I like to listen to Mike & Mike in the Morning on ESPN radio on my way to work. As long as they don't spend too much time talking about basketball, golf or NASCAR, I'll stay tuned.
Monday and Yesterday Mike Golic spent a great deal of time beating down Erik Kuselias for not having seen Gladiator. If you listen, you know how Golic can be with "manning up" and such.
Before I had to get out of the car, they were taking suggestions for a list of movies that you have to have seen to truly be a man. Golic's was Braveheart and Kuselias's was Animal House. Both respectable choices. Yes, this sounds sophomoric, and it is, but it also can be a fun and interesting exercise.
So here is a list, in no particular order, of movies that "men" really should have seen. There are obvious omissions and you'll notice a strong leaning toward 80s action movies. This is deliberate.
It's obvious that movies like Star Wars (the 70s & 80s movies), Spider-Man, Sin City, the Matrix franchise, the Bourne franchise, and more recent similar fare should be on the list. I don't get out to the movies all that often, so I am guilty of having missed some of these films. So I choose to focus on a time when I had the time and inclination to watch movies...not just once, but enough to memorize lines and scenes and regurgitate when needed.
So, without further blather...here's a partial list:
Fletch
Dirty Harry
Beverly Hills Cop
Shawshank Redemption
Heartbreak Ridge
Die Hard
Terminator
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Reservior Dogs
Midnight Run
Unforgiven
The Usual Suspects
And here's a partial list of sports-related movies (there are so few truly good ones):
Bad News Bears
Bull Durham
Field Of Dreams
Longest Yard (the original)
Major League
Naked Gun (honorable mention)
Youngblood (not so great, but Cynthia Gibb looks good)
Rocky
The Natural
That's it for now. I'll probably expand the lists over time, but I am out of steam for now.
I hope there is vast disagreement about the lists. Maybe that will inspire someone to actually add a comment to the blog. I often wonder if anyone is reading this blog at all.
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4 comments:
What? No, Demolition Man, American Pie (the original), Say Anything
Forget Pitchers and Catchers, everyone knows that only a handful of teams will contend for a playoff spot (barring complete injury collapse). I'll give you the teams right now:
National - Mets, Braves, Cards, Cubs, Phils, a team from the west
American - Bos, Stankees, Det, Clev, Angels
A few others may be close come Aug but they will eventually fade. Still amazed that KC, TB, Minn, Fla, Wash, Pitt, Cinci have people who buy season tickets for a team they know will lost between 80 and 100 games and have no chance for the playoffs.
I am alot more excited over the NFL Combine then spring training.
American Pie, sure. I just considered that an obvious choice. I can't give you Demolition Man (Snipes & Stallone?) or Say Anything. Say Anything is a good movie, but not a "man" movie. I thought about Better Off Dead, but nixed it for the same reason.
Sadly, I have to agree with you about the baseball picks. Thanks for your considered comments.
Terminator and Die Hard are really the only crucial ones on your list here. To those I'd add Robocop, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Scarface (even though it's abysmal), The Godfather (just I, II isn't required, and forget about III), Seven Samurai (you can substitute The Magnificent Seven here, if subtitles are an automatic disqualification), The Wild Bunch, The Searchers (or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance or Fort Apache or any John Ford directed John Wayne movie really), and A Fistful of Dollars. Just to name a few.
Yes, indeed - a pointless but interesting excercise.
Add to the list: Any of the "Dollars Trilogy" movies.
And: Once Upon A Time In The West.
Midnight Run: Yes, that's a good one, as is The Shawshank Redemption.
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