Every Friday, Deuce dips into the mighty Grab Movies catalog and recommends a movie that may have slipped your notice.

This Week's Selection: Shaolin Soccer

Stephen Chow is a very strange man - strange and brilliant. A self-taught martial arts expert, Chow is a veteran of Hong Kong cinema who is only recently becoming known to Western cinema. This past year, his wonderfully inventive Kung Fu Hustle combined martial arts, syncopated dance numbers and Warner Brothers cartoon imagery.

But for my money, Shaolin Soccer is a better film due to its clever premise, hilarious comedy and outright strangeness. You don't have to be a fan of either martial arts or soccer to enjoy this film, in fact it's better to come in completely open, because it's a whirlwind to try to follow - a crippled soccer prodigy finds a kung fu diamond-in the-rough who trains both he and his wayward brothers for a championship soccer match against his former nemesis.

But that's really the excuse for his frenetic style of storytelling. A massive fight scene may suddenly break into a dance re-creation of the Michael Jackson "Thriller" video, and yet still fit in with the overall plotline (Don't ask me how.) I repeatedly laughed out loud at Chow's bizarre segues into asides that only have the slightest of connection to the plot. Who cares! It's fun, dammit!

 And that's the best way to describe it, a pure vehicle of fun that doesn't need to make 100% sense, but espouses good values that sneakily slip through - teamwork, humility, and taking the high road at all times. It's extremely remniscent of early, EARLY Jackie Chan films like Drunken Master where his choreographed fights resemble Buster Keaton slapstick more than violence. Stephen Chow follows in the tradition by never taking himself too seriously, enjoying a good laugh as he tells his story. And you can feel the laughs he himself enjoyed as the movie seems to glow with that thrill.

I try not to ruin surprises in films, but there is one moment I must share because it's so subtle (compared to the other moments of the movie) and yet made me roar with laughter. During the ragtag team's first match against a seemingly superior opponent, they manage to make a goal within the first three seconds of play. And then another. And then another. And then another. Pretty soon you understand the gag at work, even if the opposing team has difficulty to comprehend how quickly they're losing. But each time, the underdogs huddle after a goal and embrace in joy as if it were the winning goal. Each time. Even after the fourth and then fifth goal in a row after barely five seconds have passed... they still do it! I'm laughing just thinking about this, because normal soccer games have these moments all the time and Stephen Chow obviously knows this (otherwise this wouldn't be so funny). It's a hilarious moment in a hilarious movie, and I strongly recommend you find a copy and prepare to laugh.

Special note: When watching the DVD, be sure to watch the "Hong Kong" version, which ups the romance angle a little more. The US version is still funny, but the Hong Kong version is a gem.

That's this week's recommendation. Keep coming back every Friday for more Sleeperdisc selections.