With the football season in high gear, Hollywood has, over the years, made wonderful movies with a football theme. Best, for my money is "North Dallas Forty" with Nick Nolte, loosely based on the '70s Dallas Cowboys. The football looks real, which is the litmus test.

"Knute Rockne, All American" is very dated, of course. But it propelled one of its supporting players, years later, to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Pat O'brien's stirring reenactment of Coach Rocke's stirring speech to his players is a classic.

The Marx Brothers and Harold Lloyd made football movies, as did Al Pacino. And the recent movie about the ill-fated Marshall football team was one of the rare movies with Matthew McConaughey in which he keeps his shirt on for a change. Nothing can equal the real thing, of course, but the video store has some excellent football movies to watch during the week when no games are being played.

Include "The Replacements,” also about a gaggle of former players who turn up for tryouts during an NFL players' strike and Keneau Reeves is pretty convincing as the scab quarterback with personal issues. Of course the best of them all was a made for TV show called "Brian's Song," but you knew what already, right?