Monday, January 11, 2010

Ready, Set...Action!

For those of you yet to see the trailer from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's upcoming movie, The Tooth Fairy, please watch the trailer below:



Seriously Rock? Like what happened to you? First you're beating grown men up inside the ring, then you move onto some surprisingly quality flicks, but now you are playing a professional hockey player who turns into the tooth fairy?!?! I can only imagine what's next.

So now that we have all seen that crap, lets move onto the purpose of me showing that clip. Well as much as I hate the aspect of the movie, it is good to see something actually being done with hockey in film. Hockey is not something done too often in Hollywood. In fact, off the top of my head I can only come up with the following:

The Tooth Fairy (2009)
The Love Guru (2008) ...not even really a TRUE hockey film
Miracle (2004)
Mystery Alaska (1999) ...Russell Crowe likes hockey, yeah...
The Mighty Ducks 3 (1996)
The Mighty Ducks 2 (1994)
The Mighty Ducks (1992)
Slap Shot (1977)

I did some research and really cannot come up with any others worth noting. Such as; The Slap Shot sequels, M.V.P. (Most Valuable Primate?!?!?!), and Youngbloods. Since 1977 only 7 major films have involved hockey as a major aspect of the movie. Slap Shot is actually in the process of being re-made (long overdue), and slated for a 2012 release. And love him or hate him, there is a movie getting ready for filming movie about Sean Avery and is life on and off the ice. While I can't say I am shocked at the scarcity of hockey films, it is kind of sad for the hockey fans.

It got me thinking to what the next major hockey movie could be about. There are some good stories out there to be told. Problem with hockey is finding the right one that will appeal to audiences beyond the rink. Mircale worked becuase it was about the country being united. Only released 3 years after 9/11, it was a near-perfect fit. The Mighty Ducks series appealed to all audiences, and they loved it. That is until the 3rd one, which just sucked. What did they think would happen taking Bombay out of the picture? Slap Shot was the first of the hockey movie and featured Paul Newman. It actually is more of a cult movie, than an instant hit. The Love Guru flopped at the box office, but having Mike Myers (an actual hockey fan) headline a hockey movie helps. Russell Crowe did the same with Mystery Alaska, except that one flopped worse than the Guru.

So here are some movie possibilities:

- Travis Roy:

Travis Roy grew up in small town Yarmouth, Maine. Excelling at hockey, he eventually received a scholarship to play hockey at Boston University. In his very first shift in his collegiate career, exactly 11 seconds in, he fell awkwardly into the boards. The result? A shattered 4th and 5th cervical vertebra, leaving him paralyzed. A truly sad story, but comes with some positives. Roy returned to BU less than a year after the injury to complete his degree in Public Relations. Over the years he has spoken at numerous events as a motivational speaker. He also co-wrote a book called, "Eleven Seconds". This type of story, if promoted correctly could be a success I strongly believe.

-The creation of the NHL

This would be a tough sell. But Miracle at the start on paper was a tough sell too. The story seemed as if it would only appeal to hockey fans. But with the acting of Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, and realistically shot, it was a hit. The start of the game or the NHL would appeal to all hockey fans and casual sports fans. Throw in some good actors to play old players/coaches/staff; you never know what could happen. And of course, north of the border would embrace the movie quite well too.

-Wayne Gretzky

There have been a lot of great hockey players over the years and plenty of up-and-coming ones currently. But Wayne's has much more story to it. I never thought it could be an intriguing one until I recently saw a piece on ESPN about it. The short documentary, filmed by Director Peter Berg, who directed such movies as Friday Night Lights and Hancock, tells the very interesting story of Wayne's career, mostly involved around the LA-Edmonton trade. That story alone is extremely interesting when watching the short-film. Here's a clip:



Well that's all I have for today. A little something different, but I think as hockey fans it is something worth considering. Hollywood plays a big part in a lot of things whether we like it or not. It wouldn't hurt having a few more movies on the rink here and there. Look out for a new blog with Buotte soon. Will we see Kovy moved sooner rather than later?

Good day all.

The future of hockey as we know it:

A True Hockey Player

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