COACH CARTER tells the inspiring true story of controversial high school basketball coach Ken Carter (Jackson). Making headlines for his emphasis on the importance of academics over athletics, Carter requests all the members of the team to sign contracts, promising to maintain a certain grade point average. When the players fail to live up to this agreement, Carter benches the entire team, locking the gym and forfeiting games to prove his point. This infuriates the community who sees this as a hindrance to the future professional athletic careers of the players. Through hard work and dedication, Carter eventually gets his point across to his team and the community, going above and beyond to ensure a solid academic future for his team. PREVIEW
It may be a predictable exercise in Hollywood formula (Samuel L. Jackson plays the title character, a tough, no-nonsense high school basketball coach whose stern demeanor aims at making more than one kind of champion of his young charges) but it's a well-crafted one, musically endowed with a hip-hop soundtrack that gives it a sense of time, place and urban edge -- only 2/3 of this collection's cuts are actually in the film. Superstar beat-savvy may be in short supply, but the mid-tempo groove of "Southside" by The Game (featuring a spotlight turn by Lil Scrappy) and Red Café's nervy opener "All Night Long" are notable contributions. Elsewhere, tracks by Kanye West, Malik Yusef, Common and JV (the teasing "Wouldn't You Like to Ride"), Chingy, Twista ("Hope," featuring the soul-infused backing of Faith Evans) and Ciara (the sexy slink of "Roll Wit' You") impart an up-to-the-minute edge to the collection, even if some of the remainder seem culled from the B-team.
1. All Night Long - Red Cafe
2. No Need for Conversation - Fabolous featuring Mike Shorey
3. Professional - Chingy featuring GIB
4. Southside - The Game featuring Lil Scrappy
5. Roll Wit You - Ciara
6. Wouldn't You Like To Ride - Kanye West, Malik Usef & Common
From the playground to the pro leagues, Monica and Qunicy taught each other how to play the game. Now, their commitment to the sport will force them to make a choice between each other and the game...between family and team...between "Love & Basketball." DVD Features: Two Original Documentaries, Deleted Scenes, Blooper Reel, Three Feature Length Commentaries, Music Video, DVD-ROM Content Including Screenplay And Original Theatrical Web Site, 127 Minutes PREVIEW
The coming-of-age angle in the sports romance movie Love & Basketball is played up by this sharp soundtrack album. The music ranges from Al Green's eternal "Love and Happiness" to galvanizing late-'80s rap classics (Rob Base's "It Takes Two," MC Lyte's "Lyte as a Rock") to some of the best new-school R&B. Angie Stone takes Simply Red's calling card "Holding Back the Years" to church and then back to her softly lit pad, while alt hip-hoppers Black Eyed Peas team with Les Nubians for the atmospheric "Complete Beloved." The disc also boasts the welcome return of ex-Tony! Toni! Tone! frontman Raphael Saadiq with his new partners Dawn Robinson (formerly of En Vogue) and one-time Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad in the band Lucy Pearl. Their "Dance Tonight" is a spirited jam that no doubt plays well in the movie--and definitely does out of it
1. I'll Go - Donell Jones
2. It Takes Two - Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock
3. Dance Tonight - Lucy Pearl
4. Complete Beloved - Black Eyed Peas feturing Les Nubians
The studio that brought you REMEMBER THE TITANS now delivers another winner with this exciting and inspirational true story of the team that changed college basketball -- and the nation -- forever! Josh Lucas (SWEET HOME ALABAMA) stars as future Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins of tiny Texas Western University who bucks convention by simply starting the best players he can find: history's first all-African American lineup. In a turbulent time of social and political change their unlikely success sends shock waves through the sport that follow the underdog Miners all the way to an epic showdown with all-white #1 ranked Kentucky for the National Championship!Bonus Features:1. Deleted Scenes2. Music Video By Alicia Keys3. Jerry Bruckheimer And Director James Gartner Commentary4. Screenwriter Commentary5. Extended Interviews With Real UTEP Players6. Surviving Practice: Coach Haskins' Practice Schedule With Commentary By NBA Star Tim Hardaway7. More Than A Game: Legacy Of The Bear -- Highlights Of Coach Haskins' Career With Commentary By Don Haskins And Pat RileySystem Requirements:Running Time 118 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG PREVIEW
Academy Award(R)-winner Denzel Washington (Best Actor, 2001, TRAINING DAY) stars in this must-see story about a convict given one shot at a second chance to be a father! With promises of a reduced sentence, Jake Shuttlesworth (Washington) is granted temporary release from state prison in order to persuade the nation's top basketball recruit ... his estranged son, Jesus (Ray Allen of NBA's Milwaukee Bucks), to play ball for the governor's alma mater! But just as Jesus faces intense pressures and irresistible temptations contemplating his big decision, Jake is also forced to consider not only what's best for himself ... but what's best for his son! With a groundbreaking soundtrack by the legendary Public Enemy -- plus great cameos from John Turturro and basketball personalities Dick Vitale, John Thompson, Dean Smith, and more, HE GOT GAME is a critically acclaimed hit you don't want to miss! PREVIEW
Blue Chips Blue Chips scores as "the best sports movie in years!" (Jeffrey Lyons, Sneak Previews). Championship-winning coach Pete Bell (Nick Nolte) runs the cleanest program in collegiate basketball. But when he finds himself on the brink of his first losing season, Bell signs the nations "blue chips": a farmboy forward (Matt Nover), a playmaking gaurd from the projects (Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway), and Neon Bodeaux (1993 NBA Rookie of the Year Shaquille O`Neal), a 7-foot slam-dunking phenom from the bayou. Now Bell has the best team that money can buy... but is he prepared to pay the price?
Teenage rap sensation Lil Bow Wow makes his feature film debut in this "surefire heart-warmer" (Los Angeles Times) about an orphan boy named Calvin who lives out his dream of playing in the NBA -- with a little help from a magical pair of sneakers! Soon after he laces up the mysterious high-tops Calvin's amazing basketball skills land him a spot on the Los Angeles Knights team. In addition to hitting 25-foot jumpers and throwing down rim-rattling dunks the small superstar sets his sights on another dream... having a family. But first he and his pals must defeat Bittleman the orphanage headmaster trying to sabotage Calvin's career and dash his hopes of ever being adopted. Filled with high flying fun and hilarious hijinks Like Mike will have your whole family cheering into overtime!System Requirements:Starring: Morris Chestnut Robert Forster Crispin Glover Eugene Levy Lil Bow Wow and Jonathan Lipnicki. Directed By: John Schultz. Running Time: 100 Min. Color. Copyright 2002 20th Century Fox.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG PREVIEW
