(by Steve Hopkins)

The movie review site RottenTomatoes.com describes the recently released “Marty Supreme” as the story of Marty Mauser, a young man with a dream no one respects, who goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.  Mauser is loosely based on American Great Marty Reisman, an accomplished table tennis star player, self-promoter, and as Reisman described later in his book – a ping pong hustler.

In its opening day, “Marty Supreme” brought in $875,000 with a limited release.  It has now opened worldwide and has already brought in $17 million dollars.  On Christmas Day, a ping pong movie topped its competition (including “Anaconda” and “Avatar Fire & Sun”).  Timothy Chalamet trained extensively in preparation for the role, and so far his character is being well received…  as is the movie.  RottenTomatoes.com has given the movie a 95% score, showing that a vast majority of the audience have a positive view of the movie.

Over the years there have been a lot of movies with table tennis included as a part of the plot.  If you prefer to spend your holiday at home, here are some additional options that you can find at home through various streaming services.  These stream-able movies feature our sport prominently:

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1.      Balls of Fury |  Rotten Tomatoes 22%  |  A one-time ping-pong prodigy who hasn’t played since he blew his chance at a championship more than 20 years ago is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate an underground ping-pong death match.  |  Hulu, Amazon Prime, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play

2.      Ping Pong Summer  |  Rotten Tomatoes 59%  |  A 1985 summer vacation changes the life of a shy white teen who is obsessed with table tennis and hip-hop music.  |  Tubi, Amazon Prime, Vudu, YouTube, iTunes, Google Play

3.      Ping Pong Playa  |  Rotten Tomatoes 64%  |  A slacker must preserve is family honor by winning a table tennis tournament.  |  Tubi, Amazon Prime

4.      Top Spin  |  Rotten Tomatoes 100%  |  Ariel Hsing, Michael Landers, and Lily Zhang prepare to compete in the 2016 Olympic Trials.  |  Amazon Prime

5.      Ping Pong  |  Rotten Tomatoes 78%  |  Table Tennis playing seniors heading to China to compete in the over 80s Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia.  |  Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu

6.      Forest Gump  |  Rotten Tomatoes 75%  |  One of Tom Hanks’ signature roles of a unique figure who maneuvers through history with one hallmark event being his participation in Ping Pong Diplomacy.  |  Hulu, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, YouTube

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