Brandon: 0:00

We as sports fans want to see action similar to the way that we enjoy the games. And that is that when watching the sport, we enjoy the drama as it unfolds, because we have no clue what's going to happen next. There's that element of surprise in every aspect of it, and the fact that we know these guys have been trained to execute these movements, you know, these plays and everything we want to see that type of action and that type of suspense portrayed on the screen, that's what's going to draw us in. Hello and welcome to the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast. I'm your host, Brandon Chaisson, and like always, I'll be joined today by the great team that brings you cupofteacritiques.com. We are excited to get started on our podcast where we will share our perspectives on several areas in movies and television. At Cup of Tea Critiques, we review movie and television series and tag them with a tea brew that evokes a feel for the production. In this way you can decide for yourself if they're your cup of tea. Here on the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast, we will dive even deeper into the productions and topics we broach on our website, engaging in conversation and sharing our unique perspectives. Ready for a deep look with a deep brew? This week's topic, sports movies. So let's get started. Cup of Tea Critiques is a family affair, and I'm here with my brother, Chris, my mother, Reba, and my father, Terry. Let's start off with Chris. What would you call a sports movie?

Chris: 1:25

Sports movie just has to have some element of the competition in it, you know? I mean, it could be in the foreground, it could be in the background, but I think actual gameplay or actual competition on screen has to be part of the movie, in a sense, you know, because otherwise we're talking about a movie where a character is an athlete could be called a sports movie, you know, even if we never see him playing. So I just think I would just define a sports movie as just as movie, even if there's other elements, there's got to be some athletic competition on screen.

Brandon: 2:04

Go ahead, Mom, what do you think?

Reba: 2:07

I pretty much agree with Chris. I think a sports movie has to center athletic competition, and it has to be stiff competition because it has to engage the audience. There also has to be an element of heroism in it, that is, there has to be a victor at the end that has won over the audience at that point. And I think those are the two huge elements it has to have.

Terry: 2:32

Yeah, I don't know if I have too strict of a definition of that, other than the fact that, as both Chris and your mother said, that there has to be some sort of athletic competition going on. I think about some that have more of a comical aspect to them. Do they really have to be involved, or do they just have to have sports as a part of the story. So for me, as long as there's some bit of sports as part of the story, and it's an integral part of the story, then it's probably a sports movie.

Brandon: 3:13

Yeah, I kind of agree with everybody here. One thing I'll say, though, is that I feel like sports competition in particular needs to be the setting, the backdrop for any of these productions. And I'll give a quick example, because we understand that while Concussion is based on true story and had to deal with athletics and brain injuries and such, it didn't have the backdrop of sports competition. So that's why, for myself, I do not put that in the category of a sports movie. So just to give a little bit of clarity on the differences there, or, at least for my take, anyways, on what would constitute that and everything. And I think, Chris, you said this, it can't be that one character is an athlete. It has to be a central theme in there. So, like, if we're watching, say, a movie where there's a kid in high school, that's the, you know, the high school quarterback, and they just so happen to show him practicing one time. That's not a sports movie. That's just a part of that character's backstory. So that's how I'll say there's a difference between a sports movie and a sports being a part of the production. That being said, I'll go back around horn again. So now that we've kind of defined that, why don't you guys give us either like your favorite or what makes for a good sports movie in your eyes,

Terry: 4:26

My favorite? I guess, yeah, I thought about this a long time, and I guess there are a lot of sports movies that I like a lot. I mean, I have a long laundry list, but Little Big League stuck out for me, because I just like the joy of that, that whole story. So I think that would probably be my favorite follow, as a close second Love and Basketball. One, because basketball is close to my heart, and I like the the how they included basketball being so important to the two main characters of the movie.

Excerpt from Love and Basketball: 4:59

Excerpt from Love and Basketball

Reba: 5:22

Yeah, I agree with Terry. There are a number of sports movies that I like, and it how much I like it depends on the sport. So you know, if it's a football movie, for example, it has to be hard hitting football. And by hard hitting, I mean, you know, Any Given Sunday, and I know that movie had a lot of flaws, in my view, but one, one thing it wasn't lacking is hard hitting. And so I like that movie for that reason, but I certainly wouldn't put it necessarily on my list favorite sports movies. Among my favorites would include, in terms of kids, movies would be Little Big League, probably my most favorite kids sports movie there is. I also likeed Sandlot, a lot, because I laughed an awful, awful lot with that movie as well. And in terms of adult sports movies, I really like Jerry Maguire. Had enough of, I guess, hard hitting football. It had a lot of humor, it had a good level of drama. I thought that was a very good film.

Chris: 6:26

Um, I got a lot. I think music, music and comedy are two elements that elevate a sports movie for me. So I think Remember the Titans has got to be up there. Mighty Ducks is for for nostalgia would be up there. I say Little Big League is one of my favorites, just because I think it's one of the funniest. And also I just, I love the the journey of how he takes over this team, and they initially reject him completely. And then by the end of the film, there's a scene that's, it's a meant to be, a comedic scene where the whole clubhouse is trying to help him solve this math problem so that they can go out and compete for their playoff, you know, for their playoff game. And you know, it's, it's, it's really just supposed to be a comedic scene, but it illustrates how far they've come in their relationship, that this whole locker room, you know, this kid that they couldn't stand at first when he took over. Now they're all trying to help him figure out this math problem. So I love it for just, you know, scenes like that.

Excerpt from Little Big League: 7:43

Excerpt from Little Big League

Chris: 8:07

And then a sleeper I would throw in there is, Bring It On, because I thought that was, it's just a funny teen comedy with some good acting. And they have athletic competition in there. They show them doing, you know, they show them in the midst of these athletic competitions. And I thought, I thought it was a pretty good and the scene where the the choreographer comes into the gym is one of the funniest scenes I've seen in a movie.

Excerpt from Bring It On: 9:00

Excerpt from Bring It On

Chris: 9:13

Just laughing, just thinking about it. So those would be my I don't know if I said four or five, but my top five minus one or top five.

Terry: 9:23

Yeah, if I were to add one more on to that, it would probably be Draft Day, because I thought it was an interesting look behind the scenes of what goes on on draft day. I thought that I found that fascinating.

Brandon: 9:37

Those are all pretty awesome, and we all know I'm the resident sports nerd in this group, and so, like, it's not hard to imagine that I have a very long list of sports movies I enjoy. So I'm going to try and keep it brief, just because otherwise I'd say yes, so anything made from 1982 to today there was a sports movie. Yes, I think they're great. But. But all kidding aside, among the favorites, of course, I'm with everybody here, Little Big League, you know, when that came out, being younger and just like imagining if I could have been in that role of of actually taking over the team, would have been fun. So for me, I think back on that feeling. Cool, Runnings is absolutely hilarious. But I also love that it was, it's, it's a comedy with the backdrop of truth with it. You know, talking about the the Jamaican bobsled team, that was a lot of fun. There's no better line than, how about I draw a line down your head so it looks like a butt. So I love that in there. I'm going to also say Major League, you know. I guess fortunate for everybody at that time, when I was too young to really hear all the cuss words that were really going on. So the first time I saw it was on, you know, on television where everything was bleaked out. And then when I got older, I got to enjoy it twice as much because I realized exactly how the things they really were saying. But just as a whole, there was a lot of fun. But I also enjoyed the journey, of of course, that the underdog story, a team that's terrible that all of a sudden got really good. But they also, for me, with that movie, specifically, they do a great job of adding that drama at the end. Like as much as they've turned their entire season around, here's their big game against their big nemesis, and they let that game be dramatic as well. So it was drama getting to that moment. It was drama getting through that moment, and that's why it's really high up at the top for me.

Excerpt from Major League: 11:28

Excerpt from Major League

Brandon: 11:39

I'll say The Program was also another one that I really enjoyed watching that. And with all of these, it has a lot to do with they did a good job with the action on the field, with trying to incorporate real life movements and stuff that, you know. It looked like real competition, as opposed to something really crappy, just to be nice about it. So among everything, those are there. And then I'll give you another one that's that's really fun. And I also say, because I watched it around the time when I was still playing ball, is Summer Catch. Summer catch was good. Jessica Biel was in there, and that was a lot of fun. Freddie Prinze Junior, Matthew Lillard, they were a lot of fun. It was dealing with, you know, college ball during the summer and everything. which I could identify with at the time. Varsity Blues was another one was when I was in high school for varsity football and everything. So those two I identified with because I was going through those exact sports in those settings at the same time that they were released. So that's why, for me, those are the ones I really identify with and and really enjoyed.

Excerpt from Summer Catch: 12:59

Excerpt from Summer Catch

Brandon: 13:03

But Creed is my favorite movie period right now, the first Creed, and I know it's a boxing movie, I separated that out because it wasn't a team sport, but it is absolutely one of the best movies to me of all time. So like I do want to make sure I mention that in context of sports movies. It is great movie. If you haven't checked out, please do and again, like there's probably another 50 or 60 I could list, but I'm gonna try and stop right there. Oh, special shout out, Necessary Roughness as well. Sinbad was freaking hilarious. So now that I've at least mentioned one movie from every year since I was born, um, we can also make this comment to like, unfortunately, as much as we've enjoyed all of these movies, we're noticing that there's a downward trend, though, in the number of productions and all those Mom, can you kind of speak to you know what we're seeing, and maybe give us a little hint as to why this seems to be happening?

Reba: 13:56

Yeah, so from the from around the mid 90s to the only 2000s we were seeing roughly, you know, three to four sports movies theatrically released every year. And they were fun, they were hard hitting, and some of them were kids movies, and they were just an awful lot of fun. And then we began to see a trend where the number of movies released began to go down from, say three to four movies released every year, to now going down to say one to two movies released a year. As a matter of fact, we're seeing more like one sports movie released every year. And so the question becomes, you know, why are we seeing this downward trend in the release of sports movies, and so there are a number of reasons for that. One has to do with the cost of sports movies. As you can imagine, these are big budget films, and what we find is that they're not making a lot of this money back. One of the reasons they're not making this money back is because it costs a lot of money for them to use a franchise license. So for example, if they want to use, say, the Chicago Bears or the Baltimore Ravens franchise tag for say a football movie, that costs an awful lot of money for them to do. Also they need say big name stars in these movies in order to get the kind of draw that they want. And so the question became, is it worth it for them to even do these kinds of movies? When we read about these movies, we often read, we often see where they say, these movies gross an awful lot of money. And so we're thinking that, you know, these movies are making an awful lot of money, because we see these big old numbers. But you know, as IMDb Pro reports, in order for these movies to make a profit, they need to make at least twice what it costs to make the film. And so while they may gross a lot, if they say, for example, movie gross $160 million well, if they movie cost $80 million to make, then okay, $160 million makes sense, but it often costs a lot more than $160 million to make movies like this. And so a film needs to be 2x or twice its budget in order to make a profit. And now you add to this that franchises began to pull back on agreeing to license out their tags to make these movies. And so why did they begin to pull back on this? Well we don't know, but now that those tags are not available, it took away from the authenticity or of some of these films. And so those are some of the kinds of things that made it difficult to make these films again. And so what we're seeing now is a trend toward sports movies that focus more on individual sports. So you think about movies like Challengers, for example. Challengers, Challengers focused on tennis. Well, that's an individual sport. We think about movies like The Long Game focused on golf. Okay, that's an individual sport. And so it's a much smaller cast. It's a much smaller budget as a result. And so it's a lot easier for these films to make a profit. But even these films are not making a profit. You know, Challengers, for example, made only 1.75x which means it made only 75% of its budget. In other words, it didn't quite hit the 2x mark. Ah, Long Game, well below at point four, 2x so it didn't even make back its money, shy of the 2x mark. And so it is very difficult for these sports films to make money.

Brandon: 17:51

You know, you brought up a lot of interesting things there, one of which just to make sure that we're clear with the audience that a box office success, I want to make sure we get this right, Mom, we're saying it has to be 2x which means it has to gross two times its budget. Correct. That's what you're saying.

Reba: 18:05

That is correct. It has to gross two times its budget. So a movie, let me just say this again. So a movie that, for example, costs $80 million to make, needs to gross $160 million box office numbers in order to make its money back. So 2x is just a number to break even. That's just to break even. So the reason that 2x factor is so important is, and you may think that if a movie can just make its money back, that it should be fine, that anything beyond that amount means the movie was profitable. But what does, what that doesn't account for is the what it costs to distribute the film, what it costs to print the film, what it costs to advertise the film. And so it's all of those extra costs that add on to what it costs to make the film. And so that is where that 2x number comes in. So anything beyond that 2x or at two and above says that film was profitable. And let me just give you some examples of some movies that have done pretty well versus some movies that haven't. So if you think about the 2011 theatrical release Money Ball with Brad Pitt, it was 2.2x and that particular movie used the Oakland A's franchise identity. So we can start, you know, just with that, start making some relationship between the profitability of movies and how well those movies do financially. Another is Major League which was incredibly popular, was released in 1989 and I know I'm talking about some older movies here that starred Tom Berenger and Charlie Sheen and is Brandon's favorite movie, as he can attest to, they use the Cleveland Indians franchise, and it made 4.5x budget. So that movie was huge. Hugely popular. Let me give you another one, The Blind Side, which you know, dealt with sports. It was not purely sports, but sports was centered in it quite a bit. That was Sandra Bullock's movie, along with Quentin Aaron. That was 10.6 times, and that used the Baltimore Ravens identity, along with a bunch of SEC universities like LSU then SEC universities, that landscape has changed so much. I don't know who's and what, but as LSU, Mississippi and Tennessee, those identities were also used in that movie. So my point is that above two is good, and all those movies were above two, and they all had professional franchises, or very, very well known school franchises associated with them. Now add to that, Any Given Sunday didn't do as well, and it had a fake franchise associated with it. Trouble With the Curve. Interestingly enough, used the Atlanta Braves franchise, and it was 1.6x. So while that professional franchise does not guarantee profitability, it increases the chances that a film will be profitable. So I just wanted to, you know, go through those.

Brandon: 21:21

Those are some good points, Mom, I'm Chris. I'm going to kick it to You too in a moment. But I think what's interesting with those numbers and those specific call outs are that you mentioned movies that had a lot of big name stars in there. I'm going to specifically talk about what I think is different between Trouble With the Curve and and Moneyball, because those both were baseball movies, but they had baseball as a backdrop, but there wasn't a ton of action involved in both of those. However, what was, what I think is different, and why we're seeing the difference in outcome for those two, in terms of being called a box office success, is, while we got great acting and everything, with Trouble With the Curve, there wasn't much action involved. There wasn't much suspense involved. It was just a dramatic film. And in the realm of sports, when there's drama, but no drama in terms of the physical action on the field or whatever, I think that's why, as a sports movie, it came up short in that regard. Comparatively speaking, Moneyball was a bit biographical as well. It's sort of an actual situation that already occurred. We knew about how the Oakland A's managed to, with a budget, turn into a, you know, competitive franchise. And I think people enjoyed the kind of behind the scenes look with superstars, but behind the scenes look on how we got there and everything, and that's where I think the drama and the fun was was different. There was some action on the field in both movies, but overall, I think that speaks to why Moneyball ended up being a success, despite being a dramatic film as well, like Trouble With the Curve. And that's where Trouble With the Curve, unfortunately, with this, in terms of this standing how it came up short. And so with that in mind, like, it's funny to think of that, because there's so many of these movies that we really did enjoy, and then it turns out that we may have enjoyed them, but they came up short the for the whole panel here. Let's ask this around like, what do you think? Why do you think? Or what do you think is keeping these movies from coming up short of becoming a box office success in your in your own opinion,

Terry: 23:15

Some of it may be the fact that a lot of movies on sports are more centered on sports that are popular in the US versus worldwide. And I know we're going to get into this a little later, but yeah, I think typically it's it's the fact that maybe they don't have as broad of an appeal as you might think they would.

Chris: 23:42

I would add to that, I think a big, a big chunk of successful sports movies, and the appeal of them is the kind of coming of age element, if you look back in the mid 90s, or even the early 2000s I mean, you know, and we talked about kind of franchising and licensing with professionals, franchise sports franchises. But I also think, you know, a lot of these sports movies are teen, you know, they're teen comedies, teen dramas and kids dramas. You know, when you when you see the top five grossing sports movies from 1994 three of them are kids movies. It's, you know, Mighty Ducks 2, Little Giants, and Angels in the Outfield, three of the top five. And I wonder if, if kids coming up now, you know, youth sports is not as popular as it was, and I think kids spend their time a little differently now, you know their their entertainment is a little different that they did. You know, they don't go outside as much. They're plugged in all the time. They're kind of online a lot. And so I wonder, if you know these coming of age movies even have the same appeal to them. I feel like kids movies now are more more based in fantasy, and so I think that in that sense, they might have just lost their appeal.

Brandon: 25:09

Yeah, for myself, I kind of, we kind of already talked about this a little bit, but Mom, you brought up the licensing, Chris, you just brought up the licensing. And I do think that those do play a major role in it, in part, because one thing with fandoms is it's a part of our identity. And so you know, when you say you're a Bulls fan, you're all about, you know, the the garb you're wearing, you follow that team closely. And so one aspect of it is, when we're watching these, these sports movies and the licenses, you know, they're not using the real franchises, that does. That's one thing that's not helping us be drawn in to wanting to watch this specifically when we're talking about professional sports, comparatively speaking, when you're talking about lower levels. For example, high school, I brought up Varsity Blues earlier. That one was considered a box office success, and I think in part because we don't have to worry about licensing. In that case, you know, it's high school, so everybody can identify with the level and just kind of run with it. And it was entertaining for what it was. It was a high school sports movie, as compared to, you know, fans of professional sports going that's not really my franchise out there, like the Miami Sharks, for example, in any given Sunday, while that's a really awesome name for a franchise, it doesn't exist. So it didn't necessarily pull any audience, given that it wasn't professional and everything like that, so that that's among the reasons for myself, a second one, and one that I think is really high up there. And this is why I said I enjoy a lot of my other movies, is that we, we as sports fans, want to see action similar to the way that we enjoy the games. And that is that when watching the sport, we enjoy the drama as it unfolds, because we have no clue what's going to happen next. There's that element of surprise in every aspect of it, and the fact that we know these guys have been trained to execute these movements, you know, these plays and everything we want to see that type of action and that type of suspense portrayed on the screen, that's what's going to draw us in. And it's not lost on me that when you're talking about a movie becoming a box office success. A lot of that is dependent on repeat dollars, people that want to come back to the theater to see this again. If we don't have those kind of aspects and that those elements involved, you're only likely to watch it one time before going, you know, even considering to see it again. So I think those are the big things that play a role in whether or not a movie becomes a box office success, particularly we're talking about if a sports movie becomes one. Mom, do you have anything that, oh, sorry, Chris, it looks like you want to say something.

Chris: 27:25

I'm gonna jump in. And also, another thing, I feel like people are getting their fill through sports documentaries that are just premiering on streaming. I think when sports movies were a little bit more popular, we didn't have as much access to athletes as we do now. So you're seeing streaming, you know, streaming shows about either sports scandals or about just, you know, a day in the life of kind of stuff, where you get to follow a wide receiver as he shows up to the facility on a, you know, on an off day to to watch film or do a scrimmage or something like that. You get to hear, you know, talking heads from, you know, coaches, assistant coaches, strength coaches, or whatever the case may be. You get to hear sideline conversations. You get to hear on field or on court conversations. So people are getting their fix that way more so than a fictional, you know, drama.

Brandon: 28:19

That's an excellent point. Chris, you know, as a again, as a big sports fan, I agree with that. I mean, NFL films has brought the drama of, you know, NFL games to life for a lot of fans, myself included. And so I think as a regular sports fan, we are gravitating more towards something like that. And even a movie I didn't mention is one of my favorites, but it speaks to exactly your point is Michael Jordan, Come fly with Me, which came out in the very beginning of the 90s. You know, like any kid from Chicago at that time, you got the greatest athlete of all time in your city, and then they made this movie. That's, it's on VHS. I'm sure I can go order it on on Blu Ray, if I can't find it on streaming. But I loved every bit of that because it brought me closer to my favorite athlete. So you're right when it comes to sports fans, especially in sports movies, the documentaries are probably where we're being drawn into more. So Mom, did you have something there?

Reba: 29:15

Yeah, I think two questions I think it raises here is one, are people getting their fill from documentaries, you know, television documentaries, because of the absence of sports movies, theatrically released sports movies, that's one. And the other is, you know, we are in a different era than we were in the 1990s and early 2000s when we didn't have streaming, you know. To you guys', point we do have streaming available to us now, so we can watch, you know, just about anything from the convenience of our home. And I think generally, when people have the option to do that, they will. But I have to say, I just can't, I just can't help but feel that if there is just, you know, a really great, you know, sports movie at the theaters. I find it hard to believe that people wouldn't be motivated to go see that. You know, as a matter of fact, you know, we're beginning to see the trailer for F1 Formula One, which is Jerry Bruckheimer's new film that's supposed to come out in June, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, about Formula One. And so, of course, it's going to be, be theatrically released, and it is expected to be just a huge, huge blockbuster film. And you know, of course, Bruckheimer and the studio are, you know, you know, betting on that and and so I can't wait to see just what this is going to what is this going to look like. Are people going to, you know, run to the theaters to see this film? And I think that's going to tell us something about people's appetites for theatrically, theatrically released movies like this. So and I, you know, are people watching streaming because the absence of movies like this. This will tell, this will tell Hollywood something.

Brandon: 31:13

I think that's an excellent point, mom. I'm looking forward to finding that out. And I'm looking forward to this movie as well. It's interesting. As a team sports guy, I will say this is much more of an individual sport, but it's also give me a look at the action differently than trying to watch people racing in a circle for several hours, this makes it just much more up close and personal and fun, and I hope they can give us the same type of action that draws those, you know, racing fans in. It's going to at least bring me in. I can say for myself. One more thing I want to touch on this as we're talking about why these are not necessarily hitting box office success rates, we are also noticing, kind of like a cultural difference between where these movies are being successful depending on the style and what sport we're also featuring. Dad, I'm going to go ahead and kick it to you first here, because you're one you brought this up earlier. So why don't I just go ahead and let you take the mic and run with it. What? What are you seeing?

Terry: 32:07

Some movies, depending on the sport, has more of a worldwide, worldwide appeal. And so just to mention a couple we looked at Invictus, which dealt with rugby, and it was like three and a quarter times more money worldwide than it did in the US and Canadian release of the movie. So that in for instance, Cool Runnings was like two and a quarter times more and Cool Runnings dealt more with the Olympics.

Excerpt from Green Street Hooligans: 32:45

Excerpt from Green Street Hooligans Excerpt from Green Street Hooligans

Terry: 33:10

So some sports movies that have more of a worldwide appeal are more successful by that number that we were talking about of at least making two and a half times whatever its budget was. And I can, I guess I can bring one more up. The one that Chris brought up was Green Street Hooligans, which really clobbered its us. And Canadian dollars amount by 10. So it was 10 times more, quote, unquote successful than its us.

Chris: 34:05

Yeah, just, just that, the how ingrained the sport is in the culture, I think just makes a big difference. I mean, I think we kind of discussed like, you know, in certain societies, rugby is very popular, and certain societies, soccer is very popular. And, you know, you think of, you know, cricket, you think of movies that that are, yeah, just, it's not even just that people are exposed to them. It's just that they're there. It's, it's what kids play growing up, or it's what kids watch growing up, or the athletes that they gravitate towards. I think that that can influence your influence what you choose to watch. And so I think you see that with the kind of some of the differences in how a movie does in certain certain parts of the world. So, yeah, I mean. That's what I would say in terms of cultural relevance.

Brandon: 35:04

I want to, I want to bring this home with one more question for you guys, though, like, despite the downward trend and everything we're talking about, certain elements that are missing, but we're also seeing an uptick in the documentary. So my question to the panel as we close things out is, do you think we are going to see an increase in sports movie productions making their way back to the box office in the

Reba: 35:24

I hope so. I really hope so, because when you guys were future. growing up, we we went to the theater to see quite a few sports movies, and we enjoyed them. We enjoy them very, very much. And I don't think our appetites have changed for that, even though streaming has come along and made things quite convenient for us to see almost anything we want. You know, in the home, we, I think I can speak for all of us. We enjoy going to the movies. We still enjoy going to the movies, and I would love to see a good sports movie on screen. I certainly plan to go check out F1, Jerry Bruckheimer, just so you know. I certainly plan to check out F1 and I am looking forward to seeing, you know, how many people clamor to the theaters to to check it out and hope that that, you know, catalyzes the industry to to make more films like this, add to that that the professional sports leagues are are now feeling a little more amenable to licensing their brands to the to the industry. You know, much more so than they have over the last, say, 20 years that could open the doors. They could open the doors to into the industry, you know, doing these films again?

Terry: 36:41

Yeah, I agree. You know, I only went through a very short list of the movies, sports movies that I like again. I could list, if I kept going, I'd probably easily hit 100 and for various reasons, but more so because, as we always go back to when we talk about movies, some of it is the story. And part of that story, as you brought up, is, you know, the big stop, or, you know, the big score, or whatever. And I look forward to seeing things like that. You know, I'm a lover of IMAX, and I think that that's just perfect for things like this. Matter of fact, I'm thinking maybe even seeing F1 on IMAX. But yeah, I certainly hope that we do have more sports stories in the future, and that there are big splashes where you can see them in all their glory on a large screen.

Chris: 37:43

I, I hope we do. I I'm I'm on board with everybody on that. I'm skeptical that we will. I feel like it has to. It would something else would have to give way to that, like something else would have to experience a decline for sports movies to step in. And I also, I mean, I honestly feel that like a big part of a big part of the success of sports movies was having something that your kid would be interested in going to see with you, you know. And so when I feel like having kids movies, having teen movies, those were that was a big piece of the pie. And so, you know, even though sports franchises are are more willing to attach their name to these movies, I feel like the the real, you know, the meat of it is still, you know youth you know youth sports or youth youth culture. You know teenagers. You know, I feel like those, the story being centered around them is what would give these what would give films greater earning potential? And I'm, I'm struggling to think of star, you know, actors around that age that would really do that, you know? I think I think about, you know, how old Freddie, Freddie Prinze Jr and Jessica Beal and Matthew Lillard were when Summer Catch came out. They're probably older than what they were playing. But I think I'm just struggling to think of stars in that age range that they would cast that would be like, Oh, I'm gonna go see that. You know the way, you know, the way you might have back then. So, you know, in terms of the formula for success, you know, being, you know, a big name draw, you know, and, you know, some of the other things work I mentioned, I just don't know if we're actually going to get those. I think licensing is just one piece of the puzzle.

Terry: 39:53

Yeah, you know, you bring up an interesting point on that one in terms of, uh, young stars, but this is prime opportunity for something like that. I remember, uh, Winter's Bone. Yeah. I mean, who was Jennifer Lawrence, and, you know, she emerged as a star in that.

Excerpt from Winter's Bone: 40:25

Excerpt from Winter's Bone

Terry: 40:36

So this seems like a prime opportunity for someone to get pushed forward in that respect. To your point about someone young being able to fill that spot?

Reba: 40:47

Yeah, I think I agree with your dad. I think you know, as, I mean, we are advocates of indie film. We are the advocates of indie film. And, you know, an element of indie film is, you know, making a space for newcomers to to strut their stuff. And so I think there's, there's plenty of room to bring them in and let them do a, it doesn't have to be Summer Catch, but a Summer Catch-like film that would be quite entertaining and draw in young people. I can easily see something like that being made and drawing people into the theaters. So I'm not as pessimistic as Chris on this one, not as pessimistic as Chris on this one. I remain hopeful as for the big ones, as for the big movies. I agree with Bruckheimer, unfortunately, I've heard that before. That it just requires big name actors to really pull them over as for these big, big movies, I do agree with, I hate to say it, but I do agree that that may be a requirement for those.

Brandon: 41:57

I feel exactly like the rest of you guys that I'm, I'm hopeful that they do make him back to the theaters, because there's just, you know, I remember the feelings I had watching The Sandlot on the big screen, you know, watching Mighty Ducks on the big screen. And we're talking about kids movies in particular. And I, I'm doing so intentionally, because I'm wondering, what I'm noticing is that F1 is coming out this year. Gran Turismo recently came out. We just talked about Draft Day. So we are seeing, you know, movies make their way to the screen again, and getting, you know, big releases and such. And I know Gran Turismo was based off of a video game, but the action sequences, all of that was based off of, also the the idea of the kid playing the game and then turning it into an actual racing career. I say all this to say that as we're speaking right now, I have in my head this awesome idea of of being able to sit down in the theater and they have these new these new screens are coming out the wide screen scenes that have the extra space on the side walls as well now, and seeing something like based off of the Little League World Series. And I think it'd be really cool to kind of see the the way that the action would unfold, but the drama unfold, letting the kids run the show with it as well. It doesn't have to be like heavy, heavy, but I I think if we had an opportunity for that, for the kids and even for the adults, to have a chance to see movies like that, that's what would be really awesome. And there's no other place for it than I feel then on a big screen. It'd be really nice to see those returns, so I'm hopeful that we'll see that in the future. And with that, we're gonna go ahead and wrap up this edition of the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast. Thanks so much for listening and figuring out your cup of tea along with us. Honestly, we could go on and on like we do at our dinner table, as mentioned with these 6 million other movies that we did not say by name, but we do look forward to you joining us again next week on another great discussion. Make sure you rate and follow the Cup of Tea Critiques Podcast, wherever you listen to your favorite podcast, and be sure to shout out your favorite sports team and movie in the comments in this episode. You can stay in the loop on all things COTC by subscribing on our website at cupofteacritiques.com. You can also find us on Facebook. Check out our Instagram, at Cup of Tea Critiques, and on Letterboxd at COTCritiques for Reba Terry and Chris. I'm Brandon. We'll see you next week for another deep look for the deep brew.