'Gunnin' for That #1 Spot' is as quick as a fastbreak
CAPSULE MOVIE REVIEWS
Also reviewed: 'Kicking It,' 'Expired,' 'The Unknown Woman,' 'Red Roses and Petrol,' 'Live and Become'
Flashy and fun, "Gunnin' for That #1 Spot," might be the first documentary designed for the ADD set. Director (and Beastie Boys founding member) Adam Yauch tricks up this eclectic look at all-star high school basketball with so much cool high-def camera work and showy editing it's sure to satisfy the film's target youth audience's appetite for zippy visuals and swift pacing.
Backed by a vibrant, well-chosen funk and hip-hop soundtrack, "Gunnin' " focuses on eight of the country's top-ranked teens competing in 2006's Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic. Yauch energetically shoots these phenoms on their home turfs, from Compton to Baltimore, then follows them to New York for the awe-inspiring, inaugural game held in Harlem's legendary Rucker Park. Peppered throughout are glimpses of the off-court issues facing these potential pros, such as shoe endorsements, media hype, societal pressures and the inevitable groupies.
Since Yauch doesn't dig too deeply into the boys' emotional lives or private hoop dreams -- this is no warts-and-all exposé -- viewers may not feel any individual stake in the game's outcome. Ultimately, though, the playing's the thing and, for most, just beholding these NBA hopefuls' dazzling skills will be more than enough.
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Gary Goldstein
"Gunnin' for That #1 Spot." Rated PG-13 for language. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes. At the Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15, 4020 Marlton Ave., Baldwin Hills, (800) 326-3264; Loews Broadway 4, 1441 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, (800) 326-3264; AMC's 30 at the Block, the City Drive, Orange, (714) 769-4262.
Soccer gives homeless hope
Rarely has the healing power of sports been as genuinely depicted as in director Susan Koch's perception-altering documentary "Kicking It," a heartfelt tribute to the annual Homeless World Cup.
This international competition brings together 500 disparate, homeless players whose common love of soccer gives them a second -- and often last -- chance at a new beginning. The film's advertising tag line, "A ball can change your life," couldn't be more accurate.
The movie captures the 2006 tournament, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa, and featured footballers from 48 countries. Koch effectively interweaves highlights from the event's many terrific matches with intimate portraits of seven gifted players from Kenya, Russia, Ireland, Afghanistan, Spain and North Carolina, where problems such as drug and alcohol addiction, political strife, child abuse and abject poverty have led to their homelessness.
