IMDB and the 21st Century

According to IMDB, here are the ten highest rated movies of the 21st Century (which began in 2001):

1.  The Dark Knight (2008):  9.0 (3d highest movie of all time)

2.  The Lord of the Rings:  The Return of the King (2003):  9.0 (6th highest movie of all time)

3.  The Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring (2001):  8.9 (9th highest movie of all time)

4.  The Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers (2002):  8.8 (12th highest movie of all time)

5.  Inception (2010):  8.8 (14th highest movie of all time)

6.  Interstellar (2014):  8.7 (18th highest movie of all time)

7.  City of God (2002):  8.6 (26th highest movie of all time)

8.  Spirited Away (2001): 8.6 (31st highest movie of all time)

9.  The Pianist (2002):  8.5 (32d highest movie of all time)

10.  Parasite (2019):  8.5 (34th highest movie of all time)

Last week, The New York Times picked Parasite as the best movie of the 21st century so far.

IMDB and Star Wars

Here is the current IMDB ranking for each of the nine parts of the Star Wars movie universe:

Episode I (The Phantom Menace) (1999):  6.5

Episode II (Attack of the Clones) (2002):  6.6

Episode III (Revenge of the Sith) (2005):  7.6

Episode IV (A New Hope) (1977):  8.6 (29th highest of all time)

Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back) (1980):  8.7 (15th highest of all time)

Episode VI (Return of the Jedi) (1983):  8.3 (92d highest of all time)

Episode VII (The Force Awakens) (2015):  7.7

Episode VIII (The Last Jedi) (2017):  6.9

Episode IX (The Rise of Skywalker) (2019):  6.4

I should mention one more standalone movie:

Rogue One:  A Star Wars Story (2016):  7.8

I did not see Episodes VIII or IX, but I saw all the others, and I think the folks at IMDB got the others (including Rogue One) almost exactly right.  (I would raise Rogue One to 8.0, and I would lower The Force Awakens to 7.3.  The others I'd keep the same.

American Top 40: June 28, 1980

I'm in the mood for another AT 40, and I wanted one from late June.  So I found the countdown for June 28, 1980 on YouTube, and I'm going to work through it.

By this point, AT 40 was so successful that it ran for four hours (with commercials).  To fill the extra time, Casey Kasem had added various features, such as the Long Distance Dedications.  But he also started the countdown by giving us the top three from last week's countdown.  Here are the top three from last week's countdown:

3.  Ambrosia, "Biggest Part of Me"

2.  Paul McCartney, "Coming Up"

1.  Lipps Inc., "Funkytown"

By the way, this week in 1980 the Gallup poll showed Reagan leading Carter 47 to 41.  When John Anderson was included, Reagan had 37 percent, Carter had 32 percent, and Anderson had 22 percent.  These data marked a shift -- up until June, Carter led Reagan in most of the polls during 1980, as the country had rallied to Carter during the hostage crisis.

At the close of play on June 28, 1980, the Expos led the NL East by 2 1/2 games over the Pirates and 3 games over the Phillies.  The Astros led the NL West by 2 games over the Dodgers.  The Yankees led the AL East by 5 1/2 games over the Brewers.  The Royals led the AL West by 9 games over the White Sox.

Game Over

So now all the pennants, mini-helmets, and other paraphernalia are packed away until the end of August -- except for the retro MLB pennants, which we can still use from time to time.

Game Seven: Fourth Quarter

OKC outscores Indy 34-20 in the third quarter, and the Thunder lead 81 to 68 with one quarter left in the season.