Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker (1938)

So the Olympics are going on right now, and I'm not watching them but I am reading a bit about what happens.  I don't think Brazil should have gotten the Olympics, they have a lot of problems there.  So I thought I would do the next best thing and watch a documentary about the Olympics.

However, the movie was made by Nazis.  I don't want to watch the Olympics in Brazil, but I don't want to watch a Nazi documentary.  So we may as well talk about a documentary about the Olympics made by Nazis.  Now no one is happy.  But, it's one of those films on the list we just have to get through.  And we will do our best.

Today's film is Olympia part 1. Teil - Fest der Völker.  The first five minutes is nothing but smoke and statues of Greeks, showing the perfection of the naked body.  Then, it finally transforms into living people.  They're men who are for the most part naked participating in the ancient games.  You can really tell a woman wrote and directed this because opening with this many men is pretty excellent.  There are mostly naked women present in the film as well, but I'm not really paying attention to that.

Then, we see the running of the Olympic torch, something we have seen a lot throughout the years.  The running of the torch was actually invented for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and still continues to this day.  Next comes the Opening Ceremony, where each country marches in with their flag.  Some nations raise the arms in a Nazi Salute in support of Germany, and some do not.

The majority of the film is pretty dry, very similar to watching the Olympics on tv today.  However in 1936 they didn't have tv so watching this must have been pretty exciting for them.  The announcers provided excellent commentary, unlike the NBC announcers we have here.  They are just awful.  We do get to see a lot of action from Jesse Owens, the fastest man in the world at the time.

If you'd like to see how the Olympics were performed a long time ago, this film would be ideal for you.  I enjoyed the historical aspects of it and will give this film a 7/10.  

Bull Durham (1988)

Guess what I don't want to do?  Listen to poetry and watch baseball.  Today's film is Bull Durham, which is about poetry and baseball.  This is not going to be a fun time.

The film stars Kevin Costner, who only ever does sports movies, or bad movies, or both.  He plays an intelligent catcher, Crash, who knows a lot about the game, but has little actual talent.  He has been ordered to train a rookie pitcher, Ebby Laloosh, who is a fantastic pitcher but is about as dumb as a hammer.

Naturally Crash is jealous of Ebby's talent and this leads to a lot of fights.  Meanwhile, there is a baseball groupie, Annie, who chooses one player a season to sleep with.  She is a pseudo-intellectual who quotes poetry on a regular basis.  I want to punch her in the face.

I don't understand why Crash doesn't get a coaching or assistant coaching job for baseball.  Those who can't do, teach.  He isn't great at baseball, but knows the game.  So, he should get a coaching job instead of forcing himself to play and being miserable.

Annie chooses Laloosh to sleep with, and give him the nickname, "Nuke".  However, once he starts winning, he refuses to sleep with anyone for superstitious reasons.  This leaves the poetry baseball whore lonely and sad.  For some unknown reason, Crash develops feelings for Annie.  Dude, she's been with an entire baseball team.  I understand about having a past, but an entire baseball team? Have some respect for yourself.  This is an '80s movie that needs to stay there.  I will give this film a 3/10.

Chariots of Fire (1981)

Today's film is Chariots of Fire, which won Best Picture in 1981.  The only things I knew about this were that it had something to do with running, and it has an awesome theme music.  So, I watched this with my runner daughter.  For a film about running, we expected it to be faster.  It is a slow paced movie.

The two runners we follow are Harold Abrahams, a Jewish runner who runs despite prejudice, and Eric Liddell, who runs to honor God.  At first, they meet at college and train to be great runners.  Later, they qualify for the Olympics.

Dunn  dun dun dun dun dun dun

So, now they're in the Olympics.  However, one of Eric's races is on a Sunday and he says he can't run because it's breaking the Sabbath.  I thought that only applied to work and how is running work? It's called the Olympic games not the Olympic work.  Also I thought Christians didn't do that anymore? I thought that was like an 18th century thing.  He has to go before the council and defend himself, and inspires a lot of people.  But that wouldn't work at a real job.

Harold also works hard at his races, even employing a coach to train him.  The council doesn't like this because a professional coach shouldn't train amateurs.  Which is really interesting because all of the Olympic athletes today have coaches.

One of Eric's teammates agrees to switch races with him so he won't have to run on Sunday.  Meanwhile, everyone goes home with gold medals because this is a sports movie and we expect that.  This film was very educational about a niche in history, but had little entertainment value.  I will give it a 5/10.

Cool Runnings (1993)

We're excited about the Olympics this year!  This year is the first in a long time that the Jamaican bobsled team has qualified.  The Winter Olympics feels so strange to us, since we're watching others compete in snow and ice, and we never get that here.  In fact, my co-film critic has never seen snow in her entire life.

In the 1980s, the Jamaican bobsled team qualified for the Winter Olympics in Calgary.  This was a huge surprise, especially since no one expected a snowless country to even consider joining.  The film Cool Runnings was inspired by these events.  There are many differences between the film and real life, because the filmmakers wanted to play it up for drama.  The main difference is how the other teams treated the Jamaicans.  In real life, they welcomed them, but in the film they did not like them at all and didn't expect them to do well.

This year, the Jamaicans ended up last, but at least they tried.  The movie is very humorous, and I enjoyed how they practiced for the games.  They used a makeup sleigh and slid down a huge hill.  That must have been scary!  We laughed so much during this film.  I think it's great for the whole family.  Athletics are number one in my household, and film watching/blogging is second.  Then comes secondary things like school and work and eating food.  And this film is funny and has sports! You can't beat that.  It's hard to find a film that kids can enjoy and doesn't alienate adults.  And this one is inspired by true events.  We're going to give this film a 7/10.

Raging Bull (1980)

Today's film is Raging Bull.  I did not know it was a true story until I watched it.  I was curious so I did some research.  It turns out that all the fights were pretty accurate.  The parts of the film I really liked were the cinematography and the sound.  The shadows and angles of the black and white film were very effective.  It did give it sort of a nostalgic feel since the movie takes place in the 1940s and 50s.

 

I did not like any of the characters in this film.  I thought the main three characters: Jake, his brother Joey, and wife Vickie all did exceptional jobs acting.  Joe Pesci as Joey did a great job because I have seen him in lots of films but he was really giving it his all during this one.

 

It doesn't matter how many fights Jake won, I have no respect for him.  He has a severe anger and jealousy problem and he takes it out on anyone he can.  He also makes out with underage girls and then beats his wife because he thinks she's cheating on him.  In reality he's cheating on her but it's all mixed up in his mind.  He doesn't feel that he's at fault.  Even when he is arrested for endangering an underage girl, he still maintains his innocence.  All he cares about is his weight and he doesn't ever eat anything healthy and hardly works out.  Just watches tv on a cheap antenna set that barely works and then goes out drinking.  Robert Deniro actually put on 60 pounds in order to play the older, fatter Jake.  That is dedication.  Jake is just a fatass wife-beater.

It took her a long time to do it, but Vickie finally left Jake.  I was happy, yet he still bothered her sometimes.  One thing I liked was the make-up jobs of everyone.  Even though it was black and white, the bruises and injuries of the characters looked realistic.  I will give this film a 7/10.

Rocky (1976)

Today we are celebrating the bicentennial year with Rocky!  This movie was great and I loved the music.  It really got us pumped up and energetic.

Rocky dreams of being a great boxer and has worked out at the same gym for 6 years.  He works as a collector for a loan shark.  He loves Adrian, a shy pet store clerk, his turtles and his fish.  Rocky may seem rough but he's actually caring.

Apollo Creed is a flashy superstar boxer who reminds me a lot of Muhammad Ali.  Apollo Creed was named after the first man on the moon.  He is fighting an important fight in Philadelphia, where Rocky just happens to live.  After Apollo's opponent cancels, his management scrambles to find someone to replace him.  Apollo has the idea of letting a local hopeful fight him to and be propelled to stardom.  He expects to easily knock him out, so what does he have to lose?  Guess who he picks?

Of course Rocky has to get in better shape to fight Apollo.  He was a half-decent fighter but he really needs to work if he's going to have a chance.  I remember seeing him run up the steps and be way out of breath, but near the end he can finally run up with ease.  I was inspired by that.  This long bout of training inspired the South Park "Montage" song which is hilarious. We're gonna need a montage! A sports training montage!

The entire fight scene was simply amazing.  I could not look away for a moment; it was pure sports heaven.  I remember my grandfather, a professional fighter, telling me that fighting wasn't about violence; it was about endurance.  Basically it means whoever is the most stubborn.  Both of these men are clearly beaten up and need help yet they keep going.  Rocky isn't going to give up this chance he's been given.  I feel like all of us have greatness but some people need a little push, and Rocky is one of those people.

I loved this movie.  It was so inspiring and the music was excellent.  I will give this film a 9/10.

Senna (2010)

Here's a documentary on the fast paced world of Formula One racing. Personally I like watching the Grand Prix rather than NASCAR; I think the races are more exciting. They even race in the rain!

Aryton Senna was a racer in the 1980's and 90's.  He started off as a go-kart racer in his native Brazil, and graduated to Formula One a few years later.  He had a natural talent for driving, but never played the politics game of racing.  For this, he was put in bad situations. His rival, Prost, used his knowledge of the politics of the racing game to strip Senna of his first championship and got him suspended. Did he deserve it? No, but the bitter rivalry made for great TV and made Formula One even more popular.

In the 90's, Prost's team got this neat car that was totally computerized, and a lot more high tech than any other car in the Grand Prix.  Nobody, not even Senna, could outrun this car. Prost easily won the championship.  Later, he was fired for making fun of the Ferrari brand. Lol, he deserved it. He is such a jerk.

The next year, Senna was hired by Prost's former team to drive the computerized car. However, right after he was hired, computerized cars were banned by race officials because they provide an unfair advantage. It is really tough luck that the jerk Prost was able to win even though Senna is a better driver, and now Senna can't even have the same advantages Prost has. It seems this was done on purpose. Unfortunately, removing all the computerized parts made the car harder to drive.  This made Senna's car lose control on a turn and crash, leaving him with a fatal head injury.

Senna was a hero to his native Brazil during his time, and will always be remembered as one the most talented drivers ever. His memory lives on in a charity founded by his sister, that focuses on helping underprivileged children.  After his death, safety measures were increased and there has not been another death in Formula One racing since.  This is a well made documentary and receives an 8/10.