Cycling films for Christmas

[DocRay]

Since we are talking about film anyway. I seem to remember that there was supposed to be a contract for making a film of Lance Armstrongs live a few years ago (SONY). Matt Damon was supposed to be the actor who should take the role of Lance. Does anybody knows if there is any news about this film?

The actor got switched to Matthew McConaughey, which makes more sense than Damon. It has been filmed and is now in re-editing -usually a sign of a bad film. Early rumors have it as a monument to xenophobia.

One film NOT to recommend: "Cobbles Baby". Hand-held video documentary of a moron at Paris-Roubaix. He manages to mispronounce everything. Only good scene: Sean Kelly entering the bar at Compeigne and the film's producer calls him Stephen Roche. Star of documentary strips down and takes a shower in Roubaix-it gets worse from there.

I re-watched "A Sunday in Hell". 1976 Paris-Roubaix. Lots of scenes of Eddy's obsessive-compulsive saddle adjustment. Great scenes of mechanics riding of rooftops of cars. My biggest impression is how the racing has not changed at all, but there seemed to be a lot less obsession about bike technology -they were all pretty much on the same bikes.

[jay cee]

Lets not forget that 'The Flying Scotsman' was made for the public, not those die hard racing fans like us. I was really pleased that it finally got made, ok, the plot is not exactly how it went, but, at least a film about a cyclist was made. Worth a watch.

[swinter]

I have american flyers on DVD. Coincidentally I just watched it a few nights ago. Seeing Ted Danson in his role is hillarious.

I'm disappointed to hear that American Flyers gets better reviews than the Flying Scotsman I had high hopes for the film. I havn't seen it yet but I really want to.

Watched "Flying Scotsman" last night and, while I liked it, it wasn't enough about biking or mental illness. ("Shine" and "A Beautiful Mind" did a better job of capturing the hell of mental illness -- and the hell of caring for someone who has one). "Flying Scotsman" was a bit closer to a standard Hollywood biopic than I had been led to expect. Still, I though Miller was good, and I did enjoy it.

Been quite a while since I've seen "American Flyers" but, as I remember it it did a better job of depicting the cycling. I think the writer, Steve Tesich (who also did the screenplay for "Breaking Away"), is himself a cyclist.

[G man]

I second the OP recommendation of Le Velo de Ghislain Lambert. It is excellent, and made me laugh out loud! Especially the bit where he's saying "tuk tuk tuk" while racing, (you'll know which bit I mean if you've seen it, but I don't want to give it away if you've not; I was pissing myself). You can definitely watch it more than once.
I also liked "The Flying Scotsman", mainly because I'm a fan of the O Bree story.I am pleased that this film gives him some of the recognition he deserves and highlights how badly the UCI treated him. It wasn't aimed specifically at obssessive compulsive cyclists (like me), but I still enjoyed it. I probably wouldn't watch it more than once, and I would have liked it more if the film had also included when he joined a pro european team briefly, before he left after refusing to pay into the kitty for "medical assistance". That event though would presumably not have been good for the symmetry of the film, and may have been tricky for the lawyers!

[swinter]

I second the OP recommendation of Le Velo de Ghislain Lambert. It is excellent, and made me laugh out loud!

Apparently, it's only available in a format that works in the EU -- not in the US and Canada.

(Anyone want to make an home copy?)

[Getopardo]

It is available in the UK :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h ... x=8&Go.y=6

and Amazon offers it for sale in the US (non US format however) :

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/10 ... &x=15&y=17

[bike_add1ct]

Being French you've probably heard of the animated movie "Les Triplettes de Belleville." If not, it's well worth watching.

[DocRay]

Being French you've probably heard of the animated movie "Les Triplettes de Belleville." If not, it's well worth watching.

The Film has French and English versions, which is bizarre, because no language is spoken in either version.