Some observations after a weekend of media intake:
1. The TV ads for Seabiscuit are using the soundtrack to Rudy, which is a shrewd move. I mean, has there been a better sports movie in the last ten years? Has there been a better score for a sports movie ever? When I was bunking at Covenant College, I used to pop Rudy into Josiah's DVD player late at night just to watch the last ten minutes over and over.

2. When I was 15, the NFL Quarterback Challenge was really cool, the kind of thing that I would adjust my Saturday afternoon schedule to watch. Now it just seems lame. It sucks to grow up.
3. Watching The Elephant Man for the first time in years, I noticed that the final thing John Merrick does before dying is to complete construction on a model church. That's a powerful image, especially if Merrick is the Christ figure I think he is.
4. It is a disconcerting moment when the character you most identify with in John Hughes' She's Having a Baby is Alec Baldwin as the sleazy, insoucient best friend. I don't know what this says about me, but I doubt that it's good.
5. If Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Spoon and a half dozen other hip indie bands got together, they couldn't write a song half as good for hand-out-the-window night driving as Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69."
Posted by mesh at July 21, 2003 11:40 AM | TrackBackThat's true, but they wouldn't want to write a song like that. Radiohead, at least, could write and has written a great song for driving down the road at night, cigarette in hand, feeling mixed up inside about a girl and slightly worried that you're not going to be able to do anything with your life. Also beautiful wistful songs.
Posted by: gosey at July 21, 2003 01:22 PMMesh, whenever we wholeheartedly agree I like to point it out. I agree with you all the way about Rudy. Its definitely the best sports score and I think it is arguably the best sports movie in maybe even twenyty years (the only real competition I see would be Hoosiers but that movie is done by the same guy anyway.) So whats the best sports movie of all time? I would argue Rocky, but thats only my first instinct.
Posted by: todd at July 21, 2003 01:24 PMmesh, you aren't alec baldwin in She's Having a Baby. I promise:)
Posted by: april at July 21, 2003 01:57 PM"Rocky" is a good choice, but something prepubescent in my subconscious is rooting hard for "Field of Dreams," even though it a) is sappy and b) stars Kevin Costner. In its defense, it a) is about baseball, b) has Burt Lancaster in an awesome final role, and c) doesn't end with a Big Game of any kind. Plus the last few shots just kill me. Wanna play catch?
Posted by: mesh at July 21, 2003 05:15 PMRocky is the American 1980's Hamlet!
Posted by: JosiahQ at July 21, 2003 06:25 PMI came so close to saying something about Field of Dreams and I didnt because I just feel it is very difficult to classify Field of Dreams as a "sports" movie in the way you would "Rudy," "Rocky," or "Hoosiers." In the latter three films, the essence of the film is the great athletic goal to be achieved (playing in uniform, going the distance with Creed, winning state finals) and how the characters rise up from difficult circumstances to achieve the goal. Field of Dreams is an entirely different type of movie, with the emphasis of the film making it more of a science fiction/fantasy film in which the essence of the film is an extraordinary event taking place and transforming a very ordinary person's life. Field of Dreams is a fantastic film though. It really is (with the possible exception of The Bad News Bears) the greatest film about the subject of baseball.
Posted by: todd at July 21, 2003 06:31 PMRocky and Rocky II came out in 1976 and 1979 so you would be hardpressed to call him a mere eighties phenomenon. I will give you the benefit of the doubt though and assume you are talking about Rocky III, IV, and V which certainly turned Rocky into the eighties icon that he was. Speaking of eighties icons and Sylvester Stallone, I watched Rambo First Blood Part II earlier this summer for the first time in perhaps a decade. Love that movie.
Posted by: todd at July 21, 2003 06:36 PMYa Todd, i'm gonna hafta agree with you. Field of Dreams is a baseball movie like Apocalypse Now is a Nam movie. It aint.
Posted by: JosiahQ at July 21, 2003 08:32 PMSpeaking of great movie scores, Great Expectations was on FX a couple nights ago and I was marvelling at the music in that film.
Posted by: John at July 22, 2003 12:14 PMJust to echo what others have already said, Rudy is most certainly one of the greatest sports movies ever and the score still gives me chills every time I hear it.
(Mesh, I seem to remember you watching and re-watching those last ten minutes several times last fall)
As a side note, I would still love to do a Catacombs movie/skit featuring Zach Todd as a midget no-talent tennis player and which would be set to the Rudy soundtrack.
Posted by: Steele at July 22, 2003 01:38 PM