Million Dollar Baby

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... Million Dollar Baby!

Original image located here. Accessed 4th November 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 77 (2004)

This one has been a long time coming. 
I guess comparisons to Rocky are inevitable as both are built around boxing and tells the story of an underdog giving it their all. The difference this time however is Clint Eastwood is in the director's chair and he is, for me, a favourite: This is due to the fact that Clint has proven time and time again he can eschew flashiness for taking what he has and doing a lot with it. 

Actually, I feel there this is one important similarity between Million Dollar Baby and Rocky: Both resemble a boxing movie but they aren't really about boxing. And that is the case here: Sure it's a compelling watch but it's only in the final half hour that it shows it's hand. I won't give too much away but throughout the movie there are meditations on poverty, striving to obtain a better life, knowing one can do better than their current situation, and dealing with those who try to disparage - and leech off of - one's success. 
It's a compelling watch with great acting all around, superb direction and a punch-in-the-gut finale. 

Truly a well-deserved winner of Best Picture.

Rocky

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... Rocky!

Original image located here. Accessed 12th July 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 49 (1976)

It's the ultimate underdog story: A guy who has lost his way is presented with a opportunity at redemption and he approaches it with hard work and dedication. Really, how could this not win the Best Picture Oscar?

Despite my distaste for sports movies, I did enjoy this one in that is well shot, it is filtered through the lens of seventies cynicism/realism, the outcome isn't obvious and it is genuinely inspiring. It also helps to have one of the most unforgettable movie themes supporting it.
But what did surprise me is that there is some degree of goofiness at work here, with Rocky's tendency to talk about random stuff and to anyone in a nonstop fashion (this goofiness, apparently, will be amplified in the sequels). 

Still this movie is, for the lack of a better choice of words, a knockout.

Hoop Dreams

And this week's Friday Night movie has been... Hoop Dreams!

Original image located here. Accessed 20th January 2023

Sports movies are not one of my favourite genres. Because to me they are seem so formulaic. Seriously, you see one 'Struggling team of no-hopers guided by equally troubled coach achieve against-the-odds success' movie you've seen them all. And when formula is involved, as is often the case, it can be difficult to break away from.
But I will give props to any movie that attempts to do so. So what we have here is a (very long) documentary that follows two kids, who are keen on basketball, trying to make their passion work for them.

Over the course of the documentary we follow the kids, William Gates and Arthur Agee, go from playing basketball in school to doing what it takes to make the NBA tryouts. Along the way, they face challenges such as poverty, injuries, race, getting an education, troubled family lives, finding employment, and staking a lot on eventual success.
Personally whilst my knowledge of basketball may be very limited, I have to admit that the sport itself isn't really the focus here: It's about two kids trying to achieve success despite a whole range of obstacles coming at them. It really showcases what it means to have a dream and the blood, sweat and tears that are involved to make them happen. And to that end the movie succeeds.
Guess it is possible to break the formula.

Chariots of Fire

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Chariots of Fire!

Original image located here. Accessed 24th September 2021

I tried to watch this movie back in 2009. But for some reason or another I never got around to finishing it. Well, today seemed like a good as any. After all, this film is forty years old. And 2021 is an Olympic year (kinda). And I WILL get past that unforgettable theme song and finally see the movie that came with it!

As is often the case, it is not the story but the way it is told. Sports movies aren't my favorite kind of movies because they tend to have an outcome that is never in doubt (ie the protagonists win) but here, there is enough drama and detail that one doesn't think about the outcome. It does indeed make for compelling viewing to see these characters go all the way from Cambridge to competing in the Olympics And such a sincere approach does, surprisingly, hold water when a modern approach demands cynicism and drug scandals.
In fact being a document of the era it is set in (despite a number of inaccuracies) is one of the strongest assets of the film. The costumes, the sets and the details are are stunning to behold - as well as various class/religious differences of the time.
So yep, looks like this movie scores gold.