Monday, August 8, 2011

Guest Blog: Top 5 sports films of the ‘90s; or, Those who can’t do, watch movies


Welcome to this first exciting round of Children of the 90s guest blogs! We are still reviewing applications, so if you are interested in contributing to Children of the 90s, shoot us an email to childrenofthe90s@gmail.com!

Now, please welcome our first guest blogger, Belle of Belle's Bookshelf! A little about Belle, in her own words:


I'm a 25-year-old writer, book addict, Disney nerd, 80s/90s aficionado and general pop culture junkie from Sydney, Australia. I blog about just one of my many obsessions (books) at Belle's Bookshelf (inspired by the Disney princess, of course), where I share reviews, book-to-movie comparisons, cool buys and other bookish fun. But I'm so excited to be writing about another obsession of mine - 90s movies - here at Children of the 90s!

You can find Belle at her Belle's Bookshelf blog here, or on facebook, twitter, or tumblr. Go check out her blog, stop by and say hi, and follow her on all of her so
cial media outlets for the full Belle experience. Without further ado, here are Belle's favorite 90s sports movies:


Top 5 sports films of the ‘90s; or, Those who can’t do, watch movies

1. The Mighty Ducks (1992)


Emilio Estevez distances himself from his Brat Pack beginnings by playing a drunken a-hole of a lawyer who has to do community service (and confront demons from his past) by coaching a PeeWee ice hockey team that’s comprised of a ragtag bunch of kids, including the loudmouth, the overeater, the geek, the girl and the natural leader. Between this movie and the two (inferior, but still fantastic) sequels, I spent many a weekend with the Ducks growing up (and, er, maybe one or two lately).

Memorable moments: The Flying V; Charlie scoring the winning goal; Charlie introducing Joshua Jackson to the world (and my young heart); any scene with Hans.


2. The Sandlot (1993)


Set in 1962, The Sandlot tells the story of Smalls, the new kid in town who connects with the local (ragtag, of course) group of kids – and later, his stepfather – through baseball. Everything is going great until the group loses a ball signed by Babe Ruth in the yard of “The Beast”. The myriad madcap ways they try to get it back, and their other misadventures along the way, makes for compelling viewing, even today – yep, it’s actually stood the test of time!

Memorable moments: The rollercoaster vomit scene; the insult exchange; the pool scene; Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez (*sigh*).


3. Little Giants (1994)


A, er, ragtag group of kids (I’m sensing a theme here) don’t make the local PeeWee football team so decide to form their own. Their star players are a girl named Icebox and a kid named Junior who throws toilet paper down grocery store aisles in his spare time. Sadly, this movie doesn’t fare so well on adult viewing, which makes me realise how awesome my mum’s blocking out skills are, because she never once complained during the 247 times I watched this. I’d like to say it was the cuteness of ultimate ‘90s heartthrob Devon Sawa that drew me in (and sure, he was about 65 per cent of it) but I actually thought this was hilarious.

Memorable moments: “Intimidation”; the Annexation of Puerto Rico; the argument that you can have kids without kissing but can’t get a job; Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill as the most unlikely brothers in movie history.


4. Angels in the Outfield (1994)


In possibly the cheesiest sports movie of the ‘90s (and that’s saying something), baby Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a foster kid whose dad promises him they’ll be a family again when the California Angels baseball team wins. So he prays to God for the team to win, and, naturally, his prayers are answered and a flock of angels led by Doc Al (Christopher Lloyd) descend upon the field to help pro players Matthew McConaughey, Tony Danza and Adrien Brody. I have to admit I haven’t revisited this as an adult; I’m kinda scared all the angelicness will make me vom just a little bit. But hey, it was great at the time.

Memorable moments: The team manager, played by Danny Glover, throwing the locker room tantrum to end all locker room tantrums; Al manifesting from a cup of Coke; the whole crowd flapping their arms like seagulls, I mean angels; did I mention baby Joseph Gordon-Levitt?!


5. Space Jam (1996)


I’ve saved the best for last. Because this one stars an actual sporting legend, which automatically makes it the greatest sports movie of all time, amirite? Yep, in a hilarious mix of reality and cartoonary, the Looney Tunes kidnap Michael Jordan so they can beat the alien Monstar team (word play FTW), who in turn want to kidnap them and force them to entertain tourists at an extraterrestrial theme park called Moron Mountain. What kid didn’t believe they could fly after this movie? I know I did. Thanks, R. Kelly.

Memorable moments: Um, the whole movie? Seriously, it’s amazeballs.


For more from Belle, don't forget to check out her regular blog, Belle's Bookshelf! And of course, if you want to be the next guest blogger to see your stuff in print (well, online) here at Children of the 90s, apply via email at childrenofthe90s@gmail.com!

9 comments:

  1. No The Program or Rudy, and why isn't Sandlot No. 1?

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  2. The Mighty Ducks! I don't know how many times I watched that growing up. It inspired me to become a hockey player, (Not that it's very uncomon for kids to want to grow up and be hockey players here in Canada). I was so close to, until a few years back I had an accident which f***ed up my Hockey Dreams.

    Anyhoo.. fun list.

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  3. You forgot Rookie of the Year and A League of Their Own. And I totally agree with Jay, The Sandlot should be number one!

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  4. Great choices, I remember watching each of these movies over and over again.

    Honorable Mentions:
    - Brink (Erik von Detten definitely crushworthy)
    - The Big Green (Bug Hall - My childhood crush)
    - Air Bud (Kevin Zegers - Yet another childhood crush)
    - Ladybugs (Jonathan Brandis cross-dressing as a girl....PRICELESS!)

    Belle did a GREAT job as a guest blogger. I checked out her blog and I immediately hit Follow. Books! The very air I breathe! LOL.

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  5. For some reason I always think The Sandlot is older than it is. I still talk about the Mighty Ducks on a fairly regular basis.

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  6. Agree with the others...you forgot Ladybugs and the Big Green! And I'm not sure if Heavyweights counts as a sports film, but it's definitely one of the most amazing movies of the 90s.

    On a 90s-but-unrelated note, there is a guy in my town who lures college girls into his room to see his prized possession...a GLOWING PIECE OF THE AGGRO-CRAG! The rumor is, he can't get off AT ALL unless he's in the room and able to look at the crag while he's peaking.

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  8. Major League: Back to the Minors from 1998 wasn't that bad, either.

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