Tag / Rocky

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Fifty Years Of Music – 1977

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 1977, the year of my third birthday.  I still have no knowledge of these songs from their original release, given my age at the time.  Only twelve of the Hot 100 are familiar to me now, with only six of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#99: London Symphony Orchestra – Star Wars (Main Title)
iTunes stats: 26 plays

Led by John Williams, the London Symphony Orchestra performed one of the best-known movie themes of all time.

#94: Fleetwood Mac – Go Your Own Way
iTunes stats: N/A

The group’s first top-ten hit in the United States, it was ranked as the 120th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone in 2010.

#90: Aerosmith – Walk This Way
iTunes stats: 26 plays

First discovered by my generation thanks to the 80s remake with Run-DMC, the original peaked at #10 in early 1977.

#58: Kansas – Carry On Wayward Son
iTunes stats: N/A

Written by guitarist Kerry Livgren, the song became the band’s first Top 40 hit, reaching No. 11 in early 1977, and has remained a staple of classic rock radio.

#53: Heart – Barracuda
iTunes stats: N/A

The song, which peaked at #11 in 1977, was named the 34th-best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

#52: Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop
iTunes stats: N/A

Used by Bill Clinton as the theme for his presidential campaign in 1992, the third single from the band’s Rumours album reached #3 in October 1977. 

#33: Commodores – Easy
iTunes stats: N/A

Written by group member Lionel Richie and released in March of 1977, the crossover hit topped the Hot Soul Singles chart in July and peaked at #4 on the Hot 100.

#28: Steve Miller Band – Fly Like an Eagle
iTunes stats: N/A

First performed in 1973, the song was finally released in December of 1976 and went to #2 Hot 100 in March.

#21: Bill Conti – Gonna Fly Now
iTunes stats: 16 plays

Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the theme from Rocky hit #1 in 1977.

#19: Eagles – Hotel California
iTunes stats: 28 plays

Winner of the 1978 Grammy for Record of the Year, the song first entered the charts in late February of 1977 and reached the top for one week in May, becoming the band’s fourth #1 hit.

#14: Jimmy Buffet – Margaritaville
iTunes stats: 21 plays

Buffet’s highest charting single, the tune reached #8 on the Hot 100 char, #13 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and #1 on the Easy Listening chart.  It re-entered the charts in September of 2023 following Buffett’s death on September 1.

#12: ABBA – Dancing Queen
iTunes stats: 11 plays

ABBA’s only number one hit in the United States, the song also topped the charts in 17 other countries.

 

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You Ought To Be In (20) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We continue today with the three actors that have starred in exactly 20 movies that I have seen, down one from 3 years ago.

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton burst on to my movie going radar with 1983’s Mr. Mom.  He had two different years, 1995 and 2000, where I saw three of his films.  After a nine-year absence from my screen, he returned in 2015 to increase his total once again.  The last time I saw him in a starring role was back in 2020, where he starred as McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc in 2017’s The Founder.

Eddie Murphy

It’s hard to believe now, but at one time, Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the land.  My first experience with him was likely Beverly Hills Cop.  Seven of his films were seen before I started my database, so I can’t be entirely sure of when I first saw them.  Of the seven years since that I have seen an Eddie Murphy film, five of them have been multiples.  After a 15-year absence, Eddie Murphy returned to my screen in 2019, when I finally took in 2003’s Haunted Mansion.

Sylvester Stallone

My first exposure to Sylvester Stallone was through the Rocky franchise, whose eight films make up 40% of this total.  Add in the Rambo franchise and is exactly 50%.  My biggest Stallone years were 1991 and 2007, when I took in a grand total of two films each.  His longest streak was four years, which ended with my most recent experience with his films in 2021, seeing the 1992 comedy(?) Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

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You Ought To Be In (19) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 6 actors that has starred in 19 movies that I have seen, two additional from what was seen 3 years ago.

Jennifer Aniston

The former Friends star first burst through onto my movie screen in 1997, with a double feature of She’s The One and Leprechaun.  In years since, she has been a pretty steady contributor until 2014, with multiple films in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2013, with a high water mark in 1998, when I saw her in 3 starring roles.  Her most recent entry came in 2014, when I saw 2013’s We’re The Millers.

John Cusack

Local boy done good John Cusack entered my movie-watching consciousness in 1988 when he portrayed disgraced White Sox third baseman Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out.  After a 9 year dry spell, Cusack came back with a vengeance with 3 films in 1997 which started a run of 8 films in 4 years.  After 97, he notched multiple films in 2000, 2004, and 2010.  His most recent film that I’ve seen was 2012’s The Factory, which I watched in 2015.

Matt Damon

In 1994, Matt Damon made his first appearance on my personal movie screen with his role in 1992’s School Ties.  He disappeared for a while until reappearing in 1999 with 3 different films.  From that point on, he has been a pretty regular entrant in my watched films, including a four year run from 2005-2008.  The last film of his I’ve seen was in 2019, when I saw 2017’s Downsizing.

Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton burst on to my movie going radar with 1983’s Mr. Mom.  He had 2 different years, 1995 and 2000, where I saw 3 of his films.  After a 9 year absence from my screen, he returned in 2015 to increase his total once again.  The last time I saw him in a starring role was last year in Spotlight, from 2015.

Sylvester Stallone

My first exposure to Sylvester Stallone was through the Rocky franchise, whose 8 films make up over 42% of this total.  Add in the Rambo franchise and that number jumps over 50%.  My biggest Stallone years were 1991 and 2007, when I took in a grand total of 2 films each.  I am on an active 3 year streak, with my most recent experience with his films coming earlier this year in 2019’s Rambo: Last Blood.

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington first appeared in my life in a starring role as Tom Hanks’ homophobic attorney in Philadelphia.  There have been four years, starting in 2000, where I have seen 2 of his films.  2002 started a 5 year run where I saw 7 of his films.  After a 6 year absence, he returned to my screen earlier this year in Ricochet, released in 1991.

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2016: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_22142 different people starred in the movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide which populated the early days of my database), and a whopping 18 of them were in more than 1 film.  Those 18 thespians are:

Name Films
Rupert Grint 7
Daniel Radcliffe 7
Anna Kendrick 4
Jason Bateman 2
Sandra Bullock 2
Brooke Butler 2
Benedict Cumberbatch 2
Robert DeNiro 2
Carla Gugino 2
Tom Hanks 2
Tom Hardy 2
Michael B. Jordan 2
Melissa McCarthy 2
Chloë Grace Moretz 2
Sam Rockwell 2
Miles Teller 2
Christoph Waltz 2
Olivia Wilde 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2016, following up on Tuesday’s post.

The Sand (2015)
Things go awry at a beach when the sand starts eating people.

Creed (2015)
The Rocky series returns with the focus now on the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed.

The Boy (2016)
A young woman is hired to watch over a doll, but all is not as it seems.

London Has Fallen (2016)
A terrorist attack at a state funeral in London leaves one Secret Service agent to protect the president on the run.

Cas & Dylan (2013)
A dying doctor takes a new acquaintance on a cross country road trip.

Spy (2015)
Melissa McCarthy goes in to the field as a CIA agent to avenge the death of her crush.

Joy (2015)
A woman invents a new mop and bets on herself to beat the longest of odds.

The Intern (2015)
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And The Academy Award Goes To…

side_oscarAs they finish polishing up the statues for Sunday’s awards ceremony, it’s time to finish up our predictions, which are based on not having seen any of the nominated films, with a look at the acting categories and the big one:

Best Picture

The Big Short
Bridge Of Spies
Brooklyn
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Spotlight

Having seen none of these films, I don’t have any real idea of which should win.  I’m going to go with Spotlight for no particular reason.

Best Actor

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

It seems that this is Leonardo DiCaprio’s year to take home his first Oscar.

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

As a fan of Brie Larson, I’m hoping that she’ll take home this award.

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You Ought To Be In (15) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.

Today, we continue with the 7 actors that have starred in 15 movies that I have seen.

Matt Damon

In 1994, Matt Damon made his first appearance on my personal movie screen with his role in 1992’s School Ties.  He disappeared for a while until reappearing in 1999 with 3 different films.  From that point on, he has been a pretty regular entrant in my watched films, including a four year run from 2005-2008.  The last film of his I’ve seen was in 2012, when I saw the previous year’s Contagion.

Robert DeNiro

My first experience with Robert DeNiro was back in 1988, when I saw Angel Heart.  He then went quiet to me for 8 years, coming back in 1996 with Sleepers.  2000 was my high water mark with his work when I saw 3 of his films.  My most recent experience with him was 2011, when I saw him in both Machete and Limitless.

Angelina Jolie

The first starring role of Angelina Jolie’s that I saw was 1995’s Hackers.  2005 was my most prolific Jolie year, when I took in 3 of her films.  Her last appearance on my screen was in 2012, when I saw her in Changeling.

Steve Martin

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