Vince's Journey

Not much new to report tonight so I'll get right into the top ten movies on my list. These movies may not be on everyone's top ten list but for me, they are the best I've ever seen. Some have sentimental meaning, others are just perfect movies. If there are any on this list that you haven't seen I highly recommend you make an effort to see them, you'll be in for an enjoyable evening.

#10. Finding Neverland (2004) - "By believing, Peter. Just believe." The story of author J.M. Barrie and the family that inspired him to write his most famous work, Peter Pan. Johnny Depp, in one of his finest roles, plays Barrie and Kate Winslet is the terminally ill mother of the boys who Barrie spends his days with, making up stories about the boy from Neverland who never grows up. I saw this movie with Abbey when she was in the 6th grade and I have to admit I was wiping away tears at the end when Depp says the highlighted line above while trying to console Winslet's youngest son, Peter. Finding Neverland is a beautiful film, full of heart and emotion and a great film to start my top ten list.

#9. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - "Get busy living or get busy dying...damn right!" I have to say, I think the title of this film turned off a lot of movie goers. I know I really didn't have a desire to see it until after it was nominated for best picture. And then, while on vacation in Hilton Head and watching it rain for a 4th consecutive, I decided to give this movie a chance - it instantly became one of my all time favorites. The story about a man who is wrongly sent to prison for the murder of his wife, The Shawshank Redemption shows how the human spirit can triumph against the toughest of odds. Tim Robbins plays the wrongly accused, Andy DeFreunse, and Morgan Freeman is flawless as his best friend in prison, Red. The line above, which Red says toward the end of the movie as he's trying to adjust to his new found freedom, served as inspiration to me when I was going through treatments for lymphoma. This isn't the only movie from 1994 to make my top ten - Judd was right; 1994 was a great year for movies.

#8. The Graduate (1967) - "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me." Dustin Hoffman plays recent college graduate, Benjamin Braddock, who finds himself in quite a unique love triangle; he's having an affair with the mother of the girl of his dreams, who he's also dating - much to the mother's chagrin. Made in 1967, this movie was ahead of it's time when it first came out and it remains fresh 33 years later. Anne Bancroft plays Mrs. Robinson and Katherine Ross is her daughter, Elaine. And while there was supposedly quite an age difference between Hoffman and Bancroft's characters, in real life there was only 5 year's difference. The 60's was a wonderful decade for movies and the Graduate was easily one of the best of the bunch.

#7. E.T., The Extraterrestrial (1982) - "E.T. phone home." The story of a young boy who finds a stranded alien and decides to keep him as his pet, few films have packed as much heart into it as Spielberg's crowd pleaser from 1982. Told through a child's eyes, the youngsters (including Drew Berrymore in her first film) carry this movie, along with a rubber, robotic alien. By the time the film get's to the point where the kids have to save E.T. from the scientists who want to conduct experiments on him, you believe he is a real creature. And the ending, when Elliot has to say goodbye to his friend when he's rescued and heading back to his home planet, is one of the most emotional scenes ever filmed. I didn't think Spielberg could top his 1981 film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and he was able to do it in less than a year.

#6. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) - "...I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted - but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird." When the American Film Institute ranked the top heroes in movie history, Atticus Finch was named #1. This is testament to not only what a great character Atticus is but also how perfectly the role was cast with Gregory Peck. Atticus was a widower in the south during the depression. He's raising two children and been asked to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. Told through the eyes of Atticus's young daughter, Scout, few characters have had the dignity, strength and passion of the greatest movie hero of all time. And the story, which also includes a recluse who the kids try to see throughout the entire film, was as thought provoking as any during a time when bigotry and civil rights were polarizing our country.

#5. Forrest Gump (1994) - "Momma always said life is like a box of chocolates....you never know what you're going to get." Having lived through all the events that Forrest Gump is thrust into throughout this wonderful film, watching this movie for the first time was the most enjoyable evening I've ever spent in a theater. And Tom Hanks performance is nothing short of spectacular. This is a movie that I've watched numerous times with our family and I'd say it is probably our family's favorite movie. And you have to love Bubba, Lt. Dan and the love of Forrest's life, Jenny. Of all the great films from 1994, this one won best picture.

#4. Wizard of Oz (1939) - "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." The movie that made me a movie fan, few films are as perfect The Wizard of Oz. There's no need to recap the story; everyone knows about Dorothy, her trip to Oz, and the friends (and foes) she encounters along the way. What I love about this movie is the simple message that we all seem to take for granted from time to time; there really is no place like home.

#3. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - "Kiss me. When I'm being f$%#ked I like to be kissed."
The story of a mid-day bank robbery gone bad on a sweltering hot, August afternoon. When word gets out about the robbers holding hostages in the bank, the scene becomes a media circus. Based on a true story, the greatness of this movie is escalated by Al Pacino's amazing portrayal of Sonny, the leader of the robbery; easily the most powerful performance I've ever seen.

#2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - "Look daddy, teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. That's right, that's right. Atta boy Clarence!" I first saw this movie when I was in Chicago visiting my sister back in 1979. The story of a man on the brink of suicide until a guardian angel shows him what life would have been like had he never been born, I have never been able to watch this film without shedding tears of joy at the end. I think we all wish we could live our life like George Bailey. And I think we all hope we can impact others lives to the point where they'd be willing to come to our rescue in our darkest hours. It's a Wonderful Life is a movie that provides us with a blueprint on how to touch other lives and few have done it as well as George Bailey. Jimmy Stewart is brilliant as George and Donna Reed plays his adoring wife, Mary. There will never be another movie quite like It's a Wonderful Life.

#1. Terms of Endearment (1983) - "I know you like me. I know it." Julie and I saw Terms of Endearment on our first date and it has been our favorite movie ever since. Shirley MacLaine stars as Aurora Greenway and Debra Winger is her daughter, Emma, in a story that spans over 30 years. Jack Nicholson co-stars as their next door neighbor, an astronaut with an eye for younger women who eventually becomes the object of Aurora's affection. The ending is gut wrenching as Winger's character is diagnosed with cancer and she eventually has to tell her son's that she's dying. I cried like a baby during the scene where Emma tells her oldest son..."I know you like me. I know it." To me, that was the most emotional and perfectly performed and written scene I've ever seen. You could tell the love that Emma had for her boys, you could feel the anger that her older son was feeling and your heart ached for the the younger son who's finally had enough of his brother treating his dying mother so rudely. Just a great, great scene and movie.

Well that's a wrap. It took me the entire episode of Survivor to hack out this list. I don't know what I'm going to write about next but I don't think it's going to be a top 100 list!!!