Biography

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg

Aviva Kempner's Peabody Award-winning documentary is about baseball like Field of Dreams is about cornfields. Kempner efficiently covers all the bases of Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg's magnificent career with archival footage and talking heads, including family members, former teammates and baseball legends, broadcasters and sportswriters, and such unabashed fans as Alan Dershowitz and Walter Matthau. If this biography's style is not remarkable, its subject certainly was. Greenberg, the son of immigrant parents, was a beacon of hope to Jews. As one observer notes, baseball was a way of "showing we were as American as everybody else." To see one of their own succeed in the national pastime at a time of virulent anti-Semitism was a source of pride and inspiration. One lifelong fan, a rabbi, states, "He was the baseball Moses." Winner of several critics association awards for Best Documentary, this is a stirring film for all seasons. --Donald Liebenson

As baseball's first Jewish star, Hammerin' Hank Greenberg's career contains all the makings of a true American sucess story. An extraordinary ball player notorious for his hours of daily practice, Greenberg's career was an inspiration to all and captured the headlines and the admiration of sportswriters and fans alike. This is the story of how he became an American hero.

Michael Jordan to the Max (Large Format)

The greatest basketball player of all time gets an appropriate clip reel in this 45-minute documentary, which was originally released in the IMAX format. While you can't simulate IMAX's 80-foot-high screen in your living room, you can still get the thrills and awe-inspiring footage of this tribute to one man's talent and endurance. Much of the original footage was shot during the 1997 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz. With great behind-the-scenes footage and terrific game material, the film gets close to Jordan in practice and on the court. And the film includes a number of greatest hits, including his commercials and most memorable dunks. Still, while there are intriguing interviews with everyone from former Bulls coach Phil Jackson to professional Jordan hanger-on Bob Greene, this film seems a little self-serving at times (Jordan's company coproduced it). Also, some key voices from that team are conspicuously absent, including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Ron Harper. In the end, however, it's all about the highlights--and Jordan's career (and his NBA finale) was one long one. --Marshall Fine

The action is on! Michael Jordan explodes on screen in this box office hit - "the most exciting live-action IMAX movie ever" (New York Post). Follow Michael Jordan's last basketball season as he leads the Chicago Bulls to their sixth NBA championship. Michael Jordan to the Max provides a rare glimpse of Michael Jordan on and off the court. Featuring electrifying on court action and candid interviews with Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr, Doug Collins and Bob Costas. Get ready to experience some of the greatest moments in modern sports history from one of the most dominant sport legends of all time.

There's Something About McConkey

Extreme skier Shane McConkey is the protagonist of this affably oddball documentary that features some suitably spectacular footage of McConkey casually doing what most skiers can only fantasize about. There are interviews with McConkey, who comes off as the laidback dude one might expect, as well as interviews with his mother and a few friends (one of whom tells a funny story proving that "there's something wrong with McConkey"). And a few comic interludes, including McConkey's attempt to star in a music video, pop up. But the real point to this production is the skiing footage, which is uniformly spectacular. McConkey and others (including Olympic champion Jonny Moseley) go rocketing down absurdly steep mountainsides in footage shot from helicopters, and of course they make it all seem so effortless that you can almost forget how insanely dangerous it is. And speaking of bodily peril, McConkey is also seen flying off ski jumping ramps backwards and gleefully sailing through space. As someone quips, "his radness can't be quantified." Keeping with the athlete-as-outlaw theme, there are also segments on BASE jumping, in which McConkey and others are seen parachuting from bridges, tall buildings, and mountainsides. Some of the film's humor is strained, but this is for the most part an entertaining look at a character who just can't get enough downhill excitement. --Robert J. McNamara

Ten years ago, young renegade ski racer Shane McConkey quit his collegiate team to pursue a career in the small, unglamorous world of freeskiing. Through the '90s, McConkey battled the odds and the establishment as he put "fun" back in skiing. With an unprecedented manner of attacking mountains and a committed effort to appear ridiculous, McConkey opened the doors to a new way of thinking and skiing. As attention to his feats and antics blossomed, so did the sport around him. We've teamed up the raddest skiers of today with the past decade's most influential skier and biggest idiot. So sit back for a wacky, whirlwind tour through a man, a mind and a sport. You may never look at skiing the same way again. 60 minutes.

Muhammad Ali (Skill, Brains & Guts/In His Own Words)

This DVD contains two documentaries about boxing legend Muhammad Ali, one focusing on Ali's brilliance in the ring and the other on his natural showmanship at the microphone. Skill, Brains & Guts begins with Ali's emergence as a great amateur fighter, then chronicles his career through the glory days of the 1960s, his exile from the ring following his refusal to join the military during the height of the Vietnam War, and his eventual comeback and landmark fights against Joe Frazier and George Foreman. The 1975 film is worth watching for all the fight footage of Ali in his prime, when he captivated the world with both his pugilistic skill and his entertaining arrogance. In His Own Words collects a number of rarely seen interview and press conference clips and showcases Ali as a remarkably skilled practitioner of what would become known as "talking trash." --Robert J. McNamara

When We Were Kings

Decades ago, documentary filmmaker Leon Gast attempted to complete a feature about the 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" championship bout between boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. Sundry complications, though, held up the project until its release in 1996. It was well worth the delay. From Gast's perspective of modern history, the six weeks Ali and Foreman were forced to spend waiting in Africa for their fight to take place now looks like an important moment in America's cultural understanding of African American roots. In a nutshell, Ali had been stripped of his heavyweight champion title because his opposition to the Vietnam War-era draft had landed him in prison. Reigning champ Foreman agreed to a Don King-promoted match in Kinshasa, but after all parties got there the fight was put off. Gast captures the charismatic Ali, in the ensuing days and weeks, going out among the people and getting to know them while the more reclusive Foreman keeps to his own company. Meanwhile, King brings over black American artists such as James Brown and the Spinners to mix it up with African musicians. The sense of excitement and connection is thrilling, as is the boxing footage of Foreman and Ali finally taking swings at one another in a titanic duel. Writers George Plimpton and Norman Mailer, each of whom was covering the fight as journalists, are on hand to recollect the details. Whether you're a fight fan or not, this is a unique experience and a fascinating insight into America's sense of identity. --Tom Keogh

Mark Messier - Leader, Champion & Legend

Hockey great Mark Messier is profiled in this DVD that documents his career from childhood hockey leagues in his native Canada to NHL superstardom in New York City. Messier first achieved stardom as a member of the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty of the 1980s, which won three Stanley Cups in four years. But he rose to his greatest fame, and escaped from the shadow of Wayne Gretzky, when he arrived with great fanfare in the Big Apple and sought to lead the downtrodden Rangers to the Stanley Cup, a seemingly impossible goal. Mark Messier: Leader, Champion & Legend shows vividly how Messier initially faced some rocky times after arriving in Madison Square Garden before the Rangers finally won the biggest prize in hockey after a 54-year drought. Family members, former teammates (including, of course, Gretzky), and even the coach from his childhood bantam league team appear to talk about Messier's love of the game and his astounding desire to win. The action footage is often spectacular, and there is an appropriate amount of atmospheric material, including scenes of wild-eyed Ranger fans going insane as they extol the virtues of Messier. --Robert J. McNamara

The Streak

Located in suburban Tampa, Florida, Brandon High School was the home to a wrestling program riding a 439-match winning streak, the all-time national record for the most consecutive wins by any high school sports team. For the wrestlers, the thought of being on the team that ends 34 years of perfection is unimaginable. Team members train for years to earn a coveted spot knowing that the pride and prestige of being a Brandon wrestler comes with the weight of expectations from alumni, family and fans that the record will be preserved. This documentary chronicles the 2007-2008 season, when this incredible streak grew to 459 before coming to a stunning and dramatic end. And while that tension is at the center of the film, it's also a human story that chronicles three decades of ordinary high school athletes pursuing extraordinary accomplishments.

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