Big and Hairy (1998)
Bigfoot Joins the School Basketball Team
Kid’s film that comes with a rather slight gimmick in which a Bigfoot is befriended and persuaded to join the high school basketball team
Sports
Sports refers to any type of event or game where participants must participate in some form of physical competition either individually or as a team. These can be sports of strength, skill, dexterity or physical endurance.
Almost any sports film discussed here falls into two categories. The first is the familiar sports film trope of The Underdog Wins Out plot where an individual or team enters a competition despite vast odds stacked against them. The other is where they receive some form of fantastical odds in the form of formulas, superpowers, or help from ghosts, angels, aliens, talking horses or vehicles with personalities.
Also discussed here are depictions of sports of the future or in fantasy settings.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
Adventures with a Good Witch/Disney Film
Obvious but likeable attempt by Disney to replicate the success of Mary Poppins with Angela Lansbury as a good witch taking a group of children on a series of nonsense adventures
Battlefield Baseball (2003)
Combat Baseball/Gonzo Japanese Film
Japanese film clearly inspired by Battle Royale that has a wonderfully appealing premise where a high school baseball game that has been turned into a deathsport
Battle League Horumo (2009)
Combat Tournaments with Miniature Creatures
Japanese film about teams that engage in combat tournaments with hordes of Smurf-like creatures. This spends too much time on its high school drama cliches but eventually finds the dementia of its concept at the climax
Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008)
Comic-Book Character
The third of the live-action Asterix films starring Gerard Depardieu as Obelix. This faithfully replicates the look and visuals of the original comic-books as the two head off to the Olympics
Another WolfCop (2017)
Werewolf Cop/Horror Comedy
WolfCop found an appeal with its amusing title premise. Here the principal talents involved have reunited for a sequel, although the feeling is more that they have done so solely because the first film was a success
The Animatrix (2003)
Compilation of Matrix Anime Shorts
To accompany their two Matrix sequels, The Wackowskis hired seven anime directors to each make a short film set in The Matrix universe. The results are often quite remarkable
Animalympics (1979)
Animation/Talking Animal Olympics
From the director of Tron, an animated film produced to commemorate the 1980 Olympics, a series of skits with various talking animals participating in different Olympic sports
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
Angels Aid Baseball Team
Disney remake of the old light fantasy film in which angels step in to aid a losing baseball team. This is pitched to family audiences and holds a surprisingly ardent evangelical message
Angels in the Outfield (1951)
Angels Aid Baseball Team
An amiable venture into the light fantasy films that were popular during this era., Here angels come down and intervene to aid a baseball team on a losing streak
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)
Singing Chipmunks
The first of the sequels to Alvin and the Chipmunks. Marginally less grating than the first film but that’s being relative – all the things that one hated the first time are back
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Cyborg Girl/Manga Adaptation
What was once a planned James Cameron adaptation of a manga about a cyborg girl is now brought to the screen by Robert Rodriguez but it is hard to say what an underwhelming disappointment the result is
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
Anti-Gravity Rubber/Disney Comedy
One of the inspired delights from Disney’s live-action era, a hit that became the template for their subsequent live-action films. The scenes with flying vehicles and basketball teams are entirely charming.
Above the Shadows (2019)
Invisible Girl
A unique and highly original take on the invisibility film where Olivia Thirlby becomes invisible because people no longer notice her until she meets one person who does
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
Two Idiots Meet the Invisible Man
The second of Abbott and Costello’s outings with Universal’s Famous Monsters. The usual numbskullery is boosted by some excellent invisibility effects
A-X-L (2018)
Robot Dog
Outside of animation, there has never been a decent genre film about cute dogs. This film about a robot dog is no exception. The surprise is that this is produced by the normally respectable David S. Goyer