Rudo y Cursi

Toto (Gael García Bernal) dreams of making it big as a singer while picking bananas. His brother Beto (Diego Luna) struts around being the dead end supervisor of the banana ranch. The only thing they are half way good at is kicking a football around. Enter Batuta (Guillermo Francella) the scout master of football talent in Mexican countryside and the two soon find themselves under bright spotlights in Mexico City. Sex, lies and angel dust follows as you are treated to a taunt take on the microcosm of the poor becoming rich overnight.

Rating: * * *

Chak De India!

Take A League of Their Own, add some Indian patriotic fervor and unrealistic hockey to it and you have Chak De India!

Rating: * *

Offside

The eve of the qualifying football game between Iran and Bahrain for World Cup 2006 sees all of Tehran trying to wedge their way into the stadium. Except the women of course thanks to a law that prohibits from entering the stadium. But a group of football crazy girls decide to buck the law and go where their hearts are. Jafar Panahi's film that is part political statement / satire and part hilarious comedy is a must of for all football fans and people who care for woman rights the world around.

Rating: * * * +

Through the Fire

Documentary about the road to the NBA through the eyes of Sebastian Telfair, a Coney island native who grew up to be a legend on the courts of New York. The film barely scratches the surface of the cut throat world of making it big in professional basketball. In fact the most interesting bit of the movie was the sequence in Greece where Telfair's brother plays professionally.

Rating: * +

Bad News Bears

Morris Buttermaker (Billy Bob Thornton) is a washed up baseball player who loves his alcohol. He is charged with coaching a rag tag baseball team. It turns out to be a kids version of A League of Their Own. A feel good type of movie; the kind I usually avoid. The only reason I wanted to watch this was because of Richard Linklater. A director whom I highly regarded for a while but after seeing some of his old films again, I realize he is just a tad above the average.

Rating: * *