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Out of print for more than 30 years, now available for the first time as an eBook, this is the controversial story of John Wooden's first 25 years and first 8 NCAA Championships as UCLA Head Basketball Coach. This is the only book that gives a true picture of the character of John Wooden and the influence of his assistant, Jerry Norman, whose contributions Wooden ignored and tried to bury. Compiled with more than 40 hours of interviews with Coach Wooden, learn about the man behind the coach. The players tell their their stories in their own words. This is the book that UCLA Athletic Director J.D. Morgan tried to ban. Click the book to read the first chapter and for ordering information. Also available on Kindle. |
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Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (5/10) by Tony Medley Runtime 100 minutes. OK for children. I had my choice between seeing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter or this. I chose this because it seemed the least idiotic of the two, although this was a very difficult decision, epitomizing the least of two obvious evils. Even so, I made a bad choice.
I understand that Steve Carell is going around promoting this as a "dark comedy." It's dark all right, but I didn't see anything comedic anywhere.
Directed by screenwriter Lorene Scafaria, in her directing debut, the film opens with a newscaster saying that the world will end in 21 days because a 70-mile wide asteroid is headed straight for the earth. There is no hope. So Steve, whose wife runs out on him in the opening scenes, meets Kiera Knightley and they head off on an extended road trip, through alternating scenes of rioting, devastation, and then strange calmness in other parts of the country through which they travel, to find Steve's high school sweetheart with a secondary objective of Kiera returning to her family.
Carell seems to like to play depressed people, and that's what he does here. In so doing, he transfers the depression to the audience. The only thing that keeps the film moving is Knightley's optimistic, buoyant outlook and attitude ("I'm optimistic"). Knightley carries the film; the problem is that there is no place for it to go for her to carry it to.
A romance about the end of the world with no hope is a bad idea, especially since there is no humor. This is a romcom without the com, and not a lot of rom. I can't imagine why anybody would want to see this film, and I couldn't recommend it, despite Knightley's fine performance. The clock is ticking throughout the movie towards doomsday. It ticks not for the characters, but for the audience. June 21, 2012 |
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