Oscars bring about thoughts of sports movies
Turns out the Oscars reign supreme in my household. Sunday night I was relegated to watching the Zags' game in two-minute intervals during commercial breaks — the downside to only owning one television. You see, my wife would sooner endure multiple root canals than miss her beloved Oscars.
It got me thinking about my all-time favorite sports movies. I tried to come up with a top-five all-time list, and began to realize just how much Hollywood and sports are intertwined. After much deliberation, I was able to come up with a definitive top-five, and believe me, it was not an easy task. In conjunction with the Oscars, I humbly submit my favorites, and request that any interested readers submit theirs for future publication.
#1 — Rocky (1974)
For those of you chuckling at my first pick, perhaps a re-viewing of the Oscar-winning film for best picture is warranted. To confuse it with the litany of sequels that followed, each successive incarnation worse than the previous, is an injustice to the magic of the original.
I watched it again not too long ago, and regained a long-lost respect for Sylvester Stallone, both as an actor and writer (he wrote the screenplay for Rocky). At its essence, the film is maybe 10 percent sports, 40 percent love story and 50 percent a self-described 'loser' trying to make something of himself in blue collar Philadelphia.
Unlike subsequent sequels, where Rocky Balboa would withstand not five, not 20, not even 100, but rather hundreds of vicious blows, any one of which would knock a real heavyweight fighter into la-la land, the fight choreography in the original is believable. And unlike the sequels, where he not only survives said beatings but comes back to win, he actually — gasp — loses, happy to merely have gone the distance.
Rocky was poignant, believable and in a strange way, heroic. The soundtrack is a classic, far more than just the theme everyone knows.
#2 — The Jericho Mile ('79)
If every made for T.V. movie was this good, I would quit going to the movies altogether. Inspirationally, this movie is at least on par with Rocky, and every time I watch it, I'm frustrated that it's not more well known — it's that good.
Peter Strauss stars as an inmate doing hard time at Folsom Prison, and the movie is shot on site. He's a loner whom the inmates begin calling "lickety-split" because he spends all of his time running around the decrepit prison track. A track coach notices him and secretly clocks him one day to find that he's running world-class times. They go about struggling against the system to get him a chance to race against the world's best milers. At the risk of giving away the movie I will stop there, with a strong urging to those who haven't yet seen it to do so.
It's an unrelenting look at prison life, second chances and the triumph of the human spirit. Directed by Michael Mann (Ali, The Insider and The Last of the Mohicans), it's amazing a movie this good was never on the big screen. It could have supplanted Rocky on my list if not for the fact that I couldn't have a film most people have never heard of topping the list.
? #3 — Hoop Dreams ('94)
Proof that real life drama beats fiction seven days a week and twice on Sundays. This documentary follows two basketball prodigies of the brutally tough projects of Cabrini Green in Chicago, Ill., from their freshman year of high school through their college careers. Both have NBA aspirations and see basketball as a way out of the projects.
The duo is hand-picked by a private school in Chicago's affluent suburbs to come help their basketball team. When one doesn't quite live up to expectations, he abruptly loses his financial aid and is sent back to public schools.
This movie is equal parts basketball, sociology, economics and human drama. I remember Tom Brokaw lobbying for the movie to not just win best documentary, but best picture as well — and he certainly wasn't alone. 250 hours of footage, shot over five-years, was distilled into a raw, heart-felt, three-hour documentary that hits you like a sledgehammer. The film is burgeoning with emotion, and the realities of class structure in modern day America.
? #4 — Breaking Away ('79)
This is a classic coming-of-age film, set in middle America. The movie actually won an Oscar for best screenplay, and wasn't really acclaimed at the time, but has since emerged as a classic in the genre of sports films.
Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern star as two in a group of four friends who are wondering what they will do after high school. They are referred to as "cutters" in reference to the fact that their parents worked in rock quarries, and the term is far from endearing. One of the friends is a cycling prodigy and the four decide to enter a bicycle race at the University of Indiana, mostly to prove to everyone, including themselves, that they are not losers.
The characters are engaging, lovable and easy to root for. If you happen to be channel surfing and come across this movie, make sure and give it a viewing, you'll be glad you did.
? #5 — Wildcats ('86)
O.K. So this is not one of the five best sports movies ever, I'll happily concede that fact. It only makes the list because I had to have one comedy, and this would be the one.
Is it heavy-handed at times? Yes. Corny at times? Yes. Renowned for it's brilliant plot and realistic storylines? No. Funny? Absolutely.
Goldie Hawn takes over as head football coach at an inner-city high school, replete with guard dogs and metal detectors. She manages to win over the rough bunch of foul-mouthed and indignant players by outlasting them running laps around the track. She manages to assemble the rag-tag bunch into — surprise — city champions.
There are countless hilarious scenes, and the cast is loaded with young actors at the very start of their careers, including: Woody Harrelson, LL Cool J and Wesley Snipes.
? Submit a list
So what are your top five movies? Send in a top-five list (comments optional) and I will run them on the sports page this week. I'll keep a running total and in a we'll see what five are the highest rated. Send your picks to "eplummer@cdapress.com" or via phone at 263-9534, ext. 226, as well as any story ideas, comments, complaints or suggestions on how to improve the sports page.