Who didn’t love Patrick Swayze? Women fell for him in chick flicks like Dirty Dancing and Ghost while men (like myself) rooted for him in guy movies like Road House, Red Dawn, Black Dog, Point Break and others. A few kids might have even caught on through Tall Tales and The Fox and the Hound 2. And yet he never kept up the popularity he had in the 80s and early 90s. He certainly wasn’t that bad an actor, and his constant display of ridiculous hairdos wasn’t any worse than Nic Cage’s.

Wondering why he didn’t remain a big star to the end — was it the horse riding accident and subsequent depression/drinking? — isn’t of concern now, though. Since his death from cancer yesterday he’s at least received a lot of love from around the web, and we can hope that his soul has lingered, a la his character in Ghost, enough to notice. Remember that Sam was able to still use a computer thanks to the tricks he learned from Vincent Schiavelli’s subway ghost.

Check out what the film blogs are saying about his legacy after the jump and pay your own respects in the comments below:
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If all you remember of Patrick Swayze, who died yesterday of cancer at age 57, is his dance moves, you may be forgetting what an iconic tough guy he was. Sure, he started out specializing in arguably unmanly ventures like ballet and gymnastics, and many of his most memorable scenes show him as a limber romantic with thick, luxurious hair. But he was really best when he portrayed macho, domineering and otherwise badass dudes.

We grew up thinking of him first as a big brother type, thanks to movies like Red Dawn and The Outsiders. And even when he went on to sappier fare like Dirty Dancing and Ghost we accepted him as a man in control of every situation he was in. Later in his career, he would play more desperate and vulnerable characters, such as in Donnie Darko and the underrated 11:14. Still, we never got over believing that Swayze was the boss.

Below we spotlight ten favorite movie quotes that display the power commanded by his characters.
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Earlier this week, I recommended 10 movies for Democrats to watch. So, to balance things out and hopefully show a lack of bias, I’ve now selected 10 recommendations for Republicans, too. This was actually the more difficult task, because there are so many classic films that display conservative values — and in the 1980s alone, I think there were about a billion films promoting relatively right-wing lifestyles and ideas. Therefore, I’ve limited my picks to the last two decades, except for one underrated gem that left me with quite an impression as a boy.

• The Dark Knight (2008)
  Some said Batman is Bush, others said Cheney, but either way this past summer’s superhero blockbuster resonated with certain conservatives who saw the film as something of an argument about — if not apology for — the actions of the current administration. Similarly, this summer’s Hancock and Iron Man have been read as being particularly relative to Republican politics.
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