What do you get when you take 20 young hockey players and one stalwart coach, 11 middle-age English ladies willing to bare all and three childhood friends in the middle of a murder mystery? You get three awesome movies, that's what!
Though I'm not much of a hockey fan — truth be told, I've never even seen a game (grab your torch and pitchforks!) — I truly enjoyed Disney's new release, “Miracle.”
It starred Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 Olympic hockey team. Brooks gained notoriety as the last player cut from the 1960 team. His team went on without him and won a gold medal; the last gold medal the U.S. won, since the Russians dominated the 1964, '68, '72 and '76 games.
Brooks was determined to unite 20 individuals into one team, telling his players that the name on the front of their shirt was a lot more important than the one on the back. He drilled his team mercilessly to prepare for the winter games in Lake Placid.
Unlike most sports movies, “Miracle” didn't concern itself too much with each individual player, but focused on the team as a whole and their efforts to be the best.
This film also had no villain. The Russian team were portrayed as just another team, who were the best because of their training. They didn't take cheap shots any more than any other team and, like the American team, only wanted to win.
This film was extremely well done. It is based on the true story of the victory of the U.S. hockey team over the Russian team in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Sadly, the real Herb Brooks perished in a car accident last August and never got the see the finished film, though he did consult on the screenplay.
“Miracle” is rated PG “for language and some rough sports action.”
Another movie I saw this week was “Calendar Girls.” It is the true story of 11 members of the Women's Institute branch in Rylstone, Yorkshire, England, who posed nude for a 2000 calendar to raise money for medical research of leukemia, Hodgkin's disease and other cancers of the blood. The calendar became a national bestseller and money-making phenomenon, spawning dozens of imitators around the world. The group hoped to raise 1,000 pounds but eventually raked in over 500,000 pounds.
I went to this movie with my mother-in-law, Judy, and we both loved it.
“Calendar Girls” is rated PG-13 “for nudity, some language and drug-related material,” so is only recommended for mature viewers.
The last movie I saw was “Mystic River.” After winning Golden Globes for best actor (Sean Penn) and best supporting actor (Tim Robbins), the film was re-released and made its way to GKC Varsity Cinema in the Sault.
It tells the story of three friends who grew up together in Boston. Jimmy (Penn), Dave (Robbins) and Sean (Kevin Bacon) were writing their names in wet concrete when a man jumped out of a car, flashed a police badge at them and hauled Dave away. After four days of abuse by the police-impersonator, Dave manages to escape, but his ordeal shapes the lives of him and the rest of his friends as each wonder what would have happened if they got in the car instead.
The three come together again as adults when Jimmy's oldest daughter is found murdered. Sean, a homicide detective, is assigned to the case and Dave tries to console his friend, though it's apparent he has his own secrets.
“Mystic River” was based on a novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. It is rated R “for language and violence,” so isn't recommended for younger viewers.
This film was also nominated for “Best Picture,” “Best Director,” “Best Actor (Penn),” “Best Supporting Actor (Robbins),” “Best Supporting Actress (Gay Harden)” and “Best Adapted Screenplay” in the 76th Annual Academy Awards.
The next couple of weeks promise to be interesting as far as movie releases go. “50 First Dates,” “Against the Ropes,” “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,” “Eurotrip” and “Welcome to Mooseport” are slated to hit theaters, but they pale next to the long-anticipated release of Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ.”
This is the first film Gibson had directed but not starred in. It tells the story of the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem.
The script is based on several sources, including the diaries of St. Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) as collected in the book, “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” “The Mystical City of God,” by St. Mary Agreda and the New Testament books of John, Luke, Mark and Matthew.
Though the Vatican has not officially endorsed this film, Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos gave his endorsement. As an extremely high-placed Cardinal, Hoyos is considered a top choice to follow John Paul II as Pope.
The film stars James Caviezel as Jesus, Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene, Rosalinda Celentano as Satan and Sergio Rubini as Dismas the Good Thief. It is rated R “for sequences of graphic violence,” so isn't recommended for everybody.
It'll be interesting to see what people think of this film, since Martin Scorsese's “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988), the only non-musical, non-comedic film about Jesus that has been released in the last 30 years, was one of Hollywood's biggest controversy.
The dialog in “The Passion of the Christ” is entirely Latin and Aramaic with English subtitles.
GKC Varsity Cinema in the Sault is one of the only 2,200 theaters in which the film is scheduled to be released Feb. 25.
