This the seventh in a series on things to do to feed your golf addiction in the golfing off season:
Watch A Golf Movie
If you can’t get out to play, watching a golf movie just might feed your golf addiction. Here’s a list of The GolfBlogger’s Favorites:
1. The Greatest Game Ever Played
A faithful adaptation of the book that plays well on the big screen. Its no wonder, the author, Mark Frost, once wrote the tv series Hill Street Blues. The casting is perfect and the story compelling. It’s the original David and Goliath sports story. There are a lot of subtle bits in this movie , though, that people who didn’t read the book will miss. For example, the book goes into a great deal on the class conflict between the professionals and the amateurs. If you didn’t read the book, you’ll miss the point that the professionals are always referred to by their first names—Harry Vardon—while the amateurs are referred to with a honorific—Mr. Ouimet.
Based on the Dan Jenkins novel, this originally appeared on cable. It follows a struggling professional golfer—played by Randy Quaid—as he travels about on tour. Very funny.
3. Tin Cup
This Kevin Costner movie is like Bull Durham for golf. Costner plays a washed up driving range pro who decides to play in the US Open to win the heart of a girl. It’s most famous for the scene where he plunks ball after ball into a pond on the last hole of the Open. It’s a good romantic comedy.
4. Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius
While this movie may be a bit slow for non-golfers, anyone who loves golf and history should find it enjoyable. Jim Caviezel does a good job of portraying the stress that Jones went through in playing in golf championships.
Based on the bestselling book. I didn’t really like this movie after the first couple of viewings, but it is growing on me.
It’s kind of like Bagger Vance, but with a cowboy.
A Spencer Tracy – Katharine Hepburn classic. Hepburn plays a championship woman golfer. The movie is basically another of their man vs woman screwball comedies.
A 1950s biopix of Ben Hogan, Follow The Sun is more than a bit hokey. Still, it does offer a glimpse into the life of traveling tour pros of the time.
9. Caddyshack
Ok. It’s a comedy classic, but I can’t rank it any higher as a “golf” movie. Like most guys, I can quote large chunks of the movie from memory.
10. Gentleman’s Game
Based on the novel by Tom Coyne, A Gentleman’s Game is a coming-of-age story. Timmy Price—a good golfer in his own right—is forced by his father to work as a caddy at the country club to which they belong. There, he learns a few dark secrets.
Robert Urich stars in this made-for-tv movie about an ad executive who loses his job and tries out for the Senior Tour. He catches fire when he suddenly begins seeing the magic line on his putts. It was a Christmas time movie, and was enjoyable.
12. Happy Gilmore.
I can’t stand Adam Sandler.
HONORABLE MENTION
After his playing career was over, Bobby Jones made a series of short films of golf instruction. It’s instruction, but also an amusing entertainment. The format of each short is the same: Jones meets a Hollywood star who is struggling with his game, and then offers a lesson. Among the stars are W.C. Fields, James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson, Joe Brown and many more. The setup for the lessons often are quite funny and entertaining.
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I go with Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius. I have it on Netflix Instant queue right now, and I keep watching it over and over when I have a few minutes (both my Blu-Ray player downstairs and my PS3 upstairs play Netflix online, and whenever I stop it resumes in the same place regardless of where I am). Not only is the golf part good, but I really like Claire Forlani.
Next would be Greatest Game Ever Played. Shia Lebeouf is great in the movie. While most of his movies might be improved with big giant robots and ridiculously hot girls, this movie is pretty good on it’s own. At least there is no scene where he is swinging through the trees with monkeys.
How does that Netflix online work? Does it come through the computer, or through your cable box? A good value?
First, Netflix, I think is a good value on the base business. I was with Blockbuster online for a while, but when they changed some rules about in store exchanges it was a better deal just to switch back to Netflix. Also, Netflix has a better supply of Blu-Ray discs than Blockbuster online does.
Second, as far as Netflix online, it is included for free with your regular Netflix. You can select any movie they have available in their online library (it is a select number of titles, but growing) and watch all you want with no time limits. Blockbuster charges by the movie, but they probably do have a different selection of titles. One thing I have really enjoyed is that about three months back I started watching Lost (never did watch it before) – I watched Seasons 1 to 4 via Netflix online – sometimes at home on the big screen, sometimes on the laptop at work during lunch. When Season 5 came out this month, Netflix did have it immediately available online, and so I watched it all.
As far as methods of watching, you can watch through the browser on your computer – and I have also played on the computer but on the HDMI out to the TV. But my preferred method is through my online Blu-Ray player (the LG BD390), or through the Playstation 3. The Xbox 360 can also do Netflix online (but you do have to pay for a Xbox online service- you don’t with the PS3 or Blu-Ray). The LG BD390 has wireless networking, which for me doesn’t work well – instead I have using the wired networking on it, which works great. In retrospect, I would have bought the LG BD370 for $100 less than the BD390 which only has wireless as an advantage. There is a Best Buy branded (Insignia) Blu Ray player with Netflix, as well as some Samsungs, and I think a Sony. There are other devices, one called a Roku, which is a dedicated Netflix viewing device- but I would rather pay a few dollars more and get a Blu-Ray with the functionality than what the Roku costs alone.