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Sport films thread

Started by rjd2, April 29, 2022, 04:27:52 PM

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rjd2

A lot of films from different sports and sadly most pretty wank.

I watched two I have not seen for yonks recently, He Got Game from Spike Lee about a prodigy who has to decide who to play for whose dad is Denzel which was pretty good but a little melodramatic and Fat City about a journeyman trying to make ends meat which was very solid with John Houston directing and Jeff Bridges starring.

Other good sport films,,,,erm the 1st 2 Rocky films , The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki about a Finish boxer who gets the fight of his life and Journeyman with Paddy Considine. Kevin Costner has some fun sporty films also.

So lads, this genre its pretty weak isn't it,,,or am I missing out on a load of top work?

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Raging Bull seems like the obvious omission there.

Dodgeball?

rjd2

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on April 29, 2022, 04:47:20 PMRaging Bull seems like the obvious omission there.

Dodgeball?

Oops.

Moneyball also to be fair was a pleasant enough watch.

Martin Van Buren Stan

Ali is terrible because Smith has all the megalomania of Ali but none of the charm or charisma. The Wrestler was good.

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

I seem to remember enjoying Escape To Victory, but that bit where they break his leg makes me wince a bit. It's the little yelp he gives out that does it, along with the crunching noise.

bgmnts

I know Cool Runnings is a cult classic but not a huge fan.

Is Damned United any good? I love Sheen in anything but not very arsed about Clough and Leeds really as a subject for a film.

Crenners

Slap Shot (1977) with Paul Newman is fantastic. Maybe the best sports film, to be honest.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: bgmnts on April 29, 2022, 06:20:39 PMIs Damned United any good? I love Sheen in anything but not very arsed about Clough and Leeds really as a subject for a film
I've no great interest in the subject either but I liked it. There's not that much football in it, as I recall.

I've only seen a small snippet of it ages ago, but Lagaan is supposed to be good. It's about an Indian village taking on their British oppressors in a game of cricket.

QDRPHNC

I remember quite liking Tin Cup, although it's got some shit moments.

Famous Mortimer

Shaolin Soccer is a lot of fun, nice bit of Stephen Chow action.

Battlefield Baseball is also a lot of fun, and it's got a decent amount of gore too. Not as much as Deadball, mind, which is like BB's disgusting cousin. 


Joe Qunt

Quote from: bgmnts on April 29, 2022, 06:20:39 PMIs Damned United any good? I love Sheen in anything but not very arsed about Clough and Leeds really as a subject for a film.

The best film about football ever made, hands down. Doesn't fall into the usual cliches and trappings just brilliant performances and writing. My favourite bit is when Clough/Sheen walks onto the training pitch for the first time, calls them all a bunch of cheating bastards, hammers the ball into the net and gets absolutely clattered all in the space of five minutes. Brilliant stuff. 

rjd2

Quote from: Joe Qunt on April 29, 2022, 09:44:53 PMThe best film about football ever made, hands down. Doesn't fall into the usual cliches and trappings just brilliant performances and writing. My favourite bit is when Clough/Sheen walks onto the training pitch for the first time, calls them all a bunch of cheating bastards, hammers the ball into the net and gets absolutely clattered all in the space of five minutes. Brilliant stuff. 

I enjoyed it also although not seen it since came out.

One thing however, if I am correct wasn't their criticism from the likes of Giles etc that it wasn't close whatsoever to real live events it portrayed ?

Sebastian Cobb


Joe Qunt

Quote from: rjd2 on April 29, 2022, 11:26:15 PMI enjoyed it also although not seen it since came out.

One thing however, if I am correct wasn't their criticism from the likes of Giles etc that it wasn't close whatsoever to real live events it portrayed ?

Oh yeah it's basically fan fiction.

dissolute ocelot

I hate sports so I don't know if liking White Men Can't Jump, The Set-Up, She's The Man, Friday Night Lights, Eight Men Out, Field Of Dreams, Escape To Victory, The Running Man, Bend It Like Beckham, the one where Amy Schumer shags someone who is peripherally connected with sport, etc, proves they are all terrible sports movies.

On the other hand, Raging Bull is clearly made by someone who hates sports, just as King of Comedy is made by someone who hates light entertainment.

Sebastian Cobb

Kingpin's alright as well, if you count bowling as sport (I do).

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on April 29, 2022, 11:45:24 PMI hate sports so I don't know if liking White Men Can't Jump, The Set-Up, She's The Man, Friday Night Lights, Eight Men Out, Field Of Dreams, Escape To Victory, The Running Man, Bend It Like Beckham, the one where Amy Schumer shags someone who is peripherally connected with sport, etc, proves they are all terrible sports movies.

On the other hand, Raging Bull is clearly made by someone who hates sports, just as King of Comedy is made by someone who hates light entertainment.

I hate poker and find casinos boring but love Casino, The Cooler, Hard Eight and California Split

Happy Gilmour (golf) and The Waterboy (American football) are good films. Plenty of belly laughs in both.

The Wedding Singer is good too, but there aren't any sports in it. I don't like any other Adam Sandler films though.

surreal

Rush is very good IMHO - James Hunt vs Nikki Lauda, some really good racing action even if they do cut a few of the races short

Never seen Days of Thunder, is that Nascar? or just tangential?

Erm, Rollerball?

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

Days of Thunder is basically Top Gun with cars, it carries all the same plot beats, but I love it. The race sections are genuinely thrilling, and they get the stupid driver names spot on.

Dex Sawash


Wind (1992) is notable for the first film appearance of Jennifer Grey's tiny nose (probably)

surreal

I remember National Velvet being really entertaining (young Elizabeth Taylor pretends to be a male jockey so she can ride in the Grand National) , also that has the "International Velvet" sequel too but can't recall if it was any good

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Is pool a sport? I watched The Color of Money the other day. I'll freely admit to being utterly cackhanded, but the displays of skill from Newman and Cruise are so gobsmacking that I wondered if they were using magnets under the table or something. I need to give The Hustler another viewing.

This makes a fairly convincing case, but team ballgames only criteria seems rather arbitrary. I'd say combat sports, like boxing and whatnot, are at least equal to baseball. What's more cinematic than two people knocking ten bells out of each other?

studpuppet

Grand Prix [1966] has a bit of a ropey plot, but still has the best action sequences of any motor racing film - they basically had a mini-race before each Grand Prix so the crowds, pit lane and drivers were all authentic. It's also a time capsule, in that it shows some of the F1 circuits in their heyday (Monaco, Spa, and the banking at Monza before the health and safety brigade intervened and insisted that drivers stop, y'know, dying).


studpuppet

The Great Triumvirate of Golf is not Harry Vardon JH Taylor and James Braid, but:

Caddyshack (possibly Bill 'unorthodox grip' Murray's finest hour)

The Greatest Game Ever Played


The Phantom Of The Open


Famous Mortimer

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on May 03, 2022, 01:45:47 PMI'd say combat sports, like boxing and whatnot, are at least equal to baseball. What's more cinematic than two people knocking ten bells out of each other?
I'm not sure boxing, or any close-combat sport, is all that cinematic. It can be very exciting to watch, of course, but I think that maybe comes from a different part of the brain than the bit which appreciates the artistry of it. Or maybe I'm talking bollocks, I don't know.

It's like how no-one gives a shit about amateur wrestling, but add elaborate entrances and costumes and that, and rig the result so you can have ebbs and flows, and you've got something worth watching.

With baseball, there's a lot of stuff round it which makes it easy to make a decent movie. The team coming together, or falling apart. Evil owners. Colourful crowd members. Personalities. Highlight reel plays. I perhaps ought to watch that video.

QuoteJourneyman with Paddy Considine.

Good film, but a really, really tough watch in places.

jamiefairlie

Chariots of Fire is an entertaining yarn.

kalowski

Quote from: rjd2 on April 29, 2022, 11:26:15 PMI enjoyed it also although not seen it since came out.

One thing however, if I am correct wasn't their criticism from the likes of Giles etc that it wasn't close whatsoever to real live events it portrayed ?
That criticism was laid at the book but I can't remember if that made its way into the film.
Book is very good, before Peace began to believe his own hype.