Scoring at the Movies

The 31st episode of Scoring At The Movies tears the layers back on our first, and maybe the only, “and they’re off” movie we’ll ever review: Seabiscuit! 

Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper are very solid, although the world-class awesome Elizabeth Banks is miscast and was wasted way too much for our liking. This prestige production is an old-school crowd-pleaser that generally pleased this crowd of 2 people. There ARE issues though and writer/director Gary Ross’ dialogue & narration lay it on thicker than 75 coats of paint. Maybe a lot of that are flaws in Laura Hillenbrand’s book? Anyway, the movie is still worth seeing (even if some people “can’t SEE out there”) and this podcast is most definitely worth hearing (out there).

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Hey yo, folks. For the 4th time (and for the 3rd time in the past 14 months), we drop a 'cast about the Rocky Balboa odyssey on this channel, this time talkin' Creed 2.

The 30th “Scoring At The Movies” episode takes us back to just this past fall when Creed 2 was all the rage (or at least some of the rage). Michael B. Jordan & his co-stars are rock-solid and the movie is vivid enough, but it doesn’t have the emotional kick (punch?) of the 2015 Ryan Coogler picture, nor the stupid enjoyability of the Sly Stallone-directed ’80s entries. Chris didn’t love the overstuffed hyperbole either.

Some of this sequel is great, some of it is just…not. We're just hoping Florian Munteanu won't hunt us down for butchering his name. It's pronounced "Mun-tee-aw-new". Anyway, we spend nearly an hour ruining his name and explaining our viewpoints, so stop reading and start listening!

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While it's cool that Bret Hart got his catchphrase from this film (and did we ever take advantage of that fact!), we sure didn't feel like The Natural was the best there is, was or ever will be. There just wasn’t enough divine influence (a theme we didn’t really discuss in this 29th Scoring At The Movies episode) or movie magic to make us love Robert Redford’s ultra-famous baseball flick the way we used to.

The star is as likable as always, but he’s REALLY miscast...and not just because of his age. Director Barry Levinson’s fantasical flicker show is a logical mess, which brought about a slew of Reasonably Good Questions… even though we didn’t actually call them that. Maybe the best angle on this movie is to see it as Roy’s fever dream or maybe even a sensationalized story written by Max Mercy. It’s got some great moments (the ending, man, the ending!), but we spent over an hour ripping on the not-so-great ones. Oh and to answer Chris’ question about better casting for Roy Hobbs? Kurt Russell! 

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Bring It On? But it's already been broughten!

For Scoring At The Movies’ 28th episode, we covered---yes---a cheerleading movie.

Kirsten Dunst & Eliza Dushku are a pretty good team and director Peyton Reed made his movie bright, enthusiastic and fun. The depiction of the sport seems pretty bang-on (but what do we know) and the story has a nice Hoosiers-esque feel as our (mostly) lily-white underdogs take on black, inner-city kids who are clearly more talented than them.

Unfortunately, the flick just isn’t very funny and Jesse Bradford rubbed Chris very wrong in a series of ways. So, yeah, maybe this one just wasn't our bag. Anyway, we've got a lot to talk about here, so engage your cheer hands, Meet Ranchers!

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Scoring At The Movies’ 27th episode has us gabbing about our first documentary,  Murderball, as we watch jocks in wheelchairs play quad(riplegic) rugby.

This is one of Ryan’s favourite documentaries, but Chris had mixed feelings and was troubled by the (very) politically incorrect choice of words used by the movie's alpha males.

Disabled or not, these athletes are shown to be real people with some serious character flaws, and those flaws only make them more interesting. It’s a big bonus that the ongoing USA v Canada drama is as exciting as you’ll find in any fictional sports flick. Bitter rivals Joe Soares and charisma machine Mark Zupan get the majority of screen time, but all of the half-dozen main characters are fascinating to watch. Scrum it up and listen in!

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The 26th heaping helping of Scoring At The Movies drags us along with Michael Jordan into the world of cartoon lunacy that is Space Jam.

Bugs, Daffy, the Monstars and the rest of the Tune Squad do their wisenheimer thing, but the flick never really clicks. Maybe it’s the lack of good jokes, the excessive fawning over Jordan, the awkward shifts in tone or the attempts to satisfy too many masters? Or maybe just that it's not 1996 anymore...

We get into MJ’s Fred Flintstone-esque gambling proclivities, we discuss who’s the greatest b-baller of all time, and we get real about how Bugs Bully (not a typo) is an arrogant jerk. Oh, and as basketball fans know by now, the Toronto Raptors beat the odds and did make it to the 2019 NBA Finals against the dynastic Golden State Warriors…and that series starts tonight!

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This episode of Scoring At The Movies takes us to the quarter-century mark… and this is one goofy way to hit that mark.

Tom Cruise’s passion project, Days of Thunder, is one of his worst pictures, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. Robert Duvall actually does some of the most-underrated work of his long career (no, seriously) and North America was introduced to Nicole Kidman (who just wanted out of the “cah”).

This movie has surprising insight into concussions & brain trauma and it’s got that trademark Tony Scott slickness in the racing scenes, so bully for all that. We’ve got plenty of Reasonably Good Questions, some of which blew Chris’ mind.

So buckle up, shut your brain (nearly) all the way off, do your Duvall exhale and try to outrun the thunder!

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This is just our second boxing pic out of 24 Scoring At The Movies episodes and it's a much-loved flicker show, especially with mature viewers: Million Dollar Baby. This movie won many Oscars, it made great bank at the box office, and it's well-regarded by both critics and its fan base.

Hilary Swank does her best-ever work (bonus points: she's the first woman to play the lead in one of our two dozen sporty ventures) and Clint Eastwood & Morgan Freeman are rock-solid as always, but Paul Haggis' writing and Eastwood's direction are problematic. There are a few too many potshot stereotypes and there's waaaay too much Danger. Chris also took issue with some of the story beats. But it's hard to deny that it's an unusual boxing film (especially in the 3rd act) and is an effective gut-puncher.

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Another Kevin Costner sports movie? Yup, this is our 3rd K.C. flick out of 23 total episodes of Scoring At The Movies, this time with Draft Day.

Costner's a man that likes to sweat, but in this case he’s a G.M. doing everything EXCEPT sweating… on the field. And he does a bang-up job as the Cleveland Browns’ miracle-maker. This flick was not a hit and it’s got a multitude of flaws, but we dug it anyway, even if we found much to critique. It’s practically a fantasy film where EVERYTHING works out… or is it actually more believable than you think?

We also got into what is the BIGGEST fantasy in this movie (ie. civility from sports fans) and we hash out all the wheeling & dealing by Costner and his rivals. So as we approach the NFL’s 2019 Draft (which is on April 25th), huddle up for our take on Ivan Reitman’s football-in-the-boardroom picture.

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With the 2019 Masters just around the corner, the 22nd dose of Scoring At The Movies finds us gaping at Adam Sandler’s club-throwing rage on the golf course in Happy Gilmore.

This was his second starring role and even at that point he was hitting his now trademark beats: he’s a violent sociopath, embarrasses his rival and gets the girl. This is one of his funnier flicks though and Christopher McDonald, Carl Weathers & Julie Bowen are all as responsible for that as Sandler is. Oh, and Bob Barker! It’s a hockey movie a la Goon early on, but then it all comes down to the big golf match between the hero and the villain…only, which of them is the real villain?

So don’t eat pieces of sh*t for breakfast. Just enjoy our pithiest episode yet!

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