5 movies you have to see

This is a list of 5 movies from my life that I really recommend everyone sees. Some of these are probably in the back of your minds, and if not go see them.

1. Rookie of the Year
Henry Rowengartner (Nicholas), a 12-year-old Little Leaguer, has dreams of playing in the major leagues. One day, Henry breaks his arm trying to catch a fly ball and has to wrap it in a cast. Once the arm is healed the doctor removes the cast and discovers Henry's tendons have healed "a little too tight", thus enabling Henry to cock his arm back and fire it forward with incredible force. In celebration of the cast's removal, Henry's mom presents him and two friends with tickets to the day's Chicago Cubs game. At the game, Henry and his friends catch a home run hit by the visiting team. In keeping with Wrigley Field tradition, they decide to throw the ball back onto the field. Henry takes the ball and, because of the way the tendons healed, launches it from the outfield bleachers all the way to the catcher standing at home plate (which is, as according to the radio announcer played by John Candy, about 435 feet). The crowd, players on the field, and even the members in the owners box stare in astonishment at the throw.

Directed by Daniel Sterns, the guy classically known as Marv the robber from Home Alone, this is one of those movies with so many clever twists. There were a ton of baseball movies in the 90's and this is one of the more under-appreciated films because the cast is nothing big but the light paced humor and the ridiculous baseball moments are things to smile at.

2. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
The story begins at a wedding, after which the family has to leave for San Francisco in California for an important trip. They can't take the animals with them, so they leave them at a ranch belonging to an old friend of the wife's. Shadow becomes worried about Peter, the oldest boy in the family and his best friend, so he decides to go and find him.
Disney has made some stupid live action movies in their log but they have good ones too, the funny thing about this movie is that the original didn't have the animals talk by telepathy. So its a remake with a fresh idea, and it seems to charm more than the new movies with CGI to make the animal's lips move. Plus, when you have a great cast including Don Ameche (last film he made), Michael J Fox, and Sally Field, there is some fun chemistry here.

3. Mr. Deeds goes to Town
In the middle of the Great Depression, Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper), co-owner of a tallow works, part-time greeting card poet and tuba-playing inhabitant of the hamlet of Mandrake Falls, Vermont, inherits the enormous fortune of 20 million dollars from his late uncle, Martin Semple. His uncle's scheming attorney, John Cedar (Douglass Dumbrille), locates Deeds and takes him to New York City.
A Frank Capra film, I saw this movie after seeing the dismal remake Mr. Deeds with Adam Sander. The original is a far superior film in my honest opinion, but the remake was really trying to be close to the original in some ways. Having said that Mr Deeds Goes to Town is a funny, meaningful movie that teaches its viewers about individuality and society. It also has some nods to the Great Depression and how hard working people will always be around and criticize our continued pathetic state of "Redistribution of Wealth" in that the rich don't need the money they have.

4. The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio is based on the true story of housewife Evelyn Ryan, who helped support her family by winning entries in jingle-writing contests
A nostalgic film of the 1950's American Family that had issues, unlike today where you can put a mean member in his place, at this time most things were kept secret. When issues got in the way of the Ryan family, the mother supported her children through jingle contests that were popular during the period. Julianne Moore is an actress I appreciate, and her performance is an honest representation of Evelyn Ryan. Watch this movie, appreciate what you have, and learn from her how to keep going strong in uncertain times.

5. Batman: The Movie
When Batman (West) and Robin (Ward) get a tip that Commodore Schmidlapp (the final role of actor Reginald Denny) is in danger aboard his yacht, they launch a rescue mission using the Batcopter. After a tangle with an exploding shark, Batman and Robin head back to Commissioner Gordon's office where, through deduction and wisdom, they figure out that the tip was a set-up by four of the most powerful villains ever (Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman), who have united to defeat The Dynamic Duo once and for all.
For those of you like me who constantly watch The Dark Knight, hate the 90's batman movies and are either a fan or not a fan of the 89 film by Tim Burton, see this one as well. This is a completely different batman focused on the campy 1960's batman tv series, its actually pretty entertaining. You may not like it, but its so ridiculous at times and so campy its great. No it's not a bad movie in any sense, but it doesn't try to be as serious as the new ones. It's the real kid's adventure batman that drove him to be an icon in American Culture.