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Netflix has a new documentary series that explores some very niche competitions. It’s called “We Are the Champions,” and if you’re not watching it, you’re missing out. Rainn Wilson narrates a collection of weird and wonderful battles in such diverse subject matter as competitive hair design, hot pepper consumption and chasing a wheel of cheese down an impossibly steep hill.
It’s all great fun, but I found myself yelling at the TV, completely emotionally invested in someone’s progress. And so much laughing. Of course, like most easily digestible and highly entertaining series, it was over in what felt like a minute – leaving me searching for more. So here are a few movies that satisfy a weirdly competitive itch, some more mainstream than others.
“Pitch Perfect” – Serious musical ambitions almost stop Beca (Anna Kendrick) from joining an all-girl singing group her freshman year at college. Fortunately, a deal with her dad keeps her on the Bellas. Pitted against the winning all-male Treblemakers, who also have aca-aspirations for the ICCA crown and a spot at Lincoln Center, Beca and her Bellas get acoustically creative.
“TAG” – Five man-child fools maintain a decades-long game of TAG, played one month of the year, every year, since they were kids. Hoagie (Ed Helms) is on a mission to tag the game legend, Jerry (Jeremy Renner) – who has NEVER been tagged. How far will a grown man go to tag another grown man? Pretty far, it seems.
“Bring It On” – The Rancho Carne Toros’ new cheer captain Torrence (Kirsten Dunst) inherits a national title-winning cheer squad with a dirty little secret: Their routines are stolen from East Compton High’s Clover squad led by Isis (Gabrielle Union). Both teams pull out all the stops to win at nationals.
“Akeelah and the Bee” – Eleven-year-old Akeelah (Keke Palmer) from South LA takes a shot at the national spelling title in this uplifting drama with moving performances from Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett.
Patrick Swayze in “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar” (Universal Pictures photo)
“To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar” – Two New York drag queens – Vida Boheme (Patrick Swayze) and Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) – take their co-won title on a cross country road trip to LA, to face the fierce competition at Drag Queen Nationals, bringing along Miss Chi-Chi Rodriguez (John Alberto Leguizamo), a newbie with a ton of passion.
“Fight Club” – An emotionally troubled man (Ed Norton) walks us through his descent from an unfulfilling job through insomnia and an addiction to support groups to his friendship with an enigmatic soap-seller (Brad Pitt) and the creation of an underground fight club where pugilistic hedonism reigns supreme.
“Rocket Science” – Hal Hefner (Reece Thompson) is a 15-year-old with a speaking problem: He stutters, so it’s only natural that pert and competitive debater Ginny (Anna Kendrick) seeks him out as a debate partner. Only problem? Hal has a soul-crushing infatuation for Ginny, and Ginny has some questionable motives.
© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.
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