Yes, it is that time of the month again for my Sunday Night Favorite Sport Flicks reviews! I give you yet again another group of winning classics, leading off with a baseball movie as we are in the midst of the World Series playoffs. So get your DVD's cued up, the popcorn popping and start watching! Click images and titles for movie preview.
There are so many classic baseball movies to choose from, so I decided to go with the girls. This is the true story of The All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League, founded in 1943 when most of the men of baseball-playing age were away fighting World War II. The owners of the baseball teams, not wanting baseball to be dormant indefinitely, decided to form teams with women. Directed by Penny Marshall, the movie stars Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Geena Davis, Lori Petty and Tom Hanks in some of their most entertaining roles and delivering some of their most famous lines ("There is no crying in baseball!")
This film documents the evolution of BMX or Bicycle Motocross which began with kids in the 1970’s modifying their Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycles to look like motorcycles. Narrated by Jesse James, this documentary is the first film to take a serious look at the evolution of the sport, from the streets of 1960's suburban neighborhoods to today's stadium-packed televised action sports competitions. The directors have assembled a 30-year timeline packed with rare archival footage and interviews with the pioneers and legendary riders that delivers an historical perspective to the sport of BMX and makes you feel like you were there.
This beautifully photographed documentary tells the remarkable story of Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna and spans the racing legend’s years as an Formula 1 champion, from his opening season in 1984 to his untimely death a decade later. Far more than a film for racing fans, Senna takes a cinematic approach and makes full use of astounding footage, drawn from over 15,000 hours of archival film, much of which was previously unseen.
In one of his most legendary roles, Paul Newman stars as cocky poolroom hustler "Fast" Eddie Felson, a swaggering pool shark punk. Felson's bravado causes him to challenge the king of the poolroom "Minnesota Fats", played Jackie Gleason, to a high-stakes match. After losing in a heartbreaking marathon, Felson faces a battle to regain his confidence and his game. He hits rock bottom and teams up with an unscrupulous manager, played by George C. Scott, who guides him to beat Fats, but he finds there is a terrible price to pay for redemption. The shadowy black-and-white cinematography, and darkness lit by the dim glow of a bar lamp or the overhead glare of a pool-table light, creates an atmosphere appropriate for this drama.
This docudrama is the unbelievable true story of two climbers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, and their summit of Siula Grande in Peru. They reach the peak, but disaster strikes on the descent when Simpson plunges off the vertical face of an ice ledge and breaks his leg. Roped together as darkness falls and a blizzard rages, Yates tries to lower his friend to safety. When Simpson slides off an overhang with no way of climbing back up, Simon must make the unfathomable decision to cut the rope. Simpson falls into a crevasse but is lucky to survive. Summoning unimaginable reserves of physical and spiritual strength, he crawls over the cliffs and canyons of the Andes and reaches base camp and his friend.
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