Redbelt (2008)
February 5th, 2010
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Is there room for principle in Los Angeles? Mike Terry teaches jujitsu and barely makes ends meet. His Brazilian wife, whose family promotes fights, wants to see Mike in the ring making money, but to him competition is degrading. A woman sideswipes Mike’s car and then, after an odd sequence of events, shoots out the studio’s window. Later that evening, Mike rescues an action movie star in a fistfight at a bar. In return, the actor befriends Mike, gives him a gift, offers him work on his newest film, and introduces Mike’s wife to his own - the women initiate business dealings. Then, things go sour all at once, Mike’s debts mount, and going into the ring may be his only option.
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A true-life story of a basketball team who broke down barriers while racking up victories is the basis for this sports drama. Don Haskins (Josh_Lucas) was a high school and college basketball star who, after six years of working with high school teams, became the head coach at Texas Western University in 1962. At that time, Texas Western’s basketball program was not well respected, but Haskins was determined to change that, and in 1966 Haskins assembled what he was certain was a winning team. However, Haskins’ starting lineup was comprised entirely of African-American athletes at a time when racially integrated teams were still a novelty in the South and West. Despite generating a firestorm of controversy, Haskins and his players showed they could succeed where it counted — on the court. In post-season play Haskins and the Texas Western team found themselves competing for the NCAA championship against the University of Kentucky’s all-white team, lead by legendary coach Adolph Rupp (Jon_Voight). Glory Road also stars Derek_Luke, Alphonso McAuley, Mehcad_Brooks, Al_Shearer, Damaine_Radcliff, Sam Jones III, and Schin_S._Kerr as members of Haskins’ winning team.
Peter LaFleur is a charismatic underachiever and proprietor of a rundown gym called Average Joe’s. The facility’s ecclectic clientele of decidedly less-than-average Joes is comprised of: a self-styled pirate; a scrawny nerd who dreams of impressing an unattainable cheerleader; an obsessive aficionado of obscure sports; a dim-witted young man; and a cocky know-it-all who, of course, really knows nothing. Peter’s humble gym catches the eye of White Goodman, the power-mullet-sporting, Fu-Manchu-d, egomaniacal owner of Globo Gym, a gleaming monolith of fitness. White intends to take over Average Joe’s, and Peter’s non-existent bookkeeping is making it all too easy for him. A foreclosing bank has stationed attorney Kate Veatch inside Average Joe’s to finalize Globo’s takeover of the gym. But Peter’s boyish charms win her over and Kate joins his team of social rejects to beat the odds–and their own ineptitude–to try to save Average Joe’s. How? A showdown dodgeball competition against Globo Gym. 
A teenage skateboarder has a run-in with a security guard that results in the man’s death. Confused, fearful, and evasive, the teen wanders the streets of Portland as his life takes a turn for the worse in director Gus Van Sant’s screen adaptation of author Blake Nelson’s grim coming-of-age tome. Alex (Gabe Nevins) is a withdrawn 16-year-old boy who has recently discovered Paranoid Park — a massive skate park in Portland, OR. The Portland skate punks built Paranoid Park so they could have a place to cruise the concrete without being hassled by the cops. One day, after befriending a local skater and anarchist at the park, Alex decides that a little adventure might be just the thing to help him forget about his problems back home. When Alex and his new friend attempt to hop a train and a security guard gives chase, tragedy strikes so quickly that the two teens are barely able to comprehend what has just happened. In the aftermath of the fatal accident, one man is robbed of life and two teens are left to ponder the consequences of their youthful recklessness. Alex doesn’t think that anyone will believe him if he explains how events really unfolded that night, but why would anyone have cause to think he wasn’t telling the truth in the first place? As the police launch an investigation into the death and Alex begins to express himself in a deeply personal diary, the audience is able to experience the pain and confusion of adolescence from the perspective of a young boy who was only seeking to escape from reality when suddenly confronted by the concept of mortality.
In the summer of 1976, 30-year old Vince Papale is having a tough run of luck. He’s been working as a supply teacher for two days a week but has just found out that his job has been eliminated because of budget cuts. His wife gives up on him saying he’ll never amount to anything and asks for a divorce. He works as a bartender and plays football with his friends. When the the new coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Dick Vermeil, announces that he will hold open tryouts for the team, Vince reluctantly decides to give a try. In an almost unheard of feat, he manages to make the team and enjoyed a three year career as a professional football player. Based on a true story.
In the Kilpatrick juvenile detention center, the supervisor and former football player Sean Porter sees the lack of discipline, self-esteem, union and perspective in the teenage interns and proposes to prepare a football team to play in one league. He is supported by his superiors and his successful experience changes the lives of many young kids.
The Jaume Collet-Serra-directed comedy drama Goal! 2: Living the Dream finds star European soccer player Santiago Muñez (Kuno Becker) bumped by his agent (Stephen Dillane) from England’s Newcastle United team to Real Madrid’s Galácticos, where he is thrilled to play alongside field legends David Beckham, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, and others. In off-time, temptation lingers in the form of amorous dalliances with spicy local women, especially the TV hostess Jordana (Leonor Varela) — a relationship that threatens the security of his marital engagement to Geordie nurse Roz (Anna Friel), who has accompanied him to Spain. During his time in Madrid, Santiago also discovers, most unexpectedly and poignantly, what happened to the mother who abandoned him during his early childhood. Alessandro Nivola co-stars as Santiago’s pal Gavin.
As a child, a miscreant Frank Dux was taken in and trained by a champion martial artist, who went so far as to adopt Frank into his family after the premature death of his own son. Now, decades later, Frank is a skilled martial artist himself and a solider in the U.S. Military. Upon the death of his surrogate father and sensai, Frank is informed of a mysterious, no-holds barred, highly illegal martial arts tournament in Hong Kong known only as the “kumeti.” At the bidding of his sensai and against direct orders from his military superiors Frank travels to Hong Kong to participate and uphold his master’s honor. In order to succeed not only will he have to win the tournament; he must also evade capture by two military police sent to arrest him and the prying questions of a nosy reporter eager for a story.
When rivalry between the world’s best men’s figure skaters - sex addicted, improvisational Chazz Michael Michaels and germophobic, precise Jimmy MacElroy - breaks into a fight on the awards platform, they’re banned from the event for life. Three years later, desire for a gold medal and a careful reading of the rules lead them to compete as skating’s first male-male pair. Can they overcome mutual dislike, limited time to prepare, their coach’s secret past, and the dirty tricks of their main opponents, the Van Waldenberg siblings? The key to victory or defeat may lie in the attraction of the virginal Jimmy toward Katie, the Van Waldenbergs’ little sister.