Thread: The Jerseydevil Film Appreciation Game

i think i said earlier in here, too, that i liked match point.

Ok...I am so sorry it took me so long first of all. I really struggled with this assignment because ever since I saw this at age 11 or so this has been a tremendous fave of mine with Jimmy Caan being my idea of what is man since...great for fanboy appraisal, not so much for good discussion. So then, the Junior Seau thing. And, I am a huge sports radio fan, so, of course, a ton of conversation about that sad incident and how players may be being misled and put at risk balanced by the counter argument that they know what they are facing and are compensated well. So my viewing of this actually hit at a very relevant time and it's really interesting that this almost 40 year old flick(1975) touches on those issues. It's a tremendous movie and it's argument is basically that sports heroes are cattle. Millionaires manipulated by billionaires. And how athletes are expendable to the violence that the masses crave. No matter how popular, someone else will come along. Caan's character is in the twilight of his career and it draws parallels to Favre and others who face that point with uncertainty and not always in a dignified way. It doesn't really express any conclusions( I think that discussion was more what they were trying to provoke) w/ Caan doing his best F'U' and walking away bloody and a 'winner' at a tremendous cost. Great performances all around, especially John Beck as Moonpie and just wonderful use of music. I own the soundtrack and it gets regular play in quieter moments. Speaking of those quieter moments, this is a great example of how sci-fi used to be able to be deliberate to the point of slow, establishing mood and emotion. The regrettable remake, which tried to juxtapose the theme over EXTREME sports with none of the subtlety or style, just illustrates how much time and audiences have changed things. I cannot recommend this movie enough.

Now make somone else watch something.

Originally Posted by Dr. Naysay

Now make somone else watch something.

No discussion(I tried)? Ok...I am going to go Netflix to see what I can assign someone.

What always sticks with me from this movie is it seems to mirror a lot of of what sports has seemed to evolve into. Sports stars and other celebrities are built up and then the same people enjoy the bloodsport of tearing them down. Tiger Woods, Bonds & McGwire come to mind. In this movie Caan is deemed by the powers to be "too big" and want him to "go peacefully" when he does not they keep changing the rules to make him fail.

The ending scene still gives me chills.

Yeah, it's actually incredibly relevant. And it's just a badass movie. Always wanted a Rollerball jersey and some of those badass gloves.

Originally Posted by jerseydevil

Yeah, it's actually incredibly relevant. And it's just a badass movie. Always wanted a Rollerball jersey and some of those badass gloves.

I remember seeing some behind the scenes stuff where the cast actually played a game on the set.

JD you can allways make your own like this guy
Rollerball helmet and gloves 1975

Ok...first off, LUTHER(both seasons) now on netflix...so squeee. Ok, so Doc. I want you to watch Pontypool(big time squeeee) available on netflix streaming.