Images and Ideas from Rocky (1976)

After all these years and at least twenty plus viewings, I can still say that Rocky (1976) tops my list as my favorite movie of all time.The raw emotional power of the character's story and his desire to be able "to just go the distance" with Apollo Creed never fails to leave me emotionally uplifted or with dry eyes at movie's end. Anyone with blue collar roots, hell, any kind of roots, can relate to this story about a nobody who just wants to feel like a somebody for the first time in his life. Forget about the sequels (and they are by and large forgettable), this is the only essential "Rocky" movie. Criticize it, if you will, for its relatively simple story line but be mindful that this movie represents everything that Hollywood and American cinema was built upon - that in America there is a magic in the air that constantly whispers to you that you can always be something better than what you are...GO FOR IT ROCK!!!!!!

Rocky 1 - Trailer

My Current Top Twelve

No Country for Old Men ( 2007

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

8 1/2 (1963)

Bonnie and Clyde ( 1967)

Rocky ( 1976)

The Godfather Pt. 2 ( 1974)

Limitless (2011)

O Brother, Where Art Thou ? (2000)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Rear Window (1954)

The Sandlot (1993)

The Godfather (1972)

Here is my current top twelve all - time favorite movies list....I say current because the list is always subject to change...please feel free to add your best of lists in the comments.....

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of...

The stuff dreams of is a quote from the movie  The Maltese Falcon (1941) and refers to the black statuette from which the move takes its name. The quote could just have as easily been referring to movies themselves. Movies not only embody our dreams but our hopes and fears as well. They help define our sense of time, sense of history and our sense of place in our culture. This blog is dedicated to their incalculable power in our lives.