1: Hit hard 2: Pain heals, Chicks dig scars… Glory lasts for ever 3: Pros on strike. Everyday guys get to play. 4: Throw the ball. Catch the girl. Keep it simple.
Plot Summary:
A comedy based on the 1987 professional football players’ strike. Gene Hackman plays the coach of the team, Jack Warden is the owner, Brett Cullen is the All-Pro quarterback that goes on strike and Keanu Reeves is the “scab” who replaces the star QB.
1: Forget What You Think You Know 2: The Champ is here!
Plot Summary:
In 1964, a brash new pro boxer, fresh from his olympic gold medal victory, explodes on to the scene, Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African American’s in sport with his proud public self confidence with his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. To his credit, he sets out to prove that with his highly agile and forceful style soon making him a formidable boxer who soon claims the heavyweight championship. His personal life is no less noteworthy with his allegiance to the Nation of Islam, his friendship with the controversial Malcolm X and his abandonment of his slave name in favour of Muhammad Ali stirring up controversy. Yet, at the top of his game, both Ali’s personal and professional lives face the ultimate test with the military draft rules are changed, making him eligible for military induction during the Vietnam War. Despite the fact that he could easily agree to a sweetheart deal that would have meant an easy tour of duty for himself, Ali refuses to submit on principle to cooperate in an unjust war for a racist nation that treated his people so poorly. The cost of that stand is high as he finds himself unable to legally box in his own country while his case is contested in court. What follows is a battle for a man who would sacrifice so much for what he believes in and a comeback that would cement his legend as one of the great sports figures of all time.
1: Hit hard or go home. 2: If you can’t get out, get even 3: It was hard to put a team together… until they found out who they were playing. 4: It’s time to even the score
Plot Summary:
Paul “Wrecking” Crewe was a revered football superstar back in his day, but that time has since faded. But when a messy drunk driving incident lands him in jail, Paul finds he was specifically requested by Warden Hazen (James Cromwell), a duplicitous prison official well aware of Paul’s athletic skills. Paul has been assigned the task of assembling a team of convicts, to square off in a big football game against the sadistic guards. With the help of fellow convict Caretaker, and an old legend named Nate Scarborough to coach, Crewe is ready for what promises to be a very interesting game. It’s only the warden and the guards who have no idea who or what they’re up against, with Paul the driving force behind the new team.
The Daniel’s family owns a boxing gym and Izzy Daniels is in line to be the third generation of boxers in his family to win the Golden Gloves. When Izzy is instructed by his father to take his little sister, Karin, to a double dutch tournament in which their neighbor, and Izzy’s crush, Mary, participates with her team, the “Joy Jumpers”, Izzy discovers that double dutch takes talent and creativity. Feeling the pressure of boxing, Izzy joins Mary’s double dutch team when a member quits, allowing them to compete in city’s and requests their name be changed to the “Red Hot Chillie Steppers.” They also share their first kiss on the fire escape soon after the team is completed with the addition of Izzy. While secretly practicing in the family gym one day, Rodney, the Brooklyn neighborhood bully, snaps shots of Izzy and posts them on pink paper all over school with the word LOSER written all over them. When Izzy’s father finds these papers in Izzy’s trash, he questions if that is the reason Izzy’s head has not been in the ring. Izzy learns that he needs to follow his hearts because all he will ever do involves “20% talent and 80% heart.” He learns his family will be there to support him in his decisions and he must do things because he wants to and not because it is someone else’s dream. He learns about sportsmanship and good character as well.
