OTHER SPORTS- PART 2

As promised, here is the rest of my list of the best sports movies that are not about baseball. 

6. Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Believe it or not, this is a movie that is based on an original television play.  Both were written by Paddy Chayefsky, one of the best.  Only a cut below Raging Bull, if that.  Anthony Quinn is excellent as the used and abused fighter, and Jackie Gleason is good as his manager, and user. Gleason was about the biggest TV star of them all when I was growing up. It seems almost unfair that he was also a very gifted actor! 

7. The Hustler (1961). This movie made Paul Newman a star and demonstrated that Jackie Gleason was more than a comedian. Loosely based on a true story, it is about a pool player who wants to beat the best and strike it rich.  This film is superbly shot in smoky black and white; color would ruin it. The character Gleason plays, the legendary Minnesota Fats, died at 82 but certainly lived to see the movies based loosely on his life.  The Color Of Money (1986) is a worthy successor, with Paul Newman now a middle-aged Fast Eddie Felson, mentor to Tom Cruise as his cocky student.

8. Heart Like a Wheel (1983) features Bonnie Bedelia as drag racer Shirley Muldowney.  This is as good a film as we have about a woman trying to make it in a man's world.  It is reasonably close to the facts of Muldowney's life. A superb antidote to the “girls can’t do that” crowd. Excellent action footage. Beau Bridges is fine as her husband.

9. White Men Can't Jump (1992). Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes having a big time as basketball hustlers, and throw in Rosie Perez as a Jeopardy hustler.  A funny story without much substance, it is just plain fun. 

10. Rocky (1976). Because Stallone cranked out so many sequels that the whole thing became sort of a national joke, you tend to forget just how good the first one was.  Rocky is the American hero story, about the little guy winning against impossible odds with a little luck and talent and a lot of hard work.  The wonderful theme music lives on. Forget the sequels.

Honorable Mention: Phar Lap (1983) horse racing; Semi-Tough (1977) football; The Harder They Fall (1956) boxing; The Longest Yard (1974) football; Hoosiers (1986) basketball;, Rudy (1993) football, This Sporting Life (1963) soccer, Invictus (2009) rugby.

All of the films in this column are available for streaming.  Google the title and click on “watch movie”. All are really for adult audiences. 

                                                                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.

                                                           Zoos

    The biggest natural habitat zoo in the world is right here in my county! So of course Mr. Movie should go on a safari to round up movies about zoos. So he did. With, I’m afraid, very mixed results. Let’s begin by saying there are around 50 movies that fit this category. Over 40 aren’t very good. On with the show!

     We Bought A Zoo (2017) is just so good-natured and fun that you have to like it. It is, strangely, based on a memoir by the guy who actually did buy a zoo. Matt Damon plays a widowed father (Benjamin Mee) of teen-agers, and the whole family is despondent without their wife and mother. Looking for a new residence, they find the perfect house and decide to buy it, even though they also have to buy the zoo that goes with the property. The zoo needs major repairs and money to make them. Stay tuned for a very happy ending!

The next two films fall under the “apologizing for zoos” category. Harambe (2023) is a documentary that’s hard to take. A little boy falls into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo. The gorilla never harms the child but seems to most to be taking care of him. The kid is rescued without injury. The gorilla, Harambe, is shot dead. The films opens a who can of worms about wild animals kept in enclosures. An Apology To Elephants (2013) is another documentary. This one details the mistreatment of our largest land animals. I don’t think our zoo’s elephants would fit here at all; they seem to have pretty good lives. 

Zoo (2017) also features an elephant. This one lives in the Belfast zoo and is terrorized by bombing all around the zoo. Several teen-agers decide to rescue the elephant (Buster) and keep it in a back yard. Yep. Really happened! How do you keep an elephant hidden? Well, it ain’t easy!

The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017) is also based on a true story. During Word War II the keeper of the Warsaw Zoo and his wife use the zoo to hide Jews from the Nazis. The Nazis systematically slaughter all the animals, but the keepers use the empty cages and habitats to hide escaping Jews. The Zabrinskas rescued over 300 Jews, and after Hitler’s surrender they rebuilt the Warsaw Zoo.

This falls in the “not as good as the book” category. Zoo (2015-17) is a tv streamer based on James Patterson’s book of the same name. The book is one of his best, a page-turning thriller. The tv series is just ok. So- what if all the animals in the world, in zoos and wild, suddenly turned into people killers? 

Only We Bought A Zoo and the 2017 Zoo are ok for kids. Most of these are available somewhere. Click around!

                                                             Donald Sutherland

                                                                 Part 3

    Herewith the last column on Donald Sutherland films. No, that isn’t all of his good roles, I just picked 15 I liked.

Max Dugan Returns (1983) is a whimsical tale of separation and love and Jason Robards has the title role, playing the estranged father of Nora McPhee (Marsha Mason).  Nora is a schoolteacher mom just barely getting by. Max shows up on her doorstep, having served a long prison sentence and then disappeared for six more years. He is flush with cash he has stolen from the mob, and proceeds to refurnish Nora’s home and bestow other gifts. She resists for a while but ultimately gives in to his largesse. Donald Sutherland has a fairly minor turn as Brian Costello. Son Kiefer debuts as a school kid.  As always, the Neil Simon screenplay delivers mirth and good feelings. 

Outbreak (1995) is a visionary,  fictional prediction of the ebola virus which scared the *^%# out of us in 2014. In this film the deadly virus is called Motaba and it sounds a lot like ebola. The outbreak spreads by accident and by misadventure and the army is called in. Donald Sutherland plays General McClintock, a totally loathsome character who tries to keep the virus around to use as a chemical weapon. Yikes!

A Time To Kill (1996) is a superb courtroom film based on the John Grisham novel. Carl Lee Hailey’s (Samuel L. Jackson) little daughter is abducted and raped by two white men. Realizing the perpetrators will never be punished in Mississippi, Car Lee guns them down. He is defended by Jake Brigance (Matthew McConahy), aided by his elderly mentor Lucien Wilbanks (Donald Sutherland). Jake tries to get Carl Lee to plead to second degree murder to prevent a death sentence, but Carl Lee refuses and the case goes to the all white jury. 

Pride And Prejudice (2005) has been filmed several times and Jane Austen’s story just gets better. In this one, Donald Sutherland portrays Mr. Bennett, father of five daughters. Their mother schemes and plots to secure “good matches”. Keira Knightley shines as Elizabeth, the main character. Unknown Matthew Mcfadyen is just fine as Mr. Darcy, scorned suitor of Elizabeth, but who won’t give up. There are numerous plot twists before getting to the satisfying finale. 

The Hunger Games became quite a franchise in the 2000's. From the original in 2012 through Catching Fire, Mockingjay 1 and 2 and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2023 these films were very successful, especially with young people. Donald Sutherland is cast as President Snow, who presides over and directs the games. Every year the 12 districts send a boy and a girl as tribute, and they all fight each other until only one survives. Katniss Everdeen is the signature girl character, portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence. The first three entries set box office records. The last one is actually a prequel, and Sutherland appears in it only by archival footage. 

    All of these films are for grown-ups. Netflix has The Hunger Games. For the others, Google the title and click on watch movie.