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Sports
and movies |
The heart of summer is movie season. Time to reflect on
sports' contribution to film. |
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In affiliation and coordination with USA Boxing, we persist and insist on promoting safety in boxing.
Las Vegas boxing info. We believe it to be the true essence of quality boxing. Our sport is not tabbed the "Manly art of self defense" and the "sweet science" because of a barbaric or destructive nature, but rather because it is recognized as a solution to to the violence of fighting.
True understanding of boxing is to appreciate it for the skill level of one's ability to hit and not be hit, combined in a time frame (rounds) which test for endurance and conditioning, rewarding the victor and satisfying the competitive spirit with in us all.
With the
little-horse-that-could flick Seabiscuit opening this week,
the already-short attention spans at Sports Online were further
diverted by a raging debate: what's the best-ever sports movie?
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We'll
let you vote on that. But in the process of coming up with a short
list of 10 for the poll, we frightened ourselves by unearthing
almost 70 sports-themed movies. Some are obviously great, worthy of
a rental and an evening with your home theatre system. Some are
mildly amusing, hokey throwbacks.
Top 20 Sports Movies of All-Time
And
some are hideous pieces of celluloid that should never have left the
heads of the hacks who created them. Rent those and you'll want to
return your home theatre system for a full refund.
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THE BAD NEWS BEARS |
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For
anyone who grew up in the 70s and came anywhere near a ball diamond,
The Bad News Bears meant something. We knew the phys-ed
misfits on the Bears -- overweight Engleberg, loser Lupus, nerdy
Ogilvie, Tanner the mouthpiece. Some of us were those kids.
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The
Little League politics, the sad-sack coach, the losers-and-winners
mentality of kids' sports were all wickedly showcased by director
Michael Ritchie, who coaxed terrific performances out of those kids,
as well as stars Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal.
One
of the few movies to deal with sports at the entry level, Bears
tapped into all the childhood emotions around sports without being
cloying. And it packed a fair size wallop too: who can forget coach
Turner's confrontation with his son on the pitcher's mound, or
Buttermaker's meltdown when he started taking the game seriously?
One
more kudo: few films penetrate pop culture to the extent that their
titles take on their own meaning. But The Bad News Bears is
now synonymous with a ragtag collection of underdogs.
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SPORTS TICKETS |
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BULL DURHAM |
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Bull
Durham makes the top-10 based on its intriguing cast of
characters and the memorable dialogue they churn out.
Admittedly, the film as a whole has its flaws. But the on- and
off-field adventures of veteran catcher Crash Davis (Kevin Costner),
pitching prospect Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) and groupie Annie Savoy
(Susan Sarandon) provide an entertaining, if not always accurate
window into the lives of minor-league ballplayers and their fans.
The
baseball elements of Bull Durham work because
writer/director Ron Shelton, who briefly played in the minors,
reveres America's pastime. However, he still isn't afraid to poke
fun at the game's love of clichés and rituals.
The
players' eccentricities are only surpassed by the movie's witty
exchanges and now-iconic dialogue, with Davis' "I believe" speech
leading the way. |
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CADDYSHACK |
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Remember
when Chevy Chase was funny? Rent Caddyshack if you need a
refresher.
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Carl the groundskeeper sizes up the enemy VC (varmint
cong) |
The
talented ensemble cast of Chase, Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield,
Ted Knight and a mischievous mechanical gopher dishes out the
comedic goods in this definitive goofball golf movie (with all due
respect to Happy Gilmore).
The
film has an abundance of memorable scenes and quotes. There are too
many gut-busters to mention in this space. However, Chase’s Zen-like
“be the ball” mantra, the chocolate doody in the pool and Murray’s
hilarious tale of hauling bag for the Dalai Lama are among the
sequences that still slay fans even after multiple viewings.
Caddyshack thumbs its nose at some of golf’s snootier ways and
isn’t afraid to riff on the country club lifestyle (pick from any
number of Dangerfield’s one-line barbs). If only more golf courses
were like Bushwood. |
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HOOSIERS |
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Another
based-on-a-true-story flick, Hoosiers follows the familiar
theme of underdogs battling huge odds and winning.
But
there are more underdogs here than just the team: Gene Hackman plays
a coach with a checkered past and Dennis Hopper is his assistant,
the town drunk looking to reclaim his dignity.
The
strength of the characters make this movie. The power and empathy
exuded by Hackman and Hopper are more than a match for the pure
sports action, and the subtle theme of life in the American
heartland of the 1950s is compelling.
It
would have been easy to make Hoosiers a pure basketball
flick, and it would have ended up on our heap of 60-odd other sports
movies. To director David Anspaugh's credit, it's more than that.
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THE LONGEST YARD |
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The
football version of The Dirty Dozen (also directed, not
coincidentally, by Robert Aldrich).
If
you're looking for art or tapestry, you'll be disappointed, but
The Longest Yard promises nothing but pure fun. What else could
you expect from a 1974 Burt Reynolds sports flick set in a prison?
OK.
Maybe the word 'fun' isn't exactly appropriate to describe Reynolds'
character Paul Crewe whipping a football not once, but twice, at a
guy's crotch. But it is funny, and in the context of the film,
nicely rewarding.
A
strong current of anti-establishment sentiment runs through The
Longest Yard, to the point where you'll be rooting for the Mean
Machine despite the fact they're a collection of criminals,
including murderers and rapists.
But,
in the tradition of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, it's
the inmates we have to root for. |
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THE NATURAL |
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If Ken
Burns had decided to make a baseball movie instead of his epic
documentary, this would have been it.
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Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) swings for the subtly-lit
fences |
The
Natural knows that baseball is replete with cliches, myths, legends,
and fuzzy, soft-focus moments. And it embraces them.
We've
got the corrupt owners, the wide-eyed batboy, a bat cut from a tree
struck by lightning, the crusty manager looking for a winning
season. And Robert Redford as a baseball golden boy looking for
redemption.
But
for sports fans, this is a great story that isn't entirely made up.
Baseball, real baseball, has given us some of those characters --
the Whammer, for instance -- and plot lines too.
Sure,
the final scene when Hobbs rounds the bases in slo-mo amid a torrent
of sparks could be written off as unrealistic, sentimental sap.
Except for that real-life moment in 1988 when the Dodgers' Kirk
Gibson stepped to the plate... |
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RAGING BULL |
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This
black-and-white biopic about former boxing champion Jake La Motta is
beautiful to look at, even when the on-screen action teems with
violence and self-destructive rage.
Robert De Niro earned an Oscar for his portrayal of the
ex-middleweight king and garnered extra kudos for packing on the
pounds to play a portly, retired La Motta.
The
film is widely acclaimed on many levels. Martin Scorsese’s direction
is intoxicating, Paul Schrader’s words strike all the right chords
and the actors turn in first-rate performances. The fight scenes
provide edge-of-your-seat thrills, while the human drama outside the
ring is equally engaging.
Raging Bull evades simple labelling. It’s so much more than
just a boxing or sports movie, rating as one of the most fascinating
character studies in cinema history.
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ROCKY |
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This
Oscar-winner gave birth to four sequels of varying merit, creating
one of the most successful franchises in film history. But before
Rocky went toe-to-toe with Mr. T or hauled logs around a Siberian
training camp, he was a just another bum from the neighbourhood
dreaming of his one chance to make it.
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Rocky's down but not out. He's got at least four sequels
to film. |
The
original Rocky has all the elements of a classic. It’s the
blueprint tale for the underdog figure trying to overcome numerous
life-barriers for a shot at glory and personal redemption.
The
film works on many levels. Rocky is at its quiet, engaging
best in the scenes where the Philly club fighter interacts with the
key figures in his life -- Mickey the trainer, Adrian the love
interest, and her cousin Paulie. And who could forget the
entertainment value provided by the cocky, charismatic heavyweight
champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers)?
The
well-choreographed (if slightly cartoonish) fight scenes also pack a
wallop, while Bill Conti’s heart-pumping musical score makes even
the most sedentary beast want to suck back a raw egg and race
through the streets. |
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SLAP SHOT |
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ESPN says it's a top 10 movie. Who are we to disagree? |
Leave
it to the Hanson Brothers to make taped, dark-rimmed glasses cool.
Well, sort of.
It
wasn’t so much the eyewear that cemented the goonish trio’s place as
pop culture icons. It was their rocker hair, tinfoil-wrapped
knuckles and willingness to drop the gloves in a heartbeat.
Slap Shot remains the ultimate hockey flick more than 25 years
after its release. Others have tried to duplicate its success, but
even though the film reeks of the late ‘70s, the Paul Newman vehicle
has maintained its charm and appeal with age.
Slap Shot scores with the right mix of comedic violence, a dash
of the profane, sharp dialogue and a heartfelt respect for
minor-league athletes, teams and the small communities that support
them. |
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