Flash Drive Movie Moments

I recently browsed through my collection of downloaded movies after a friend asked to copy them for her own. I'm a bit organized, so every movie was filed under their genre -- action, comedy, rom-coms, adventure, etc -- and I wondered if, after all this time, I'd be considered a movie critic. After all, I do love watching movies, and as a moviegoer, my opinion should count right?

What could be great for me, may not be good for you. What constitutes a movie worth sharing a laugh over, or shedding a tear for for me could be rubbish for everyone else. But I like to look at movies on moments and stories, and if they resonate with me, touch me, or entertain me in any sort of way, they can take their place in my external drive for replays anytime in the future.

Just looking through my collection brings back several of these movie moments.

I remember the beginning silent sequence of Pixar's "Up" which I think sold the movie itself. No words, just images and music yet nothing evoked emotions of happiness, grief and the beauty of life and love like Carl and Ellie's love story in a nutshell.

I laugh and sing in my head to "...Jamaica we have a bobsled team" and relive going to the Winter Olympics with the Jamaican bobsled team in "Cool Runnings." That movie had me dreaming I could start the bobsledding dreams of Filipinos everywhere. It was when they fell over during their last run and saw their medal hopes dashed, that they literally got up and carried their sled over the finish line to respect that I nearly stood up and applauded myself.

I have a lot of sports movie moments in my flash drive. Like when Gary Bertier and Julius Campbell finally yell, "Strong Side! Weak Side!" in putting it all together for their team in "Remember the Titans,"  when Keanu Reeves runs out onto the field his last day as quarterback Shane Falco in "The Replacements," feeling goosebumps as I listen and watch USA Hockey as they defeat Russia in "Miracle" with Kurt Russell pacing on the sidelines as the radio commentator shouts, "Do you believe in miracles?" or when Dennis Quaid throws his first pitch in "The Rookie" and Kevin Costner throws his last in "For The Love Of The Game."

Though I have a whole slew of sports movies, I have all the other genres too.

The rom-coms have their own category with the usual Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks fare. After all those are the cuddle movies -- the Harry Met Sallys, the You've Got Mails, the Runaway Brides, the Sleepless in Seattles -- that will have us saying all those "You had me at hello," "You complete me," "Love means never having to say you're sorry" lines that we all love to whisper in our loved ones' ears. But moments that got me are best exemplified in "Love Actually," where the all the types of love we share  are showcased and that by the end you realize truly that in a world where we think that caring for others has lost its luster, "Love, Actually Is All Around."

I remember all my "Lethal Weapon" movies and "Back To The Future" made me believe time travel was possible with a car and a flux capaciter. I loved the face-off between Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey in "The Negotiator" and the literal face-off in "Face Off" between John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Feeling like I was sliding that endless water slide in "The Goonies" and cracking my whip with Indiana Jones on his adventures -- what a rush! Oh, and like James Bond, I ended up with the mission completed and the girl in the end.

I guess that appeal of bringing us stories that we can believe to be true for us has always been a prevailing pull to movies for me. I firmly believe that should The Sorting Hat be placed on my head that I'd be ushered into Gryffindor and that I'd give Harry Potter a run for his money. Perhaps that whole series could be about me instead! Or that I'd discover that I had mutant powers and join the X-Men.

So many movies so little time. Maybe one day when my kids are off to the futuristic 10D cinemas I'd say, "Oh, that's a remake kiddo!" I pull out this old dust-laden flash drive, "You should see the original!"

And they'd roll their eyes and I'd smile. What are we without our moments?