Cinematic Underdogs

On this episode, Harry LaBollita returns to discuss Netflix's hit series Break Point. Helmed by the same team behind F1: Drive to Survive, Break Point chronicles the world's up-and-coming tennis stars as they prepare and compete on the international professional tennis circuit, including all four Grand Slams and ATP and WTP tournaments. In Season 1, the cast of characters includes Nick Kyr...

We're back and this time we brought both Justin & Laura Khoo of Cows in the Field on the pod to discuss the 2006 cult sports-comedy classic Nacho Libre . Little did we know that this movie holds a truly special place in the Khoo's hearts (you'll have to check out the episode to hear exactly why). In addition to anecdotal associations, we get down to the nitty-gritty on what makes t...

What's up, Underdogs!? ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE!? Well, you better be because we're back, we're joined by Lou Moon, and we're diving headfirst into a raunchy sports comedy about the wonderful world of WCW wrestling. Yes, that's right: we're powerbombing 2000's puerile cult classic Ready to Rumble ! This fatuously fun film is absolutely stacked. It stars David Arquette, S...

On this bonus episode, your cinematic underdogs join Feelin' Film for a guest appearance discussion on the feel-good, 2023 dad-flick Air. Directed by Ben Affleck, written by Alex Convery, and starring Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans, Chris Messina, and Chris Tucker, Air is the highly-manipulated backstory of Nike's acquisition of the GOAT Michael Jordan. Giving MJ not only a...

Jed Bookout joins us on this episode as we explore Phil Alden Robinson's 1989 paternalistic, cornfed, heartland classic Field of Dreams . We discuss the film's disquieting subtexts and alternative readings, grappling with multiple surrealistic and existential readings. We discuss its similarities and lack thereof to the filmography and sensibilities of Douglas Sirk & Frank Capra. We di...

Marc Dottavio of Unwatchables joins us to discuss Martin Scorsese's 1986 The Color of Money . A legacy sequel to The Hustler , this pool-hall classic incorporates all of Scorcese's usual obsessions, stylistically and thematically, in very sly ways. The whip pans, snap zooms, time-lapse sequences, needle drops, and gritty mise-en-scene nicely complement the slow-burn tempo and 8-ball sequen...

Hello, fellow underdogs! We're back with Matt Belenky — film producer/film writer/film aficionado/Pittsburgh native — to discus one of the best Die Hard clone movies ever put to screen: Peter Hyams' 90's classic, Sudden Death . Matt recently celebrated Sudden Death's timeless charm and Pittsburghian ethos in the Pittsburgh Orbit article Terrorism in Overtime: Sudden Death Turns 25 , and he fills u...

On the latest episode, we go back to the basics and cover a newly released yet old-fashioned formulaic sports flick: Hustle . Released on Netflix in 2022, Hustle finds Adam Sandler in a groove. This film sits nicely between his prestige work in Uncut Gems and the juvenile sensibilities we've all become accustomed to expecting from the Happy Madison brand. It is packed full with NBA cameos and call...

In anticipation of Super Bowl LVII, we're back with a follow up to our episode on Hard Knocks: Training Camp w/ The Detroit Lions, this time tackling Hard Knocks in Season: The Arizona Cardinals. This is easily our most sporty episode yet. As always, though, we transfer the narratives on the field into the world of celluloid dreams. Quite literally: To break the ice, we enumerate the stories and m...

We're back with a classic sports fusion film: Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer! Ashley Naftule (freelance writer, playwright at Space 55, Twitter humorist) joins us to celebrate the zany antics and devil-may-care CGI shenanigans of Hong Kong's slapstick king. It's a truly one-of-a-kind cinematic exercise, relocating Shaolin martial arts to the soccer pitch, and we have an absolute blast singing its p...

We're back and chatting Captains , yet another underrated Netflix docuseries. This 8-episode journey chronicles the heartbreaking lows and glorious highs of 7 international captains as they lead their country's squad through qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Mikey from Screen Nerds Podcast joins the conversation and we have a blast discussing the doc's diverse cast of characters...

On this special bonus episode, Mikey from Screen Nerds Podcast  joins the pod to discuss the timely 2022 Netflix docuseries, FIFA Uncovered . Dropped just before the World Cup in Qatar, this sprawling doc exposes the decades of corruption (wire fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, bribery) staining FIFA. For those who love true crime/in-depth investigative journalism, this might be right up...

We're back with another Docuseries. Resembling in ways a real-life Ted Lasso , Welcome to Wrexham chronicles the purchase of Wrexham AFC by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny. The Wrexham Red Dragons are a fifth-tier Welsh football club, meaning they sit at the very bottom of the pyramid of professional UK leagues. Thus, the immediate goal of this venture is pretty simple: Promotion. Ryan and Rob cer...

On the latest episode, we continue to explore the long-form format of docu-series by tackling HBO's Hard Knocks: Training Camp w/ the Detroit Lions. Sure, it's classifiable as Reality TV, but when it comes to getting an in-depth, behind-the-scenes, all-access look at the ins and outs of running a professional football team, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more illuminating source than the first an...

We're back and joined by Mike Harris (director of Your Heart is a Dark & Rotten Place) to discuss Robert Altman's meandering buddy-comedy, California Split. Chronicling two gambling addicts as they bet on virtually everything (horses, poker, pick-up basketball games, boxing) and hang out with an amicable pair of hookers, Altman's cult-classic is both seductively charming while also a deceptively d...

On this episode, we discuss Untold episode on the rise and downfall of the niche streetball brand AND1. After a disastrous sponsorship of Stephan Marbury, which ended unceremoniously with a broken ankle due to the defective AND1 prototype shoes, the three Wharton grads behind this flash-in-the-pan, late-90s brand cleverly redefined their identity: Appropriating NYC street ball maestros to become A...

What's up, Underdogs!? Light up a thick cigar, pour a tall glass of scotch, queue up Frank Sinatra on the record player, spread a felt green cloth on that old dingy table in your den, and pull out a lucky charm because we're back with a new sport-adjacent series: Poker Movies. We have the perfect guest to introduce us to this rich world of cinematic gambling: Matt Belenky. As a film producer/write...

Season 2 of Untold has arrived and it's more viral than ever! That's right: Our favorite Netflix-produced sports documentary series is officially back! To commemorate the occasion, Aaron White of Feelin' Film joins us to discuss the incredibly bizarre and wacky 1st episode, Untold : The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist .  As a two-part season opener, this jaw-dropping Untold entry chronicles Manti...

We're back with yet another episode about a film that fits squarely into the surprisingly extensive dystopian/post-apacolyptic game-show subgenre: 1987's mega hit The Running Man . For this round, Chad Lott and Marc Kate from Scary Thoughts join us to chat about Arnold's epically stilted line readings, the eternal humor of nut shots, deepfake technology, the artistic versatility of a well-timed on...

On our latest episode, we discuss Karate Kid 2 with the prolific and ever-insightful Gene Ching : layman disciple of the original Shaolin Temple, former publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine, sword/weapons guru, and resident Cobra Kai expert on Den of Geek . Alongside Gene, we tackle everything that works and doesn't work in the second installment of the Karate Kid canon -- reflecting on the film'...

Welcome to our final episode on Season 1 of Netflix’s amazing Untold series. This round, we discuss perhaps the most famous subject in the entire anthology: Caitlyn Jenner. Before listening, however, we want to note that the gender dynamics and politics in this episode get unusually complex. We have no issue referring to individuals in whatever manner they prefer. Diversification and differentiati...

We're back and chatting about yet another excellent episode of Netflix's Untold series. This time, we enter the purgatory to discuss the insanely tumultuous highs and lows of Christy Martin's boxing career and personal life in Deal with the Devil. The title itself is quite revealing: it overtly hints at the Faustian bargain Christy made by marrying her wickedly abusive/controlling real-life traine...

Driven is a notoriously (and criminally) maligned, high-octane car wreck of a movie you have to see to believe. Tracking the CART open-wheel circuit, Renny Harlan’s adaptation of Sly Stallone's bloated script delivers ADHD-addled thrills from start to finish. This thing peels out at 200+ mph and refuses to let you breath or think — only pulling over to recharge at a few well-timed soapy, melodrama...

On this episode, JB Huffman of Manly Movies joins us to un-ironically champion the many heartfelt virtues & rah-rah moments of Sly Stallone's heartfelt 1987 father-son reunion melodrama, Over the Top . If you're on quest to find the definitive movie about child custody, truck driving, and arm-wrestling, this is your one-stop pitstop.  Tune in to join in on the fun as we chat about Stallon...

Our resident sci-fi/dystopian sports film expert, SF Covell, returns to discuss the grind-house, b-movie classic Death Race 2000 . Our convo quickly turns as unhinged & unruly as the movie -- traversing all kinds of detours and unexpected landscapes!  We discuss how the film oddly parallels the Herbie franchise, Around the World in 80 Days , Rat Race , Mad Max: Fury Road , and countless o...