Howard...gratefully claims it... Distribution...Brilliant...Are things on here for the USA?... Can they do it?...
Who among us can listen to those words of Ian Darke and not get goosebumps? Well, that is some ice water indeed flowing through your veins if that does not describe you.
In my daily meanderings over at du Nord (What? You don't visit il Brucio's site everyday? Shame on you.) and ran across a link to the above video, a trailer for a film called Laduma, a documentary that, judging from the trailer seems to be about equal parts the South Africa World Cup and the experience of US Supporters in traveling over there and following it.
The film is the combined effort of One Goal, a group of documentary filmmakers who are dedicated to producing this kind of thing. Click on over to that website and you'll see what these guys are all about. But the main takeaway for me is this quote from the site:
One Goal is an internally funded, grassroots movement dedicated to growing the support fr our National Team and spreading the love of the Beautiful Game in the Land of the Free.
Says it all right there, don't it? It's enormous fun checking out the site, and series of webisodes they have on their efforts over there are guaranteed to take some time away that you were planning to spend on other things. You can also follow One Goal on Twitter here and Facebook here. The group says the goal right now is to screen Laduma in film festivals and organize private screenings to build buzz, a strategy employed both by the Pelada filmmakers as well as the guys behind Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story.
OK, I'm sensing some blank faces out there. You trying to tell me you have not seen Pelada? That movie is, quite simply, one of the best, if not THE best, soccer films I have ever seen, examining the street game as it is played and lived all over the world. I put the trailer down below for you just in case you have not seen it. After that, click on this link here to buy your own copy. If you don't, you will have to face the soccer gods on your own to explain yourself. I will not speak for you.
Same goes for the Jay DeMerit movie. You don't check that out, then you're not an American. Simple as that.
Here are the relevant trailers:
I have high hopes for Laduma to join the perhaps thin ranks of great football films. So let's throw it to the floor here, what are your favorite football films of all time? And don't be shy. I'm not afraid to admit that I hold a special place in my heart for Victory/Escape to Victory, the 1981 film with Sly Stallone, Michael Caine, Sir Bobby Moore, Pele, Osvaldo Ardilles, etc. I saw that film at the old Meyerland Theatre when it came out and had a great time. Trivia time: What nationality was Pele's character in that film?
I have to admit, I love that movie, and I know full well that, as a movie, it is wretched. But I still love it. Here're the final credits from it:
So, come on, what's your guilty football film pleasure?