Undefeated – best sports film of the year

The nation, indeed the world, is enthralled by Jeremy Lin, the undrafted humble Harvard underdog who has stunned the NBA and the New York Knicks with his performances on the basketball court these last couple of weeks.

But hidden in the deep South, somewhere around the decrepit environs of North Memphis, Tenn., a high school football team struggles to succeed just as it did in 2010 when The Tigers, the school’s football team, for the first time in the school’s 110 year history, made it to the playoffs.

“Undefeated” is an Oscar-nominated feature-length documentary about that team that enthralls from the first two minutes. I admit, I was not enthusiastic about reviewing another sports film, let alone football.

Now I can say that I understand why people see football as a religion — in a good way. Why? Because over the six years that the chubby white volunteer coach Bill Courtney guided this team, they prayed, fought, asked forgiveness, and lived genuine “agape” as a community.

Continue reading here …

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• Directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin UNDEFEATED Interview (collider.com)

The Vow

When I learned that Rachel McAdams was going to play the lead role in what looked to be another tearjerker film about marriage I wondered if the story would be based on a Nicholas Sparks novel such as “The Notebook.” No, this new film is based on a very true story that was told in the 2000 book The Vow: The Kim and Krickitt Carpenter Story by Kim Carpenter.

In 1993, ten weeks after this Mormon couple married, they were injured in a terrible car accident. Krickitt, who was driving, was in a coma and when she woke up had no memory of the previous 18 months or so since she had met and married Kim. When Krickitt recovered enough she decided that if she had liked Kim enough before to marry him, she would date him again to see if the spark could be rekindled. It was, and in 1996 they remarried (renewed their vows) and have since had two children. Krickitt has never recovered her memory of those 18 months though her long-term memory, that is pre-Kim, is in tact.

In “The Vow” the basic story is the same though the details have been changed and more dramatic tension added. And while Kim and Krickitt are a handsome couple, the megawatt looks and chemistry of Rachel McAdams (Paige) and Channing Tatum (Leo) leave just about everyone else in the dust.

Paige and Leo meet by chance at the bank on one fine day in Chicago where they live. Then they meet again at the coffee shop where Paige works, “The Mnemonic”.  Their friendship grows … continue reading here  and watch my video review as well.