30 for 30/Sports Documentaries Discussion

[Mole]

Inspired by ESPN’s anniversary, ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 is an unprecedented documentary series featuring thirty films from some of today’s finest storytellers. Each filmmaker will bring their passion and personal point of view to their film detailing the issues, trends, athletes, teams, rivalries, games and events that transformed the sports landscape from 1979 to 2009.

Here is the full schedule:

Kings Ransom by Peter Berg Tuesday Oct 6 8pm ESPN (Wayne Gretzky trade to LA)

The Band That Wouldn't Die by Barry Levinson Tuesday Oct 13 8pm ESPN (Baltimore Colts move to Indy)

Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? by Mike Tollin Tuesday Oct 20 8pm ESPN (USFL)

Muhammad and Larry by Albert Maysles Tuesday Oct 27 8pm ESPN (Ali and Larry Holmes fight)

Without Bias by Kirk Fraser Tuesday Nov 3 8pm ESPN (Len Bias)

The Legend of Jimmy The Greek by Fritz Mitchell Tuesday Nov 10 8pm ESPN (CBS Sports Analyst Jimmy The Greek)

The U by Billy Corben Saturday Dec 12 9pm ESPN (Miami Hurricanes football team)

Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks by Dan Klores Sunday Mar 14 9pm ESPN (Title says it all)

And that's their schedule so far. But here are the other films with no schedule date yet.

Guru of Go by Bill Couturie (Paul Westhead)

No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson by Steve James (Allen Iverson and friends trial after a fight in 93)

Into the Wind by Steve Nash (Terry Fox)

Jordan Rides the Bus by Ron Shelton (Michael Jordan tries baseball)

Charismatic by Asylum Entertainment (Charismatic's try for the Triple Crown)

One Simple Gesture by Cliff Bestall and Produced by Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary (Rugby in South Africa)

The Two Escobars by Jeff Zimbalist (The Columbian goalie getting killed after own goal vs the US)

June 17, 1994 by Brett Morgen (OJ and the Bronco)

Birth of Big Air by Jeff Tremaine and Produced by Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze (Mat Hoffman)

Silly Little Game by Adam Kurland and Lucas Jansen (Origin of Fantasy Sports)

Steve Bartman: Catching Hell by Alex Gibney (Steve Bartman)

Unmatched by Lisa Lax, Nancy Stern with Hannah Storm (Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova)

One Night in Vegas by Reggie Rock Bythewood (Tyson's first title win)

Marion Jones: Press Pause by John Singleton (Marion Jones steroid stuff)

Straight Outta L.A. by Ice Cube (Raiders move from LA to Oakland)

The Steinbrenner Family Business by Barbara Kopple (The Steinbrenners)

Right To Play by Frank Marshall (Johann Olav Koss the speed skater)

The Best That Never Was by Jonathan Hock (Marcus Dupree)

That is all they have said they are making, but I am pretty sure there is a 2004 Red Sox one coming as well. I mean, what else was a bigger story in 2004?

 

[909]

This is crazy, but I think I'm going to watch all of those.

The Two Escobars? YESSSSS!

As for the Sox in 2004, everyone is completely shitted out on that, it's over-covered and I don't think another documentary surrounding that warrants airing.

 

[bps21]

"Jordan Rides the Bus by Ron Shelton (Michael Jordan tries baseball)"

Well...the man did direct the best baseball comedy ever. This should provide a perfect follow up.

 

[alkeiper]

Shelton actually played minor league ball as well, so he has good perspective on it.

 

[King Kamala]

Correction; One Night in Vegas is about the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight where Mike Tyson won back the title after getting out of prison and it was also the fight that Tupac was at before he got shot.

Besides, he won his first title in Atlantic City! *readjusts glasses*

 

[still fly]

These actually look good. I'll make sure to catch these.

 

[CanadianChris]

Simmons did an interview with Alan Sepinwall recently where he said he had the idea of doing a documentary of Games 4-7 of the 2004 ALCS through the eyes of the players, but it looks like it's not going to happen.

June 17, 1994 by Brett Morgen (OJ and the Bronco)

From what I've read, this is supposed to have an interesting angle, as there were about 8-10 big things that happened on that day, including the OJ chase, the Rangers' Stanley Cup parade and Game 5 of the Knicks-Rockets series.

 

[KingPK]

Wasn't the World Cup going on at that time as well?

 

[CanadianChris]

Wasn't the World Cup going on at that time as well?

Yes. In fact, June 17 was the day the tournament started.

 

[909]

There are a lot of people out there that think Tyson/Seldon featured a dive on the part of big ol' Bruce. Also this was the second belt he had won since getting out of prison, not the first. He dropped the WBC belt after beating Frank Bruno because Lennox Lewis wasn't a palatable option for big bucks. Look how that turned out later. For some godforsaken reason Seldon is still fighting so I hope the documentary touches on that. This is gonna be a hell of a series.

Mike Tyson vs Bruce Seldon KO (1996) FULL and HQ

Judge for yourself

 

[King Kamala]

Totally forgot about the Frank Bruno rematch.

Yeah, that does look fishy. I'm not sure if it was a dive so much as Bruce Seldon being scared shitless of Iron Mike (even in '96, he still had the shitkicker mystique) and just not wanting to get pummeled.

 

[Mole]

As for the Sox in 2004, everyone is completely shitted out on that, it's over-covered and I don't think another documentary surrounding that warrants airing.

In the 30for30 trailer, they show the Sox. I'm sure they will do some sort of angle on it.

http://30for30.espn.com/

 

[wnyxmcneal]

Peter Berg is one of my favourite directors, so I'm looking forward to this

 

[bps21]

Peter Berg is one of your favorite directors?

Hancock Peter Berg?

 

[wnyxmcneal]

Yes.

My friend and I are the only two people on the planet who loved Hancock. Given the restrictions Berg had to deal with, I thought he did a great job, though I feel had they let them done the movie it was supposed to be, it would've been a lot better

 

[Psycho Penguin]

The Gretzky one kicked ass. Looking forward to the next 2, been reading about the USFL lately and of course the Colts moving is something I'd be interested in watching.

 

[bps21]

Yes.

My friend and I are the only two people on the planet who loved Hancock. Given the restrictions Berg had to deal with, I thought he did a great job, though I feel had they let them done the movie it was supposed to be, it would've been a lot better

Knowing this makes me have to rethink all of your reviews and recommendations.

It's not quite as bad as someone telling me that Ransom or the Patriot are good movies...but it's close. Or Van Helsing or the first and third Spiderman movies for that matter.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Yes.

My friend and I are the only two people on the planet who loved Hancock. Given the restrictions Berg had to deal with, I thought he did a great job, though I feel had they let them done the movie it was supposed to be, it would've been a lot better

Knowing this makes me have to rethink all of your reviews and recommendations.

It's not quite as bad as someone telling me that Ransom or the Patriot are good movies...but it's close. Or Van Helsing or the first and third Spiderman movies for that matter.

The first Spiderman was really good though.

 

[bps21]

No. No it really wasn't. There were so so many things wrong with that movie. The pinnacle being reached with the rooftop conversation between Spiderman and Goblin with closeups on their faces for the ridiculously dramatic dialogue...despite the fact that you could seen neither facial expressions nor mouths moving through their masks.

DON'T TELL HARRY!!!

 

[wnyxmcneal]

Yes.

My friend and I are the only two people on the planet who loved Hancock. Given the restrictions Berg had to deal with, I thought he did a great job, though I feel had they let them done the movie it was supposed to be, it would've been a lot better

Knowing this makes me have to rethink all of your reviews and recommendations.

It's not quite as bad as someone telling me that Ransom or the Patriot are good movies...but it's close. Or Van Helsing or the first and third Spiderman movies for that matter.

I had Hancock ranked 25th for 08. (Out of 119 movies) I did have issues with it, and I think the version Berg and Smith intended to make would've been ruled, but I thought it was a fun popcorn movie, and Berg was able to put his stamp on it.

I like the first Spider-Man movie, and the third, well, I tried to justify it

 

[Mole]

Berg did Friday Night Lights. Nuff said.

 

[CanadianChris]

Any torrents for this available yet? Haven't been able to find one, I figured it would be up quickly.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Have you been able to find a torrent yet?

The Colts one is on now. FUCK THE COLTS.

 

[CanadianChris]

No, but it did go up on YouTube.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Documentary on the USFL now, this interests me a lot. Was reading about USFL on wiki a few weeks ago so nice to see it on TV.

 

[KingPK]

Without Bias is the best one of this series so far. His death really did affect a lot of things, including the Celtics franchise because they had such a perfect situation with drafting such an elite player right after winning the championship.

I call bullshit on the "he never tried drugs until that night" claim only because it's college and how prevalent cocaine use was in those days.

 

[Gert]

Well it seems like at least two of his teammates debunked that myth as well. Only caught the first 35 minutes, but it was great stuff. I give a lot of credit to Mom and Pops. Their insight made that piece.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

That was the best one yet. I haven't seen the boxing one since I am not interested in boxing at all, but I'll go
1. Bias
2. USFL
3. Colts
4. Gretzky

Interesting that 2 of the 4 have to do with Maryland and the Baltimore Stars won a USFL title.. hey a CFL documentary about how they tried to expand to America would kick ass.

But yeah, this was a great piece. I didn't know Boston had won the title and still had the #2 pick. I figured they were in their down years and drafted Bias as a way to get back to greatness and when he died, the franchise fell apart.

The Celtics said they drug tested him and he passed (also admitting they'd probably have signed him even if he failed, so not like they have a reason to lie now) and no one saw him do drugs before that night. He reacted quite badly to the cocaine he took that night so it's entirely possible he had never tried it before. The police said it was pure cocaine, too.

 

[CanadianChris]

The fact that it was pure cocaine was likely what did him in. It was too strong.

As someone with an interest in sports betting, the Jimmy the Greek doc next week should be tremendous. It's the first one I'll actually get to see as it airs.

 

[KingPK]

Yeah, how the fuck did Red pull off getting the #2 pick that year anyway?