'127 Hours' and five potential Odd Section films

Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, the harrowing true story of how climber Aron Ralston cut off his own arm to free himself from underneath a boulder, is in all good cinemas right now. It's a spectacular achievement, but one thing crossed our minds after emerging from the ordeal with James Franco: this would have made it onto our Odd Section had the channel existed back in 2003. "Man cuts off own arm after getting trapped under massive rock," would probably have been the strapline. So, to mark the release of 127 Hours, we present five other crazy and remarkable true stories from planet Odd that could make compelling movies.

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Wimbledon hosts longest ever tennis match
Title: Game, Set, Match
Tagline: "11 hours and 5 minutes? You can not be serious!"
The Pitch: This epic tale of physical endurance sees tennis pros John Isner and Nicolas Mahut face off in a Wimbledon match that lasts nearly half a day. Jake Gyllenhaal (as American Isner) and Vincent Cassel (Frenchman Mahut) duke it out while German mentalist Werner Herzog directs a locked-off, single-take camera shot for a real-time recreation of the match. Both stars collapse multiple times during filming because of exhaustion.

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Baby orangutan given first-class cruise
Title: Ape On Board
Tagline: "Rob Schneider is... an orangutan!"
The Pitch: South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone make good on the promise of their Rob Schneider spoofing episode... by casting the comic star as an orangutan who gets his own luxury cabin on a ferry ride. High jinks and mayhem ensue. All together now, "Dee durp dee durp dee durp!" Sequels The Stapler and The Carrot are greenlit and promptly filmed back-to-back.

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Woman throws cat into a wheelie bin
Title: Catbinwoman
Tagline: One cat. One bin. No escape.
The Pitch: Danny Boyle follows up 127 Hours with his "spiritual sequel" of a CGI cat stuck inside a wheelie bin after an encounter with a cranky middle-aged woman. Michelle Pfeiffer subverts her iconic turn as Catwoman and deglams to play the mean old pussy trapper as she searches for that elusive Oscar. Unfortunately, the Brit film's refusal to use the word "trash can" instead of "wheelie bin" means the film tanks in the US.

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Octopus 'Paul' predicts World Cup results
Title: Paul: The Life Of An Octopus
Tagline: "He foretold everything… except his own death."
The Pitch: Famed 'oracle' octopus Paul gets the big screen treatment with James Cameron directing Andy Serkis's 3D performance capture turn as the titular mollusk. Some dramatic license is taken to remould the story into a "rise-and-fall" epic in the vein of Goodfellas and Scarface, portraying Paul as an animal so drunk on power he can't foresee his own demise.

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Dick Van Dyke 'rescued by porpoises'
Title: Swimming With Dick
Tagline: "Meet a man with porpoise."
The Pitch: Dick Van Dyke plays himself in this heartwarming Disney recreation of his maritime rescue by friendly porpoises. Like all classic Disney flicks, Swimming With Dick has some darker edges, notably when Dick drinks too much sea water and starts hallucinating visions of Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews in a cameo appearance). Later, he re-enacts entire episodes of Diagnosis Murder by himself.

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What extraordinary true-life stories would you like to see turned into a movie? Leave your comments in the space below!