Late getting this going today. A busy, nice week with 4th of July thrown in there. I was able to have two trips to Rangers games. Bittersweet in that it is likely my last trips for the season. This week will be busy getting ready for Comic-Con and getting ahead at work before I leave. Today I'm planning on not getting too far from the sofa except to maybe get my workout in. This week's blog is once again incomplete - I'm getting used to a new schedule and should be back on pace next week. Until then, I'm sitting here talking to Miles about the day and listening to some tuneage . . .
SUNDAY MORNING TUNEAGE
TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS - MARY JANE'S LAST DANCE. I'm always skeptical of songs added to Greatest Hits packages. Too often they don't reflect the quality of the other songs on the album. And they seem like just thrown together last minute tunes. But this 1993 tune from his Greatest Hits album has become possibly one of my Top Five Petty tunes. It's a pretty poignant song about the ending of a relationship and still hits me every time. Every.
QUICK LIST (a random, uninformed list off the top of Shawn's head)
BEST MOVIE MONOLOGUES OF ALL-TIME
BEST MOVIE MONOLOGUES OF ALL-TIME
10. PETER FINCH - NETWORK. Plenty of good monologues in this film but Peter can't chill, losing it is where he's at his best. "I'm as mad as hell."
9. ROBERT DENIRO - TAXI DRIVER. "Are you talkin' to me?" How uncomfortable is that moment? Paranoia has never been so perfectly portrayed then in this monologue.
8 AL PACINO - ANY GIVEN SUNDAY. Not a great movie but this speech gives me chills. You only pull it out for key games in the playoffs for a Championship or Elimination games. But it's one I need to put to memory. "The inches we need are everywhere around us."
7. HUMPHREY BOGART - CASABLANCA. Another well written film that has a number of great monologues. Humphrey knows about love and the world - "the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill o' beans in this crazy world."
6. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN -- PULP FICTION. "The Watch" as it's known. It's definitely Quentin being Quentin. It is rare that you'd take so long to tell a story in the middle of the film that isn't as important as the time allotted. But it's hard to turn away as Walken talks to the camera like we are right there in the room.
5. HENRY FONDA - GRAPES OF WRATH. The movie isn't the happiest but Henry gives us hope that we'll come out of the Depression - "Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there."
4. ALEC BALDWIN - GLENGARRY GLENN ROSS. "Coffee is for closers" I didn't realize until much, much later that his character isn't even in the stage play. He sets the tone for the film that always stays with you.
3. SAMUEL L. JACKSON - PULP FICTION. I love Sam and Quentin is talented at busting out a monologue on you in a film. This one is as memorable as they come. "When I lay my vengeance upon thee."
2. CHARLIE CHAPLIN - THE GREAT DICTATOR. It could easily be #1 except for how out of character it is in the film. It's beautifully constructed and still really powerful today. Timeless in a way that few other monologues ever are. I can still quote it today . . . "More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness."
1. ROBERT SHAW - JAWS. There was never, ever a doubt that this would be my #1. If you didn't know it would be, then you don't really know me. Rarely has a monologue accomplished as much as this did - it fits the spot in the film, moves the plot forward, adds characterization and most importantly draws out the suspense of the film by being so quiet when things have been so chaotic. "You know the thing about a shark, he's got lifeless eyes." Shaw is absolutely incredible.
NETFLIX PLAY NOW OF THE WEEK . . .
Shawn's fave movies according to FLICKCHART
RANDOM PROJECT UPDATE -
SHAWN'S TOP ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (a tribute to the art of the album)
#31 Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
This was the first Led Zeppelin album that I knew. And the only one I knew until about my Senior year in High School. But these are the group of songs that I always have in my head when I think Led Zeppelin. And just listening to it the other day - this is a blast of rock right at you. It's 8 great songs that don't mess around. It's the best combination of blues and rock and Jimmy Page and Robert Plant selling out for pure entertainment. The album gets right to the point with "Black Dog" and the sequencing of the songs is a perfect blend right through my two favorite final songs - "Going to California" and "When the Levee Breaks". This was one of the cassette tapes that led me on my journey to California. It must have played a dozen times on that trip. I still relive that feeling of freedom when it plays. Great rock never gets old, does it?
Going to California
When the Levee Breaks
Black Dog
Previous Rankings
#32 - Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
#33 - Parliament - Mothership Connection (1975)
#34 - Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (1989
#35 - U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)
#36 - Elton John - Captain Fantastic and Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)
THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION
MONDAY - it's Summer, you don't need a guide this week . . .
AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR . . . those familiar with De La Soul will recognize this Lou Johnson song from this very strong SoCo commercial . . .
That follows last Summer when they used this funky Odetta song. Respect . . .
"There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings,
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven." - Led Zeppelin
It makes me wonder. Stay hard.
sb
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