I am going to be honest, I love sports, but I am no sports movie fan.
There are very few sports movies I enjoy and watch time and time again. I just feel like most sports movies are beating the same old storyline into the ground. Someone rises up from a tough life and becomes some superstar. Been there, seen that.
I like movies that are a little outside of that.
So, my favorites are on a very short list. Well, three I would consider classics I could watch time and time again.
The Sandlot-Comedy, a giant beast and backyard baseball like I used to play with my friends. Boy, I miss those days.
Little Giants-a bunch of "losers" get together and play football against some all-pros. Some laughter and the legendary actors of Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill (need both autos still). Childish humor, but solid for this childish adult.
And then comes the sports movie with probably the most famous one-liner that everyone will know.
A League Of Their Own. A comedy/drama loaded with big names, great story and the classic line, "There's NO crying in baseball!!"
And I picked up the autograph of who I consider to be the star of the show. Well, on the field, Geena Davis who has also been in a ton of other big movies like Beetlejuice, Thelma And Louise and the Stuart Little movies just to name a few.
Davis plays Dottie Hinson who went from waiting for her husband to return from the war to the super star catcher on the field. Everyone laughed at the thought of a women's baseball league after World War II threatened to shut down the MLB season, but things changed quickly once the girls started to play led by the popularity of Dottie. It kind of reminds me of the WNBA. They had no fans, were probably about to close up shop then Caitlin Clark comes in and drives revenue up by selling out arenas.
Interesting.
Another thing I thought was cool about the movie and Geena, is that I read somewhere that she performed some of her own stunts in the movie including the famous "split catch". That's pretty cool.
There is just a lot of moments in the movie and the story is one that kept my attention. I like also the mix of humor and drama. It may actually rank as my favorite sports movie of the three. Don't tell anyone this ;)
In comments, let me know some of your favorite sports movies, your favorite Geena Davis film, and if you liked or have seen A League Of Their Own.
Hope everyone has a great night or morning depending on when you are reading this.
*Coffee Card Blogger Out*
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I put 'A League of Their Own' in my top 10 of baseball movies. Going to the 2008 National Sports Card Convention in Chicago I had the honor in having talking to Penny Marshall the director of the film only to be disgusted with her when I complemented her in making the movie only to get a cold response from her telling me to get lost. Then In 2017 in Chicago I had the honor of having my girlfriend meet up with a real Rockford Peach player Dolly Niemiec the inspiration for the 'No Crying in Baseball' my girlfriend then got teary eyed & couldn't come to words then she mentioned to Dolly how without her determination that she wouldn't have gotten into sports thats when Dolly reassured my girl as she'd told Penny a story about the cryer it henceforth the scene of it I took a picture of them both. The part of the movie that gets me every time is when the ladies are walking around the exhibits in Cooperstown & Then Dottie aka Geena Davis older version noticed a young man & he says "Hi Dottie you remember 'Your going to lose' "& Dottie recalls the little boy as Stilwell & says 'Stilwell Angel my goodness where's your mom' & Stillwell says 'Mom died a few years ago' ...... 'but I heard about this & felt I had to represent her afterall she said was best timein her life then'. You don't need to figure out how she died but that's what gets me teary eyed. Fast forward again to 2019 again still in Chicago I took a copy of photo trying to surprise my girlfriend & ask for Dolly to sign the photo only to be told by her husband that Dolly had passed in 2018 it brought memories of the Hall of Fame scene all over again. To me it's why it's in my top 10 baseball movies.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago my brother sent some things to the family for some favorites lists and favorite sports movies was one of them. A League of Their Own was my number two so obviously I'm a big fan. A lot of my favorite movies from when I was a kid were sports-related, too. Here's the list I made, in order:
ReplyDeleteBend It Like Beckham
A League Of Their Own
Moneyball
Rollerball
Rocky
Breaking Away
Eight Men Out
Caddyshack
The Bad News Bears
Bingo Long's Travelling All-Stars & Motor Kings
(the list was supposed to be 10, but I added a few extra:)
Million Dollar Baby
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
When We Were Kings
I have seen a few sports movies over the years. I don't watch many movies at all. The list above from Brett Alan triggered my memory about some of them. I have to go with, "Here he is, the Cinderella of the tournament." Caddyshack was pretty good. Enjoy the day with a cup of your favorite all!
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice card.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with sports movies is so many of them were not made well. But A League Of Their Own, Moneyball and many of the ones Brett mentioned shows how good they can be if you come up with an original concept.
A. Very cool autograph.
ReplyDeleteB. favorite baseball movie = Pride of the Yankees
C. favorite sports movie = Remember the Titans