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Weekend Viewing

Here are a few of the films that are scheduled for release today:

  • The Watch
  • Step Up Revolution
  • Killer Joe
  • Ruby Sparks

In all likelihood, I will be staying away from the cinema (yet I STILL need to get to Beasts of the Southern Wild!). And since  I love sport(s) and I love London , this weekend is all about the start of the Olympics for me anyway; it gets a cinematic launch, courtesy of Mr. Danny Boyle and his Opening Ceremony!

In between, I expect to get through the last episode and a half The Shadow Line and get started on my “mission catch-up” with The Walking Dead on Netflix.

What will you be watching this weekend?

Are you excited about the Olympics?

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Run-up to the Olympics: Chariots of Fire (1981)

Continuing on the Olympic theme I started yesterday, I have decided to spotlight a couple of Olympic-themed films.

Let’s start in the location of this year’s games – the United Kingdom, or rather England to be exact. The first film I will highlight is the multiple Academy Award winning feature, Chariots of Fire. 

SYNOPSIS

Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice. (Source: Wikipedia)

This is a film I have only seen within the past five years – as a youth I always felt that this film was always inaccessible to me. It always seemed a bit cold and remote to me.

After having seen it, I can honestly say that the needle has shifted, if only slightly. Do not get me wrong it is a well-crafted film, but the performances in particular felt a little stilted and stagey for my tastes. One would think that a film about running would have some “pace” to it; instead, I feel like the film was dragged down as a result of it. You certainly felt all of the 124 minute running time.

On the positive side, I did like the framing device by which the story was told – and oh yeah and that musical score (Vangelis) is iconic.

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Tuesday’s Overlooked, Olympic Edition: The Jesse Owens Story (TV, 1984)

Ahead of the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics (this Friday), I decided to dig through the archives for a film that may have gotten lost over the years. What I came up with is a television movie from the 1980s that I remember well – mainly because as a child I was made to sit down and watch the film due to its historical subject matter.

The Jesse Owens Story is just that – a biopic of the Olympian which chronicles his life and times. The highlight (of course) is his triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

While it does follow many of the standard televisual tropes, I recall it being an entertaining movie with a solid dramatic turn by Dorian Harewood.

There is not much multimedia I can find for this film, save for the following clip:

This title is available for purchase at Amazon.

* Be sure to read about additional titles over at Todd Mason’s blog, Sweet Freedom.

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