All you want to watch this Christmas

IT'S beginnng to look a lot like Christmas.

And with only 21 days to go, the holiday rush is already here. Everywhere  the Christmas spirit is around and  everybody is now busy making a list of  what to give this holiday season regardless  whether you’re  naughty or nice.

To some,  Christmastime is also a day off.

And what a better way than spending it with the family at home and watching movies. In this case, a feel-good, sports-oriented  movie.

We have a list of  these movies now.

For Love of the Game --  A 1999 American drama sports film based on the novel of the same title by Michael Shaara and starring Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston, the  movie follows the  perfect game  performance of Billy Chapel, an aging, 40-year-old Detroit Tigers  pitcher as he reminisces about his career and his relationship with  his on-and-off  girlfriend, while pitching his final game. (1999, Directed by Sam Raimi).

Any Given Sunday -- A 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone, the story revolves around the Miami Sharks, a once-great American football team, are now in turmoil and struggling to make the AFFA (Associated  Football Franchises of America)  playoffs. The team is coached by  30-year veteran Tony D’Amato (played  by Al Pacino), who  can’t agree with the  new team owner (Cameron Diaz).  The  movie’s  recurring theme  is  that  “On any given Sunday, anything can happen.” (1999, Directed by Oliver Stone and Allan Graf)

Rocky -- A highly-popular  boxing  movie  which  stars Sylvester Stallone, the story tells  the story of Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer who gets an opportunity of a lifetime when  world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers) chooses him at random as his opponent in an exhibition match. With  girlfriend  Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire) and  trainer-manager Mickey  Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) on his side, Rocky fights for his self-respect. The 1976 movie won  three Academy Awards, including Best Picture  and Best Director.  (1976, Directed by John Avildsen  and  Sylvester Stallone). 

Field of Dreams -- Based on the  novel “Shoeless Joe” by W.P. Kinsella, the 1989 masterpiece stars Kevin Costner, as an Iowa farmer who plows his crops to build a field for the ghosts of the disgraced Chicago “Black Sox” to play on, and Ray Liotta, as Shoeless Joe Jackson.  A mysterious voice that whispers, “If you build it, he will  come,” serves as the inspiration for a  man to reconnect with his deceased father through baseball in a movie that is considered a  classic of  American  film.  (1989, Directed by Phil Alden Robinson)

Million Dollar Baby-- Directed by Clint Eastwood, the highly-acclaimed  sports drama film  earned  Best Picture award for 2004 at the 77th Academy Awards.  Eastwood was  awarded Best Director and received  a Best Actor nomination. Hilary Swank  also received Best Actress award. The story revolves around  an  under-appreciated boxing trainer, his elusive past and  his quest for atonement by helping  an underdog amateur female boxer achieve her dream.  (2004, Directed by Clint Eastwood)

A League of Their  Own – Directed  by Penny Marshall, the 1992 comedy-drama film is a fictionalized   account  of  real-life All-American  Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Set during World War II, with major leaguers going off to fight, the movie shows women trying to just play ball at a time when females rarely get respect as athletes. The movie stars Tom Hanks, Gena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell.   One of  the  highlights  of the film was  Jimmy Dugan’s  proclamation, “There's no crying in baseball”,  which was  later rated 54th on  the  American Film Institute’s list of greatest film quotes of all time. (1992, Directed by Penny  Marshall).

Jerry Maguire -- A 1996  American  romantic comedy-drama starring Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding  and Renee Zellweger, the  movie is about Jerry Maguire, a  35-year-old sports agent, and  egotistical  Arizona Cardinals  wide receiver Rod  Tidwell (Gooding). Zellweger plays  Cruise’s love  interest. The  movie  spawns classic  lines such as: “Show me  the money!” and “You had me at hello.” (1997, Directed by Cameron Crowe).

Angels in the Outfield -- a  1994 remake of the 1951 movie with the same title, the film starred Danny Glover,  Tony Danza and Christopher Lloyd,  The movie focuses on  Roger and his friend J.P., who  are  one of the biggest fans of the Los Angeles baseball team. He has got only two dreams: living  together with a real family and let LA win the championship. Some  angels show up in order to help him - but he is the only one to see them and believe in them. (1994, Directed by William Dear). 

Searching for Bobby Fischer --  The  1993 film  is based on the life of  prodigy chess player Joshua Waitzkin. (played by Marc Pomeranc). In the story, Waitzkin's family discovers that he possesses a  gift for chess and they seek to nurture it with the help of a strict  instructor , Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley). The instructor aims  to teach the boy to be  as aggressive  as Fischer, the mercurial American chess champion.   (1993, Directed by Steven Zaillian).

Wimbledon -- A 2004 romantic comedy directed by Richard Locraine, the movie is a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt (played  by Paul Bettany) whose  world  ranking slipped  from 11th to 119th and an up-and-coming  female tennis star named Lizzie  Bradbury (played by Kirsten Dunst)  during the Wimbledon  tennis championships.  Despite  Lizzie’s  over-protective   father-manager, the two fell in  love and Lizzie helps Peter recapture his focus for Wimbledon.  (2004, Directed by Richard Locraine).

NOTES -- Belated happy 30th  anniversary  to my  wife Liza last Dec. 3...
Happy birthday to Ayang Mallare   of  PTV 4, who  celebrated last Dec.5.

For comments  and suggestions, email to edandaya2003@yahoo.com