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 stories in their own words.

Click the book to read the first chapter and for ordering information. Also available on Kindle.

This is 40 (8/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 134 minutes.

Not for children.

For me, going to see a Judd Apatow movie is a mixed bag. Because they are generally so tasteless and profane, it is generally agony to sit through them. On the bright side it's always easy to write a review when I don't like a movie.

What a surprise! While it is still profane, and sometimes tasteless and juvenile, it is brilliantly written by Apatow, who also directed and produced, and comedically captures the lives of a couple entering midlife.

While it is advertised as a sequel to Knocked Up, one of the few Apatow movies I liked, it is a sequel only in that it follows the two subordinate characters out of knocked Up, not the stars of that film.

Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) are both approaching their 40th birthdays. They have two children Sadie and Iris (played by the two daughters of Mann and Apatow, Maude and Iris Apatow). The Apatow children seem to have bright futures in front of them as actresses because their performances are spot on.

The dialogue among the four of them is funny, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes poignant. Rudd and Mann give fine performances, but I thought Mann's sparkled brighter.

There is one scene in particular that stood out for me, one that should be shown in every law school for how to prepare a witness. Pete and Debbie are called in front of the school principal because of something that happened. The way they handle it is nothing short of brilliant.

On the downside, Apatow still throws in childish scenes that would have been better left out, like several of Pete the sitting on the toilet. I fail to see the reason to show a character going to the bathroom in a movie. Everybody in the movie drops F bombs, although not as many as in other Apatow movies. And there are a couple of scenes of Debbie giving Pete oral sex.

But by and large these do not destroy what is a funny, highly entertaining film.

December 13, 2012