256 of 1001 Movies: Diner (1982)

This whole movie just turned into one big game of trying to figure out which was Mickey Rourke! It was so distracting. If I had remembered that Barry Levinson directed The Natural I might have remembered how boring his movies are. There is a lot of story and you and you tell it's a movie really pushing to get the characters moving. It seems to drift to nowhere, but the guys at least make the characters shine with their acting as if they are real people, so they make it work despite the lack of enthralling story.

Summary: Eddie, Shrevie, Boogie, and Timothy are college aged, and living in 1959 in Baltimore. There is an impending passage into adulthood lurking over their heads though that they haven't been accepting. For some it might mean stepping up to be present in their marriage, or even becoming a man to marry, or it means owning up to your debts. Whatever way their lives are going adulthood isn't proving to be an easy passage as some know what they want, but have trouble getting it, or some don't know what they want at all.

190 of 1001 Movies: Rain Man (1988)

One of the main reasons I will give Rain Man the rating I do is because it really does bring about some emotions. Otherwise though there felt something lacking about the depth in Barry Levinson's drama showing two brothers getting to know each other after years apart. There are a lot of moments where the movie pulls you in, and then it randomly occurs you to you that this almost feels like a movie trying to be feel good because it's so easy for it to. The performances in the movies are really good though, and Dustin Hoffman is brilliant. As someone who isn't a huge fan of many of Tom Cruise's work, I have to say that I forgot he was Tom Cruise while watching him in this movie as well.

Summary: Charlie Babbit's father has died, and when he discovers he wasn't left the fortune he is furious and rushes to where it can be found. When he gets there though he finds he has an autistic brother that he never knew about, Raymond. In the belief that he can exchange his brother for half the money, he drives away with Raymond in tow. What Charlie instead discovers is the relationship with his brother that he was deprived of.

137 of 1001 Movies: The Natural (1984)

So I kept wondering if Roy Hobbs was a real person the entire time, and he is not. This is based off a book though of the same name. So far I've only seen a couple of Robert Redford movies though, and I'm still waiting for that one that is going to catch me as far as his acting. He's good, but there is something a little goody goody about the character of Roy Hobbs that made him someone that seemed far out there to me. There is just a lack of emotional character connection that kept me at bay. Notably, if you still remember TriStar Pictures, this was their first film.

Summary: When Roy Hobbs father suddenly dies under a tree, it is struck by lightening not long after. Roy decides to carve a baseball bat from the tree, and calls his bat, Wonderboy. Travelling with the bat he finds success coming to him as a baseball player, until tragedy meets him when a woman halts him in his career. Years later he decides to pursue his baseball dream again with a struggling team, The Knights. This team is swamped in controversy though, and once a man called, The Judge, realizes how good Roy is he calls him in for a meeting to explain that he wants the Knights to continue to lose so he can have the share that will be sold to him if they do. Not only does he get mixed in the baseball's team s affairs, but he finds himself followed by a reporter from the past who is trying to place his face, and and old love.