Bop’s Worst and Best Of 2021!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Poptic Nerve. In Layman's terms, Don't blame me if you are offended!😉

I thought I would never finish this.

What a shit year 2021 was. Humanity already entered the age of Idiocracy a few years ago and recently, sank to new lows. Add to that certain agenda ran rampant on movies and TV shows and cinema and TV are dying a slow and horrible death. Fortunately, there were some TV shows that saved the day because if you ask me, the Movies in 2021 sucked, big time! Let’s get this show on the road.

TV Shows

Worst category:

Walker: Texas Ranger

The CW always gets shit on. Apart from the legendary TV show Supernatural, CW deserves all the shitting it gets with their agenda-ridden bullshit, but also their sappy, hokey, cheesy TV shows. The Walker: Texas Ranger remake was just that. Sappy, hokey, cheesy with a lot of not-done music. It’s to vomit. And I like Jared Padalecki. He doesn’t make me vomit like a lot of pussy lotion boys do. He is one of the good guys and he deserved better than this utter stinking shitfest. Not to mention how they dissed the OG Chuck Norris show with this shit.

Mayans Season 3

Fuck this shit! I am done! It was bad enough that they, as in Disney who now owns FXX, kicked screwed Kurt Sutter over, but I didn’t expect they would fuck over his characters to this extent much. EZ became a Simp, while his brother turned into an emo boy, and the plot of the Mayans VP killing one of their own was because he had a gay affair.  Talk about fucking up a storyline that should have resulted in shit hitting the fan, but instead it morphed into some-agenda thing. FUCK THAT SHIT!!!! And fuck Disney for taking over Fox! 

The 5 Juanas

Add 5 very good-looking women you hardly ever see in Hollywood movies, come up with some interesting plot and then piss people off along the way for all the agendas you follow. In the beginning the show looked so promising but then it went from bad to worse and worse. Not even those 5 gorgeous women could save this agenda-turd and that is a shame. They deserved better. FUCK THIS SHIT!!!

Cobra Kai season 4

 

What was to be expected since it’s Netflix, Cobra Kai joined the LGBTQ-agenda. The couldn’t even wait one episode to start with that shit. What seemed like a promising season turned into a season of whiners. The focus was on them and not on Johnny. Cobra Kai is abour Johnny’s redemption. Not about whiny fucks. Fuck Eli and fuck Dmitri. Fuck LaRusso’s son too. That punk has been annoying since the first season of Cobra Kai. They turned Samantha Larusso into a bitch too, while she used to be one of the more likable characters in the show. Miguel got turned into a pussy lotion boy. The fact that Johnny had to pander to the LGBTQ-community also left a sour taste in my mouth. The cliffhanger was also bullshit. The MVP of season 4, however, was Sensei Kreese. Martin Kove steals the show in any scene he is in. Next to him I could only stomach Robbie and Tori and they are supposed to be the bad guys. I will continue to watch this show due to William Zabka and Martin Kove. Those guys deserves better.

Bad Category:

Dix Pour Cent: season 4

Dix Pour Cent was absolutely one of the best TV shows of the last 10 years. Subtle comedy featuring well-known French TV actors playing themselves. I was so looking forward to season 4 and when it finally arrived, I was disappointed. Somehow the vibe and the quirkiness of the show was gone. Later I found out the showrunner left after season 3 and it showed. This season took a serious nose-dive in quality, and they said it was the last season. That was until they saw how many people watched it on Netflix, so they decided to make a movie followed by a season 5 which will take place in the US and probably with US actors. I don’t know if the US actors will bring it, but my curiosity is peaked. I just hope they get the showrunner back.

Good:

Heels (Starz)

A bit of background info. I used to love pro wrestling a lot, but for the past 15 years or so WWE produced so much crap that I started hating pro wrestling. Lucha Underground brought back my love for pro wrestling, but when that folded, I thought I was done watching pro wrestling. However, from the ashes of Lucha Underground All Elite Wrestling (AEW) was born. One of AEW’s founders is the son of Dusty Rhodes called Cody Rhodes. During his time in WWE Cody Rhodes befriended Stephen Amell of CW’s Arrow fame and that resulted in Cody Rhodes having a match with Stephen Amell during some WWE PPV. It turned out Stephen Amell loved pro wrestling and wanted to try it out. What most people, including me, didn’t know was that Stephen Amell is an athlete. He is not a pussy lotion boy. He even did an American Ninja Warrior course once that he completed. So, when AEW was born Stephen Amell had another wrestling match there and had improved a lot.

 After CW’s Arrow ended Amell got the opportunity to make a pro wrestling drama series and here we are. And drama it was. Good drama too. It was not what I expected it to be leaning on the drama side a bit too much, but it was not tacky at all. It was made with a lot of respect to pro wrestling, and I didn’t expect anything else from Amell. He got to do his passion project and the passion project delivered. The season finale looked like a bit of pandering, but I could live with it. I hope they get a second season, but I doubt it. I expected a lot of pro wrestling fans to embrace this, but they didn’t. The ratings were very low and that is a shame, because it was not a crap show. One of the better shows of the year for sure. And if you like the actor Chris Bauer, which I don’t, you should check out this show. He plays the role of his life here.

Sky Rojo season 1 + 2

2 seasons delivered in one year. Unbelievable!!  

Hookers cackling in Spanish. What more do you want? Apart from the annoying talking to the camera bullshit of one of the main characters, this show was quite entertaining. Hookers get into trouble with their pimp and bash his head in and then must flee. What follows is adventures on the road while being followed by the pimp’s clumsy henchmen. I don’t remember ever seeing a TV show in which hookers are the main characters unless you count The Kardashians.

Coyote season 1

You know, Michael Chiklis is, and will always be Vic Mackey. His immortal role can never be surpassed, and I am ok with that. Coyote was a fun show, but somehow it was not fun enough. You want to see Chiklis be badass but in this TV show he is not. However, it was interesting enough to see what they will do in the second season. They’d better deliver there.

Behind Her Eyes

Talk about a mindfuck show. This show has a very weird and eerie vibe. Eve Hewson played fantastic, and she was creepy AF. The strange thing about this show is that for nearly every episode you don’t really have a clue about what is going on, but you keep watching. You do know something is very wrong with the character played by Eve Hewson. And then when you think you know what is going on you don’t. This show turns the tables on you and not only that. It gives you a big mindfuck. You will guarantee think:” WTF?” when you get to the WTF? point. This is how you make an original TV show, and you do something that is totally out there. The ending suggests there won’t be a season 2, but if they do a season 2, I don’t know how they will top this. One of the best new shows of the year.

Lupin

Omar Sy is cool and so is this show. He plays a great master thief, who is also a master manipulator. This French show is based on the French Arsene Lupin novels and it’s very popular in France. The show is funny, exciting and plays on the background of Paris.

Reservation Dogs

This was a very welcome surprise. What an interesting TV show focusing on Native Americans living in the States. It’s funny, it’s entertaining and the main characters are quite likeable. I hope there is a season 2.

Gomorrah: Season 5

There is something so magical about the city Naples in Italy. Ever since I saw the Bud Spencer Piedone (Flatfoot) movies I was in love with that city. I once had the opportunity to visit it and it was amazing to breathe in the atmosphere of Naples. However, if only 5 percent of what happens in Gomorrah is true, Naples has turned into a hell-hole. If you never heard of Gomorrah before it’s the TV show with the highest bodycount ever. It focuses on Naples criminals who have no problem killing you. The story is about a spoiled brat who becomes one of the big crime lords in Naples. His ego grows and he finally betrays his best friend only for his best friend to start a war against him. This is the last season and unfortunately the ending was not a good one. Some people might think it was, but to me they dropped the ball with this. Nevertheless, this is one of those shows that are an acquired taste and if you are a pussy who doesn’t like violence stay away from this.

My Name

I don’t watch Korean stuff often because most movies last 2.5 hours+. I don’t have time for that. My Name, however, is a TV show. It’s about a woman, who joins a Korean gang to find out who killed her father. Through the Korean gang she gets a new identity and infiltrates into the Korean police force. In the meantime, she tries to find the murder of her father, but things are not as they seem. A special mention needs to go the actor Hee-Son Park. I never heard of him before and don’t know if he is a main eventer in Korean cinema, but in this show he steals every scene he is in.

Best Category: 

Ted Lasso: season 2

I was looking at various best TV shows of 2021 lists. Most of the lists contained nerd shit. The thing is I am not a nerd. However, one name kept appearing on those lists. Ted Lasso. When I looked it up, I saw it was about an American hand-egg coach moving to England to coach a Premier League football team. How brilliant of an idea is that? What took them so long? In Europe it is known that Americans don’t know shit about football, let alone English football. So, what happens when you send an American to coach a football team? Hilarity. It is refreshing to see a show that wants to cheer people up and doesn’t push the LGBTQ-agenda down your throat. Ted Lasso is hilarious AF and one of the best and funniest shows I ever saw.  The makers did their homework, and they even knew how Dutch people behave. That is to be commended. I binge-watched the show in 3 days. I hope they get a season 3. We need more shows like Ted Lasso.

Undercover season 3

Last year I quit Undercover season 2 mid-season because they succumbed to the forced LGBTQ-agenda. When Ferry, the prequel of Undercover, got released this year it was “agenda”-free so I watched it and then decided to give Undercover season 3 a chance. I am glad I did, because man, this is the one of the best shows of the year. The show is known for its intense atmosphere and season 3 is no exception. This is how TV shows should be. It should drag you into the story and keep you in it. Add to that the intense atmosphere with the danger that shit can hit the fan at any moment and you got something that is an emotional rollercoaster ride. This Belgian-Dutch production is the best stuff ever made in Belgium and the Netherlands.  And Frank Lammers is a Dutch actor that I hope will be the spiritual successor of Rutger Hauer. Belgian Tom Waes is also very good and carries the show. This was the last season, and they finished the story. This show was good from first episode to last episode I hope the Belgians and the Dutch do more co-productions together. This shit was awesome.

Braqueurs

This French show is the best new show of 2021. It is not a spin-off of the movie made in 2015, although the premise is almost the same. This intense show caught me totally by surprise. The main character is super bad ass and so is his team of mercenaries. The intensity was palpable, the action was great and after every episode ends you just want to see the next. When a show keeps you glued to the seat that means the creator succeeded. The creator is Julien Leclercq who also directed the Braqueurs movie, but also The Bouncer, which is one of Van Damme’s better movies. Also, Netflix’s La Terre Et Le Sang was directed by Julien Leclercq. It’s a director to keep an eye on. It has been confirmed Braqueurs will get a second season and I can’t wait.

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Mr Inbetween season 3

Best TV show season of the year bar none. Unfortunately, it was also the last season of the show. Scott Ryan, the creator didn’t want to drag out his show, so he ended it. The way it ended could have been different for my taste, but it ended well enough. Ray Shoesmith went out swinging. Mr Inbetween is one of the best TV shows ever made and Ray Shoesmith is one of the best badass motherfuckers ever shown on the screen. I am looking forward to what Scotty Ryan does next and it can’t come fast enough. Thank you, Scott Ryan.

"If he smiles like this, he will fuck you up!"

Television Movies

Super worst:

Nash Bridges 2021

I loved the OG Nash Bridges TV show. When I saw they made this reunion, out of curiosity, I watched but didn’t finish this shit because they pandered the fuck out of it! Don Johnson had sold out and Cheech had to take a backseat to a transgender??? When will all this patronizing, just fucking stop? Make your own  LGBTQ-label, and release original content instead of  basterdizing cool intellectual properties like Nash Bridges!

Worst: 

Mortal Kombat

What a huge disappointment this movie was. They added some pussy lotion boy character that isn’t even in the game and made him the main character. Also, some actors in there were fucking annoying. But the biggest thing of them all is you wait for the tournament only to see there is no tournament. So, you could call this movie Mortal Scam, because that’s what it was. The action scenes were quite interesting. However, there was one big mark-out moment. That’s when Scorpion appears. It’s right up there with the introduction of the Baseball Furies in The Warriors and the introduction of Casey Jones in the OG Ninja Turtles movie.

Man Of Wrath

Jason Statham dropped the ball here. What a lame-ass boring shit-fest this movie was. Get back to quality movies, Statham.

Fast 9

What a fucking disappointment this movie was. I don’t know what happened to Justin Lin, but this movie just didn’t have it. Cue in John China playing the brother of Vin Diesel and the pukefest is complete. F9 suffered from the needless background story of Dom and his brother that took up at least half an hour. The action was quite rinse repeat and should be called magnet overdose. You will know what I mean when you watch it. I highly anticipated this movie and thought Justin Lin would bring car action to another higher level. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Fuck the emo bullshit. I want car action, macho bullshit, and hot chicks. That is what Fast and The Furious is all about.

Documentaries:

Good:

Untold : Malice At The Palace

I was always a Detroit Pistons fan. I fucking hated the Chicago Bulls. I just hated them. However, this story I was not too familiar with. I do remember seeing some scenes on the news about a Detroit Pistons player wanting to beat up a fan. This documentary is the story to what led up to it and in my opinion it was fantastic. It shed a light on how the media manipulated the audience to think this riot was the Detroit Pistons’ fault and it was not. It also shed a light on what impact it had on the players involved.

Best:

The Pedal movie

This was the documentary of the year for me. It was a fantastic look into the history of guitar pedals. Remember the certain parts of songs you like? Often, they were caused by a single guitar FX pedal. This documentary contained so many nuggets of interesting info that it was crime. Whether you are a producer, mixing engineer or guitar player, this was a documentary made for you. Kudos.

Good: 

Love Hard

Man did Nina Dobrev hit the wall fast. Despite that this was just a feelgood movie done quite right. Often, they fuck feelgood movies up, but this was an exception. The pairing of Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O Yang was quite good. Both have comedic chops, and it seems Nina Dobrev can sing. Did it have some clichés? Sure, but they did most things right so that’s a plus.

Bac Nord

I love the French city Marseille. There is something so idyllic and romantic about Marseille that I can’t put my finger on it. They have great hip hop; great scenery and the city seems special in its own way. It’s kind of the Bronx of France if you ask me. Now this police movie was quite good. Nobody does cop movies better than the French. There is a grittiness that can’t be found in Hollywood movies. The movie is intense although it gets fucked up in the end. Those scenes when they need to go to the French block to grab a drug dealer is some of the most intense stuff I ever saw. If you remember the cool game State of Emergency, you will fucking love the block scene. Bac Nord, is a gritty and intense thriller that should not be overlooked!

Ferry

This is the prequel to the acclaimed Belgian/Dutch co-production Netflix TV show called Undercover. It follows Ferry to his rise to the top as a big-time drug dealer. Frank Lammers is a national treasure and I hope they do more Undercover spin-offs or things.

Os Salafrarias

This Brazilian comedy movie is one of the weirdest movies I ever saw. The vibe is so off compared to most western movies that you can’t help it but keep watching. Quirky characters, whose behavior I don’t understand exactly, but that might be because it’s a Brazilian culture thing. Hollywood could never make something like this.

Nobody (2021)

Bob Odenkirk is a strange actor. He is perfect as that tricky lawyer in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but to see him in an action movie was weird. However, he made it work. The movie was enjoyable.

The Protege

I like Maggie Q. She is known for The Naked Weapon and for the great TV show remake Nikita. I haven’t seen her carrying movies lately but in this one she is carrying the movie. The movie was a nothing special ok watch and wasn’t that annoying faux-pas girl power Hollywood is known for. People say Michael Keaton stole the show, but I found him quite annoying in the movie.

Rise Of the Foot soldier Origins

To me Craig Fairbanks is a British movie mainstay. You might know him from the amazing Scott Adkins movie Avengement in which he plays Scott Adkins’ nasty brother. The guy has amazing screen presence. In Rise of The Foot Soldier Origins her plays a street criminal. I didn’t know Rise of The Foot soldier was a movie series, so he is a recurring character in most of the movies. The movies are loosely based on a real group of criminals who got a reputation in the London criminal circuit. And now this stuff gets milked AF. The thing is all of those movies are entertaining because I checked them all out after watching Origins. After watching any of those movies you want to call every person a c-word. 

Night Teeth

Now this movie is the surprise movie of the year. I am fed up with vampires but decided to watch anyway. What I got was an interesting story that kept me entertained until the end. It’s kind of a road trip in the middle of the night in which all kinds of shit happen. It was not tacky, it was not cliché and not overdone. This movie showed it’s still possible to make interesting movies.

Last Mercenary

I always said Van Damme should star in more French movies. He seems way more natural in them. The Last Mercenary is the weirdest movie Van Damme ever made. It is so out there, but Van Damme fits perfectly with all the French actors. This movie was not the best but something Van Damme should do more. Van Damme has a knack for comedy, and it shows in this movie.

Best: 

Il Divin Codino

This is my favorite movie of the year. It’s a biographical movie of the best football player Italy ever had called Roberto Baggio. I thought I knew enough about Baggio but was I wrong. I came out of this movie with an even greater respect for Baggio the human being and Baggio the football player. And now I understand why the Italians love him so much. Just like the great Diego Armando Maradona he was a man of the people and there are not many of them around.

Scumbag piece of shit of the year!

Schwarzenegghead sell-out

I always hate it when celebrities tell you who to vote for. I don’t need mental midgets to tell me who to vote for in a puppet show. But Schwarzenegghead stooped to newer lows. Telling people “Fuck your freedom.” showed me what a piece of shit sell-out he is. Keeping taking that politician and pharma dick. Schwarzenegghead, who at one time made men movies, turned into a total bitch. I will never ever watch a Schwarzenegghead movie ever again and I will never promote them to anyone. I am sure that is not gonna hit him in his sell-out pocket, but money doesn’t make up for being a roided dick-taking lowlife. Fuck you, Schwarzenegghead. It is a shame that dude who gave you a flying kick in the back didn’t break your back, you piece of sell-out shit. 

Sports moment of the year

Euro 2020

Euro 2020 were the European Football (not hand egg) championships that got postponed to 2021 due to the big hoax. I wasn’t planning on watching it, but during lunchtime there was time to watch a bit of it. If there is one thing that I learned this year is that the hoax agenda and the LGBTQ-agenda got pushed even more even in fucking football.

It was fucking appalling that the Germans wanted the lights on the outside of a stadium in LGBTQ-colors as a protest against the Hungarian team that was gonna play there. This as a reaction to the Hungarian president who forbade LGBTQ-propaganda for children under 18 years old. So, what the Germans were saying is that it is NOT ok to protect your children from LGBTQ-propaganda. The Hungarian president protected his culture and rightfully so. And I was surprised to read that the corrupt UEFA forbade the Germans to use those lights. In what was almost poetic justice in later matches Hungary was about to eliminate Germany from the tournament, but there is no god, so it didn’t happen. 

Holland had the biggest numbskull piece of shit as a coach who got helped in the saddle by our sports media. Dude failed AF and I didn’t expect anything else. But the way the Dutch media was kissing that bottler coach’s ass was just plain scandalous. Our team of overrated pampered and spoiled players embarrassed themselves.

Also, the Euro 2021 seemed to have started a trend with football players getting heart attacks on the pitch (vaccines anyone?). Denmark’s Christian Erikssen got a heart attack on the pitch and Denmark’s team captain Simon Kjaer rushed to his aid to perform first aid. If it weren’t for Simon Kjaer’s fast thinking Christian Erikssen would have died on the pitch. After that happened most people wished Denmark to win the Euros and they somehow got magical powers. However, there was a problem. The UEFA, the organizer of the tournament, that is corrupt AF, tried to do everything possible to make England win the Euros. England played all their matches at home and never had to travel abroad, while other countries had to travel over Europe to play their matches. UEFA did everything to make England win so in the semi-final Denmark had the upper hand, but the ref helped England reach the final. What happened afterwards was the biggest hate outburst ever for the English football team. Everybody, except the English wanted England to win the final and the hate was palpable. I never saw hate like that for a sports team. It was insane and totally understandable. England played Italy in the final and Italy showed real courage and did not make the mistake of helping the ref award the match to England. In what was a nail-biting intense match Italy won after penalties and became European champion. Finally, there was some justice, that was absent a lot during the tournament. The good guys won, and the bad guys lost.

In what was typically English, afterwards the English fans blamed it on the black players who missed their penalties for England. It was such a disgrace how the English behaved towards their own players. Black people who wanted to represent England got hate as a thank you. At least those black people had the guts to take a penalty. The same cannot be said for those beer belly sharecropper landowners.

TV Moment of The Year

Return of CM Punk

Closure. It’s something some of us get in life and some of us don’t. I know I didn’t. However, one guy did, and it was CM Punk. To understand what I mean you need to have some background info. CM Punk is a pro wrestler. He is known to be quite moody in real life, but that is mainly because fans don’t know how to behave around him in public. In 2011 Cm Punk was the biggest name in pro wrestling. Set up to fail in the WWE he got over by himself by betting on himself and ruffling a lot of feathers to get the opportunity to be the main star.. However, the rug got pulled from under him. His goal was to be the Wrestle Mania main event and McMahon robbed him of that opportunity. The thing was that CM Punk deserved the main event, but they fucked with him. It also turned out he was sick and the medical treatment he got in WWE almost killed him. Also, the WWE workplace had also made him sick so he went home and said he wouldn’t return to WWE. Vince McMahon didn’t take that lightly and bullshitted with him. In the meantime, Punk prepared for marriage and McMahon send Punk’s firing papers on the day of Punk’s wedding. Later McMahon would say it was pure coincidence, but we all know better. Punk felt he had failed as a wrestler because he didn’t main event Wrestle Mania. He also didn’t want to wrestle ever again.  Wrestling left a sore taste in his mouth. UFC heard he wanted to do MMA so Punk started training MMA. He drew a lot of eyes when he debuted in UFC, but he got defeated twice which ended his UFC stint. However, ever since Punk left WWE fans kept chanting his name during WWE shows and PPVs for years. Punk said he was done in countless interviews, and nobody ever expected he would return. I sure thought he would never return. He left on bad terms and couldn’t retire on his own conditions. Also, what else did he have to prove? However, this upstart company AEW started growing and the owner Tony Khan contacted CM Punk to ask if he felt like coming back. It took a few months of communication between Khan and Punk until Punk agreed to come on board.

 When it was announced he would appear on an AEW Friday show I thought:” This is bullshit. He won’t return. This is a hoax.” The pressure on AEW was very high to deliver and they would have been the joke of the wrestling world if Punk didn’t show up. So that Friday show came and the first thing the show started with was Punk’s theme music. When the audience heard it, they cheered so loud that you couldn’t hear the music for a few seconds. It was insanity. The fans went nuts. As Punk walked to the ring and finally entered the ring his eyes told he was getting closure. He was back and now he could retire on his own terms. To me seeing that was just magic. CM Punk was a guy, who people related to. He was the people’s champion in a way. It may sound funny, but CM Punk was me. In professional life I wanted to be the best only to see that people were sabotaging my progress. Opportunities were taking from me that should have been mine. I am sure I am not the only one in the world who experienced things like that, but CM Punk was speaking for all of us when he did his promos in the ring. He was not my hero, but he reflected what a lot of people experienced in life. It was art imitating life. The cheers he got from the AEW audience was closure. It got confirmed that he left at the right time. It got confirmed that he was still popular and now more than ever. He started as a good guy now and now it’s the wait for when he becomes the bad guy. And when he becomes the bad guy, he will go out in a blaze of glory and retire on his own terms. We watch movies and TV shows for a good story. CM Punk’s return and closure is wrestling’s greatest story, and I can’t wait to see how it unfolds. Damn, I love pop culture.

Bop’s best TV character awards

Best female:

Eve Hewson

When you play woman who oozes nutcase, yet seems so innocent, you are doing stellar work. Eve Hewson played the best role of her life in Behind Her Eyes.

Best male 

Scott Ryan

Need I say even more? And if you don’t know who he is don’t ever talk to me again until you have seen Mr Inbetween.

R.I.P.

This was another sad year. We lost some great people.

New Jack

New Jack died. In fact, New Jack deserves an article on his own if I had the damn time. New Jack was one of the most entertaining and one of the most controversial wrestlers ever. He was quite feared as well. His career really took off when he asked what to say in the ring as a bad guy. He asked his boss Jim Cornette and Jim Cornette said :”Just go out there and make white people mad.” Those historic words turned New Jack in one of the greatest  bad guys ever in wrestling.

Daffney

Poor Daffney. Daffy was a revolutionary woman in professional wrestling and died of a suicide. She was depressed and couldn’t take it anymore. People were too late to care about her, but the problem was also that she seemed not to let anyone in. That is just a shame. That girl deserved way better.

Christian Gyan

Christian Gyan is definitely not known in the States, but if professional athletes had an ounce of his class they wouldn’t be such utter douchebags.  Football (not handed) club Feyenoord legend was only 43 years old and he was one of those players you fondly remember for the way he was as a person, but also for his efforts. He was a defender. He was not the best defender we ever had and not the tallest, but he had fighting spirit. He just did his utter best and for me that is often enough. In May 2002 Feyenoord played Dortmund in the UEFA Cup Final. Probably the most famous images of that final were the images before the match started. Christian Gyan was in trance and prayed to his god with his arms spread. I am an atheist, as you know, but those images always stuck into my mind. He prayed to his god to help him win the match. Feyenoord won and Christian Gyan did what he always did. He did his utter best and might have played the match of his life. To see him be part of that legendary Feyenoord team and do his duty is something I will never forget. It showed that you don't have to be the best to be remembered, but effort is all. Christian Gyan deserved better. He died way too young, and life is just not fair.

Richard Donner

The Omen, Superman and Lethal Weapon? Need I say more. The Omen was creepy shit and an all-time classic. Superman by Donner was the only Superman I could stomach, and it really looked like Superman. However, Lethal Weapon redefined buddy cop movies. That movie set the bar very high for other movies to come, but the bar was hardly ever met. And today, forget about ever seeing something cool like that again. If they would make a Lethal Weapon movie today, Riggs would be a transsexual . That is the world we live in today, folks.

Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin became immortal with his role of Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas in the movie Midnight Run. Midnight Run is one of the best comedies ever and may even the best. They don’t make movies like that anymore. And nobody but Charles Grodin could have pulled off The Duke. I saw other movies of his, but they never played to his strength like in Midnight Run.

Yaphet Kotto

Yaphet Kotto is one of my favorite black actors. He has a very special screen presence and can act anything. Look at him being Kananga in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. Despite the movie being quite racist, Kotto managed to make me care more about him than about that criminal James Bond.  "Kananga, was a Bad mother..."

My most favorite role of Kotto is in the aforementioned Midnight Run. His comedic timing in that movie as Alonzo Mosely from the FBI was impeccable.