Happy belated Cinco de Mayo 
to everyone and I hope you had a great weekend. I know that I did and this includes the three DVDs that watched this weekend.
As a precursor to all my reviews, I have to point out that I'm cheap, I love to smoke while I watch my movies and fart at my leisure. I have been remiss in not pointing out the best thing about DVD watching, which is the power to pause for any length of time that I please. With movies becoming longer in length then just a decade ago, I have found myself suffering through movies like King Kong. I didn't want to miss a single scene on the big screen and I probably held my number 1 for about an hour and half. It was painful, but not with a DVD. I had several friends call me over the weekend and one call dealt with fixing a computer. My DVD was paused and didn't miss one frame of footage. Cool!
Catch you on the jump:
Invincible, The rise of Taj and Rocky Balboa were this weeks selection of DVD movies that I viewed. Let me start out by saying that I have been a long time Dallas Cowboys fan circa '71 and I know that I'm supposed to hate the Redskins the most, but I actually hate the Philadelphia Eagles the most. The you know that these fans have a contest each year to see who is the youngest child that can step up to microphone to say, "Dallas Sucks!" They cheered when my beloved Michael Irvin was possibly paralyzed. They've thrown frozen snow balls at Jimmy Johnson and the list goes on and on as to why I hate this team.
With that said, I'm sure that you think that I'm about to give the movie "Invincible" a bad review, but I'm going to surprise you. 
This movie is more than a movie, it's a story. A great story about a time period that grew up in -- the 70s. This story is story about friendships, about a father and his son, about a community that stayed together when the chips were down, about a community that cheered for one of it's own to make it out of the abyss and reach for their dreams. It's a story about the loss of a career, a loss of love and a general sense of being lost in life. A man that has been beaten down, along with everyone around him.
When I was growing up in the 70s, friendships and community were a big part of one's life. I looked forward to such long time friendships and sense of belonging in the community similar to the characters of this story. Things have changed very much since that time and, ironically, the third movie that I viewed deals with that subject. But this story was one of a man who doubted himself and, at the same time, knew that he had more to offer to life than what he was previously offering.
There are some scenes in this movie, along with the soundtracks that take me back. Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold," during the slow motion shots on the field are hair raising. I'm not saying the following because they showed my beloved Cowboys beat the fucking shit out of the Eagles, which actually did happen in the first game of the season, but I really mean what I'm about to say. Next to "Brian's Song" and the "Rocky" (the first one), this has to be ranked as one of the best sports genre movies that I have ever seen. The rhythm of the story is perfect for the time period that were capturing. The underdog getting the girl, which really did happen, because this is a true story about the life of Vince Papale who not only was a huge fan that became a Philadelphia Eagle, but he got the girl and is still married to her.
I love this movie. The character, as in real life, buried the hatchet with his father and made his father proud. When he was out of work, his friend's helped him with the rent. They supported him with the following of his dreams of playing in the NFL despite his age. Maybe I love this movie so much because that's the kind of life that I wanted for myself. To be able to finally be able to get along with my Dad, which I have been able to for the past decade or so. To have long time friends that will be beside you no matter what and, of course, to get the hottest chick on the block.