Best Competition Movie
Since not all competitive movies revolve around sport, let's have a look at these movies centering on a particular contest (dancing, beauty pageants, games or other non sport-related disciplines).
For which of these contest-movies would you say "no contest, it's the best"?
After voting, you might discuss the list here
For which of these contest-movies would you say "no contest, it's the best"?
After voting, you might discuss the list here
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23 titles
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsEminemBrittany MurphyKim BasingerFollows a young rapper in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of his life; he wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteGreg KinnearA family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.
- DirectorChris NoonanStarsJames CromwellMagda SzubanskiChristine CavanaughGentle farmer Arthur Hoggett wins a piglet Babe at a county fair. Narrowly escaping his fate as Christmas dinner, Babe bonds with motherly border collie Fly and discovers that he too can herd sheep. But will the other animals accept him?
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsJane FondaMichael SarrazinSusannah YorkThe lives of a disparate group of contestants intertwine in an inhumanely grueling dance marathon.
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsRalph FiennesJohn TurturroRob MorrowA young lawyer, Richard Goodwin, investigates a potentially fixed game show. Charles Van Doren, a big time show winner, is under Goodwin's investigation.
- DirectorDonald PetrieStarsSandra BullockMichael CaineBenjamin BrattAn F.B.I. Agent must go undercover in the Miss United States beauty pageant to prevent a group from bombing the event.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsPaul NewmanJackie GleasonPiper LaurieAn up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsPaul NewmanTom CruiseMary Elizabeth MastrantonioFast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsNatalie PortmanMila KunisVincent CasselNina is a talented but unstable ballerina on the verge of stardom. Pushed to the breaking point by her artistic director and a seductive rival, Nina's grip on reality slips, plunging her into a waking nightmare.
- DirectorBobby FarrellyPeter FarrellyStarsWoody HarrelsonRandy QuaidBill MurrayA star bowler whose career was prematurely "cut off" hopes to ride a new prodigy to success and riches.
- DirectorSteven ZaillianStarsJoe MantegnaBen KingsleyMax PomerancA prepubescent chess prodigy is encouraged to harden himself in order to become a champion like the famous but unlikable Bobby Fischer.
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonForest WhitakerKimberly EliseA drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
- DirectorJohn BadhamStarsJohn TravoltaKaren Lynn GorneyBarry MillerAnxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.
- DirectorDavid O. RussellStarsBradley CooperJennifer LawrenceRobert De NiroAfter a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.
- DirectorMichael Patrick JannStarsKirsten DunstDenise RichardsEllen BarkinA small-town beauty pageant turns deadly as it becomes clear that someone will go to any lengths to win.
- DirectorJason MooreStarsAnna KendrickBrittany SnowRebel WilsonBeca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
- DirectorGarth JenningsChristophe LourdeletStarsMatthew McConaugheyReese WitherspoonSeth MacFarlaneIn a city of humanoid animals, a hustling theater impresario's attempt to save his theater with a singing competition becomes grander than he anticipates even as its finalists find that their lives will never be the same.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsSharon StoneGene HackmanRussell CroweA female gunfighter returns to a frontier town where a dueling tournament is being held, which she enters in an effort to avenge her father's death.
- DirectorAnne FletcherStarsChanning TatumJenna DewanDamaine RadcliffTyler receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with an up and coming dancer, Nora.
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsTobey MaguireLiev SchreiberPeter SarsgaardSet during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyMilton BerleEthel MermanA group of motorists witnesses a car crash in the California desert, and after the driver's dying words indicate the location of a hidden stash of loot, they turn against each in a race across the state to get to it.
- DirectorSteven LisbergerStarsJeff BridgesBruce BoxleitnerDavid WarnerA computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.