Get your game on with KrisWorld’s collection of sports-themed content.
Looking for some sporting action? Armchair athletes can rejoice, because we have a selection of movies, TV shows, and podcasts on KrisWorld to let you get your game on.
Challengers
One of the most talked-about movies of the year is Challengers, directed by provocateur Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name, Suspiria, Bones and All). Zendaya stars in and produces this movie, featuring up-and-comers Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, about a love triangle — or really, a ‘throuple’ of sorts — is set in the world of professional tennis. And though the racket action takes up a great deal of screen time, Challengers is as much a psychological thriller as it is a sports movie.
Zendaya plays Tashi Duncan, a former professional tennis player who now coaches her husband, Art Donaldson (Faist). Art is a world-famous Grand Slam champion whose career Tashi has personally shaped. The couple has a young daughter named Lily (AJ Lister). Art faces a career slump due to age and injury, and Tashi enters him in a Challenger event (a low-level tournament on the pro tour) in New Rochelle, New York, hoping to give Art a much-needed boost. Patrick Zweig (O’Connor), Art’s former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend, is a struggling low-level player who is living out of his car and enters the New Rochelle Challenger as well. While he still seeks tennis glory, what he wants more than anything is to reconnect with both Art and Tashi. The trio share a long, complicated history, with years of tightly lidded tension culminating in a face-off between Art and Patrick on the court.
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Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she makes him play a “Challenger” event.
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Arthur the King
This movie is for audiences who love stories about the triumph of the human spirit and those who have a thing for adorable animals. After suffering a failure during an adventure race in Costa Rica in 2015, Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) decides to compete again in 2018, assembling a team of athletes to participate in the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. His team comprises climber Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel), Chik (Ali Suliman), and Leo (Simu Liu). The company sponsoring the race insists that Leo, whom Michael had fallen out with during his previous race, joins the team. As the group embarks on a five-day race through the jungle, they meet a stray dog, whom Michael offers meatballs to. The dog then starts following the team without letting up, and they name him Arthur, the King. This heartwarming and inspiring tale is based on the non-fiction book Arthur — The Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home by Mikael Lindnord, the real-life inspiration for the Michael character.
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An adventure racer adopts a stray dog named Arthur to join him in an epic endurance race.
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The Long Game
The Long Game tells a stirring underdog story from golf’s rich history. It is 1955, and five young Mexican-American caddies in Del Rio, Texas, led by JB Peña (Jay Hernandez), are determined to become golfers. Calling themselves the San Felipe Mustangs, the group creates their own golf course in the desert. They overcome discrimination, making do with inferior equipment, eventually qualifying for the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship. There, they face off against wealthy all-white teams, proving their mettle and making history. “The best golfer isn’t the one with the fanciest clubs or the nicest shoes or any of that stuff. It’s the one who can summon the will to keep swinging when things get tough,” JB says. The movie is based on the book Mustang Miracle by Humberto G Garcia, who hails from Del Rio himself.
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In 1955, five young Mexican-American caddies, out of the love for the game, were determined to learn how to play, so they created their own golf course in the middle of the South Texas desert.
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The Iron Claw
Professional wrestling is filled with over-the-top theatrics, larger-than-life characters, spectacular triumphs, and crushing defeats. Yet, the true story of the Von Erich family of wrestlers is more dramatic and heart-rending than any scripted wrestling storyline. The Iron Claw, named after the Von Erichs’ signature head-grabbing signature move, is a deeply affecting story of community, tragedy, and the pursuit of glory. One of the most acclaimed films of 2023, it follows the Von Erichs’ rise and fall. Retired professional wrestler Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany) trains his sons Kevin (Zac Efron), David (Harris Dickinson), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), and Mike (Stanley Simons) to join the family business and become wrestlers like him.
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Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the Von Erich brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.
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The Boys in the Boat
This historical drama transports viewers to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), the rowing coach at the University of Washington, assembles a team of rowers to beat rival University of California, Berkeley, to qualify for the Olympics. Joe Rantz (Callum Turner), a poor engineering student with no prior rowing experience, makes the team. The rowers must overcome various obstacles, including financial difficulties brought about by the Great Depression and illness, to strive for glory at the Olympics as Hitler’s ascendancy and World War II loom in the background. The movie is based on The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown and is directed by George Clooney.
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The Boys in the Boat' is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This true story follows a group of underdogs.
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Space Jam
Unlike the other films on this list, this entry is not based on a true story. Well, not entirely, at least. A nostalgic favourite for many ’90s kids, Space Jam originates from two Super Bowl commercials for Nike starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny. Basketball legend Jordan plays himself (sort of) in this hybrid live-action/animation movie.
Evil alien and Nerdlucks leader Swackhammer (Danny DeVito) sends his minions to capture Bugs Bunny (Billy West) and the Looney Tunes gang to display them as new attractions at his theme park. In a bid to win their freedom, Bugs and the Looney Tunes challenge the Nerdlucks to a game of basketball. Challenge accepted! But there’s a twist: the Nerdlucks have stolen the abilities of NBA players, including Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Shawn Bradley. The Looney Tunes decide to seek the aid of Jordan, but the latter has retired from basketball and is pursuing a baseball career. The Looney Tunes pull Jordan into their world so he can help them defeat the Nerdlucks.
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Captured by Bugs Bunny to foil a gang of space creatures, Michael Jordan must play the basketball game of his life to save the beloved cartoon heroes.
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