ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[southendmd]

Plot:  John, an ambitious young copper, is sent undercover into the hardcore football [i.e. soccer] gangs to track down the 'generals' - the shadowy figures who orchestrate the violence. Gradually, the hard drinking, hard fighting macho world - where Saturday's match and Saturday's rumble are all that matters - proves irresistible and John slowly finds himself turning into one of the thugs he has been sent to destroy.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  So-so documentary about the arrival of Johan Cruijff (or Cruyff, as he is probably better known internationally), then the world's best football player, to Barcelona Football Club in 1974 and how it changed the fortunes of the Catalan team, who won several championships in the following years  and beat eternal rival Real Madrid 5-0 in Madrid in a memorable game. There are interviews with fans, and with Cruyff himself, but there is not much more. Only for die-hard football fans. Even with such limited appeal, it could have been more interesting. The title, "En un momento dado," means in a given moment, and it was an expression apparently popularized by Cruyff in Spain.

[memento]

IMDB: The lives of homeless people are changed forever through an international soccer competition. This film follows six players as they set off for Cape Town, South Africa to play in the Homeless World Cup.

[oilgun]

Synopsis:  Two sisters join the first female professional baseball league and struggle to help it succeed amidst their own growing rivalry.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  The new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her.

[southendmd]

Plot:  A semi-fictional account of life as a professional Football (American-style) player. Loosely based on the Dallas Cowboys team of the early 1970s.

With Nick Nolte and Mac Davis. 

(Do Dallas Cowboys drink white wine?)

[memento]

IMDB: In Iran, women are officially banned from men's sporting events. In June 2005, the Iran's national soccer team has an important game against Bahrain in the Azadi Stadium for the qualification of the World Cup. A group of Iranian girls and lovers of soccer dresses like boys and unsuccessfully attempts to enter in the stadium being arrested.

[oilgun]

Synopsis:   Several players from different backgrounds try to cope with the pressures of playing football at a major university. Each deals with the pressure differently, some turn to drinking, others to drugs, and some to studying.

==ASIDE==
Q:(Do Dallas Cowboys drink white wine?)
A:  I think EVERYONE drank white wine back in the seventies.

[southendmd]

Plot:  Combining real and fictional events, Game 6 centers around the historic 1986 World Series and a day in the life of a playwright who skips opening night to watch the momentous game.

Trivia:  The three lead actors, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr. and Bebe Neuwirth, worked for a discounted salary, $100 per day, on this film.

=aside=
Go Sox!

[Fran]

From IMDb:  This is the true story of a man's triumph over prejudice, pain and himself. Billy Mills, a North American Indian brought up on the reservation, destined against all odds to become the best distance runner in the world.

=aside=
Go Cubs!!!
(They haven't won a World Series since 1908.)