Listing to the extreme

Wow. I haven't written on this blog in a minute. I suck. I guess it's hard for me to actually write a real review of a movie since you kind of have to do a synopsis as well as say how much you liked the film or not. I'd rather have a 2-way (or 3-way) discussion of the movie, or just say it was awesome or it sucked. So, until I see the movie that muses me into a full-on review, I'm just gonna make an obscure list for now.

Top 10 Movies to Watch When You Need Inspiration (topical, huh?!?):

Disclaimer: A semi-majority of these are sports movies. They just show that whole "Overcoming the odds" thing more than any other genre in my opinion.

10. Amadeus - This is a bit of a strange pick. It's mostly a movie about vengeance. But, for some reason, the music scenes in this always give me the goose pimples and make me want to create something as moving as Mozart's concertos. I never listen to opera or classical music, but if this is on, I'll crank it til the rafters are shaking.
- "Forgive me majesty, I am a vulgar man. But I assure you my music is not."

9. Stand and Deliver/Lean on Me - Had to group these together because of their proximity of time and plot. Morgan Freeman and Eddie James Almos are the kind of teachers we always wanted in school.
- "Hey Kimo, you proud of me? I'm the first dude here! What's calcoolus?"

8. Rocky - If you go to Philly and don't run up those steps, you're either lazy, or in a wheelchair. or both.
- "You stop this fight, I'll kill ya'!"

7. Miracle - Probably the least "well-made" movie on this list. It's about the greatest upset in the history of sports in one of the most exciting sports in the world.
- "Do you believe in miracles!?!? YES!!"

6. Field of Dreams - One of 3 movies that makes me cry every single time I watch the stupid thing.
- "Hey Dad! Wanna have a catch?" (I'll be back in a second. Lemme get some tissue.)

5. Cool Hand Luke - Paul Newman was my all time favorite actor and I think this was my favorite character he ever played.
- "Yeah, well, sometimes nothin can be a real cool hand."

4. Lawrence of Arabia - If you have nothing to do for 4 hours, you won't be disappointed. How Peter O'Toole didn't win an Oscar for this, I'll never know.
- "Sherif Ali, so long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous, and cruel, as you are."

3. Hoosiers - Maybe the ultimate David/Goliath movie. Based in the intense world of Indiana small-town basketball.
- "You have special talent, a gift. Not the school's, not the townspeople, not the team's, not Myra Fleener's, not mine. It's yours, to do with what you choose. Because that's what I believe, I can tell you this: I don't care if you play on the team or not.?

2. Gladiator/Braveheart - Wow. Some people are gonna be really pissed that I lumped these together like this (Cat). I don't want this to come off as dismissive of one verses the other, but it's hard for me to decide which is better. Both guys had their families murdered, both rose above what anyone thought they could achieve, both had Australian leading men (one playing a Scotsman and one playing a Spaniard), both were total badasses and if you watched both movies back-to-back, it would take 54 hours. I might give Gladiator the edge because of the hindsight of Mel Gibson being insane. But that crazy guy in Braveheart was Irish, so I don't know.
- "At my signal, unleash Hell."
- "In order to converse with his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God."

1. Shawshank Redemption - This isn't even up for debate in my book. Anyone who's seen this and isn't smiling or crying at the end is not allowed to have a soul anymore.
- "Get busy livin or get busy dyin.....that's goddamn right."