Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

Kevin Smith - Hollywood's Hockey Super Fan

by Sridhar Pappu on Feb 21 2012
Kevin Smith - Hollywood's Hockey Super Fan
Spike Lee has basketball. Kevin Costner has baseball. Kevin Smith has hockey.

As we saw Sunday night in the second installment of AMC's Comic Book Men, while Smith's obsession with Superman and Jack Kirby and Star Wars is nearly unparalleled, so is his love of a sport that most Americans never notice until it's time for the Olympics.  

But hockey fandom has one great, mainstream champion in Smith. The fact that it serves as the backdrop for what Smith says is his last movie as a director -- Hit Somebody, set for release in 2013 -- is hardly a surprise.

Of course, we could see this coming, As much as scatological jokes, Smith has used the sport for the central moments in his movies going back to his very first work.
more »
Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

The Top 10 Sports Movie Endings

by Sridhar Pappu on Feb 14 2012
The Top 10 Sports Movie Endings

We come to sports for endings. Life so rarely gives us winners and losers, much less a firm beginning and an end that we can either revel in or brood over.

That said, sports movies, like so many games, rarely end well. They're given to improbable physical acts and overlong montages. Those that finish with the same satisfaction of the best sporting events deserve their props. Thus our Top 10:

more »
Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

Casting "Tim Tebow: The Movie"

by Sridhar Pappu on Jan 17 2012
Casting "Tim Tebow: The Movie"
With the New England Patriots' 45-10 drubbing of the Broncos on Saturday night, the curtain closed on Denver quarterback Tim Tebow's inexplicably great season. But, like ESPN and every news outlet in the Western World, we simply can't get enough of the hunky, earnest quarterback with perhaps the worst throwing mechanics we've ever seen. Even though his season's over, this much is clear: We simply need more Tebow.
 
Which brings us to Tim Tebow: the Movie.
more »
Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

Why Another "Friday Night Lights" Movie Might Happen -- But Shouldn't

by Sridhar Pappu on Dec 20 2011
Why Another "Friday Night Lights" Movie Might Happen -- But Shouldn't
We've felt a little wary ever since Connie Britton -- who played Tami Taylor during the five-year television run of Friday Night Lights -- said a movie based on the show was "happening for realsies."

That was in October, only months since she and her onscreen husband, Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), literally walked away from the camera in the closing shot of the series finale. It was a scene that provided full and total closure to a truly terrific TV show. That story, their story, was over. 

And now it's ... not?
more »
Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

What the Puck: Why Aren't There Any Great Hockey Movies?

by Sridhar Pappu on Dec 6 2011
What the Puck: Why Aren't There Any Great Hockey Movies?
"You can't make a great hockey movie," said the award-winning sportswriter Peter Richmond, the author of five books, including Ballpark (on the creation of Camden Yards) and Badasses (on the John Madden-era Oakland Raiders).

But Richmond loves hockey -- a sport he covered extensively in his first heady years out of college. Because of that, we called on him to discuss why the sport doesn't translate well to movies.

"A great hockey movie has to be 65 times better than the normal movie in terms of plot, humor, whatever," Richmond said. "And so far I've never seen one."

Well, we're always up for a challenge. That and doughnuts. And, after days of quiet contemplation and study, we've developed some guidelines for those filmmakers looking to bring the sport to movie theaters: 
more »
Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

Miss the NBA? Check Out "Hoop Dreams," "Hoosiers," and ... Flubber?!

by Sridhar Pappu on Nov 22 2011
Miss the NBA? Check Out "Hoop Dreams," "Hoosiers," and ... Flubber?!
This much we know: Neither side of the NBA lockout will find much support from fans in these troubling economic times. Billionaires vs. millionaires, as they say.

Right about now, we need a little reminder of why we love this sport in the first place. So while we mourn a potentially lost -- or greatly shortened -- NBA season, here are five great basketball games in movies to assuage your hurts:
more »
Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

4 Football Movie Tips for Rookie Quarterbacks

by Sridhar Pappu on Nov 8 2011
4 Football Movie Tips for Rookie Quarterbacks

In the frenzy that is the NFL draft, four teams this year -- the Panthers, Jaguars, Titans, and Vikings -- all used their first pick to select franchise quarterbacks. These rookie QBs are even now learning the ins and outs of the game from coaches and countless hours of preparation. All will study lots of film.

But is it the right kind of film?
more »
Sridhar Pappu on Sports Flicks

"Moneyball" Has the Winning Formula of Great Baseball Movies

by Sridhar Pappu on Oct 25 2011
Moneyball's Brad Pitt: What Makes a Great Baseball Movie?

With the World Series upon us, it's only fitting that we consider the impact of Brad Pitt's gripping performance as Oakland Athletics' General Manager Billy Beane in Moneyball. When he says, "It's hard not to be romantic about baseball," we believe him.

Except, of course, that it's never just that simple.

Even though Moneyball is all about the glorification of statistics and numbers, breaking down the game into its most basic components, it's still romantic in its own way. It doesn't shamelessly tug at the heart strings like Field of Dreams; it's concerned with a deep, abiding love of the game, of its past and its future, and that's something all sports fans can love.

How then do we find common ground between Moneyball's  brilliant, nearly cold take on the game and the simple, comic, fist-pumping schmaltz of Major League? In other words, what makes a good baseball movie?

more »

Don't Miss

More from AMC Sites