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Wednesday, December 24, 2008

To discuss a Wild Bloggy Blog: We've Got Major Game in the Rookie Waterboy Mighty Blue Stick Sandlot League


Did you think my Top Christmas movies poll would be the most significant tome of movie reviews ever assembled? (Man, I hope not, or you set the bar low.) Well, feast your Festivus eyes on this:
The hilarious, witty and altogether manly Joshlos of It's a Bloggy Blog World has teamed up with me for what can only be described using an epic-ly long blog title.
We've assembled the Top 10 (Plus 2) Sports Movies of Our Generation-- our generation being that of 20-something dudes, so don't get mad that Bull Durham and Field of Dreams didn't make the cut. We were still sucking thumbs and eating crayons back then (and some yesterday, but I stopped after I heard magenta is high in cholesterol). This is a list we hope sparks controversy and a few forest fires.
We also freely acknowledge that most of our readers are women, so we hope you ladies have seen at least a few of these. And if you are a dude reading this, can you please come out of the woodwork? It's not often I have a guy-themed blog post. I write about America's Next Top Model, for God's sake. Luckily, Josh is adding some man fuel (yeah, that didn't sound right) to Wild ARS Chase.
The first half, plus my bonus pick, is here. The second half, plus his bonus pick, is now posted. Merry Christmas...
(Joshlos is in italics, I'm in bold. The picks are in random order)
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A League Of Their Own: Joshlos: True story: for a U.S. History class in college, one of my friends and I got permission to watch this movie and write a paper about it instead of movies like Glory, Saving Private Ryan, and the other suggested items.
I'll take Tom Hanks nailing a kid in the face with a baseball glove over realistic, historical war violence any day. But not over cartoonish, over-the-top, non-historical action movie violence. The Terminator wasn't on our list, though, and I don't think I could've sold that to the prof. The movie wasn't so bad, though, even if it did exceed Hollywood's sappiness requirements. Then again, it was essentially The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Stirrups.
ARS: This is a must-see. Madonna, before she went all Kabbalah. Rosie O'Donnell, before she went all View arch nemesis. Lori Petty, before she went all Tank Girl. I think it's a bona fide good movie, with classic lines like "There's no crying in baseball."


Mighty Ducks: ARS: Only the first one. None of this knuckle-puck nonsense. This is about Emilio Estevez regaining his glory by taking down his old coach, Jack Reilly of the Hawks, with a bunch of ragtag players and one fine performance from the guy from Dawson's Creek. This movie is so good, it spawned an actual NHL franchise (No, seriously, it did).
Joshlos: "Are we Ducks or what?" I remember that from my ol' skool church youth group days from a lock-in one time. Apparently some of group watched that at one point overnight and were so loopy from lack of sleep that they kept saying it over and over again until the next morning.
Some decided to keep the saying going for weeks afterward, thereby sorta making me resent the movie, which I'd previously loved before the lock-in. Aside from Major League, it's still probably my favorite "ragtag team comes together and succeeds" movie. As a kid, though, I always thought it was odd that Emilio Estevez wore such small skates. It wasn't until later that I learned all male Hollywood actors are only 5' 4".

ARS: Oh, you watched Disney movies during church lock-ins? I made out with girls. Coincidentally, I'm also going to hell.

Blue Chips: Joshlos: I don't like this movie for how good it is. Rather, I like this movie for how awful it is. Terrible acting from all but maybe two actors in the movie --- and they were only supporting roles. Nick Nolte misses the mark --- even if he did have a fun, "Bulworth"-like honesty breakdown at the end. Shaq, although entertaining in a few scenes, wasn't good. And Anfernee Hardaway may have turned in the worst acting job ever. He should get an award for how awful he was. One redeeming quality: the character names were classic, all the way from the minor characters --- Slick, Happy, Tony, Freddie, Jack --- to the major ones: Coach Pete Bell, Ricky Roe, Butch McRae, and, of course, Neon Bodeaux.
ARS: I am so glad you included this movie. Neon! Oh, what a name. Yes, Penny was a terrible actor. Shaq could barely mumble his sentences. And there was even a token white guy basketball player. It's everything you don't want in a basketball movie, which makes it all the more worthwhile to watch.

Stick It: Joshlos: I hate gymnastics. As a result, I wasn't talking about it this past Olympic season, and thus, also not fortunate enough to gain readers who were googling "Alicia Sacramone crotch shot." However, this movie's awesome. Well, the diner scene dialogue was a little clunky, but other than that, it's pretty hilarious. I'd have definitely watched the Olympics this year if all the opposing gymnasts would've gotten together ahead of time to decide which of them would actually compete in a given event, just to stick it* to the judges and their wack judging. Especially if it resulted a hip hop balance beam routine. Oh, and Missy Peregrym is hot.
ARS: Yes, you really missed out on the Sacramone action during the Olympics. Almost all of my visitors were searching for her girl parts. So... I did gymnastics for years as a kid. I'll admit that. But I can't say I've seen Stick It. Missy Peregrym is hot, I'll give you that; plus, it has the hot hostess from "Waiting."... But a hip hop balance beam routine? Is this like Save the Last Gymnast? I'll spot you this one, and put it on my list of things to watch, right between "Godfather Part II" and "Raging Bull."

The Sandlot
: ARS: Wendy Freakin Peffercorn. And baseball. And George Herman Ruth. And fireworks. And James Earl Jones. And "You're killing me Smalls."
Joshlos: All I'm sayin' is that if I had a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth, and I had kids in the house, that bad boy would be locked up where the kids couldn't get to it. But a solid choice... I think a lot of guys can remember back to when they were that age and played neighborhood baseball, even if they didn't have a true sandlot. The movie captures a lot of that experience, right down to the part about losing baseballs in yards with dogs.


Wildcard:
Hardball: ARS: Keanu Reeves' finest acting performance. I only say that with a hint of sarcasm. Keanu plays a dude with a gambling problem who is forced to coach a team of misfit black kids (I'm beginning to send that the only way misfit kids get coached is if a white guy develops a drinking problem or gets arrested for banging a hooker). A little kid gets shot and dies-- DIES!-- in this movie (spoiler much?), and they play my all-time favorite rap song, "Big Poppa" over and over. It's heartwarming, and Diane Lane's fine cougar self is in it.

17 comments:

Amy xxoo said...

Love this post guys! I think everybody has seen at least " Mighty Ducks " and " The Sandlot ", so not all of your talk will be lost on your female readers.

That being said, i think the whole sequence where Madonna dances with the guys in the bar during " A League of ttheir Own " is one of the coolest parts.

Looking forward to the second half on (my) Christmas Day!

~Sheila~ said...

I am a big fan of the Sandlot. Of course I liked Hardball also (I think I own that movie).

I also liked the Replacements and the scene where they are in jail and singing Gloria Gaynor's..I will survive.


P.S. where have you been? You haven't been by and I linked to you in one of my posts.

Lauren Elizabeth said...

My really good friend from home payed Stillwell in A League of Their Own! He used to hate it when we would go to restaurants and tell the waitress it was his birthday and then tell her he played Stillwell. He would get really embarrassed, but it was really fun for the rest of us!

Anonymous said...

A League of Their Own taught me everything I don't really know about baseball. For example, when I first met my husband and we were watching a Cubs game, and I, thinking I was very clever said, "He's going out to the mound to talk to his hurler." I think Ted peed his pants laughing at me.

Esmé Glass said...

Dear Lord I love The Sandlot. For-ev-ver.... for-ev-ver... classic.

The only movie I would add to the pile is that one with The Rock where he's a pro football player who discovers he has a young daughter... who wants to live with him!! Oh goodness! Hilarity ensues!

It's actually an incredibly terrible movie but I watched it on a plane and I think the high altitude left me incredibly light-headed and prone to the giggles. I really wish I had those ninety minutes of my life back.

Herding Cats said...

I love "A League of Their Own" soo soo much, but I think "The Sandlot" is still my favorite. I also adore Squintz - he was the original McLovin.

Katie Says So said...

I LOVE the sandlot!! For-EV-Or!!!!!

Tash said...

I try to use the phrase "There's no crying in baseball!" every chance I get. True story.

Melanie Gillispie said...

I just saw Stick It for the first time a couple of weeks ago. You should try it out! I actually kind of enjoyed it and I wasn't expecting to. (ps - the GQ mag? It's because the Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte is in it. But, he's not with Jennifer Aniston in the pictures 'cause that would be wrong!)

Merry Christmas to you too!!!

Candy's daily Dandy said...

and uh, "you're killing me Smalls".. "I was just trying to have a friendly conversation"...
The Sandlot is an all time favorite in this household. My son is 12. Mighty Ducks too. And of course, "There's no crying in baseball"..
Thanks for the good times. And a very Merry Christmas to you!

Stacia said...

I must say I agree with the list! I've seen 9/12 and since it appears we have similar taste in movies maybe I'll put the other 3 on my list.

I like to think that almost all 20-something ladies have seen at least half of these!

Anna Lefler said...

OK, it's good to know that Diane Lane is the high-water mark on the cougar thing. (God knows I need a role model.)

Happy Holidays!

:^) Anna

Sam_I_am said...

I love A League of Their Own and Stick It. I also love Ice Princess, which failed to make your list. :-P

Merry Christmas!

wee-h said...

LOVE 'Mighty Ducks' actually im a big fan of most sport films, does Teen Wolf count? or Cool Runnings? What about Kingpin? Or Dodgeball?

Lump said...

I will love the Sandlot FOOOOR-EV-ER. :)

Kellie said...

The Sandlot = hands down awesomeness

JenBun said...

I like it when you call me Big Papa!

So far, I've seen 50% of the flicks... Off to go check out the others!

Fun idea! :)

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