NEWSLETTER
Today should have been the Cubs second game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field, but for some reason I can’t quite recall, it’s been postponed. In its place, we’ll continue rolling through your favorite sports movies of all time, including today’s feature …. SPACE JAM!
Not unlike The Sandlot, Space Jam was an absolute CLASSIC of my childhood. I’ve seen it a thousand times, and it only gets better with age. But I did learn some interesting facts about it recently.
A friend of mine lives out in California and is an intern of sorts for the “How Did This Get Made Podcast” one of my all-time favorites. The podcast is basically just the three hosts, Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, and June Diane Raphael (all of whom you’d definitely recognize if you saw them), watching and eventually talking about bad movies and jokingly wondering how they ever actually got to the finish line. Well, recently, they did a live podcast in Chicago, where they discussed Space Jam. It’s a great episode – even though they don’t seem to get why we all love the movie – but it did reveal this little nugget.
This long-form commercial from three years before Space Jam is the entire reason the movie got made, and the director of the commercial directed the movie … how weird is this:
But whether I’m blinding by nostalgia or not, I don’t care. Space Jam Rocks. It’s a movie with Michael Jordan, Bill Murray, and Bugs Freakin’ Bunny. Come on. It’s an all-timer.
Eli even wrote up the final contest as part of his throwback series, and it really brought me back:
Throwback Game 3: WELCOME TO THE SPACE JAM!https://t.co/AuxhboDPmw
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) March 23, 2020
Now, I’ll get to watch it all again. Woo!
Also, please come back, Cubs ….
Movie Info
(Note: Some of the movies on this calendar are streamable on Netflix, Hulu, etc. (and some of you may even own hard copies on VHS or DVD!) I’ll be sure to mention it when they are. However, whenever they’re not available for free, I’ll share a link to the cheapest place to rent it in this section).
Space Jam (1996) – Tuesday, March 31st at 6:40 CT on … Stream on Netflix, Rent on Amazon ($3.99), Rent on YouTube ($3.99)
Credits:
Director: Joe Pytka
Writer: Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Tim Harris, Herschel Weingrod
Ratings:
IMDB: 6.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 43% Critic Score, 63% Audience Score
The Cast:
- Michael Jordan … Michael Jordan
- Wayne Knight … Stan Podolak
- Theresa Randle … Juanita Jordan
- Manner Washington … Jeffery Jordan (as Manner ‘Mooky’ Washington)
- Eric Gordon … Marcus Jordan
- Penny Bae Bridges … Jasmine Jordan
- Brandon Hammond … Michael Jordan (10 Years Old)
- Larry Bird … Larry Bird
- Bill Murray … Bill Murray
- Thom Barry … James Jordan
- Charles Barkley … Charles Barkley
- Patrick Ewing … Patrick Ewing
- Tyrone Bogues … Muggsy Bogues (as Muggsy Bogues)
- Larry Johnson … Larry Johnson
- Shawn Bradley … Shawn Bradley
Full Calendar:
