15   Best Sports Movies ( as requested by Gary Whaley, one of our Oscar Contest Winners)

 

1. Hoosiers (1986)  Basketball (Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey).
2. Bull Durham (1988)   Baseball (Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins)
3. Field of Dreams (1989)   baseball (Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones)
4. Raging Bull(1980)   Boxing (Robert DeNiro, Cathy Moriarty)
5. Rocky (1976)  Boxing ( Sylvester Stallone Carl Weathers)
6. The Natural (1984)   Baseball (Robert Redford, Robert Duval)
7. A League of Their Own (1992)  Baseball  (Tom Hanks, Geena Davis.)
8. Chariots of Fire (1981)  Running (Ben Cross, Ian Charleson)
9. Brian's Song (1970)   Football  (James Caan, Billy Dee Williams).
10. Remember the Titans (2000)  Football (Denzel Washington, Will Patton)

11.. Breaking Away (1979)   Cycling (Dennis Christopher, Paul Dooley)

12. Hoop Dreams (1994)  Basketball Documentary.

13.  Slap Shot (19770 , Hockey (Paul Newman, Strother Martin.)

14.   Million Dollar Baby (20040  Boxing (Clint Eastwood Hilary Swank)

3 Way Tie for 15:

15.  Rudy (1993)   Football  (Sean Astin, Ned Beatty.)

      15.  The Hustler (1961)  Pool (Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason)

15.  Major League (1989)   Baseball (Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen.)

 

 

Honorable Mentions in no order of preference… actually chronologically:

 

Fear Strikes Out (1957)  Baseball

Downhill Racer (1969)  Snow Skiing

Bang the Drum Slowly  (1971)  Baseball

The Longest Yard  (1974)  Football

The Bad News Bears  (1976)

Caddyshack  (1980) Golf
The Karate Kid  (1984)  Karate

The Color of Money  )1986)  Pool

The Mighty Ducks (1992)  Hockey

White Men Can’t Jump  (1992)  Basketball

Cool Running  (1993)  Bob Sledding

Jerry Maguire  (1996)  Football

Tin Cup  (19960  Golf

The Hurricane   (1999)   Boxing

Ali  (2001)  Boxing

Bend It Like Beckham  (2002) Soccer

The Rookie  (2002)

Friday Night Lights  (2004)

Miracle  (2004)  Hockey

Cinderella Man  (2005)

Murderball (2005)  Documentary on Quadriplegics, who play full-contact rugby in wheelchairs

We Are Marshall  (2006)  Football

 

 

I couldn’t include all but feel free to tell me ones you’d put in your Top 15.

 

Clark

 

 

 

 

OBVIOUS CHILD  3.5***

 

       Over the years, the film industry has put out plenty of comedies about the perils of an unexpected pregnancy, but seldom has the subject been approached from such a refreshingly different point of view as in “Obvious Child”.

Donna (Jenny Slate) is an aspiring stand-up comedian whose relationship with her long-term boyfriend has just come to a screeching halt, courtesy of his cheating ways. Angry and despondent, Donna unleashes her frustration onstage, crashing and burning in front of the audience before finding solace in a  genuinely nice guy Max (Jake Lacy), with whom she shares a few drinks - and a bed.

When Donna discovers a few weeks later that she's pregnant, her life is thrown into upheaval. After seriously  evaluating her options, she  elects to have an abortion. There's just one problem: Max, her one-night stand happens to be the sweetest, nicest guy Donna has ever met, and he  is obviously interested in more than just a casual fling.

Obvious Child differs from other pregnancy rom-coms by approaching a uniquely feminine issue from a decidedly feminine point of view. This is Donna's story, and while the film is most definitely a comedy, it treats the subject matter of abortion with respect and dignity while never really leaning to one side or the other of this hotly debated issue. It's also a standout performance from Slate, who runs the full gamut of the emotional spectrum, gleefully reveling in Donna's raunchy stand-up act one moment, and losing herself in a tear-jerking scene between Donna and her overbearing (but not unloving) mother.

Obvious Child is a great short little indie film that's definitely worth watching.

 

It has an “R” rating and be forewarned that her standup routines are dirty and crude but nonetheless funny in a story-telling way.

 

Clark

 

PS: This movie came out in the early fall of 2014 and can only be found now on DVD or Netflix or other streaming TV stations.

Ida ( a Polish film with English subtitles)  4.0*** out of 4***

 

     The story takes place in the early 1960s in Poland and initially focuses on an 18 year old novice Anna, who has never ventured from her convent and is ordered by her Mother Superior to visit her aunt Wanda before she can take her vows. Anna has never  met Wanda, her only living relative. Immediately upon their meeting Wanda informs Anna that her real name is Ida Lebenstein and that her Jewish parents were murdered during WW II, and  then observes with some irony that she will be a Jewish nun. Wanda is Ida's opposite, a smoking, drinking, middle-aged woman who sleeps around. They set out on a road trip to the rural Polish home of their family to try to solve the mystery of their deaths. Ida's visit with Wanda and their trip and discoveries have a powerful effect on both woman with somewhat surprising consequences ..

The absolutely stunning black-and-white cinematography, framed in an almost square format and filmed with a static camera, constantly takes your breath away. Not always a fan of black and white, its use here is unique and exquisite…the result is a beautiful film. Watching the film is like turning the pages of a coffee table book containing wonderful photographs of a long-forgotten era.  The image composition is also  exceptional. In many cases, the subject is off center, or even in a corner of the image, which surprisingly creates a better more compelling image. The choice to film almost the entire movie with a static, non-moving camera,  creates a wonderful effect. Instead of the camera following the action, we see persons moving in and out of the camera frame.  

The quiet, almost contemplative style of filming suits the story perfectly.  The story highlights the still sensitive subject of Polish anti-Semitism, but above all it is the story of two personalities. The first, the nun-to-be Ida, has never really thought about her own fate, being brought up in the rigid hierarchy of the Catholic church . The other, the exemplary communist state prosecutor Wanda, despises the life she leads. The reason for her cynicism becomes clear during the film.  

This film is the complete opposite of the loud, dynamic, nervous style of film making that so many film makers employ nowadays. It's a calm, quiet, and slow film - and above all an extremely beautiful one.

 IT HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR OSCAR”S BEST FOREIGN FILM AND I BELIEVE IT WILL WIN !!!!

Clark

PS: No longer in the theaters so you’ll have to find it on DVD or Netflix or other streaming channels… but it’s worth the search !!!

WHIPLASH  4.0***

 

           “Whiplash” is, basically, a “duel to the death…almost”  between an exceptional drum student Andrew (Miles Teller) and his teacher/mentor Terence Fletcher (J.K .Simmons). Sounds boring, right? Not one bit. This movie has as much action as the best thriller. It has been nominated for Oscar’s Best Picture but is not expected to win.

Front and center of this movie is the BRILLIANT portrayal of Fletcher by Simmons . It is a "tour-de-force" …. one of the best acting performances of  2014. . Fletcher is menacing, sharp, cutting, brilliant and, yes, somewhat vulnerable or appears to be. It is this last trait (whether real or pretended) that  makes the character a puzzlement. For if he appeared to be all blunt force and bravado, the character would seem too one note. But he is not, he is complex. This astonishing performance as a terrifying bully has rightly earned him a nomination for Oscar’s Best Supporting Actor which he WILL win.

Of course, a performance like this would not be memorable if he did not have a strong performer to play against and Miles Teller more than holds his own . Teller  is superbly credible as the aspiring drummer Andrew, and amazingly performs much of the drum scenes himself.

Director and writer Damien Chazelle brilliantly crafts this film about drumming - DRUMMING! -  and the final performance/showdown between Teller and Simmons is spell-binding. The fact that it is a 9 minute drum solo makes it quite remarkable indeed.

Gut-wrenching and enthralling, this film will leave you emotionally drained but rewarded.. This is in the “must see” category for Simmons’s performance if nothing else.

 

It has pretty much finished its theater run and should be available soon on home video.

 

Rated R for strong language including some sexual references.

 

Clark

 

 

 

AMERICAN SNIPER  3.8***

        Few times does a movie  entertain  yet at the same time tell deep truths. American Sniper manages just that. If one wanted a current definition of an American Patriot hero it's effectively brought to life by the masterful direction of Clint Eastwood. This movie will be one of his crowning achievements in a much celebrated career. Such a feat could not be accomplished with just any story however. The life of Chris Kyle, and what he did and what he stood for, makes a perfect match. The film is based upon the true life events of Chris Kyle, a highly skilled and determined Navy SEAL sniper, and his brothers-in-arms in the Iraq war.  It's a story about a Texas boy who grew up to be a man‘s man  yearning to fulfill one specific duty: To protect men, women and children from those who seek to do evil and harm. The movie takes us through some of his early life and training, and then juggles between his 4 tours in Iraq and his returns to home and family in Texas as he struggles with internal and external dilemmas including PTSD. It's a moving and dramatic portrayal of the life of Chris Kyle, who during those 4 tours had 160 confirmed  kills that saved many more American lives.

Bradley Cooper's amazingly real depiction of a "complicated, yet simple Texas cowboy" breathes life into a story surrounded by the darkness of war. It single-handedly makes that phrase "The Greatest Generation"  one that didn't end with WWII.  Coopers’ performance is remarkable and well deserving of his Oscar nomination for “Best Actor” , the 3^rd year in a row that he’s been nominated in that category.

American Sniper is rare in that it shows the brutality of war yet presents it in a watchable way.  While folks such as I have led a very normal, SAFE life stateside during the years since 9/11,  men just like Chris Kyle have been laying everything on the line for the very  freedoms we were so casually enjoying. One can't help but feel humbled by what these men accomplished and sacrificed. War is the worst of humanity without doubt, but within war the best of America and its soldiers often rise above both evil and politics. Chris Kyle was assuredly one of the finest examples  of such and American Sniper is a fine testament of which we all can be proud.  

Clark

WILD  3.0***

   In “Wild”, Reese Witherspoon  stars as Cheryl Strayed, an aspiring Minnesota writer who tailspins into drug abuse and empty sex after her 45-year-old mother, Bobbi (Laura Dern), dies of cancer. To rediscover herself, she decides to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail, a  1,100-mile route from the Mojave Desert through California, Oregon and Washington to the Canadian border. An inexperienced hiker, she sets off with a ridiculously overstuffed backpack (a running joke) and undersized boots, but with a gritty determination.The film chronicles Strayed’s 94-day hike, beginning in the middle when she loses a boot and a toenail.  She encounters numerous people along the way, mostly men, and – with one or two scary exceptions – all are decent.

Flashbacks unfolding in Cheryl’s mind, meanwhile, transport viewers into her troubled past. The way the flashbacks are handled  is well done. They come up in much same  way memories would on such an expedition and Cheryl's past is painted in quick brushstrokes that ultimately give you a sense of who she is.  However the flashbacks  consume about one-third of the movie and break up the  narrative and detract from the main story, the hike itself.

Yet the film is still smart, scenic, well-acted and emotionally real enough to satisfy as a female into-the-woods adventure and  memoir.  It shows an intelligent, embracingly imperfect heroine.

Witherspoon is charismatic and believable, although she never quite sheds her movie-star quality ( she just doesn’t quite look as worn and grimy as you would expect for such a grueling undertaking ). However she does give a strong performance which IS good enough to get an Oscar nomination.   Whether quoting poetry, climbing breathtaking cliffs, swearing at a rock, or craving potato chips, she inspires you to go the distance with her.

Rated R for sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language

Clark

PS: The filming was done using only natural light (no artificial lighting at all); the no mirrors were covered on the set to avoid any primping; the young girl playing Cheryl in the flashbacks is in fact Cheryl’s daughte;r and it was filmed in Oregon and Washington both on and off the PCT trail.

INTO THE WOODS  3.5***

         The Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine 1987 Broadway musical “Into the Woods” has been transferred to the screen by director Rob Marshall with most of its complexities and light-dark tones intact.    Although its first hour is more stunning than its second, this is a movie musical that, for a change, never slumps into a false “Hollywood” wholesomeness. It’s one of the rare musicals that both children (not the young kids…but 12 and over) and adults can enjoy, though for somewhat different reasons. Children will delight in the vast potpourri of classic fairy tales and adults will appreciate the wisdom and moralities in the retellings.

For those not familiar with this  musical, Into the Woods tells the intertwined tales of Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel, connected by a story of a childless baker and his wife, and the evil witch who cursed them. The  movie does a very good job of combining the four classic fairy tales, along with the new material into one plot line that is not only coherent but quite clever as well, with each story building on the others and their characters crossing paths in the most amusing ways. And just when you think it's over ( i.e. a “happy ending”) things get serious and we see what happens after the “happily ever after”. It has just the right touch of humor, spectacle and special effects along with a  solid cast, excellent production values, and a clever screenplay which makes this film achieve what it was meant to be: a twisted reworking of some pretty dark material that has been sanitized way too much in most adaptations.

The cast is large and for the most part up to the task. James Corden and Emily Blunt are wonderful as the village baker and his wife, who are childless due to the curse placed upon them (long story) by the blue-haired Wicked Witch, played and sung with ravishing zest by Meryl Streep, looking like she’s having the time of her life. Anna Kendrick  is Cinderella, who, in this version of the tale, purposely leaves behind her glass slipper for the Prince (Chris Pine) to find. The Prince is a pompous twit whose best line comes when he confesses, “I was raised to be charming, not sincere. “Among the large cast is also Johnny Depp’s brief appearance as the Wolf, Tracey Ullman as the overbearing mother of Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), and Lilla Crawford as a precocious Red Riding Hood.

Being a musical, this film is not for everyone. And Sondheim is not for everyone. Many of his songs are more about the words than the music and, thus, are not as hummable or memorable as what you would find in "Phantom of the Opera".

Clark