Basketball

The Blind Side

The Blind Side takes the true story of a young man who went from abandonment to success as a pro-football player and treats it with respect. The movie doesn't oversell what is, on the face of it, already compelling. It's almost impossible to describe the plot without sounding painfully inspirational: Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron, Be Kind Rewind), a hulking but gentle African-American teen in Tennessee, gets taken in by a well-to-do white family; the mother, Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock), pushes and mothers the boy, who eventually wins a football scholarship to the University of Mississippi. In the wrong hands, this could have been maudlin, manipulative, and condescending. To the credit of writer-director John Lee Hancock, adapting Michael Lewis's acclaimed book, the result is intelligent, genuine, and alternately funny and moving. Leigh Anne could easily have been grandstanding and virtuous, but Bullock doesn't shy away from her vain and domineering side. The football scenes will be gripping even to non-sports fans because they've been so successfully grounded in Michael's emotional life. The all-around solid cast includes country music star Tim McGraw, pint-sized Jae Head (Hancock), and Kathy Bates as the tutor who guided Michael's academic success. Don't be surprised if you can't keep yourself from watching all the real-life photos of Michael, Leigh Anne, and the rest of the family that are featured in the credits; by the end of the movie, you will care about them all. --Bret Fetzer

The Blind Side (Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Copy Combo Pack)

The Blind Side takes the true story of a young man who went from abandonment to success as a pro-football player and treats it with respect. The movie doesn't oversell what is, on the face of it, already compelling. It's almost impossible to describe the plot without sounding painfully inspirational: Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron, Be Kind Rewind), a hulking but gentle African-American teen in Tennessee, gets taken in by a well-to-do white family; the mother, Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock), pushes and mothers the boy, who eventually wins a football scholarship to the University of Mississippi. In the wrong hands, this could have been maudlin, manipulative, and condescending. To the credit of writer-director John Lee Hancock, adapting Michael Lewis's acclaimed book, the result is intelligent, genuine, and alternately funny and moving. Leigh Anne could easily have been grandstanding and virtuous, but Bullock doesn't shy away from her vain and domineering side. The football scenes will be gripping even to non-sports fans because they've been so successfully grounded in Michael's emotional life. The all-around solid cast includes country music star Tim McGraw, pint-sized Jae Head (Hancock), and Kathy Bates as the tutor who guided Michael's academic success. Don't be surprised if you can't keep yourself from watching all the real-life photos of Michael, Leigh Anne, and the rest of the family that are featured in the credits; by the end of the movie, you will care about them all. --Bret Fetzer

NFL Super Bowl XLIV: New Orleans Saints Champions

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/09/2010

NFL Super Bowl XLIV: New Orleans Saints Champions [Blu-ray]

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 03/09/2010

Love and Basketball (New Line Platinum Series)

FROM THE PLAYGROUND TO THE PRO LEAGUES. MONICA AND QUINCY 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 AND BASKETBALL.

Gina Prince-Bythewood, a former college athlete, puts a spin on this one-on-one tale of Love and Basketball. Sanaa Lathan (The Best Man) is the fiercely driven, hot-tempered Monica, a tomboy who gives her all for basketball. Omar Epps (The Mod Squad) is Quincy, an NBA player's son who has pro dreams of his own. Next-door neighbors since first grade, they start as rivals (she flabbergasts the boy by outplaying him in a game of driveway pickup) and age into best friends and lovers. The romantic complications follow a familiar game plan, but the film throws a fascinating spotlight onto the contrast between men's and women's basketball. While Quincy plays college ball on huge courts to cheering, sold-out crowds, we see Monica's sweat, tears, and sheer physical dedication in front of tiny audiences in small gyms and second-rate auditoriums.

The story is pointedly set in the late 1980s, years before the establishment of the WNBA, so Monica's prospects for pro ball lie exclusively in Europe, while Quincy steps into the pros at home. It's a pleasure to see a character as passionate and fully developed as Monica, and Lathan gives a fiery portrayal (she had never played ball before the film, but you'd never tell from her performance). Prince-Bythewood favors her struggle over Quincy's and opens our eyes to her unique challenges with a sharp, savvy contrast. Alfre Woodard costars as Monica's harping mom (always trying to get her to be more ladylike) and Dennis Haysbert is Quincy's philandering father. Hoops fan Spike Lee produced. --Sean Axmaker

NFL New Orleans Saints: Best Games of the 2009 Regular Season

The New Orleans Saints took the NFL by surprise in 2009 ? emerging as a record-challenging offensive powerhouse. Now you can relive the Saints? dominating regular-season run with the original network broadcasts of three of their most memorable games. Watch as Drew Brees and the Saints? offense humiliate the Eagles in Philadelphia. Experience the Monday-night battle in the Bayou against the Falcons. Relive the intensity of the dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against the Dolphins that indisputably established the Saints as an elite team. With this three-disc set, you can savor the memories of one of New Orleans? greatest regular seasons.????????????????

The Game: The First Season

Genre: Television: Series
Rating: NR
Release Date: 1-SEP-2009
Media Type: DVD

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Full-Screen Edition)

WITH THEIR WARNING ABOUT LORD VOLDEMORT'S RETURN SCOFFED AT,HARRY AND DUMBLEDORE ARE TARGETED BY THE WIZARD AUTHORITIES ASAN AUTHORITARIAN BUREAUCRAT SLOWLY SEIZES POWER AT HOGWARTS.

Alas! The fifth Harry Potter film has arrived. The time is long past that this can be considered a simple "children's" series--though children and adults alike will enjoy it immensely. Starting off from the dark and tragic ending of the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins in a somber and angst-filled tone that carries through the entire 138 minutes (the shortest of any HP movie despite being adapted from the longest book). Hopes of winning the Quidditch Cup have been replaced by woes like government corruption, distorted media spin, and the casualties of war. As the themes have matured, so have the primary characters' acting abilities. Ron (Rupert Grint), Hermione (Emma Watson), and especially Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) are more convincing than ever--in roles that are more demanding.

Harry is deeply traumatized from having witnessed Cedric Diggory's murder, but he will soon find that this was just another chapter in the continuing loss he will endure. Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has returned and, in an attempt to conceal this catastrophe from the wizarding public, the Ministry of Magic has teamed up with the wizard newspaper The Daily Prophet to smear young Potter and wise Dumbledore (Michael Gambon)--seemingly the only two people in the public eye who believe the Dark Lord has returned. With no one else to stand against the wicked Death Eaters, the Hogwarts headmaster is forced to revive his secret anti-Voldemort society, the Order of the Phoenix. This welcomes back characters like Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), kind Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), fatherly Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), and insidious Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), and introduces a short list of intriguing new faces. In the meantime, a semi-psychotic bureaucrat from the Ministry (brilliantly portrayed by Imelda Staunton) has seized power at Hogwarts, and Harry is forced to form a secret society of his own--lest the other young wizards at his school be left ill-equipped to defend themselves in the looming war between good and evil. In addition, Harry is filled with an inexplicable rage that only his Godfather Sirius seems to be able to understand.

This film, though not as frightening as its predecessor, earns its PG-13 rating mostly because of the ever-darkening tone. As always, the loyal fans of J.K. Rowling's books will suffer huge cuts from the original plot and character developments, but make no mistake: this is a good movie. --Jordan Thompson

Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault

Based on a true story-He is probably the greatest basketball player who never made it to the big time. But Earl Manigault is a living legend on the streets of New York. REBOUND is his story. Shooting hoops in the playgrounds of Harlem young Earl nicknamed "The Goat" discovers he has a special talent for he game a high-speed high-flying agility that soon makes him a champion slam-dunker. As a high school star he reaches the top by pitting himself against future greats like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but staying at the top proves harder. Seduced by his friends into an easy lifestyle of parties and drug abuse earl soon finds himself slipping from the top-and his battles are just beginning. Confronted by a team that consists of harsher realities-a brutal coach a pregnant girlfriend and a drug habit that won't let go-"The Goat" is about to discover that it will take all his energy and talent if he is to break free and REBOUND.Running Time: 116 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 026359134821

NFL: New York Giants - 10 Greatest Games

Relive iconic performances in New York Giants history with a 10-DVD set of the original network broadcasts. Witness Lawrence Taylor?s reign of terror as the ?Big Blue Wrecking Crew? dominates the 49ers and Redskins, allowing the Giants to outscore their opponents 66-3 on their way to a Super Bowl XXI victory. Experience the joy of the 1990 season as Jeff Hostetler leads the Giants to a 31-3 victory over the Bears, and on to San Francisco where the defending champion 49ers are dethroned in the Giants? march to Super Bowl XXV. Watch Eli Manning?s greatest comeback against the Eagles, and the Giants stunning performance in Super Bowl XLII! View the games in their original broadcast format to experience again the events just the way you remember them. With these classic New York Giants games on a 10-disc set, you?ll have instant access to all of these amazing moments in Giants history. Disc 1: Giants vs. 49ers ? 1/4/1987 Disc 2: Giants vs. Redskins ? 1/11/1987 Disc 3: Giants vs. Bronco