When people talk about the power of cinema, the best example is Rocky's training montage which is uplifting, powerful, and unforgettable. Not just an outstanding boxing film, it also has the romance of a lifetime with an all-time great ending. Terrific acting and direction transcend Rocky into a moving motion picture for all people.

There are few films that are as exciting and inspiring as Point Break. I bet if anyone watched the movie just once, he may have entertained some thoughts about changing his entire lifestyle. Bodhi perfectly describes the truth-seeking experience: "Pure adrenaline, right?!? The ultimate rush. Other guys snort for it, jab a vein for it...all you gotta do is jump." Sounds pretty simple, eh? Patrick Swayze did the skydiving stunts and is thus captivating. It's easy to realize it in Johnny Utah's eyes when he saw what Bodhi could do.

Rocky II is a phenomenal boxing movie. Apollo Creed is a great champion. Rocky Balboa was in the match of his career with him, and he showed heart by winning it. The training montage is a can't-beat when Rocky ran up the steps with the children at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

If there's a definitive black American motion picture, it's Roots followed by Roots: The Next Generations. Starting out as a novel in 1976 by Alex Haley about nine generations of African descendants, Roots was developed into a TV miniseries one year later, and just about everybody in the country tuned in, setting viewership records. There's nothing like it.

Shot entirely on location in Hong Kong, Enter the Dragon is the most iconic picture of the kung fu genre and the most famous of Bruce Lee's short-lived career. Believe it or not, he was the first Asian thespian to gain widespread acceptance by white America. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee is captivating, especially during the fight scenes which are one of a kind.

The Miracle Worker is a powerful, moving story about how Helen Keller was shown the light through language. The Oscar wins for Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft are deserving, and the former's performance is in the top ten of all time. It's impossible not to be moved by all of this.

Benefitting from Frank Darabont's well-written screenplay and powerful direction, Tim Robbins' and Morgan Freeman's performances help lift the film off the ground and let it fly like the human spirit. If anything, it's the Red's voice-over narration that makes The Shawshank Redemption so good. Roger Deakins' cinematography gives the film a special feel as it enters the classic territory.

Before there was Steve Prefontaine and before there were Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, there was Larry "Rain" Murphy. The best memory I have of The Jericho Mile is the slow motion of him running topless in gray shorts with his hair in the wind. It's the highlight and my favorite moment of the movie. Simply unforgettable.

The king of high school pictures, Lean on Me is a heartwarming tale that's based on a true story about how Joe Clark created a storm of controversy by using unconventional methods of discipline at Eastside High in Paterson, New Jersey, during the 80's. Thanks to Morgan Freeman's stirring performance, it's scene-by-scene brilliant in a moving way that captures the essence of the human spirit.

It's a Wonderful Life is the Christmas picture of them all. It also captures the human spirit. The last twenty minutes is what transcends the film as a whole to another level, hence the repeated viewings. Any time you're confronted by a person who wants to commit suicide, the best answer is telling him to watch It's a Wonderful Life. This piece of advice will probably save his life, offering him a new perspective of the world.

"An astonishing work of art and an overpowering motion picture experience" is how one Los Angeles Times critic described Easy Rider. Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson will always be identified with this film. Entering the Deep South, the tragic ending is memorable because of what George Hanson said: "They're scared of what you represent to 'em. What you represent to them is freedom."

Michael Douglas is chilling as Gordon Gekko and steals every scene. The most famous line of Wall Street is: "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." It's also full of Gekkoisms such as "The most valuable commodity I know of is information," "Ever wonder why fund managers can't beat the S&P 500? 'Cause they're sheep, and sheep get slaughtered," and "I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it's ever fought."

Not many motion pictures are as deeply haunting as this one. To depicit the Arctic wilderness, the whole thing was shot on location in Alaska and Yukon and British Columbia, Canada. The cinematography is thoroughly outstanding. Based on Farley Mowat's book, the story is powerful without the need to rely on words. It's about nature and adventure in the spirit of The Man Who Would Be King. As a bonus, wolves, caribou, and mice are featured a great deal. Not many would have pulled off an exceptional performance like how Charles Martin Smith did. He's just perfect for the role.

Burt Lancaster achieves a remarkable transformation of himself into Robert Stroud, a world-famous ornithologist who's locked up in federal prisons most of his life. There's a lot to like about Birdman of Alcatraz: the direction, the black-and-white cinematography, the screenplay, and the supporting performances. Altogether, it's very difficult to stop the movie.

Very few films have the distinction of being described as one of the most beautiful made, and Chariots of Fire, without doubt, is such that. The opening scene of runners on the beach is absolutely powerful and represents what the movie is all about: the celebration of human spirit. Honor and virtue are routinely stressed and backed by actions.

They don't make movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial anymore. The 80's was the decade of E.T. with the dolls, Reese's Pieces, Atari game cartridges, and VHS tapes being all over the place. It was impossible to escape them. The story is unique and can easily hit all people of any age. Two most famous moments are when Elliott and E.T. start to fly through the air on the BMX bike and be in front of the moon.

Alive is a true story of human courage and the will to survive. It's the last ten minutes, from the trek to the helicopter rescue, that makes the film transcendental. In short, there's nothing like it. There are many other powerful scenes. As good as the cast is, Ethan Hawke gives a special performance as Nando Parrado.

A Brooklyn paint store clerk by day and undisputed king of the dance floor by night, it's John Travolta's most famous, iconic movie role. When I think of a film that captures a lost period, it's this one. At that time, disco was strictly underground, but when the movie came out, the subculture just blew up and John Travolta, although already famous because of the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter, became an instant international superstar.

Edward James Olmos is perfect as Jamie Escalante, having gained 20 pounds and gone for the receding hairline look to emulate the teacher. On the other hand, Lou Diamond Phillips steals the film. An Oscar nomination for him shouldn't be out of the question. What he did in Stand and Deliver and La Bamba is the apogee of his career.

"To survive a war, you gotta become war." So it goes in Rambo: First Blood Part II. Sylvester Stallone has never been more thrilling as he was in this film. It's the role that made him a worldwide icon. My favorite line of the movie is on the definition of expendable: "It's like someone invites you to a party and you don't show up. It doesn't really matter."

Indiana Jones is the most iconic character ever, and in the quest of history, he takes on a series of adventures in three outstanding films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They are a must-see for people of all ages because it's what movies should be about.

One of the strangest things I've noticed in regard to Martin Luther King, Jr., is everybody knows who he was, but most don't have any idea of what he specifically did or the events he was involved with. Therefore, King does an outstanding job of summarizing them all in a five-hour biopic with an exceptional performance by Paul Winfield.

There's no question that Tom Hanks gave an iconic James Stewart-like performance. Many things occur in his life: the Vietnam War, his chance meetings with Bubba and Lieutenant Dan, the shrimping business, ping pong, running, and so on. The narration is what makes the movie go quickly, and it's hard to resist the charm of the whole thing.

Charles Bronson asked director Michael Winner, "What shall we do next?" Winner replied he had a script for Death Wish which was about a husband whose wife was murdered and daughter was sexually assaulted. Afterwards, he would kill random muggers who had nothing to do with what happened to his family. "I'd like to do that," Bronson said. "The film?" Bronson replied, "No...shoot muggers."

It's a powerfully inspiring movie about Francis of Assissi, the patron saint of animals and the environment. He founded a Christian religious order called Franciscan and was canonized as a saint for his devotion to God by expressing love for all of God's creation, caring for the poor and sick including those with leprosy, and preaching sermons to animals.

"A team is not a team if you don't give a damn about each other." Because of the South Korea national karate team's training montage, Best of the Best is a tremendous rush. Standouts include Eric Roberts, Chris Penn, Simon Rhee, and James Earl Jones. The ultimate match is what the film is about.

12 Angry Men is a brilliant film that's dependent on the script and performances. The best part is the human aspect. Strangers come together and lay bare their flawed logical reasoning. The ending is powerful because after what the jurors had accomplished as a group, they go their separate ways and never see each other again for the rest of their lives. In fact, 12 Angry Men should be a required viewing for all Americans before they're ready to be jurors.

The editing work of the dogfighting scenes is the best in any film. There are many great movie moments: Tom Cruise on his bike while an F-14 Tomcat is taking off, when he arrives at the female instructor's house, the whole volleyball match with Rossovich flexing his muscles, the piano scene at Kansas City Barbeque, and an F-14 Tomcat buzzing the tower. Top Gun makes joining the U.S. Navy to be a fighter pilot a very cool thing to do.

This is Chariots of Fire stuff. The subject is unique: competitive sailing. Epic doesn't come to my mind for most films, but Wind should be labeled so. Putting the sailboats against the backdrop of hundreds of spectators and the ocean makes them look larger than life, and there are the competitors who work furiously to operate these machines. It's truly a spectacle.

Birth. Evolution. Mankind. Age. Exploration. Universe. Death. 2001: A Space Odyssey...you'll never see anything like it, a brilliant visionary picture that's abstract, beautiful, complicated, and simple all at once. Considering the year the movie was made in—and that's not 1968—but 1963 which is five years of work to make the vision possible.

"There are no other cases. This is the case." The Verdict is Paul Newman's finest hour of his acting career. That much is brilliantly shown from the get-go when he's playing pinball while drinking a glass of scotch. His alcoholic character has given up on life, but when a case comes along that's worth fighting for, he finally becomes a changed man and finds meaning in life.

Based on Tom Wolfe's book, the film is about the nascient history of NASA and the search for men who had...the right stuff. It begins with a pilot that most today have never heard of: Chuck Yeager. Famous for breaking the sound barrier and setting many speed and altitude records in air, he died at the age of 97, having outlived every character in the film. His work was instrumental in making the space flight possible.

Lorenzo's Oil is about Ordone's son who was diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) and the parents' quest to find a miracle cure for the deadly genetic disease because they refused to stand still and watch him die without taking any action. Nick Nolte gives a brilliant performance as the father.

"Listen, man. I've raced with my legs broke, heart bruised, eyes popping out of my head like they're on springs. This is going to go away just like anything else." The be-all and end-all of auto racing pictures, Days of Thunder is 100% speed, fun, cool, exciting, stylish, thrilling, macho, and rewatchable. Tom Cruise and Michael Rooker play larger-than-life characters: Cole Trickle and Rowdy Burns.

There's something nostalgic about American Graffiti whether it's the cars, the cruises, the drive-ins, the rock 'n' roll music, the 50-60's feel, the innocence, or the characters. One thing that's undeniable is it's a timeless classic with a great cast of characters who are engaged in random events. Take away any of them, and American Graffiti ceases to be the picture as it is.

Set at Notre Dame University, Rudy is a feel-good picture with an all-time great ending. Despite the heavy embellishment, the story works well, and there are many dramatic scenes. Sean Astin and Charles S. Dutton will be remembered for this movie in perpetuity.

What makes Ferris Bueller's Day Off unforgettable are the moments. As many of them as there are, the best is the parade which included over 10,000 people; it looks real and spontaneous. The timing of every scene is dead-on, giving the film a perfect flow, and time flies by quickly. As Ferris Bueller, Matthew Broderick has universal appeal just like James Stewart. It's impossible to dislike him. That's why the movie works.

Vincent & Theo is a story about Vincent van Gogh and how he was helped by his brother Theo to devote his passion wholly to art. In fact, Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime, just few months before his death, and struggled during most of his existence, living in penury while pouring all money into his work.

The Daniel Day-Lewis of his time, Paul Muni is one of the greatest actors ever lived. He didn't do many films, starring in only 23 before retiring early due to health problems. When Paul Muni played a character, he became the character, doing exactly that for The Life of Emile Zola. Naturally so, the story is powerful.

The Hell of the West race is dramatic to watch, and the tactics used in the stages are technically correct and sound with authentic crashes. The cinematography of Colorado is wonderful, and the sight of the riders going through the roads over the Rocky Mountains is vertiginously jarring. On the other hand, Kevin Costner and David Grant give excellent performances.

Is the music the reason that makes The Big Chill, or is it the chemistry of the cast? Either way, the movie is unforgettable for many reasons. Sometimes, I hoped for a clear explanation as to why Alex committed suicide, but after getting no answers, I suppose it doesn't matter. What does is the group getting together to remind each other of what's important in life.

Apart from the Alien movies, it's Sigourney Weaver's most famous role, and she was rightly awarded an Academy Award nomination. The film is both beautiful and sad. Of course, the gorillas are the stars. Dian Fossey had a reputation of being emotionally unstable which is often glossed over. Instead, she's credited with reversing the downward trend of the world's gorilla population. There are over a thousand now, the highest ever recorded since the 60's.

Forget the kid, and forget the sob story. The arm wrestling is where the action is in Over the Top. "You got guys from M.I.T., and you got guys who can't spell M.I.T." It has no equal: pure testosterone bleeds everywhere as arm wrestlers eat cigars, drink motor oil, and trash-talk that are backed by pounds of muscle, intense mentality, and do-or-die attitudes.

If you want to see an inspiring story, look no further than The Race for the Double Helix. It was truly a race during the 50's that earned three men (James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins) the Nobel Prize although Rosalind Franklin should also have been awarded it posthumously. The last ten minutes is what makes the film which is dramatic.

Sorcerer is a unique motion picture from William Friedkin that's shot on location in the Dominican Republic. This isn't about the plot per se but an adventure of four men who are down on their luck and will do anything to turn their fortunes around even if it means life and death. Among the finest and most unforgettable scenes in cinema history is the bridge crossing, twice at that, which took three months to film.

Making an ecological statement, The Emerald Forest is the South American version of A Cry in the Dark. Instead of a dingo, it's the Invisible People who took the kid. The incident happened because the builders were tearing down the Amazon rainforest. Cause and effect...it makes perfect sense. At least, Bill Markham has come to accept what has happened and agrees that Tommy belongs in the native culture since he has been immersed there for ten years, leaving behind his old life.

James Caan and Billy Dee Williams...they're unforgettable in Brian's Song which is among the greatest, most powerful movies ever made. It's also one of the saddest, proving that a made-for-TV picture with a simple moving story is infinitely better than a pointless violent film with an overblown budget.

JFK is an incredible masterpiece, representing Oliver Stone's best. Outstanding are the acting, storytelling, and, most of all, editing. The best moment is when Jim Garrison, after learning the real plot from Donald Sutherland's character, summed up the startling discovery by saying, "The size of this is...beyond me."

Julia Roberts earned the Oscar for Best Actress. How much of what's shown in the film is true? It turns out to be nearly everything. Even the real Erin Brockovich called it "98% accurate." Simply put, the movie is better when Julia Roberts stops being a bitch with an attitude and starts gathering facts about what's happening to residents of the town. During this process, Ed Masry begins to see Erin's worth through how she works with them.

Here's a great one from Peter Bogdanovich: Mask. A beautiful, moving film with a sad ending, it's the story of Rocky Dennis and how craniodiaphyseal dysplasia has impacted his life. All performances are top-notch, but the true standouts are Eric Stoltz, Cher, and Sam Elliott. Three of the most interesting aspects of Mask are: Cher's soulful eyes, Sam Elliott's classy presence, and the camaraderie among the bikers.

There exists an underrated Steve Martin comedy, and it's called Parenthood. Ron Howard seamlessly handles vignettes of four different families which crisscross throughout the picture. The best performances come from Steve Martin and Dianne Wiest. Their characters are special. Ironically, Steve Martin didn't become a parent until 2012 although it seems like a natural thing for him.

"If you build it, he will come." That's the mantra of Field of Dreams which is an all-time great baseball film. There's no doubt of movie magic in the spirit of James Stewart's time-honored pictures such as It's a Wonderful Life and Harvey. Simply put, they don't make movies like them anymore.

If you see the word "pasteurized" on milk cartons, then you know where that came from: Louis Pasteur. The subject matter is fascinating, and of course, it's an accepted fact by now there's such thing as a "microbe." It only takes a microscope to discover its existence, and soap and alcohol are among those that can kill them. Otherwise, the consequence is fatal by the failure of disinfection.

"There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was." The Natural is what myth is all about: making legends bigger than they seem to be. Robert Redford will always be Roy Hobbs. He's just perfect. His character's story is almost what if Mickey Mantle never existed, hence "my life didn't turn out the way I expected." Every line uttered by the characters is superficial and never big on explanations. Instead, it's about the look, hence the Best Cinematography Oscar nomination for Caleb Deschanel, and the feel that shouldn't be read too deeply.

The Wild One is a historical movie because it was influential in starting the trend of outlaw biker gangs, black leather wear, and sideburns. What's impressive about Marlon Brando's performance is not how he acts but what his face shows. It's easy to tell, deep down, there had been a series of incidents in the past that caused him to hate authority with passion. This is his quiet revenge.