Movies Featuring Epic On-Screen Battles

Which movies come to mind when someone mentions battle scenes? Here are my selections for this week’s monday movie meme topic of “Epic Battle Scenes,” where The Bumbles asks participants to share on their blog “battle scenes that are so epic, they make you stop everything to watch.”

Gladiator
Are you not entertained?!!

For all who may not be aware by now, I am referring to Ridley Scott’s 2000 film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe. This movie has some epic battle scenes, probably with the last battle being the biggest of all for a number of reasons. Crowe played the hell out of his role as Maximus Decimus Meridius in the film.

Troy
Is there no one else?

This is the movie that caused me to find Brad Pitt to be very appealing, for the first time ever. I knew who he was before watching “Troy” but the battle scenes in this movie had me viewing him from a whole different perspective a Pitt played the character of Achillies.

Honor is a common denominator between “Gladiator” and “Troy,” which makes their battle scenes stand out among other films that also have such epic scenes. Russell Crowe’s character wanted to honor his family while Brad Pitt’s character wanted to honor his people....just on his own terms without making permanent allegiances with any one nation.

In “Troy,” Pitt was also affected on the home-front as far as family is concerned but those particular circumstances are an example of the fact that there not only is a difference between boys and men but there is also a difference between fighters and warriors. Fighters battle for the sake of obtaining victory over their opponents and possibly winning the respect of those whom they admire while warriors battle for the survival and safety of themselves and their people and possibly to gain some sort of political power in a time when voting on papers or machines was just not the way that they handled things such as disputes over land, resources, workers, civilians or ruling power, etc.

Thanks to Sandy at You’ve Gotta read This! for choosing the topic of “Epic Battle Scenes.”

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Depressing Movies You Don't Want to Watch

This week’s monday movie meme is all about films that are downers. The Bumbles says to share on your blog movies that make you “totally bummed out,” as Depressing Movies is the topic chosen by Sandy at You’ve Gotta Read This. Here are my selections for the list of movies that do not make audiences feel any better after watching them.

Manic
Having just finished watching this movie yesterday, it ranks right up there with movies that are a downer. In fact, I considered turning “Manic” off about half-way through the film but that was mostly due to the shaky camera scenes that can make audiences dizzy while focusing less on the scene and focusing more on where one can get some aspirin for a developing headache that is just-a-brewing.

“Manic” is about a boy who is sent to the juvenile ward of a mental institution to deal with his violent outbursts, after he beat a teenager with a baseball bat. The depression felt from this movie comes more from disappointment than anything else. Just when it appeared that the main character was making progress, he goes downhill all over again.

Precious
While it garnered some critical acclaim, box office success and put it’s starring actresses and Tyler Perry on the Oscar radar, this movie doesn’t do anyone any good....point blank, period!

A friend of mine told me that she thinks “Precious” is a good movie but it’s one of those movies that you need only watch once because it is not a film that you’ll want to watch again due to the depressing content. Um, I wouldn’t want to watch “Precious” again and that is due to several reasons, so I guess she’s right! I honestly wouldn’t even recommend that anyone who hasn’t already watched this movie do so now because why subject yourself to 100+ minutes of anger and sadness? Just don’t....unless you like watching movies about child abuse, incest, ignorance and the ghetto.

Mystic River
Another reminder of why people should not be quick to jump to conclusions about things because speculation does not always solve a problem or get someone any closer to finding the truth, whatever that may be.

Murder in Mississippi
I bought the DVD for “Murder in Mississippi” a few months ago during an angry and rushed shopping splurge (It’s a long story. Well, it’s actually a short story but I don’t feel like talking about, okay?) and wished that I would’ve just rented it from Netflix or somewhere. This movie makes me question whether goodness can among mankind can ever prevail or if most people are just pure evil while others are cowards who either become part of the problem or just step aside and allow the evil to flourish.

Thank goodness for the Comedy genre. Movies in this category are usually a nice pick-me-up!

Of all the movies on this depressing film list, "Mystic River" is a movie that I would watch again. Not because if it's depressing nature, but because it is a good movie.....Sean Penn, hello?

All the Boys and Love Lessons from Leonardo DiCaprio #GBE2

First love would have to be defined as a first crush, since love is something that I still need to find before writing about it. Thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio, maybe I can move a little closer to having a better understanding of how one should pursue it because I do not think that I know what love is yet, but I believe that I do know what it is not.

*Disclaimer: This is a lengthy post, so grab the popcorn....you've been warned.

My First Crush - Before Learning about Leonardo DiCaprio
In grade school, I had a huge crush on one of the boys at my school who was one grade above mine so he was also older. This crush lasted for six years or more, through high school and beyond despite the fact that I was too scared to tell him at first, so we just became really good friends. However, everyone knew because I surely didn’t hide it while in class, the lunch room, the school yard during recess or in the hallways.

I watched as he started a relationship with a girl who was in the same grade and I later also knew when their relationship ended, yet did not pursue him although I did love him and knew he loved me.....or so, I thought. So, after graduating from high school, I kind of gave up on the idea of us being a couple and started focusing more on my studies. This is when it happened.....he asked me to be his girlfriend (well, not exactly in these particular words, but I’m sure you get the idea) and can you believe this.....I hesitated.

I wasn’t sure if we should be in a relationship since it’s been so long since I tried to get him to notice me but it didn’t take much time for me to agree. Yay! I finally had him. Life couldn’t get any better than this, except for the fact that our relationship quickly took a downturn within less than five months. I ended up breaking up with him, which was the hardest decision for me to make at that time because I did love him but us as a couple was not working.

While I was young, I am glad that I was at least old enough or wise enough, or whatever, to realize that the relationship was toxic. Unfortunately, the end of our relationship eventually became the end of our friendship, or at least the type of friendship that we had before becoming a couple.

Lesson: Love is not disrespectful, indifferent nor lacking understanding.

My First Introduction to What Love Could be, along with the Release of “Titanic”

In high school, one of the boys in my class liked me and pursued me heavily. He was a very nice and respectful person who also carried my books and such to my next class from time to time, which I now realize is the making of a true gentleman and someone that girls should be looking to date instead of paying attention to all of the jerks, whether in high school or not.

Anyway, we became friends and were fans of the rap group Bone Thugs ‘N’ Harmony so there was always something to talk about but I still never gave him the time of day as far as dating was concerned. When “Titanic” starring Leonardo DiCaprio was released, he hated this movie after watching it in the movie theater and told me that it was long.....too damn long when we were discussing the film in class one day. Still, I liked the movie when I finally got to watch it later on TV or something and today, it is among my favorites.

Watching “Titanic” was also the first time that I became familiar with Leonardo DiCaprio because I didn’t really know who he was prior to the release of this movie. My high school friend and I were eventually going to go to prom together and then that got kind of complicated due to my impatience and moreso, the fact that technology only evolved so much at that time, so we didn’t have as many ways to communicate with others as we do today, in 2011.

After the unsuccessful and heartbreaking ordeal with My First Crush, I realized that I had made a big mistake by not giving a relationship with the high school friend a chance. Unfortunately, it was too late. After high school, my friend went away for work and although we had long-distance phone conversations and wrote letters to each other, we were in different states and at different points in our lives while also being around other people. He became engaged and then the engagement ended a while later.

We eventually started to discuss the possibility of us being together when he returned home and even getting married in the future but none of this came to fruition upon his return. Call it timing, call it fate or call it something else....no matter what the reason was or is, he and I never became a couple. Now, the fact that I was in a relationship around the time that he eventually came home is a factor but not the only factor.

In fact, blogging about our history and hits and misses between each other will cause this post to be longer than it already is, so I’m stopping now. The bottom line is that my interactions with him taught me a lot about how females should be treated and what respect looks like and even a preview of what love may sorta look like but sometimes people change or feelings change and sometimes, two people are just not meant to be together so it is best to want happiness for one another, even if that means that this happiness will not be between these two parties and it’s also best to hope that the other person does find the love that he or she deserves. I also can't help but wonder if us not dating means that there was never really any love there in the first place or "true love," whatever that means.

Lesson: Love is never lost or abandoned without finding out what could be.

My First Realization that Leonardo DiCaprio may have the Answer to the Question of How to Find Real Love

While reading about Leonardo DiCaprio’s life and film career, I found out that he took a two-year hiatus from the big screen after starring in “The Beach,” which did not do very well at the box office or receive a favorable response from critics and garnered DiCaprio a Razzie Award nomination. Upon his return to the big screen, DiCaprio brought us “Gangs of New York” and “Catch Me if You Can,” which were both well received and box office successes worldwide. According to People, this actor’s choices for which movies he works on are no accident and why he has continued to do so well post-Beach.

"I've been extremely careful about the work that I get involved in nowadays" - Leonardo DiCaprio

My Translation: Leave all of the grade school, high school and possibly even college BS behind.....know what we want when it comes to love and relationships and be more diligent in obtaining it, by maintaining standards regarding the quality of mates that we choose which means moving on if love is not present. Therefore, if love (DiCaprio speak: a successful career, or whatever he was referring to when talking to People Magazine) is the goal, then choose mates (DiCaprio speak: work) that help us meet that goal.

Lesson: Love is great when you can identify it. Love is to be taken seriously and handled with care because when you find it, it can be the best thing that you ever experienced and it can also lead you to achieve great things (read: happiness, purpose and passion).

The biggest lesson of all is that when it comes to Love, there is no waiting for the right time or trying to force it to happen the way you imagined it or want it to be. Love makes you feel like you can fly, like it's straight out of a scene from "Titanic."

This weekend, I’ve been enjoying “All the Boys” by Keri Hilson and this song is so fitting for the latest Group Blogging Experience topic. Here it is for you all to enjoy!

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