LAGAAN (2001)

This is a 4-hour Bollywood musical about cricket, which for some of readers may inexplicably not be enough to sell you on this movie, but maybe give it a chance.

CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981)

Maybe the most British sports movie ever made, it uses track & field in the 1920s to deal with complicated issues of personal conviction, racism, and classism, and also some guys run on a beach.

OLYMPIA (1938)

Considered the first great film made about the Olympics, it is also, unfortunately, a highly effective piece of Nazi propaganda.

DOWNHILL RACER (1969)

Our Summer Games Virtual Film Festival continues with Robert Redford starring as a headstrong ski racer in this drama about what it really takes to train for the Olympics.

JIM THORPE: ALL-AMERICAN (1951)

Our Summer Games Film Festival continues with this biopic of a great Native-American athlete of the early 20th Century that doesn’t quite succeed at making any sense out of a messy human life.

COOL RUNNINGS (1993)

Our Summer Games Virtual Film Festival kicks off with the cool story (bro) of the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team… or a story, at any rate

ROCKY (1976)

A tiny boxing movie about a bunch of weirdos that became a massive cultural smash. I like some parts.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992)

The rare sports movie by women, for women, and about women, plus it’s also really funny and has a bunch of memorable scenes and lines.