Best Sports Movie Pep Talks

From the 'big speech' to the winning underdog, these tropes tickle

(NEWSER) - Sometimes clichés can ruin a movie. But for some Onion AV Club writers, a good one can't be beat. A sampling:

• "The big speech scene": The idea that we can all be "eloquent enough to meet the demands of any moment, like Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman," gets Zack Handlen's attention. "I have no idea if Sam’s talk about stories at the end of The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers is good or ridiculous, because it just gets to me in a way that renders me useless."

(NEWSER) - After a "bloody battle royale," the sports staff of the New York Daily News has anointed the best sports films of all time. Among the contenders:

• Raging Bull: Robert De Niro's knockout performance as boxer Jake LaMotta makes this one of the greatest movies of any kind ever produced.
• Hoosiers: The heartwarming underdog tale loosely based on a real Indiana basketball team beats out other hoops flicks.

Pint-sized coach recites Kurt Russell's speech from Miracle

(NEWSER) - What’s more inspiring than watching Kurt Russell speak the words of legendary hockey coach Herb Brooks to the 1980 men’s Olympic team before they played—and beat—the Russians in the film Miracle? Try the same words coming from a 5-year-old. Well, maybe it’s just cuter, but for whatever reason the vid has become a YouTube sensation, Urlesque reports. More»

SF Chronicle serves up its 'Titanic Awards'

(NEWSER) - Oscars go to undeserving flicks so often that the San Francisco Chronicle has a prize for them: the Titanic Award. Pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub targets some of the most egregious offenders:

• Best Picture: Titanic. The award’s namesake, which somehow beat LA Confidential, needs no explanation.
• Best Actor: Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman. "Pacino considered this award an affirmation of his overacting and has played the same character in every movie since."