My buddy Jason just did a posting about the movie Fight Club over at his site and it gave me an idea. I am curious to know everyone's thoughts on what movie had the biggest impact on them and why. I've been pretty charged up by a couple of movies, but I would like to know what everyone else thinks.
For me, although there are a few, I am going to have to say Band of Brothers. I know, technically it's a "mini-series", but there isn't anything else I have ever seen that stirs up that much emotion. It blows my mind how good of a job they did in portraying the soldiers and what they went through, and how it really just boils down to fighting for the man next to you. Actually quite stunning that Hollywood can do something that good every once in a while.
Feel free to ramble on as much as you like in the comments. And by no means does it have to be a "serious" movie. Maybe the lessons learned in Lone Wolf McQuade shaped you into the person you are today. I know it did for me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
24 comments:
Billy Madison helped me realize that it's never too late. And more importantly, that pretty teacher you had in elementary school can be yours, if you play your cards right. On the serious side, I end up being affected more by people in my life (like this site's author) rather than stories I read or watch.
And "Red Dawn" helped me realize that hiding in the mountains from Russians would be way cooler than sitting in school.
And I aggree with the last comment, and am honored to be on the receiving end of a compliment from such a fine, upstanding man.
'Hope Floats' was very emotionally charged for me, I so identified w/little Bernice in every aspect of what happened to her. I hardly ever cry and even more rarely at movies, but the scene where her dad locks her out of the car and leaves her crying in the road had me in silent sobs at the theatre. That was when the adult me finally said good-bye to the childhood me for forever.
'Tuck Everlasting' - this line says it best, "Don't be afraid of dying Winnie, be more afraid of the unlived life." If you've never seen this movie, I highly recommend it.
Well it's a toss up between "Napolean Dynamite" and "Beaches".... just kidding....
"American Beauty" is a good one. It is NEVER too late. It's just life !!! I remember that when I first saw that movie, I was an overweight computer geek, who felt powerless to "change my stars"... Doing what I really wanted to do seemed like an impossible dream. Now I'm enroute to the "Q"... You can change your life, it's America for Christ's sake!! Chalk one up for Lester Burnham...
Good topic/survey Greg...
Muse - I actually haven't seen either one of those, but always meant to see "Tuck Everlasting". I will check that out.
Jason - I loved that movie. Weird, but such a perfect look at how upper-middle class people create so many of their own problems. And that yes, it's never too late. Oh, and thanks for putting the image of Kevin Spacey naked in my head now. I feel dirty.
"Last of the Mohicans". That movie is everything that an American man should love. Fighting for your woman, your family, and freedom. Dawgon it, it's just plain cool to wear leather and kill people with an axe.
It always motivated me to be a warrior.
Hmmm, interesing post would be a survey of how Greg Drobny has changed our lives. I, for one, had never drank beer before noon on a Sunday morning before I met Greg. Seriously though, while it might seem like a light thing, the music Greg shared with me brought me through some rough times. Also, the philisophical discussions and his passion for seeing the world. There's nothing cooler than hanging out with someone who wants to always explore, learn, and see more.
I am with Jonathan... I mean do you really need to know how "Wild Things" changed my life??
Greg... on the other hand, has impacted me in a way no one else could have. He saved me, literally and figuratively.
Without him I would be an old-as-dirt alcoholic that spends hours in bed. With him? I am an old-as-dirt occasional drinker that doesn't have time for sleep. See the difference??
Greg... seriously... thank you.
Waterworld and The Postman, I don't think anymore needs to be said.
You know who this is..........
I'm watching you.......
Jonathan - Leatherface wore, well, *leather* and killed people with a chainsaw, does that make him even *more* cool?
Kell - You're nuts, but "old-as-dirt" does not apply. Sorry.
Anonymous - I liked "Waterworld" a lot more the first time it came out when it was called "Road Warrior", and as for "Postman", while I do have to admit how dreamy Kevin Costner looks in a postal uniform, I just don't see it belonging in the pantheon of great post-apocolyptic epics. Unlike "Steel Dawn" with Patrick Swayze. Yeee haw.
Seeing as how Red Dawn and Patrick Swayze have both already been mentioned, I feel like I should give that movie its due credit. First of all, I'd appreciate it if you all would no longer use the name Red Dawn in vain.
Red Dawn was life affirming for me. I watched it when I was about 14 or so, at a time when I was involved in the STA Special Operations Task Force (STA- Scott, Thomson, Anderson). We were a fierce group of patriots who valued liberty and disdained our MTV watching, trouser sagging peers, who willingly fed from the hands of the Communists who ran our Federal Government. We were the defenders of the Heartland, and Red Dawn showed us that our preparations had not been in vain. We always had equipment ready in our backpacks for when the National Guard would take control under a declaration of martial law.
I guess Red Dawn was my Fight Club.
Boy that guy really has a Costner fetish doesn't he, I wonder who the heck that was???
I could probably watch Office Space on a daily basis and not get tired of it, I feel like that every day so I can relate.
As far as emotionally moving, We were Soldiers is probably the movie that touched me the most.
See ya
J.
Scotty - make no mistake, "Red Dawn" was the movie I based my outlook on life on through many of my childhood years. Those of us that grew up in Colorado believed we had a certain advantage to you California sissies since we were *hardened* mountain boys. Yeah.
J - Leave my Costner fetish alone, office geek.
And yes, "We Were Soldiers" is by far the best Vietnam movie ever made, and one of the best war movies for sure. Good call.
The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Shogun (Also a mini-series) which I liked till I found out that Richard Chamberlain was gay...
Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Oh but there IS something wrong with that! You can't be an action star and smoke pole!
"Hardened Mountain Boys"? "Sissy California Boys?" We would have wipped some Colorado ASS. Especially when it comes to martime operations. Unlike you landlocked Jeremiah Johnson wannabes.
I'm taking a risk here...but I also liked Ann of Green Gables. I don't feel like sharing anything else about it, cause I know I'll get shot down. Frankly, I'm ashamed that I'm even posting this.
Wakeandahalf - apparently you hit a nerve with Scotty. He's been living in northern California and is a little "confused".
And as for the "Ann of Green Gables" comment, that one takes care of itself. Nothing needs be said of that.
Hey Scott, I'm impressed by your daring. I wanted to say Princess Bride, but couldn't muster the courage until you blazed a trail. Here's a tip: to avoid mockery by those less secure in their sexuality, end your post with something HARDCORE to distract their peon-minds. MONSTER TRUCKS RULE!
P.S. - Don't knock Colorado.
Yeah! MONSTER TRUCKS! And BOOBIES!!!
kell might revoke my brilliant status for this, but I can't resist: MONSTER BOOBIES!
I am simply overwhelmed by the coolness of that statement.
monster. boobies. good grief. you boys are out of control.
First off, Jeff, you're the man. Thanks for sticking up for me. I retract my statement about the part of Colorado where you live, cause I think the two of us could have withheld Communist occupation for at least 18 months, with only occasional supply raids. We would have had a difficult time watching our fathers get machine gunned in the prison camp, but we would have responed with ambushes out of trap doors covered with grass in the middle of fields.
Whoever the hell Mr Twisted is- he can take a flying leap off the Golden Gate Bridge. Or out of a Giant Redwood Tree (both native to Northern California). Only closet homosexuals pretend that Ann of Green Gables wasn't a good movie.
Token manly statement- The Wolverines attacking communists in monster trucks!
Scotty, you know how I know you're gay????
""""Only closet homosexuals pretend that Ann of Green Gables wasn't a good movie."""""
The ones that openly admit it are not in the closet anymore
J.
(love ya, mean it!)
"To Kill A Mockingbird" was the only movie that was as good as the book. The racial injustice in the courtroom scene was profound, I don't think I ever got over it...The anger.
I wanted to name my son, Atticus Finch, but it was vetoed by my spouse.
How does Platoon fit in with favs of Vietnam movies? For me it was my favorite a lot of that had to do with the contrast of the realities of the war set against the beautiful Adagio for Strings (Samuel Barber) music.
Post a Comment