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.

Thumbnails Oct 14

by Tony Medley

The Two Faces of January (8/10): This is a scintillating tale of intrigue that would have been right at home in the 1940s when they made movies like this. Enhanced by atmospheric cinematography of the Greek locales and exceptional music, Kirsten Dunst gives a terrific performance, the best I’ve ever seen out of her, abetted by fine performances by Viggo Mortenson and Oscar Isaac. The interplay among the three is beautiful to behold as things get more and more out of hand. Hossein Amini, who wrote the equally intriguing Drive (2011), shows in his directorial debut that he has an acute feel for Hitchcockian atmosphere and suspense. It’s so well done throughout that’s it’s well worth seeing despite the ending. And, to be truthful, although the ending left me flat, it might not bother many people as much as it did me.

A Walk Among the Tombstones (8/10): Liam Neeson’s annual thriller does not disappoint. Highlighted by dark cinematography that captures the bleakness, degradation, and dilapidation of Brooklyn in the winter, fine performances by Neeson and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, David Harbour, and Adam David Thompson as the creepy bad guys take second place to Laura Birn as a torture victim, who gives a captivating performance in her short time on the screen, one that you won’t soon forget. Unfortunately, that gratuitously graphic (and unnecessary) scene of torture is so troubling it could ruin the movie for a lot of people, as it almost did for me.

This is Where I Leave You (8/10): Director Shawn Levy has made an irreverent, moving comedy out of Jonathan Tropper’s best-selling novel of the same name. Tropper’s script is acute and sensitive, but it retains its humor. Key to the success of the movie is Jason Bateman’s performance as someone going through emotional hell, being pulled in all directions. He hits it dead on, not an easy task because it is a complicated role. This film has so many facets to it, so many characters, each with their own set of problems, that the fact that Tropper and Levy have made it into such a cohesive, entertaining movie is little short of genius.

The Drop (8/10): This is a compelling, suspenseful motion picture with tension-enhancing music and wonderful performances by James Gondolfini (his last), Noomi Rapace, and Tom Hardy, who seems to strike a chord with a lot of women. The tension crackles constantly, with potential violence seething just below the surface in almost every scene. Regardless of the story, and this is a good one, this film would be worth seeing if only for the acting.

The Equalizer (8/10): What make this Denzel Washington action film better than average are the supporting actors playing members of the Russian mob. David Meunier, Alex Veadov, and Matt Lasky, Vitaliy Shtabnoy, and the main bad guy, Martin Csokas are instantly believable as bloodthirsty psychopaths. David Harbour gives a fine performance as Frank Masters, a corrupt Boston cop. Fuqua knows how to keep the tension rising and is a master at pace which, after a relatively slow start, never flags. But Denzel is such a superman and so in control that one never fears for him, and that certitude robs the film of the apprehension which all thrillers need.

Kill the Messenger (5/10): “Based on a true story” always raises questions about what’s “based” and what’s “true.” It’s probably better to watch this movie about investigative reporter Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner), who wrote a controversial series of stories about the Iran-Contra situation, as fiction than trying to accept it as the whole truth. It’s absorbing fiction. Who knows the truth? But, as Robert DeNiro said in “The Last Tycoon,” that’s the movies!