Scoring at the Movies

After the massive success of John G. Avildsen's first Karate Kid, this even-more-successful sequel has Ralph Macchio & Pat Morita in Okinawa. The focus (oh, that infamous focus) in Karate Kid Part II is on Miyagi and the life he ran away from decades earlier. Don't get hung up on the name of the movie though. Daniel is barely even necessary this time. Although make no mistake, these 2 characters are iconic and the 2 stars are always good in their roles.

 

Story-wise, this isn't a complete rehash of the first film, but they sure didn't avoid hitting a ton of the same beats. This time though you get the improbable ice chop, the puzzling drum technique and not one but two love stories balanced with a running theme of dangerous rivals who are more blood-thirsty than even the Cobra Kai guys. This is far from a perfect sports flick, but it's entertaining and sometimes even touching. So honk a sitting duck's nose rather than beat him to death with your bare hands as we dig into the many corners of The Karate Kid Part II, listener-san.

 

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Our review of The Great White Hope is a little souffle here in the dog days of August. Ryan recorded a solo podcast several years ago and now we find out what those 3-year-old thoughts were. Howard Sackler's Tony-award-winning play was turned into a meh movie by Martin Ritt that's more about race relations than it is about fisticuffs. At least the film feels brutally honest about race. James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander have white-hot chemistry and were both nominated for Oscars. He's the ferocious Jack Johnson stand-in and she's the lady he loves but isn't allowed to love (cuz...white). The movie is a mixed bag with the highlight being the strong performances by the two leads. So don't let The Man get you down. Just punch The Man (and everybody else, for that matter) as this one-man chat digs just a little into The Great White Hope.

 

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This episode is a change of pace because we're discussing the venerable art of arm wrestling for the first time. Golden Arm is lighthearted fun that emulates Kingpin's zany road trip while also taking some plot elements from The Karate Kid. A jacked-up Mary Holland (the scene-stealing sister in Happiest Season), Betsy Sodaro and the funny supporting cast certainly commit to this nutty material. Are they doing a lot of improv? It feels like it. And they're good at it.

 

Director Maureen Bharoocha finds the right tone in her debut and she doesn't let Golden Arm overstay its welcome. So don't be freaked out about having to lock up in an angry handshake. Celebrate your victories, get over your fear of a powerful rival, begin a romance with a sexy guy (or girl) and fire up our conversation about ladies locking palms.

 

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Our "Summer Of Quaid" continues, this time with Dennis playing real-life Tampa Bay relief pitcher Jim Morris in The Rookie.

 

John Lee Hancock has directed many biopics and The Rookie is perhaps his most inspirational.  It's certainly trying to be. Still, the movie just isn't an *ahem​* home run. Disney was in the middle of a successful run of films just like this , but we felt that--for all of The Rookie's merits---the Mouse House simply did it better with Miracle, Glory Road and even Invincible. Like those, this is a story about an underdog who wants to do the impossible...and we've seen that story many times before (and those other ones weren't so mopey). Hancock has Quaid playing Morris as a sad-sack 38-year-old with no confidence, even though he was able to throw a baseball harder than almost anyone else in the world. Where's the joy? Anyway, it's a well-made baseball movie and at least that's right up our alley.

 

So fire up our talk about a popular version of "same old/same old" because it's your turn, Coach.

 

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It's July, so it's time to talk about the Tour De France. This is the first cycling movie we've ever covered, but it's not the first episode we've ever done that gets into "toxic nostalgia".

 

We don't think Breaking Away has aged all that well, even though it was beloved in 1979 and has remained that way with most critics & fans since. Paul Dooley (who is otherwise one of the best characters in the movie) throws around casual bigotry in a way that was probably a lot funnier 4 decades ago. For a movie known for its relatability, Breaking Away just wasn't terribly relatable to us. And it's yet another sports comedy from the '70s that didn't make us laugh very much. Peter Yates knows how to shoot action though and his 4 main characters (the ultra-buff Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley and Dennis Christopher in the leading role) have chemistry.

 

Whether or not you liked this flick more than we did, take a dip in your personal quarry and then lounge on a rock with your earbuds in as we (mostly) naysay a bike classic.

 

Hustle has only been out for a few weeks, but the vast majority of opinions seem to be that this is one of the best things Adam Sandler has ever done. We're with the majority.

 

It's not perfect and it riffs on many movies that came before it, but Jeremiah Zagar's 2nd film has a big heart, dynamic basketball action and features terrific performances by Juancho Hernangomez and the Sand Man. Their chemistry makes the movie work, although the husband-wife glue between Sandler and Queen Latifah is key too. Okay, yeah, Zagar wastes the great Robert Duvall. Ben Foster doesn't get much to do either, but any movie that showcases so many real-life b-ball stars and pays off this many set-ups will always get a rave from us.

 

So don't drive while distracted (or while drunk), but trash-talk your sensitive opponent to throw him off his game and for Bob's sake never back down as we point out the many upsides of Hustle.

 

We can be tweeted (@moviefiend51 and @scoringatmovies) about the fact that the Golden State Warriors DID win another NBA championship or email us ([email protected]) about that or anything else sports-related

The Ernie Davis Story is another sports biopic that's about the human struggle just as much as it is a film about college football. Davis had to regularly endure racism throughout his brief life, although there was a measure of vindication when he became the first black man to win the Heisman Trophy.

 

Rob Brown is as solid as an Orange rock playing the tough-but-saintly Ernie. Dennis Quaid is pretty good as the smart, but so-accepting veteran coach who learns a thing or two about what's right and what's really wrong.

 

Gary Fleder's picture has a weird title though because the movie is certainly not well-paced and they rarely ever actually call Davis "The Express". In fact, we found it to be an inconsistently structured film from start to finish. Plenty of scenes confused us and some set-ups are just not paid off. It IS fair to say though that Davis was worthy of being featured in a film. Now do one about Jim Brown!

 

So suit up and let yourself be honoured by an adoring crowd as we articulate our feelings about The Express.

 

The gentlemen driving in the Indianapolis 500 will be starting their engines on May 29th, so we decided to gear up for that by yapping about a car racing movie.

 

Ron Howard's Rush is one of the most-underrated flicks he's directed in the past 20 years, although almost nobody paid to see it. Perhaps the attendance wasn't very good because the film has a well-earned R rating... and that adult material makes it a better flick. Howard and his writer Peter Morgan are doing what they both do so often by making a biopic, and a well-cast one at that.

 

Chris Hemsworth and the outstanding Daniel Bruhl look a lot like the actual James Hunt and Niki Lauda, but they also excellently embody the F1 racers. But do you root for the handsome Brit who goofs off all the time or the machine-like Austrian who, despite being the best driver, eventually finds himself in the role of underdog? It's a compelling rivalry.

 

So climb out of your hospital bed to get back behind the wheel and risk a fiery death (at least 20% of the time), but also be wise enough to know when it's time to pit and quit as we discuss Rush.

 

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We weren't completely in sync about Bruised, although we agreed Halle Berry's gritty directorial debut has very few dashes of originality. The story and the action rips off several other sports movies, including many parts throughout the entire Rocky franchise. Chris didn't love Halle Berry's performance as an MMA fighter either or her "one lousy struggle after another" life outside the octagon. She shouldn't need to face THIS many obstacles to get us on her side. There's just too much jammed into this underwhelming screenplay. Most of the performances are authentic though, especially Sheila Atim as Berry's MMA trainer. Their chemistry has some sizzle, even if we didn't really buy their character's motivations in that, shall we say, scorable scene.

 

So fill your spray bottle with spirits and try to click with your kid who can't bring himself to speak to you as we try to figure out what's going on in Bruised.

 

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We've only covered horse racing on this channel once before, which was when we jawed about Seabiscuit several years ago. That movie is more famous and was more successful, partly because it beat Randall Wallace's biopic to the starting gate by 7 years.

 

In Secretariat, Diane Lane and John Malkovich make a fine owner/trainer team, but good performances don't offset the fact that there's nothing really at stake in this film. This record-setting horse and these silver-spoon people were not underdogs. They were going to be fine no matter what happened on the race track. To compensate, Wallace pumps in lots of made-up (or at least exaggerated) drama. On the bright side, the picture is entertaining and well-made. So mind-meld with your lady friend before easily winning the Triple Crown, but then have some fun breeding excessively as we break down the happenings in Secretariat.

 

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