NOT JUST BASEBALL

Many of the best sports movies are set on the baseball diamond, but there are excellent films about other sports. Most of them are about that particular sport about like Forest Gump is about shrimping, but they make a fine basis for a good story. Here are my top five movies about “other sports.”

1. Chariots of Fire (1981). Deservedly won the Oscar.  Ben Cross and Ian Charleson are superb as Olympic runners.  It is about being the best, and about principles and priorities. It’s hard to imagine the princely Ben Cross, who died at 72,  as an Olympic-quality sprinter, but he was really good in this movie. Charleson portrays a devout Christian who refuses to compete on the sabbath. 

2. Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). Please watch this movie. Nobody much did when it came out, and it is a fabulous film about a child prodigy chess player,  what to do with gifted children and how to let them be children.  Lawrence Fishburne is great as a park speed player; Max Pomeranc is wonderful as the kid and Joe Mantegna does a nice turn as his dad. 

3. Breaking Away (1979). Bicycle racing? Why not. The quirky humor and good characterizations make this a fine film.  The underdog against the world story is as old as the movies, but usually works anyway and certainly does here. Dennis Christopher (whatever happened to him?) is good as the young bike racer, smitten by the glamour of the Italian grand prix team. Paul Dooley gives a career performance as his father and Barbara Barrie is very good as his mom.

4. Hoop Dreams (1994). There was quite a controversy when this splendid movie not only wasn't nominated as Best Picture but didn't even get nominated as Best Documentary.  They wuz robbed.  This is about two inner-city kids who dream of making it big in the NBA.  But it's really about dreams and families and making the best of things.  It follows the two main characters from elementary school into college. It is over three hours long but you'll never notice. 

5. Raging Bull (1980). With Martin Scorcese directing and Robert DeNiro acting, this is arguably the best boxing movie ever made.  Not for the faint of heart, as the fight scenes are graphic.  The story is about what men do to women and each other and what happens when you used to be famous.  The movie is shot in black and white, and it’s hard to imagine otherwise. An Oscar for DeNiro, at the absolute top of his game. 

More winners about other sports next time. All of the movies in this column are available  for streaming. Google the title and click on “watch movie”. The first three are fine for all ages; the rest are for mature audiences.

                                                                     Pedro Almodovar

                                                                 Part One

My friend Jim was pretty much a mainstream guy about most things. Like all of us, he had some quirks. Like Cuban music (!). And, he was just enamored with the films of Spanish director and screenwriter Pedro Almodovar. He could have done worse! Almodovar has churned out one strange but good film after another. Let’s look at some of his best.

Almodovar has won dozens of award for his screenplays. He even has an American Academy Award for his screenplay Talk To Her (2003). You can count on him for something out of the envelope and this one is way out. Benigno and Marco have a strange thing in common. Each is in love with a different woman who is hospitalized in a coma. Benigno convinces Marco  that he should constant talk to the unconscious Lydia because people in a coma can hear what is said to them even though they don’t appear to react at all. From there it gets, well, very complicated. Stick with it. You won’t think “that’s just like another movie I’ve seen”. 

One of the all-time great titles is Almodovar’s Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down (1989). Antonio Banderas is well-known to American audiences and is the star of this off-kilter film. He portrays Ricky, a recently released mental patient who becomes obsessed with Marina, a star in questionable movies. Ricky breaks into her apartment and takes her captive, assuring her that she will fall in love with him. And guess what? She does! When her sister Lola finds where she is being held, Marina tells her she does not want to escape, that she is in love with her captor. 

Another great Almodovar title is Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown (1988). Pepa Marcos is one of these women. She is a television actress whose main work is dubbing Spanish in foreign movies. Her boyfriend Ivan has the same job, dubbing male parts. He tells her to pack his things, he is leaving. She thinks he means forever. Her friend Candela enters the plot, with all sorts of complications. There is spiked gazpacho, and an apparent Arab terrorist plot to hijack a plane. Do not expect me to explain this. Just go with it!

Perhaps the most accessible Almodovar film is the fairly recent Parallel Mothers (2021). Janis (Penelope Cruz) and Ana (Milena Smit) meet at the hospital where both are delivering babies. Somehow their babies are switched and each departs with the other one’s baby. No one suspects anything until Arturo, who impregnated Janis, comes to see the baby and reacts strangely, saying he doesn’t think the baby is his. Janis conducts a DNA test which reveals she is not this baby’s mother. She runs into Ana who tearfully tells her that her baby is dead- crib death. What should Janis do?

So, if you decide to dive in, should you watch Almodovar films in any particular order. No. They’re all frenetic, weird and stand alone. All of the movies in this article are definitely for mature adults. The standard reaction after seeing one of them is to be puzzled but delighted. All of the films in this article are available for streaming, though few are free. Just Google the title and click on “watch movie”. Good luck!

                                                                      The Olympics In Film

Most everybody I talk to has been watching the Olympics from Paris. Last time, in Tokyo, it was during the pandemic and there were No Fans At All. It has been lots of fun and our American athletes have done so well. So it’s time for Mr. Movie to weigh in with the best movies that involve the Olympics.

I’ll start with the very best. Chariots Of Fire (1981) is a wonderful movie that won every award in sight. It deserved and won four Oscars, including Best Film. Ben Cross portrays Harold Abrahams, a Jewish student at Cambridge. He overcomes intense anti-semitism and is named to the 1924 British Olympics team. Ian Charleson portrays Eric Lidell, a devout Christian who stuns the world when he refuses to run on the Sabbath. The running shots and the celestial music by Vangelis are just great!

Miracle (2004) is about exactly that. The entire United States is transported into ecstacy when an underdog bunch of American college kids unite to take down the juggernaut  Russian squad, winner of four consecutive gold medals.  We hear Al Michaels’ famous call: “Do you believe in miracles? Yes”. Then they go on to win the gold medal by defeating heavily favored Finland. Kurt Russell is very good as Herb Brooks, the legendary American coach. Patricia Clarkson, good as always, plays Herb’s wife.

Munich (2005) goes well beyond the closing ceremony, but is a dramatic film about revenge and redemption. At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, 11 Israeli athletes are systematically murdered by Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group. Two are killed at first. After 9 of the Israelis are taken hostage and we hoped against hope, they were all killed. I still remember Jim McKay saying: “They’re all gone. Every one.” The story does not end there, as most of the movie covers the action of Mossad and its cohorts tracking down and killing every known Palestinian participant. 

Icarus (2017) won Best Documentary at the 2014 Academy Awards. Brian Fogel, a talented American cyclist, begins a study of athletic doping. He befriends and works with Grigory Rodchenkov, head of Russian testing. The Russian turns on his bosses and defects to America. He and Fogel disclose the Russians’ total and complete doping of their athletes, revealing how they do it and have been doing it for many years. The Russian goes into Witness Protection and the Russian government denies any knowledge of the scandal. What a surprise!

The Boys In The Boat (2023) is one of the best books I’ve ever read about sports. It details the University of Washington rowing team competing for gold at the 1936 Olympics. The movie, alas, is just so-so. What a waste! The movie isn’t bad, it’s just mediocre and could have been so great. Oh well. Read the book!

I am also recommending Tokyo Olympiad (1965), a Japanese doc about as good as it gets in filming the games. Some might like Hitler’s Olympics (2016) a good doc about how Jesse Owens and others spoiled the 1936 Olympics for The Fuherher.

The first two films herein are fine for all ages. The rest are for adults. All of these films are available for streaming, most at a price.  Google the title and click on “watch movie”. 

                                                                 Shelley Duvall

She was no great beauty. In fact, when someone said “Popeye” you would immediately think “Olive Oyl”. She was reluctant to play that part in the Popeye movie, having been teased with the name in school. And yet, who else would you casr?

Popeye (1980), like so many films made from comic strip characters, is just sort of okay. Robin Williams is fine as the legendary sailor, and those familiar with the comics will recognize Wimpy, Bluto, Sweet Pea and Pappy. Shelley Duvall simply IS Olive Oyl, and she does justice to the skinny heroine. The story meanders around and finally ends on Scab Island, with Popeye being saved by, of course, spinach. 

Shelley Duvall’s first important role was as L.A. Joan in Robert Altman’s Nashville (1977). She went on to become a part of Altman’s stable of quality actors. This film is Altman’s brilliant snapshot of America. It is unlike anything before or since. It’s a crazy quilt of seemingly unrelated incidents, with a great ensemble cast (Keith Carradine, Henry Gibson, Karen Black, Geraldine Chaplin, Lily Tomlin), which somehow coalesce into a picture of how we were and how we are. A combination political rally and country music show is the backdrop.

Ms. Duvall had a minor role in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977). She is Pam, a friend of the couple. Diane Keaton is super as the title character, and Woody, as Alvy Singer,  shambles through the thing playing himself. As usual, Woody is a mess saved by women. The kooky clothing Ms. Keaton wore became a fad for a while. Ms. Keaton won the Best Actress Oscar and the film won three more statues including Best Picture.  Woody was nominated, but alas was bested by Richard Drefuss for The Goodbye Girl.

Shelley Duvall is so very good in Altman’s Three Women (1980). She is Millie, the self-absorbed, talky center of the film. She won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her performance. The story is supposedly derived from a dream Altman had. I believe that. The film also stars Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule as the other two women. They all live in a dusty western town, and their interactions shift and change as the film progresses. It is more than a little strange; not to all tastes but vintage Altman.

The Shining (1980) pretty much belongs to Jack Nicholson, totally scary as Jack Torrance, a sometimes writer hired as caretaker in a spooky mountain hotel. Shelley Duvall portrays Wendy, Jack’s long suffering wife. Jack slides into madness and tries to trap and murder his wife and son. Jack comes after them with an axe, shattering the door and uttering the now-famous line “Here’s Johnny!”. Wendy and her son somehow escape her now murderous and crazy husband, fleeing on a snow mobile and leaving Jack to freeze. 

All of the movies in this article are available to stream somewhere. Google the title and click on “watch movie”. All of these films are for grown-ups.