Media Monday - Top 5 Movies

Playing off my post a couple Mondays ago (called Music Monday), I think I'm going to try and start a media themed blog on a Monday at least a couple times a month on various media things whether it's a top five list, recommendations of media areas such as books, music, etc, or whatever else I can think of for that week/post.

This week, it's going to be a top five list of my favorite movies. It was very hard for me to pick just five movies that are my favorites. Actually...I take that back, at least somewhat. The first two were very easy for me to pick, the other three spots were hard. I do have a few honorable mentions as well since I thought they deserved a nod. My top five movies are:
1. The Avengers

• By far my favorite movie...it's funny, has action, great characters, heroes coming together, etc.  It's one of those movies that I just love watching over and over again to escape, more or less, into a world of superheroes and being able to come together for a common good, and being able to overcome differences to work together.  I don't think I can explain the movie as well as others might be able to, but basically...it's a movie where a cast of heroes from Marvel, and other movies, are being summoned together to save the world from a god from another planet (Loki from Asguard) and to prevent him from using a power source called the Teseract for not so good things.  The movie is like a bringing together the heroes from the movies Thor, Iron Man 1 &2, Hulk, and Captain America, as well as bringing other Marvel characters such as Hawkeye and the Black Widow.  There are characters who show up in at least several of those movies as well as in The Avengers.

2. Miracle

• I know this is a movie about a team that accomplished something great just before I came around but it's a terrific movie.  Those that were around in 1980 will remember this, but the movie is about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that were very much underdogs but were able to come together in the end, by the guidance of coach Herb Brooks, to defeat the heavily favored Soviet Union hockey team before winning the gold medal over Finland (which they had to win in order to receive any medal).  Again, there's funny moments, serious moments, the theme of coming together to achieve something great, and being able to put differences aside to accomplish something among others.

3. Iron Man (1 & 2)

• I put these two together because you can't see the first without the second to see how the story continues, and you won't get the second movie without seeing the first.  I'm not sure exactly how to explain the movies, but it's just one of those that make it on my list because of how much I liked the different aspects of it.

4. Little Big League

• It's based here in Minnesota where I live, and although it's 20 years old (roughly), it still has a great story line and I think a great theme that can still be taught to everyone.  It's about a 12 year old boy who inherits ownership of the Minnesota Twins from his grandfather when the grandfather passes away.  There's struggles, ups and downs (both in life and in the world of sports), funny moments, and a great story altogether.  I might be playing into this a bit, but I think the overall theme from this movie that can still be passed on today is that perseverance and being able to learn how to get through things can be a great life reward and I think there are plenty in this movie.

5. Field of Dreams

• The movie is about a farmer in Iowa (played by Kevin Costner) who hears a voice out in the corn field to build a baseball field in the middle of nowhere, basically tearing up his crop to do something that he really can't explain or understand.  This voice tells him to do things that aren't necessarily grasped at first telling, but once the farmer (I believe his name is Ray Consella) starts to decipher what the voice says and means, he has to do something else that is totally out there.  At one point Ray thinks he is building the baseball field for the players of the Chicago White Sox team in the early 1900s who were banned from baseball for doing something wrong, but it turns out Ray is doing it for somebody completely different in the end (and a few others along the way too).  It's a movie about believing in something that is so totally crazy, and trusting in something that doesn't make sense or that you have to decipher yourself, but in the end is worth it.

Honorable Mentions: The Pursuit of Happyness, The Lion King, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons

Those are my top five movies, along with my honorable mentions, that I would highly recommend people check out.  I know I didn't give full descriptions of movies, but I hope that you will check them out more and watch them.  My question to you is...what are some of your top movies that you really enjoy and would like others to check out?