The pithiest comment ever made about the Super Bowl came from a player who was famous for not talking to reporters—Cowboys’ running back Duane Thomas, who said in the early 1970s, “If the Super Bowl is the ultimate game, how come there is another one next year?” As of last Sunday, the matchup for Super Bowl XLVIII, to be held, bizarrely, in frosty East Rutherford, New Jersey, is set: it will be the Denver Broncos against the Seattle Seahawks. It’s been widely noticed that the home states of the two teams are the ones that have pursued marijuana legalization the farthest, so we appreciate the positive advertisem*nt of the general salubriousness of reefer.
Thirty-eight years ago, the film collective TVTV sent noted sports fan Bill Murray and noted deadpan satirist Christopher Guest down to Miami, Florida, to cover Super Bowl X, between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers, in order to help with a loose, impressionistic documentary about all the hoopla. In an article about the documentary posted by Deadspin a year ago, TVTV honcho Allen Rucker explained why the collectives’ techniques were so ground-breaking:
In 1976, no videomakers had ever walked into a pro football locker room and hung out with the players. No videomakers had ever invited the players to drop by their own hangout—in TVTV’s case, a rented mansion that could communally house 30 or 40 counterculture types making the program. No videomakers had ever had the idea of giving a player his own portable video unit for a night to go back to the off-limits player dormitory and shoot whatever he wanted.
Amusingly, according to Rucker, Newsweek had labeled those very “counterculture types” a bunch of “braless, blue-jeaned video freaks.” Mercy me!!
Given all the emphasis on the shaggy, guerrilla tactics of the TVTV crew, the resulting documentary is surprisingly gentle, which certainly constitutes a strength. In honored vérité style (Fred Wiseman was still very big back then), there’s no commentary at all; the doc is a loosely connected series of clips on various themes, including “Steeler Wives,” “Sports Facts” (that one is, subversively, about the players’ union), “Fans,” “Super Sunday,” and so on. To its credit, TVTV’s approach was not to lecture but to soak all the craziness in.
Murray and Guest were on hand to ... er, “commentate” a curious game of touch football, billed as “Super Bowl IX 1/2,” involving a passel of former greats, including Sonny Jurgensen, Johnny Unitas, and Paul Hornung. Compared to their current statures, Murray and Guest were essentially unknown in 1976. Murray’s debut on SNL came a year later, almost to the day (January 15, 1977), whereas Guest, known at that time primarily as a National Lampoon writer and actor, would have to wait until 1984’s This is Spinal Tap for his big boost in exposure. If you want maximum Bill Murray, you’re going to want to watch Part 2 of the four videos. The interface between the counterculture and establishment culture may be most evident in that section: Murray’s innocent question to Phyllis George about which player she’d like to date induces an exasperated response about “sexist questions”: in other words, she doesn’t entirely realize that Murray is basically joking and that the stakes aren’t all that. Hilariously, Murray gets Pat Summerall, who was well on his way to becoming an axiom of CBS’ football coverage for a generation, to say, “I think there’s too much damn television, don’t you?”
The vaguely workers-oriented stance of the doc is its most interesting aspect—not just Colts owner Robert Irsay’s inane antics in which he likens the head of the players’ association to a babbling monkey but also the comments of Aleta Bleier, wife of Steeler’s halfback Rocky, on the physical and economic sacrifices the players make: “It’s a hell of a big business! Who’s gonna make all that money, the players, or—does Dan Rooney [president of the Steelers] deserve to make $5 million or does your husband [Becky Clack, wife of Jim Clack] deserve to make $30,000 instead of $18,000?” Right at that moment in baseball, the players were securing their fair share of the income, a process that would occur somewhat later for pro football players. Today all the athletes make plenty of money, and the moral force of Aleta’s argument is not something you’d be as likely to encounter today.
Oh yeah—the Steelers won that one, 21-17.
More after the jump…
READ ON▸Posted by Martin Schneider
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01.23.2014
03:12 pm
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FAQs
After 15 minutes, you pretty much know where "Dangerous Minds" is headed, at least if you've seen "Stand and Deliver." The story rings trite even though it's based on the true tale of a dauntless California educator named LouAnne Johnson. The screenplay was based on her 1992 book, "My Posse Don't Do Homework."
Is Dangerous Minds based on a true story on Wikipedia? ›
It is based on the autobiography My Posse Don't Do Homework by retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who in 1989 took up a teaching position at Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, where most of her students were African-American and Latino teenagers from East Palo Alto, a racially segregated and economically ...
What movie is based on Carlmont High School? ›
Dangerous Minds is a drama released in 1995, based on an autobiography by retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, 'My Posse Don't Do Homework. ' She took up an English teaching position at Carlmont High School, East Palo Alto, California, after the U.S. Marine Corps.
What film is Gangster's Paradise song from? ›
The song is taken from Pfeiffer's movie Dangerous Minds, and the music video is also themed around the movie.
How much did Michelle Pfeiffer make in Dangerous Minds? ›
Some of Pfeiffer's more notable salaries that we do know are: $3 million for 1991's Frankie and Johnny, $6 million for 1995's Dangerous Minds and $10 million for 2000's What Lies Beneath.
Where is LouAnne Johnson now? ›
Since 2010, Johnson has served as an adjunct instructor in the Teacher Education Department at Santa Fe Community College.
Is the movie Confessions of a Dangerous Mind based on a true story? ›
An adaptation of the cult memoir of game show impresario Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell), in which he purports to have been a C.I.A. hitman. hitman.An adaptation of the cult memoir of game show impresario Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell), in which he purports to have been a C.I.A.
What city was Dangerous Minds filmed in? ›
The film was shot at various locations around the Los Angeles area, with more than one third at the Washington Middle School in Pasadena. Some filming also took place at Burlingame High School in Northern California. Interiors were shot on a sound stage at the Warner-Hollywood Studios.
What movie is the parody of Dangerous Minds? ›
Sign in to vote. "I know what's straight up booty." Spoofing 'Dangerous Minds,' 'Lean on Me,' and others, Jon Lovitz stars in 'High School High' as an ambitious, optimistic teacher from a prep school who wants to prove to his father that he is perfectly capable of inspiring his students at an inner-city high school.
What is the movie about getting the whole school high? ›
A random drug test coincides with a high school valedictorian's first hit of pot. With his college scholarship at stake, he enlists the school's biggest stoner to help nullify the results of the screening - by getting the entire student body high. —John Stalberg, Jr.
Add a Review. Lean on Me is based around the experiences of Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman), who becomes the principal of a destitute New Jersey high school plagued with violence, drugs, and abysmal academic performance.
What is the movie about the teacher helping Mexican students? ›
Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film directed by Ramón Menéndez, written by Menéndez and Tom Musca, based on the true story of a high school mathematics teacher, Jaime Escalante. For portraying Escalante, Edward James Olmos was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 61st Academy Awards.
What movie has a white teacher in a black school? ›
Dangerous Minds (1995) - IMDb.
Which rapper had a hit with Gangster's Paradise in 1995? ›
Artis Leon Ivey Jr.
(August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known by his stage name Coolio, was an American rapper. He was best known for his single "Gangsta's Paradise" (1995), which won a Grammy Award, and was credited for changing the course of hip hop by bringing it to a wider audience.
How much was Coolio worth when he died? ›
Rapper Coolio, most famous for his hit song “Gangsta's Paradise,” died at age 59 on Sept. 28, TMZ reported. At the time of his death, the performer held an estimated net worth of $1.5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. See: How Rich Is Meghan Markle?
Who is the real Emilio in Dangerous Minds? ›
Wade Dominguez - Dominguez enjoyed success as a model before he landed his breakthrough role as a troubled teen in Dangerous Minds. Following the success of the film, Dominguez appeared in City of Industry and Shadow of Doubt.
Was Freedom Writers based on a true story? ›
Freedom Writers is based on the true story of teacher Erin Gruwell (played by Hillary Swank). And though it's more about racial conflict than education, the film still provides some choice fodder for the movie-loving Gadfly's rumination.
What happened to Wade Dominguez? ›
His promising career was cut short when he passed away in Los Angeles, California, from respiratory failure due to AIDS at the age of 32.
