The Right Stuff

“The Right Stuff” (1983) was nominated for Best Picture and lost to “Terms of Endearment.” Sam Shepard (who plays a badass test pilot) was nominated for Best Actor and lost to Jack Nicholson (who plays a pretend astronaut) from “Terms.” (I’ve never seen “Terms.”) “The Right Stuff” has slipped from the public consciousness. That’s unfortunate, because it’s a modern-day epic about the birth of the U.S. space program. It is also epic in length (193 minutes), which might be why it is overlooked. It’s worth sitting through just to learn Chuck Yeager’s story and peek behind NASA’s sanitized public image.

Hoosiers

A lot of people believe sports are a metaphor for life. And a lot of people believe strong metaphors drive great movies. Thusly, a lot of people believe “Hoosiers” (1986) is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, sports movies of all time. It helps that it was born from a wonderful, true underdog story about a basketball team from a tiny town in Indiana that goes all the way to the state finals. The moviemakers then weave in multiple layers of additional underdogs and others struggling for redemption. And it all comes together in the big game. Perfect.