Into the Blu

Of the top three baseball based films of all time, only 2 have made their way to Blu-ray, Field of Dreams and The Natural, at least until now. While I love both of these films, the very best baseball themed film is Bull Durham, which fortunately, was finally released on Blu-ray this week. While I was more than pleased with the look and sound of The Natural, Field of Dreams was another matter altogether and was a disappointment in the video department. Would Bull Durham prove to be more like The Natural or more like Field of Dreams. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of Bull Durham is as disappointing as Field of Dreams. Continue Reading

With the World Cup starting this week in South Africa, I thought i appropriate to get back into the swing of things with a review of a film that is centered around another World Cup that occurred in South Africa, the Rugby World Cup in 1995 which was much much more that a sporting match and which helped reunite a county that had been torn by racial violence. That film is Invictus. Continue Reading

Every winter, especially ones as rough as this past one, you are bouyed by the thought that Spring is just around the corner when you hear that it is time for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training. As a kid, I just couldn’t wait for the start of spring training and the start of the baseball season. In fact, I still can’t. With the season now upon us, what better film can there be to make its debut on Blu-ray than The Natural, which is the subject of today’s review. Continue Reading

I guess you can say that I am in the very distinct minority in the US when it comes to soccer. I love it, especially English football, which has a rick, deep and at times, crazy history. Teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forrest, Reading and Derby Country, just to name but a few. Even the names of the stadiums evoke the richness of that history, with monikers such as Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, Anfield and Craven’s Cottage immediately coming to mind! Better than the Wachovia Center don’t you think? Continue Reading

Approaching a skateboard documentary such as Dogtown & Z-Boys without a prior knowledge (or interested) of skateboarding made me curious. Being a somewhat neutral viewer, would I still find the documentary interesting? Would it be filled with references that non-skaters would not understand? Overall, is it a well made documentary? Continue Reading

I can’t really say that I am a fan of golf. While I played just a bit as a kid, I really have no interest in the game now, either watching or playing. The only time I watch any golf on TV is The Masters and that is really only because of the stunning Vistas of the Augusta National Gold Club in HD. Given this predisposition, I was not really expecting all that much when I gave this disc a spin. However, much to my surprise, this film knocked out my predisposition and really pulled me into the narrative. This is another excellent film extolling the virtue of the underdog and of perseverance and belief in one’s own abilities, if just given the chance. In that regard, The Greatest Game Ever Played is every bit as good as two prior reviewed sports themed films that I have recently reviewed, Seabiscuit and Miracle. Continue Reading

Do you believe in Miracles? Yes! That is the iconic call at the end of the US -USSR hockey match by announcer Al Michaels and represents one of the most memorable calls in the history of sports broadcasting. Even better than the call was the game itself, which is one of the most exciting and riveting games in the history of the Olympic games. Most think that the US won the Gold medal that day by defeating the Soviets, by that had to wait till the next day and a match against Finland, which was a bit anti-climatic given the enormity and improbability of the victory against the USSR. The story of the 1980 US Olympic is a such a compelling one that one really has to wonder what took so long to make a movie about it. Well that film is finally here and has finally made its debut on Blu-ray. All I can say is it is well worth the wait. Continue Reading

If you build it, he will come. These words heard in a cornfield in Iowa by Ray Kinsella open one of my favorite if not my favorite sports themed movies of all time. In fact, it is one of my favorite films period. The film has been released on all home video formats and finally has made its debut on Blu-ray. I was less than impressed with the look of the film on its HD DVD release. Will this Blu-ray release represent an improvement over the HD DVD release? Unfortunately not. Continue Reading

I will confess that as a kid, I was a wrestling fan. I continued to enjoy watching wrestling on and off even into my adulthood but haven’t followed it at all in a long, long time. I had the opportunity to sit in the locker room at a match at the Spectrum in Philadelphia in the 1980′s, invited by a friend who worked in TV and was to meet and talk with George “The Animal” Steele, Big John Stud, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful. before and after their matches. What I learned from meeting and chatting with these guys is how difficult the sport is on them physically and emotionally. Yes, it is staged, but they still have to go through the stunts, night after night, for over 300 days as year. It sure takes its toll. It is this aspect of wrestling that The Wrestler captures so beautifully. Continue Reading

Movie stars without a doubt lead very glamorous lives. The money, the fame and lavish living are all very attractive. Of course, there is a downside. The paparazzi, the lack of privacy and the like. There is also another factor that often goes unnoticed and that is the lengths to which some actors go to get into their character and make them as authentic as they can. This brings me around to the work of Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull where he becomes Jake LaMotta, the former middleweight boxing champion in the 1940′s and 1950′s. Continue Reading

I have been a fan of sports and athletics all my life,  both as a participant in my younger days and now as a spectator. Obviously, the primary purpose of professional sports is entertainment. Amateur teams sports, while having an entertainment component, have other primary purposes, namely team building and character development. These two concepts go hand in hand. When thinking about emphasizing building character through sports, one can’t help but think of the real life story of Coach Ken Carter. Continue Reading

This is my second football-related movie I reviewed this week and just when I think it could not get better, I am proven wrong.  Although, these are the precious moments in life when I don’t mind being proven wrong.  The Express explodes right from the gate with the narration that follows the Universal Studios logo.  “Twenty-one straight lines…five yards apart, that’s a football field, but there are other lines that run deeper and wider all the way through the country that aren’t part of any game.”  What a powerful way to start an equally powerful movie.  As my father would emphatically scream in the words of Hank Williams Jr….”are you ready for some football?”  This is the inspirational story of The Express. Continue Reading