Movie Monday: SPORTS!

After a disappointing Super Bowl, and with no interest in basketball whatsoever, it's going to be a long, cold, dark 2 months until baseball kicks off.
With no real sports to watch, I guess I'll just have to substitute sports movies instead. But not just any sports movies, THE BEST 5 SPORTS MOVIES OF ALL TIME.



5. Miracle
Miracle is the true story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, a ragtag bunch of college kids who toppled the unstoppable Russian squad and took the gold medal. Kurt Russell stars as head coach Herb Brooks in this uplifting story of victory in the face of impossible odds.




4. Snatch
Okay, fine. Snatch isn't really about sports as such. But it is technically about boxing, and it is a damn good movie. Jason Statham and Brad Pitt star in this fast-talking, hard-hitting, laugh-out-loud film that many call the jewel of Guy Ritchie's collection.



3. Invictus
Morgan Freeman played Nelson Mandela. That's all I have to say, but I'll say more. Invictus tells the story of the 1995 South African rugby team. Faced with the task of uniting a nation made of violently independent factions, newly-elected President Nelson Mandela turns to the Springboks, long considered a symbol of apartheid government, to unite the country under a World Cup victory. Also Matt Damon was in it.



2. Remember the Titans
No list of sports movies would be complete without this classic. It is widely considered one of the most inspiring films of its generation, and may be the finest performance of Denzel Washington's impressive career. During the integration of schools in southern Virginia, the T.C. Williams Titans and their black head coach Herman Boone rise above race and bring unity to the team and to their city.



1. Space Jam
Oh yes. This is happening. Space Jam had Michael Jordan and Bill Murray in it. And the Looney Tunes. And they somehow got Mugsy Bogues, Carl Malone, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, and (for some reason) Shawn Bradley to admit that Michael Jordan could singlehandedly destroy all of them on the basketball court. This was the golden age of basketball and the golden age of me watching cartoons. When alien invaders steal the skills of the five "best" basketball players in the NBA and threaten to enslave the Looney Tunes unless they can beat the aliens at basketball, it's up to Michael to come back from playing baseball and save the day by schooling them. I Believe I Can Fly plays, there's a cool rap by the MonStars, and then the God of basketball beats a bunch of cartoons.