The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008)

So I've been wanting to see "The Express" since it came out in theaters last October. But I never saw it for several reasons. One, neither my boyfriend or friends were interested. Two, I don't have a car on campus, so I would have to walk to the Sunchase Theater by myself or take the FAB (not fun). Three, I really didn't want to spend $6.50 on a movie that I would be watching by myself.

In the previews, it looks reminiscent of a typical football movie. "Rudy," "Remember the Titans" and "Radio" are such examples. Don't get me wrong, I love these movies (I'm a sucker for them actually), but every story is very much the same: an underdog player or team beats the odds against them and wins the championship and become legacies. They all get repetitive after awhile. But "The Express" was a bit different.

It is similar to "Remember the Titans" in the fact that the movie is set during the heated Civil Rights Movement. However, one big difference is "The Express" is set from the late 1940s up to 1963, while "Titans" is in 1971. Another difference is "Express" follows Ernie Davis from childhood through college, while "Titans" is focused on high school. For a good reason too, because the point was to tell the story of integrating both the high school and football teams in Northern Virginia.

Anyway, enough about comparisons. "The Express" is a great story about Ernie Davis rising through racism in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. His mother then remarries some years later and relocates Ernie to Elmira, New York. He joins a Small Fry Football League and clearly shows excellence and athleticism from there and on through to Elmira Free Academy. But the real action starts when Ernie (Rob Davis) is preparing to go to college.

Syracuse University's famed football coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), who arranges for his best player, Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson) , to come and attempt to recruit Ernie. After learning that Schwartzwalder will make him a better player, Ernie enrolls and comes to Syracuse.

Then the story changes. Ernie notices that no African-American player has won the Heisman Trophy at Syracuse, but Schwartzwalder tells Ernie it's about winning games, not trophies. Then the other players think Ernie is getting preferrential treatment by wearing Brown's number 44. The team experiences racism first-hand when the play the West Virginia Mountaineers, and Ernie defies Schwarzwalder's oreders not to score more than once, because Ernie is determined not to give into racism.

I'm not going to spoil the ending, because the whole purpose of writing this blog is to get YOU interested in seeing the movies I write about. But I will say have the tissues handy.

"The Express" features spectacular performances by Dennis Quaid as the hard-nosed, gritty yet compassionate and proud Schwartzwalder; Rob Brown as Ernie; and Nicole Beharie as Sarah Ward, Ernie's beautiful and down-to-earth girlfriend studying at Cornell, who surprised Ernie after he was told there were not many African-American women on or around campus.

Check this movie out - you'll love the action and compassion that comes with it!

Stay tuned for next week - I haven't quite decided what movie to review yet - so if you have suggestions for these "rare gems," please let me know! I appreciate all comments and suggestions!

-Laura Beth :)

Welcome to the Best Entertainment You Haven't Seen!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written. The main reason I set up this blog was for class purposes with Professor Halliday, but now it will become a true blog!

This is the first edition of my new "assignment" of sorts. I'm calling it "The Best Entertainment You Haven't Seen!" This will not only be posted here on Blogger, but it will be linked through The Rotunda Online, where I'm hoping the Longwood University community and many others will drop by and read this!

I was going to explain "The Best Entertainment You Haven't Seen!" but I think I'll just start it right here, right now.

Happy reading, and please post comments! I'm open to any suggestions and comments you may have! Thanks for reading and look for a new Best Entertainment piece to be posted about every week!

"Rollercoaster" (1977)

Who likes roller coasters? I know I do. One of my dreams one day is to go to Cedar Point, the amusement park with 16 roller coasters in Ohio. Couple roller coasters with suspense and impending disaster? I think we may have a pretty good movie. The summer of 1977 brought such a movie to the silver screen, and it's one of the most interesting films I have seen in a while.

I actually stumbled upon the movie through Wikipedia, looking for roller coaster movies or ones that had local amusement parks that I have been to, such as Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Kings Dominion near Richmond.

I searched it on YouTube and was engrossed in watching the 10-part installation for a few hours.

This is a summer disaster film directed by James Goldstone about an extortionst who leads a ride inspector and the FBI on a cross-country chase to find him. The extortionist places bombs on several roller coasters and leads the inspectors and authorities with a one-million dollar ransom to try and catch him.

The movie stars Timothy Bottoms, George Segal, Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark. This movie also marks the film debut of both Helen Hunt and Steve Guttenberg. It was one of four films to be created in Sensurround by Universal Studios. This technique was used to create the infamous 1974 disaster movie "Earthquake," along with 1976's "Midway" and the 1978 theater version of "Battlestar Galactica."

One of most interesting parts of the movie was it actually satisfied my desire of seeing amusement parks I knew in the film. It also gave me a glimpse of what the old Ocean View Amusement Park used to look like in Norfolk, about 20 minutes from where I live. The film also showed the Rebel Yell roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Wonder World in Pennsylvania, as well as the Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California.

Though the plot was typical of 1970s disaster movies with overplayed drama and funny-looking clothes, Rollercoaster was genuinely entertaining and kept me in suspense the entire time.

If you're a roller coaster fan and like suspense and being on the edge of your seat, then "Rollercoaster" is for you!

I welcome comments and suggestions for movies to discuss! Thanks for reading!

-Laura Beth :)