Category: Trivia

The 50 Best Movies of the 21st Century (so far)

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Six film critics at The Hollywood Reporter came up with their list of The 50 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far).  Of the 50 from their list, here’s what I’ve seen and how I’d rate them…

The Hollywood Reporter

Craig
49 ‘Black Panther’ (2018) 43 ‘Grizzly Man’ (2005)
43 ‘Grizzly Man’ (2005) 41 ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (2006)
41 ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (2006) 40 ‘Summer of Soul’ (2021)
40 ‘Summer of Soul’ (2021) 38 ‘Children of Men’ (2006)
39 ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ (2016) 05 ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)
38 ‘Children of Men’ (2006) 39 ‘I Am Not Your Negro’ (2016)
15 ‘The Power of the Dog’ (2021) 04 ‘Zodiac’ (2007)
10 ‘Get Out’ (2017) 15 ‘The Power of the Dog’ (2021)
05 ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001) 10 ‘Get Out’ (2017)
04 ‘Zodiac’ (2007) 49 ‘Black Panther’ (2018)

The Hollywood Reporter article got me thinking.  I decided to list my Top 50 movies for the 21st century.  It was harder than expected.  They are listed in alpha order after giving the top spots (again in alpha order to the Sly Stallone films that I included).  Any surprises?  Any great films that I missed?  Take a look and let me know.

Craig’s Top 50 for the 21st Century (So Far)
*** Creed (2015) Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
*** Expendables, The (2010) Man on Fire (2004)
*** Get Carter (2000) Meet the Parents (2000)
*** Rambo (2008) Mist, The (2006)
*** Rocky Balboa (2006) No Country for Old Men (2007)
28 Days Later… (2002) No Sudden Move (2021)
300 (2006) Open Range (2003)
Apocalypto (2006) Patriot, The (2000)
Army of the Dead (2021) Pitch Black (2000)
Atomic Blonde (2017) Predators (2010)
Bad Boys II (2003) Reign of Fire (2002)
Baby Driver (2016) RRR (2022)
Babylon A.D. (2007) Rundown, The (2003)
Black Panther (2018) Shutter Island (2010)
Blade II (2002) Sicario (2016)
Bone Tomahawk (2015) Sin City (2005)
Dawn of the Dead (2004) Stepbrothers (2008)
Extraction (2020) Taken (2008)
Faster (2010) Top Gun: Maverick (2023)
Frailty (2001) Town, The (2010)
Get Out (2017) Train to Buscan (2016)
Gladiator (2000) Training Day (2001)
Hotel Artemis (2018) True Grit (2010)
John Wick (2014) / John Wick 2 (2017) /John Wick 3 (2019) Way of the Gun (2000)
Lockout (2012) World War Z (2013)

“Brideless Groom” (1947) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Brideless Groom (1947)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Writer:  Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Christine McIntyre, Virginia Hunter and Emil Sitka

Tagline: Gold-diggers mob the Stooges for their money!

The Plot…

Shemp learns that he will inherit $500,000 if he is married by 6pm.  The trouble is he has no girlfriend and no prospects.  Luckily, Shemp is joined by Moe and Larry in an effort to find him a wife before the deadline arrives.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Emil Sitka, a Stooges regular, gets his best-remembered line “Hold hands, you lovebirds!” in this one.  Believe it or not, the line is on Sitka’s headstone!

Christine McIntyre, another Stooges regular, has a scene where she is to repeated hit Shemp.  Despite repeated takes, the punches didn’t look convincing.  The story goes that Shemp told Christine to really let him have it, explaining that a lot of repeated half-hearted slaps hurt more than a few good ones.  On the next take Christine cut loose with a punch that broke Shemp’s nose.  The take was used.  As Christine apologized, Shemp told her, it was okay, he told her to cut loose and she sure did!

Clyde Bruckman, the writer of Brideless Groom,  was the co-writer on the film Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances (1925) which had a similar plot.

Brideless Groom (1947) rates 3 of 5 stars.

10 Major Roles Sly Stallone Turned Down/Didn’t Get and Craig’s Thoughts on Each!

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Zac Wenzel at MovieWeb posted 10 Major Roles Sylvester Stallone Didn’t Get or Turned Down.  Before you click over, here are my thoughts on each role listed…

10. Star Wars (1977) – I don’t think Han Solo would have been a good fit for Sly. Plus it may have impacted Sly’s directorial debut with Paradise Alley.  I know I’m in the minority, but give me Paradise Alley over Star Wars.

09.  Witness (1985) – While I think Sly would have made a good John Book, it would have impacted Rambo: First Blood, Part II which came out the same year.  I’ll take Rambo over Witness (although I am a fan of both.).  It’s funny to note that these first two roles that could have starred Sly, instead went to Harrison Ford.

08. Face/Off (1997) – Sly was originally supposed to star with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  John Woo would direct.  While I would have loved to see Sly in a John Woo film, it wasn’t to be.  Sly instead went on to star in Cop Land, a movie many consider to feature Sly’s best acting.  I thought Face/Off was good, but Cop Land much, much better.

07. Jackie Brown (1997) – Wenzel says Sly was up for the role of Louis Gara that was ultimately played by Robert DeNiro.  I had always read that Sly was up for the Max Cherry role that was played by Robert Forster.  I would have loved to see Sly work with Tarantino.  Of the two roles mentioned for Sly in Jackie Brown, I think that Max Cherry would have been the better pick.  Again, things probably turned out for the best.  Sly went on to do Cop Land and Robert Forster got his comeback role.

06. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) – Everyone knows this story.  Sly departed from Beverly Hills Cop and turned his screenplay into Cobra.  Eddie Murphy starred in Beverly HIlls Cop.  Both movies went on to be successful.

05. Die Hard (1988) – While I would have loved to see what Sly would have done with the role of John McClane, Bruce Willis was perfect for the role.  Die Hard brought Willis back to the “A” list – remember when Die Hard was first advertised they didn’t play up Willis!  Sly went on to do Rambo III.

04. The Godfather: Part III (1990) –  It would have been interesting if Sly had accepted Paramount’s offer to write, direct and star in Godfather III.  At the time there was talk that John Travolta would co-star.  Not accepting was a smart move on Sly’s part.  No matter what he did, it would have been unfavorably compared to the first to Godfather films.  Heck, even when Francis Ford Coppola came back to do the third, it was savaged by critics.  Sly went on to do Rocky V.  It is the consensus weakest in Sly’s Rocky franchise.  BUT, and this is a (pardon the expression) big but, had there not been a Rocky V, Sly might not have had the burning desire to do Rocky Balboa!

03. Batman & Robin (1997) – I am soooooo happy Sly didn’t get involved with this mess.

02. Pulp Fiction (1994) – I would have loved to have seen Sly in Pulp Fiction.  He would have directed by Tarantino.  If he accepted the role that went to Samuel L. Jackson, he would have been paired with Travolta.  They would have made an interesting hit man team.  However, Samuel L. Jackson owned that role and it shot him to the “A” list.  It would have also been interesting to see Sly play Vincent Vega (Travolta’s role) or Butch (Willis’ role).  Sly went on to do The Specialist with Sharon Stone.

01. Superman (1978) – According to Wenzel, Brando had final say on the casting of Superman.  Brando rejected Sly as being too Italian.  I always thought that picking an unknown to play Superman was the right way to go.  Christopher Reeve was perfect as Clark Kent/Superman.  I’m glad Sly would later work with Superman director Richard Donner when they did Assassins.  Superman came out in 1978.  Sly had both Paradise Alley and FIST that year.  I love Superman, but I’ll take Sly’s two for the one.

“My Movie Favorites” Survey

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A buddy of mine posted this with his choices and challenged his friends to do the same.  The only rule is you cannot use the same movie twice. How close are my choices to yours?

Favorite movie: Rocky
Movie that makes you remember your childhood: The Wizard of Oz
Favorite Tom Hanks movie: Saving Private Ryan
Favorite 80’s movie: Rocky III
Favorite comedy: Arsenic and Old Lace
Favorite baseball movie: The Sandlot
Favorite courtroom movie: 12 Angry Men
Favorite horror movie: Night of the Living Dead (68)
Favorite gangster movie: The Godfather
Movie with the best soundtrack: Sharkey’s Machine
Favorite Christmas movie: A Christmas Story
Favorite sequel: Rambo
Favorite remake: True Grit
Favorite western: The Outlaw Josey Wales
Favorite war film: Aliens
Favorite romance film: Casablanca
Favorite buddy cop movie: Lethal Weapon
Favorite Foreign film: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Favorite car chase movie: Smokey and the Bandit
Favorite Kung Fu film: Enter the Dragon
Favorite animated film: The Iron Giant
Favorite anime film: Don’t watch
Favorite Disney film: The Incredibles
Favorite Tom Cruise film: Top Gun: Maverick
Favorite Bruce Willis film: Die Hard
Favorite basketball movie: Inside Moves
Favorite soccer movie: Victory
Favorite Football Movie:  The Longest Yard (1974)
Favorite boxing movie: Rocky Balboa
Favorite when animals attack film: Jaws
Favorite heist film: Heat
Favorite musical: Guys and Dolls
Favorite fantasy film: Highlander
Favorite science-fiction film: Terminator 2
Favorite post-apocalyptic film: Planet of the Apes
Favorite ghost film: The Changeling
Favorite Eddie Murphy movie: 48 Hours
Favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger film: Sabotage
Favorite Sylvester Stallone film: Get Carter
Favorite biography film: Raging Bull
Favorite vigilante film: Billy Jack
Favorite gambling film: The Hustler
Favorite serial killer film: Se7en
Favorite film about musicians: Streets of Fire
Favorite Superhero Spoof: Last Action Hero
Favorite Alfred Hitchcock film: North by Northwest
Favorite documentary: Who Killed Malcolm X?
Favorite action film: Mad Max: Fury Road
Favorite mystery movie: The Usual Suspects
Favorite disaster film: 28 days later
Favorite spy movie: Casino Royale (2006)
Favorite superhero movie: Samaritan
Favorite parody movie: Young Frankenstein
Favorite Screwball comedy: Blazing Saddles
Favorite Private Detective film: The Maltese Falcon
Favorite historical film: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Favorite surrealist film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Favorite Nicolas Cage film: Con Air

THE PHANTOM – The Man Who Cannot Die!

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Bottleneck Gallery posted The Phantom print above as well as another (with variants of both) by Henrik Sahlstrom.  Seeing these posters took me back to my childhood.  For a brief time I was a fan of The Phantom.  He appeared in a comic strip in my local newspaper (Terre Haute Tribune-Star).

The Phantom was created by Lee Falk.  The first Phantom newspaper strip appeared on February 17, 1936.  The Phantom wore the purple costume you see in the art by Sahlstrom. In the series, set in the fictional country of Bangalla, Africa, Christopher Walker was the first Phantom who took on the hero identity when his father was killed by pirates.  Walker passed the identity down to his son and so it went with each new generation.  The Phantom became known as “The Ghost Who Walks” and “The Man Who Cannot Die”.  Although he has no super powers, the Phantom is smart and strong.  He lives in a cave that looks like a skull with his pet wolf, Devil.

Over the years, The Phantom has been adapted from the newspaper strips to comic books, movie serials, animated series, a live-action series and a feature film!  At it’s peak The Phantom newspaper strip reportedly had an audience of over 100 million readers daily.  Even more amazing is the fact that the strip is still being published today! The Phantom is truly the man who cannot die!

Alexander Graham Bell: Surprising Facts You May Not Know!

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Most everyone knows that Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the telephone.  After reading 10 Things You May Not Know About Alexander Graham Bell at History.com, I learned more interesting trivia about him.  Before you click over, here are three of my favorites…

Bell developed a wireless telephone. (He called it a photophone which used light to transmit sound! This is ore than 100 years before cell phones.  Although technology of the time prevented it from being used widespread, Bell considered it his greatest invention. – Craig)

He invented a rudimentary metal detector in a quest to save the life of a president. (Bell was brought in to assist in an attempt to save President Garfield’s life.  Sadly, Bell was unsuccessful, hampered by Garfield’s doctor and wire bedsprings! – Craig)

Picking the last item was tough so here’s a combo: Thanks to Bell, Helen Keller met Annie Sullivan; Bell designed a world record holding speedboat; the unit of sound measurement, decibels is named for him and all phone service in the US and Canada was silenced for one full minute the day Bell was buried.  Click over to the article for full details on these and other facts about Alexander Graham Bell. – Craig

“Men in Black” (1934) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Men in Black (1934)

Director:  Ray McCarey

Writer:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Phyllis Crane, Charles Dorety, Billy Gilbert  and Bud Jamison

Tagline: A TONIC for the “BLUES”!

The Plot…

The boys are recent graduates (because they’d been there too long) from a medical school sent to work at a hospital.  There our guys respond to a variety of calls with the type of success/zaniness you’d expect.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Men in Black was the third Three Stooges short and the only one to ever be nominated for an Academy Award. (It was nominated for Best Short Subject – Comedy. If only it had won.  Can you imagine future ads proclaiming The Stooges as Academy Award Winners?)

Curly forgot a line and adlibbed his famous “Woo-woo-woo” which would go on to become one of his trademark phrases.  Men in Black also contains many bits that would often turn up in Stooges shorts – the boys going into a quick huddle; breaking a plate glass door window repeatedly as they run through/by; pulling objects (bicycles, a horse, a go-cart) out of a closet that are obviously too big to fit, etc.

Men in Black earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Loco Boy Makes Good” (1942) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Loco Boy Makes Good (1942)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Felix Adler, Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Symona Boniface, Heinie Conklin, Vernon Dent, Charles Dorety and Bud Jamison

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

When the boys learn that an old woman is going to lose her hotel, they decide to help her raise money to save the place.  Our guys help her spruce up the joint (with their usual success).  They then put on a big show with Curly accidentally ending up wearing a magician’s coat.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Four years after Loco Boy Makes Good‘s release, Harold Lloyd, the silent film star, sued Columbia Pictures for copyright infringement.  Lloyd won.  Clyde Buckman, the director of Loco Boy Makes Good also directed Lloyd’s film Movie Crazy.  Both featured the same magician’s coat sequence.

Loco Boy Makes Good earns 4 of 5 stars.

Philip Marlowe – Who Played Him Best? Ranking the Actors Who Played Him!

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 Rory Doherty at Paste recently posted Every Philip Marlowe Performance, Ranked. Before you click over, here’s a comparison of our rankings and my thoughts on each.

Doherty

Zablo

9. Robert Montgomery,
Lady in the Lake (1947)
* George Montgomery, The Brasher Doubloon (1947)

8. George Montgomery,
The Brasher Doubloon (1947)
* James Caan, Poodle Springs (1998) – Haven’t seen yet.

7. James Caan,
Poodle Springs (1998)
* Liam Neeson, Marlowe (2023) – Haven’t seen yet.

6. Liam Neeson,
Marlowe (2023)

6. Elliot Gould, The Long Goodbye (1973) – This didn’t work for me. Gould wasn’t my idea of Marlowe and the film just didn’t resonate with me.

5. Robert Mitchum,
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
The Big Sleep (1978)

5. Robert Montgomery, Lady in the Lake (1947) – An experiment that failed. Shot so that the audience sees everything from Marlowe’s perspective, it plays like a modern video game with little action.

4. Dick Powell,
Murder, My Sweet (1944)

4. James Garner, Marlowe (1969) – Garner isn’t a bad Marlowe plus we get Bruce Lee too! I’d have like to have seen Garner play Marlowe again.

3. James Garner,
Marlowe (1969)

3. Robert Mitchum, Farewell, My Lovely (1975) & The Big Sleep (1978) – Mitchum plays an “older” Marlowe. He’s not in his prime, but Mitchum at any age is a winner. Plus we get Sly Stallone in Farewell, My Lovely.

2. Humphrey Bogart,
The Big Sleep (1946)

2. Dick Powell, Murder, My Sweet (1944) – Powell was best known for lighthearted musicals prior to this. Surprisingly he makes a cool Marlowe!

1. Elliot Gould,
The Long Goodbye (1973)

1. Humphrey Bogart, The Big Sleep (1946) – Bogart is easily my favorite Marlowe. If only he had made more

Although Doherty limited his rankings to the movie Marlowes, I want to make mention of Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983 – 1986), a series that ran for 3 years on HBO. Powers Boothe played Marlowe. It’s been decades since I saw the series, but I remember it fondly. I need to revisit it.

On the Road? Buc-ee’s For All Your Travel Needs!

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If you’re driving and you need gas, a clean restroom, food or drink, then you cannot do better than Buc-ee’s. My guess is that if you have a Buc-ee’s anywhere near you, you know about them.  But in case you don’t…

A Buc-ee’s is what you would get if you took a huge convenience store, added a bakery, a kitchen for breakfast, lunch and dinner items, a gas station with dozens of pumps, restrooms with dozens of individual stalls plus a worker who is dedicated to keeping each of them clean, multiple fountains for soft drinks of many flavors, sections for snacks of every kind, a wall of jerky of all types, plus books and other items you’d find in an ole country store.

Buc-ee’s are currently located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.  New locations are coming to Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.  We have two in Florida.  When the closest one was being built, I didn’t understand the excitement.  “It’s a gas station for crying out loud,” I thought.

Once it was built, I visited and understood the appeal.  It’s a one-stop shop for all your traveling needs.  You get cheap gas with virtually no waiting because of many pumps.  There are all kinds of snacks available.  If you need breakfast, lunch or dinner, they have you covered.  The brisket sandwiches are most popular, but I’m partial to the turkey sandwiches.  If you’re a Coke or Pepsi fan, both are available as fountain drinks.  I usually choose an Arnold Palmer (lemonade & iced tea mix) that is also on the fountain.  Oh, and a fresh cinnamon roll from the bakery is a bonus!

It’s funny seeing a person on their first visit to a Buc-ee’s.  You can spot them a mile away.  They have the look of a kid visiting a theme park for the first time.  If you’re traveling and a Buc-ee’s is on your way, plan a stop.  You won’t be disappointed.

John Wayne’s Best Films!

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Jack Hawkins at /Film ranked his favorite John Wayne films.  It got me thinking about how I’d rate the Duke’s best.  So without further jibber-jabber, here’s how thinks shook out.

Hawkins

Zablo
10. The Cowboys 10. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
9. Stagecoach 9. The Shootist
8. Fort Apache 8. Red River
7. The Longest Day 7. 3 Godfathers
6. El Dorado 6. Rio Bravo
5. Baby Face 5. Hondo
4. Hatari! 4. True Grit
3. True Grit 3. The Cowboys
2. The Shootist 2. Stagecoach
1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1. The Searchers

Challenger Shuttle Disaster Facts That You May Not Know

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On this day in 1986, at 11:38am EST, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. On board were F. Richard Scobee (Mission Commander), Michael J. Smith (Pilot), Mission Specialists Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis and Payload Specialist/Teacher Christa McAuliffe. Seventy-three seconds into the flight, the shuttle broke apart in a cloud of fire. There were no survivors.

I was a middle school science teacher in Holly Hill, Florida on that day.  I’d just walked my students to lunch.  Since the shuttle was going up, I walked outside. We could see shuttle launches once they reached altitude.  It was cold so there were only a few of us watching.  We saw the shuttle vapor trail and it looked like a normal launch until it didn’t.  We all commented that this launch was different.  We’d never seen a vapor trail split like that before.

I went to the teacher’s lunch room.  As I was sitting down we received word that the shuttle had exploded.  We ate in silence.  I picked up my students and we went back to class.  Students had so many questions.  At that point we had no answers.  One of my students, a class clown, said he wished there had been more teachers on board.  The class shut him down quicker than I could.

Today History.com posted 5 Things You May Not Know About the Challenger Shuttle Disaster.  Before you click over for the full story, here are my thoughts on each.

1. The Challenger didn’t actually explode. (Although news media and even NASA at first referred to the disaster as the result of an explosion, it wasn’t.  There was a leak from the fuel tank and a fireball but not an explosion.  Many still think the Challenger exploded. – Craig)

2. The astronauts aboard the shuttle didn’t die instantly. (This was the topic of much speculation.  It’s rumored there are tapes which have never been released of the astronauts aware there was a major problem.  I hope that they lost consciousness and the end came quickly for them. – Craig)

3. Relatively few people actually saw the Challenger disaster unfold on live television. (Living in Florida, shuttle launches have always generated a lot of interest.  Since we’re close enough to see launches once they reach altitude most folks will go outside to watch.  On that January day, because it was so cold, there were only 3 or 4 of us watching. – Craig)

4. In the aftermath of the tragedy, some suggested that the White House pushed NASA to launch the shuttle in time for President Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union address, scheduled for later on January 28. (There was pressure, but it wasn’t from the White House.  Ronald Reagan was applauded for his words about the astronauts. – Craig)

5. More than a decade after the Challenger disaster, two large pieces from the spacecraft washed ashore at a local beach. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 10 Best Movie Characters!

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Simon Bland at /Film took a look at his choices for The 10 Best Arnold Schwarzenegger Roles That Aren’t The Terminator.  I thought I’d play along, so before you click over, here are how are choices play out (in no particular order)…

Bland

Zablo
Dutch – Predator Dutch – Predator
John Matrix – Commando John Matrix – Commando
Jack Slater – Last Action Hero Mark Kaminski – Raw Deal
Julius – Twins Ivan Danko – Red Heat
Dt. John Kimble – Kindergarten Eraser – Eraser
Mr. Freeze – Batman & Robin Rottmayer – Escape Plan
Quaid – Total Recall Quaid – Total Recall
Trench – The Expendables Series Trench – The Expendables Series
Harry Tasker – True Lies John ‘Breacher’ Wharton – Sabotage
Conan – Conan The Barbarian Conan – Conan The Barbarian

Kevin Costner’s Ten Best Movies!

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Hunter Cates at /Film posted The 14 Best Kevin Costner Movies, Ranked.  That got me thinking about what I would choose as Kevin Costner’s best films.  Here are how Cates and my rankings turned out.

Cates

Zablo
10. Thirteen Days 10. 3,000 Miles to Graceland
09. The Upside of Anger 09. No Way Out
08. A Perfect World 08. Silverado
07. Hidden Figures 07. The Bodyguard
06. No Way Out 06. Waterworld
05. The Untouchables 05. JFK
04. JFK 04. Dances with Wolves
03. Dances With Wolves 03. Revenge
02. Field of Dreams 02. Open Range
01. Bull Durham 01. The Untouchables