Performancing Metrics

Thoughts of a Piece of Dust: Countdown of My Favourite Sports Movies: #'s 10, 9 & 8

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Countdown of My Favourite Sports Movies: #'s 10, 9 & 8

More than a month ago, I suggested that I would do a top 10 countdown of my favourite sports movies. Keeping in mind there are a few sports "Classics" that I have not seen, here is the first three in the countdown:

10. Any Given Sunday. Why is it that some of the best sports movies are about Football? Any Given Sunday tells the story of a fictional football team. An aging quarterback is hurt in a game and is replaced by the second string quaterback who is also hurt. This sets the stage for the third string quaterback (Jamie Foxx) who fills in more than adequately. The story follows many different members of the team (Al Pacino as the head coach, Cameron Diaz as an owner, James Woods as the team doctor, etc.). Directed by Oliver Stone this football movie is definitely worth a watch if you have the time.

9. Chariots of Fire. It's not often that a sports movie will win Best Picture at the Oscars (the only one I was sure of was Rocky - and I haven't even seen it), so I thought Chariots of Fire should be on the list. Set in 1924, the movie tells the story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, two British Sprinters who ran in the Paris Olympics that same year. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that it is a movie that should be seen. This movie has probably the best opening of any movies I've ever seen (and the music lives on forever in my head - especially when we ran through Willow's beach in Victoria as a group on a cloudy Sunday morning).

8. Rudy. Admittedly I have only seen this once, but include it on my list because it is a classic and it has a good message (work hard and your dreams can come true). Starring Sean Astin (funny, I've been compared to two of his characters...) and Charles S. Dutton, this is a great movie to watch if you're in need of some sports inspiration. In it, Rudy (Astin) is always told he is too small to play football. He never stops trying and tries to make the Notre Dame football team as a walk-on. Like Chariots of Fire, this is also based upon a true story (you may notice a trend...)

Check back next week when I'll go through #'s 7, 6 and 5.

No comments: