All of it has led to this last moment when I would finish this major endeavor. For those of you who have been following this blog since its' inception you know how rarely the word "finish" is used. I've started several adventures in the past and have failed to finish, but I refused to accept that notion when I started this adventure.
Fitting in so many ways that the word "finish" should arise by happenstance in my intro to my favorite film of all-time because the idea of "finishing" is a major theme in the movie.
And so here we go. It's been an epic encounter. Thanks for going on it with me. I made this list for myself, but like all great things in life, it can only be enjoyed with the presence of others.
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Starring: John Candy, Leon and Doug E. Doug
Plot: "Based on the true story of the First Jamacian bobsled team trying to make it to the Winter Olympics."
Stock: Holding
"Cool Runnings means Peace Be The Journey."
As long as I can remember, Cool Runnings has been my favorite movie of all-time. Before I watched it I can't think of what my favorite film was and even after all the thousand of movies I've watched since, nothing has topped it. Some have come close, but there is some mysterious, unspoken force holding Cool Runnings in my #1 spot.
Some people would call that force "destiny." Some people like me.
THE PLOT
After a horrible incident during the finals of the 100 meter race in the Jamaican Olympic Qualifiers, track star Derice Bannock (Leon) is determined to find a way to get to the Olympics. It appears however that he will have to wait another four years in order to get an opportunity.
Derice finds this unacceptable and through a stroke of luck and chance, he finds himself putting together a Jamaican bobsled team in order to compete in the Winter Olympics. Obviously this creates a lot of confusion due to the standard elements of bobsledding - ice, snow, cold - all being noticeably absent from Jamaica's natural climate.
Derice is able to convince a long-time bobsled star and current island inhabitant Irv Blitzer (John Candy) to become their coach and from there they embark on an incredible journey towards Calgary and the 1988 Winter Olympics.
MY REACTION
The day was October 9th, 1993 and my parents let me invite Kevin Hunt and Erik Huss over for a sleep-over to celebrate my upcoming 8th birthday. During the weekend festivities we went to the movies where we got the pleasure of watching - you guessed it - Cool Runnings.
My mom even let Kevin, Erik and myself sit all by ourselves, which for a eight-year-old is a huge step in the "becoming an adult" process. To this day I can still remember exactly where we sat to watch this incredible film. We laughed hysterically throughout and I walked away from it in tears of laughter. With my two best friends by my side life didn't get too much better for me at that moment. I'm sure many of you have experienced moments like that in your childhood. Moments so good that no matter how old or how removed you become from it they will never escape your memory.
The following week at school Kevin, Erik and myself talked exclusively in a Jamaican accent, which further propelled the pleasure Cool Runnings provided me. When it came out on VHS I watched it every Tuesday after school for a lengthy period of time. Don't know why I chose Tuesday, but I do know that I thoroughly enjoyed Tuesdays for quite some time.
As I got older my attitude towards Cool Runnings began to shift. It's a film I've watched more than any other - as clearly identified by my Tuesday viewing tradition - and one I can nearly recite line for line. At first, it was just a really funny movie that I enjoyed with my two best buds. Slowly, it became much more than just a comedy. It evolved into a meaningful, impactful, and lasting film.
WHY NUMBER ONE?
Cool Runnings touches on a plethora of subjects, including friendship, overcoming obstacles, learning from failures, redemption, staying true to thyself and willing yourself to succeed. You could - and I have seriously thought about - write an entire book on what Cool Runnings delves into. Every time I watch it, I find myself focusing on a different aspect and how it relates to a struggle I'm currently encountering. Every time I watch it, no matter what angle I view it, I leave inspired and a better person.
Let's not forget that this actually happened. This 1993 Disney movie is based off the true story of the first Jamaican bobsled team and actual footage is used quite often. I'm a sucker for true stories, and even though Hollywood added several dramatic elements that are not 100% accurate, just the fact that a group of Jamaicans put together a bobsled team and made the Winter Olympics always leaves me in awe.
I'd also be remorseful if I wrote an entire column on the beauty of Cool Runnings and didn't write anything about John Candy. He's absolutely terrific in this film as Irv Blitzer, the Jamaican bobsled head coach. He provides non-stop comedy in his patented "John Candy way" but also has to battle some personal demons, which he does so successfully with the help of his new Jamaican friends. John tragically passed away soon after the release of Cool Runnings, and sadly, it's something that I'm always reminded of when I watch it.
The "chill-effect" has been mentioned several times the last couple of months. In summary, if I get chills while watching a movie it signifies to me that it means something more than just on a mere surface-level. Even though I've seriously watched Cool Runnings probably 100 times, I always - and I mean always - get chills during the last scene. It's inescapable.
Cool Runnings is a big part of me. I'm going to watch it with my future wife, I'll share it with my future children, and I'll grow old watching it as well. I'm extremely thankful that it's my #1 movie and hope to continue learning from it as the years pass on.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
"Our Father, who art in Calgary, Bobsled be thy name. Thy kingdom come, gold medals won, on Earth as it is in Turn Seven. With Liberty and Justice for Jamaica and Haile Selassie. Amen." - Irv.
"What I am saying to you, is that you are the kind of club-toting, raw-meat-eating, Me-Tarzan-You-Jane-ing, big, bald bubblehead that can only count to ten if he's barefoot or wearing sandals." - Sanka.
Yul Brenner: How 'bout I beat your butt right now?
Sanka Coffie: How 'bout I draw a line down the middle of your head so it looks like a butt?
Derice Bannock: Sanka... you dead?
Sanka Coffie: Ya, mon.
Sanka Coffie: The key elements to a successful sled team are a steady driver, and three strong runners to push off down the ice... ICE? Ice!
Derice Bannock: Well, it's kind of a winter sport, you know.
Sanka Coffie: You mean winter, as in ice?
Derice Bannock: Possibly.
Sanka Coffie: You mean winter, as in Eskimos and igloos and penguins and ICE?
Derice Bannock: Maybe.
Sanka Coffie: See ya!
"All right, Derice. Let me lay out some difficulties for you. Snow: you don't have any. It's nine hundred degrees out there. Time: you don't have any. The Olympics are in three months. And me: you don't have me. As far as I'm concerned, the sport of bobsledding no longer exists. I don't want to do it, I don't want to coach it, and most of all, and I mean most of all, I don't want to be within two thousand miles of anybody who does. Now did you follow all that?" - Irv.
"Oh, yeah, just one little drawback to this delightful winter sport. The high-speed crash. Ooh! That hurt. Always remember, your bones will not break in a bobsled. No, no, no. They shatter." - Irv.
Sanka Coffie: I'm the driver.
Irv: You're not. You're the brakeman.
Sanka Coffie: You don't understand, I am Sanka Coffie, I am the best pushcart driver in all of Jamaica! I must drive! Do you dig where I'm coming from?
Irv: Yeah, I dig where you're coming from.
Sanka Coffie: Good.
Irv: Now dig where I'm coming from. I'm coming from two gold medals. I'm coming from nine world records in both the two- and four-man events. I'm coming from ten years of intense competition with the best athletes in the world.
Sanka Coffie: That's a hell of a place to be coming from!
Irv: You see Sanka, the driver has to work harder than anyone. He's the first to show up, and the last to leave. When his buddies are all out drinking beer, he's up in his room studying pictures of turns. You see, a driver must remain focused one hundred percent at all times. Not only is he responsible for knowing every inch of every course he races, he's also responsible for the lives of the other men in the sled. Now do you want that responsibility?
Sanka Coffie: I say we make Derice the driver.
Irv: So do I, Sanka. So do I.
Junior Bevill: Seemin' to you nobody likes us?
Yul Brenner: We're different. People are always afraid of what's different.
"Derice, a gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without it, you'll never be enough with it."
Yul Brenner: Look in the mirror, and tell me what you see!
Junior Bevill: I see Junior.
Yul Brenner: You see Junior? Well, let me tell you what I see. I see pride! I see power! I see a bad-ass mother who don't take no crap off of nobody!
British Official: We must also be concerned about the potential for embarrassment.
Irv: Oh, pardon me. I didn't realize that four black guys in a bobsled could make you blush.
"All I'm saying, mon, is if we walk Jamaican, talk Jamaican, and *is* Jamaican, then we sure as hell better bobsled Jamaican." - Sanka.
Irv Blitzer: Gentlemen, a bobsled is a simple thing.
Man: Yeah, so's a toilet!
"I am feeling very Olympic today, how about you?" - Sanka.
Derice Bannock: Hey, you can pee now.
Sanka Coffie: Um... too late.
"All he has to do is know what he wants and work hard for it. And if he wants it bad enough, he'll get it. Look, believe me, Sanka... the more Yul Brenners we got making it in this world... the better off this world will be, especially for Jamaicans. Go ahead, Yul Brenner. Go get your palace." - Junior.
Thank you for going on this journey with me. I owe you more than you will ever know. I've enjoyed every aspect of this epic experience and can honestly say it's the best thing this blog has done in the last five years. I've learned a tremendous amount about myself and about what I value. I plan on riding this momentum right on through 2011 and into 2012, which begs the question ... now what?
Well, I'm going to finish up the "KOA's 100 Films" with a "By The Numbers: Part Two" which will unveil my favorite actors, actresses, and directors according to pure statistics. Also, I will post my top twenty trailers taken from this list as well. Finally, I will host my own Oscar's for 2011 where I will give my own Best Picture, Best Actor, etc. according to the films I've seen the past 12 months.
Writing has always been a passion of mine and it wasn't until I started putting this list together how much I realized cinema is also a passion. Starting in 2012 I will be posting reviews for films I've recently viewed. Also starting in 2012 will be another list, this one covering my 50 favorite television shows of all-time. Somewhere in between all of this entertainment writing I will find time to talk about sports ... maybe.
I'll leave you with this quote from Ray Bradbury because it's absolutely fitting for what I just finished.
"Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for."Amen.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
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