Post by klep on Jul 12, 2021 22:21:10 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/12: Cool Runnings
BEAT THE HEAT WEEK!
It's hard to imagine the dedication it takes to become an Olympian. Just to get there in most events you have to be one of the top 100 people in the world at what you do. Knowing there are thousands of people trying to best you, you train for years for a shot at glory - a shot that will only be available maybe 3 or 4 times before you're no longer capable of that level of performance.
So to go through all that effort and miss out just because the guy next to you couldn't stay on his feet? I can't begin to understand the feelings of devastation that must come with that. To have your dream ripped away from you by a cruel twist of fate. It would be tempting to just give up, but that's not who Derice Bannock (Leon) is. Son of an Olympian, he is determined to make it to the Olympics himself even if he has to do something crazy, like try to get a team from a tropical island nation into the Winter Olympics as bobsledders.
Cool Runnings is a pretty typical sports movie in a lot of ways. It features a group of underdogs that no one believes in except for themselves training and fighting for their chance at glory. They overcome obstacles both fair and unfair to prove their mettle to the world. But what blew my mind when I saw this movie as a child is that they lost. In their third attempt at the Calgary Olympics, a bolt comes loose in the sled, sending it toppling, and the team is only able to finish by carrying their sled across the finish line.
Growing up in America we're constantly bombarded by morality tales on how "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." But in those tales playing the game the "right" way generally gets rewarded by winning. Cool Runnings isn't unique in how it ended, but it is relatively rare to see the idea of nobility in defeat actually being displayed on screen.
It's a little disillusioning then to read on the story behind the actual Jamaican bobsled team. Rather than being grassroots effort by a determined group of guys acting on their own, they did have the Jamaican institutional support the film denies them. And rather than mechanical failure dooming them, the team lost control at extremely high speeds - their driver having slipped and suffered a shoulder injury just before the run. Of course, other details like the clip reel which left the organizers with a nearly empty room are true, as is the fact that regardless of the cause of their crash the Jamaican bobsled team did make it to the Olympics and did finish that run - walking their bobsled across the finish line. However the truth differs from the fiction, that determination and nobility was real.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/19: Chopping Mall
SCIENCE FICTION WEEK!
For Science Fiction week we'll be watching a morality tale about breaking into a mall with an experimental robotic security system. You'll never guess whether it's a good idea! Join us next week for Chopping Mall, available for rent at Amazon.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 7/13: Woodstock
The Next Picture Show podcast tackles a couple documentaries on late 60s music festivals for its next pairing, and the first is this 1970 documentary by Michael Wadleigh. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of Woodstock, available for rent at the usual places.
BEAT THE HEAT WEEK!
It's hard to imagine the dedication it takes to become an Olympian. Just to get there in most events you have to be one of the top 100 people in the world at what you do. Knowing there are thousands of people trying to best you, you train for years for a shot at glory - a shot that will only be available maybe 3 or 4 times before you're no longer capable of that level of performance.
So to go through all that effort and miss out just because the guy next to you couldn't stay on his feet? I can't begin to understand the feelings of devastation that must come with that. To have your dream ripped away from you by a cruel twist of fate. It would be tempting to just give up, but that's not who Derice Bannock (Leon) is. Son of an Olympian, he is determined to make it to the Olympics himself even if he has to do something crazy, like try to get a team from a tropical island nation into the Winter Olympics as bobsledders.
Cool Runnings is a pretty typical sports movie in a lot of ways. It features a group of underdogs that no one believes in except for themselves training and fighting for their chance at glory. They overcome obstacles both fair and unfair to prove their mettle to the world. But what blew my mind when I saw this movie as a child is that they lost. In their third attempt at the Calgary Olympics, a bolt comes loose in the sled, sending it toppling, and the team is only able to finish by carrying their sled across the finish line.
Growing up in America we're constantly bombarded by morality tales on how "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." But in those tales playing the game the "right" way generally gets rewarded by winning. Cool Runnings isn't unique in how it ended, but it is relatively rare to see the idea of nobility in defeat actually being displayed on screen.
It's a little disillusioning then to read on the story behind the actual Jamaican bobsled team. Rather than being grassroots effort by a determined group of guys acting on their own, they did have the Jamaican institutional support the film denies them. And rather than mechanical failure dooming them, the team lost control at extremely high speeds - their driver having slipped and suffered a shoulder injury just before the run. Of course, other details like the clip reel which left the organizers with a nearly empty room are true, as is the fact that regardless of the cause of their crash the Jamaican bobsled team did make it to the Olympics and did finish that run - walking their bobsled across the finish line. However the truth differs from the fiction, that determination and nobility was real.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 7/19: Chopping Mall
SCIENCE FICTION WEEK!
For Science Fiction week we'll be watching a morality tale about breaking into a mall with an experimental robotic security system. You'll never guess whether it's a good idea! Join us next week for Chopping Mall, available for rent at Amazon.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 7/13: Woodstock
The Next Picture Show podcast tackles a couple documentaries on late 60s music festivals for its next pairing, and the first is this 1970 documentary by Michael Wadleigh. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of Woodstock, available for rent at the usual places.