Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category
Monday, August 24th, 2026
July 26, 1996
You know I love THE CABLE GUY, and there’s another favorite coming up, but to me there’s no doubt that KINGPIN is the comedy of 1996. In fact, I think it’s somewhere in my personal top ten comedies of all time, somewhere beneath PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE, THE BLUES BROTHERS, THE BIG LEBOWSKI and TALLADEGA NIGHTS.
It’s the second film from Peter & Bobby Farrelly (now a team directing a script by Golden Girls writers Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan), and definitely my favorite of theirs. I think of them as a little cheesy now, but the filmmaking in this one is strong, and that’s part of why it works. It’s stuffed with broad, rapid fire jokes, but it looks and feels like A Real Movie. It’s way funnier and sillier than the average comedy, but at the end when it acts like I care about the characters mending their relationships and getting what they want, it’s not being presumptuous. I really do! It’s a very precise tone that I rarely see pulled off this successfully.
I gotta give some credit to cinematographer Mark Irwin (SCANNERS, NIGHT SCHOOL, THE PROTECTOR, THE BLOB) and also to costume designer Mary Zophres (PCU), who did FARGO the same year and later returned to bowling wear for THE BIG LEBOWSKI. She creates such a world out of polyester and dagger collars, riding the exact line between sort of cool ‘70s swagger and completely out of touch loser. This is a movie where you can have a combover that almost counts as a separate character, yet feel confident putting Elvis Presley or Evel Knievel style showmanship in your outfit.
(read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Bill Murray, bowling, Farrelly Brothers, Lin Shaye, Randy Quaid, Rob Moran, Vanessa Angel, Woody Harrelson
Posted in Reviews, Comedy/Laffs, Sport | 18 Comments »
Thursday, March 12th, 2026
Last time I saw THE SALUTE OF THE JUGGER it was called THE BLOOD OF HEROES. That only version available in the U.S. was about ten minutes shorter, but still kinda legendary as a slept-on gem by some of us. That version was recently put in its proper place as bonus material for the original 104 minute Australian version on a 4K/blu-ray combo from Umbrella Entertainment.
It’s written and directed by David Webb Peoples, his only time directing a feature, but he’d written BLADE RUNNER and went on to write UNFORGIVEN, 12 MONKEYS and SOLDIER. Not a bad run. This one has a bit of the sci-fi and a bit of the western, because its heroes (blood and all) are travelers in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. But mostly it’s a sports movie. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Anna Katarina, Australian cinema, Cecilia Wong, David Webb Peoples, Delroy Lindo, Gandhi MacIntyre, Guy Norris, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Joan Chen, Justin Monjo, Max Fairchild, post-apocalypse, Richard Norton, Rutger Hauer, Todd Boekelheide, Vincent D'Onofrio
Posted in Reviews, Action, Science Fiction and Space Shit, Sport | 9 Comments »
Tuesday, January 27th, 2026
F1 (advertised as F1® THE MOVIE) is a slick, well made, big budget car racing/Brad Pitt movie. Nothing more or less, really. It’s from Joseph Kosinski, director of TOP GUN: MAVERICK, and continues in the exploration of a stubborn, aging hot shot butting heads with, teaching, and then passing the torch to a younger generation, and it shoots race cars similar to how that movie shot fighter jets. You’re clearly looking at the actors inside actual fast moving cars, not just green screen, and that goes a long way. Of course, flying was more exciting.
Brad Pitt (CUTTING CLASS) plays Sonny Hayes, legendary bad boy racer who had a terrible crash in the ‘90s (when he had long blond hair) followed by a stint as a professional gambler and cab driver before his surprising comeback. In the opening scene he helps his old buddy Chip (Shea Whigham, NON-STOP) and his team win in Daytona, then leaves without taking the trophy. I think he’s living in a van when another old friend, Rubén Cervantes (Javier Bardem, PERDITA DURANGO) tracks him down at the laundromat and asks for help with his racing team.
Rubén used to race against Sonny, now he wears incredible suits and owns the APXGP Formula One team, who are in last place and in danger of being sold by the board if they don’t win a Grand Prix. Of course Sonny refuses the call, then changes his mind and struts onto the track looking like the coolest dude anybody there ever saw. But they’re mostly not impressed. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: best picture nominees, Brad Pitt, car racing, Damson Idris, Ehren Kruger, Hans Zimmer, Javier Bardem, Joseph Kosinski, Kerry Condon, Samson Kayo, Sarah Niles, Shea Whigham
Posted in Reviews, Drama, Sport | 13 Comments »
Thursday, November 20th, 2025
CHRISTY is a biopic of Christy Salters, once known as Christy Martin, a pioneer of women’s professional boxing, competing from 1989-2012. It’s a very effective movie that hits some of the pleasing notes you want out of a normal sports drama, plus the additional joys of watching a woman be tough and rowdy at a time when most of society demanded she be “ladylike.” And if you know any biographical details of Salters at all you will be able to imagine a few other ways it stands out from every other boxing movie.
It’s directed by David Michôd (ANIMAL KINGDOM, THE ROVER), written by Michôd and Mirrah Foulkes (JUDY AND PUNCH), story by Katherine Fugate (THE PRINCE & ME), but all the discussion has centered on its star, Sydney Sweeney (THE MARTIAL ARTS KID). It’s another acting achievement unlocked for her – she reportedly put on 30 pounds during 3+ months of fight training so she wouldn’t have to use a stunt double. To my ignorant eyes she looks good in the ring, first with no discipline, then an evolving style. And that doesn’t necessarily seem like the hardest part of the role. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Ben Foster, boxing, Bryan Hibbard, Chad L. Coleman, Coleman Pedigo, David Michod, Jess Gabor, Katherine Fugate, Katy O'Brian, Merritt Wever, Mirrah Foulkes, Sydney Sweeney
Posted in Reviews, Crime, Drama, Sport | 13 Comments »
Wednesday, October 8th, 2025
THE SMASHING MACHINE (2025) is one of those movies that comes along every once in a while that’s so geared toward my niche interests that it seems like a prank. How the fuck is there a movie where
1) The Rock finally does what I’ve been saying he should do for years and chooses a movie based on the director, artistic merit and acting challenge rather than its potential to be the highest grossing, most universally seen and least memorable generic middlebrow cinematic porridge ever squirted out of a tube
that happens to be
2) a remake of an obscure and now impossible to find sports documentary I watched and became obsessed with because it was from the director of the greatest DTV movie of all time?
If I was stupid and dumb instead of savvy and wise this would be one of those “this proves life is a simulation” moments for me. The new version is written and directed by Benny Safdie (actor from HAPPY GILMORE 2 who directed GOOD TIME and UNCUT GEMS) and released as a hip art movie by A24. Original director John Hyams is credited as a consulting producer, and man I hope he got paid because this is entirely built on his movie. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Bas Rutten, Benny Safdie, Emily Blunt, John Hyams, Mark Kerr, MMA, Oleksandr Usyk, PRIDE FC, Stephen Bader, Stephen Quadros, The Rock, UFC
Posted in Reviews, Drama, Sport | 30 Comments »
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2025
August 17, 2005
I have honestly been curious about SUPERCROSS, a.k.a. SUPERCROSS: THE MOVIE, for twenty years now. My curiosity has been satiated. I am now SUPERCROSS: THE VIEWER.
I think I saw a trailer or two for it but I’m sure most people never heard it of it. I’d bet it was heavily advertised on relevant sports broadcasts and not as much for the rest of us. I noticed on the credits that it was a production of “Clear Channel Entertainment Motor Sports,” which I guess is part of the same Clear Channel then infamous for monopolizing the radio market. Most of us learned about them after September 11th when they released a list of songs for their stations not to play (including anything by Rage Against the Machine). I guess radio ads must not have been enough, because it only made $3.3 million toward its $30 million budget. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Bart Baker, Cameron Richardson, Mike Vogel, motorcycles, Robert Carradine, Robert Patrick, Sophia Bush, Steve Boyum
Posted in Reviews, Sport | 4 Comments »
Monday, July 21st, 2025
July 22, 2005
I have a confession to make: I don’t think I’ve ever seen the original BAD NEWS BEARS movies in full. Parts, maybe. I know people love the first one. I don’t remember it. So this review comes from the rare perspective of a person who saw Richard Linklater’s remake in theaters and is returning to it after 20 years of still not seeing the original to find out why nobody seemed to think this stacked up to it. Ignorance is bliss!
For me the main movie to compare it to is BAD SANTA, which came from the same screenwriters, Glenn Ficarra & John Requa (CATS & DOGS). Obviously it’s not as good, but it’s the second best movie at presenting Billy Bob Thornton as an alcoholic asshole in a way that is somehow really funny and ultimately sweet in a way that doesn’t seem too phony because the guy is still an asshole, he just made a small gesture that shows he’s trying. This is a PG-13 family-friendly-ish sports movie, so the change is a little bigger than just wanting to give a stuffed elephant to a child after getting shot by the police, but it still maintains his acerbicness to pretty uncomfortable levels until the last couple innings of the big game. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: baseball, Billy Bob Thornton, Glenn Ficarra, Greg Kinnear, John Requa, Marcia Gay Harden, remakes, Richard Linklater
Posted in Reviews, Comedy/Laffs, Family, Sport | 26 Comments »
Monday, June 23rd, 2025
June 22, 2005
HERBIE: FULLY LOADED is the sixth motion picture in Walt Disney’s Herbie i.p. franchise saga (following THE LOVE BUG [1968], HERBIE RIDES AGAIN [1974], HERBIE GOES TO MONTE CARLO [1977], HERBIE GOES BANANAS [1980] and DISNEY’S THE LOVE BUG [1997]). It’s a sequel, not a reboot like BATMAN BEGINS, because the opening credits feature clips from some of those movies as backstory.
The story proper starts like a normal Herbie movie, with the lovable anthropomorphic (but not talking) Volkswagen Beetle with the #53 on his side causing trouble at the junkyard he’s been dumped off in. When Ray Peyton Sr. (Michael Keaton, FIRST DAUGHTER), leader of the Bass Pro Shop NASCAR team brings his daughter Maggie (Lindsay Lohan a year after MEAN GIRLS) there to buy a fixer-upper as a college graduation gift she ends up owning and restoring Herbie (due to wacky Herbie mischief). (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Alfred Gough, Angela Robinson, Breckin Meyer, Cheryl Hines, Jimmi Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Perez, Matt Dillon, Michael Keaton, Miles Millar, NASCAR, Robert Ben Garant, Scoot McNairy, street racing, Thomas Lennon
Posted in Reviews, Family, Sport | 7 Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2025
In the 15 years (!) since the KARATE KID remake I’ve occasionally found myself telling people, “No, seriously, it’s pretty good!” Which is not really what I said in my review at the time, now that I’m re-reading it. So who knows, but I don’t think I’ll be saying that about the new movie KARATE KID: LEGENDS. I won’t try to convince anyone it’s a particularly good movie. But I kinda liked it. Let me say this: it’s definitely way better than THE NEXT KARATE KID, which actually I have to admit I kind of enjoy too.
The cleverest thing about LEGENDS is what we already knew from the trailers: it finds a way to say that the 1984 original and its 2010 remake are not mutually exclusive. In this one the remake’s shifu Han (Jackie Chan, DRAGON BLADE) recruits o.g. karate kid Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio, HITCHCOCK) to help him teach a student, and this in turn is a way to make sense out of the weird title discrepancy that they wanted to make a movie called THE KARATE KID but they cast Jackie Chan so it was about kung fu. Now screenwriter Rob Lieber (PETER RABBIT) invents a relationship between the Han and Miyagi families, and therefore between their kung fu and karate styles. So when one of Mr. Han’s students wants to enter a karate tournament, the shifu wants him to learn specifically Miyagi-do karate from its last known teacher. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Anthony Baniaga, Aramis Knight, Ben Wang, Jackie Chan, Jonathan Entwistle, Joshua Jackson, Ming-Na Wen, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lieber, Sadie Stanley, Tim Rozon, Wyatt Oleff, Xiangyang Xu, Yankei Ge
Posted in Reviews, Action, Drama, Martial Arts, Sport | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025
June 3, 2005
Finally getting around to watching LORDS OF DOGTOWN was a good enough reason to do this series. I remember at the time it got a pretty tepid reception. People were still high on Stacy Peralta’s documentary about the same subject, DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS (2001), and didn’t need to see it re-enacted. I get it – when I saw the trailer for Benny Safdie’s THE SMASHING MACHINE I couldn’t understand the point of (from the looks of it) just trying to re-enact footage from the documentary by John Hyams. Why not use the power of cinema to create a perspective of these events that does not already exist on film?
But that’s the thing, that’s what director Catherine Hardwicke and screenwriter Peralta do here with the story of Peralta’s circa 1975 Santa Monica surfer buddies becoming an early influential skateboard team and changing the world. The story centers around cheerful Stacy (John Robinson, ELEPHANT), angry Jay Adams (Emile Hirsch, THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS), incredibly talented Tony Alva (Victor Rasuk, RAISING VICTOR VARGAS), and their rich kid friend Sid (Michael Angarano, BABY HUEY’S GREAT EASTER ADVENTURE), who can’t skate as well because of inner ear issues, but he’s still their homie. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Alexis Arquette, America Ferrera, Bai Ling, Catherine Hardwicke, David Fincher, Elliot Davis, Emile Hirsch, Heath Ledger, Jeremy Renner, Joel McHale, John Robinson, Johnny Knoxville, Melonie Diaz, Michael Angarano, Nikki Reed, Pablo Schrieber, Rebecca De Mornay, Shea Whigham, skateboards, Sofia Vergara, Stacy Peralta, Victor Rasuk, William Mapother
Posted in Reviews, Drama, Sport | 2 Comments »
