Will BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM be the next MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING?

[Mike]

Since I first saw the trailer the night of January 28th, I've thought that this very well could be the next MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING. Granted, I doubt it will make quite as much as MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, but it certainly looks like it will be a sleeper hit. It's doing great right now in limited release, and it's supposed to expand more and more each week. The reviews are great and audiences are loving it. I just have this feeling that it's going to do very well for itself. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

What does everyone else think?

[mattjk_17]

Well it proved quite a hit over here about one year ago, I for one thought it was pretty good. I think it will make a bit of money, not as much as MBFGW though.

[Adam J. Hakari]

In becoming a box office tyrant? Nah. This one will be a modest box office success, but I doubt it'll scratch $25 million. But people will find it to be in the same vein as GREEK WEDDING; contentwise, I answer "yes." :cool:

[dh1989]

http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/fox_searchlight/bend_it_like_beckham/keira_knightley/beckham2.jpg

No. My Big Fat Greek Wedding had trailers that could appeal to anyone. A 12 year old girl or a 75 year old woman. Bend It Like Beckham looks like something that would appeal only to the former. I doubt adults will be racing out to see a feel-good movie about teenage female soccer players. It'll attract the What a Girl Wants audience, no more, no less.

http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/fox_searchlight/bend_it_like_beckham/_group_photos/jonathan_rhys_meyers3.jpg

[Kim_EZ]

Heh, sadly Parminder K Nagre (Jessie) is actually 28 years old.

[dh1989]

Originally posted by Kim_EZ
Heh, sadly Parminder K Nagre (Jessie) is actually 28 years old.

Well, that doesn't change the fact that is being marketed as a pre-teen chick flick.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Meh, it looks pretty bad.

[max]

I've seen it. Call it MY BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING. It won't do as well as MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING because it's not as stupid. It's also wittier, funnier and better acted.

[dh1989]

This film is also being poorly marketed. Look at this banner ad for it....

http://www.aintitcool.com/foxsearchlight/120x600_keira.jpg

:rolleyes:

[Sad man]

Don´t think so...It looks pretty bad.

[DevilMonkey]

Sorry to say but....No. It doesn't look bad it just looks like somthing that a person not like me would see.

[Tom Samborski]

I highly doubt it.

[Ed]

hmm, it had a VERY healthy average last weekend of 15,000. I think it will make a few bucks buy never as MBFGW. i see it finishing in about 40mi max.

[Scarface98.9]

It won't be the next Greek Wedding, despite it potentially a lot better and more worthy of the 200M it made. This is a movie I wanna see, which I couldn't claim about the Windex filled Greek Wedding

[Fergus]

As of late, it is one of the worst movies I've had to sit through... although I downloaded it and watched it a few weeks ago. I DO NOT recommend seeing it, unless you feel the need to sit through a Sitcom-style film that overdoses on sugar and predictability. I was seriously bored throughout. The jokes were bad too, and I felt like shutting it off 40 minutes through but I sat till the credits.

This is a bit shocking from someone who despises MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING but I have to say, it was much better and entertaining AND had better comic timing than "Beckam", if that says anything?

Maybe the fact that soccer (or football if you're non-American)bores the shite out of me has anything to do with my animosity?

But then again, "Beckam" wasn't truly ABOUT soccer (or football) (or Futbol) (OR Feutbahl) (soccer suits me best still), it was about an Indian girl REACHING HER DREAMS, there's no truth in this film whatsoever, and I find it something to yap about!

Did I mention that I haven't really listened to any kind of music since listening to the "Pop-heavy" soundtrack? The WORST KIND of Pop music mind you! The kind you hear in cheesy sitcoms.

4/10 for the awfully disappointing British comedy.


Why did I sit through this till the end credits you might ask? Because I don't like to quit on a movie.

Unless it's a TV MOVIE, then you have your exception. :) Forget my fucking rules, I won't watch it! ;)

[Mike]

This is from USA Today:


'Bend It,' like 'Greek Wedding,' is starting off strong

By Andy Seiler USA TODAY

Bend It Like Beckham is working it like a winner. The bittersweet, energetic, low-budget movie about an Indian girl living in Britain who just wants to play soccer has grossed an impressive $31.9 million worldwide.

"I set out to make a box office hit for Britain," says director Gurinder Chadha. "What I didn't expect was that it would be so successful in other countries."

Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office trackers Exhibitor Relations, compares the movie to last year's My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which started out similarly and went on to gross more than $234 million. "Bend It Like Beckham captures the audience's imagination, building its success through great word of mouth," he says.

But Beckham has a long way to bend it to beat Greek Wedding. After five weekends in the USA on 216 screens, Beckham has taken in $4.3 million, and it's averaging a strong $6,369 per screen, movie tracker Nielsen EDI says. This weekend, it will be in 380 theaters.

"It has been very successful so far with the art-house audience that supported our Monsoon Wedding," says Nancy Utley, president of marketing for Fox Searchlight. "The box office goes up on Saturdays, so we know it's getting family attention.

"But it has not crossed over to being a mainstream hit yet."

Utley is trying some unorthodox marketing — and she has to. First there's that title, which refers to soccer player David Beckham, a superstar in England, and his trademark move of kicking the ball so it appears to bend into the goal. He's not a big name here.

"Our first reaction was, 'We want the movie, but we can't call it that,' " Utley says. But the studio reconsidered and kept the quirky name.

"It doesn't matter if you know who Beckham is," Chadha says. "Everyone's been in a family where they wanted to do stuff and family members have said no."

Searchlight's second challenge: luring a mainstream audience. Many ethnic films build off enthusiastic response of the group depicted in the story. But Beckham is out on DVD in England, and many Indians here already own it.

"We've done all this business without them, largely," Utley says. "It's soccer, it's girls, and it's got English accents. Conventionally, any of them would be a challenge. But the movie delivers."

[mr shh]

I just saw Beckham last night. I think that while Bend it like Beckham is a better movie, it won't do as well as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, unfortunately it's a superior movie. It's better shot, better scripted and the parents are more believable. Maybe I'm just more of a soccer nut than a wedding fan... who knows.

[Duder]

Do you mean «Is it gonna be as bad?» or do you mean «Is it gonna gross as much money?»

Well in both cases, it's impossible.

[HM Murdock]

This mopvie has been out in the UK since last year. It's even made it on to TV now. I wouldn't get too exicted though. It's not that good. If you like the run of the mill teen chick flicks then you may like it.

[venkman]

Personally I think the film release in the states has been timed to help promote footballer David Beckham in America. Is just a coincedence that Manchester United ( the team in which he is star player, and who i support) have a tour of the U.S in couple of months time. It's also a well known fact that Manchester United are desperate to try and crack the American market ( Teaming up with the New york yankees for example) Also Beckham himself said he would like to be the first footballer to make it in U.S.A. Ahh that sweet old thing called marketing!

p.s. David Beckham IS pure class

[scottish-movie-freak]

Being perfectly honest, I wasn't paticularly struck on either of these movies. I suppose MBFGW was slightly better but I was VERY disappointed in BILB, all the good reviews and positive word of mouth had obviously been very encouraging but when I actually sat down to see it, I didn't enjoy it. Yes Keira Knightely and Parminder Nagre are sexy ladies and but the movie ultimately didn't do anything for me at all (3/10).

It doesn't help that I'm not a football fan...;)

[dellamorte dellamore]

Soccer in America will always be a niche market , why , bec ause Soccer blows some serious 8 ball chunks . It's boring , it's tedious , it requires very little talent , there is very little contact , it's too simplistic , it will never become a mainstream sport .

Watch a real sport like Football ( American ) , or Hockey ( requires the most talent to play and endurance ) .


I never saw this film , but it does seem half way decent , i'm just not in any rush to see it , and if i never do , i doubt i would be missing anything . I'd rather watch Shaolin Soccer .

[venkman]

Seriously dude i agree AMERICAN SOCCER BLOWS, which is why noone in europe could give a crap about it. European football is where the cream of the footballing talent is and teams such as MAN UNITED and REAL MADRID are breathtaking to watch.

Do you need skill to play ice hockey? i thought you just needed to be able to throw a good punch.

Sorry this has gone off the film topic, but I'm finished now.

[dammit_janet]

Originally posted by max
I've seen it. Call it MY BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING. It won't do as well as MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING because it's not as stupid. It's also wittier, funnier and better acted.

ha! true.

I saw it and really enjoyed it. If this were a just world it would do miles better than MBFGW but it probably won't.

I'm psyched the lead actress is going to be on ER now. Maybe I'll start watching the show again.

[Strider]

Bend It Like Beckham (2003)

Today, I went to the theaters with intentions of watching "The Matrix Reloaded" for my third time. Unfortunately, all of the good times were sold-out. Since I didn't want to leave the theater, I decided to buy a ticket for "Bend It Like Beckham" instead. The film didn't look that great to me, but I decided to see it because of the positive praise it's been recieving.

Anyway, once "Bend It Like Beckham" started, I really thought the sub-plot about the female soccer team was going to turn me off. Why, you ask? I don't know, I'm not entertained by women or girls playing soccer at all.

The final result of my viewing of "Bend It Like Beckham" was surprising, it was actually not a bad movie. It was a decent, charming, and entertaining little film. However, there were a couple of flaws that kept this film from being good.

First off, the trailers and commercials for "Bend It Like Beckham" pass the film off as a true comedy. It's far from it. Yes, there is good humor to be found here, but it's really only for the first half. The humor is not very consistent here, for in the second half, the film becomes overly dramatic.

My second problem has to with the main plot, which deals with the girl playing soccer against her parents' will. What I didn't like, is the plot becomes very repetitive. It goes back and forth between the one girl and her parents, with all of them bitching over and over again. And it takes forever for the film to wrap it's plot up with it's very predictable conclusion. All of this really bored me eventually.

I'm glad I watched "Bend It Like Beckham", it was worth my money, but I just didn't think it was as good as critics have been making it out to be. It's a decent film that offers some good laughs, lots of charm, and several solid performances. "Bend It Like Beckham" isn't anything great, but it is worth seeing.

Running Time: 1 hour 52 minutes

Grade: 6/10 or *** out of ***** stars

Strider

[Nachokoolaid]

NO

But I'm the sexiest, tomboy beanpole on the planet, by the way.

[MadsenOMC]

I think this is one of the worst movies of the year. Worse than My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and I didn't think that was possible. The girls are cute, but the material sucks. Both have obnoxiously annoying families full of stereotypes. They beat the message over your head the entire running time. It's at least 30 minutes too long. It's as predictable as movies get. Enough lame jokes for 30 bad sitcoms. This is one crap movie.

[Tuukka]

Originally posted by dellamorte dellamore
Soccer in America will always be a niche market , why , bec ause Soccer blows some serious 8 ball chunks . It's boring , it's tedious , it requires very little talent , there is very little contact , it's too simplistic , it will never become a mainstream sport .

Watch a real sport like Football ( American ) , or Hockey ( requires the most talent to play and endurance ) .


RE: Interesting post, since soccer A.K.A football is the most popular sport in the world. EASILY the most popular, no other sport can even compete in the same league.

It's also a sport that requires a huge amount of talent, skill and endurance. It's not simplistic at all but a very tactical sport. And the requirements to be at top in soccer are much higher than in american football or hockey. The fact is that both of those sports are just minor sports when compared to soccer and they have only 1% of the popularity of soccer in terms of people who actually *do* the sport in question as a hobby or as a profession.

Also, Hockey requires the most talent to play? My native country is extremely obsessed about hockey and also won the world championship a few years ago. But hockey is a much less tactical sport than soccer (thanks to smaller field and faster and more aggressive style of playing).

Hockey is also a very small minority sport when compared to soccer. It tells a lot that my small native of 5 million people is quite succesful in hockey, but doesn't mean shit in the world of soccer. It's not just a cultural thing, a small country like Finland just can't provide enough talented and skilled players to fare well in the king of sports A.K.A soccer.

Soccer doesn't provide enougg contact? That's because the players are supposed to contact with the BALL, not with other players. It's a sport based on tactics and skill, not brute force.

The fact that you find it simplistic, boring and tedious means only that you don't understand anything about it. The greatest pleasure in watching soccer comes from watching the beautifully done team play and complicated tactics.

And I don't even give a fuck about soccer or any other sport. I prefer to do sports instead of watching them in TV.

But soccer is still the number one sport in the world and will remain to be so.

[dellamorte dellamore]

Soccer sucks , "ethnic " comedies suck , feel good films suck , and i can almost guarantee that this film will suck . It's something that's more suited to television , but now some dunderhead executives thought us people on the other side of the Atlantic would warm up to this cow dung .

If you don't think Hockey takes way more skill to play than soccer ( i have to admit , i have a passing interest in the men's world cup ) , i have to say that i could see almost any pro hockey player out there today walk on a soccer field and do a bit of damage , but i don't see too many pro soccer players stepping onto the ice and tearing it up , they would be lost . It's so simple to kick a ball around , a parapelegic could probably do it , but try and shoot a puck , check , pass , backskate , block a shot , poke check , stick check , body check , take abuse in front of the net , get slashed with the stick , get driven hard into the boards , and on top of that , you're on skates the entire time . Soccer is for wussies , you can't even touch the other player or you get a yellow flag , or maybe even a red , it's a joke , and it doesn't take that much skill to play . Did i mention it's also boring .

[Tuukka]

but try and shoot a puck , check , pass , backskate , block a shot , poke check , stick check , body check , take abuse in front of the net , get slashed with the stick , get driven hard into the boards , and on top of that , you're on skates the entire time.

RE: Since I've lived in Finland all my life, I have also done a lot of skating. All things you said are not that hard to do at all. Of course being great at something is always difficult. But the comment "and on top of that , you're on skates the entire time." makes me think that you don't really know how hard it is at all. Once you have done a bit more of skating, it becomes a second nature to you. It's easy. It doesn't make any difference whether you are wearing skates or not.

If any top hockey player would try to play top professional soccer, they would suck at it. Hard. Frankly, you obivously have no idea at all how much these two games differ from each other and how diffult it is to try to jump from the other sport to the other. It's almost impossible. Both to soccer and hockey players.

Frankly, the idea that top soccer players could just change their sport and manage well in the football field is the most ridicilous thing I have heard in long time.

Yes, soccer is a sport for "pussies".... It's not a contact sport, but a sport based on skill and tactics. Being big and muscular doesn't help you in soccer, but being skilled and smart does.

[Mike]

Originally posted by dellamorte dellamore
but try and shoot a puck , check , pass , backskate , block a shot , poke check , stick check , body check , take abuse in front of the net , get slashed with the stick , get driven hard into the boards , and on top of that , you're on skates the entire time . Soccer is for wussies , you can't even touch the other player or you get a yellow flag , or maybe even a red , it's a joke , and it doesn't take that much skill to play.

LOL! You are trying to make it sound much harder than it is. If you stetch anything out step by step it can seem hard, even blowing your nose. I could do the same with soccer.

With soccer you have to:

Get the ball, look to your left, look to your right, look at the ball, pull your leg back, swing your leg forward trying to kick the ball, and then chase it and work with the other players to try and get it into the net.


And just because you don't violently shove people around in soccer doesn't mean it's for wussies...

[MadsenOMC]

I like soccer and hockey. And football. They are all good sports. They all require a lot of skill. And none are for wussies. To say otherwise makes you, well, I don't want to be kicked off the boards.

[daddiefatsacks]

i am born and raised in canada, by canadian parents. Hockey is in my blood, and there is no denying it is a tough sport to play, but i believe what Tuuka was trying to say is that this sport if the most popular sport in the world....not NORTH AMERICA where whatever is publicized most, is lead to be the most popular.

If you went into every country in the world, id pretty much say there is a national soccer team...but if you visited Cameroon...would their be a National Hockey Team, no!

i believe the point made was that Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, not...Soccer takes the most talent in the world.

thanks.

[dellamorte dellamore]

Allright , i shouldn't have said it was for wussies , i take it back . What i am trying to say is that anyone can get on a soccer field and kick a ball around , but not everyone could put on a pair of skates , get on the ice and play hockey , a brutal full contact sport . It takes much more endurance , skill ,and talent than kicking around a large ball filled with air .


Did i mention the size of the puck , you can barely see the thing , but these guys are manipulating it , at high speed , with people trying to knock them on their ass , on skates . The rules of physics change , obviously , and you have to adjust to accomodate the unique playing surface .

Soccer is popular around the world for the simple fact that it is easy to play , and everyone and their grandmother could play it . Yeah , it takes some skill , but i doubt that much . To become a great hockey player takes years of practice and conditioning , to become a great soccer player doesn't take much , that's why you see such young players in the World Cup , how hard is it too run around on a soccer field , it's mainly an endurance test , but that's about it .


Hockey would be more popular if it was easy to master , but because of the level of skill , talent , and endurance required , only a limited number of people are willing to engage this particular sport . Plus , you need a rink , and skates , and equipment , or a frozen pond . All you need in soccer is an open field and a ball . So , economics play a part in soccer's popularity , even poor nations can field a decent team , it doesn't cost that much to train or field a team that can compete on an international level .


Now ultimately , i'm pointing all this out because it's the main reason i don't want to see Bend it like David Geffen , it has almost zero appeal to me . Not only is it about soccer ( a sport i loathe ) , but it's another one of those cultural comedy / dramas , a double whammy .

[charliebobo]

Originally posted by dellamorte dellamore

Soccer is popular around the world for the simple fact that it is easy to play , and everyone and their grandmother could play it . Yeah , it takes some skill , but i doubt that much . To become a great hockey player takes years of practice and conditioning , to become a great soccer player doesn't take much , that's why you see such young players in the World Cup , how hard is it too run around on a soccer field , it's mainly an endurance test , but that's about it .

I'm sorry, but it's clear that you don't know anything about football, and really you shouldn't try and pretend to be an expert on stuff you don't know much about.
You seem to think that anyone could go out and start playing football and within a year become the best player in the world... well it doesn't work that way... most footballers start playing at 5-6 years of age, and practise 4-5 times a week. You don't just have to learn how to run, there's a LOT more to it... try taking a football and keeping it in the air using only your feet and legs... I doubt you can do that for more than 2-3 seconds... well there are footballers, who if they wanted, could do it for hours... there's this girl (football player Ronaldo's wife)who was able to bounce the ball with her feet 55197 times without the ball ever touching the ground. Why don't you try that?
You also have to learn about tactics, and believe me, that's not easy.
And last time I checked, there are young hockey players too... and Brazil's team which won the 2002 World Cup had only 1 player who was under 23 years of age, and he never even played a game during the Cup...

[veryborednow]

Explain to me the off-side rule, and then tell me that 'soccer' is too simplistic.

It doesn't take much talent to have a kick around in the park. I can do that, but I couldn't even play in my local team, which isn't in the league.
When you say:
not everyone could put on a pair of skates , get on the ice and play hockey, a brutal full contact sport
That is why Hockey will never be the worlds most popular sport. You can play football at school, in the park, in the road, against a wall. Anywhere. It's a global sport. EVERYWHERE plays it. I don't even know if my country has a National hockey team, let alone loacl ones. I couldn't name a single hockey player, and I'm seriously trying. I bet you could name at least one footballer, even if it's Beckham. Hockey players don't have films named after them. Or if they do, it's not a globally successful one.

As for American Football, I'd rather watch rugby.

And. Footballers have been playing pretty much everyday since they were tiny chidlren and still some don't make it to the top. Watch an actuall 'soccer' match. It's not even as straight forward as kicking a ball. There are different ways, there's tackling. It's not a contact sport but I don't need to see players trying to kill each other to enjoy the game. The lack of violence allows everyone to enjoy the game as well.

[Jon Lyrik]

I don't think it will make nearly $250mil like MBFGW did, but it could (and is having) a very good run.

[Horror whore]

I highly doubt it will make very much money. But it does look to be as awful (or more) than My Big Fat Greek Wedding so who knows, maybe uniformed audiences will love it.

[MadsenOMC]

It is even more awful. But maybe that's only because I have seen it more recently than MBFGW. They both suck beyond belief, that's for sure.

[moviemuffin]

This was my favorite movie of 2003. I adored it!

Unfortunately it only showed up in our ONE small art theater locally. You can see it in Boston and just outside, but when you get the suburbs it vanishes.

I'm hoping it will do well because it's a darling movie. I pushed it hard in my review and did get a few emails from folks to sought it out and said they loved it; so here's hoping.

[dellamorte dellamore]

It's been awhile since i played , but i think offsides is when the defenders or midfielders cross midfield , with the ball in their possesion , ahead of the fowards . That's just about as sophisticated as it gets . Oh yeah , they have penalty kicks , corner kicks , fouls ( they're so fragile you can't even bump into them without getting flagged ) , and all that other nice stuff , but it doesn't matter , it's still boring . Oh yeah , slide tackling , the hardest part about that is all the scrapes you get when you execute one .

I have to admit , if the women in the US were as bonkers about soccer as the ones from England that i've met in the past , i would be more enthusiastic about it as a sport . Maybe .

I hope HW is right , because if it does make a couple of duckets , can a sitcom version or a sequel be far behind , oh please no . Stretch it like Zidane : revenge of the corner kick .

One more thing , why is Beckam such a hero in England , win a World Cup first , and then we'll talk . He's just a glamour boy who can't get the job done when it come to international competition .

[MadsenOMC]

All I can say is, if this is your favorite movie of 2003, you need to see more movies. Easily in my bottom five.

[arto_j]

Originally posted by dellamorte dellamore
It's been awhile since i played , but i think offsides is when the defenders or midfielders cross midfield , with the ball in their possesion , ahead of the fowards . That's just about as sophisticated as it gets . Oh yeah , they have penalty kicks , corner kicks , fouls ( they're so fragile you can't even bump into them without getting flagged ) , and all that other nice stuff , but it doesn't matter , it's still boring . Oh yeah , slide tackling , the hardest part about that is all the scrapes you get when you execute one .


I'm sorry to say this, but all the football fans in the world are laughing at this, especially the offside rule explanation.

And how is it a bad thing that anyone can play the game? Are you saying it's a good thing for hockey that only those who can afford the equipment can play it? It's not impossible to just take a stick and play hockey on your frontyard , not much more needed to that than football. I'm speaking of personal experience. This of course doens't really apply to those countries, where there's a lack of snow, but you can play hockey without ice too (or snow)...When you put your skates and the rest of the gear on, that'll be "real" hockey...But it's similar to football, it's not even nearly as simple or easy as you think it is.

[BakeTheMooCow]

Originally posted by dellamorte dellamore
It's been awhile since i played , but i think offsides is when the defenders or midfielders cross midfield , with the ball in their possesion , ahead of the fowards . That's just about as sophisticated as it gets . Oh yeah , they have penalty kicks , corner kicks , fouls ( they're so fragile you can't even bump into them without getting flagged ) , and all that other nice stuff , but it doesn't matter , it's still boring . Oh yeah , slide tackling , the hardest part about that is all the scrapes you get when you execute one .

I have to admit , if the women in the US were as bonkers about soccer as the ones from England that i've met in the past , i would be more enthusiastic about it as a sport . Maybe .

I hope HW is right , because if it does make a couple of duckets , can a sitcom version or a sequel be far behind , oh please no . Stretch it like Zidane : revenge of the corner kick .

One more thing , why is Beckam such a hero in England , win a World Cup first , and then we'll talk . He's just a glamour boy who can't get the job done when it come to international competition . Your explanation of the offside rule is absolutely atrocious. Seriously, read the rules of soccer or watch a whole game before claiming you know anything about the game.

Beckham is a major star in England because his club side Man United are one of the best sides in their country and even across Europe, they are consistently topping competitions.

It's true that he hasn't led England to a World Cup victory, but have you seen the quantity and quality of the international competition? Beckham is good, but he can't compare to stars from Italy, Brazil, Argentina, etc. It's not like American Football or Hockey where the major competetions involve only American and Canadian cities. It's a WORLD cup, not a continental one.

Soccer is popular around the world, not because it's easy to play (it's not) .. but because it doesn't require helmets and knee pads and shoulder pads and arm guards and sticks. All you need is a field and a ball. Therein lies the beauty of the game. That's why even the poorest countries in the world have legions of soccer fans.

Soccer requires skill, talent, precision and stamina more than you can imagine. It's not that you can't touch someone from the opposing team. Yellow and red cards are only handed out when there's force used unfairly to try and win the ball or stop the opponent from scoring. I find it perfect, it's better than having scruffs and fights all the time like in Ice Hockey.

it will never become a mainstream sport

That's just wrong. And this is not my opinion, it's a fact. Soccer is more popular than most American sports will EVER be. Pele, Maradona, Del Piero, Ronaldo, Figo, Beckham.. these players are in a league of their own in sports and they have reached a status that Ice Hockey players can only dream of.

[dellamorte dellamore]

If you like it , great , but it's a thousand times easier than Ice Hockey , not deck hockey or roller hockey , but Ice hockey . It's great that anyone can play it anywhere , and that no equipment is required , but it just can't compare to the skill , talent , endurance , strength , and intelligence that Ice Hockey requires . Even the best players are hard pressed to skate around for more than 30 seconds . In soccer they can play a full 90 minutes because there are so many breaks in the action .


Hockey may not be more popular than Soccer , but i think it's getting there , the last Olympics when Canada beat the USA was a big ratings draw , so was the Women's gold medal match . Give it some time , it takes more knowledge to appreciate , it's not as easy to understand as soccer .

And wait a minute , you're saying the NHL isn't an International League , now that may be even more ridiculous than my poor explanation of offsides . These are the best players in the world , and they hail from everywhere and anywhere , even Europe . So to claim the competition in the NHL ( National Hockey League ) isn't international , is ludicrous . Each and every regular and playoff season they are playing the best there is , not like all those different premiere leagues or whatever , that only play the best in the World Cup . By the way , the US should be a serious threat to the top teams in the World in the next world cup , even England .


I only leaned into to Beck because he may be a star in the league he plays in , but when it comes to the International scene , he's more hype than substance .

Allright , there is no more to say , because the thread is about Bend it Like Beck , not about Ice Hockey vs. Soccer / Football .

[MadsenOMC]

This is ridiculous. I like hockey and soccer. And while skating well is difficult (I couldn't skate to save my life), it takes just as much skill and athleticism to play soccer as it does hockey. To say otherwise is just ignorant and obtuse. And soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world. Hockey isn't even close. I was in China for three months recently. Even in rural areas, they are crazy for Beckham and soccer. Know all the teams worldwise. They had never even heard of hockey (or baseball).

[Tuukka]

Hockey may not be more popular than Soccer , but i think it's getting there , the last Olympics when Canada beat the USA was a big ratings draw , so was the Women's gold medal match . Give it some time , it takes more knowledge to appreciate , it's not as easy to understand as soccer .

RE: Hockey is just as easy to understand as soccer. And hockey will NEVER become even half as popular as soccer. There are only about 15 countries that can be taken even half-seriously in hockey. And a great percentage of them are small countries. Take a look at 2003 world championship list:

1. Canada
2. Sweden
3. Slovakia
4. Czech Republic
5. Finland
6. Germany
7. Russia
8. Switzerland
9. Latvia
10. Austria
11. Denmark
12. Ukraine
13. USA
14. Belarus
15. Slovenia
16. Japan

Soccer is played in almost all of world's 192 countries. And it's the number one sport in almost every one of them.

And wait a minute , you're saying the NHL isn't an International League , now that may be even more ridiculous than my poor explanation of offsides . These are the best players in the world , and they hail from everywhere and anywhere , even Europe . So to claim the competition in the NHL ( National Hockey League ) isn't international , is ludicrous . Each and every regular and playoff season they are playing the best there is , not like all those different premiere leagues or whatever , that only play the best in the World Cup . By the way , the US should be a serious threat to the top teams in the World in the next world cup , even England.

RE: You are correct that in a sense NHL is an internationl league. There are quite a few players from Finland as well. However the co-existence between NHL and for example the world championship brings problems. Often top finnish players can't play in the Finland's team because they are attached to NHL.

Hockey is a MUCH more expensive sport than soccer. It doesn't only require the expensive equipment, but having hockey halls is very expensive. Only a few countries can provide natural ice in the winter, and even they have to offer hockey halls in the summer.

Also, the size of the puck doesn't make hockey more difficult. Anyone with a normal vision can see it. It's just as easy to see the puck as it is to skate.

Just about everyone in Finland knows how to skate. Personally I learned to do it when I was four years old. Doing backwards skating and jumping on skates along with using stick to control the puck took less than 10 hours to learn. And I was just 4 years old.

Of course hockey is very difficult on professional level. Every sport is. But your reasons as to why hockey is difficult are ridicilous.

[moviemuffin]

Originally posted by MadsenOMC
All I can say is, if this is your favorite movie of 2003, you need to see more movies. Easily in my bottom five.

It would be hard to see more movies when I see virtually everything that comes out. I don't really have a choice, since I don't get a paycheck unless I do so.

Everyone has their own tastes. Good luck with yours.

[MadsenOMC]

Oh my heavens. Are you saying that I have no taste? For the life of me I can't understand loving this crap, especially if you see a lot of movies. Have you seen Raising Victor Vargas? All the Real Girls? The Dancer Upstairs? Better Luck Tomorrow? The Good Thief? Blue Car? I could go on and on. You're saying it's better than all those. Please.

[Jon Lyrik]

Guys, guys, it's just his opinion. Calm down.

I might see it myself.

[ms.infatuation]

Bend it like Beckham was released in India under the title 'football shootball'. It was also released many years ago and the main girlie was amazing in twelth night...

also, johnathan rhys-myers. *dribbles*

[Mystique963]

I thought he was famous because he married Posh Spice... ;)

Well, I loved it. My sister (15) loved it and my mom (44) loved it. Soccer is a confusing sport to me, mostly because it consists of a lot of running and that's not something I understand or do well. I'm a volleyball player... I don't run. However, to the soccer and hockey debate, I say that both of them are tedious to watch but both require and extreme amount of talent. Oh, and I can't play either of them.

So I give Beckham ****1/2 out of *****, or a 8.5 out of 10.

I also wasn't thrilled about MBFGW so I liked Beckham more.