Exclusive Clip: The Fist Foot Way

Is this film box office competition for Sex In The City?

The Fist Foot Way is a comedy about a martial arts instructor whose life collapses after he finds out his wife is having an affair. This sends the our hero Simmons on a journey to find himself by battling undefeated champ Chuck “The Truck” Wallace. This clip is funny enough to make me go see it. In theaters May 30th.

Hollywood's Best Bet

Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep-The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

With a lack of originality in much of Hollywood’s stories, there has been a major push towards reality television. What’s ironic is that the best original story Hollywood could have come up with is a reality for the NBA.

A gambling addict turned NBA ref fixes over 100 games. Just when we think it is a dead issue he blows the lid off the story by saying that other officials, coaches, and players were involved.
What studio is going to pass on that script? Think The Departed meets Hoosiers or Donnie Brasco meets White Shadow.

The 42 year old veteran referee plead guilty last summer to felony charges that involved taking cash payoffs and betting on games he officiated. He faces up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The story sounds straight forward enough. Here a few points that may make this a more interesting story and possible epic movie:

Tim Donaghy was not caught by NBA Security. He was overheard by the FBI on a mob wire tap, who then contacted the NBA.

During the time period he refereed 139 regular season games and 8 playoff games.

With the investigation still ongoing NBA Commissioner David Stern says at a press conference that he was a “rouge referee” and it was an “isolated instance”.

The NBA has not released a list of games Donaghy refereed from 2005-2007.

Sports gambling expert R. J. Bell tracked every game Donaghy worked from 2003-2007. He discovered that “during the two seasons investigated by the NBA the teams scored more points than expected by Vegas sports books 57% of the time. The odds of such a discrepancy are 1 in 1,000.”

Tim Donaghy told investigators that relationships among officials, coaches, and players “affected the outcome of the games”

Donaghy told investigators about the gambling activities of other NBA officials and about a referee that passed “confidential” information to an unidentified coach.

Donaghy’s attorney suggested that the NBA might have “pressured” the attorney’s office “into shutting down this prosecution to avoid the disclosure of information unrelated to Tim’s conduct.”

NBA referee Bob Delany is a former undercover state trooper with the New Jersey State Police task force on organized crime.

When Bob Delany was asked what illegal activities he participated in Delany said, “stolen property, loan sharking, gambling, purchasing of guns.”

Did he just say gambling? I wonder if Delany and Donaghy worked any games together. What if we found out they were in cahoots? What if David Stern was highly involved along with Lebron James and Steve Nash.

(Opening scene)
Donaghy: (in his car talking on the phone) Okay, Okay. I know I’m in the hole, but I’ll make up for it tonight. I’ll be sure not to make it look too obvious
Voice on the other end of the phone: The boss does not like to be disappointed.
(Kenny Rogers, The Gambler plays as a slow montage of NBA referee Tim Donaghy getting dressed for the game, walking on the court, half court handshake with NBA players. The camera surveys a crowd of cheering fans. One fan is still sitting in his seat with his eyes fixed on Donaghy. He’s there to protect his investment)

The NBA is Fantastic!

Who would play Obama in a movie?

One of the first things I saw this morning during my usual whats-happening-in-the-world-today search(that consist of Concreteloop, CNN, The PI, ESPN, and Allhiphop) was the Obama rally in Portland Oregon this weekend. Obama reportedly drew around 75,000 show up to his rally at Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon. It is one of the largest crowds ever for a Presidential campaign. I’m a little frustrated that there is not a lot of national coverage for this. When was the last time you’ve seen any political figure have that many people come see them speak? I can’t think of anyone. Those are early 80’s Michael Jackson numbers.

I made an attempt to attend his rally in Seattle at Key Arena. I left work early and still wasn’t even close to getting in.

I wonder who would play Obama in a movie? Will Smith? My money would go towards Terrance Howard or Harry J. Lennix. You’ve seen him in Stomp The Yard, Ray, Barbershop 2, and Resurrecting The Champ. He should start working on his Obama impersonation right now.

Trailer: Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

Bigger, Stronger, Faster* is a documentary directed by Christopher Bell that discusses the use of steroids in the United States. Steroid use has been a hot topic for years in our sports culture. It’s amazing how much steroid use can have an effect on the sports we watch every day. This documentary looks to address America’s obsession with body image as well as the notion that you should win at all cost. In the past year we’ve had the Mitchell Report, Marion Jones steroid scandal, not to mention the wrestlers who’ve died before the age of 40. Bigger, Stronger, Faster* was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival. Hopefully it’ll be a hit once it opens nationwide on May 30th

Movie Review: Made of Honor

Patrick Dempsey really fits the mold for “male lead in a romantic comedy”. The success of Grey’s Anatomy in addition to the McDreamy nickname is allowing him to take the crown from the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Hugh Grant. His look is good for about three or four more of these movies.

Patrick Dempsey plays Tom, a rich womanizer, who has a ton of women and seemingly a ton of rules about dating them too. Tom is best friends with Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) and has been since college. While Hannah is off in Scotland for work, Tom realizes that he has strong feelings for her. After Hannah returns they meet up for dinner where Tom is introduced to Colin, Hannah’s fiancé.

Hannah proceeds to ask Tom if he would be her maid of honor. He agrees to be her maid of honor in an effort to thwart the wedding and confess his love to Hannah.

Made of Honor is a predictable romantic comedy that does not offer anything new to the audience. What guy is really going to be a maid of honor? That’s just a little too ridiculous for me. The movie is so predictable to the point I was able to tell my friend how it ended and what Tom was going to say. Maybe I watch too many movies. Maybe it’s just that predictable.

The movie is not without its entertaining moments.

Michelle Monaghan is fantastic in the movie. I enjoyed her last year in The Heartbreak Kid and Gone Baby Gone. I think she’s a very beautiful actress, but they made her look very plain for this movie.

The scenes with Tom and his buddies, played by Kadeem Hardison (Dwayne Wayne where have you been), Chris Messina, and Richmond Arquette help hold the movie together. Some of those conversations are conversations that men have from time-to-time. Each one of them has a different view on life, relationships, and marriage. It was good to see that dynamic in this movie. There is also a hysterical basketball scene with Tom and Colin that is definitely worth watching.

One of my favorite actors Sydney Pollack plays Thomas Sr. who ads some more laughter to the film. I wish he had a little more camera time.

My suggestion: I’m not too high on this movie because I feel like I’ve seen it before. If you happen to enjoy romantic comedies, you can go see it OR you can rent My Best Friend’s Wedding, Love Actually, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and sort of mix and match those movies. Kind of like putting together a Lego set, but only you would be building a chick flick. For those who enjoy this genre they will be pleased with this film. You’ll like it, but not love it.