42

42 (2013) starring Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Christopher Meloni, Lucas Black. In 1947, Branch Rickey (Ford), owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, decides it is time for an African-American to play major league baseball. The prospect he picks is Jackie Robinson (Boseman), who goes on to be the first black major leaguer in the modern era, not to mention rookie of the year for 1947. For anybody who loves baseball and social justice, this is bound to be a deeply moving film. My only criticism is that Boseman, a first-time lead actor, is a little lacking in charisma. Plus, the film ends at the finish of his first season, and I would have liked to see a little more of his career. Still, it's an excellent film. (Subtitles in English for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: A-

Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit (2003) starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens, William H. Macy. Set in the late 1930s, this movie tells the true story of how a horse named Seabiscuit provided inspiration to a nation going through the Great Depression. Three men -- jockey Red Pollard (Maguire), owner Charles Howard (Bridges), and trainer Tom Smith (Cooper) -- came together and took a horse that everyone had given up on and made him into a champion. The movie can't measure up to the book, of course, but writer and director Gary Ross makes a valiant effort to bring the spirit of the story to the screen. I found that, having read the book by Laura Hillenbrand (who also acted as an advisor on the film), I was able to appreciate the movie more than I did the first time I saw it. It makes for very enjoyable viewing. (English captions for the hearing-impaired are available on the disc.) Grade: A-    

Angels in the Outfield

Angels in the Outfield (1951) starring Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, Donna Corcoran. The Pittsburgh Pirates are sinking towards last place in the league, but fortunately for them a little orphan girl (Corcoran) has been praying for them. Their manager, Guffy McGovern (Douglas), is visited by an angel who tells him that if he cleans up his language and stops slugging people, the Heavenly Choir will help out his team. Meanwhile, a lady journalist (Leigh) has been assigned to cover the team. This is a feel-good movie in which everything works out for the best. It's a lot of fun to watch, and it's also good family entertainment. (Subtitles in English are available on the disc, as well as closed captions for the hearing-impaired.) Grade: A- 

Winning

Winning (1969) starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Richard Thomas, Robert Wagner. Frank Capua (Newman) is a race-car driver who meets and marries a woman (Woodward) and adopts her son (Thomas). He is so focused on winning that he neglects his wife and she ends up in another man's (Wagner) arms. Big climax of the film (and much screen time) is provided by the running of the Indianapolis 500, with Capua trying to win and beat the man who took his wife. This is a pretty good movie, with the impact somewhat diluted by the knowledge that Newman and Woodward are happily married in real life. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available.) Grade: B  

Moneyball

Moneyball (2011) starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright. Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Pitt) is desperate for players because his budget is so low. In rides Peter Brand (Hill), a young Yale graduate who has statistics-based ideas about how to optimize a major-league payroll. And putting up resistance is team manager Art Howe (Hoffman), who insists on having control over the lineup card. The baseball sections of this movie are great, and Pitt seems at home in the role. But when Beane goes off the field and deals with his 12-year-old daughter, the movie tends to stall out. Still for anyone who knows baseball, who has played baseball, who follows baseball, this is a great movie. (Subtitles are available; closed captions are not.) Grade: A-

The Stratton Story

The Stratton Story (1949) starring James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead. Based on a true story, Stewart plays Monty Stratton, a pro baseball player who loses a leg in a hunting accident. Embittered at first, he later comes around and makes a comeback. Although he would not pitch in the major leagues again, he would go on to pitch several years in the minors. Allyson plays his faithful and supportive wife. This disc has good subtitles, as well as the preferable closed captions. Grade: B

Somebody Up There Likes Me

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) starring Paul Newman, Pier Angeli. From common criminal to Army deserter to middleweight champion, Rocky Graziano (Newman) defied the odds. But then, after he settled down and got married to Norma (Angeli), his past came back to haunt him. This movie, based on Graziano's autobiography, is well mounted. Newman delivers a solid performance, and at the end I was really rooting for Graziano to win. The film ends in 1947, when Graziano won the middleweight championship, and his subsequent life (he died in 1990) is left to the viewer to research if he or she wants to know more. This disc has English subtitles, as well as the more extensive closed captions. Grade: A-

Semi-Tough

Semi-Tough (1977) starring Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh. Billy Puckett (Reynolds) and Shake Tiller (Kristofferson) are professional football players and best friends. They're both halfway in love with Barbara Jane Bookman (Clayburgh), the football team's owner's daughter. Then things start to get a little weird when Shake and Barbara Jane decide to get married. This movie is clearly an artifact of the '70s, with everyone attending a hokey find-yourself seminar called B.E.A.T. The film doesn't take it seriously, though, and it's rather fun to watch. Reynolds is at the height of his stardom. The movie has no English subtitles, but it does have closed captions. Grade: B

Whip It (DVD)

Whip It (2009) starring Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Jimmy Fallon, Daniel Stern, Alia Shawcat. Disaffected Texas teen Bliss (Page) is seduced by the dark side of sports and -- even though she is underage -- she joins a roller derby team, where she is known as Babe Ruthless. The name of the team is the Hurl Scouts, and they are the worst team in the league -- and proud of it. That is, until Babe Ruthless arrives and the team begins to get tired of losing. Meanwhile, Bliss must deal with her overbearing mother (Harden), who just wants her to be good in school and to win beauty pageants. Things get complicated when Bliss falls for a young man, who betrays her, and her best friend (Shawcat) gets arrested for drinking underage at a Hurl Scout afterparty. The dramatic choice then becomes, will Babe Ruthless play for the Hurl Scouts in the championship game, or will Bliss appear in a beauty pageant (the events are on the same day) to please her mother? I think this movie is supposed to be all about grrrl power (Barrymore directed as well as acting in the film), but to me it just comes off as a piling up of sports-movie cliches. The parts don't add up to a coherent whole, and the plot is all too predictable. The novelty -- that the sport is roller derby -- quickly wears off. The subtitles are good. Grade: B

Invictus (DVD)

Invictus (2009) starring Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon. Directed by Clint Eastwood. In 1995, South Africa's newly elected president Nelson Mandela (Freeman) decides that the rugby World Cup would be a good place to begin the process of reconciliation. Damon, as the captain of the rugby team, "gets" it -- Mandela wants them to win the World Cup. It's an inspiring story, but let's face it: In the end, this is a movie about rugby -- a sport that will be incomprehensible to 99 percent of Americans, and was to me. They should make a movie about cricket. Now that would be great. Subtitles: fine. Grade: B

The Blind Side (DVD)

The Blind Side (2009) starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Kathy Bates. Bullock won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy, an affluent Memphis mom who takes a homeless African American teen under her wing. The teen in question is Michael Oher (Aaron), who goes on to become a football player in the NFL. It's a pretty entertaining movie. The subtitles are OK. Grade: B+

North Dallas Forty (DVD)

North Dallas Forty (1979) starring Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, Charles Durning. Nolte plays a receiver in the National Football League who can't get with the program. He refuses to toe the line, no matter how hard management comes down on him. He also smokes, drinks, and freely indulges in other drugs. But his talent, and his willingness to play through pain, keeps him in the game -- for now. The subtitles are good. Grade: B+

Remember the Titans (DVD)

Remember the Titans (2000) starring Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Kip Pardue, Donald Faison, Kate Bosworth, Ryan Gosling, Earl Poitier, Hayden Panettiere. Moving, fact-based drama about the forced integration of a high school football team in 1971 in Alexandria, Va. Washington plays Herman Boone, the African-American who is given the nod to be head coach of the team. It's a well acted, well directed film with many actors who would rise to greater fame. Grade: A

Chariots of Fire (DVD)

Chariots of Fire (1981) starring Ian Charleson, Ben Cross, Ian Holm. Long-distance runners in post-World War I England face off in a quest to bring Olympic glory to Great Britain. More than just an athletic contest, their rivalry is framed as a clash between Christian and Jew. Based on a true story. Winner of the 1981 Academy Award for Best Picture. Instantly recognizable music by Vangelis. Grade: B+

Personal Best (DVD)

Personal Best (1982) starring Mariel Hemingway, Scott Glenn, Patrice Donnelly. Two world-class female athletes train together, compete against each other, become lovers, and break up, all while trying to get ready for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow -- which, by the way, the United States boycotted because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It's a pretty entertaining movie, with a fair amount of nudity for those who look for such things. Main problems: It seems a bit dated, and it's a little hard to buy Hemingway as an athlete in the same class as Donnelly. Grade: B