13 of my favorite non-sports movies……..
13) Good Will Hunting (1997)— Robin Williams is a counselor who tries to help a young delinquent (who is also a Math genius) find his way. Matt Damon plays the young man, who is a custodian at MIT, and can solve complex questions that some of the professors can’t solve.
Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver are also in this movie, but the scenes with Williams/Damon really carry the story.
12) Leap of Faith (1992)— One of the buses carrying a traveling preacher’s crew breaks down in a small down in the midwest, during a brought that is killing the town’s farms. The preacher decides to set up his tent just outside the town and try to make some $$$ until the bus gets fixed
Steve Martin runs amok as the preacher; Debra Winger is his partner, Liam Neeson is the local sheriff trying to shut his act down. Meat Loaf is part of the music group that travels with the preacher.
11) The Verdict (1982)— Paul Newman is a down-on-his-luck lawyer who has a chance to win a big case and rehabilitate his career. Jack Warden plays his friend in the movie.
There is a scene in this movie that would never fly today; Newman’s character has a girlfriend in the movie- turns out she is a double-agent, working for the opposing lawyer to gain intel on the big case.
When Newman finds out, he meets the girlfriend in the lounge of a bar and decks her with one punch. Ouch.
10) Danny Collins (2015)— An aging rock star’s life changes when he is given a 40-year old letter that John Lennon wrote to him, but up until then, he had never gotten it. He decides to fly to New Jersey to find his adult son, who he had never met.
Al Pacino is the singer, Annette Bening plays the manager of the hotel he says at in New Jersey, Christopher Plummer is the singer’s agent, Jennifer Garner is the son’s wife.
9) This Is Where I Leave You (2014)— After their father dies, four grown siblings return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week.
Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Corey Stoll play the four siblings; Jane Fonda is their mother. Rose Byrne, Connie Britton are both very good in this.
Odd thing is: First time I ever saw this movie was 11 years ago this week, when I came home from my dad’s funeral. Turned the TV on, and this was the movie on HBO, which was a little eerie. Very good movie.
8) Begin Again (2013)— Down and out music producer discovers a talented young singer; together they produce an album, using New York City as the background.
Mark Ruffalo is the music producer, Keira Knightley the singer, Adam Levine is the singer’s ex-boyrfriend, and James Corden is great as the singer’s friend from home in England.
Hailee Steinfeld plays the producer’s daughter; in real life, she is married to Buffalo Bills’ QB Josh Allen.
7) The Bodyguard (1992)— Kevin Costner is a former Secret Service agent hired to protect a famous singer, who has a contract out on her. She isn’t that eager to have someone protecting her all the time.
Kevin Costner is the bodyguard, Whitney Houston is the singer. When Whitney Houston died in real life, Costner spoke at her memorial service, an excellent speech.
— Famous birthdays, May 18th:
Archie Manning, 77
Jack Thompson, 70
Luis Salazar, 70
Bill Laimbeer, 69
John Friesz, 59
Turk Wendell, 59
Paul Justin, 58
London Fletcher, 51
Kevin Garnett, 50
Brandon Inge, 49
6) Cousins (1989)— Two couples go to a mutual friend’s wedding and wind up trading their partners. Ted Danson/William Petersen are the guys, Isabella Rossellini/Sean Young are the women. Lloyd Bridges provides comic relief in his brief appearance.
Weird thing about this movie: Danson/Petersen both wound up working on the TV show CSI. Last scene in Cousins is one of the couples sailing off into the sunset on a boat. Last scene with William Petersen in CSI is virtually the same exact shot, with Gil Grissom/Sara Sidle sailing off into the sunset.
5) Last Vegas (2013)— Four senior citizens who are lifelong friends head to Las Vegas for a bachelor party; their 70-year old friend is marrying a 30-year old. Morgan Freeman wins $87K playing blackjack, because, doesn’t everyone win in Vegas?
Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro, Michael Douglas, Kevin Kline play the four friends; Mary Steenburgen plays a lounge singer they meet in downtown Las Vegas. Joanna Gleason, Jerry Ferrara are also in the movie.
4) Molly’s Game (2017)— True story about a young lady who just missed making the Olympics as a skier, and wound up running high stakes poker games in Los Angeles/New York, until the FBI got involved because Russian mobsters were playing in the games.
Jessica Chastain plays the young lady, Idris Elba is her lawyer. Michael Cera is one of the poker players, Kevin Costner is the young lady’s father.
3) Prince of Tides (1991)— Nick Nolte is a high school football coach from South Carolina who travels to New York and falls for his sister’s therapist (Barbra Streisand). George Carlin is the sister’s neighbor, Blythe Danner is the coach’s wife, Jeroen Krabbe is the therapist’s husband, who is a famous musician.
Great scene at a dinner party, with Nick Nolte threatening to smash the musician’s million dollar violin unless he apologizes. Very good movie, fairly intense at times.
2) Rounders (1998)— Movie about a law student/poker player; this movie is credited with helping the poker boom in the late 90’s. Matt Damon is the law student, Edward Norton is his sleazy friend, John Malkovich is a Russian gangster who runs some of the card games, John Turturro is a seasoned gambler who tries to mentor the law student, and Martin Landau is a law professor.
“Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.”
1) A Star Is Born (2018)— A hard-drinking, famous singer discovers a skilled singer by accident, and the two musicians fall in love. First half of this movie is great, the rest of it is well done, but very sad.
Lady Gaga is the singer, Bradley Cooper the famous musician; Sam Elliott is his brother, Andrew Dice Clay is the Lady Gaga’s father, Anthony Ramos is her friend who is instrumental in a couple of key moments in the movie.
A Star Is Born has been made four different times; this version is similar to the 50’s movie, with Judy Garland and James Mason.
