Friday, September 10, 2010

Top 11 Non-Running Movies

As promised, here are Ziegel and Grossberger's top pick's as non-running movies. Keep in mind their book was written in the 1970s, so I'm sure we could all come up with a few more recent films which, in no way, inspire running (if we really wanted to).

First the films, and then my commentary.

Z&G write: "The movies have long been a favorite of non-runners. From the earliest days of silent films, when quick-turning the handle on primitive cameras gave the illusion of running (with none of the anguish), non-runners have considered Hollywood a strong ally."

THE LIST:
1. Stalag 17 (1953)
2. Citizen Kane (1941)
3. Strangers on a Train (1951)
4. Twelve Angry Men (1957)
5. King Kong (1933)
6. Lifeboat (1944)
7. The Blob (1958)
8. L'avventura (1961)
9. Dracula's Tax Lawyer
10. The Road to Nowhere
11. Rocky Meets Godzilla

No real justification for their choice in non-running films is given. V and G seem to have made these picks for the simple reason that one must SIT to view any movie.

Now, I'll come clean and say I haven't watched all of these films, but I have seen some of them. Most definitely, Twelve Angry Men does NOT inspire running, unless it's away from the screen. (Do the words tedious and sexist mean anything to you? They do to me in reference to that movie. Not one of my faves.) But at least two of the movies on this list are absolutley running-promoting! Both King Kong and The Blob, if I remember correctly, feature running for it's original purpose: self preservation. And while I haven't seen Dracula's Tax Lawyer or Rocky Meets Godzilla, when there are monsters in a movie, there will usually be running.

Come on. We can do better than this. Let's make our own list of favorite running films. Chariots of Fire is off limits. Everyone knows that one. Just because you have to sit to watch a movie, doesn't mean it can't inspire movement. What are your favorite running films?? Send 'em to me and I'll compile a list.

3 comments:

nancy said...

Forrest Gump, Of course.

Anonymous said...

Perry wanted me to add: The Candidate and the American President. Lot's of stuff about running there!

Cami Osmtan said...

I didn't think about "running" as running for office, but it makes sense, of course.... Very funny.
-Cami