Monday, August 27, 2007

Hockey Movies

While everyone is counting down till the start of preseason, I have my sights set on the regular season. I think the preseason is just a bit better than the NFL preseason but it's still a time for the young'uns to prove themselves and the outcome of the games rarely seem to predict what will happen in the regular season. The Kings faired pretty well last preseason and I got my hopes up way too high. This time I'm not going to get my hopes at all if the Kings do well.

The regular season begins in just over 5 weeks. I have just over 5 weeks to enjoy a hockey-less life. The past couple months were filled with submittals, resubmittals, fretting over exam results (which I came to find out was quite stressful), and prepping for a presentation at work that my boss so graciously and quickly volunteered me to do. I found out last week, with work-related items slowing down, that I'm kind of bored when I get home. With the exception of the occasional trip to the gym or run around the block, cooking, and a sporadic craft-filled evening, I usually just slump onto the couch with a bowl of cereal or plate of eggs with bacon for dinner and watch King of the Hill reruns with the BF.

Last week I finally re-watched The Cutting Edge. Even though I fell asleep towards the end of the movie (but trust me it's really fun to watch, I was just way too tired to stay awake), I realized that I need to watch or re-watch all the hockey movies ever made (in English).
This website has a list of hockey movies and I'll take their word that it encompasses all hockey movies. The list includes:

  • Les Boys
  • D2: The Mighty Ducks
  • D3: The Mighty Ducks
  • The Mighty Ducks
  • Miracle
  • MVP: Most Valuable Primate
  • Mystery, Alaska
  • Net Worth
  • The Rhino Brothers
  • The Rocket
  • Slap Shot
  • Slap Shot 2: Breaking the Ice
  • Sudden Death
  • Youngblood

I've never even heard of Les Boys and it's in French (not surprised given the title). According to the IMDB plotline, it explores the male world through an amateur hockey team.

I've seen D2 (twice in theaters) but really don't have any desire to see it again.

I've only caught a couple minutes of D3 and I really don't want to see the whole movie. Maybe if I'm bored enough I'll rent it.

Just watched The Mighty Ducks with fellow HLOGers. You can read
here about our chat session and simultaneous distance watching.

I love Miracle and have seen it a ton of times. I thought it was interesting to hear from non-American HLOGers that they do not really care for Miracle. The reasons that they voiced, it's too American, the Americans overcame so much, etc, are reasons why I think Americans enjoy the movie. The more I thought about it the more I found it understandable. What non-American really wants to hear Americans complain about things being so difficult and how our winning the gold medal helped unify the country and make us feel better about ourselves and the future. Anyway, I like the movie and will gladly watch it again. It also has some HOT guys in it!

I'm going to cross MVP: Most Valuable Primate off the list because I refuse to watch movies that make animals do human things. It's f'ing ridiculous and I hate those movies; I pretend they don't exist.

Mystery, Alaska is next on my list of hockey movies to watch. I like how the cover poster makes it look like a romp-fest. I wonder if it is about sex and hockey. Tracy and Kirsten told me to look out for "Tree" which is their favorite part (or character?). So far, Schnookie is the only person I know who doesn't like the movie so I'm interested in watching it since I've never watched it because I always thought I would hate the movie.

I've also never heard of Net Worth. According to IMDB,

This powerful tale of the NHL's early years follows Ted Lindsay, an all-star for the Detroit Red Wings, in his quest to create a Player's Association to protect the rights of players against the ravages of monopolistic, profit taking owners. Lindsay, spurred on by the memory of a former teammate who died broke because he couldn't access his pension, mobilizes players from around the league to his cause.



Wow, that's deep. This might end up being a tearjerker. I'm actually really interested in watching it and hope I can find it at Blockbuster.

The Rhino Brothers is another movie I've never heard of. According to IMDB, it's about a player's journey to professional hockey. Sounds thrilling!

I'm sure most of you have heard of The Rocket in which my
douchey-cocky-ex-boyfriend makes an appearance. Can you even believe he has an IMDB page?! I guess he has to since he's now an "actor" but it's still hard to believe.

The only reason why I own Slap Shot and Slap Shot 2 is because a couple years ago I received a Borders gift card and decided that since I didn't want any books I would buy a movie. When I browsed the DVD section I noticed Slap Shot and a box set with both movies. The box set was only a couple dollars more than just the first movie so I decided to purchase it. The guy at the register asked if it was a gift or for me and when I said it was for me he looked pretty impressed….yeah, that's how I reel in the men (that is just another example of a male being impressed with my interest in hockey and not accusing me of being a puck bunny. Not once have I been accused of being a puck bunny (to my face) and I'm still shocked that my fellow HLOGers had and have to deal with it.) Back to Slap Shot. Even though I own both movies, I've never seen the second one. I will definitely watch it before the regular season starts.

At first I thought that Sudden Death was mistakenly placed in the list until I read the
plot summary and realized, "wait, I've seen this movie!". When I was growing up, whenever my parents had to go out for the evening my brother and I would always rent a movie to keep us occupied. My brother thought Jean-Claude Van Damme was the shit so I wouldn't be surprised if we rented this movie because it was about hockey and starred JCVD. I vaguely remember the movie so I really want to re-watch it. Kind of makes me want to re-watch Bloodsport.

I desperately want to re-watch Youngblood. I can't even remember how old I was when I watched this movie but I really want to see it again to see Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe (yum!), and Keanu Reeves all looking so young and hot! Who cares what the movie is about because it has Rob Lowe in it. After Mystery, Alaska I'll be renting Youngblood.

Looks like I have some pretty good movie watching ahead of me. If any of the movies are really cheap on Amazon I might just end up buying them so that next summer I won't have to go through the trouble of renting them again. Hmmm, maybe this will be my off-season routine.

14 comments:

Kirsten said...

The Rocket is also a good movie. Probably my favourite hockey movie. I got to steal it and bring it with to school since no one else in my family speaks French, and my mom says it kills the whole thing to have to have subtitles.

Marie said...

Hmm, I had a feeling that The Rocket would be in French. I think I could deal with subtitles. Glad to hear you really liked it; it makes me more excited about seeing it.

Silencer76 said...

You definitely need to see Mystery, Alaska. It is a stellar movie, where, as I am sure you have read, a team in Alaska plays an exhibition game of pond hockey against the New York Rangers. For me, it is the best hockey movie I have run across in my time.

Sudden Death: meh. It was more about Van Damme being Van Damme then about hockey. They did use footage from the Pens/Hawks Cup Finals, but can you picture Van Damme as a goaltender? I mean come on now. ;) I will have to add you to my blogroll, always good to see more hockey stuff out there. I need to get my season previews rolling in the next couple weeks.

Isleschick said...

A vote for Mystery, Alaska as well. :)

Jordi said...

A HLOG Mystery night sounds like it should do the job.

I'll agree on the Miracle eyecandy comment, am still not a fan of it.

Doesn't the Rocket have NHL cameos? I'd watch it for that.

Bethany said...

Oh my gosh...the Rocket is amazing!!!! It's probably one of my favorite hockey movies of all time.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Schnookie (not surprisingly) that "Mystery, Alaska" kinda sucked. And I love me some Russell Crowe. So... if you don't like it, don't worry, you're not alone.

Kirsten said...

Lecavalier, Ricci, Avery, and probably some others all make appearences in the movie.

Steph said...

Hey, Jean Claude Van Damme is the shit! (And uh, VS has been showing Bloodsport like once a week for about a month now, I bet you could catch it!)

Meanwhile, Slapshot 2 is...well, not spectacular. But the fact that the Hanson brothers appear dead on exactly like they were in the first made it hilarious in and of its own right.

Marie said...

well, apparently I really need to see The Rocket. I'm worried that Blockbuster doesn't carry it. I'll see what I can find this weekend.

And, Steph, yes, Jean-Claude is the shit. Whatever happened to him?

Kirsten said...

I had to go to Amazon to get my hands on a copy of the Rocket. I later found out that my friend Luc would have picked it up for me if I had asked. (He goes to school in Montreal)

Jordi said...

I need an illegally pirated version of Slapshot and The Rocket! I know, Jordi fmails.

Kirsten said...

If I knew how to pirate DVD's I'd be able to help you out, but I don't, sorry.

Heather B. said...

Mystery, Alaska was a pretty good little movie. I would try not to go into it with very high expectations but it was a decent way to kill an evening for sure.