Sport and Cinema.com

Rob Siegel, the writer of the Oscar-nominated drama, The Wrestler, writes and makes his directorial debut in this small, but exceptional and thought-provoking tale on obsessive behavior through the prism of sports – in this case NFL football.

With good reviews on the film festival circuit and a theatrical release, the boxing documentary “Facing Ali” is now available for home entertainment as a single disc DVD from Lionsgate.

Muhammad Ali, the three-time world heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic gold medalist who electrified the world with his unorthodox style and charismatic ways, is paid tribute by ten of his acclaimed rivals.

As we begin 2010 it is time to consider which is the BEST sports movie from the first decade of the 21st Century.

There are some very good choices. Documentaries, by the way, like “Dogtown and Z-Boys” deserve their own column.

Here is the Top Ten:

More than 30 years after the original motion picture, “Rocky” continues to be recognized as a film icon and American hero where a “nobody” becomes a “somebody”. This definitive collection that features Sylvester Stallone as Philadelphia club fighter Rocky Balboa includes each film version as well as a bonus disc with hours of documentaries, interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and a new trivia game.

In one of his earliest starring roles, Robert Redford gives a memorable portrait of an inarticulate, self-absorbed, but gifted world class skier obsessed with being the best, no matter the cost.
Taking on the sport’s best downhillers on the circuits of Europe with dreams of Olympic glory, David Chappellet’s (Redford) selfish clashes with his U.S. national team coach (Gene Hackman) can be summed up when he tells him, “I ski fast and that’s all there is to it”.

This beautifully-packaged, digitally preserved celebration of the Fall Classic is a magnificent collection of all the drama and unforgettable moments of the World Series.

Encased in a hardcover book that includes a 58-page pictorial retrospective going back to the event’s origins in 1903, are 65 films on 20 DVDs representing nearly 50 hours of restored and newly digitized masters going back to 1943.

In the long history of the National Football League, there is no other franchise that is more noted for their ball-stopping prowess.

For almost 90 years, the Monsters of the Midway have won nine NFL Championships mainly on the shoulders of the team’s strong, attacking defense.

From their early days in the fledgling American Football League to the exciting squads of the 21st century, all the great games, star players and classic moments of one of the National Football League’s most exciting franchises scores on a new double-disc DVD set

Oscar nominated writer/director James Toback (“Bugsy”) presents a no-holds-barred portrait of the controversial former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.

Capped by a historic (Phil Jackson earns his 10th championship as a head coach, breaking the record he had shared with Red Auerbach) and gratifying (soothe an embarrassing loss to the Celtics in the previous year’s finals) win against the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals to earn their 15^th league crown in franchise history, this package contains all the highlights of the Lakers season.