5 Reasons The Flash is the Best Superhero Show on TV

Full disclosure: The Flash on the CW is my first real exposure to the Flash. I knew the basics... guy runs real fast. That's it, right? Apparently not. The Flash has quickly become one of my favorite TV shows by developing great characters, mythology, and an intriguing mystery (all of which I'm told are not new to story of the Flash). 

1) It's lighter tone. I like my superheroes as dark and brooding as much as the next guy (Batman will forever be my favorite superhero), but not every hero can be that way. Barry Allen is optimistic and funny. It helps that his secret identity isn't a billionaire playboy. And despite the introduction of dramatic elements the show has retained a lightheartedness that is refreshing. 

2) Jesse L. Martin aka Joe West. The police officer/surrogate father to Barry Allen has been one of the best parts of this show for me. His relationship with Barry is truly touching and brought an emotional depth to the show in the first few episodes that made me want to keep watching (Something Gotham on FOX was unable to do). 

3) Putting the Super back into Super Hero. I like Arrow. I loved Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. But the Flash has bucked the trend of ditching super powers and as a result Central City is evidently crawling with so-called meta-humans. We may even see Gorilla Grodd in the future. The main reason I love it? Getting to hear Cisco come up with villain names. 

4) The visual effects.  Something that stands out about both Arrow and The Flash is that they look fantastic. I'm particularly impressed by the visual effects on The Flash. Example: they managed to make a villain who can make clones of himself look impressive and imposing as opposed to cheesy. Can't wait to see how the aforementioned Grodd will look.  

5) The expanding universe. The choice to introduce Flash's origin on Arrow was inspired. It gave the show a running start and helped it avoid stumbling out of the gate as many shows do (looking at you again, Gotham). The recent Arrow/Flash crossover was great. And now there's talk of an Atom spin-off. DC's movie side may be taking it's sweet time to get rolling, but TV-wise it's been awesome, and I hope it continues. 

What do think about The Flash? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments! 

5 Things I'm Thankful For in Pop Culture

1) Greg Capullo, Thank you for drawing Batman. I'm sure you can draw other stuff too, but your work on Batman is truly wonderful.

2) Netflix, Thanks for being commercial free. It's so easy to take you for granted, but a healthy does of Verizon Fios at my in-laws house over Thanksgiving reminded me why cutting cable was a great decision. The commercials... Oh, the commercials everywhere. 

3) Steam, Thanks for your ridiculous, consistent barrage of sales and deals on great games. 

4) Vince Guaraldi Trio, Thank you for making the perfect holiday soundtrack. 

5) The Blacklist, Thanks for being engaging, entertaining and completely binge-able.  

5 Ron Swanson Quotes that Guide My Life

1. 

2. 

Are you going to tell a man 

that he can’t fart in his own car?

3.

4.

You had me at meat tornado.

5.

5 Things Interstellar Taught Me

I saw Interstellar in IMAX last Friday and thought it was amazing. Easily one of my top 5 movies of all time and easily one of Nolan's best. I'm a chronic fidgeter, but I barely moved a muscle after the ship launched into space. I walked out of the theater feeling awestruck. And the world felt different somehow. I thought about it all weekend and here are 5 things I learned:

1) The McConaissance is real. He's come such a long way from this. 

2) The Science is real. Crazy, but real, theoretically speaking. Sort of. Except for the whole part that's not. 

3) The Haters are real. And that's annoying. But expected, I guess. 

4) The Plot Holes are real. Nolan says so. But he's aware of the ones that exist (duh) and they are intentional (duh), and some folks (see point #3) can't distinguish a plot holes from the nit they're picking. 

5) The Effects are real. And that's just awesome.  

BONUS: IMAX is perfect. It made me never want to not see movies in that format again. 

The 5 Biggest Mysteries on Serial

Serial is great. Seriously. It's one story told over 12(ish) episodes, and the story featured in the first season is about a murder that happened over 15 years ago. I've heard some people compare it to Dateline, which is sort of true, except that Serial is way better. It's far more in depth, and unlike Dateline where you can say with relative certainty every single time that the husband/ex-husband/boyfriend did it, Serial has presented the case in a way where there is no certainty (at least not at this point). Serial is about halfway through the season and here are 5 questions that must be answered by the end:

{Spoiler Alert, duh.}

1. Who left the anonymous tip? An anonymous tip that encouraged the police to take a closer look at Adnan. Never identified. And none of the characters we've been introduced to so far seem to fit. Except maybe the neighbor boy who knew Jay? Regardless of Adnan's guilt/innocence, it feels like there was another person involved in that day somehow. 

2. How did Mr. S find the body? The guy who was surveying the crime scene nearly stepped on the body because he couldn't see it. How did a janitor who had just downed a forty find it without some sort of tip?

3. Why didn't the defense use Asia? I'm not a lawyer, but alibis are good, right? This girl seemingly has one for Adnan and doesn't appear to have ulterior motives for defending him. So why ignore it in the trial? 

4. Why wasn't the police work scrutinized more? I wasn't there. I don't know everything. But it seems like the detectives gave Jay a lot of leeway in the particulars of his story. And by trial his story mostly, sort of, kind of fit the phone records. And Jay, despite his involvement on the day of the murder, seems to have escaped any sort of scrutiny/investigation. It just seems weird. 

5. Will that lady ever pronounce 'chimp' correctly? The biggest mystery of them all. 

What Serial questions do you want answers to?? Ask it in the comments! 

5 Reasons Christopher Nolan is Awesome.

Will somebody give this guy an Oscar already?!

1) He's a normal British dude. Who carries around a flask of tea in his jacket. And by all accounts is the same guy he was before making millions of dollars and becoming one of the world's greatest directors.  

2) He uses practical effects. No green screens were used in the filming of Interstellar. This scene from Inception was shot in a giant rotating set with no CGI. 

3) He tells original stories. Not all of his films have been original stories. But some of the best ones have. Memento and Inception are both Nolan family originals (Memento was based on a short story by his brother Jonathan). Interstellar is another Nolan original, and c'mon, you know it's gonna be great. 

4) He is passionate. I love the part in this article from The Guardian where Nolan knows something is slightly off with the brightness in one of the scenes and is arguing that fact with one of the digital colorists. I love it because it illustrates his passion. There is also something cool about his determination to shoot on film and his reason for doing so (as opposed to digital video). 

5) He saved Batman. In the early 2000's, things were looking pretty bleak for Batman. This was the public's image of Batman: 

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na... Bat-nips! 

Attempts to reboot the franchise were unsuccessful until Nolan and David Goyer began development on what eventually became Batman Begins. Not only did he bring Batman into this century, he set a new standard for the superhero movie. Then, against all odds, he made an even better sequel a few years later. Nerds everywhere owe Nolan a debt of gratitude for this.  

5 Ways This Blog Will Change Your Life Forever

This is what I look like if you squint your eyes real tight.

I love pop culture. TV. Movies. Music. Comics. The audience for my nerdy rants and raves has varied from relatively unobtrusive facebook posts to obsessive blogging about Lost to 54 episodes of a podcast that I did with some awesome friends a while back. Nowadays, my audience is usually my family: My wife, who has patiently listened to me as I've drooled over the latest Interstellar trailer for the past month, and my sons, who are turning into awesome little mini-nerds. 

The POP five blog is my latest foray into platform-based-social-media-driven business, business, business, numbers (is this working?). 

Just kidding. 

This is simply my nerd sanctuary. A shout into the void. No infographics detailing ever outfit ever worn on Breaking Bad or 2,000 word essays on the symbolism contained therein. No sponsored posts or search engine optimization. Just brief thoughts for you to peruse as you go about your day (whenever and wherever). So here are five things you can expect from this blog:

1) Lists. That's why 'five' is in the title. 5 bullet points. Not too few. Not too many. Just the right amount. None of this crazy Buzzfeed crap. 

2) Pop Culture. That's why 'pop' is in the title. In case you were wondering, 'the' is in the title because plain old 'pop five' wasn't available.

3) Other stuff.  I may write about kids. or LEGO bricks. or youth ministry. or creative ways to prepare ramen. I may even take another podcast adventure at some point! 

4) Surprises. Which is why this list only has 4 points! It's like a bonus point, except opposite!