Somtimes when I watch Ray I totally forget that actor Jamie Foxx is playing Ray Charles and not actually THE Ray Charles. The only time I can recall a similar feeling is when George C. Scott portrayed Patton.
I like watching movies where the underdog makes it...especially when they're true! I love it when the hero fights government and brings it crumbling to their knees. The hero, like all, makes mistakes along the way, but also finds that his friends, his courage and his faith will prevail...not government charity. The story of the late great singer Ray Charles is such a triumph. His humble beginnings to super stardom is one incredible ride and almost unbelievable! Ray is proudly the Movie of the Week!
Ray Charles has the distinction of being both a national treasure and an international phenomenon. By the early 1960's Ray Charles had accomplished his dream. He'd come of age musically. He'd made it to Carnegie Hall. The hit records "Georgia," "Born to Lose" successively kept climbing to the top of the charts. He'd made his first triumphant European concert tour in 1960 (a feat which, except for 1965, he's repeated at least once a year ever since). He had taken virtually every form of popular music and broken through its boundaries with such awe inspiring achievements as the LP's "Genius Plus Soul Equals Jazz" and "Modern Sounds in Country & Western." Rhythm & blues (or "race music" as it had been called) became universally respectable through his efforts. Jazz found a mainstream audience it had never previously enjoyed. And country & western music began to chart an unexpected course to general acceptance, then worldwide popularity. And along the way Ray Charles was instrumental in the invention of rock & roll.
Born in a poor African American town in central Florida, Ray Charles went blind at the age of 7. With the staunch support of his determined single mother, he developed the fierce resolve, wit and incredible talent that would eventually enable him to overcome not only Jim Crow Racism and the cruel prejudices against the blind, but also discover his own sound which revolutionized American popular music.
Nonetheless, as Ray's unprecedented fame grew, so did his weakness for drugs and women, until they threatened to strip away the very things he held most dear. This little known story of Ray Charles' meteoric rise from humble beginnings, his successful struggle to excel in a sighted world and his eventual defeat of his own personal demons make for an inspiring and unforgettable true story of human triumph.
Couldn't find any trailers (in English) but I did find this I think fits my blog perfectly!
What if someone offered you $30,000,000? The only catch? Give someone else credit for your idea.
Your idea.
Your idea, that you developed and fought to protect. Your idea that will eventually affect the lives of just about everyone who uses a certain product every day!
Like say...a car.
But wait, your family and friends want you to take the money. Just let them have "their" invention. It's just a stupid windshield wiper!
So now the tough question. Do you take the money or do you fight? The choice is yours. Me? I'd take the money and run. Retire, drink beer, smoke cigars, and blog all day. But hey, that's me. DON'T YOU JUDGE ME!
Based on the true story of college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns' long battle with the U.S. automobile industry, Flash of Genius tells the tale of one man whose fight to receive recognition for his ingenuity would come at a heavy price. But this determined engineer refused to be silenced, and he took on the corporate titans in a battle that nobody thought he could win. The Kearns were a typical 1960s Detroit family, trying to live their version of the American Dream. Local university professor Bob married teacher Phyllis and, by their mid-thirties, had six kids who brought them a hectic but satisfying Midwestern existence. When Bob invents a device that would eventually be used by every car in the world, the Kearns think they have struck gold. But their aspirations are dashed after the auto giants who embraced Bob's creation unceremoniously shunned the man who invented it. Ignored, threatened and then buried in years of litigation, Bob is haunted by what was done to his family and their future. He becomes a man obsessed with justice and the conviction that his life's work-or for that matter, anyone's work-be acknowledged by those who stood to benefit. And while paying the toll for refusing to compromise his dignity, this everyday David will try the unthinkable: to bring Goliath to his knees.
Whether it's a large crooked cooperation or a harassing government agency, the little guy dukes it out and lands a killer punch and a great story!
If my calculations are correct, when you visit my blog on a daily basis...you're going to see and read some serious s--t!
We're going to do things a little bit differently this week on ECM and I think you're gonna like it! Especially, if you are a big fan of this week's movie! I'm going to try to post videos related to this movie throughout the week! Folks, if you have never seen this film before, more than likely you're living under the biggest rock of all time.
I was 10 when my sister and I saw this movie. I remember it was the summer of 1985 and she just got her license (and had a 1978 metallic blue Chevy Nova). She invited a group of her friends to go to the mall to see this movie called Back to the Future and being the great sister that she is she invited her little brother to tag along (or maybe Mom just told her too) .
Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the Eighties, is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean "time machine" invented by slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love - so he can get back to the future.
The thing I like about this film are the values.
What's the ol' Commandment say? "Honor thy Mother and Father?" Well, Marty helps his socially awkward father realize he can achieve greater things in life! He also shows "dad, dad, dad, daddio" how to win the heart of Marty's mother who, wouldn't you know it, is the most popular girl in school!
I guess in a weird way, Back to the Future is a pro-life movie, too. All of the sudden Marty realizes...well...that he needs to be born! And the only way this can happen is if his parents fall in love.
Apparently, the entire series is now coming out on DVD. I wasn't a huge fan of Parts 2 & 3, but they're still fun to watch! The original, however, is my favorite and I think the whole family will enjoy it!
Human beings...well...we're not as smart as we think we are.
We think we can control anything, and if we can't control it...well then...there has to be something wrong with it, right? And somebody has to be blamed for it!
Take, for instance, our fascination with the environment. One side of the issue realizes the importance of protecting the earth, but they're also concerned with things called FACTS!
The other side sees this as a political opportunity to frighten individuals to vote for them and/or support a cause based on total and complete nonsense.
The truth is we can't control the temperature of our planet. We think we can...but folks it's not happening. Scientists from around the world are now starting to examine solar flares from our sun that are affecting temperature changes...and the last time I looked we weren't very good at controlling the sun.
We can't even control the birds of the sky. Don't believe me? Then you should watch this week's Edge's Conservative Movie the 1962 Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds. This is the third film from Hitch to make it to ECM (Rear Window, North By Northwest)
It's a scary flick, so don't watch it with kiddies. Hitchcock will have you looking at our fine feathered friends a little differently than you did before. Here is the synopsis from IMDb...
Spoiled socialite and notorious practical joker Melanie Daniels is shopping in a San Francisco pet store when she meets Mitch Brenner. Mitch is looking to buy a pair of love birds for his young sister's birthday; he recognizes Melanie but pretends to mistake her for an assistant. She decides to get her own back by buying the birds and driving up to the quiet coastal town of Bodega Bay, where Mitch spends his weekends with his sister and mother. Shortly after she arrives, Melanie is attacked by a gull, but this is just the start of a series of attacks by an increasing number of birds.
The conservative point in this movie is a simple one. We are not in control of everything...AND...WE CAN NEVER BE IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING. This point isn't meant to scare you, but it is meant to open your eyes and control the things YOU can control...like your health, your checkbook, your actions, how YOU live your own life.
So why you're trying to figure this out, don't look up in the sky with your mouth open anytime soon.
Here is the trailer created by a fan of the movie...
Folks, this is a really funny movie...a really REALLY funny movie! However, if you like good wholesome clean humor Knocked Up is really REALLY not the movie for you!
What's interesting about this crude comedy is that it's a pro-life movie! How'd that happen? Hollywood producing a pro-life flick? What's going on here? Well, let's lay off showing this movie in Sunday school, shall we? This is definitely not a film for the lil' folk, but grown ups will have a good laugh and watch a good story too! Here is the summary from IMDb...
When Alison Scott is promoted in E! Television, she goes to a night-club to celebrate with her older married sister Debbie. Alison meets the pothead reckless Ben Stone and while having a small talk with Ben, Debbie's husband Pete calls her to tell that their daughter has chicken pots. Debbie leaves the place but Allison stays with Ben, drinking and dancing along all night; completely wasted, they end up having a one night stand. Ben does not use condom and eight weeks later, Allison discovers that she is pregnant. She calls Ben and they decide to try to stay together and have the baby. However, Ben needs to grow-up first to raise a family of his own.
Abortion is an option, but the two choose life! And folks, when a film chooses "life" that's an Edge Conservative Movie of the Week!
What a great film. Have you seen it, or have you just seen bits and pieces of it on TV? There's a difference you know! Great conservative flickr here folks! One man leads a rag tag bunch against the most ruthless government the world has ever seen! And to think Kirk Douglas was a super lib too! Oh well, as I have stated before on this blog, some of the biggest libs made some of the most right wing flicks! This is why you should thank yours truly for showing you the way...hee...hee.
The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes. Meanwhile, in Rome, the slave revolt has become a deciding factor in the power struggle between two senators: the republican Gracchus and the militarist Crassus, each of whom sees the fortunes of the rebellion as the key to his own rise to power or humiliating defeat. As the two statesmen attempt to aid, hinder and manipulate the rebels for their own benefit, Spartacus and his followers press on toward freedom.
Freedom at any cost...no matter what the odds. You think we have it rough with Obama taking over? Put yourself in the shoes (or sandals) of the folks back then. Would you fight for your freedom?
Well...would you?
The Edge Conservative Movie of the Week is Spartacus!
Hanks? Roberts? Conservative movie? HA! Right Edge, keep on typing.
Or you might be thinking,
Wasn't Charlie Wilson a Democrat? I mean a REAL liberal Democrat?
Yep, he sure was...unless he was dealing with Afghans and Soviets...then for some reason he turned into George W. Bush (well...sort of). Below is the movie review from IMDb.
"Good-Time Charlie" Wilson, a flawed and fun-loving Congressman from the piney woods of East Texas, deftly operates the levers of power to funnel money and weapons to the Mujahedin of Afghanistan following the Soviet invasion of their country in late 1979. Charlie finds assistance in the oddest of places -- a renegade CIA agent whose outsider status and womanizing ways endears him to Wilson; a Houston socialite who leads Wilson to the cause; the willing Pakistani dictator fascinated by the socialite; the Israelis who modify and manufacture Soviet weapons to maintain the wink-and-nudge illusion of American neutrality; and the women -- ooh the women!
Can you picture an Obama or a Clinton taking these kind of risks? Heck, I can't think of many Republicans today that would! Think what the world would be like if Wilson didn't act. What if he just said it's not important, or the ever popular there's no way we can win this fight? But he did and that is why Charlie Wilson's War is Edge's Conservative Movie of the Week!
Folks, sometimes bad guys...just need their asses kicked...and kicked hard! In what is probably Kevin Costner's best movie, Open Range is a classic Western set in Montana. The underlying plot revolves around the range wars of the late 1800s. These wars were a conflict between cattlemen who believed in free access to water and grass for everyone, and land barons who used barbed wire to fence off their empires, while denying access to the free-range cattlemen who were moving their herds.
Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) is a free-range cattleman and Charley Waite (Kevin Costner) is his younger partner. Waite is a former Civil War soldier and gunslinger.
The story involves the confrontation between Spearman and greedy land baron Denton Baxter (Michael Gambon) and corrupt Sheriff Poole for control of Spearmans herd and his right to live the life he has always known.
The film ends with a dramatic gunfight between Spearman and Waite and Baxter and a group of his heavily armed thugs. Seeing the fight coming many of the people in the town flee into the surrounding hills.
Open Range is an outstanding example of a unique American film genre. Clear in its old-fashioned values, it is a beautifully filmed, well acted and loyal to its historic traditions.
If you like guns, you'll like this movie... a whole lot!
I remember going to see this movie with my Dad and Uncle and it was sold out. So we (or I should say I suggested) went to see Norbit instead. Take my word for it...
don't see Norbit...go see Breach!
Breach is based on the true story of former 25 year veteran FBI Intelligence agent Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper). In December 2000, Hanssen, one of the best Intelligence agents at the FBI, was reassigned to the Washington D.C. FBI Headquarters to head up a new division to protect all the FBI's classified information. Eric O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is a young surveillance and computer specialist who hopes to become an FBI field agent one day. Eric is recruited to his dream job in Intelligence at FBI headquarters to clerk for Robert Hanssen. Eric soon finds out why he was really assigned to work for Hanssen. Hanssen is suspected of being a traitor and selling American secrets to the Soviet Union for years. Eric must discover Hanssen's secrets and bring them to the light of day, before more damage is done to the security of the United States.
Great film folks! I think all of you will simply enjoy this true story. If you haven't seen it yet be sure to rent it soon! There is a great conservative message in this film of hard work, optimism and faith! Here is the movie review from About.com!
Seabiscuit takes place during the Great Depression, a time when Americans got their news and entertainment via the radio. With the country in the midst of one of the harshest periods of our history, people needed something inspirational to lift their spirits and give them hope. They found that hope in the most unlikely of heroes – a ragtag racehorse named Seabiscuit.
Short in stature and with a quirky gait, Seabiscuit passed from owner to owner, picking up various labels including lazy, unmotivated, and a loser. By the time he was purchased by automobile dealer Charles Howard, he’d become difficult to deal with and was on his way to being put down. Wrangler Tom Smith spotted a kindred spirit in the stubborn little horse and convinced Howard to give him a chance to work with the animal. Howard had suffered a devastating blow when his only child died in an automobile accident and was looking for anything that might distract him and help fill a gaping hole in his life. New to the horseracing industry, Howard placed his faith in Smith’s judgment and Seabiscuit found a home.
Tom Smith was also responsible for hiring a jockey to work with Seabiscuit. Johnny ‘Red’ Pollard caught his eye while berating a horse he was working out. Red was tall for a jockey but similar to Smith, Howard, and Seabiscuit, Red had that down but not out attitude.
Like the men who cared for him, Seabiscuit overcame the odds and blossomed. With the team in place, Seabiscuit became one of the winningest horses of his generation, taking on all challengers including the then current Triple Crown winner, War Admiral.
It's great to see the little guy win one every once in awhile, isn't it?
Here is the trailer from the film...
The actual 1938 race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral.
Usually when I see a movie advertised that stars Hollywood libs like a Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin, or a George Clooney I tend to shy away from the box office to hand over my dinero.
Cinderella Man, starring Russell Crowe, was no different. My best friend who saw it in the theatre told me to go see the film and I said I would wait for it on DVD. I wish I hadn't waited and I learned a very valuable lesson.
Even a phone throwing liberal idiot can make a movie with a conservative theme.
Crowe is James Braddock, a 1930's era boxer struggling to make ends meet. With the Great Depression in full force, Braddock's fortunes take a turn for the worse when he breaks his hand in a bout. With little income to support his family, he reluctantly turns to the government for welfare. His struggles to find work continue for years when he finally decides to get back in the ring to earn money. Surprisingly to all he's almost twice the fighter he was and faces the Heavyweight Champion Max Baer in the film's conclusion.
Oh and that welfare check he received? He paid it back. Every last penny. A lot different than today, huh?
This clip puts Rocky music to the Cinderella Man fight scenes. Pretty cool.
I'm 32 years old and I can say quite frankly that United 93 is the greatest American story ever told to my generation. It belongs with the classics we all learned in our history books...Valley Forge, The Alamo, Gettysburg, D-Day, Iwo Jima, United 93...period.
What makes this story more remarkable than any other story in our country's history is that these were common citizens that rose up together to fight evil. They weren't at war with anyone, they didn't train together, hell they didn't even know each other...but they recorded a significant first victory against terror that day.
I remember when this film was released and some people said it will just make people mad all over again. If this you, do your country a favor...
