my blog motto

i find it amazing that a fair number of hits to my website are for people searching for "losers always whine about doing their best...". is there really that many people who search that phrase? and why am i so high up there? or are they weeding through dozens of samples and get to my blog. i cannot get an accurate view of it, nor can my friends, since google is super smart and automatically places close web pages (ie web pages you have visited, etc) at the top of the search list.

now the quote is from the Rock. Which is quite possibly the greatest action movie ever. It was the first movie directed by Michael Bay who had largely done music videos before. Moreover, it has everything. A thriller plot, a car chase scene, big explosions, undeniable tension (if the standoff between the marines and the SEALS in the prison shower is quite possibly just awesomely tense), and got a good bit of quippy humor. Frankly it is a shining candidate for Most Awesomely Action movie.

Now many movies follow in the Rock's line and are really little more of a music video with a longer plot. I like to term these movies Awesomely Bad. They are awesome to watch and can be watched repeatedly and repeatedly. Another characteristic movie would be Top Gun. The rewatch value of Top Gun is simply amazing though i usually fast forward both the homoerotic volleyball sign and unnecessarily long sex scene. Independence Day also fits into this mold. however, independence day is filled with multiple cringe moments like the "up yours" that played really well in theaters but is tough to stomach. However, Bill Pullman's patriotic speech is good. (hmm, another topic for another day are best movie speeches).

My final overall comment on movies is my Vietnam War primer through movies. The Vietnam war was the first american war following in the modern age of movies and really show where we are today in view of society's interpretation of Vietnam then and now. Please tell me of movies that I am missing:
(these are the movies I feel people should watch to grasp the war.)

Start with:

The Green Berets - this is a classic John Wayne movie made at the beginning of the war that was very feel good and hero worshipping, uncharacteristic of all the latter movies.

Apocalypse Now - this was among the first dark protrayals of Vietnam on film following the young officer (Martin Sheen) as he goes into the jungle. It really shows the warped nature of the war.

Platoon - this has more combat than the previous movie and follows a young well educated soldier as he descends into the hell of vietnam with his two sergeants "fighting for his soul"

Full Metal Jacket - well known, warped but classic in both its boot camp and its later combat scenes.

Born on the 4th of July - about a soldier's return.

First Blood - an explosive show of the disconnect encountered on the soldier's return

Good Morning Vietnam - a humorous yet deep looking movie at Vietnam's non combat roles for soldiers.

Finally - We Were Soldiers - Mel Gibson's revisit to Vietnam done in the early 21st century that paints the war again in a patriotic light akin to Green Berets and far from Platoon.

Enjoy