A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme . It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. Despite this, sport is ultimately rarely the central concern of such films and sport performs primarily an allegorical role. Furthermore, sports fans are not necessarily the target demographic in such movies, but sports fans tend to maintain a high following and esteem for such movies.
31-525: BASEketball is a 1998 American sports comedy film cowritten and directed by David Zucker , starring South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone , and costarring Yasmine Bleeth , Jenny McCarthy , Robert Vaughn , Ernest Borgnine and Dian Bachar . The film is about BASEketball, a hybrid sport combining baseball and basketball, invented by Zucker in the 1980s. Parker and Stone play childhood friends who envision it as something they could win against athletes . It becomes an overnight sensation and
62-455: A Barcalounger originally belonging to Grandpa Fred Stringer looms large in the tensions between Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom and his son Nelson. In the American remake of Shameless , Mickey sells two Barcalounger recliners after stealing a couple of household items and going on to auction them in the first episode of season 5 . Joey and Chandler from the hit NBC sitcom Friends owned
93-459: A cover of the War song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by Smash Mouth and a cover of Harry Belafonte's "Jump In The Line (Shake Shake Senora)" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies . BASEketball was released on July 31, 1998, opening alongside The Parent Trap , The Negotiator , and Ever After . It debuted in the #11 spot in its opening weekend, which was led by Saving Private Ryan . Its domestic total
124-454: A high-school friend and are shunned by their classmates. They find themselves outside drinking beer and shooting a basketball when two classmates challenge them to a game. After seeing that their opponents are very good at basketball, they say they will only play a game they picked up in the streets (while secretly inventing the rules as they play, based on and combining elements of both basketball and baseball). After winning, they decide to refine
155-561: A huge hit. Parker and Stone agreed to do the movie under the assumption that their show would have been canceled by the time filming began. This did not happen, so they worked on both projects simultaneously. The soundtrack featured a ska cover of Norwegian band A-ha 's signature single " Take On Me " by Reel Big Fish . The band also appears as the live entertainment at the home stadium of the Milwaukee Beers, playing their song " Beer " amongst other songs. The soundtrack also includes
186-430: A more richly developed sport world, and may also be more player-oriented or thematically complex. Often, they feature a hero of adventure origins and a clear distinction between loss and victory set against each other in a play time struggle. Thematically, the story is often one of "our team" versus "their team"; their team will always try to win, and our team will show the world that they deserve recognition or redemption;
217-456: A reference to Kilgore Trout's novel 2 B R 0 2 B , where they provide luxury seating for wannabe suicides, with government encouragement; " 2 B R 0 2 B " is actually a 1962 Vonnegut short story in which Barcaloungers do not figure. In the same author's Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Billy Pilgrim is strapped to a yellow Barcalounger in the alien's flying saucer as he is abducted and taken to their planet. In John Updike's Rabbit Is Rich (1981),
248-562: A specific moment in history like I, Tonya (2018). Examples of this overall genre/type include: Body and Soul (1947), The Hustler (1961), Rocky (1976), Hoosiers (1986), Remember the Titans (2000), Lagaan (2001), Moneyball (2011), Ford v Ferrari (2019), Ferrari (2023) and the Goal! trilogy. There have been numerous sports movies that have become award winning phenomenons. Several films have been nominated for and won
279-574: A sports hero". Though reluctant, Coop ultimately accepts the opportunity. Five years later, the NBL is in full swing with teams, fans, stadiums and a major championship, the Denslow Cup. Denslow owns the Milwaukee Beers, Coop and Remer's team. During the championship game, he dies from choking on a hot dog, causing Coop to miss his shot and costing the Beers the game. Denslow's will names Coop as owner of
310-399: A target of corporate sponsorship . This is the only work involving the stars that was neither written, directed nor produced by them. It was a box office disappointment with mixed critical reviews and is credited with coining the slang term " derp ". Milwaukee slackers and lifelong best friends Joseph R. "Coop" Cooper and Douglas "Doug" Remer gate crash the college graduation party of
341-473: Is clear that this genre is loved by many. Barcalounger A Barcalounger is a type of recliner that originated from Buffalo, New York , and is named after the company which manufactured it. Like other recliners, Barcaloungers have moving parts to change things such as the inclination of the back. Since the 2010 bankruptcy and 2011 re-emergence, they have been made in China. The Barcalounger chair
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#1732780728979372-547: Is replaced by Mr. Derp . Sports film The first sports film was released 1915, this was during the era of silent films. Several sub-categories of sports films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in live action, are somewhat fluid. The most common sports subgenres depicted in movies are sports drama and sports comedy. Both categories typically employ playground settings, match, game creatures and other elements commonly associated with biological stories. Sports films tend to feature
403-779: The 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards , for the Worst Actress and Worst Supporting Actress awards, respectively. Bleeth lost to the Spice Girls (for Spice World ) while McCarthy lost to Maria Pitillo ( Godzilla ). In response to a negative review from Roger Ebert, Parker and Stone named South Park 's second season 's eleventh episode " Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods ". Parker and Stone also referenced BASEketball 's negative reception in South Park 's season-eight episode " The Passion of
434-455: The Beers are losing; by the seventh-inning stretch, the Beers are down 16–0. Finally infuriated by the pair's feuding, Squeak gives the stadium an impassioned speech, reminding Coop and Remer where they came from, how much they changed everyone else's lives and what they risk losing if they lose the game. Motivated, Coop and Remer reconcile as Yvette, also moved by Squeak's speech, breaks off her alliance with Cain. After shifting their focus back in
465-513: The Beers for one year on the condition that they win the next Denslow Cup; otherwise, ownership reverts to Denslow's widow Yvette. Coop and Remer then meet Jenna Reed, head of the Dream Come True Foundation, and Joey, one of the children in her care and a passionate fan of BASEketball; Coop, Remer and Squeak begin spending time with the two, with Coop eventually forming a romantic relationship with Jenna. Baxter Cain, owner of
496-643: The Dallas Felons, wants to remove Denslow's rules preventing monetization of the sport, having been unable to do so during Denslow's lifetime. Coop refuses to accept any changes; Cain partners with Yvette as he tries to make the Beers lose the next Denslow Cup so she will own the team. The Beers still continue winning games and heading toward the championship. Cain approaches Remer, telling him that he made an offer to Coop, but Coop refused without telling Remer. Remer confronts Coop about what Cain told him, and Coop quickly compromises by declaring Remer part owner of
527-629: The Jew ", when Stan Marsh and Kenny McCormick decide to go to Mel Gibson 's house in Malibu to hold him responsible and to get their money back from him due to them not liking his movie The Passion of the Christ . BASEketball is credited with coining the Internet slang term " derp ". Parker and Stone later referenced the term in South Park 's third season episode " The Succubus ", where Chef
558-501: The film "dark, dull, witless and hobbled by poor comic timing," comparing its gross-out humor unfavorably to that of There's Something About Mary . Roger Ebert echoed this sentiment in his negative review in the Chicago Sun-Times , giving the film one and a half stars out of four and saying the film "tries to buy laughs with puerile shocks". For their roles in the film, Yasmine Bleeth and Jenny McCarthy were nominated at
589-477: The film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F. In a positive review with Variety , Leonard Klady said BASEketball "has the heightened entertainment challenge of presenting an invented sport ... The film's physical comedy should translate well internationally and chalk up high scores on video". The film
620-448: The game, they are poised to win when Coop's La-Z-Boy BASEketball pops. Joey brings a crestfallen Coop a new BASEketball made from a Barcalounger , restoring his confidence. After a risky last throw, they win the Denslow Cup. Jenna and Coop reconcile as Yvette makes out with Remer, and both men skate around the stadium with their new trophy. Cameo appearances David Zucker , who then had a first-look deal at Universal Pictures , pitched
651-497: The highest award of Best Picture at the Academy Awards , including Chariots of Fire (1981), Rocky (1976), and Million Dollar Baby (2004). Other movies that received awards of a high caliber are Jerry Maguire (Best Supporting Actor, 1996), Bull Durham (Best Original Screenplay, 1988), and The Karate Kid (Best Supporting Actor, 1984). Regardless of the awards that these sports films have been granted, it
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#1732780728979682-444: The idea of a low-brow comedy about a game he invented and played in the 1980s. Zucker had previously attempted to adapt the idea into a TV series without success. A pilot episode was filmed which starred Chris Rock , but it did not materialize into a series. When Zucker got the green-light from Universal, he had wanted Chris Farley to play the lead role before casting Parker and Stone due to their work with South Park becoming
713-779: The plant in Morristown, Tennessee, in 2011, for manufacture of the Barcalounger chair. It is owned by the private equity firm Hancock Park Associates. Barcalo Manufacturing also made beds in Welland, Ontario , under the Quality Beds name in the first decade of the 20th century. Barcalo, the country's oldest manufacturer of reclining chairs, is reputed to be the first American company to allow its employees coffee breaks , in 1902. In Kurt Vonnegut 's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965), Barcaloungers make an appearance in
744-671: The rules to the game and Coop makes the first BASEketball out of a La-Z-Boy chair. Their friend, Kenny "Squeak" Scolari, tags along and the sport becomes very popular in the neighborhood over the next six months. Businessman Ted Denslow meets Coop and Remer and proposes the creation of the National BASEketball League (NBL) along with numerous rules in place to prevent its decline: teams cannot switch cities, players cannot be traded, nobody can make money via corporate sponsorship deals and anyone who wants to play can freely participate, with Denslow stating that "anyone can be
775-485: The sport they are playing and trying to get back into it. Examples and staples of the genre include The Waterboy , The Longest Yard , Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby , and Blades of Glory . Sports drama combines the sports film genre with drama film elements. These films rely on conflict, usually revolving around an athlete or a team. These dramas can further be broken up into categories, some movies focusing on race such as 42 (2013), or focusing on
806-434: The story does not always have to involve a team. The story could also be about an individual athlete or the story could focus on an individual playing on a team. Sports comedy combines the sports film genre with comedy film elements. Traditionally, these films heavily rely on slapstick humor and very physical comedy, such as someone getting hurt in a comical way. A typical storyline may revolve around someone losing sight of
837-441: The team and Jenna's foundation. Jenna learns about the scandal and breaks up with Coop, as Coop and Remer blame each other for the controversy, with Remer declaring that Coop was no longer his best friend. With their friendship dissolved, Coop goes to Calcutta, aiming to resolve the situation by replacing the child workers with adults. Returning to the championship game just as it begins, Coop and Remer still argue with each other and
868-496: The team. Later, Cain cuts the funding to Jenna's foundation in an attempt to get Coop and Remer to adopt a clothing line; Coop opposes it, but Remer agrees and becomes conceited with his newfound A-list status. After the semifinals, Cain blackmails Coop and Remer into losing or forfeiting the Denslow Cup game, or else he will inform the public that the clothing line has been produced through child labor in Calcutta , thus ruining
899-429: Was $ 7,027,290. On Rotten Tomatoes , BASEketball has an approval rating of 41%, with an average rating of 5.30/10, based on 51 reviews from critics. The website's critics consensus reads, " Baseketball isn't just a succession of fouls thanks to the comedic zip of David Zucker's direction, but sophomoric gags and a lack of performance hustle by Trey Parker and Matt Stone makes this satire a clumsy bunt." On Metacritic ,
930-488: Was awarded four stars out of five by Empire magazine's Ian Freer , who called it funny but described the humor as sometimes hit-and-miss. Conversely, Los Angeles Times ' Jack Mathews labeled the film as sleep-inducing and "by far the most inane and badly written of the comedies made by any of the creators of the classic 1980 sendup Airplane! ". Michael O'Sullivan in The Washington Post '' called
961-742: Was introduced by the Barcalo Manufacturing Company of Buffalo, New York , which eventually became the Barcalounger Company. The chairs are currently produced in China. The Barcalounger Company, once named the Barcalo Manufacturing Company, was founded by Edward J. Barcalo in 1896. It is the oldest manufacturer of reclining chairs in the U.S. After the company filed for bankruptcy in 2010, it shuttered its facilities in Rocky Mount, North Carolina , and Martinsville, Virginia , then restarted manufacturing at