Archive for Sports & Fitness

Anthem Productions, Paul Schiff Productions,

Finn Wittrock, Aaron Eckhart, Robin Tunney, Sarah Bolger

Based on the book “Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story” by Jim Dent this biographic film of Freddie Steinmark follows the history of his life as one of the best high school football players who was recruited by Texas and played in the Game of the Century against Arkansas in 1970. The film is pretty accurate in portraying Freddie’s life story. Being only 5′ 9″ and well under 200 pounds everyone told him he was too little to play defense. But he had been trained by his father very well and was really full of grit and able to play way beyond the level he should have been able to play. An inspiration to the team, Freddie motivated the team to win the SW championship and to be rated Number 1 in his final year. Freddie hid an injury from everyone and played through the pain in the final game until finally he had to go see the doctor and was given a very serious diagnosis. This is a heartwarming, tearjerker of a story showing the enormous fight in this kid.

This film got lost in the shuffle around all the other releases when it came out in the theater in late 2015. Many people have overlooked this film, but it is a very good retelling of the true story, and unlike most docudramas, this one seems to be very accurate on most all points. The research was thorough and it seems they really got it right. Starring Aaron Eckhart as Coach Royal and Finn Wittrock as Freddie, the performances are very good. The characters really look like the real people as well and the actual scene is presented at the end of the film, and it’s real, not recreated. This is a touching story, similar to a lot of the true sports tales, but since it is a true story of an amazing life and how he touched so many people, I was truly impressed with it and though many critics didn’t like the way it was portrayed, I felt it was done properly, with loads of respect, and though a sad story, told in a remarkably upbeat and uplifting way. This is a great football film with lots of sports action that is recreated very close to the actual history, and I highly recommend this film as a good film for all ages.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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General Film Corporation,

Chad Moffitt, Sonam Sherpa, John Wraight, Joshua Rutter, Daniel Musgrove, Erroll Shand

This dramatized documentary (with some archive footage of the real event) describes the 1953 climb of Mt Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay that climaxed in a 15 minute stop at the summit of the tallest mountain in the world. In 1953 it seemed likely that someone was about to conquer Everest, and the British, naturally, were desperate to be the first. Edmund Hillary was a British subject, though born in New Zealand, he was their last best hope to be the first. This film documents step by step, the climb along with the extreme dangers and hardships that they faced. The pride the Kingdom felt when one of their guys made it was massive. But as we learn, they were very, very lucky to survive.

This is called a documentary, although it is played, for the most part, by actors. This film was made in 3-D, but I did not see it on the big screen. I can’t comment on the 3-D effects, but it doesn’t seem to me to be a huge deal, although the conditions on the mountain are splendidly portrayed. There were other attempts as far back as the 1920’s, and the mystery that surrounds George Mallory’s attempt in 1924 ended in disaster as they were spotted very near the summit but never returned. In 1999 George Mallory’s body was found, but it is still unknown whether or not they ever made it to the summit. For a long time the mountain was unconquered until 1953 when Hillary and Norgay made, and photographed, the summit of the highest point in the world.

This film somewhat misses the mark. As you may have known, I was always fascinated by stories of Mt. Everest and the many successes and tragedies there. I have watched and reviewed a number of films about this particular trek. But this one is rather straight-forward with not a lot of emotion, explaining the technical aspects of how they made the climb, but is lacking in details about the people involved. The few news reels thrown in to authenticate things tell about as much of the story as the rest of the movie does. It does give you a pretty good feel of climbing, and uses Hillary’s own words to describe the challenges and risks they had to take. It’s an interesting story, but I don’t feel it’s even near the best account of conquering Everest. I think perhaps they put so much stock in the 3-D gimmick that they neglected to tell enough of the story to give you anything new that you don’t already know. I am very glad I watched it, as I am very interested in the subject, but I hesitate to recommend it very highly as unless you are really interested in the men on the mountain, you’ll probably be let down.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Summit Entertainment, OddLot Entertainment, The Montecito Picture Company,

Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Sam Elliott, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Terry Crews, Ellen Burstyn, Chadwick Boseman

Sonny Weaver, Jr (Kevin Costner) is now General Manager of The Cleveland Browns football team. He took over for his father who recently passed away and he has big shoes to fill. It’s the NFL Draft Day, and Sonny trades up to the Number One pick in order to get the hottest Quarterback on the market, but the cost is very high, and everyone else, from his girlfriend and fellow front office member Ali (Jennifer Garner) and his Mother, (Ellen Burstyn), as well as the whole front office think he’s blown it big time. But Sonny has to figure it out and see if he has what it takes to take over for his Father, whom everybody loved.

The high stakes poker style negotiating of the NFL Draft (and the NBA draft for that matter) is a roller-coaster ride of it’s own, but that’s even just as a spectator. Here we get to go into the back rooms and see how the wheeling and dealing goes on under extreme pressure for everyone involved. A simple mistake in negotiation could mean plus or minus millions of dollars as the season plays out. This film really takes you into the action, and it’s a very good movie. I found myself enjoying it a lot, even though I’m not the hugest NFL fan. I watch my Steelers when I can, but drafting a fantasy team, or following the draft on TV is not something I’ve really invested myself in. But I have to admit I was thoroughly entertained, and I think even a non-football fan could enjoy this film as well since there is so much other stuff going on. Though it reminded me of Moneyball a little bit, as the subject is similar, trying to find the right players at the right cost to make your team, I think it was even more enjoyable to me than Moneyball was. Kevin Costner was very good, and he carried the film really well. There’s such a feeling of realism, that you would swear that its’ a true story, and there are many real people who play themselves, even though this is a fictitious story, there is some similarity to a real event. There’s drama, suspense, humor, and good old fashioned drama going on here, and the movie never lets up. Very well presented, everyone deserves kudos from the script to the photography, to the casting and acting in this sports film. I really enjoyed this movie, and I would definitely recommend it, especially to anyone who is a football fan!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Freedom Films, Palo Verde, Hannibal Classics,

Brian Presley, Kurt Russell, Melanie Lynskey, Marc Blucas, Christine Lahti, Sarah Wright, Drew Powell, Steve Turner, Kevin Covais, James Duval, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Austin Ross, Jacquelyn Evola

Fifteen years ago, Scott Murphy (Brian Presley) was on top of the world. He had a full ride scholarship to college, and as the small town hero quarterback, he had one more game to play. This game was against a team much bigger and stronger than them, and they were outmatched, but on the last play of the game, Scott is injured and it put an end to his career. Fifteen years later, Scott is still stuck in the small town, trying to eke out a living on his farm, and facing serious financial trouble. He gets the chance to go back in time 15 years and relive the week of the big game and come to a conclusion of whether to sit out the game and take the scholarship, or to play and risk injuring himself all over again. He looks to Coach Hand (Kurt Russell) for advice in determining what’s the right thing to do.

This is a familiar film in a lot of ways. We’ve seen a lot of these kinds of movies. We’ve had the Mr Destiny film where Jim Belushi gets a chance to hit the home run on that pitch where he struck out the first time, and change his life. This has a different look at it though, and I kind of liked the way they addressed it. Of course there’s the flashback in time, and the confusion of being 15 years younger and going back to high school, naturally. But the focus isn’t on how his life will change if he does it differently. It’s more on what decision should I make? How will it affect me? How will it affect my coach and my teammates? What will it do to my character? What is the most important thing to me, really? It’s very introspective about the choice, and not so much on what happens after. Additionally, this was a really good football movie. I think they did a great job of showing the football games without overdoing it, but with enough technical detail that football fans who really understand the games will not feel like they’re watching a movie version dumbed down for the non-football crowd. I think it’s really well done for anybody to watch.

The serious questions are handled well, and it does make you think, but but it’s also highly entertaining. The film is very well put together, and I am really glad I rented this. It’s new on DVD even though this is a couple years old, and I’m glad they decided to release it on DVD. It was a pleasure to watch.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Broken Road Productions, Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Productions

Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Henry Winkler, Greg Germann, Joe Rogan, Gary Valentine, Charice, Bas Rutten, Reggie Lee, Mark DellaGrotte

Scott Voss (Kevin James) is a biology teacher who’s really burned out. Convinced that attending school is a waste of time for him and for the kids, he just gets by day to day. But budget cuts put and end to the music program and Marty Streb (Henry Winkler) is about to be put out of a job. Scott decides the only way to save the music program is to raise the money, $48,000, to save Marty’s job. But no one wants to help, so Scott and Marty, along with school nurse Bella Flores (Selma Hayek) set out on a plan to try to earn the money themselves since the rest of the teachers are not interested. What follows is an excellent adventure through ultimate cage fighting, as Scott learns the value of friendship and support, and the value of education.

This is a really funny film. Kevin James sometimes goes over the top with the slapstick humor, but his style is perfect for this movie. This is definitely a violent comedy, but it’s all in good fun. There’s a lot of heart too. The fighting scenes are really well done, and exciting, and Henry Winkler brings a lot to his part as well as the well-meaning manager to Scott. There is a cute side story of Scott trying to ask Bella out and constantly being shut down. This is a fun part of the movie as well. This is not the most hysterical comedy ever made, but it is a lot of fun, and does have plenty of laughs. I really enjoyed this movie, and I can recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good comedy with lots of sight gags.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 


 

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