
I am not a big movie watcher, but I like some now and then. Two genres of movies I like are sports movies and gambling movies. I'm OK with them being comedic but prefer them not to be.
Ones I've seen that I liked:
Sports: Miracle, Any Given Sunday, Moneyball, Major League, Bull Durham, and The Natural. Draft Day was OK.
Gambling / Casinos: Rounders, Molly's Game, 21, the Hustler/Color of Money, and I may have seen Casino but I'm not sure so I'm going to watch it (again?).
Are there any others you recommend?
-BEP
I’m guessing you’ve seen Eight Men Out? Sports and gambling there…
Carroll Ballard's The Black Stallion fits the bill as in it has gambling and sports in a few ways! One of my favorite films. I have the Criterion Collection Blu-ray and a framed art print of the poster.
Hoosiers is the greatest sports movie of all time
Field of Dreams is very good as well.
Rocky series has highs and lows but is definitely worth your time. Yes, even the 5th one. If anyone wants to discuss, I will elaborate.
Casinos? Ocean's 11. 12 and 13 are ok too. But the first was still probably the best.
Stele, while I wholly endorse your recommendation of the Rocky franchise, I will posit the idea that the first movie is not a boxing movie, but a movie about a boxer. Don't forget to continue with the two Creed movies.
For a sports movie I would recommend Goal! The Dream Begins.
Invictus was enjoyable too.
Lock, Stock, and Two Smokin' Barrels
Snatch.
Depending if you want to go a bit off the beaten path (ie not American/Hollywood fare)
This Sporting Life - Life is grim in 1960s Northen England, proper kitchen sink drama type fair about a rugby league player.
Children of Glory - about the Hungarian Water Polo team who would face the Soviets in the Olympics that would go down in history as the Blood in the Water game
Heist Movies
Raffi - The greatest heist scene in history
Casino Royale may be a Bond movie but it revolves around a card game.
The Replacements[
The Longest Yard (1974)
If you don't mind foreign films, there's the Korean Tazza series.
Tazza: The High Rollers
Tazza: The Hidden Card
Tazza: One Eyed Jack
White men can’t jump was pretty good in parts
I was going to recommend Rounders but it is already in your purview.
Necessary Roughness
Remember the Titans
42
Moneyball
Eddie Eagle
Ford vs Ferrari
Warrior (Tom Hardy at his best)
Cool Runnings
Dream Horse
Queen's Gambit (not a movie but a must see if you haven't already)
Akeelah and the Bee
Layer Cake (since Snatch and Lock Stock were already mentioned)
The Score
Limitless - may not be considered necessarily a heist movie
Entrapment
Baby Driver
Reservoir Dogs
Point Break (original + counts as a heist and sports movie...)
The Last Boyscout (same as above)
Atomic Blonde
White men can’t jump was pretty good in parts
Reservoir Dogs
Point Break (original + counts as a heist and sports movie...)
The Last Boyscout (same as above)
Hell yes to all of these. I may have nostalgia blinders for Point Break but still there's some great stuff in there
Patrick Swayze played an iconic villain. We don't think much of that performance anymore but it is up there in the ranks. I don't think that is nostalgia blinders.
Now, I am not saying Swayze is in the league of Hannibal Lector, Darth Vader, Agent Smith or the agent from Serenity. But he is the top of the tier below those. Also, surfer/thief sounds like a great D&D character
The remake of The Italian Job
The Thomas Crowne Affair
Inside Job
The Usual Suspects
(Big fan of heist movies; I’m always looking for more good ones.)
Quick Change with Bill Murray, Geena Davis, and Randy Quaid might fit the bill. It's a bank robbery/heist movie with an Out Of Towners feel (what ELSE can wrong?)
It was mentioned above but I have to start with Ford v Ferrari, just keep in mind it's a fictionalized account of real life events. Christian Bale is great as Ken Miles.
Rush was also a very good auto racing movie.
I also have to mention one of my favorite movies of my childhood: Days of Thunder.
A few basketball movies come to mind (besides Space Jam, lol): He Got Game, Rebound (the story of Earl Manigault), Blue Chips.
Michael Sheen is terrific as Brian Clough in The Damned United. Probably my favorite soccer movie, but it is a weird one. The biopic about Pele with Vincent d'Onofrio is fun, too.
Oh, damn what is the name of that Pele movie with Stallone where they are POWs that play in a soccer match against Germany in WW2...
Victory - I love this movie
Need a newt update soon. It's been 2 weeks, watched any of the suggested films?
The ending was a little messy but 5/10? Ouch, tough crowd!
Though it is definitely a movie that works better on the silver screen...
The ending was a little messy but 5/10? Ouch, tough crowd!
Though it is definitely a movie that works better on the silver screen...
Baby Driver also had a cool soundtrack.
Kelly's Heroes
Slap Shot
You really don't have to justify yourself. I was just surprised because it oozed slickness. But I get what you are saying. I like to think it is supposed to be a style piece like His Girl Friday and some of the actors got it consistently, while others were too modern or not consistent. (or perhaps they didn't have a lot to work with) Think sharp, mad cap and fast dialogue like the classic Bugs Bunny skit, "Okay Clancy, you can come on out now with your hands up!"
Oh I forgot Logan Lucky from 2017. If you like Oceans stuff, it's done by the same director. Solid heist film at a NASCAR track. It fits multiple of your criteria
Along the lines of stylistic whodunits, I can definitely recommend Brick.
I also highly recommend turning on subtitles as the dialects are very thick and lyrical.
It is one of Joseph Gordon Levitt's finest roles/films...
Nice list BTW
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