Trouble Along the Way

Movies to See Right Now

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SHORT TERM 12

This week’s MUST SEE is the affecting foster facility drama Short Term 12, with its powerful performance by performance by Brie Larson (Rampart, The Spectacular Now). Another good choice is You Will Be My Son, a good French movie with a great ending (and it will likely be in theaters for only another week or so).

Other recommendations from the most current movies:

  • I really liked the absorbing drama Ain’t Them Bodies Saints.
  • In A World… is the year’s best comedy so far – it’s a Hollywood satire, an insider’s glimpse into the voice-over industry, a family dramedy and a romantic comedy all in one.
  • The Family, Luc Besson’s tongue-in-cheek Mafioso-moves-to-France comedy has its moments.

I haven’t yet seen the Joseph Gordon Levitt comedy Don Jon, which opens today. You can read descriptions and view trailers of it and other upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My other top recommendations:

My other recommendations:

Check out my new feature VOD Roundup, where you can find my comments on over twenty current movies available on Video on Demand. There are some good ones, some bad ones and some really, really good ones (including Letters from the Big Man).

My DVD/Stream of the Week is The Sapphires, a Feel Good triumph from Australia. The Sapphires is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, GooglePlay and other VOD outlets.

On September 28, you can watch Trouble Along the Way,
featuring John Wayne as a crooked college football coach who says “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing” (years before Vince Lombardi).

Coming up on TV: John Wayne as crooked football coach

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On March 17, Turner Classic Movies is airing Trouble Along the Way (1953). John Wayne plays a gleefully corrupt football coach who buys players in an attempt to build up the football program overnight at a small Catholic school.  And he utters the famous coachspeak, “Winning isn’t everything – it’s the only thing.”  John Wayne wasn’t the first to utter that line – it was UCLA coach Red Sanders.  But the Duke said it nine years before Vince Lombardi did.

I discuss Trouble Along the Way and other football movies on my Best Sports Movies (scroll down for football).

Updated Movies to See Right Now

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Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in The Adjustment Bureau

The Must See film right now is The Adjustment Bureau, a first rate love story embedded in the action thriller genre.  You can still see Oscar winners True Grit, The King’s Speech and The Fighter. They are on my Best Movies of 2010. 127 Hours and Biutiful are also good movies out now. The Illusionist is the wistful and charming animated story of a small time magician who drifts through an ever bleaker array of gigs while helping a waif blossom. Cedar Rapids is a fun and unpretentious comedy. Kaboom is a trippy sex romp. Nora’s Will is a wry family dramedy.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Inside Job. For my recent DVD choices (including trailers), see DVDs of the Week.

Movies on TV this week include After the Thin Man, Arsenic and Old Lace, Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Trouble Along the Way on TCM.

"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

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That’s a pretty famous football quote, often attributed to Vince Lombardi.  Lombardi did say those words as early as 1959.  But the quote was originated by UCLA football coach Red Sanders in 1950.

It turns out that the famous line was also spoken in a 1953 movie – by John Wayne!  In Trouble Along the Way, Wayne plays a gleefully corrupt football coach who buys players in an attempt to build up the football program overnight at a small Catholic school.

I’ve added Trouble Along the Way to my discussion of football movies in my Best Sports Movies.

John Wayne in Trouble Along the Way