431. The Man in the Iron Mask

430. The Liberty Bell

I'm given to understand that no one has ever licked The Liberty Bell. Someday I will be the first.

429. Vincent Price on The Muppets

This episode always scared me a little, but I was a very sensitive child.

428. Sophie's Choice

427. La Vie en rose (the song)

The song that movies and television shows always seem to play to let you know that a scene is set in France. (February is a rosy month here at the blog.)

426. Raven Steals the Sun

Raven is the Prometheus of the Pacific Northwest.

425. Miss New York

Listen here.

424. The Trouble With Tribbles

I think it's a parable about the burden of resource depletion brought on by industrialization. Probably.

423. The Second Coming

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

422. Tom Sawyer whitewashes the fence

What an odd moment in American folklore. Americans claim to place high value on a strong work ethic, but at the same time we idolize personality types who can get by on cleverness alone.

421. The Sears Tower

420. That Scene from Planet of the Apes

You know the one. I mean, I don't want to ruin the movie, but you know the one.

419. Pais Tropical

One of the few songs that consistently makes me want to dance. (The number one dance-inducer for me is Nyan Cat, but that one's not making the list.)

418. Grim Fandango

A Day of the Dead-themed adventure game in a film noir style. Yes, it's an odd combination, but it works.

417. The Great Train Robbery

My god! The train is coming right at me!

416. Crime and Punishment

415. The Yellow Rose of Texas

Listen here.

414. Sleuth (the 1972 movie)

A mystery movie starring Laurence Olivier (as an old man) and Michael Caine (as a young man.) The 2007 remake cast Michael Caine in the older role.

413. Zodiac

412. Evita

411. Titanic

Yes, yes. It's an uninteresting choice.

410. The Basilica of the National Vow

You can't see them in this picture, but where a normal cathedral would have gargoyles, this one has sculptures of Ecuadorian animals.

409. Boys Don't Cry

A recommendation for those looking for things on Netflix Instant Watch. This is an excellent movie, but not something you'll want to watch more than once.

408. Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying

Given the title, this song is surprisingly upbeat.

407. Thomas Jefferson's Head

They did a good job with Jefferson, but the other three heads are bollocks. (Figuratively.)

406. The Daily Show

405. The Little Mermaid

The original, ruthlessly grim version.

404. The Thorn Birds

403. The Fin Project

Submarine fins placed to evoke a pod of whale fins emerging from the ground.