My top five glue movies

Ah, glue movies. The perfect way to spend a gloomy rainy afternoon, and the perfect way to ruin a bright sunny afternoon.

What two Kevin Bacon films made my top glue movies list? Keep reading.

In case you’re unawares, a glue movie is a movie that when you are flipping the channels and see it on television, you have to watch it, right then and there. Not a DVD that you can pop in whenever, or a movie that makes you say, “Oh, I like that move, I think I’ll PVR it.”

No, it has to be a movie that you’ll forego everything else you have planned to watch it. Maybe it starts off as, “hey, I’ll just watch five minutes,” or “I’ll just wait until it gets to this scene,” but you know deep down that you’re hooked and you’ll be watching every second of it.

And it has to be on TV. A lot of movies have been ruined by watching it on television (Grease and American Pie are two great examples. So are any movies that have sexual innuendo and/or violence). So a movie that can make you keep watching over and over usually had something going for it.

Everyone has a favourite glue movie. Some have more than others. I must have about 20.

But I figured I should narrow the list down a little.

So that being said, here are my top five all-time favourite glue movies.

5. Legally Blonde. I have no idea what the appeal of this movie is for me. It’s not hilariously funny. It’s not really romantic. You don’t really care for many of the characters (it actually confuses me when I wonder if I’m supposed to hate Selma Blair’s character or not). But there’s just something about the movie that gets me hooked every single time.

4. Die Hard 3. It’s not even my favourite Die Hard movie (that would be the second one). But there’s something about the third movie that is so much more fun than the others. Whether it be Samuel L. Jackson’s role, the crazy plot holes that make no sense (really? You’re going to leave not one single cop at the scene of a subway bombing in New York City), or the fact that there’s plenty of action, if I see this movie, I’m hooked.

3. The Replacements. I think almost everyone would have a Keanu Reeves movie on their list somewhere. This is one of my favourites of his. He is basically a quarterback that couldn’t hack it on the big stage, but is signed by a professional football team during a players’ strike. Big bonus for the singing and dancing in the jail cell scene. I end up with the song, I Will Survive, stuck in my head for days after watching this movie.

2. A Few Good Men. So many good scenes. So many great quotes. Tom Cruise was great. Jack Nicholson was great. Kevin Bacon was great. Demi Moore was… er… in the movie. Overall, a simply superb movie. Everything seems to work. The baseball scene. The courtroom scenes. The final verdict. I could probably watch this film three times in one day, and not get bored of it.

1. Tremors. Back-to-back Bacon films. My buddy Keith first encouraged me to watch it way back in high school (almost 20 years now… wow). For those not familiar with the movie, it’s about underground monsters that can sense vibrations and will eat anything that moves. A small town (population of about 15) is stuck battling these monsters. Also stars Michael Gross and Reba McEntire. Great fun flick to watch. Has everything you could want in a movie to waste away an afternoon.

What about you? What are some your favourite glue movies?

Bookworm

I love reading.

There so many good books out there. I’m like a kid in a candy store when I get into a bookstore. It’s crazy. There are so many that I want to read.

I like reading pretty much any type of book. Autobiography, sports, fiction, science fiction, humour, etc.

The best feeling in the world is when you’re reading a great book, and you get to the last 30 pages or so. I get a feeling of excitement, and I have to finish the book, no matter what else is going on around me.

So if you’re looking for a good book, I recommend one of the following:

Anything written by Earl Emerson: Emerson is my favourite author. He’s a firefighter who lives in Seattle, and writes fictional books about firefighters in Seattle. The books are the type that you can’t put down. I highly recommend starting with Into the Inferno, and going from there.

Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman: A lawyer creates an anonymous blog about his battle to become partner, and how he tries to sabotage his competition for the job. Written as blog entries and e-mails, but flows very well.

Have a Nice Day!: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks by Mick Foley: One of the best wrestling books out there, and the one that started the wrestling autobiography craze. One of the those recommended for those who aren’t even wrestling fans.

The Habs: An Oral History of the Montreal Canadiens, 1940-1980 by Dick Irvin: The best sports book I’ve ever read. Irvin interviews Montreal players, coaches and general managers, plus the opposition, and referees. So you get a history of the Habs for four decades as told from the point of view of people who were there.

The Giver by Lois Lowry: More of a children’s book, but it follows a society where people there is a supposed utopia, but no one has any feelings. One kid realizes this isn’t a good way to live.

Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp: Became the Die Hard movie. A great book, and equal to the movie. Lots of action, and many of the storylines, althought slightly altered, are pretty much the same.

24/7 by Jim Brown: About a cast on a reality show (similar to Survivor), where one cast member is killed every day. The people watching on TV gets to decide who lives and who dies.

The Mark by Jason Pinter: A journalist who witnesses a murder, and is then fingered for the crime, so he goes on the run from the police, journalists and the bad guys.

Ripe for the Picking by Terrence West: A fictional book about what would have happened if Quebec had voted to separate, taking much of the military with them and the impact on Canadians, Quebecers and the U.S.

Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling by Bret Hart: A must-read for any wrestling fan. Hart is frank and doesn’t hold anything back. Big fans of the Hitman may be surprised by some of the things he’s done.