The Way I See It
HAVE you noticed there haven't been any sports movies in the theaters for a while? Sports fans will have
their fill of flicksThere's nothing like watching athletic competition portrayed on the big screen, larger than life with visual effects and stirring soundtracks.
Sure would be nice to see something to rival "Rocky," "The Natural," "Chariots of Fire," or "Field of Dreams."
Well, I was glad to find that there will be a rush of sports genre films hitting theaters this fall, winter and next spring.
The sport that will be the theme of most of the new films is, not surprisingly, boxing.
"Play It to the Bone" (Buena Vista) is due out in November and has Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson as buddies who must fight each other for the welterweight title.
Look for Denzel Washington to play middleweight boxing champion Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in a December release by Universal Pictures called, "The Hurricane." It might be released as "Lazarus and the Hurricane."
Some time early in the new millennium, there will be another biographical film, this time on the life of former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston.
The movie by Paramount, starring Ving Rhames as Liston, could be called, "Night Train." The story is based on the book, "Night Train: The Devil and Sonny Liston," by Nick Tosches.
ALSO in the spring, look for "The Price of Glory." The New Line Cinema film will star Jimmy Smits as a former boxing champion who trains his three sons to follow in his footsteps.
In October, extreme fighting gets some mainstream exposure in "Fight Club," starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
An internet review says it's a film about two young men who "start a secret club that gives young urban professionals the chance to beat the living crap out of each other."
But early next month there will be a much more seasonal film called, "For Love of the Game." It stars - who else? - Kevin Costner, as an aging Detroit Tigers pitcher. He's in the midst of a perfect game at Yankee Stadium and experiences a series of flashbacks on his life.
Flashback films often fall flat, but at least Costner isn't directing this one (Sam Raimi is), so it might be worth a look. The trailer I saw last weekend has some very vivid baseball imagery.
I like the "Rocky" premise of "Mystery, Alaska," even though the title makes it sound like a travelogue.
The movie (Hollywood/Buena Vista), starring Burt Reynolds and Russell Crowe, is about an amateur hockey team in a small Alaskan town (Mystery) that gets the chance to host and play the New York Rangers. It's a publicity stunt but the locals take it seriously - very seriously.
Don't worry, there is a football movie planned for December. Warner Brothers distributes it and Oliver Stone directs it. It'll be called either, "Any Given Sunday" or "The League." Al Pacino is the coach of a fictional NFL team who puts pressure on his older quarterback (Dennis Quaid) to keep playing despite a dangerous injury.
Basketball gets some big-screen play next spring with a story of the old ABA in "New Jersey Turnpikes" and, get this, a basketball version of Shakespeare's Othello in "O."
And for you soccer fans, I don't know if it will play out here, but USA Films is releasing "Mad About Mambo" this fall. It's the story of a teen-age Belfast soccer player who learns the Mambo and Samba to develop footwork like Pele.
Let's hear it for footwork.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.