Great new Documentary by Kevin Rafferty(Atomic Cafe 1982) that follows a single football game in 1968. Even if you are not a football, or sports fan for that matter, you should find this film highly entertaining. The film takes place during the final game of the season and both teams are facing each undefeated for the first time since 1909. Yale is a nationally ranked team with two future NFL players (QB Brian Dowling and RB Calvin Hill) and are highly favored. The film shows interviews with both Harvard and Yale players,including offensive guard Tommy Lee Jones, while cutting to film footage and play by play commentary of the actual game. The players don't only talk about the game, but also about the chaotic times they lived in. The effect of Vietnam on the campus, the players who were protesters vs the players who were Vietnam Vets, and the Pill and sexual revolution on a school that did not allow women. The game footage is fantastic with great slow motion replays and wonderful sound design. The title gives away the ending, but it doesn't matter the entire audience was laughing, gasping, and on the edge of their seats at the ridiculous last 42 seconds of the preposterous game. The title comes from a Harvard newspaper headline from the following day, and even though its a tie you feel it's defiantly a Harvard win. I had the same feeling I got from last years King Of Kong, not as great as that film(probably because it's not good vs evil), but a real crowd pleaser. I'm not sure if this film will get much of a release, but if it shows in you city it's a must see. 4 out of 5 stars.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 :Film Review
Great new Documentary by Kevin Rafferty(Atomic Cafe 1982) that follows a single football game in 1968. Even if you are not a football, or sports fan for that matter, you should find this film highly entertaining. The film takes place during the final game of the season and both teams are facing each undefeated for the first time since 1909. Yale is a nationally ranked team with two future NFL players (QB Brian Dowling and RB Calvin Hill) and are highly favored. The film shows interviews with both Harvard and Yale players,including offensive guard Tommy Lee Jones, while cutting to film footage and play by play commentary of the actual game. The players don't only talk about the game, but also about the chaotic times they lived in. The effect of Vietnam on the campus, the players who were protesters vs the players who were Vietnam Vets, and the Pill and sexual revolution on a school that did not allow women. The game footage is fantastic with great slow motion replays and wonderful sound design. The title gives away the ending, but it doesn't matter the entire audience was laughing, gasping, and on the edge of their seats at the ridiculous last 42 seconds of the preposterous game. The title comes from a Harvard newspaper headline from the following day, and even though its a tie you feel it's defiantly a Harvard win. I had the same feeling I got from last years King Of Kong, not as great as that film(probably because it's not good vs evil), but a real crowd pleaser. I'm not sure if this film will get much of a release, but if it shows in you city it's a must see. 4 out of 5 stars.
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Agreed with Coco on all fronts. This has got to be the greatest movie of all time that was made for a budget of under 5 dollars.
ReplyDeletePossibly even the greatest sports movie ever?
As long as Roller Boogie isn't considered a sports movie. I'll say it before and I'll say it again, that roller-skating disco masterwork has the most radical experimentation with mid-narrative detours since L'Avventura.
Okay, how about it's a tie with Harvard/Yale for greatest sports movie, but Roller Boogie wins.
Roller Boogie always wins!
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