The Rock By Michael Bay.

The Rock by Michael Bay.

A great action movie!! Perfect confection...

For some, this is the one good movie Michael Bay ever gave us (I disagree. I like this film and the first three Transformers movies).

The Invisible Man (1933) by James Whale.

Based on H.G. Wells' 1897 novel, "The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance."

James Whale at, perhaps, his most Whale-ish. Unyielding, cutting and misanthropic. A funny, creepy, and brisk story of madness.

Definitely one of Universal's creepiest monsters.

Hercules: Meg...? I would never... EVER... hurt you.

Yeah, I'm not so sure about that Herc. Don't make promises you can't keep.

While Disney's Hercules would never hurt the girl of his dreams, the guy he was based on certainly would. In the original myth, Hera was hell-bent on making Heracles rue the day his father cheated on her (because somehow, that was his fault). And to get revenge, she cursed the hero with such insane rage that he actually killed his wife Megara and their children.

The poet Seneca said that Hercules grabbed one son by the arm and swung him about like a ball and chain, smashing him to a bloody pulp. Then he shot his other son with an arrow and crushed Megara's head with his club. Apollodorus claims that he threw Megara, their two sons and his nephews into a burning fire. But the darkest and saddest one has to be by Euripides who wrote a passage where Hercules' son begs for his life before being pierced by one of his father's arrows.

As grizzly as this is though, I've gotta admit, after learning about what happened in the original Greek myth, it's a wee bit funny to me that in the Disney movie he literally says that he would never hurt Meg...

The Man Who Laughs (1928) by Paul Leni.

One of the most iconic and influential silent films of all time (along with Metropolis, Nosferatu, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari).

A magnificent film and one of my favorites.

Highly recommend checking it out.

And, yes, Conrad Veidt's interpretation (and Jack Pierce's make-up) inspired The Joker.

Halloween (1978) by John Carpenter.

One of the greatest horror movies of all time. A genre supernova. Created a taxonomic category that still lives. Unsparing precision, a simple premise and style.

While the original Halloween may not be the first slasher movie, it is the film that set the groundwork for the genre and paved the way for all the other great slasher franchises like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. If you claim to be a horror fan and you haven't seen the original Halloween, first of all, shame on you. Second of all, watch it NOW. This one is required viewing.

Also, it is my personal opinion that John Carpenter's Halloween has the greatest opening scene in horror history.

It's hard to believe it, but Hades (the Greek god of the Underworld) had 3 encounters with his nephew Heracles (Hercules) and was left humiliated. Each. Time.

The most well-known encounter is when Heracles travelled to the Underworld to capture the three-headed hound Cerberus for his 12th and final labor. Hades told his nephew that he could only take Cerberus if he could subdue him without using any weapons. But clever Heracles used the impenetrable Nemean Lion skin he wore as a makeshift muzzle and wrestled Cerberus until he was worn out.

The second time, Hades came to the surface to collect the soul of Queen Alcestis, who agreed to die in place of her husband King Admetus. But Heracles didn't like the idea of the happy couple's love being cut short and wrestled Hades into submission, just like he did his dog.

The third instance is the strangest though. When Heracles attacks the city of Pylos after its king refuses to purify him of his sins, Hades arrives to either collect the dead from the battlefield or defend the city (depending on the version). Either way, when Heracles sees his uncle, he shoots him in the shoulder with an arrow and Hades retreats to Olympus where Apollo heals his wound.