Sports Movie Rankings

With the US Open crowning its new champions, football season starting to bombard us with its inescapable presence, and baseball heading into its month-long play-off race, sports has been on the mind as of late. Kacey over at Pop Culture Crazy was in the same mindset when she decided to poll as many people as she could to come up with a Sports Movie Ranking. She asked people to send in their top/favorite 5 sports films and to rank them. She received over 50 submissions with over 90 different films. Check out her great site for the full results including the Top 25 as well as her methodology.

Below are the five films I submitted for the poll as ranked by me. How they were ranked in the final Sports Movie Ranking is in parenthesis:

1. BRING IT ON (#3)

As soon as I heard about the sports film poll, this was the first and second film I thought of. So many people think cheer-leading is not a sport, but I still remember just being in awe at the level of athleticism displayed in the film. Of course the film is more than just a cheerleading film. It's incredibly fun, addictively quotable, and the trio of Dunst, Dushku, and Union is just the best. A few years ago, I briefly talked about the film during it's 10th year anniversary.

2. WIMBLEDON (#16)

If you know me at all, then you know that tennis is my absolute favorite sport. So putting this on my list was a no-brainer even though its presence is less about its quality and more about how few tennis films there actually are. With that said, I saw this on opening weekend and even got a poster of it. Dunst (she's my sporting muse apparently) and Bettany had fun chemistry with each other. So while this is more a guilty pleasure, I don't really care, especially since this is also the very first film I saw with James McAvoy.

3. SUMMER STORM (Unranked)

This German film about rowing teams preparing for a rowing regatta is a must-see especially if you like to watch good gay films. It's sexy, gorgeously shot, and just an affecting coming-of-age coming-out film.

4. WHIP IT (#7)

The year this film came out I dubbed it "like Juno but not annoying." It was fun and energetic and in the heart of it was Page kicking ass in roller derby with Wiig and Barrymore. How could anyone say no to that? Saw it at a special screening and was rewarded with swag, a shirt that says Whip It: Be Your Own Hero. I still cherish it so.

5. MILLION DOLLAR BABY (#25)

I was one of the few people rooting for this film during the Oscars over The Aviator and I don't regret it one bit after all of these years. Eastwood's aesthetics matched this particular story and with Swank's Oscar-winning powerhouse performance, it was clear cut for me. Her death scene is still one of the saddest for me.

Wow, my list began quite happily then ended in such a depressing way. That sounds about right. Looking over my list now, it's not really surprising that the majority of them are girl-led and the two that aren't directly speaks to my interests (tennis and pretty gay boys). A few of the other films I considered included A Knight's Tale (jousting fun!), The Cutting Edge (Romeo and Juliet on ice!), and Space Jam (fly you fools!). Then there's the trio of The Mighty Ducks, Angels in the Outfield, and Remember the Titans with young Joshua Jackson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Ryan Gosling starring respectively.

Again, don't forget to go to Pop Culture Crazy to see the full list of Top 25 Sports Films (as polled) as well as other cool stuff.

Birthday Girl: Kirsten Dunst

Our favorite young vampire-head cheerleader-French queen-pageant contestant-tennis professional-comic book character turns 30 today. Even at such a young age, Kirsten Dunst has already done so much and just last year won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her great work in Lars Von Trier's Melancholia. She got plenty of critical notices for that role. With that said, despite working tirelessly for nearly two decades already, you'd have to go as far back as 1994's Interview with a Vampire for similar kinds of critical buzz. Sometimes I still can't believe she hasn't gotten nominated for an Academy Award or at least get her second Golden Globe nomination after her nomination for Interview with a Vampire. It's only a matter of time though. She's plenty young, is well liked, and more importantly has paid her dues.

As for my favorite films of hers, it's not that straightforward. While technically I would rank Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind above any of her films, I do have a special place in my heart for Bring It On. Plus that film is more a "Dunst film" than the Jim Carrey-Kate Winslet drama anyways. I've also been a big fan of her early comedic satire work especially in Drop Dead Gorgeous and Dick. I'm upset at Hollywood for not giving her more roles such as these or at least reuniting her with Michelle Williams. In terms of slight guilty pleasures I have to cite her work in Wimbledon, Elizabethtown, and Marie Antoinette which are all flawed in their own way but contained things I love aka tennis, Orlando Bloom, and French royalty respectively. Finally, I can't forget to mention her serviceable role as Mary Jane in the Spider-Man flicks which I liked, LOVED, and disliked respectively.

I'm hoping she does a few more films like Melancholia and Dick to keep challenging herself. But then again with the career she's already had, what hasn't she done? Of course if I had the money to bankroll any film for her to do, I'd probably waste it on a Bring It On sequel... so what do I know?

Looking Forward To...

Melancholia
Release: November 11, 2011
Distributor: Magnolia
Director: Lars Von Trier
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgård, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Brady Corbet, and Charlotte Rampling

Looking Forward To... FALL/WINTER

Summer is over and we all know what that means: fall/holiday films are right around the corner! Actually, they're pretty much here. In fact, I saw one just last week, Contagion, a film directed by Steven Soderberg which looked like a mash-up of Outbreak and Traffic with an all-star cast that have either won or been nominated for an Oscar. That same weekend also saw the debut of Warrior which stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as brothers who are also professional mixed martial artists.

The rest of September usually doesn't have much to offer, but I'm find a few films that have a lot of promise. Right on the top of that list is the Cannes-winning Drive starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. I have yet to find a film critic I trust that hasn't raved about this film so my expectations are ridiculously high. I'm also looking forward to the dark comedy 50/50 with Joseph Gordon Levitt dealing with cancer. There's also the Aaron Sorkin-penned baseball flick Moneyball with Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman that's getting some awards buzz. The suddenly ubiquitous Jessica Chastain is in Take Shelter with Michael Shannon doing what he does best (aka play crazy). Probably won't see this in theaters, but the light comedy What's Your Number with Anna Faris, Chris Evans, and a slew of fellow young stars could be a riot. For the horror fans, of which I'm not, there's Dream House with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz as well as a remake of Straw Dogs starring a couple of hotties, James Marsden and Alexander Skarsgard. There's also festival-favorite gay film Weekend which looks pretty good. Finally, Disney is releasing The Lion King in 3D for two weeks and I am so tempted to check it out despite my not-so-friendly feelings regarding 3D because I can't stop imagining how the "Circle of Life" opening sequence would look on the big screen.

October's selection seem to be similar to September with a few films that look good from the outside. Like September, my most anticipated film for the month stars Ryan Gosling, this time in the political thriller The Ides of March. Technically though it's more of a George Clooney film since he not only stars in the film, but also wrote and directed it. Another star-studded thriller is Margin Call starring Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, and Paul Bettany. Sundance winners Martha Marcy May Marlene and Like Crazy also look intriguing. The first stars Elizabeth Olsen as a girl who tries to put her life together after escaping a cult while the second is getting a lot of "Blue Valentine-lite for young adults" reviews and stars the charming Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones. Johnny Depp meanwhile tackles the adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel The Rum Diary while Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried co-star in sci-fi thriller In Time. Also out this month is Roland Emmerich's Shakespeare-centric period drama Anonymous which is surprisingly getting some nice reviews as well as Pedro Almodovar's latest in The Skin I Live In. Some guilty pleasure choices include the probably unnecessary remakes of Footloose and The Three Musketeers, but at least the latter has Orlando Bloom and Christoph Waltz hamming it up (so I'm in!).

The slate heats up a bit in November with an array of Oscar contenders (and non-Oscar contenders alike). Oddly enough one of those films, and probably my most anticipated this month, is The Artist, a black-and-white silent film that debut in Cannes with its lead actor Jean Dujardin picking up Best Actor. Best Actress went to Kirsten Dunst for her work in the apocalyptic Melancholia, a film directed by Lars von Trier. David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method with Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen playing the famous psychological duo of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud respectively (also stars a very captivating Keira Knightley), Steve McQueen's Shame also with Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, and Alexander Payne's The Descendants with George Clooney all release in this overstuffed month. All three, but especially the latter two, have been getting rave reviews as of late. Michelle Williams channels Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn while Leonardo DiCaprio channels J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar. Visionary director Tarsim Singh tackles Greek mythos with the Immortals starring Henry Cavill while Martin Scorcese goes unexpectedly animated in Hugo. Finally, I'm trying very hard to avoid the new chapter of the Twilight saga (Lee Pace why are you in this?) and what better way to do that than embracing nostalgia with The Muppets starring Amy Adams and Jason Segel.

Finally, December is chock full of last-minute Oscar entries and big holiday films. The most intriguing film this month is probably Roman Polanski's film adaptation of the popular play God of Carnage, simply re-titled as Carnage starring Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, and Christoph Waltz. Other big name directors working with some Hollywood stars include Oscar-friendly Stephen Daldry directing Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock in Extremely Loud and Incredible Close, Guy Ritchie teaming up with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law again in the Sherlock Holmes sequel, and David Fincher putting forth his highly anticipated adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. A couple of uber famous women are taking the helm as directors with Madonna's W.E. and Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey hoping to make a splash at year's end. The Juno team of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody reunite for Young Adult, a dramedy with the blindingly beautiful Charlize Theron and Patrick Wilson. Finally Steven Spielberg will have two December films coming out, The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse. Gary Oldman headlines Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy while Meryl Streep will try for another Oscar nomination by playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. That's already a lot, but I still haven't mentioned Tilda Swinton's much-lauded performance in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in We Bought a Zoo, or even the latest Mission: Impossible film with Tom Cruise. There's also the film everyone is in aka New Year's Eve which should find an audience due to the timeliness of the film as well as the sheer number of celebrities in it.

The sad thing about making this list of films I am "looking forward to" is realizing the certainly of me being unable to see all of these films in the next four months. For many, I will catch them on DVD months (or even years) from now. The other sad part? This list isn't even complete! There are still films out there that need distributors or, if they have one already, need to figure out when they will be released (I'm looking at you Albert Nobbs, The Lady, etc.). Oh, the life of a film addict.

Wait a minute, people cheering cheerleaders?

With Bring It On Day almost coming to a close, I noticed I didn't really fully express the beauty of the film. So...


Yeah, had to be done. Jesse Bradford has those puppy dog eyes, full pouty lips, and crooked smile. What's not to like? I recently saw him in the totally awful I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. To his credit, he was the best part of the film. Including that film, I've seen six films since his Cliff Pantone days and all have been good to great with the exception of the most recent flick. Wish he'd re-team with Eliza Dushku or Kirsten Dunst though. There really should be more teen comedy reunions happening.

I'm major. I roar. I swear I'm not a whore.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of high school comedy Bring It On and wow that just makes me feel old. The film looks into the world of competitive cheerleading through the experiences of two high school teams in California, one of which is the defending national champions (the Toros) while the other is a talented, but financially strapped team (the Clovers).

Kirsten Dunst plays Torrance, the newly-appointed captain of the Toros, while Eliza Dushku plays Missy, the tough new girl who reluctantly signed up for cheerleading because the school didn't have a gymnastic team. Jesse Bradford plays Cliff, Missy's brother and Torrance's maybe-love interest. Gabrielle Union plays Isis, the captain for the Clovers. The rest of the cast are mostly comprised of similarly young up-and-comer actors.

One of my favorite things about this film is its focus on cheerleading, which back then didn't get a lot of play. That's not true now, what with all of the lame sequels that inevitably made following this movie, but neither here nor there. In the production notes on the DVD, we learn that director Peyton Reed was drawn to the script because "it's not just another teen film about guys wanting to get laid, or who's going to be asked to the prom." There's still typical high school drama and such, but the main conflict is all rooted in cheerleading.

With its focus on cheerleading, the routines are obvious stand-outs. The film even opens with a wonderful routine that effectively introduces the audience to not only the characters but to this high-energy and irreverent world. Just note the sassy lyrics to the opening cheer:

I'm sexy. I'm cute. I'm popular to boot. I'm bitchin', great hair. The boys all love to stare. I'm wanted. I'm hot. I'm everything you're not. I'm pretty. I'm cool. I dominate this school. Who am I? Just guess. Guys wanna touch my chest. I'm rockin'. I smile. And many think I'm vile. I'm flyin', I jump. You can look, but don't you hump. Whoo! I'm major. I roar. I swear I'm not a whore. We cheer and we lead. We act like we're on speed. Hate us 'cause we're beautiful. Well we don't like you either! We're cheerleaders. We are cheerleaders. Roll call!

Most of the other routines in the film aren't as lyrics-oriented. Instead they rely on kick-ass choreography and a great backing soundtrack. Or at the very least, a well executed robot sequence:


This film, however, is more than just the routines, even if there's fabulous. The dialogue is chock full of cheer-related bon mots such as cheer-ocracy, cheer-tator, and cheer-sex. As well as oft-repeated phrases such as "she puts the itch in bitch" or "whore in horrifying." Funnily enough most of these are uttered by the two "mean girls" before Mean Girls even came into being, Courtney and Whitney:

Boo, you whore.

They definitely amped the bitchiness to max, but without them the movie would not have had most of its bite. Speaking of bite, how about Gabrielle Union's Isis ? First time we see her she's leading her team with the "Brr, it's cold in here" routine. And this is how she looked:

Worship me or die!

It's as if she's some kind of warrior goddess, or something. Another screenshot of her that I love is when she makes eye contact to a member of the Toros during regionals:

If looks could kill...

There's so much more I could say about the film, but instead I want to call out just one more thing. During my recent re-watch I was a little caught at the casual use of "fag" and "dyke" though not all instances were negative. Of course there's the two football players, who I imagine were most likely closeted boyfriends, who kept name-calling the male cheerleaders and bitchy Courtney calling Missy an "uber dyke" and a "big dykey loser." Then of course this great exchange happen on their way to the team's first football game of the season:

Missy: What is your sexuality?
Les: Well, Jan's straight, and I'm... controversial.
Missy: Are you trying to tell me you speak fag?
Les: Oh, fluently.

Missy: And Courtney and Whitney... dyke-a-delic?
Everyone: No. Are you kidding? I don't think so.

Gotta love it. There's one character I purposely didn't talk about in this post, but there's a reason for that. For now, I'll leave you guys with Eliza Dushku simultaneously sticking out her tongue and giving a middle finger, just because it's an awesome shot: