Cooling off of Hollywood
Off the top of your head, name your favorite sports movie of the past five years. I know for me it's pretty hard to do. In the pantheon of great sports movies, only one is from recent memory and that is Disney's "Miracle."
My biggest problem with sports movies today is that you cannot differentiate one from the other. Sure, there are the exceptions. "Miracle" will stand the test of time because the director used real hockey players who could act, making the sport scenes much more viable. "Dodgeball" was also innovative with Vince Vaughn carrying Ben Stiller's jock strap, but in most cases, sports movies nowadays all follow the same formula. Start with a loud rock anthem soundtrack, mix in an underdog who has to overcome obstacles, don't forget the Dawson's Creek teenage angst and you have your sports movie. If there's gratuitous nudity, even better.
When I was growing up, way back in the '90s, the sports movie genre was always my favorite. I have seen the two "Mighty Ducks" movies more than you care to imagine. (By the way, "D3" never happened. It was all a mirage.) I can still quote most lines from "Cool Runnings" on command. If you don't have goose pimples on your goose pimples as Derice, Sanka and crew carry their sled to the finish line, then you are a lost cause, and that is where Hollywood is missing the boat. These new MTV-style flicks don't have heart. You know what will happen before it happens and even if the movie is well done, you walk away a little empty. Why is there no movie on a likeable football coach, who was just bad at his job? Though he tried hard, he just wasn't good enough to win. It could be called "Washed Up: The Jim Hofher story."
In all honesty, Hollywood needs to take a step in a new direction when it comes to the sports genre and take a clue from past success. How about "Cool Runnings 2?"
Diversity and originality fill current movies
Mr. Rubin's glorification of past sports movies and his denunciation for those of the present is, for no better word, bewildering. I don't know what he's been watching but there have been some damn good sports movies of late.
Just think about films made in the past 10 years. There have been winners like "Jerry Maguire," "Rounders," "Love and Basketball" and "61*." Lately there's been "Miracle," "Seabiscuit," "Cinderella Man," and "Friday Night Lights."
Am I taking idiot pills here or are these good movies?
I'll admit that these don't compare with the sports renaissance of the '70s and '80s. You can't beat the days of "Slapshot," "Rocky," and "Bull Durham," but we must remember that this period had some of the worst sports movies as well. You think "Rollerball" was bad? Check out "Gymkata" (1985), starring gymnast Kurt Thomas who learns karate and single-handedly takes down the regime of a third-world country.
Sure, there's a lot of garbage out there now ("The Ringer," Sandler's "The Longest Yard") but to say that film companies aren't pumping out quality sports films borderlines on imbecility. Someone needs to stop masturbating to their Emilio Estevez poster and accept the passage of the latest millennium.
Sports films these days have one-upped their predecessors with diversity and originality. "Murderball," for instance, is a moving documentary about paralyzed rugby players; the Oscar-nominated "Lagaan" is an Indian film in which a poor village takes on their imperial bullies in a game of cricket; and the Japanese "Shaolin Soccer" combines special effects and sports like never before.
If this isn't convincing enough, let's not forget "Million Dollar Baby" - an instant classic that took the prize for Best Picture last year.
Poor sports movies lately? Hardly. Amid the poor and the mediocre, there have been some gems that will rank with the best of yesterdecades.
The decision
Although I am very disappointed that neither of you recognized "Varsity Blues" as the single greatest sports movie ever made I have to side with Ken. His argument is far stronger while Rubin's is based on "Cool Running" and "The Mighty Ducks." Ken is the winner.
