Middletree

I'm only recently discovering the powerful affect a mentor can have on a kid when the father is absent, for whatever reason. Here's my ranking of best movies in which a man takes on a pivotal role in the life of a kid (or kids) not his own: 10. Stand and Deliver; 9. Karate Kid; 8. The Cowboys; 7. Finding Neverland; 6. Dead Poet's Society; 5. Secondhand Lions; 4. Antwone Fisher; 3. Simon Birch; 2. About a Boy; 1. Up

My favorite movie heroes of all time. Listed like this: Character name--actor name--Movie name 10. Neo--Keanu Reeves--The Matrix 9. Maximus--Russell Crowe--Gladiator 8. Simon Birch--Ian Michael Smith--Simon Birch 7. Chris Gardner--Will Smith--The Pursuit of Happyness 6. Jim Braddock--Russell Crowe--Cinderella Man 5. Jean Valjean--Liam Neeson--Les Miserables 4. John Creasy--Denzel Washington--Man on Fire 3. Paul Rusesabagina--Don Cheadle--Hotel Rwanda 2. Atticus Finch--Gregory Peck--To Kill a Mockingbird 1. Oskar Schindler--Liam Neeson--Schindler's List Note: Jesus--Jim Caviezel--The Passion of the Christ should be #1, but really, He's kind of in a league of His own. My list consists of great heroes, but none of them are on the same level as Jesus. If I listed Him, there would be an insurmountable gap between #1 and #2.

The Country Music Hall of Fame just made their annual announcement of new inductees: --Billy Sherrill (a producer who is a great choice) --Ferlin Husky (one of those guys who sang in the 50's and nobody who is still alive actually remembers, but whatever) And two very curious choices: --Jimmy Dean --Don Williams Dean was famous essentially for one song (Big Bad John), and then some acting and building a sausage empire. He is in no way a music legend. Williams had a nice run of hits in the 70's and 80's. He's a borderline HOF-er, at best; he cranked out hits for several years, but he was not spectacularly popular nor did he have a profound impact. If you want to induct him, fine. But not at the expense of Ronnie Milsap. I am befuddled why, in the last several years, many lesser talents than Milsap have been placed in the CM HOF. Roy Clark? Emmylou Harris? Vince Gill? Mel Tillis? Are you serious? All are nice artists, and I own a lot of their work, but they...