Archive for the 'College Fun' Category
The top ten series rolls on, and once again, thanks to Facebook, we’re going to see the top ten most popular movies in college. When college students have downtime they can very often be found watching movies with friends. Some students have big screen TVs, others just watch movies on their computers. Some RAs even plan “movie nights.” So, here are some movies you can expect a lot of students to be watching all year.
The Top Ten Series - Movies
10. Garden State - What college student wouldn’t love Natalie Portman? Zach Braff work makes the college movie list in addition to the TV show list (with Scrubs). This movie is also bolstered by the fact that I think almost everyone has the Garden State soundtrack on their computer. A quick look at the DVD collections of college students will show you that many love this film.
9. Gladiator - “What we do in life…that goes an eternity…” Russell Crowe dominating everyone. Amongst the guys in college, this film is quite popular. Classics majors probably enjoy this film a lot more than the average person, but anyone can enjoy this movie. It’s got action, love, betrayal, and all sorts of other great Hollywood moments.
8. The Departed - A new entry this year. The Academy Award winning film with what seems like half of Hollywood in it enjoys tremendous popularity amongst all college students. Last year my dorm had several showings of The Departed. Tons of people showed up to see it.
7. Office Space - College students are getting ready to enter the work force, so it’s only natural that the film that espouses the mantra “Work sucks” would enjoy college popularity. This movie has its fair share of hilarious quotes, and you can always expect a Milton joke when a student uses his or her Swingline Stapler. So, yeah, if you haven’t seen it, I’m gonna have to ask you to go ahead and do that by Sunday, okay? Great.
6. Fight Club - I remember reading about some issues with college students trying to form Fight Clubs. I think the popularity of this movie explains it. “How much can you know about yourself if you’ve never been in a fight?” Maybe that would explain why intoxicated frat boys frequently try to start fights? In any case, this is a great film that college students love. You may even see students reading the book.
5. Boondock Saints - This film has enjoyed its cult status immensely. I remember going to purchase this DVD before my freshman year in college and having to go to Best Buys all around the city. Everyone was out of it. The reason is that it’s an amazing movie, and probably that tons of college students love it and were getting it for school. So many amazing fight scenes, a great story, and great actors make this film hit the number five spot on our countdown.
4. Old School - This is a great comedy that is enjoyed by many, many college students throughout the country. Will Ferrell is at his best (in my opinion), and it provides a very interesting view on Frat life. Naturally, college students will find the outrageous parties and crude jokes to be quite enjoyable. However, I hope that college students refrain from following Will Ferrell’s advice and charging the stadium naked.
3. Anchorman - Will Ferrell makes another impact on this top ten list. This movie has to be one of the most quoted films in the history of the world. Guys everywhere will take random quotes from the movie and start laughing to themselves. My girlfriend once had a discussion with her friends as to why guys quote movies so much. I don’t really have an answer, but all I know is that Anchorman is hilarious.
2. The Notebook - For being an extreme chick-flick, many guys have also seen this movie. Some of them even admit to seeing it, and actually liking it. If anyone’s in the mood for a cute story, and some Rachel McAdams, then they will most likely put The Notebook in. College movies may consist mostly of comedies, but students still enjoy romance.
1. Wedding Crashers - I probably watched this movie over five times in college last year. Not to mention, it seemed like almost every guy in my dorm had the Wedding Crasher’s poster with the Rules for Wedding Crashing. This film has such universal appeal; it’s not a mystery why it’s on top on the list. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson dominate in the lead roles. Rachel McAdams makes her second appearance on the list. Is it shocking that both the number one and two movies have Rachel McAdams in them? How about the fact that, once again, Will Ferrell is in a popular college movie? In any case, Wedding Crashers is a must see for all college students.
Honorable Mention
Pirates of the Caribbean (Trilogy) - If you go into a dorm room, I expect you’ll find many, many college girls with the Pirates posters of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. This past year, the anticipation for the new Pirates movie was tremendous. Everyone kept asking me if I’d seen it (I felt so out of the loop, I rushed out to see it the first chance I had). The Pirates series, although it’s Disney, for some reason holds an insane amount of appeal for college kids. It could be the presence of really talented and hot Hollywood stars, or it could be the fact that college students do like Pirates more than Ninjas. In any case, this series makes the list.
Lord of the Rings (Trilogy) - Yet another trilogy with Orlando Bloom makes honorable mention. Not only are the books immensely popular amongst college students, but the movie is as well. I remember a Lord of the Rings marathon some people on my floor had last year. They watched over ten straight hours of film. This means two things; one is that college students really enjoy Lord of the Rings; and the other is that college students generally procrastinate a lot on the weekends.
So ends the top ten most popular movies in college. They may not all be Academy Award winners, but they’ll certainly keep you entertained. Be prepared to know quotes from many of the comedies, because you’ll hear them all over campus.
August 17 2007 | College Fun | 2 Comments »
I figured it would be nice to see what college students are into these days. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, you can see what’s really popular amongst college students. This will be the first post in my “Top Ten Series.” Here are the top ten most popular TV shows in college.
The Top Ten Series - TV Shows
10. Lost - Although I personally don’t watch this show, I know a crazy amount of people who do. Now that it’s over, who knows what the next insanely convoluted and confusing TV series will be. Thanks to DVDs though, college students will be enjoying this series for some time.
9. 24 - I think I’m asked at least once a week if I watch 24. Unfortunately, I don’t. I think it would be hard to just jump into 24 when I’ve never seen a single episode. However, college students who have watched it religiously tend to proclaim the Gospel of Jack Bauer to one and all. As a result, this show makes the top ten.
8. Seinfeld - I’ve already spoken on how Kramer would make money in college. Clearly, I’m not the only Seinfeld fan in college. The seasons sell like wildfire on DVD (I was fortunate enough my freshman year that my roommate had seasons 1-5 on DVD). Nothing beats putting off homework to watch a nice Seinfeld episode.
7. Friends - Ross, Rachel, and the rest of the gang are still popular amongst college students. Thanks again to fantastic DVD sales. One guy on my floor last year had the entire Friends box set. He was pretty popular; people were always trying to borrow seasons.
6. South Park - Let’s face it, South Park is basically geared towards college kids in all ways. We all know that college kids love their World of Warcraft, so that South Park episode making fun of it was one of the most popular. When Wednesday night rolls around, don’t be surprised to see loads of people watching Comedy Central.
5. The Office - The American version of the Office is quite popular amongst college students. Some even enjoy the British version. If you’re standing with a group of random college guys, chances are that someone will start quoting the office about five minutes into the conversation.
4. Scrubs - Who doesn’t love Zach Braff? Scrubs is immensely popular on college campuses around the country. The witty humor and amusing flashbacks are only a small fraction of what makes this TV show so popular. Syndication on Comedy Central has helped this show to seemingly always be on a college TV somewhere.
3. House - I think college students really enjoy a protagonist who’s a jerk. House has gained a tremendous following in its three seasons. I’ll confess that at first I thought House was a stupid show. I thought it was just the same thing over and over, and House was too over-the-top of a character. However, once I watched a few full episodes in a row, I just couldn’t get enough and had to watch it religiously.
2. Grey’s Anatomy - Although many people agree that this past season was pretty lack-luster, Grey’s is still one of the most popular TV shows in college. I was an RA last year, and I had to plan my programs around Thursday nights. When it comes time for Grey’s, entire dorm rooms shut down. Some college students are so serious about their Grey’s that it is almost scary. I never watched it until this past season. I confess I started watching because I felt out of the loop. After only a few episodes, like House, I became hooked.
1. Family Guy - Fox tried to kill this show, but failed (thanks again to DVD sales). Family Guy is the reining champion amongst college students. Although newer seasons are, in my opinion, way over-priced, students still enjoy watching the adventures of Peter, Stewie, Brian, Lois, Chris, and the other one. Sundays one can find many students watching Family Guy.
Honorable Mention
Although these shows weren’t on the top ten list provided by facebook, I still observe a lot of people watching these shows.
Entourage - HBO’s hit show is crazy-popular amongst college age students (mostly male in my observations). Most students can’t get HBO in their dorms (except the resourceful ones who stick a satellite out their bedroom window), but DVD sales and illegal downloading make the enjoyment of Entourage possible.
The Daily Show/The Colbert Report - Many people think that college students are politically apathetic. However, proof of at least casual interest can be found in the many students who watch both of these political satire shows nightly. The daily show was actually taped at my school for a week. I’d never seen students so excited for something.
The Simpsons - I’m not quite sure how this didn’t make the list. To be fair, everyone generally agree that Old Simpsons far surpasses New Simpsons. Sundays aren’t shut down while everyone in college watches new Simpsons episodes, but you can still find plenty of people who tune in every day to watch the re-runs. Many college students also have Simpsons DVDs.
Arrested Development - Another Fox show makes the list. Unfortunately, Fox was able to murder this brilliant show (when will they learn you can’t keep moving show times around so that no one knows when it’s on). I know tons of college students who have Arrested Development DVDs. There was even an Arrested Development watching party a few floors below me last year.
So ends the first top ten in my series of top tens. If you don’t watch any of these shows, you might want to consider moving out from under your rock. If this list contains some shows you haven’t seen, you would do well to check them out.
August 08 2007 | College Fun | No Comments »
College students seem to really love their video games. I remember being surprised when I first arrived at college to see how many people had video game systems, computer games, and more. So, I figured I’d undertake a huge task. I wanted to find out what video games were most popular on college campuses. It took me along time to poll as many college students as I could find, but I finally came up with the top 16 most popular video games on campus. This list is not according to straight sales, but student responses and where they would rank them in terms of frequent usage. I counted some sequels individually, while others were just franchises. It got complicated when some people enjoyed multiple games from the same franchise (hence the lumping together). We’ll start at number 16….
16. Half-Life 2 - It may be surprising that Half Life even makes the list. I was surprised. But an awful lot of gentlemen love this game. While it is a single player game, a large number of college students still play it. Yes, it’s old, but still quite popular. Who wouldn’t want to kill aliens after an extremely hard Chemistry midterm? Better yet, who wouldn’t want to use a WiiMote in order to do it?
15. Warcraft III - While it isn’t as popular as its ultra-successful MMORPG counterpart (probably due to the fact that it’s not nearly as addictive), college students still enjoy the classic Warcraft game.
14. Madden (franchise) - While college students may enjoy their NCAA football, there’s nothing like playing as your favorite NFL team and listening to Madden’s classic commentary. All sorts of college males love playing Madden on a wide variety of systems. Some may call the NFL the “No Fun League” because of all the fines players get for celebrations. However, college kids playing Madden is about as fun as it gets.
13. Halo - For those people interested in old school Xbox, Halo is a must. The multiplayer isn’t as great as Halo 2, but many students still enjoy it. Halo parties may be less frequent now, but for a while, it was all the rage. If you are a college student, chances are you’ll be exposed to the Halo franchise (if you haven’t been already).
12. NCAA March Madness (franchise) - If your school has a big time basketball program, then any of the March Madness series will undoubtedly be played at your university. Students just can’t get enough of their favorite match-ups. I’m sure that after tough real-life losses to North Carolina, Duke students play them over and over on their video game systems.
11. Mario Party (franchise) - Sure, cool-techy individuals like to tell themselves that the N64 is dead, but from the looks of college campuses, it is thriving. The Mario Party series is still quite popular, and students living in dorms can be heard late at night cheering loudly. One student told me it was fun to play Mario Party while intoxicated. In any case, where there are gatherings of 4 students, Mario Party will most likely be played.
10. Super Smash Brothers: Melee - Super Smash Brothers Melee runs only on the Gamecube, and therefore its popularity can be significantly damaged (since more students have PS2s and Xboxes). However, being a multiplayer game, it is still very well liked on college campuses. People even take classes on Super Smash techniques. Everyone seems to have their favorite character, and the shouts during a match can be heard throughout most buildings. Not to mention, colleges still host SSB: Melee tournaments.
9. NCAA Football (franchise) - NCAA football is very popular on college campuses as well. Unsurprisingly, it’s more popular at bigger schools that have big time football programs. Arguments may frequently break out over who can be the school’s team. In an interesting twist, I’ve observed that many people will attempt to play the upcoming match-up on their console first. Combining NCAA Football with Madden allows students to use their favorite players all the way through the pros.
8. Halo 2 - More popular than Halo is its sequel. Not only do many college students love the all sword battles, but they love co-op missions as well. Just a little stroll around dorms will reveal how popular Halo 2 really is on campuses. Most students I talked to said that nothing beat a large Halo 2 team deathmatch when two Xboxes are linked together.
7. Wii Sports - Many college students can’t afford to get new systems. However, those who were able to afford the Wii (it wasn’t so outrageously over-priced as the PS3) have found that the Wii sports package is immensely popular. This past year, when a student got a Wii, his or her room became the coolest place to be. Crowds of students from all over the dorm would flock to see the Wii madness. The unique style of play has made Wii sports quite popular amongst college students.
6. Grand Theft Auto (franchise) - The Grand Theft Auto series is still immensely popular on college campuses. This may be disconcerting to some, knowing that young educated minds still enjoy committing random acts of vandalism and murder. However, from personal experience, Grand Theft Auto is just a really cool game. The lack of a multiplayer feature doesn’t seem to deter students from playing well into the night. My roommate and I spent countless hours on GTA our freshman year. We just alternated after three failed missions or deaths. Unfortunately, as my GTA hours increased, my study hours decreased, along with my grades. However, I do take comfort in the fact that Grand Theft Auto can inspire college professors.
5. Mario Kart 64 - Another N64 entry into the popularity contest. Mario Kart has a large amount of popularity on campuses. This is also aided by the fact that many women actually enjoy playing Mario Kart. You will find fewer females playing Halo, Half Life, and Grand Theft Auto. However, if you challenge them to Mario Kart 64, they will accept. Not surprisingly the most popular character choice for women is Peach. Mario Kart is so popular on college campuses, that students have even written in-depth articles on the game. A Penn State student had much to say about the Philosophy Behind Mario Kart 64.
4. Dance Dance Revolution - DDR is big business, especially at colleges where anime fans and the like populate. If you hear a lot of thumping on the floor above you, chances are someone’s either getting lucky, or playing some serious DDR. The exercise aspect appeals to many, and the variety of DDR games also appeal to a great number of people. Popularity with both males and females again adds to the popularity of this game in college. Students even join DDR clubs in college. Some of the groups even lobby for new equipment.
3. World of Warcraft - It shouldn’t surprise anyone that this makes the list and is in the top three. Many, many college students play WoW on a regular basis. The fact that many students have addictive personalities anyway, helps to propel this game’s popularity. I was curious, so I investigated and I discovered that there’s an inverse proportion to the amount of time spent playing World of Warcraft and the grades of the student. With the release of the expansion pack, WoW fever seemed to reach an all-time high this past year. While a majority of the WoW players seem less sociable (according to their peers), it may surprise people to find that even the occasional Frat Boy enjoys working on his character for hours on end. In fact, some college students keep in touch with high school friends by joining guilds and playing online with them. If you’re grades are suffereing from “WoW-syndrome” I’d suggest trying to fight the addiction.
2. Guitar Hero (franchise) - When it comes to college, guitar hero is considered by many to be the best game out there. While the need to purchase multiple guitar controllers is essential to the multiplayer experience, students don’t mind shelling out the extra bucks. The sequel is even more popular than the original game. With the title coming to the Wii, it will have conquered all of the platforms. Males still enjoy it a bit more than females (what guy doesn’t want to become a rock star?), but it still finds tremendous popularity among all college students. Guitar Hero parties are always fun, and I’ve heard it said that it’s another great game to play while slightly not-sober. Guitar Hero tournaments are also big on campuses nowadays. Winners often times get game systems.
1. Super Smash Brothers - More popular than its sequel, Super Smash Brothers is a huge hit with all types of college students. There’s even a drinking game associated with it. The game is simple; every time a character dies, you must take a drink. As with Mario Kart, SSB is popular with the ladies. There is a popular facebook group called “SSA Super Smash Anonymous.” The cheers when someone wins, or their character dies, can be heard throughout the halls of dormitories. College students just love their Smash Brothers. Its universal appeal makes it the most popular video game on college campuses.
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July 18 2007 | College Fun | 4 Comments »
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