David Vaughn

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/cinderellaman.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Seeking a second chance to provide for his family and for his own personal redemption, professional boxer Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) turns a fortuitous chance into a bout against legendary boxer Max Baer (Craig Beirko). With the nation knee deep in the Great Depression, Braddock gives the folks someone to cheer for.

As a war rages between men and kings and kings and god, the battle amongst the gods is the one that could ultimately destroy the world. Hope rests with Perseus (Sam Worthington), son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), who was raised as a man and sets off on a hazardous journey deep into forbidden worlds to avenge the death of his family and defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus and unleash hell on earth.

With only a 29% favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I had extremely low expectations. While I wouldn't consider the movie a classic, it's a hell of a lot of fun and features adequate acting, a compelling story (revenge is a dish best served cold), and tons of action, especially compared to the slow-paced original from 1981. There's an occasional line of cringe-inducing dialog, but the positives far outweigh any negatives.

As a war rages between men and kings and kings and god, the battle amongst the gods is the one that could ultimately destroy the world. Hope rests with Perseus (Sam Worthington), son of Zeus (Liam Neeson), who was raised as a man and sets off on a hazardous journey deep into forbidden worlds to avenge the death of his family and defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus and unleash hell on earth.

With only a 29% favorable rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I had extremely low expectations. I wouldn't consider the movie a classic, but it's a hell of a lot of fun and features adequate acting, a compelling story (revenge is a dish best served cold), and tons of action, especially compared to the slow-paced original from 1981. There's an occasional line of cringe-inducing dialog, but the positives far outweigh any negatives and even with a second watching I found myself drawn into the story.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/coachcarter.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Nearly 10 years ago, I remember hearing about a crazy high-school basketball coach who locked his undefeated team out of the gym for poor academic performance in Richmond, California—about 40 miles west of my home town. As a suburb of Oakland, it shares many of the same neighborhood issues, such as street gangs, drug problems, and violence. In this dramatization, as in real life, Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) takes the tough-love approach in order to teach the young men there's more to life than basketball.