They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

[gh]

Nothing like an HBO rerun of "Personal Best" at 03:00 to get you through jetlag. What a hoot!

[Jack Slocombe]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

Naw, all we get get is "Sex and Sports in America"

[malmo]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

Thank god they don't make em like that anymore! "Personal Best" ranks down there as one of the alltime top rotten tomatoes.!

[tafnut]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

Doesn't Mariel remind you of Amy A? Same sort of lanky body and angular face?

[kuha]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

I'll give one more plug for the awfulness of "Running" with Michael Douglas. It's a turkey's turkey.

[geezer]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

Watched "Fire on the Track" again last night to ease my OG withdrawal symptoms. Interesting that Prefontaine always had a "stage presence" when being interviewed. Much easier to watch something like that than some self-absorbed actor pretending to be an athlete.

[guru]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

I'll bet Kenny Moore STILL has nightmares about that one.

Who remembers the other "real" track folk in that flick? Cameos galore!

[racewalker]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

Without comment:
http://www.amiannoying.com/2001/view.asp?ID=2065

[hj197steve]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

I'll still take "Golden Girl" with Susan Anton. Better, I'll just take Susan Anton and skip the movie.

[Coureur]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

>Who remembers the other "real" track folk in that flick? Cameos galore!

As I recall, Debbie Bottomly was Mariel's stunt double for the running scenes.

[Bob Duncan]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

>Doesn't Mariel remind you of Amy A? Same sort of lanky body and angular face?

Yeah, but all she did was whine during the movie! And this was before Hemingway had her "augmentation". I guess I'm the only one who really liked the movie, but I'm a fool for B-films/guilty pleasures.

I saw it in the theatre when it came out; this wasn't a "straight to video" film, but a big production, with Oscar winner Robert Towne ("Chinatown" screenplay) doing the writing and directing. The cameos were awesome and "revealing"; Forget Kenny Moore's butt, Jodi Anderson in the steam room scene was larger than life! Feuerbach played guitar and sang a song called "Dianabol". Where was the USADA when we needed them!?. Lots of casual dope smoking scenes, gratuitous nudity, and then (the real kicker), the athletes giving Mariel some opium to smoke (always keep some around for emergencies) when she had appendicitis or something! Plus one of the first major movies to explore lesbian relationships. Groundbreaking! And the gal who played her love interest, the hurdler (Patrice Donnelly) was a "real" athlete, although I don't really remember seeing her in any meets back then. Plus, the coach was played by a real actor, Scott Glenn, fresh from his bad-guy role in "Urban Cowboy". Check out the credited cast at http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084489/fullcredits. This film is a must-see for all track fans, especially old school types who lived through the seventies!

[Hulk]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

>Doesn't Mariel remind you of Amy A? Same sort of lanky body and angular face?

Actually, speaking of the high jump... my wife and I were commenting how Matt Hemingway is a spitting image of Mariel et al. In fact, *all* the Hemingways -- independently of their "generational sepration" -- seem to have the same common features (blond hair, dark eyebrows, etc...).

[mamo]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

> Actually, speaking of the high jump... my wife and I were commenting how Matt Hemingway is a spitting image of Mariel et al. In fact, *all* the Hemingways -- independently of their "generational sepration" -- seem to have the same common features (blond hair, dark eyebrows, etc...).

That's interesting, although "the" Hemingway always had dark hair (until he went gray).

[BillCarr]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

When I was in school Personal Best was standard fare on the in-house college movie channel during the BGL Awareness Week every year - and it never got old . . . .

[dj]

Re: They Don't Make Movies Like That Anymore

Best athleticism in the movie: Deby LaPlante playing touch football.