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Today's Monday Movie Meme from the Bumbles is all about The Victory. Apparently Molly attended the football game yesterday between the New York Jets and the Patriots, and decided to revel in the win just a little more by giving us this theme. What if I'm not happy about the Patriots' win? What if Brady makes me sick to my stomach? OK, well, I'll play along THIS TIME because I like Molly.
I struggled quite a bit on this one, and I'm not sure why. A few come instantly to mind, but then I hit a wall. There has to be 4,260 movies out there about defying the odds, going up against the favorite as the underdog and winning (which is really not what happened at that game this weekend!), but I'll be damned if I can remember them. Either that, or the predictability irritated me and I pushed the flick out of my mind. Anyway, here is my best at 5:49am:
Hoosiers - Of course I'm going to mention this one. I AM a Hoosier after all. And this movie makes me cry every time, right at the end. No movie has better captured the pure religion of high school ball in my home state. And even better, it is based on a true story about a small town team of skinny little kids going head-to-head against a school ten times their size to win the state championship.
Breaking Away - And speaking of Indiana, here is another one that we felt did justice to a local passion and event. Four kids, a rag-tag group out of high school but doing nothing with their lives, deemed "the Cutters", participate in the "Little 500" bicycle race at Indiana University against the slick college boys. And win. This one will leave you hootin' and hollerin' at the screen. It's wonderful.
Miracle - The Bumbles listed this one too, but I couldn't NOT list it. This was one of the biggest underdog stories ever. You know you will always remember where you were when you learned that Lennon was shot, or Kennedy was shot? Well, I remember where I was when I learned that the US Hockey team beat the Russians in the Olympics. (At a high school basketball game...they literally stopped the entire game to announce it. The entire gym stood up and sang the Star Spangled Banner.)
The Verdict - A down-and-out lawyer (Paul Newman) fights for the little guy and battles against the team of corporate lawyers and the Archdiocese, and wins big. Nobody does it quite like Newman.
Seabiscuit - It isn't often that you can say a racehorse pulled a nation, troubled by the Great Depression, out of its miseries and gave them hope. This movie can pull you out of your miseries too, with the help of the much-adored Tobey Maguire and Chris Cooper, and a horse that had the desire to win.
Babe - I do so love pigs. How can you not love this little guy, who wants to keep himself off the Thanksgiving table and become a sheepdog (sheep pig?). He uses his good looks (with his cute little toupee-looking fluff on top of his head) and his good manners to win a sheep herding tournament. I dare you not to be charmed.
The Verdict - A down-and-out lawyer (Paul Newman) fights for the little guy and battles against the team of corporate lawyers and the Archdiocese, and wins big. Nobody does it quite like Newman.
Seabiscuit - It isn't often that you can say a racehorse pulled a nation, troubled by the Great Depression, out of its miseries and gave them hope. This movie can pull you out of your miseries too, with the help of the much-adored Tobey Maguire and Chris Cooper, and a horse that had the desire to win.
Babe - I do so love pigs. How can you not love this little guy, who wants to keep himself off the Thanksgiving table and become a sheepdog (sheep pig?). He uses his good looks (with his cute little toupee-looking fluff on top of his head) and his good manners to win a sheep herding tournament. I dare you not to be charmed.
18 comments:
I had forgotten how much I loved the movie Babe when my kids were little until I read this. So much fun to see what you pick each Monday.
I like your animal picks the best! And I too do not care for Tom Brady!
oh, Babe was so cute..
but I also agree that Breaking Away is a wonderful movie!
I have Hoosiers on my list too. I've never seen The Verdict, but can't resist Paul Newman, so I'll have to find it.
Sandy, I agree wholeheartedly with your list! The Verdict, IMO, is Paul Newman's finest piece of acting, his first role playing against type. It had a great supporting cast, too. And Hoosiers, who wouldn't cry? Gene Hackman is one actor who never, ever disappoints.
Two thumbs up for Miracle and Hoosiers! My post is HERE.
This is a fun topic. I wouldn't have come up with The Verdict, which is a wonderful movie.
I'd add the original Rocky. It's a great movie that was unfortunatly overshadowed by the later and lesser sequals.
This little movie from way back called My Bodygaurd.
And Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In a just universe Jimmy Stewart would have been a real Senator, not just an actor pretending to be one.
Babe--loved that show but didn't think of it. Nice list. Mines up too.
To this list I told Molly I would add Norma Rae. And I also thought of Officer and Gentleman...I mean technically isn't Debra Winger's character victorious when she gets the cute guy in the end! LOL
I'm afraid that this time I haven't seen a single one of them...not even Babe! *shame*
Bad News Bears FTW!!! :P
Babe is a cute pig and that's one of the reasons I don't eat pork!
Breaking Away has got to be one of the best movies ever made. It was a bit of a sleeper, but struck deeply at the heart of our family one summer day when we snuck in out of the heat to watch it. We quote lines from it all the time, about my father because he tends to tweak about stuff that's already happened. ("Refund! Refund!")
Oh, The Verdict! Loved that one. Seabiscuit is a household top ten! Great choices as always, Sandy.
I haven't seen any of these. I feel so uninformed! I'll be adding to my Netflix queue. Thanks for the suggestions!
Babe! I watched that movie one night with my friend's husband. Which now that I think about it I can't figure out why it was just the two of us - maybe she and Andy went out to a concert we weren't interested in or something. Anyway, we just thought it was absolutely ridiculous that here we were - two grownups - watching this cute little piggy movie - and we both loved it!
Great choices as always. Even though you are a Brady hater ;0)
I loved Breaking Away! and most of the others you listed.
There are quite a few movies that share the theme of the week, I agree. So many good ones too! I've only seen two of the movies you mention though, can you believe it? Hoosiers and Babe.
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