The Bwog
Weekend Rentals: Olympics Edition

Happy Olympics, Columbia! It's that time again for (undangerous) nationalism and spectacle and sport. To help get you in the spirit, Weekend Rental correspondent Brandon Hammer has suggested three Olympics films. GO USA!

Chariots of Fire (1981): [Cue the theme music.] Winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Chariots of Fire is perhaps the epitome of the classic Olympics movie. It's based on the true story of two British runners who competed in the 1924 Paris Olympics, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), both of whom attempt to use running in order for some greater purpose. On the one hand, Abrahams, the son of a Jewish immigrant, wants to do well in order to spite society's prevalent anti-Semitism. Liddell, on the other hand, as an ardent Christian and Scot, wants to compete because he feels it is necessary to fulfill God's will. Even, according to Roger Ebert, if you don't like running movies, it's still a very inspiring film.

Cool Runnings (1993): Cool Runnings is hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable. Based again on a true story in five Jamaican men who seek respect in the face of complete resentment and disdain from the world community by forming a bobsled team. They train in order to compete at the 1988 Calgary winter games, despite the fact that there is no snow in Jamaica, in fact, the mention of winter provokes character to remark, "You mean 'winter' as in Eskimos and igloos and penguins and ice?".

Munich (2005): While this Spielberg film is not really about any Olympic competition or sporting event, it's a reminder that while the world appears to take a break from politics during the Olympics, political tensions lie just beneath the surface. Beginning with an incredibly powerful recount of how Black September, a Palestinian terrorist organization, captured and eventually murdered Israeli Olympic athletes at the 1972 Munich games, the film's main focus is Israel's response. The leader of Israel's Massad response team, played by Eric Bana, is assigned to assassinate those responsible for the attacks. In hunting down different suspects, however, he begins to question the legitimacy of his actions. Though it certainly did not get enough praise when it originally came out, Munich is an essential film for the Olympics.


Posted by luis: #1 · reply · track
August 9, 2008 at 3:51 PM (from campus)
But with kim's closing, where to rent?
Posted by umm...: #2 · reply · track
August 9, 2008 at 3:52 PM
You forgot one EXTREMELY important movie, "The Cutting Edge"!!!
Posted by also:: #3 · reply · track
August 9, 2008 at 7:06 PM
"Stealth"
Posted by filmster: #4 · reply · track
August 9, 2008 at 8:20 PM (from campus)
skip munich, double skip chariots and watch cool runnings tres times.
Posted by Munich: #5 · reply · track
August 9, 2008 at 10:45 PM
sucked - Cool Runnings was awesome though.
Posted by feel the rhythm: #6 · reply · track
August 9, 2008 at 11:48 PM
i'm pretty sure there were only four jamaican men in Cool Runnings.

we got de one Derese

and de one Junior

Yul Brenner

and Sanka

The fastest of the fastest of Jamaican sprinters

Go to Olympics, fight for Jamaica

unless the coach counts. and i don't think he does.

GET YO FACTS STRAIGHT BWOG
Posted by dfsasa: #7 · reply · track
August 10, 2008 at 8:59 AM
Yale has their own font...

[external link to www.yale.edu]
Posted by agreed.: #8 (in reply to #2) · reply · track
August 10, 2008 at 9:29 AM
add it to the vancouver winter olympics edition please?
Posted by James: #9 · reply · track
August 10, 2008 at 9:43 PM
mikheil saakashvili, newly-invaded president of georgia, recieved his LLM from columbia in 94. i expected bwog to let me in on this before wikipedia, no?

ps i hope he took betts' class on war and peace?
Posted by Seems : #10 (in reply to #7) · reply · track
August 10, 2008 at 10:42 PM
like a waste of time, although the font does capture their aristocratic culture

quite well.
Posted by SEAS '09: #11 · reply · track
August 10, 2008 at 10:50 PM
They also have their own Blue. But so do we.
Posted by Ceasar'10: #12 (in reply to #11) · reply · track
August 10, 2008 at 11:07 PM (from campus)
Except theirs isn't putrid.
Posted by a yid: #13 · reply · track
August 11, 2008 at 2:37 AM
your suggestions promote an unrealistic ideal for us

so many jewish athletes?
Posted by glad you clarified: #14 (in reply to #13) · reply · track
August 11, 2008 at 9:42 AM
your identity, because otherwise you would have been slaughtered.
Posted by satisfied: #15 · reply · track
August 11, 2008 at 9:12 PM
came here to comment "fuck you for not picking cool runnings you pretentious prick" but it seems bwog stepped off its ivory tower. kudos.
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