rally lights on my MINI, sheesh!

My Saab Story

Growing up, I was exposed to a slew of cool European cars—German, British and Swedish. We owned a navy blue Saab pre-900 coupe when I was about 11 years old. It was this strange vehicle with bizarre seat belts and a this kinda-sorta-aerodynamic profile. But even at that young age, I dug it. Unfortunately, that particular car ended life with a Saab story of its own.

There was this kid in high school whose dad owned an amazing early nineties Saab 900 Turbo. It was all black with these amber-lensed fogs that hung below the front bumper and black louvers across the rear window. My junior year, his dad won the New York State Lotto, bought a Porsche or something and gave his son the Turbo. Yeah, it was not awesome standing at the bus stop while that dood cruised by me at warp speed every morning.

A group of Russian exchange students came to our school for about a month that year. And the Russian principal stayed at the Saab kid's house. He chauffeured the visitor to school, so of course he got a special pass to park right in front of the school next to our principal's spot. For some reason I saw that Saab parked there long after the Russians had gone home. Insult to injury.

In the pantheon of sweet, turboed cars—the early nineties Saab 900 version still holds a special place in my wounded heart. This spectacular photo shoot by bennorz prefectly captures the raw, unfiltered coolness of the 900 Turbo.

Enjoy.

Supercar in a Sedan Suit

The first time I rode in @normanity's '88 ///M5, we were cruising along the backroads of Upstate NY. A stock Camaro passed us on the right and without taking his eyes from the road, my dad just said, "Watch this." Within the next second I was pinned to the back of my seat as we then passed the Camaro with time-warping acceleration. After watching this video, my dad will wish he'd never traded her in.

Thanks for finding this gem @mwaissmann!

Scene Stealers

Depth of Speed: My Church

@JoshClason's latest season of his stellar Depth of Speed series launches today and the first installment is fantastic. Enjoy!

Blunderbussed

Third grade was the year everyone in elementary school chose instruments. I clearly remember watching Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine on some random TV show, then turning to my parents and telling them I wanted to play the saxophone. Well, my mom had access to a clarinet and convinced me I needed learn the clarinet first in order to play a sax later.

I don't think I realized how much I love the sound of a clarinet until last week when I had the chase to listen to Jack White's first solo album, Blunderbuss, on a decent pair of headphones. The opening bars of "Love Interruption" came on, and in all absolute honesty, when I realized he had actually worked a clarinet into his orchestration, I got a little misty.



Blunderbuss is everything you want from a classic Stripes album, plus the unfiltered personality of Jack himself. I kind of think that despite how much he's always put himself out there, he still hasn't fully cut loose out of subconscious respect for Meg, random Raconteur/Dead Weather bandmates, or for that matter The Edge and Jimmy Page.

You take a track off Blunderbuss like "Sixteen Saltines" and you quick realize that there's still an untapped energy source buried deep within Jack White that's continuing to find its way to the surface in the form of pure, raw rock & roll.

Little GTI

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I mentally cheat on my MINI with this car more than any other. Also, loving The Pixies cover soundtrack for this short film.

Ginger > Root

I'm way into botanically brewed ginger ales and ginger beers these days. They've surpassed an occasional root beer as my favor soda. Stumbled upon this packaging design video my of one of my top three favorite ginger ale/beer brands: Bundaberg.

Top 10 Favorite Cartoons

I've found myself spending way too much time at work talking about vintage cartoons with this guy and it's lead to me thinking about all the cartoons that have influenced me the most over the years. No, as much as I love 'em, you won't find Ren & Stimpy, Beavis and Butt-head or even The Simpsons on this list. This list's all about those cartoon series of yesteryear that were action-packed with after-school awesomeness.

10. Battle of the Planets (a.k.a. G-Force: Guardians of Space)
This was the first series I can remember watching and simply being in awe. I was about 6 years-old when I saw this and I vowed never to watch Sesame Street again.

9. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Here's a little factoid that I totally know just off the cuff. He-Man is actually half Earthling, have Eternian. His mother was a human astronaut who crash landed on Eternia.

8. Speed Racer
Thank goodness for Nick at Nite. They brought this oldie-but-goodie back right at the age for me to still find it both ironic and awesome.

7. Animaniacs
This is the odd ball of the bunch, but you can't deny the greatness of Wakko's constant Ringo Starr impression, Yakko's incredible Nations of the World song and don't forget—this is the show that brought the world Pink and the Brain, Narf!

6. Robotech
I discovered Robotech at far too young of an age and I knew it even at that time... and that's one of the reasons I loved it. It was one of my first real brushes with a pure anime-style and its more mature themes made me feel super smart and cool at such a young age.

5. Voltron: Defender of the Universe
Before a single Power Ranger ever danced across a screen, there was Voltron. Now, I'm not talking about the crazy vehilce-based version. I'm talking about the straight up robeast-shreading mega-droid made up of freaking robo-lions. Let's go Voltron Force!

4. G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
When the ultimate action figure finally got its own afternoon cartoon, you better believe I was all in. But let's just set a few things straight: Destro > Cobra Commander, Lady Jay > Scarlett and of course Snake Eyes > Storm Shadow.

3. Transformers
Transformers were the perfect TV show/toy combination. These things were awesome. It's like a Hot Wheel that becomes an action figure?! Gobots were essentially the same thing and came out about the same time, but it was the Transformers cartoon with its epic characters, stellar theme song and unforgettable transforming sound effect that set it apart.

2. Thundercats
Thundercats probably has the craziest premise of any action cartoon ever. I'm mean, just read the show's plot on its Wikipedia page. It sounds like it should be a horrendous show. But I loved it. I dunno if it was the fact that Cheetara was the hottest cartoon babe of her time or that Mumm-Ra is still the most evil cartoon villain ever, but even though this show produced my most dreaded nickname (Snarf!), I full-on recorded episodes on audio cassettes before we got a VCR!

1. Batman: The Animated Series
After Tim Burton's and before Christopher Nolan's the WB released a fantastic, animated version of Batman that's still my fave. It was dark, epic and has to date one of the best Batmobiles ever. When I envision Batman, this is the first version I go to in my mind's eye. Not to mention it reintroduced Mark Hamill again as a cultural icon—voicing an amazing Joker. And that's not an easy task coming from the guy known for kissing his sister and whining the fateful line: "But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!"

Single Speed Campvibes

I've been searching high and low for examples of inspiring, single speed bikes built more for the trail than the road. I was recently lucky to stumble upon this beautiful, custom example designed by Ezra Caldwell for Fast Boy Cycles.

Loving the simple lines, beefy tires and techy disc brakes.

It's raw finish pushes it into that retro-rustic territory that's just so hot right now.The radical custom wooden grips totally seal the deal.

The Civil Wars on NPR

Another great little studio concert that won't disappoint. Is it just me or John Paul White a straight up mix of Jack White and Johnny Depp?

The New Old Adventuremobile

I recently posted about a cool, restored VW Rabbit pickup claiming I could be a truck guy. A commenter aptly pointed out that's technically not a truck. Agreed. But these are. I'm so stoked on these latest Jeep concept vehicles that hearken back to an era off roading before the acronym SUV was ever uttered.

I love this four door, four seat Wrangler pickup called the Brute by American Expedition Vehicles. It's totally reminiscent of a classic, safari-like Land Rover Defender 130CC. All it needs is a green canvas cab over the truck bed. More pics here.

Jeep was recently in Moab showing off this modern-retro interpretation of an 80's era J20 pickup. I especially dig the white steel rims and chrome hubcaps. More pics here.

Finally, my face officially melted the moment I saw this modern, forward control Jeep concept. Also on tour in Moab, this amazing monster is a flawless-looking American-made version of a Mercedes-Benz Unimog or a Land Rover Series IIB Forward Control. More pics here.

I want this thing. It makes me want to crawl rocks and winch something out of a bog. Here's to the new old adventuremobile.

Show Don't Tell

Saw this last week and still diggin'. Check out this great collaboration by my doods Mark Rawlins and Dan Christofferson for Owen Jones. Video by Jacob Hinmon.

Pallet has Personality

I'll often attribute personality traits to companies, such as the place I work or the clients and brands I interact with and love. While eating at SLC's newest restaurant Pallet, I almost instantly knew that this joint not only has personality, it has a personality.
Designed my friends over at the cityhomeCOLLECTIVE, the interior takes on a perfect balance of old and new, modern and classic, simple and complex. I love the communal seating layout combined with some excellent tunes that could have been stripped from my own playlists. When filled with folks, Pallet took on the vibe of a hopping yet intimate dinner party.
My understanding is that all the woodwork throughout the establishment is custom and original, which makes everything feel extremely rich and fresh. You get the definite sensation that Pallet was pulled out of Portland or New York and carefully placed here in SLC... like a present.
A great example of Pallet's personality is how perfectly one of its modern plates plays with the classic flatware. The juxtaposition of these elements creates an eclectic style that just flat out works.
Not only is this place designed to impress, the menu keeps up with the decor. I ordered the salmon, which was seared to perfection. And I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that, though not on the menu, Pallet stocks Bundaberg Ginger Beer. Bonus!

Photos by the cityhomeCOLLECTIVE

The Legendary Ralph McQuarrie

The man that define so much of visual iconography that I grew up with passed away yesterday at the age of 82. Ralph McQuarrie was the the illustrator and futurist for the original Star Wars Trilogy and penned some of the most recognizable characters and vehicles in cinematic history. He designed everything, from Darth Vader's menacing helmet and mask to The Millennium Falcon's rough and tumble exterior.

The Falcon is easily my favorite movie vehicle of all time, because despite not looking like much it truly had it where it counts.

Ralph was also the original designer of the costumes and uniforms for characters like Stormtroopers and the legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett—imagery that is now influencing the next generation of fanboys.