Movie Night

I'm talking about my favorite movies tonight, hope you enjoy.

Smokey and the Bandit. You've probably never heard of this one. 1977 flick with Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, and a young, hot Sally Field. Burt "the Bandit" leads his mate Jerry Reed "Snowman" through the Deep South carrying illegal cases of beer. Gleason "Sheriff Buford T. Justice" and his son chase them in a movie filled with great quotes.

Justice to his dorky son: "There's no way, no way you could come from my loins. The first thing I'm gonna do when we get home is punch your momma in the mouth."

Caddyshack. "Cinderella Story, at Augusta. He's about to win the Masters. He has 150 yards to the hole, I'd say he's got about a 9-iron. Oh, it's in the hole!!!! It's in the hole!!!"

Diehard. Bruce Willis and Carl Winslow (Reginald Johnson), gotta love it. "Now I have a machine gun, ho, ho, ho." The ultimate tough guy movie.

Remember the Titans. "Who's your daddy Gary??? And is this your team, or is this your daddy's team???" Of course the old Motown music appeals to me as well.

Rain Man. This is probably my favorite Dustin Hoffman movie, just ahead of The Graduate and Tootsie. "We're counting cards."

Office Space. "I'm a Michael Bolton fan. I celebrate the guy's entire calendar." "Samir Nagahad, Nagah, Not gonna work here anymore!!!"

Million Dollar Baby. This movie deserved every award it won. Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman were fantastic. I cried at the end in the theater.

Rookie of the Year. "Hen, Hen, ry, ry, Ro, Ro, en, en, gard, gard, ner, ner."

Tin Cup. 2nd best golf movie ever (although I want to see the Greatest Game Ever Played, which looks fantastic). Kevin Costner's last good movie. "Keep playing for pars David. I'll take 18 of them, all day long."

Love Actually. Now you may wonder what this is doing in my list. This movie displays the kind of love you dream about, without having to jump on a couch and scream your lungs out. Each ministory is very engaging. Even when you watch this by yourself, for 2+ hours, you don't feel alone.

Blues Brothers. John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, and John Candy among others, not to mention great music.

The Great Muppet Caper. As you know I'm a huge Muppet fan, and this is the best of all the muppet movies ever made (just as good as the original Muppet Show).

"We're gonna catch those thieves red-handed, yeah Beauregard? What color are their hands now???"

"Whoopee cushion? I think it's in the bus. Rubber raft? It's got holes in it. Frisbee? Mmmm, lost. Wax lips? Man, I just had em. Did you leave them in your other pants? I don't have no other pants. Fake vomit? It's all in order. Yo-yo? For suuuurree. Peanut Butter? Animal ate it! Sorrrrryyyy."

Hoosiers. "We're gonna run the picket fence at em. Now boys, don't get caught watching the paint dry." If I ever coach basketball and my team makes it to the finals of any level of play, I may have to measure the distance from the baseline to the foul line, and from the floor to the rim. And the best thing about it, it's all true, even the game-winning shot.

Toy Story and Toy Story 2. It's rare when the sequel is as good or even better than the original. That's the case here. Both storylines are believable, no repeat quotes, both quality movies.

Ocean's Eleven. I could watch this movie all day. Funny, great storyline, and it has Bernie Mac. I'm a fan of movies that work their way to the end, leave you guessing, then explain it all. The Shawshank Redemption works the same way.

12 Angry Men. Old flick with Henry Fonda. A jury deliberates what seems to be an open-and-shut case, but Fonda's character wants to discuss the case a little more. He ends up changing the minds of all the other jurors. No flashy special effects, no sex, just great acting with great storylines that keep emerging.

Saturday Night Fever. The Walk to Stayin Alive. The solo dance. The movie is pretty good, but the music is outstanding. I have a tendency to get up and dance during the movie. Hey, I can't help it.

The Princess Bride. You've gotta love Andre the Giant. "Inconceivable!!!" And Billy Crystal as the miracle worker also is a plus.

The Fugitive. Harrison Ford is great, but Tommy Lee Jones is the star of this movie. His no-nonsense attitude and the way he commands his deputy marshals is funny to listen to. That's why US Marshals was made, which was a mistake unfortunately.

Gettysburg. The TNT account of the bloodiest battle in American history. This movie is so good, you feel like you're there.

Miracle. This makes the list because the 1980 US Hockey team was the feel good story of the last 25 years of the century. I cry when I watch the replay of the game and I cry when I watch the movie. Kurt Russell is brilliant as coach Herb Brooks.

There are some notables missing. The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars trilogies don't make the list because, although they are great movies, I do get tired of them eventually. Honestly, I haven't seen enough of the Godfather trilogy to put them on the elite list either, but it's close. Other movies that come close are: Coming to America, Trading Spaces, Rocky, Aladdin, Follow That Bird, JFK, Saving Private Ryan, Father of the Bride, and Duck Soup among others.

If you want to mention another movie, or want to comment about what I listed, let me hear ya.