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Re: Categorical - Hulk01 - 07-16-2014

John McPhee’s A Sense of Where You Are.  (And his book Oranges, not a sports book, is among my very favorites ever.  Ditto his The Headmaster. (Any Deerfield alums reading this?)

Leonard Koppet’s The Essence of the Game Is Deception.

Another vote for Dan Jenkin’s Dead Solid Perfect.  It, and The Great American Novel, are the two books that made me laugh loudest.

Roger Angell seems without peer.  He changed how most readers thought about baseball.

Haven’t loved many sports movies but loved the TV series Friday Night Lights.  Suffered a few silly football scenes but oh well.  Loved the interplay between coach and his wife.

Tin Cup got me a couple times but several steps short of Bull Durham.
Hoop Dreams was good but now seems overrated.
Hard to beat the Harvard Yale documentary. 
Moneyball might be my favorite. Who would have guessed they could make that work?

Re: Categorical - washingtonismoney - 07-16-2014

Surprised no one has mentioned Sugar in this discussion of sports movies. Or the 30 for 30 documentary series.

Re: Categorical - Mick - 07-16-2014

(07-15-2014, 09:04 PM)CornFed link Wrote:[quote author=ferrari link=topic=10113.msg92423#msg92423 date=1405482918]
[quote author=CornFed link=topic=10113.msg92422#msg92422 date=1405482666]
[quote author=Spiny_Norman link=topic=10113.msg92403#msg92403 date=1405454427]


I know there are some golfers on the board and you have to read Dan Jenkins' Dead Solid Perfect if you have not done so yet.  I think I laughed more reading that book than any other.

Quick note on golf books.  Two I would mention and recommend highly.  [u]The Match[/u] and Golf in the Kingdom.  They could hardly be more different, but both capture the essence of golf in their own ways.
[/quote]

Golf is like soccer.  Great games, beloved worldwide, but boring to those who don't/haven't played unlike, say, football, baseball, basketball.  Just saying.
[/quote]

Well, you're probably right, Ferrari.  Golf is not so much of a spectator sport.  Probably been a while since you gained personal satisfaction from playing football, baseball or basketball, however.
[/quote]



I think our ability to enjoy a sport from a spectator's standpoint depends on our understanding of the game.  Even I can tell the difference between the USA's passing abilities and that of der Mannschaft.  I know a lot of people who find baseball ridiculously boring, but I take great satisfaction when Romo's slider breaks 9" instead of 5"...because I can tell the difference, same with an outfielder who throws to the wrong bag.

Golf is what you make of it.  I grew up playing the game (badly), but my dad was a good player and I would caddy for him when I was a kid.  I remember he reached a long par 5 in two with persimmon clubs, hit the ball about 12 feet from the flag.  A marshall was watching, and he says to my dad "Son, in forty years as a marshall, I have never seen a better shot on this hole."  I recall seeing Bernhard Langer hit his tee shot (from the tips, of course) to the left side of the 17th at Pebble Beach and thinking "Man, what an incredible shot," while Langer was shaking his head in disgust.  At a standard stadium, you sit in your seat, maybe you walk around the concourse at Stanford, but at any golf course, you can do a four mile walk in nature.

So I find the more that I understand a sport, the more I enjoy watching it.  The sports where I am comparatively unfamiliar with the rules, traditions and strategies...well, I find them boring as heck.

Re: Categorical - oman - 07-16-2014

(07-15-2014, 08:55 PM)ferrari link Wrote:Golf is like soccer.  Great games, beloved worldwide, but boring to those who don't/haven't played unlike, say, football, baseball, basketball.  Just saying.

It's much more simple. 

Soccer is boring to bad people. 

Re: Categorical - 97fan - 07-16-2014

The reason that tons of Americans who never played football, baseball or basketball still find those sports compelling to watch on TV has nothing to do with qualities inherent in those sports. It's a result of the fact they grew up in a culture where football, baseball and basketball were very popular spectator sports.

That was not true of soccer for Americans born before 1980. But it is at least somewhat true for Americans born in 2000. And it will be even more true for Americans born in 2014.

Re: Categorical - Spiny_Norman - 07-16-2014

I want to add one more sports movie with a Stanford connection.  One of the stars of the high school team in Varsity Blues (with Jon Voight and James Van Der Beek) is former Stanford safety Eliel Swinton.

Re: Categorical - Robbie - 07-16-2014

(07-16-2014, 11:10 AM)Spiny_Norman link Wrote:...former Stanford CB Eliel Swinton.

I didn't remember Swinton, so I looked him up.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FARGAS+COULD+LEARN+FROM+SWINTON+SAGA-a083808110

Worth a read.

Re: Categorical - Bruce Wang - 07-16-2014

(07-14-2014, 10:46 PM)Oasis link Wrote:Here are the the best war movies:

12 O'Clock High --Gregory Peck, Dean Jaeger -- best of the best
Das Boot  -- stupendous u-boat epic, a masterpiece.  Best viewed with subtitles.
Stalingrad -- phenomenal battle scenes; Ostfront epic
Downfall (Bruno Ganz is the best Hitler ever, way better than Guinness or Hopkins-- last days in the bunker)
Patton -- George C. Scott is top of the heap
Letters From Iwo Jima -- Eastwood-directed Iwo from Japanese viewpoint
Fog of War -- Robert McNamara admits his first choice was Stanford.  Very candid about Vietnam.

Oasis,

Your terrific list of great war movies neglects to mention the following.  One for each war:

The Patriot
Glory
Paths of Glory
Stalag 17
Dr. Strangelove
MASH
Full Metal Jacket
Three Kings
Hurt Locker
Zero Dark Thirty

Publius

Re: Categorical - CowboyIndian - 07-16-2014

(07-16-2014, 05:30 PM)ferrari link Wrote:Sands of Iwo Jima - Thought the Clint Eastwood version was a better take
Just A Little Walk In The Sun - I think it was just "A Walk In The Sun" about the Sicily campaign. I liked it, too...and it gave me a line I used for a long time (at least until I quit smoking): "Butt me!"
The Fighting SeeBees - SeaBees or CBs...construction battalion
Rosie The Riveter (was that a movie or a poster?) No sabe
The original Lone Ranger movie - I hate the name "Cavendish" to this day. "Get 'em up, Scout"
Ginga Dun - You're a better man than I am but you still can't spell. Filmed in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, CA.


Re: Categorical - terry - 07-16-2014

On the topic of the best war movies --

Is Casablanca a war movie? If so, that's my pick for #1.

Otherwise, I liked these:

Schindler's List
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Saving Private Ryan
Apocalypse Now
Lawrence of Arabia
Gettysburg
Hotel Rwanda
Patton
The Battle of Algiers

Re: Categorical - CowboyIndian - 07-17-2014

(07-16-2014, 09:26 PM)ferrari link Wrote:Cowboy ( can I call you Cowboy now that we're friends?  Good.  Thanks.  When my next novel is ready I'll be sure to call you for editing.  You know the saying, those that can . . .). See up

It's Mr. Indian, if you don't mind. I know a saying that begins that way but I don't know what "See up" means.

Re: Categorical - oman - 07-17-2014

Paths of Glory to me is the greatest war movie.

Also vote for They Were Expendable.

Not sure if mentioned, but just saw the following about 5 years ago -- didn't know anything about it.

Pretty devastating and horrific.  Doubt I will watch again.

Come and See (1985).

Come and See (Russian: Иди и смотри, Idi i smotri; Belarusian: Ідзі і глядзі, Idzi i hlyadzi) is a 1985 Soviet war drama/psychological thriller film directed by Elem Klimov about and occurring during the Nazi German occupation of the Byelorussian SSR. Aleksei Kravchenko and Olga Mironova star as the protagonists Flyora and Glasha.[2] The screenplay by Klimov and Ales Adamovich had to wait eight years for approval; the film was finally produced to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II, and was a large box-office hit, with 28,900,000 admissions in the Soviet Union alone.

[Image: ComeAndSeePoster.jpg]

Re: Categorical - FarmDad.01 - 07-17-2014

@Terry, Reply 96: Is Casablanca a war movie? If so, that's my pick for #1.
Otherwise, I liked these:
  Schindler's List
  The Bridge on the River Kwai
  Saving Private Ryan
  Apocalypse Now
  Lawrence of Arabia
  Gettysburg
  Hotel Rwanda
  Patton
  The Battle of Algiers[color=black]

I don't consider Casablanca[i] or Schindler[/i] a war movie. In each, WW2 is, IMO, mise-en-scene.

I agree that Battle of Algiers deserves to make most lists of Top 25 movies alltime.

Sticking to "war movies" built on extensive and realistic footage of combat, I submit the box-office turkeys Castle Keep and A Midnight Clear.

btw, Children of Men isn't technically a war movie -- but if any of you know of a more extended, more frightening combat sequences, please advise...

Re: Categorical - teejers1 - 07-17-2014

Late to the party, several random observations:

To be enjoyable, sports flicks have to be somewhat tied to reality, and it bothers the heck out of me when the editors/directors screw up the basics.  I loved The Natural (and yes, the ending was ridiculously sappy), and a big part of that is that Robert Redford can clearly play some ball.  But a walk-off homer on the road in Chicago?  (When he finally reunites with Glen Close, his HS Sweetheart?).  And how about when Hobbs first (and finally) wows his temmates/coaches by being allowed to participate in batting practice?  You remember when he launches dinger after dinger?  Well, watch where he connects, watch his eyes after he hits the ball (following flight of the ball), but the editors screwed up when panning to his teammates/coaches.  For example, Redford goes oppo (while batting lefty) and the camera then flashes the pitcher and manager looking to the right field stands.  And how about when Redford gets his first hit for the Knights ("hit the cover off the ball"), and the game is called due to a brobdingnagian downpour with Redford standing on third base in a rain/mud drenched uniform.  Of course, in the next scene Redford is walking along side his manager (Brimley) talking about what just transpired on the field, in a spanking clean uniform.  C'mon now . . .

Also enjoyed Bull Durham for all the reasons cited in this thread, but it should also be noted that Kevin Costner can ball.  But Tim Robbins as Nuke LaLoosh?  Please.

Count me in group enjoying A League of Their Own (Hanks was terrific) and Eight Men Out. 

As for other flicks:  loved Lone Star and think Aliens belongs in any discusion of great flicks (scared the bejeezus out of me, as did Jaws).  Charlie Wilson's War is one of the best movies I've seen in last decade, but that doesn't mean too much as my movie viewing has been pretty limited.

Great all time scenes:  Joe Pesci in Good Fellas ("Funy how? . . . "); Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross ("Put that coffee down! . . . ABC . . . Always Be Closing . . . "); and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War ("The Helsinki job was mine . . .").

And for those who have not seen the CWW scene, here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ_4m2ocxhI

As an fyi, lots of profanity, and may not be suitable for work.



Re: Categorical - CowboyIndian - 07-17-2014

(07-17-2014, 02:44 PM)ferrari link Wrote:"See up," in this context, means read the parts of the post (up, as in above the part you quoted.) sorry to be unclear.
Hmmm...I had thought about it a little bit and believed you were telling me to "Cowboy up!"....with the 'See' as in 'SeeBee'. Wrong again.

Re: Categorical - Mick - 07-17-2014

(07-14-2014, 11:46 PM)FarmDad.01 link Wrote:Bend It Like Beckham; 2002. In London, two teenaged girls (Parminda Nagra and Keira Knightley) bond through their exceptional soccer skills. But Ms. Nagra has to play for a prestigious travel club on the sly, as her Indian parents have declared sports unladylike.  For fans of The Good Wife, Archie Panjabi has a prominent supporting role.


Best part of Bend it Like Beckham...sorry, I couldn't resist... ;D

[Image: 628x471.jpg]

Re: Categorical - washingtonismoney - 07-19-2014

Luck's favorite movies: Animal House (comedy division) and... Legends of the Fall?

https://twitter.com/Colts/statuses/489832804906450945

EDIT: his favorite actor is... Rob Lowe?

https://twitter.com/Colts/statuses/489834661653512192

Re: Categorical - Leftcoast - 07-19-2014

So .... Rob Lowe plays a type now and for that matter always has.  You either like him or you don't but you know what you're getting when you see his name on a billboard or credit listing.  I don't suppose he would be in many people's Top 5.

What is a better answer for 2014? 

Is there an actor you will go out of your way to watch these days the way a previous generation watched McQueen, Newman or Redford?  Or the generation before them reverred Bogart, Olivier or perhaps Wayne?

There isn't one for me.  There are actors I find likable such as Dennis Quaid, Tom Hanks or Will Smith.  There are actors I find electric - Benedict Cumberbatch, Denzel Washington and Joaquin Phoenix.  There aren't any that I just have to see every film they are in.

How would you answer the Best Actor question posed to Luck?

(I'm skipping the actresses for now since GG WOULD INEVITABLY  SAY DANA DELANEY and we all know the rabbit hole that we'll fall down then.  Plus my wife says I'm the only one who thinks Scarlett was robbed when the Academy overlooked her performance as Black Widow in Winter Soldier.)

Re: Categorical - CornFed - 07-19-2014

Clint Eastwood, Russell Crowe, Morgan Freeman.  Meryl Streep on the distaff side.

Re: Categorical - CornFed - 07-19-2014

If Dallas Buyers' Club is an indication of what to expect of his next performance then: Matthew McConaughey.  If he is going to revert to form: not so much.