No caption required.
I know that the Hero of the Month is usually posted at the end of the month, but for this man I could not wait any longer. As everyone knows, Patrick Swayze passed away this week after losing his battle against pancreatic cancer. Swayze has always been a personal hero to me and I am paying him tribute to making him one of my patented Heroes of the Month. Although I’ve done many sarcastic Heroes posts, I save the serious ones for my favorite people/fictional characters/inanimate objects, including Harry Kalas, Blade and The Truck.
Everyone knows Swayze from his roles in Ghost, The Outsiders and Dirty Dancing, however I would like to mention the movies in which I liked him best.
First off, Red Dawn. Who wouldn’t like a movie where the Soviet Union allies with Cuba to take over the southwestern portion of the United States? And what if a band of teenagers on horseback fought a guerrilla war with the invaders? And what if those teenagers included Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen and Lea Thompson? Further suppose that they eventually meet up with Powers Boothe and shit got real? That would make for an awesome movie. WOLVERINES!
Damn dirty Soviets.
Next we have Youngblood, a hockey classic starring Rob Lowe as Dean Youngblood. Swayze is Dean’s mentor and teaches him how to ‘throw bows’ in the rink. You don’t even have to see the movie to know that it will be awesome. The antagonist of the movie fights and injures Swayze and Youngblood must fight to protect his honor. The movie is 100% badass.
Gotta be good.
Road House: Swayze beating the shit out of people for 114 minutes. Not much needs to be said here.
Hard-nosed mofo.
Finally, my favorite: Point Break. Now you might be saying, “Clint, that movie sucked.” You’re absolutely wrong and I’m ashamed to know you. I will admit that Keanu Reeves is not the most talented actor, but he’s gotta be in the top 100,000 of male actors his age. It doesn’t even matter, Swayze can carry a movie all by himself, especially when he is an existentialist surfer who also robs banks with his crew dressed as former presidents. Plus, there’s Busey. You never know what that cat is gonna do. Every time I watch the movie I wonder what Busey is going to do next. I have the movie memorized, but I’m still unsure if he has edited the movie to put in some crazy new shit. It is way more than likely. Tom Seizmore is also in the movie (uncredited), as well as Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Clearly the best movie EVER.
Yeah, skydiving too.
The only really obscure one of these is Youngblood. You should have heard of all the rest of them. If you haven’t, watch them immediately. Hell, watch Youngblood too. Even if you don’t like it, it’s worth a oncethrough. Anyway, God bless you Patrick Swayze. May the wind always be at your back, and the sun always upon your face, and may the wings of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars. Yes, that’s from Blow.
—
Listen: Muse, “Knights of Cydonia”
Quote: “Good looking people turn me off. Myself included.” – Patrick Swayze
Pete
Clint