How could anybody not laugh at statements and quotes like “Could I get a real bottle please? I’m an alcoholic not a Barbie doll.” or “You must like getting spanked Farley, I guess it runs in the family.“Let’s move past the fact that Mr. Woodcock is never going to be an Oscar contender and certainly has absolutely no redeeming qualities, but go in with a limp mind and a need to laugh and next thing you know your funny bone is going crazy.
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It wouldn’t be Basketball Week without throwing out the love to my Kansas Jayhawks. Enjoy this short montage, and for you Jayhawk fans there’s more love inside.
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“Nobody can take something away from you you don’t give them.”
After telling the tale of integration of T.C. Williams High School football with Remember the Titans producer Jerry Bruckheimer returns to familiar ground with this tale inspired by the true events of Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) and Texas Western, the first team to start five African-American players in an NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game.
In much the same way as Titans this film deals with the hardships and racism from both inside and outside the program. As a Disney film it’s a bit cleaned up considering its subject matter, though it does contain one or two disturbing scenes which make you wonder exactly how it received its PG rating.
The cast is strong and there are some nice supporting performances, hey nobody plays an asshole coach like Jon Voight, and Emily Deshanel has a nice role as Mary Haskins. Also worth noting all the players, including Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Evan Jones, Schin A.S. Kerr, and Alphonso McAuley, who turn out good performances both on and off the court.
Because of the familiarity and similarities with Remember the Titans the film does have a been-there, done-that, feel to it at times. I wouldn’t call it a great sports film, but it is a good one; the performances are strong, and there’s certainly enough here to recommend in a tale worth telling, and listening to.
You want to know a really dumb idea for a movie? You want to see a movie staring television actors and video models seemingly chosen at random? You want to see an example of a film you could beat with $5 and your own camcorder? You want it? Well hold your hats folks, ‘cause this one’s for you!
Noah Cruise (Wesley Jonathan) is a good kid. He does his homework, he loves his grandma, he has a good job, he’s polite and kind, and he sticks by his friends. Oh, and he’s the next big thing in basketball, except he doesn’t want to be.
Cruise would rather everyone quit the NBA talk and let him go to UCLA on a basketball scholarship to become a doctor. His life is on track until his longtime friend Tech (Anthony Mackie) asks him for a little favor.
Tech knows about this secret underground basketball league, run by a former NBA agent (Wayne Brady), and wants nothing more than to beat the reigning champs. Tech pulls his friend into the game calling on an old favor and puts Cruise’s future and life in jeopardy.
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If you blinked at the end of the last millennium you probably missed Sports Night. The brainchild of Aaron Sorkin hit the ABC airwaves in the fall of 1998. Although critically acclaimed, it won many awards including three Emmys, the show never really hit it big (especially compared to The West Wing).
As his second show became a huge success, this first foray into television slowly faded into syndication. The tagline for the show was: It’s a show about a show about sports, that isn’t about sports at all. I would be hard pressed to sum it up better. An extremely well written high paced workplace comedy that is filled with kinetic energy, big laughs, snappy dialogue and one hell of a great cast. I only wish it could have run for more than two seasons.
Continental Corp owns the Continental Sports Channel, or CSC, a third place network which airs a third place sports highlight show known as Sports Night.
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