Ahhh, Superbowl hype week, where one has to wait two weeks for the big game, and the first week is just a load of trash talking (Richard Sherman had a head start and got on it right at the end of the game yesterday) and commercial build up. So why not spend the days leading up to football big game by watching movies. Here are ten of the best football movies, in no special order, though number 1 in my book is……
1) Any Given Sunday: 1999: Still my favorite football movie to this date. Yes, its a bit overdone at times. But its got a real edge to it too, whilst Lawrence Taylor’s acting done quite well (though disturbingly real in his “life after football” speech).
2) Remember the Titans: 2000: I didn’t really like this the first time I saw it, as it felt like a Hollywood blockbuster about team camaraderie during times of separation – where winning takes it all in the end. Then you realize there’s nothing wrong with that.
3) Big Fan: 2009: Film about an obsessed NY Giants fan in Staten Island who has no life otherwise, calls sports radio repeatedly at night (hey, I heard it got another caller a job doing shows there), finds he favorite player and finally meets him, but not in the ideal way. Not that this list is in any order, but perhaps being a NY Giants fan helps.
4) The Program: 1993: As you may have seen from the DRE blog, 90’s movies are a weak-spot for me. As a kid I had more time to watch movies and tend to remember them for more that what they are.
Of course now-a-days, you can just find them online (full length movie below!). This one has that “Straight off a tape” authenticity. Despite that, it does touch base ahead of its time on topics such as NCAA bribery.
5) North Dalls Forty: 1979: You think some of this life that some of the NFL players lead now is new? Here’s a movie that depicted this in the 70’s, starring Nick Nolte.
6) Rudy: 1993: Ru-dee, ru-dee. Based on a true story and while not a big box office winner, it still gets plenty of showing on cable TV to this date.
7) The Waterboy: 1998 – Great football comedy. Its an absolutely stupid movie, but that’s the point. Take it for what its worth, its an Adam Sandler movie. But I found this to be one of his more amusing ones – couldn’t name one since though!
8) Friday Night Lights: 2004: Bonus points for director Pete Berg who last month stated there will not be a sequel to the original movie that spun into a TV miniseries. I have never actually seen the series that happened after, but this list is about movies.
9) Necessary Roughness: 1991: not the recent TV show but the 1991 movie with a 30 year old rookie called in on an otherwise mediocre team, the story line won’t surprise you. But its got a lot of familiar actors in it even some I forgot were in this. It’s a dumb comedy of old and see the reference made earlier regarding the 90’s.
10) League of Denial: 2013: Time to get serious though. The game hits hard. The fans love it but the players get the worst of it in many cases. Even the big names are not immune. This documentary reminds us that the biggest story about the sport is the sport itself.
It may even change how some people view football. It didn’t in my case, as I think its not exactly a new discovery on how such hits can cause harm….but it did slightly change how I view the NFL and how it put business first and players last.
Any one we missed out on, let us know and we’ll try and check it out at least. Knute Rockne: All American? Never seen it. Blindside, Jerry Maguire, yeah we know those, but it wasn’t top 10. Brian’s Song, well that one is technically a made-for-TV movie, but will have to check that out sometime soon regardless. Have a great Superbowl wherever you may be watching it from.