Update on Aug-21-2023:
Well, it’s all over. The greatest World Cup we have yet seen. So much drama, such fan enthusiasm, the incredible FRA vs AUS 20-player shootout. So many suprises. You never knew who was going to win. Never.
Category: Notes
Posts that are not movie reviews.
On a mission to promote womens football ahead of next month’s WWC 2023, England Football and Disney put together a 4-min animation called Ella, a Modern Day Fairytale. Narrated by England WNT star Alex Scott, it is a Cinderella story where, instead of going to a royal Ball, little Ella tries out for the local boys team.
Two of the short films being showcased at the 2023 edition of Denmark’s Shoot! Festival are worth a quick watch or mention.
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Notes: Best and Worst soccer movies in 2022
It’s hard to believe, but even though it was a World Cup year, 2022 was one of my worst years for soccer movie reviews. I can’t blame it on the COVID-19 pandemic, because by Year 3, most of the world developed pandemic fatigue and pretty much threw their masks and self-isolation to the wind.
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Who’s winning the World Cup?
Since Twitter is imploding as I write this, I decided that I would not tweet my World Cup bracket but am instead posting it on my website.
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Notes: Sorry for not posting lately
There are a few reasons why I have posted so little in 2022.
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Notes: Google AdSense and a labor of love
My ISP Dreamhost tweeted about Google AdSense recently.
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Notes: Best and Worst soccer movies in 2021
2021 was a little better than 2020. The availability of vaccinations helped us get back to semi-normal, but shockingly there is a small segment of the world’s population that refuses to get vaccinated. So the pandemic continues to rage on.
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Notes: Soccer movies need a streaming site
Keith Phipps recently lamented in The Ringer that sports movies as a genre have generally lost their way to the multiplex. Space Jam: A New Legacy, whose theme is to tie big brands together into one movie, is an example of where the genre might be heading. But Phipps notes that the new economics of streaming might open up more opportunities for independent films.
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Notes: Best and Worst soccer movies in 2020
2020 has been a year we all want to forget. Many of us are isolating at home while the pandemic rages around most of the world. The market for home entertainment seemed to increase the number of soccer movies that were available online.
It is incredibly unfortunate that media like the Washington Post and the NY Times downplayed the 2014 Garcia Report, with headlines saying that there was “no smoking gun”. Virtually every page in this independent report from Michael Garcia’s Investigatory Chamber details FIFA’s corrupt methods in selecting the sites for WC 2018 and WC 2022.
I’ve reviewed several movies about FIFA corruption, but this document clearly lays out in business details and email flows, the operational procedures that comprise FIFA’s corrupt practices, and how an investigator breaks it all down.
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Notes: Soccer in the year of COVID-19
We are all struggling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, as lives are lost and normalcy is completely disrupted. If you have been affected, I hope that you recover from your grief and trauma. If you are sheltering in place like I am, then I hope that holding onto something you enjoy gives you some respite from the world’s troubles. May this website be a small diversion for you.
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Notes: Best and Worst soccer movies in 2019
2019 was a Womens World Cup year, but unlike with the Men’s side, few producers timed their theatrical releases to the tournament. However, interest in football films and soccer movies continues to grow rapidly, so that my list of movies to watch grows much faster than the movies that are available to me. My to-watch list now numbers almost 600 whereas 2-3 years ago it was around 400.
In the big battle for your streaming attention, Amazon Prime has licensed quite a few independent international movies related to football (soccer). I find less than half of these foreign films are OK, and the rest can be quite laborious to watch.
Rather than bail water in a sinking ship, I don’t want to spend a few hours researching and reviewing a film that’s not worth my time. Instead, I am going to just list those films here, in alphabetical order. I will update this post as other films arrive on Amazon.
This list is a metaphor for 2019 MLS coaches expressed as various forms of sea life. I was inspired to write this after listening to Andrew Wiebe interview many MLS coaches for the @ExtraTimeRadio podcast.
- Peter Verdes = Aquaman 🧜♂️🔱
- Mike Petke & Brad Friedel = Killer Whales 🦈
- Gio Savarese & Marc Dos Santos = Sharks 🦈
- Brian Schmetzer & Jim Curtin = Dolphins 🐬
- Caleb Porter = a Shark 🦈pretending to be a Dolphin 🐬
- Chris Armas = the #Gulliest Seagull 🐦🐣
- Matías Almeyda = an Octopus = a sentient being 🐙
- GB Schelotto = a Premium Lobster 🦞
- Bob Bradley = a massive Sea Turtle 🐢
- Frank de Boer & Domènec Torrent = Whales in danger of extinction 🐳
- Greg Vanney = Kelp 🌿
- Adrian Heath = a Starfish hanging on tight ⭐️
- James O’Connor = a Shrimp 🦐
- Anthony Hudson = a Flounder 🐟
I originally posted this on twitter
