Let's kick this off correctly.  Top Ten Favorite Movies for The Will Man.

10:  Notting Hill: 

Richard Curtis-written flick.  You know.  Richard Curtis.  The guy who came up with Mr. Bean, and wrote almost every Hugh Grant film ever?  Anyway, good concept, well shot, excellent writing.  Good soundtrack, too.  And Richard Curtis is going places.

9:  When Harry Met Sally...:

Another great one in the Romantic Comedy genre.  Wonderful dialogue.  Great exploration of the relationship between men and women on many levels.  Billy Crystal is good, Meg Ryan is solid, and hey, it has Carrie Fisher, of Princess Leia fame.

8: The Shop Around The Corner:

The first of three incarnations of the same story, the most recent of which is You've Got Mail.  Jimmy Stewart is, well, Jimmy Stewart.  What more is there?  Great movie with comedic miscues and witticisms that exemplifiy the best of the time period.

7: The Rock:

Nick freaking Cage.  What a guy.  Awesome in just about every role.  This just happens to be my favorite.  Exciting, visually fantastic,  all star cast, stuff blowing up.  Rock on.

6: Kill Bill, Vol 2:

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said it best:  "Warm Fuzzy Violence".  This second installment of a great story is less violent than its counterpart.  It's more developed, and Uma Thurman is great.  The most heart warming film this year certainly, maybe for a while.

5: Road to Perdition:

A wonderful performance by Tom Hanks is supported by every other member of the cast being at least equal to the material means a great film right there.  Add to that some of the most beautifully shot scenes in existance, and you've got quite a flick.

4: The Majestic:

One of Jim Carrey's few departures from slapstick. It's a great patriotic film, which is almost a rarity in the modern pre-Sept. 11 era.  It also explores free speech, the old Communist witch hunts, and what movies mean to American society.  Great Capra-esque movie.

3: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings:

All of the Lord of the Rings movies were visually impressive, well acted for the most part, and just generally good.  That being said, the first installment was the least dissappointing for me, having read the book.  It remains my favorite.  And Viggo Mortenson is cool.

2: Love Actually:

As the DVD box proclaims, it's the ultimate romantic comedy.  With eight seperate plotlines, it has literally got something to everyone.  It was so great!  I didn't particularly like the nudity, but the stories were so good that that may be forgiven.  The latest triumph of Richard Curtis, this one also has Keira Knightley, who is irrefutably the most beautiful woman in the world.  Period.

1:  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington:

Here it is folks.  The best ever.  Frank Capra's victorious exploration of the fundementals of American government and culture.  One of three Capra-Jimmy Stewart films, including It's A Wonderful Life and You Can't Take It With You.  The naive Mr. Smith truly captures the American spirit, and embodies everything I want to be.  Without the naivete.

Currently Reading The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry By Wendell Berry, Norman Wirzba see related

It occurs to me that no one else in the entire world knows that I am creating this little page.  No matter.  My feelings and opinions are worth writing for their own sake.  Why not?  For what other purpose would anyone write?  Think about it.  Writing is an exercise in thought, or, more accurately, in defining thought, or distilling thought into an expressable form.  But whom does the writer touch?  An eloquent passage may, from time to time, touch a reader's emotion or stimulate his intellect.  Indeed, there are some that need the kind of affirmation that kind writing generates in feedback.  But really, can any writer count on that?  The best a writer can hope for, I think, is to express himself to...himself.  It's been my unhappy experiance that no one changes his mind unless he already wants to.  Most of us, I think, are so set in our ways (which is, by the way, often a euphemism for thinking far too highly of ourselves) that we will never truly change our minds more than is demanded by unimportant trends and fashions.  This then, is why the writer must write for himself.  In layman's terms, why write for anyone other than the only one that you know cares what you have to say?  That, I guess, is the fundemental idea for this venture in web-journaling.  I care what I think, and I have the unhappy duty of expressing myself for my own good.  Live with it.