Category: Comedy
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‘Holy Goalie’ (2017) is one of the best soccer comedies
I am mystified that the Spanish media was mostly critical of Que baje Dios y lo vea (Holy Goalie), faulting it as clichéd and unimaginative, with actors in roles not much different from what they portray on popular TV shows. One writer even complained that there were too many jokes. Does Spain have the best…
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‘One Night in Istanbul’ (2014) – a funny film about LFC
Many congratulations to Liverpool FC and their fans for making it back to the Champions League Final in 2018. It makes a great time to enjoy football feature films about Liverpool FC: Reds and Blues, Will, Hillsborough, and now, One Night in Istanbul. There are more I haven’t seen!
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‘Early Man’ (2018) is a remarkable piece of art and football
What’s not to like about Nick Park and Aardman Animations’ Early Man? Apparently it depends on whether your country favors the round or pointy kind of football. Whereas UK reviews are all positive, American reviews included comments as nasty as “Who cares if cavemen could play soccer?”
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Is ‘Flitzer’ (2017) the funniest soccer movie ever?
A comedy about streaking sounds like a joke that would run out of steam fast. When introducing Flitzer (aka Streaker) at the Berlin & Beyond Film Festival in San Francisco, the announcer acknowledged the Swiss stereotype of being so serious all the time. He then proceeded to tell the one Swiss joke that exists, which…
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Social media eclipses the score in ‘Funny Soccer’ (2016)
Director Lam Tze Chung, who played the fat monk in Shaolin Soccer, has put together an enjoyable family film that explores what happens on the pitch when social media becomes more important than scoring.
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‘Jules and Dolores’ (2016) – a classic dumb criminal movie
O Roubo da Taça, which literally translates as “Theft of the Cup”, could have been a who-done-it about the heist of Brazil’s Jules Rimet trophy in 1983. Instead, Writer-Director Caito Ortiz made the story into a how-dumb-it comedy. You are constantly asking yourself, how dumb can these two guys be?
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Clever story but poor animation in ‘K-9 World Cup’ (2016)
A movie about dogs and soccer should be a winner—the most popular topics on the internet, right? K-9 World Cup is indeed a very clever story which made me chuckle throughout. A coach has one month to recruit and train the MexiCanine National Team for the Canine World Cup.
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‘The Nation Holds Its Breath’ (2016) in Ireland’s first World Cup
In 1990, a young Irishman’s anticipation of his child’s birth coincides with the breathless anticipation of his nation as it competes in the World Cup for the first time.
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A buddy trip through Ireland and its ‘Celtic Soul’ (2016)
Jay Baruchel and Eoin O’Callaghan drive across Ireland in search of Jay’s Irish roots and their shared Celtic Soul. It’s a self-described collection of lovely moments tied together within the larger context of what it means to be an immigrant, to be Irish, and to be a fan of Celtic FC.
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Soccer Movies When You’re Depressed
Has life got you so far down, you can’t get off the couch? Your significant other left you? Your best friend lost your phone number? Your child wants someone else to be his/her parent? Your parent wants someone else to be his/her child? You’ve been in 4 years of despair with President #45 and he…
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A Chilean, Peruvian and Argentine meet cute in ‘Lusers’ (2015)
Lusers is a delightful comedy of cultural differences as strangers from 3 countries travel the Amazon basin to the WC 2014 final in Brazil. Each of the trio (a Chilean, a Peruvian and an Argentine) is escaping a personal problem (thus a loser), but the trip presents even more challenges. They wreck their vehicle, are…
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‘La Dream Team’ (2016) is mighty fun for the family
Add La Dream Team to the list of really good soccer movies that have sprung forth for our viewing pleasure in the past few years. Réalisateur Thomas Sorriaux accomplishes what American directors seldom do: work comedy into a family film that appeals to both kids and adults.
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‘The Magnificent Eleven’ (2012) dancing nude footie
Asked what The Magnificent Eleven is about, 80 year old actor Robert Vaughn boiled it down to: “Dancing footie players, nude.” This film is a little more than that, but it does put that nudie footie player thing front and center quite a bit. Or front and to the side. Or mostly, flabby rear end…
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‘Sassy Player’ (2009) is a trans-gender soccer romp
You can look at Sassy Player in two ways: either it’s a screwball comedy, or it’s an LGBT coming of age in Thailand soccer movie. Director Poj Arnon’s film แต วเตะตีนระเบิด is a weird combination of the two genres. The 16 new boys in a formerly all-girls high school are forced to form a school…
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A zany improv mockumentary in ‘Mascots’ (2016)
Watching Christopher Guest’s Mascots, I hadn’t heard such laughter in a theater since It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. 1,400 people showed up for the special San Francisco Film Society screening at the Castro Theater on Oct-4-2016.
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‘No Ball Games’ (2012) is darkly funny, twisted humor
No Ball Games is a 7-minute short film that might turn off a typical soccer movie fan. I found humor in it but my hubby did not. It reflects the director’s sense of humor, entrancing the viewer with a boy whose ball goes over a wall into a secret garden.
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The villain in ‘Underdogs’ (2013) goes full Zlatan
Why did Underdogs go straight to DVD? This is a fun family film, and to my knowledge is the first soccer movie that is an animated full-length feature film. I saw the trailer at the theater and ever since, I had been keeping an eye out for its release.
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‘The Brothers Grimsby’ (2016) fight to save an English final
The Brothers Grimsby is a new path for Sacha Baron Cohen. Instead of giving us a narcissistic Borat, Bruno, or Ali G, his Nobby is a likable character: family man, loyal brother, wasted England fan, and unlikely action hero. That is, when Cohen isn’t delivering his usual shtick of male sex organs and anal violation.
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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).
