Thursday Movie Picks: Winter Sports

 

For the 51st week of 2022 as part of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We go into the subject of winter sports as it is the winter and it’s definitely something that people like to do or watch. Even as they make great subject for films. Here are my three picks:

1. Cool Runnings

A real-life story about the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team in how they formed and how they surprised many in their appearance at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary as it had three runners and boxcar derby champion take part in a sport that is foreign to them. Starring John Candy as the disgraced American bobsled medalist Irving Blitzer in what is definitely Candy’s last great film performance with Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, and Rawle D. Lewis as the four Jamaican bobsledders. It is a film that is full of humor but also heart as it played into four outsiders who find their identity as athletes and be seen as equals in the eyes of their competitors.

2. Blades of Glory

A hilarious comedy about two talented but disgraced figure skaters who hate each other only to suddenly become the first-ever male-pair figure skating team, through a loophole, stars Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as these two opposites with Ferrell as the loose and wild Chazz Michael Michaels and Heder as the graceful and effeminate Jimmy MacElroy. With Craig T. Nelson as their coach and the duo of Amy Poehler and Will Arnett as their rivals, the film is certainly funny as it has some memorable one-liners but also a climatic final skate that features a take of the largely-notorious Iron Lotus. Featuring cameo appearances from such revered real-life figure skaters in Nancy Kerrigan, Sasha Cohen, Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, and Peggy Fleming. It is just a fun-ass film. WE LOVE YOU DENVER! CITY BY THE BAY! JOHN DENVER!

3. Eddie the Eagle

The real-life story of Eddie Edwards who dreamed of being an Olympian as he becomes a ski jumper despite his lack of athletic skills and many obstacles was made into a film in 2016 by Dexter Fletcher with Taron Edgerton as Edwards. It’s a film that is filled with typical clichés relating to underdog stories but the performances of Egerton and Hugh Jackman as his coach Bronson Peary is filled with charm and heart. Especially as Edwards would become a national hero in Britain as this underdog that may not have won a medal but won the hearts of billions of people at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

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