Author: MJ-A
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Amanda Bynes sparkles in ‘She’s the Man’ (2006)
She’s the Man is a clever adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a story of mistaken identity and cross-dressing, played on a high school soccer field. Amanda Bynes sparkles as Viola, a girl masquerading as her brother Sebastian in order to play on the boys team (under coach Vinnie Jones).
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The 99ers and their ‘Dare to Dream’ (2005)
The HBO documentary Dare to Dream: The Story of the US Womens Soccer Team faithfully captures the build up and heartbreak that is US Soccer’s Womens National Team (USWNT). If you are a fan, you need to watch this film. If you watched it when it first came out in 2005 (like I did), you…
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‘Goal! The Dream Begins’ (2005) soccer movie with a decent budget
First conceived in 2000, the trilogy Goal! was dropped and then restarted production after WC 2002. This first Goal movie was made by 3 Brits in Hollywood who love soccer, and therefore, they try to portray the game realistically and honestly.
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Ideal soccer date movie: ‘Romeo and Juliet get Married’ (2005)
A few years after making Bossa Nova, Bruno Barreto directed this Brazilian comedy, O Casamento de Romeu e Julieta, which is another, even better, soccer date movie.
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Mystical and omnipotent ‘Shaolin Soccer’ (2001)
After watching a slew of soccer movies, I reopened my Shaolin Soccer DVD. I liked it 10 years ago, but now I recognize how inventive the movie is. A group of penniless former Shaolin monks rekindle their love of kung fu by applying it to soccer.
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Guy Oliver covers ‘History of Soccer’ (2001) up to the year 2000
The History of Soccer is a terrific compilation of facts and videos. I originally got the first disk from Netflix, and then I found the whole 7-disk set at my library. I’ve often felt clueless when soccer commentator Christopher Sullivan rhapsodized about some historical player during a game, e.g. comparing someone to a Garrincha or a Di…
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‘Mean Machine’ (2001) soccer’s version of ‘The Longest Yard’
Burt Reynolds’ The Longest Yard is one of my favorite movies, and Mean Machine is almost as good. This British soccer version, starring former EPL player Vinnie Jones, stays pretty close to the original story.
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The no-talent path to becoming ‘El Crack’ (2011)
With absurdist humor, Chileano Writer-Director Nicolás López delivers a Southpark-like tale in El Crack. Freddy (Ariel Levy), who calls himself Mr. Fantasia, fancies himself a top forward with fame in his future. But the only reason he gets any playing time is because his wife murders his competitors.
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‘United’ (2011) how ManU continued after Munich
United tells the story of the 1958 Munich air disaster involving ManU’s young team known as Busby’s Babes. Trying to take off in a snowstorm, the plane ran out of runway, hit a house, and was torn apart.
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‘The Four Year Plan’ (2011) may make you hate QPR
If you watched the end of the 2011-2012 EPL season, you saw the spoiler role QPR almost played in Manchester City’s league championship. And if that were all you knew about Queens Park Rangers, you would have assumed The Four Year Plan was some kind of feel-good Moneyball success story. It’s not.
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Football trafficking in ‘Soccer’s Lost Boys’ (2010)
Soccer’s Lost Boys is an evocative documentary about soccer trafficking in Africa. Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller interviews players, parents, and coaches to show how West African families hand over life savings to agents who promise a tryout in Europe.
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‘One Night in Turin’ (2010) so vivid it makes people cry again
I imagine One Night in Turin is very difficult to watch if you were an England fan during their semi-final shoot-out loss to West Germany in World Cup 1990. Writer-Director James Erskine captures the many emotions and struggles of the country, the coach, the team (including Paul Gascoigne), and its fans. Apparently for some, this…
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See what it takes to be a FIFA referee in ‘Les Arbitres’ (2009)
Les Arbitres (The Referees) is a French documentary that follows several referees during Euro 2008. Much like the French movie about Zidane, there is no voice over or commentary to the footage as you watch and listen to the communication headsets of top referees while they work the games.
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Review: ‘Once in a Lifetime – NY Cosmos’ (2006)
If you care about the biz side of the MLS, and you didn’t experience the NASL, you need to watch Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos. This 2006 documentary reveals the marketing manipulations and public excitement behind the 1970s New York Cosmos.
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‘Offside’ (2006) – what if women could attend a game in Iran?
In the USA, we take our freedoms for granted, but what if we, as women, were not allowed to enter a stadium? Offside takes place at an actual 2006 World Cup qualifying match in Tehran, where women disguise themselves to get in.
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Review: ‘The Year My Parents Went on Vacation’ (2006)
In the touching drama, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, 1970 is the year of the triumph of Pelé and one of Brazil’s greatest teams. But “on vacation” is an activist euphemism for going on the lam to avoid arrest and torture by Brazil’s ruling military dictatorship.
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‘Johan’ (2005) finds love despite 10 footballing brothers
Johan is a very enjoyable dramedy/romance that, in a gentle way, shows that soccer is just a game, even in the Netherlands. The youngest in a family of 11 soccer-obsessed Dutch boys and their father, Johan doesn’t fit in because his obsession is music.
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If Jurgen Klinsmann preferred ‘Guys and Balls’ (2004)
This German soccer movie, Guys and Balls, is predictable but very cute. Ecki, a small-town goalkeeper and baker, is kicked off his semi-pro team for being gay. In defiance, he organizes an all-gay team to play against his former team in their home stadium, resulting in a nice strike against homophobia.
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Young monks get to watch ‘The Cup’ (1999)
You don’t expect much to happen in a Buddhist monastery. So it is not surprising that Phörpa (The Cup) is very slow paced. A spirited young soccer-obsessed monk defies the monastery’s way of life in order to watch World Cup 1998. But the abbot, although he does not understand why men fight over a ball…
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‘The Match’ (1999) a small but classic underdog soccer movie
The Match is a sweet spin on the underdog theme. The story is set in a picturesque Scottish village, the teams represent two pubs in a 100-year competition, and this is the year that winner takes all.
