Author: MJ-A
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Notes: Soccer Movies about Dogs
In the following soccer movies and football films, dogs play major roles in the stories. Even though I am not a soccer-playing dog lover, I found the first 3 films to be entertaining, and the fourth film, Pups United, might be the best of the 4. Soccer Dog: The Movie Air Bud: World Pup Soccer…
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Notes: Films about the Homeless World Cup
The following soccer movies and football films are all documentaries that show how sport can result in social change. The players are all homeless and join teams to try and qualify for the Homeless World Cup. The discipline of teamwork helps get some of the players off the street. All of these films will make…
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‘Street Soccer: New York’ (2013) specializes in not giving up
At first, I thought Street Soccer: New York was almost too slick, like a pure marketing video for Street Soccer USA (SSUSA). SSUSA hosts the US qualifying tournament for the Homeless World Cup. But then I learned how the film came together.
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Goalkeeping tips from ‘The Goalkeepers’ Union’ (2015)
The Goalkeepers’ Union is an excellent NBCSN documentary from Roger Bennett, the mugging half of Men in Blazers. GKs are in an isolated group who understand what other GKs go through. Bennett asks 4 Premier League GKs all the questions that a mere mortal fan would like to ask:
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‘Boh Ngau’ (1983) predates Shaolin Soccer by 20 years
Boh Ngau (The Champions) is a hidden gem of a football comedy, combining soccer with the formulaic plot of a Hong Kong kung fu flick. I was shocked to realize it pre-dates Shaolin Soccer by almost 20 years, and yet it has an impressive level of soccer skill without any CGI.
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Fan is short for fanatic in ‘Reds & Blues’ (2010)
Reds & Blues: The Ballad of Dixie & Kenny is a football farce about 2 sets of ardent fans who live next door to each other in Merseyside. One neighbor supports Everton (Blues), while the other supports Liverpool (Reds).
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‘Coach Zoran’ (2014) – his only friend is a goat
Watching the BBC documentary Coach Zoran and his African Tigers is like watching a train wreck, where the runaway locomotive is the Serbian coach of the new South Sudan national team.
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‘AFC Bournemouth: Together, Anything is Possible’ (2015)
Roger Bennett, the wisecracking word-swilling nipple-tugging right half of Men in Blazers, created this stirring tale of AFC Bournemouth, known as the Cherries. He turns up the drama as AFCB rises from the pit of two successive bankruptcies and near relegation to the EPL in just 7 seasons.
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‘When Saturday Comes’ (1996) surprisingly directed by a woman
Many of the best soccer movies have been directed by women. Unfortunately, When Saturday Comes does not earn that distinction. Sean Bean plays young brewery worker Jimmy Muir, who gets the chance to tryout for his home team, Sheffield United. But Jimmy sabotages himself with his own fear, drink, and lack of self-discipline, along with…
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African life and soccer in Malawi ‘Bush League’ (2010)
Documentarian Cy Kuckenbaker followed his Peace Corps buddy Jake Wilson to Malawi, where Jake had signed up for a second stint. Wilson’s assignment in Malawi is business development, which he implements by helping the villagers of Zolokere to grow vegetables and then use the proceeds to buy equipment for the town soccer team. The soccer…
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Imaginative combo of parkour + soccer in ‘Teufelskicker’ (2010)
Teufelskicker is a kick of a football film. It is a well-crafted movie based on the eponymous German children’s books by Frauke Nahrgang.
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‘On Angel’s Wings’ (2014) is too much of a fairytale
On Angel’s Wings is a faith-based family film meant to provide positive African-American role models on the UPTV network. Unfortunately, Writer-Director Aaron Williams stitches together so many model caricatures, he omits telling a story that makes sense.
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How to win with ‘Total Football: the Movie’ (2009)
There are things to like about Total Football: the Movie, and largely those occur in the last 30 minutes of the film. What the team does to win made me enjoy this Australian film.
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From Russian enslavement to ‘The Miracle of Bern’ (2003)
Das Wunder von Bern is one of the top soccer movie money-makers. It portrays the WC 1954 final, known as the Miracle of Bern, from the standpoint of a struggling mining town post-Hitler. A German POW returns from 11 years in the Soviet Gulag to a young son he didn’t know existed, and to a…
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Hard to stay awake through ‘My Dad’s a Soccer Mom’ (2014)
My Dad’s a Soccer Mom plays to a stereotype of loud-mouth narcissistic Black professional athletes. When Lester Speight is the star, it’s hard to tell any other story. An NFL linebacker whose contract is not renewed, he ends up playing stay-at-home Dad to his 10 year old daughter.
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Sexy, funny Chilean ‘Lady Futbol’ (2005)
Lady Fútbol is a 2005 comedic episode of Infieles, a Chilevisión adult TV series about infidelity. A young wife in a sewing factory is ignored by her husband, who is more interested in football.
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Still seeking justice in the ‘Ceasefire Massacre’ (2014)
The goal of Ceasefire Massacre is to raise awareness of a 1994 mass shooting in Northern Ireland which remains unsolved, likely due to a police or government coverup. This short documentary is an ESPN 30 for 30 TV episode that aired just before the 20th anniversary of the Loughinisland Massacre. Like the ESPN film Hillsborough,…
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Already outdated – ‘Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait’ (2006)
This Zinedine Zidane documentary is not really a soccer movie but is actually a performance piece more suited for an art-house cinema or museum.
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‘Mike Bassett: England Manager’ (2001) a $$$ success
Intelligent and brilliantly stupid, Steve Barron’s mockumentary, Mike Bassett: England Manager, is one of the most successful soccer movies, scoring over $23M at the box office***. Second division manager Bassett tries to lead England through 3 qualifiers for Brazil and World Cup 17 (analogous to WC 2002). In a comic tone similar to This is…
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‘Surviving and Soccer in Sierra Leone’ (2015) – an Ebola story
Erison Turay and his mother lost 38 of their relatives to Ebola in Sierra Leone and were left with 15 family orphans to care for. He and his mother overcame their infections, but survivors cannot find jobs and their struggles to live continue on.
