Cinematic Underdogs

We've finally found our home on the putting green and covered Happy Gilmore, the seminal millennial sports comedy classic that largely inspired us to start this podcast. If you love Happy, Chubbs, Shooter, Subway ad placements, hockey shenanigans, and the rest of the 90s Happy Madison crew as much as we do, then you've stopped by your happy place! Grab a pitcher of beer and gallop that hor...

On this bonus, quasi-sports themed, Oscars-affiliated episode (previously episode 27 - published April 9th of 2021 before Spotify demanded a revision and made me save it to drafts) of Cinematic Underdogs, I (Paul Keelan) join Laura and Justin Khoo of the always superb Cows in the Field podcast to discuss the philosophical leaps of faith and pratfalls in 2020's " Another Round."  This...

We’ve officially been Bingo -pilled and there’s no going back. Seriously ya’ll, this episode with Bingo -superfan Jed Bookout is bonkers. Completely unhinged. We talk Bingo playing cards, Bingo revolutions, Bingo’s wine drunk slutty dog shenanigans, potential Bingo sequels, Bingo sex-capades, Bingo legacy media, Bingo’s Schrödinger's box theory, Bingo merchandise, and so much more Bingo !  Enj...

Jed Bookout joins the pod to discuss A24’s early breakout hit of 2024, Love Lies Bleeding : a sapphic, bodybuilding, ultra-violent fever dream of a movie. Set in a scuzzy and sordid 1989 New Mexico setting, and tracking a pair of lesbians turned serial killers by necessity, Love Lies Bleeding is a tonal tour de force evoking the likes of Paul Schrader, Lynne Ramsey, & David Cronenberg. Perhaps...

It's Oscars season and so we're back with Matt Belenky to spar with a Best Picture winner: Million Dollar Baby. Starring and directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Paul Haggis a year before he penned yet another Best Picture Winner in Crash, this pugilistic take on euthanasia is a classic tearjerker. It is also a mixed punching bag: filled with melodramatic fetishization of the southern...

We're back to the basics this week, covering Charles Stone III's "The Underdoggs," starring Snoop Dog, Mike Epps, and George Lopez. This is a film we've been barking for: a kids' centered sports movie in the vein of The Might Ducks, Little Giants, or The Big Green, only raunchier. Filled with direct callbacks to each of movies (including a scene where a Hummer arrives on...

Bilge Ebiri joins the pod to talk Michael Mann's Ferarri! We chat about the film's multidimensional themes, its subtle subversion of conventional sports tropes, and the powerful way its irreconcilable conflicts and philosophical tensions linger long after the initial viewing. We also discuss Bilge's Top 5 Sports Movies and the state of the genre. *A preemptive apologies for the mixed vocal quality...

On this episode, Chad Lott of Scary Thoughts Podcast joins us to talk about the Netflix documentary Beckham. We chat about Brit fashion, culture's uncouth obsession with exhuming salacious details on celebrity affairs, and the remarkable resilience of Posh and Becks, both on and off the pitch. Enjoy!

Gene Lyons of Shat the Movies joins the pod to talk about Apple TV's bingeable MLS puff-piece Messi Meets America ! We also chat about the differences between the USL and MLS, the amazing championship run of the Phoenix Rising, the origins of Shat the Movies, Messi's GOAT-qualities, Gene's Top 5 Sports Movies, and much, much more! Enjoy!

On the latest episode of Cinematic Underdogs, we chat about Gran Turismo, Neill Blomkamp's rousing, kinetic, feel-good hit racing flick released at the tail end of the summer box office rush in 2023. Much more than a video game IP-grab, Gran Turismo is an unbelievable true story about a young SIM-racer, Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), who is chosen to compete at an academy and become a re...

On this very festive Christmas special, we debate whether Jack Frost (1998) could be categorized within the sports movie genre, celebrate the phony performances by Henry Rollins and Michael Keaton, recite Roger Ebert's iconic/scathing review of the Jim Henson's snowman suit, and discuss the entire canon of holiday-centered sports films (A Christmas Fumble, A Wrestling Christmas Miracle, an...

The 100 Foot Wave is truly must-watch TV for anyone who appreciated big wave surfing. Following Garrett McNamara and his lifelong quest to catch the world’s biggest wave, the 1st season tracked his dual romantic elopements—both to his wife, Nicole, and to Nazaré, a small Portuguese port town where he stumbles upon an undiscovered swell of mythic proportions.  Season 2 picks up in the decline of Ga...

For our hundred and first episode, we are back with the classics. Baseball classics to be precise! Join us as we discuss 1989’s hit sports comedy Major League and 1993’s hit kids’ sports film fantasy Rookie of the Year . We also talk about the disappearance of Pauly Shore, the growing fervor around 90s spy/thriller film revivalism, box office gems from the time of both releases and debate the meri...

We made it! Our 100th episode is here, and we couldn’t be more stoked to share it with everyone. First and foremost, a huge shoutout to everyone who’s listened and appeared on our podcast over the last 99 episodes. We feel blessed to have met so many awesome people, enjoyed many fun recordings of memorable conversations, and received a ton of positive feedback along the way!  We had an absolute bl...

Matt Belenky joins us for a double feature as we discuss Tony Scott's "The Fan" and D.J. Caruso's "Two for the Money". We talk the decline (or not) of "hack" studio directors, Robert De Niro's unhinged portrayal of a psychopath in "The Fan," and Al Pacino's twilight years as a leading man, among many other box office topics. Enjoy!

We finish out our football season with another docuseries, jumping back into the world of Untold with Swamp Kings . On this episode, we talk abut what makes college football uniquely special, why this documentary is wrongly maligned, and why it is fairly criticized. In terms of leaving out the dirt on Urban Meyer and his Florida Gators, this four-part series is a head-scratcher — omitting the juic...

We are still in the thick of football season and back with an episode on Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets , or The Aaron Rodgers Show as we called it. Hear us discuss our likes, dislikes, and takeaways from this season. Next episode — and our final pigskin themed docuseries for the kickoff of football season — will be Untold: Swamp Kings . Please share, rate our pod, and share som...

On this episode, we continue with our (un)cinematic streak of sports-themed streaming docuseries. This time, we’re talking Netflix’s Quarterback (2023), produced by none other than Peyton Manning and featuring 3 of QB’s at very different junctures of their career: Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota. Justin Peterson of the Average Joe’s Movie Club Cast joins us discuss their work eth...

On this episode, we compare and contrast two docuseries on American Gladiators released in 2023: Muscles and Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators (Netflix) and The American Gladiators Documentary (ESPN/30 for 30). American Gladiators was always one of our favorite TV programs from childhood and we had a blast recounting our memories of the toys, the ‘roided up gladiators, the madca...

On this episode, we talk about the rise of Jake Paul in the ring. From a YouTube hellion and obnoxious Influencer to a boxing star, Jake Paul has become one of the truly improbable sports transformations of the 21st century. He may be polarizing and milage varies greatly on his likability. But as a celebrity committed to a sudden calling after a quarter life crises and cultural cancellation, Jake...

Untold: Johnny Football represents an iconic era of college football, and offers an astute examination of one of the most immature quarterbacks to ever win a Heisman Trophy, Johnny Manziel. An affable, perennial partier, Manziel was notorious for his off-the-field antics and partying. He played the game with the same freewheeling sense of intuition and exigency he seemed to live, transplanting his...

A bonus episode consisting of two separate interviews of Jordan & Paul on The Average Joe's Movie Club Cast. We discuss or movie tastes, preferences, and habits. Enjoy!

This week, we return to the world of Manga adaptations & join our friend Matt St. Jack of Anime Talk! to chat SK8 the Infinity (you can watch it on Crunchy Roll!). In the episode, we discuss the series' nostalgic tone, ardent-hearted appreciation of skateboarding, controversies surrounding queer-baiting, technical/scientific descriptions of boarding, quirky biblical allusions, and notable...

We’re back with our friends Aaron & Patrick from Feelin’ Film to talk 2023’s underdog sleeper hit of the year, Blackberry : a riveting, fictionalized biopic detailing the rise & fall of the now-infamous phone. Equally funny and thrilling, Blackberry taps into the spirit of Fincher’s The Social Network or Boyle’s Steve Jobs . It is filled with amazing performances and panache—appropriating...

In the wake of Ted Lasso's series' finale, we decided to talk about Apple TV's feel-good sports-themed sensation by covering the show's entire 3 seasons . Painting broadly, we discuss the recurring pattern of gradually inverting character traits & expectations, contextualize the aesthetic choices/references/silliness/garishness within the canon of classic sitcoms, analyze the p...