Tag: Lists

Luke’s Favorite Films Take Two: #85

On By Luke FlorenceIn Favorite Films, Lists, Movies, Pursuit of Happyness1 Comment

#85: The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Pursuit of Happyness
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Will Smith, Thandie Newton and Jaden Smith
Academy Awards: Nominated one time. Will Smith for Best Actor.
Plot: “A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he’s poised to begin a life-changing professional endeavor.”
Stock: Holding
Previous Ranking: #70

“You got a dream … You gotta protect it. People can’t do somethin’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want somethin’, go get it. Period.”

Isn’t this what we are all on the pursuit of … happiness?? It’s why the founders of our country added it after “life” and “liberty” in the Declaration of Independence. Pursuit of Happyness is a great title and if you’ve seen it, you know it’s a great movie.

Will Smith typically stars in action-packed, gun-toting, alien-killing blockbusters. However, he shows off tremendous range and depth playing Christopher Gardner, a down-on-his-luck father. This is a film about family, about the American dream, and about never giving up. If Jimmy V were still with us he would applaud this movie.

What really resonates with me, and why it’s so high on this list is because it’s based on a true story. Knowing that this actually happened helps hammer it home. It’s an inspirational flick and one everyone should see.

UPDATE

Despite dropping fifteen spots in four years, this movie has nothing to worry about. It’s not going anywhere. It’s too strong, too powerful, and too meaningful to drop completely out of the top-100. It’s one of Will Smith’s finest acting jobs, one that led to a well-deserving Academy Award nomination.

Fun Fact: Speedcubing champions Tyson Mao, Toby Mao and Lars Petrus were hired to coach Will Smith to solve a Rubik’s Cube in under two minutes.

Hint for #84: Before he was making draft picks for the Cleveland Browns, he worked on a farm.

Peace Be The Journey.

Luke’s Favorite Films Take Two: #86

On By Luke FlorenceIn Favorite Films, Lists, Movies, Superbad1 Comment

#86: Superbad (2007)

Superbad
Director: Greg Mottola
Starring: Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Plot: “Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.”
Stock: Down
Previous Ranking: #68

“You know how many foods are shaped like dicks? The best kinds.”

Might be the simplest premise of any movie on my list. Two best-friends looking for girls and beer. That’s really all there is to it. Sure they have issues with college looming and moving away, but at the end of the day this is about girls and beer.

As simple as that sounds, I walked away hurting from laughing. It’s unbelievably funny, crude-yet-accurate, and absolutely chock-full of great one-liners. It’s a film that you can watch over-and-over again and pick up a different favorite quote or phrase.

A great aspect of this film is that it’s one Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (the two writers) were drawing up for nearly a life-time. It’s something I could see my friend Kevin and I doing.

UPDATE

Superbad is one of the most difficult films to rank. Mainly because it was a ground-breaking film, one of the first of it’s kind to have so much hilarious vulgarity. As more and more movies come out that include the same kind of humor, I find myself liking Superbad just a little bit less mainly because those newer films are better done.

But that shouldn’t take away from how much Superbad made me laugh and for setting the table for those newer/better comedies.

Fun Fact: Because Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) was only 17 at the time of filming, his mother was required to be on set during the filming of his sex scene.

Hint for #85: It’s written in the Declaration of Independence.

Peace Be The Journey.

Music Monday: September 14, 2015

On By Luke FlorenceIn Lists, Music MondayLeave a comment

Music Monday

Lists and rankings have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. In Junior High, my weekly top ten music list was arguably the most popular list I’ve ever created. Classmates would ask me about it all week long, and actually wanted – no, DEMANDED – to see it when Monday morning came around.

Kids would then actually BRING me CDs to listen to, in hopes of getting one of their favorite songs on the next batch of rankings.

Who knows if any of that actually happened, but hey, that’s how I remember it.

Starting today and every Monday moving forward, I will unveil my top ten songs of the current week. There are no rules here. Songs can be brand new, or ones that have been around for decades. It’s a glimpse into my favorite ten songs of the week, the ones I’m listening to/discovering/loving.

If I’m listening to crap – which is likely – let me know. If I should be listening to something else – let me know. I’d offer to listen to a CD if you had it, but I’m pretty sure they don’t exist anymore.

Without further ado, here are my top ten songs of the week. Continue reading “Music Monday: September 14, 2015” →

Luke’s Favorite Films Take Two: #87

On By Luke FlorenceIn Cinderella Man, Favorite Films, Lists, Movies1 Comment

#87: Cinderella Man (2005)

Cinderella Man
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti
Academy Awards: Nominated three times. Paul Giamatti for Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing and Best Makeup.
Plot: The story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed-up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s.
Stock: Holding
Previous Ranking: #32

“I have to believe that when things are bad I can change them.”

Cinderella Man is a story of hope, redemption and of under-dogs overcoming obstacles. Every time I watch it I get goosebumps, which count for something because most of the time they are beyond my control. The “chill effect” tells you that whatever you are experiencing is making an impact deeper than just on a superficial level.

Russell Crowe is phenomenal as James J. Braddock, an aging heavyweight boxer who has always been a mediocre fighter at best. A hand injury practically derails his career and he is forced to go to work on the docks in order to feed his family, which is proving to be quite difficult as this film takes place during The Great Depression. But when an unexpected opportunity comes along, Braddock takes advantage of it and the rest as they say is history.

Paul Giamatti plays Braddock’s trainer and after you watch it you will understand why he was nominated for an Academy Award. There’s no way you can say he didn’t deserve it.

Ron Howard is also outstanding as the director of Cinderella Man. He is able to capture the human condition during those hard-times magnificently. Howard also never loses focus of the story and what all it stands for.

The film is centered around Braddock’s rise as a boxer, but the story stands for so much more. It’s about the human spirit, about never giving up, and about seeing the best in everything possible condition.

UPDATE

Thirty-two was a tad high for this movie, but #87 seems to be a better fit. Truth be told, I was probably sucked in by the “true story” effect the first time around. Cinderella Man is in the top-100, and will more than likely stay there as the years rack up.

Fun Fact: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton and Mark Wahlberg were all considered for the role of Jimmy Braddock.

Hint for #86: Fake IDs were never viewed the same again.

Peace Be The Journey.

Luke’s Favorite Films Take Two: #88

On By Luke FlorenceIn Along Came Polly, Favorite Films, Lists, Movies1 Comment

#88: Along Came Polly (2004)

Along Came Polly
Director: John Hamburg
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston and Philip Seymour Hoffman
Plot: “A buttoned up newlywed finds his too organized life falling into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate.”
Stock: Holding
Previous Ranking: #86

“He’s a sexy guy. He’s sexy. He’s sexually active in his community.”

While the previous two movies were absent the first time this list was created in 2011, Along Came Polly is a repeat offender. In these situations I will post the original material (cleaned up a bit for your benefit) with an UPDATE section. Enjoy.

A movie I stumbled upon on the USA channel one afternoon eight years ago, Along Came Polly makes the top-100 thanks to some Ben Stiller wackiness, a little bit of Jennifer Aniston hotness, and a whole lot of Phillip Seymour Hoffman hilariousness.

Playing Ben Stiller’s best-friend, Sandy Lyle, Hoffman steals every scene he is in. If I were ranking my top 100 movie characters (which is a great idea by the way), Sandy Lyle would be much closer to the top-10. Lest I forget Alec Baldwin’s performance as well, and you have a couple supporting actors creating all the memorable scenes. Good things.

The plot is fairly simple and straight-forward, a guy (Stiller) gets married, quickly gets a divorce, and falls for another girl. The premise sounds over-done but the execution is what makes Along Came Polly unique.

UPDATE

When Hoffman passed away back in February of 2014, the first thing I thought of was Along Came Polly. That’s how good he is as Sandy Lyle. Without that performance, this movie doesn’t even come close to sniffing this list. Yes it’s near the bottom again, but it’s here nonetheless, and that’s the important part.

Fun Fact: Ben Stiller mentioned while on a talk show promoting the film that the ferret bit him a couple of times during production, including one time latching onto his chin.

Hint for #87: Russell Crowe beats people up … legally.

Peace Be The Journey.