Piaffe (Ann Oren, 2022)

Cast: Simone Bucio, Sebastian Rudolph, Simon Jaikiriuma Paetau, Björn Melhus, Lea Draeger. Screenplay: Thais Guisasola, Ann Oren. Cinematography: Carlos Vasquez. Production design: Ilaria Di Carlo. Film editing: Ann Oren, Haim Tabakman.  

Victims of Sin (Emilio Fernández, 1951)

Cast: Ninón Sevilla, Tito Junco, Rodolfo Acosta, Rita Montaner, Ismael Pérez, Margarita Ceballos, Arturo Soto Rangel, Francisco Reiguera, Lupe Carilles, Jorge Treviño, Pedro Vargas. Screenplay: Emilio Fernández, Mauricio Magdalena. Cinematography: Gabriel Figueroa. Production design: Manuel Fontanals. Film editing: Gloria Schoemann. Music: Antonio Díaz Conde.  

Melvin Goes to Dinner (Bob Odenkirk, 2003)

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Cast: Michael Blieden, Stephanie Courtney, Matt Price, Annabelle Gurwitch, Kathleen Roll, Maura Tierney, Jenna Fischer, Fred Armisen, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Scott Adsit, Jack Black. Screenplay: Michael Blieden, based on his play. Cinematography: Alex Vendler. Production design: Michael Krantz. Film editing: Michael Blieden. Music: Michael Penn. 

Shopworn (Nick Grinde, 1932)

Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Regis Toomey, Clara Blandick, Zasu Pitts, Lucien Littlefield, LeRoy Mason, Oscar Apfel, Maude Turner Gordon, Albert Conti, James Durkin. Screenplay: Sarah Y. Mason, Jo Swerling, Robert Riskin. Cinematography: Joseph Walker. Film editing: Gene Havlick. 

Polyester (John Waters, 1981)

Cast: Divine, Tab Hunter, Edith Massey, David Samson, Mary Garlington, Ken King, Mink Stole, Joni Ruth White, Hans Kramm, Stiv Bators, Rick Breitenfeld. Screenplay: John Waters. Cinematography: Dave Insley. Art direction: Vincent Peranio. Film editing: Charles Roggero. Music: Michael Kamen. 

Not a Pretty Picture (Martha Coolidge, 1976)

Cast: Michele Manenti, Martha Coolidge, James Carrington, Anne Mundstuk, Reed Birney, John Fedinatz, Diana Gold, Stephen Launer, Lilah McCarthy, Janet Morrison, Melissa Murdock, Hal Studer, Amy Wright. Screenplay: Martha Coolidge. Cinematography: Don Lenzer, Fred Murphy. Film editing: Martha Coolidge, Suzanne Pettit. Music: Tom Griffith. 

Girlfight (Karyn Kusama, 2000)

Michelle Rodriguez in Girlfight

Cast: Michelle Rodriguez, Jamie Tirelli, Paul Calderon, Douglas Santiago, Ray Santiago, Victor Sierra, Elisa Bocanegra, Shannon Walker Williams. Screenplay: Karyn Kusama. Cinematography: Patrick Cady. Production design: Stephen Beatrice. Film editing: Plummy Tucker. Music: Gene McDaniels, Theodore Shapiro. 

An attractive cast and intelligent camerawork and editing help make Girlfight watchable even for someone who dislikes boxing and finds sport movies boringly predictable. And yes, Girlfight is predictable. The protagonist is Diana Guzman (Michelle Rodriguez), who lives in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood with her father, Sandro (Paul Calderon), and brother, Tiny (Ray Santiago). Sandro is a macho bully whom Diana suspects of abusing her mother, who committed suicide. He takes little interest in her, putting his hopes on Tiny, whom he forces to train as a boxer, even though Tiny really wants to be an artist. After getting in trouble for fighting at school, Diana thinks that she might want to try to learn to box, too, so she persuades her brother's coach, Hector (Jamie Tirelli), to coach her. When she turns out to be good at it, Hector sets her up with a sparring partner, a guy named Adrian (Douglas Santiago), who wants to be a professional boxer. And of course Diana and Adrian fall in love, which presents a problem when through a series of plot contrivances they find themselves fighting each other in an important amateur competition. With the help of solid performances, writer-director Karyn Kusama makes all of this more interesting than it sounds in summary. That she named a character Adrian and has someone comment that it's usually a girl's name shows that she knows her sports movies and doesn't mind the comparisons.