Year: 2024
-
Notes: Best and Worst Soccer Movies in 2024
Last year, 2023, I reviewed 47 films/series. It turns out, that was the end of the Golden Age of Streaming. Hollywood is now in a depression, with the entertainment industry having lost 15% of its jobs.
-
![My New Favorite Futbolista (2022) [a review]](https://soccermoviemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/my-new-favorite-futbolista-thumbnail.png)
My New Favorite Futbolista (2022) [a review]
My New Favorite Futbolista is an 8-episode TV series that you can only watch on PeacockTV. Ahead of WC 2022, it profiles inspiring footballers and their off-field commitments where they advocate for change or support important causes.
-
‘Zizou the Great’ (2009) a footballer film with no football
Condolences to you if you subscribed to Peacock or Apple TV just to watch Zizou the Great: The Zinedine Zidane Story, an unauthorized Australian documentary about one of the greatest French players. This documentary is so unauthorized that it has absolutely no match footage. If you watch the trailer, that is pretty much the entire…
-
‘The Match’ (2020) may have missed its goal
This World War 2 drama sat in my Amazon watchlist for a very long time, as I am reluctant to watch dramas that I know can only have a sad ending. It is after all, based on a true story that was borrowed for the derivative but famous 1981 film Victory. But The Match is…
-
When love of football lands you in jail – ‘The Football Aficionado’ (2022)
When a sport is global, modern parts of the world have decided that societal rules of anti-discrimination should apply to all countries. Thus, FIFA has the power to ban nations from the World Cup if their federations allow homophobic or racist chants in stadiums or preclude women from attending games. While FIFA has this power,…
-
‘#SeAcabó’ (2024) is a diary of champions
Whether you remember this Netflix documentary as #SeAcabó: Diario de las campeonas or as the English title It’s All Over: The kiss that changed Spanish football, you should remember one thing. These women rose as one above president Luis Rubiales of the Spanish Federation and his underlings. And if you want to see how the…
-
‘Greener Grass’ (2019) a lauded absurdist nightmare
I normally don’t research a film before watching it. But I did, and I found an amazing number of reviews praising the 2019 feature film Greener Grass as gloriously twisted, absurdist, surreal, demented, satirical, hilariously deadpan, weird, hysterical and a surprise hit at Sundance.
-
Review: ‘An Invisible Victim – The Eliza Samudio Case’ (2024)
Categorized as a True Crime film, the Brazilian documentary A Vítima Invisível: O Caso Eliza Samúdio is really more of a tragedy. A story like this makes me wonder if victims will ever receive justice. Or will celebrities always be able to get away with their crimes, even murder?
-
‘Punto Rojo’ (2021) breathes cinema
Sometimes when I am looking for a football film to watch, I just get lucky and come across an entertaining movie by accident. I found this DVD at the San Mateo County library! Punto Rojo is an Argentine thriller that grips you and drags you through a ton of brutal fighting with a touch of…
-
A happy ‘Christmas in Notting Hill’ (2023)
Last Christmas, I was disappointed that I saw half of Christmas in Notting Hill on the Hallmark Channel but could never manage to find it in a schedule so that I could watch the rest of it. And then it disappeared for a whole year, until it showed up recently on Netflix. I’ll never understand…
-
What if Jerry Maguire were a Japanese ‘Old Rookie’ (2022)
I found this 10-episode Japanese TV series on Netflix, where its English title was changed from Old Rookie to the inexplicable The Old Dog, New Tricks? Perhaps Netflix added the question mark to the title to let us know that they didn’t really know what to do with the show. That’s a shame. It deserves…
-
Notes: I’m boycotting ‘Terim’ (2022)
I had the docuseries Terim queued up in my Netflix watchlist. But then The Athletic published this article about Hakan Sukur, one of Turkey’s finest footballers.
-
‘Untold: Hope Solo vs US Soccer’ (2024) or Hope Solo vs Herself?
In many ways, Hope Solo is a duplicate of the Tonya Harding story. Both athletes were products of the non-conformist Pacific Northwest, had a non-nurturing home life, were fatherless, and struggled economically. Both were determined not to be defined by their circumstances, but to rise above them and become champions. Of course, the reason you…
-
Even the smallest dream needs ‘Hero Steps’ (2016)
Pasos de Héroe (Hero Steps) is a heartwarming story of a boy who has lost his lower leg from stepping on a land mine, but he has not lost the strength to manifest his dream of competing in a futbol tournament.
-
A captivating tale of a youth tournament in ‘Kids Cup’ (‘Bortebane’ 2021)
The documentary Kids Cup (original title is Bortebane) follows 5 young footballers, ages 13-14, as they prepare for, compete, win, and lose in a huge international youth tournament known as the Norway Cup. If you’ve ever played in or taken your child to a travel tournament, as we call it in the USA, you and…
-
Netflix shows what makes Club América so popular
Club América touts itself as the winningest club in Mexico. This 5-hour Netflix series is entitled Club América vs. Club América because it compares mainly the 2020-2021 season under Manager Santiago Solari with the club’s over 100 year history. Because if you are at the top, you often compete against yourself and your history.
-
![[Review] ‘The Playbook: A Coach’s Rules for Life’ (2020)](https://soccermoviemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/the-playbook-2020-thumbnail.jpg)
[Review] ‘The Playbook: A Coach’s Rules for Life’ (2020)
Click on my #Coaching tag, and you’ll see 24 documentary films and series that give insight on soccer coaches at all different levels. The stories range from youth to high school to Liverpool, Leeds, ManU, Barcelona, and Argentina. While I found something to learn in all these films, I highly recommend watching the Netflix series…
-
‘Onye Egwu’ (2023) is a Nollywood mess
Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, churns out content in a matter of weeks. Onye Egwu is a film from Uche Jombo studios, and while the production is of fair quality, the story is a mess. There are too many characters with unrelated stories, and the filmmakers tie together the 2 main themes with very thin…
-
Gumption gets Fathima on the Mic (2023)
Even without a soccer setting, Sesham Mike-il Fathima is a drama difficult to categorize. It’s not really a sports film but more about female empowerment as protagonist Fathima pursues her goal of becoming a match commentator in the IFL Indian Football League. The title translates as “Up next, Fathima on the mic (microphone)”.
-
A man to know – ‘Rafa Marquez: El Capitan’ (2024)
If you are a USMNT fan and see this film pop up in your Netflix feed, you might think, ugh, why would I want to watch Rafa Márquez? But hey, it is always good to know your enemy. And this film from El Estudio is one of the most complete footballer documentaries I have reviewed.…
