Movies I have seen and Loved

Strange thing boys and girls, as much as I love to read, I also love to see a good movie. There are a few that I found noteworthy. Here are a few of them.

• I could not start a list without the latest I saw last night. It was "Hannibal Rising" a horror flick about the beginning of the notorious Hannibal Lecter. One strange young man in a strange movie that I am not sure I would have enjoyed had I not read the book first. But I did and they did a good job bringing the horror to the screen.
• If you want the crap scared out of you you have to watch Jody Foster in the "Silence of the Lambs". This is the first time Hannibal comes to the screen and is one scary movie. The basement scene near the end is just scary as hell.
• One of the most graphic and accurate movies I have seen is "Saving Private Ryan". At least three times I had flashes where I wanted my helmet and a rifle. You cannot watch without being involved.
• If having your arghhhh factor kick in is important to you, I would have to say that "ARACHNIPHOBIA" scared the living crap out of me. At least twice I had to go out of the theater and get my blood pressure back under control. Simple story but real spiders.
• I think I have seen every John Wayne Movie out there and don't think there is one where the Duke doesn't play the Duke. Strange thing is I don't seem to mind. Ya' know what I mean? His best had to be the "Walking Man" where he was an American boxer returning to his roots in Ireland. I know that Maureen O'Hara helped make that movie special.
• Strange movies, the Sergio Leone Spaghetti westerns, "Fist full of dollars, For a Few Dollars More and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly" are just almost too good to pass up. I got to sit through all three at Fort Sill, OK one weekend and it let me escape what was a tough place at a tough time. Turn the corner on the decade and Clints "Dirty Harry" movies are just as much fun for me.

Do you see a trend here? Not many romance movies make my list of favorites. I have been happy with several of Denzel Washington's movies but the "Crimson Tide" (Duh, a movie about the Navy) leads that list. Gene Hackman's character made it even better.

Just as I cited John Wayne for being one dimensional, one of my favorites is John Lithgow because he never plays the same role twice. His Transsexual nurse on "The World According to Garp" couldn't be different from the Professor he played on TV's "Third Rock From the Sun" (Ok, I'll admit that the Kristen Johnson role of the Male Officer trapped in the Female Body also tickled the crap out of me)

I'm not sure where Tom Hanks got to be such a good actor but he has done some pretty nice roles. If you didn't laugh at "BIG" you are dead from the neck up. His role in "Cast Away" carried the movie. Look up Tom Hanks on the net and the movies he made pretty much are on my list.

that's All Folks. MUD