We Interrupt Footcer To Bring You This Message From My Other Blog
So the danger of my new policy of just dragging the footcer specific stuff from my LiveJournal over here without editing (besides the spelling errors) is that some things sneak in - like politics. I apologize if I offended anyone else with the "idiot George Bush followers" comment.
Well, sort of. I still believe it. :)
Anyhow, another danger is that I tend to talk about movies a lot in my general personal blogging life away from footcer. My consumption of movies (so far this year I've watched 128 movies in 132 days) has really distracted from my footcer time. It's rare that the two collide but on Saturday I went to see "Goal! The Dream Begins."
It was truly a heartening experience as the theater I saw it at had sold about 75 tickets for the 4:00 p.m. showing. After the box office disaster that was "The Game Of Their Lives," it's good to see us Yanks finally coming out for a footcer movie where the footcer is played by grown ass men and not school kids.
The box office for "Goal!" for the weekend was $2,003,000 on 1007 screens.
For those who pay more attention to footcer than movies, this is a small run. To contrast, the other two movies of any consequence that openened this weekend were "Poseidon" and "Just My Luck." The upsidown boat movie opened on 3,555 (total box $$20,325,000) screens and the teen girl movie opened on 2,541 ($5,500,000).
To extrapolate, if "Goal" had the same number of screens as "Just My Luck," it would have taken in $5,054,000 (just barely less). Had it taken in $120,000 more - basically about six tickets to a U.S. cinema? :) - it would have cracked the United States top 10.
SO GO AND SEE IT THIS WEEKEND IF YOU ALREADY HAVEN'T!
Oh, but don't expect pure brilliance as it's pretty much "Rudy" but with a player with talent. Here's my review on Yahoo Movies (well my LiveJournal but it will be posted to Yahoo Movies shortly):
LOGAN SQUARE MOVIE QUEST, BONUS MOVIE
"GOAL! THE DREAM BEGINS" (Yahoo Rating: B-)
We football (soccer) supporters who were born and live in the United States are a weird lot to be certain. Many of us go to MLS matches knowing full well that the quality of play is less than that in Europe and those who do this support the league wholeheartedly. Now of course there are the Eurosnobs who go to the bar every Saturday, pretend they're British, and then ignore that football (soccer) is played in the United States too. Except every four years when even we "Yanks" turn on and watch the game the rest of the world is rivited to most of the rest of the time in numbers.
On that timing logic, it's very fitting that the first movie in the goal trilogy (or maybe even more, who knows based on the worldwide success - especially in the United Kingdom and Mexico) come out in the United States exactly one month before the United States kicks off in Germany against the Czech Republic. Therefore the rest of the people in the United States who don't follow football (soccer) will probably realize this movie exists just like they realize MLS exists for about a year after the World Cup is over.
"Goal! The Dream Begins" is the story of a young Mexican illegal working in Los Angeles for his father's landscape company who while playing in a local Spanish language rec league is discovered by a former player and scout from England. So impressed is the scout that he goes to bat (pardon the mixed sports metaphor) for the kid - his age is never revealed although he's definitely young enough not to be out of place with other U-23s in the film and is said to be the youngest player on Newcastle United at one point - with the current coach of Newcastle United (who had fired him when he took over) making him promise to give him a tryout. Once he gathers the money together (in a heartwarming moment) he flies to England. The rest of the movie is the story of Santiago's trying to get into Newcastle United's first team facing such obstacles as learning the physical nature of English football (soccer) in the reserve team, being forced to realize he's no longer the big fish in the small pond and the like. All in a very English context.
This film is worth promoting for one simple reason - it's really the first movie made by an American production company that treats the game with the respect it deserves. Almost every United States production involving football (soccer) has portrayed it as some kids game just like the media likes to do. I haven't even bothered with the likes of "Kicking And Screaming" and its ilk for that reason. Unlike all of these, this film tries to get to the pulse of the actual top quality sports that only top quality athletes can play.
The movie makes a point of this early on when it has a bunch of little kids playing kick and chase and then it flashes almost instantly to Kuno Becker's Santiago Munez dribbling in ways the even the casual observer will be floored by (though the question if it's actually his feet being shown is brought up). The professional teams in England are treated with the same quality of treatment as NFL or baseball teams are treated in most United States produced sports films (and better than most basketball films which just degenerate into stereotypes).
In short this is the first movie that treats football (soccer) like a real sport from the American perspective.
And therein lies the problem. It's given the American treatment. There's the older bully who's trying to thwart Santiago's progress, for example, because he wants one last shot at the team. There's the senior player who takes Santiago under his wing. But most importantly, it's the underdog trying to overcome obstacle after obstacle that's thrown at him in an attempt to inspire the crowd.
And in the end, it is an inspiring film of about the same quality of most. Kids and their parents are going to love this movie for that reason alone. "Follow your dreams, you will reach your goals," may as well have been plastered across the top of the screen the whole time.
Therein lies the overwhelming problem with the film, however. In an attempt to reach the widest under 18 audience it can, all of the really complex emotional issues are left on the cutting room floor (I really want to see the PG-13 version the rest of the world got to see because it seems like it would be much better). All of the really gritty (even dirty) aspects surrounding the English game are left out - such as the constant threat of match fixing due to legal gambling, violence in the supporters' groups, etc., etc. But the bigger sin of omission is actually those dirty secrets of Santiago. It's mentioned he was in a gang only because he had a gang tattoo. But where are the emotional scars?
The only storyline not handled with the kid gloves is the relationship between Santiago and his father. In this the film has its one unique and guiding force that makes it worthwhile. There are some surprising decisions that both have to make and there is genuine character development. Where was this in the rest of the movie?
So in the end the question is: is MLS ready for general public consumption in the United States but more germane to this actual review is if "Goal! The Dream Begins" is ready for general public consumption in the United States?
Unfortunately, I have to say, "not quite." So just like we actual football (soccer) fans in the Unitd States try to get our friends to go to MLS matches (or USL matches or just watch international matches on TV), it feels like a lot of the reviews on here are really trying hard to convince the general public to see this movie. And will I be guilty of trying to get my friends to see it (despite the flaws it has)? You bet I will. I'm part of the weird lot that promotes the lesser American product because it's our lesser American product of the world's game (on the pitch or on film).
Though I do have to say that this is not the film to try to win over the football (soccer) haters with. Eventually there will be a great football (soccer) movie made by an American production team. And hopefully that will be way before the 2010 World Cup.
NOTE: As this came from my movie reviewer hat world, you'll note me using the s-word. :)
I do have a bunch to say about the World Cup rosters for the various nations as today was the deadline for managers to submit them. But that will have to wait until later. Maybe until I've watched another movie. :)
Well, sort of. I still believe it. :)
Anyhow, another danger is that I tend to talk about movies a lot in my general personal blogging life away from footcer. My consumption of movies (so far this year I've watched 128 movies in 132 days) has really distracted from my footcer time. It's rare that the two collide but on Saturday I went to see "Goal! The Dream Begins."
It was truly a heartening experience as the theater I saw it at had sold about 75 tickets for the 4:00 p.m. showing. After the box office disaster that was "The Game Of Their Lives," it's good to see us Yanks finally coming out for a footcer movie where the footcer is played by grown ass men and not school kids.
The box office for "Goal!" for the weekend was $2,003,000 on 1007 screens.
For those who pay more attention to footcer than movies, this is a small run. To contrast, the other two movies of any consequence that openened this weekend were "Poseidon" and "Just My Luck." The upsidown boat movie opened on 3,555 (total box $$20,325,000) screens and the teen girl movie opened on 2,541 ($5,500,000).
To extrapolate, if "Goal" had the same number of screens as "Just My Luck," it would have taken in $5,054,000 (just barely less). Had it taken in $120,000 more - basically about six tickets to a U.S. cinema? :) - it would have cracked the United States top 10.
SO GO AND SEE IT THIS WEEKEND IF YOU ALREADY HAVEN'T!
Oh, but don't expect pure brilliance as it's pretty much "Rudy" but with a player with talent. Here's my review on Yahoo Movies (well my LiveJournal but it will be posted to Yahoo Movies shortly):
We football (soccer) supporters who were born and live in the United States are a weird lot to be certain. Many of us go to MLS matches knowing full well that the quality of play is less than that in Europe and those who do this support the league wholeheartedly. Now of course there are the Eurosnobs who go to the bar every Saturday, pretend they're British, and then ignore that football (soccer) is played in the United States too. Except every four years when even we "Yanks" turn on and watch the game the rest of the world is rivited to most of the rest of the time in numbers.
On that timing logic, it's very fitting that the first movie in the goal trilogy (or maybe even more, who knows based on the worldwide success - especially in the United Kingdom and Mexico) come out in the United States exactly one month before the United States kicks off in Germany against the Czech Republic. Therefore the rest of the people in the United States who don't follow football (soccer) will probably realize this movie exists just like they realize MLS exists for about a year after the World Cup is over.
"Goal! The Dream Begins" is the story of a young Mexican illegal working in Los Angeles for his father's landscape company who while playing in a local Spanish language rec league is discovered by a former player and scout from England. So impressed is the scout that he goes to bat (pardon the mixed sports metaphor) for the kid - his age is never revealed although he's definitely young enough not to be out of place with other U-23s in the film and is said to be the youngest player on Newcastle United at one point - with the current coach of Newcastle United (who had fired him when he took over) making him promise to give him a tryout. Once he gathers the money together (in a heartwarming moment) he flies to England. The rest of the movie is the story of Santiago's trying to get into Newcastle United's first team facing such obstacles as learning the physical nature of English football (soccer) in the reserve team, being forced to realize he's no longer the big fish in the small pond and the like. All in a very English context.
This film is worth promoting for one simple reason - it's really the first movie made by an American production company that treats the game with the respect it deserves. Almost every United States production involving football (soccer) has portrayed it as some kids game just like the media likes to do. I haven't even bothered with the likes of "Kicking And Screaming" and its ilk for that reason. Unlike all of these, this film tries to get to the pulse of the actual top quality sports that only top quality athletes can play.
The movie makes a point of this early on when it has a bunch of little kids playing kick and chase and then it flashes almost instantly to Kuno Becker's Santiago Munez dribbling in ways the even the casual observer will be floored by (though the question if it's actually his feet being shown is brought up). The professional teams in England are treated with the same quality of treatment as NFL or baseball teams are treated in most United States produced sports films (and better than most basketball films which just degenerate into stereotypes).
In short this is the first movie that treats football (soccer) like a real sport from the American perspective.
And therein lies the problem. It's given the American treatment. There's the older bully who's trying to thwart Santiago's progress, for example, because he wants one last shot at the team. There's the senior player who takes Santiago under his wing. But most importantly, it's the underdog trying to overcome obstacle after obstacle that's thrown at him in an attempt to inspire the crowd.
And in the end, it is an inspiring film of about the same quality of most. Kids and their parents are going to love this movie for that reason alone. "Follow your dreams, you will reach your goals," may as well have been plastered across the top of the screen the whole time.
Therein lies the overwhelming problem with the film, however. In an attempt to reach the widest under 18 audience it can, all of the really complex emotional issues are left on the cutting room floor (I really want to see the PG-13 version the rest of the world got to see because it seems like it would be much better). All of the really gritty (even dirty) aspects surrounding the English game are left out - such as the constant threat of match fixing due to legal gambling, violence in the supporters' groups, etc., etc. But the bigger sin of omission is actually those dirty secrets of Santiago. It's mentioned he was in a gang only because he had a gang tattoo. But where are the emotional scars?
The only storyline not handled with the kid gloves is the relationship between Santiago and his father. In this the film has its one unique and guiding force that makes it worthwhile. There are some surprising decisions that both have to make and there is genuine character development. Where was this in the rest of the movie?
So in the end the question is: is MLS ready for general public consumption in the United States but more germane to this actual review is if "Goal! The Dream Begins" is ready for general public consumption in the United States?
Unfortunately, I have to say, "not quite." So just like we actual football (soccer) fans in the Unitd States try to get our friends to go to MLS matches (or USL matches or just watch international matches on TV), it feels like a lot of the reviews on here are really trying hard to convince the general public to see this movie. And will I be guilty of trying to get my friends to see it (despite the flaws it has)? You bet I will. I'm part of the weird lot that promotes the lesser American product because it's our lesser American product of the world's game (on the pitch or on film).
Though I do have to say that this is not the film to try to win over the football (soccer) haters with. Eventually there will be a great football (soccer) movie made by an American production team. And hopefully that will be way before the 2010 World Cup.
NOTE: As this came from my movie reviewer hat world, you'll note me using the s-word. :)
I do have a bunch to say about the World Cup rosters for the various nations as today was the deadline for managers to submit them. But that will have to wait until later. Maybe until I've watched another movie. :)
posted by incendiarymind at 8:33 AM
2 Comments:
That would be nice. I tend to ignore Serie A except when it makes the crime pages but who are those two backup goalies? I understand the guy from Lazio's supposed to be good but does he have any caps?
Keep in mind that I wasn't saying you were reporting old news. I was making a joke that it seems like in Italy after every season there's a court case. Last year they went to court over who was getting relegated for pete's sake and that's pretty straighforward.
*shakes head* Italy.
Your website has a useful information for beginners like me.
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