Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Yahoo Don't Know Shit About Movies.

I started a list for my kids. Perhaps I’ll share it with you after I’m finished. It’s the top 100 movies for my kids to see before they die. It’s a work in progress that, I’m sure, will change every year until I, myself, get horizontal for the eventual dirt nap.

Ideally - Budha, God & Satan willing - I'll be able to watch all 100 with them and discuss why I think said movies are so fucking awesome.

In any event, in an attempt to mimic myself, Yahoo just released it’s Top 10(2) Movies To See Before You Die. Not really sure how they came up with the list, but my list is going to be fucking better. Stay tuned.

While you’re waiting for the GLOAT (Greatest List of All Time)… go ahead and check out Yahoo’s list below. I’ve seen 80 of the films (if you’re counting all three Lord of the Rings movies) with 22 left to see including Singing in the Rain, Bonnie and Clyde, Breathless, The 400 Blows, among others.

In any event, I've highlighted all of the movies I've seen in blue. How many have you seen? Do you agree with this list? Any that I haven't seen that I should rent immediately?

And, all Simpsons jokes aside, what in the hell is #100: The World of Apu?

1. 12 Angry Men (1957)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

3. The 400 Blows (1959)
4. 8 ½ (1963)
5. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
6. The African Queen (1952)
7. Alien (1979)

8. All About Eve (1950)
9. Annie Hall (1977)
10. Apocalypse Now (1979)

11. The Battle of Algiers (1967)
12. The Bicycle Thief (1948)
13. Blade Runner (1982)
14. Blazing Saddles (1974)
15. Blow Up (1966)
16. Blue Velvet (1986)

17. Bonnie and Clyde(1967)
18. Breathless (1960)
19. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
20. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
21. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
22. Casablanca (1942)
23. Chinatown (1974)
24. Citizen Kane (1941)
25. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
26. Die Hard (1988)
27. Do the Right Thing (1989)
28. Double Indemnity (1944)

29. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
30. Duck Soup (1933)
31. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
32. Enter the Dragon (1973)
33. The Exorcist (1973)
34. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
35. The French Connection (1971)
36. The Godfather (1972)
37. The Godfather, Part II (1974)

38. Goldfinger (1964)
39. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1968)
40. Goodfellas (1990)
41. The Graduate (1967)

42. Grand Illusion (1938)
43. Groundhog Day (1993)
44. In the Mood For Love (2001)
45. It Happened One Night (1934)
46. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
47. Jaws (1975)
48. King Kong (1933)

49. The Lady Eve (1941)
50. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
51. The Lord of the Rings (2001,2002,2003)

52. M (1931)
53. M*A*S*H (1970)
54. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
55. The Matrix (1999)
56. Modern Times (1936)

57. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
58. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
59. Network (1976)
60. Nosferatu (1922)
61. On the Waterfront (1954)
62. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

63. Paths of Glory (1958)
64. Princess Mononoke (1999)
65. Psycho (1960)
66. Pulp Fiction (1994)
67. Raging Bull (1980)
68. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

69. Raise the Red Lantern (1992)
70. Rashomon (1951)
71. Rear Window (1954)
72. Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
73. Rocky (1976)

74. Roman Holiday (1953)
75. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
76. Schindler’s List (1993)
77. The Searchers (1956)
78. Seven Samurai (1954)
79. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
80. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

81. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
82. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
83. Some Like It Hot (1959)
84. The Sound of Music (1965)
85. Star Wars (1977)
86. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
87. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
88. The Third Man (1949)

89. This is Spinal Tap (1984)
90. Titanic (1997)
91. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

92. Toy Story (1995)
93. The Usual Suspects (1995)
94. Vertigo (1958)
95. When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
96. Wild Strawberries (1957)
97. Wings of Desire (1988)
98. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
99. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
100. The World of Apu (1959)

Monday, March 9, 2009

Recessions, Running and Roadpops.

If you regularly read this blog, you know that I’m an avid runner.

Back in the day, I used to keep a daily log of my overall mileage and times. Now – more or less – I run for the enjoyment and exercise not to mention the positive effects it has on my asthma and my mental well being.

But one of the most interesting things is I sometimes come across some interesting shit that you wouldn't normally see barreling 70 mph in the country with your Led Zeppelin blaring.

As a road runner, I’m always looking at the gulleys on the side of the road in hopes of finding the mother lode in the form of a diamond ring, a rich-man’s wallet, CDs or even a Netflix DVD.

Since Daylight Savings Time is in full effect and the snow has started to melt, I’ve noticed a spike in the amount of debris scattered in my neighborhood compared to last year.

In particular, I've seen a lot more beer cans. Busch Light to Labatts Blue and everything in between. I even noticed an unopened Samuel Adams bottle, which is a very rare find in any neighborhood.

My theory on this noticeable uptick is simple:

  • Bath is a pretty well-to-do neighborhood. Lots of rich folk. Plenty of middle-class folk. And not too many poverty-stricken folk.

  • More people, especially rich people, are extremely stressed out about the economy and their ever-depleting 401ks and stocks.

  • More people are secretly gulping down said cans of booze and tossing them out the window before they get home so their wife or husband doesn’t find out how stressed out they are.

As I went about my run on Sunday afternoon and gazed at the endless formation of dead soldiers lining the road, I thought to myself that I would love to be a fly on the wall in one of those cars, trucks or motorcycles right before one of those cans were thrown out the window.

I wonder what was going through their buzzed-up minds?


ON A RELATED BATH NOTE: This past weekend I just noticed that someone moved into the house where Jeffrey Dahmer committed his first murder. I wonder if the real estate company mentioned this little nugget of information to the family when they sold them the place?