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| Million Dollar Baby |
December 2009
Movie Entertainment
Liz Braun
Is there an antidote for the holiday season? An escape from the eggnog and the 387th viewing of It’s a Wonderful Life?
Maybe a little girl power could help. Not only are women people too, but on the playing field, they can kick your backside.
WHIP IT (2009)
For her directorial debut, Drew Barrymore cleverly enlisted Canadian Ellen Page to star in her coming-of-age story about roller derbies. What makes this one so much fun is that all the tough sk8ters – Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Eve, Zoe Bell and Barrymore herself – are doing their own stunts. Huge energy.
GRACIE (2007)
Inspirational film about a teenage girl who overcomes the loss of her brother and fights to play competitive soccer at a time when girls’ soccer did not exist. The story is based on events from the lives of the Shue family (producer and co-star Andrew Shue, actress Elisabeth Shue) and the film is directed by Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), Elisabeth Shue’s husband.
MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman won Oscars for this drama about a blue-collar woman who changes her life with her fists – in the boxing ring. Clint Eastwood stars as her flinty trainer, and he won a directing Oscar for the movie. It also won Best Picture.
KILL BILL: VOL 1 (2003)
Extreme swordplay and martial arts are front and centre in this Quentin Tarantino celebration of violence. Pregnant assassin is left for dead on her wedding day, emerges from coma, seeks heinous revenge. Not for the squeamish, this film stars Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen. Kill Bill 3 is expected by 2014.
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2002)
More stories about kicking. Parminder Nagra stars as Jess, a young woman who wants to buck traditional South Asian culture and play soccer. Charming coming-o fage movie also stars Keira Knightley, Juliet Stevenson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
LOVE AND BASKETBALL (2000)
The WNBA loves this movie! Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps are childhood friends and competitive basketball players, both hoping for college scholarships. She’s as good on the court as he is; of course, they fall in love. Basketball and sex scenes? Underrated movie also stars Alfre Woodard and Dennis Haysbert.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992)
When men went to war, women went to bat. This fictionalized account of the All-American Professional Baseball league is a tale of spirited competition and sibling rivalry with a great cast: Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty and Rosie O’Donnell suit up, while Tom Hanks, David Strathairn and Bill Pullman cheer from the stands.