The New Face of Tuesday Recommends

Welcome Todd Hargest as our new Tuesday recommender. I really hope he draws some pictures for this.

Field of Dreams

"If you build it he will come..." is a line made famous by this movie, but found parodied countless times in films like Waynes World and the Cable Guy, and TV shows like Family Guy, the Critic, and even the childhood favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is the first of a few whispers heard by an Iowa farmer, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Cosner), that cause him to plow under his corn and build a baseball field. After months of nothing happening and the family going near bankrupt, Ray's daughter notices a man in the yard. The man turns out to be the baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), one of 8 Chicago White Sox banned after supposedly fixing the 1919 World Series. The rest of the banned White Sox later join him, and Ray goes on a country-wide trip to try to save the field and realize the rest of his mission. Along the way he encounters Terrance Mann (James Earl Jones) who is a character based on J.D. Salinger, and Archibald Moonlight Graham, who I just discovered was based on a real ballplayer who played in only one game in right field on June 29, 1905.

Field of Dreams is a classic among classic movies, and my favorite of any sports film. It is based on the novel Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella which is another recommends from Todd. It is probably the most quoted movie of my whole life, and was a major force in the raising of me and my brother. We have probably seen it over a hundred times, and I'm amazing that the tape still plays. It sits at number 6 on AFI's Top 10 Fantasy Films of All-Time, and number 9 on the Kleenex-sponsored 100 Greatest Tearjerkers. You'll cry like a little girl at the end. Most likely after this classic speech by James Earl Jones:



ESPN has their own top 25 greatest sports movies list, but we at Friends Recommend feel a little different. Sure their list is fine, but our top ten are as follows (in order, and note that I have never seen Hoosiers):

1. Field of Dreams
2. The Sandlot
3. A League of Their Own
4. The Natural
5. Bad News Bears
6. Teen Wolf (yeah, that's right)
7. Rocky 1-3
8. Caddyshack
9. Major League
10. Hoop Dreams

Upset that I snubbed The Mighty Ducks? I urge you to post your favorites in the comment section. Don't be shy now, and seriously Rudy? Wow. I just found out that Sean Astin (Rudy, Lord of the Rings, etc.) is NOT the guy who played Herc in the Wire. Apparently it was Dominick Lombardozzi. But come on, look at these guys:

Some Todd Highlights

Hey Friends. No time for a full post today, and I considered not posting at all because it is a holiday. So what we're going to do is highlight some of Todd's picks that I think are great, but won't get to this week in detail. Partially because some are widely known already, and as with the Maritime pick I don't know enough about them to really write anything. So here are three videos highlighting some of the picks from Todd's list.

All the Bowie songs that Seu Jorge covered for the Life Aquatic soundtrack are really great. This is one of my favorites complete with video footage. Todd I hope you get as chilled out when you listen to this as Seu Jorge seems before he plays it. Life On Mars:



OK, sorry but Changes was too good to not include also:



I have only seen a couple episodes of Flight of the Conchords, but this is one of my favorite scenes so far. Most Beautiful Girl In the Room:



And this is a Maritime video for a song from We, the Vehicles which is the album Todd recommends. I do need to buy this album. Dismemberment Plan is one of my all-time favorite bands, half for how great their music is, and half for sentimental reasons. Here is Tearing Up the Oxygen:

Todd Hargest

Look at this guy, being all angry in the chair. Todd Hargest has been a friend for longer that I initially realized. Friends of older brother Eric's since high school at Calvert Hall, the early stages of mine and Todd's interactions were mostly just him calling me and all of my friends weiners. He did this a lot. Then we had a couple bands together like Mr. Belvadere (I think we spelled it wrong on purpose) and McNASA, in which Todd played guitar and sang about Larissa Oleynik. We are still waiting for Ben Valis to book that reunion tour.

These days Todd and I play softball together (mostly losing), and eat half-off burgers and beers at Swallow at the Hallow together. The following is Todd's approach to Friends Recommend in his own words.

If I was doing a straight 'my favorites' list it would probably look a lot like Eric's or Chris' or Rick's or your's, etc. So I tried to make a list of what I would recommend to people. Great stuff that should have a first look/read/listen or an open minded second. That's the point, right? Anyway here are my lists, Jerkface:

Music:

Archers of Loaf--All the Nations Airports (1996)
Seam--The Pace Is Glacial (1998)
Les Savy Fav--The Cat and the Cobra (1999) the best band I've ever seen live? Definitely top 3
Super Furry Animals--Rings Around the World (2001)
Q and Not U--Power (2004)
Seu Jorge--The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions (2005) my number one chill out album.
Maritme--We, the Vehicles (2006) members of Dismemberment Plan + Promise Ring
Tokyo Police Club--A Lesson Crime (2006)
Georgie James--Places (2007)

Television:

Flight of the Concords
Anything Steve Coogan--Knowing Me, Knowing You, I'm Alan Partridge, Saxondale
The Loop
Wings--underrated classic
Extras
Lookwell!--Conan O'brien sitcom pilot
JPOD--Canadian comedy/drama based on Douglas Copeland novel of the same name. Alan Thicke plays the dad!
OZ

Movies:

Eagle vs. Shark
Field of Dreams
Annie Hall
Manhattan
Stranger Than Fiction

Books:

Shampoo Planet--Douglas Copeland
In Our Time--Ernest Hemingway
Lolita--Vladimir Nabokov
Travels With Charlie--John Steinbeck
Shoeless Joe--W.P. Kinsella

Very nice, Todd. The editor is excited about the Maritime pick because he has never heard that band and loves the Dismemberment Plan. Also he can get it for cheap on emusic. The editor also likes the chronological listing of the music picks.

Adam was listening to Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs at the time of this post, and he isn't sure about it. He likes the cover art though.