Tag: R7
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‘Mi Mundial’ (2017) is a cautionary tale
Mi Mundial is a charming Cinderella-like football tale, except this Cinderella returns to the ashes of his old life. This futbol pelicula is based on the 2010 children’s book of the same name, by former Uruguayan futbolista Daniel Baldi. A prolific author of mostly juvenile books mostly about football, Baldi uses much of his life in…
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‘The Workers Cup’ (2017) normalizes Qatar
Now that WC 2018 has finished in Russia (Congratulations to Les Bleus!), the eyes of the world turn to WC 2022 in Qatar. But as happened with Russia, the eyes of football fans are blind to the exploitation and corruption that FIFA has facilitated for these two tournaments. The Workers Cup might open your eyes…
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‘Mario’ (2018) a gay soccer movie with authentic football
Mario is like Shakespeare in Love on a football pitch, where two teammates cannot be together because society pulls them apart. I’ve seen a bunch of gay soccer films, and Mario is the first one that has quite an emphasis on the football.
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A refugee soccer camp in ‘Beirut Parc’ (2016)
Refugees comprise 20% of the population of Lebanon. If the USA had a similar percentage, the entire populations of New York and California would be refugees. To counter the effects of such chaos on Lebanon, international organizations like the United Nations try to help the children.
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Football as bridge or barrier in ‘End of Summer’ (2017)
End of Summer immerses you in the WC 1998 memories of Director Quan Zhou. Like the protagonist in his film, he was 11 years old, living in a compound in Shaoxing, when the World Cup was first broadcast live in China. Boys of his generation became fans of football and of players like Del Piero.
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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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![[Review] ‘Gold Stars: The Story of the FIFA World Cup Tournaments’ (2017)](https://soccermoviemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/gold-stars.jpg)
[Review] ‘Gold Stars: The Story of the FIFA World Cup Tournaments’ (2017)
You could be 90 years old and remember the greatest moments of all the World Cups. Or you could watch Gold Stars: The Story of the FIFA World Cup Tournaments, released in advance of WC 2018 as a 2-disk set or via streaming.
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‘New Generation Queens’ (2015) – when women can’t play football
Megan went to Zanzibar and was looking for a pickup game. She found a women’s team called the New Generation Queens. They were getting chased off fields because Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, and women aren’t supposed to play football. But they prevail, and this pleasant little film, with an ethnographic story and a long title,…
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Football is medicine for ‘The Other Kids’ (2016)
First-time Director Pablo de la Chica initially set out to make a documentary about the young Ugandan players who had a chance to visit FC Barcelona in 2007. While investigating, de la Chica found Mubiru Reagan playing soccer in a garbage dump near the Mandela National Stadium. The landfill is heavy with the toxic smell…
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Review: ‘The Streets Don’t Lie’ (2017)
The Streets Don’t Lie is a 3-episode mini-series from the 2017 season of Red Bull TV. Each 27-minute episode follows former French International Djibril Cissé as he travels to London, Berlin, and Paris. In each city, he interviews 3 candidates, from which he selects one player to train with a Red Bull academy for one…
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Could ‘George Best: All by Himself’ (2016) happen today?
Director Daniel Gordon brings different insights to his @ESPN3030 George Best movie, but is the story even relevant today? Players now are too valuable to let fail.
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Only watch ‘Hotshot’ (1987) to enjoy Pelé
To describe Bill King’s Hotshot in the vernacular of the 1980s, most of the time, this is a hokey soccer movie. But Hotshot is still worth watching, if only for the 20 minutes that Pelé is on-screen.
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Being ‘Men in The Arena’ (2017) helps exit Somalia
Men in the Arena comes to your screen in the time of the xenophobic Trump Administration. It took over 3 years for Writer-Director J.R. Biersmith to deliver his tale of 2 young Somalian footballers, whose steadfast friendship and soccer skills are crucial in bringing them to the USA.
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‘Wonderkid’ (2016) has a wondrous film production
For a guy taking his first steps in creating a film, Director Rhys Chapman made all the right moves. He strategically took Wonderkid from awareness campaign, to fund raising, through a 5-day shoot, and then to fruition. All along, his mission was to educate viewers by portraying homophobia and the need to counter it by…
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‘Win!’ (2016) is a good documentary and not an infomercial
Last week, the NYCFC documentary Win! showed up on the NY Yankees YES cable channel. I reluctantly did my duty, because after all, who wants to watch a movie with an exclamation point in the title?
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![[Review] ‘Les Bleus: Une Autre Histoire de France’ (2016)](https://soccermoviemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/les-bleus.jpg)
[Review] ‘Les Bleus: Une Autre Histoire de France’ (2016)
Les Bleus: Another History of France maps the French football team performance with the nation’s social struggles from 1996-2016. But does the film convey an implicit bias? It is unique in that it does not whitewash the team’s history, and it leaves much to think about.
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A gritty insider’s view of ‘Going Pro: American Soccer’ (2014)
Going Pro: American Soccer is a gritty insider’s view of the young men on the 2012 Brooklyn Knights, then a 4th division amateur PDL team. Director Sebastian Podesta captures tough moments as the Knights struggle to light up the scoreboard. Players aspire to become paid professionals, and a winning record is essential for any of…
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‘Jack to a King’ (2014) – the fans saved Swansea once upon a time
Jack to a King – The Swansea Story is a love song to the supporters of Swansea City AFC, who saved the club from obliteration. Director Marc Evans tells an intricate story of how Swansea survived and then rose to the Premier League.
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Trying to qualify for WC 2010 in ‘Laduma! Benin’s Journey’ (2011)
Part travelogue, part cultural anthropology, and part football history, Director Richard Shepherd’s film Laduma! Benin’s Journey captures an insider’s view as a small African nation tries to qualify for WC 2010.
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The frenzy of favela futebol in ‘Campo de Jogo’ (2014)
Campo de Jogo (Sunday Ball) is a kinematic metaphor for Brazilian soccer. Director Eryk Rocha lays bare the intense emotions of favela futebol. He assembles a film that is both documentary and cinematic art. It was shown at New York’s MOMA and is similar to, but much better than, the 2006 art piece on Zidane.
