The Fab Five

A Panther Joe Bounce Pass

When ESPN first started to advertise this documentary last month about arguably the best recruiting class in college basketball history, I was psyched as a casual Michigan fan. I say casual, because while located in the Southeast United States, I consider them to be a Big 10 embassy, fighting off the everlasting douchebag parade known as The Ohio State University. The?!? Really, you pompous bigwigs? How about, hey, you guys never win the big game? Or football coach Jim Tressel sucks from the teet of the overlord cheating demi-God. We'll call him, Sampsonus. (Roman equivalent: Pete Carrollysus)

The Fab Five (2010)
Director: Jason Hehir
Starring: Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Steve Fisher

In the most recent addition to the critically acclaimed ESPN sports documentary series 30 for 30, The Fab Five examines the University of Michigan's mens basketball team shortly after capturing the national title in 1989. The Wolverines trudge through two mediocre seasons before coach Steve Fisher and his assistants take a different approach to recruiting by looking right in their backyard. In 1991, UM would make the score of a lifetime, landing future NBA standouts Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, and Jalen Rose from various public and private schools in or around the Detroit area. Still not done, Fisher also nabbed Texas high school sharp shooters Jimmy King and Mark Ray Jackson. All but Jackson were nationally recognized, top ten high school recruits, and when the quintet finally gelled in their first season the media gracefully dubbed them, The Fab Five.

The two hour documentary then shuffles us through two very successful seasons which saw the Freshmen led team advance to the National Championship game both years, ultimately coming up short in each tournament. Later, like all good rock star stories go, the filmmaker addresses the very turbulent incidents in the lives of these young men, including racially-motivated backlash from the groups alternative look and demeanor, Chris Webber's alleged illegal benefits and dealings with a bookkeeping booster, and Webber's infamous Phantom Timeout incident in the National Championship game against North Carolina in 1993.

Chris Webber

Throughout this movie, there was tons of insight from players, coaches, and media personnel alike, awakening you to new tidbits you may have missed as a fan or unraveling the tale beautifully for fans like myself who were too young to remember the entire story. Acclaimed author and sports journalist Mitch Albom probably provides the most interesting take, recounting how he closely shadowed the team during its run for the Detroit Free Press.

One of the more successful aspects of The Fab Five were the interviews with all the bit players on the team, including two holdovers that won the 1989 title and now were being relegated to bench players in light of all five freshmen hogging up the entire starting lineup. While you could tell the player minute situation was at times a volatile one (Rose even disclosed that he would jokingly tell the two white players on the team that their job was to keep afloat the team GPA), you could also reasonably believe that these bench players accepted their secondary positions, playing to their strengths of experience and maturity for the better of the team.

Beyond the near perfect, dramatic way things unfolded in the story that probably couldn't have been written better by a Hollywood type, this documentary was filled to the brim with past interviews and footage not usually seen by basketball fans. After the team's first championship game loss to Duke in 1992, coach Fisher took the entire squad and personnel over to Italy for a two week getaway, which ultimately shaped how many of the players felt about their role on the team, the expectations from the community, and the very business they were slaving away for with little to no compensation.

Other parts of the film were, to say the least, cathartic. For someone who only knows Chris Webber's indecision on the court from the stand alone play, I was shocked to see Webber's reactions and emotions minutes, hours, and days following the tragic mistake. The mood was lightened occasionally, whether it be the talks of how the group contributed to a fashion revolution among American basketball players or the overall disdain and hatred toward rival Ohio State and the white, prep factory known as Duke.

All in all, The Fab Five did a superb job transporting you back to the early 90's and letting you in on the world of five 18 year olds who quickly captivated the nation with outspoken players and a deep run at the NCAA title. I can see why these documentaries are polarizing though; if you were not a fan of the trash talking ways of the group or the Michigan Wolverines in general, this might not be the film for you. However, if you know how the saga ends and the ridiculous NCAA sanctions slapped on the school in the aftermath, you may want to relive this to reinforce your existing feelings.

Watch the documentary here via FratHouseSports

The NJNM Podcast: Ep. 33 - Gamer (Guests: Michelle Madison from PopHangover.com and Joe Leininger from The Playing Field)

In this week's episode, Ben and Tyler are joined by Michelle Madison (popular podcaster and co-founder of the PopHangover Network) and Joe Leininger (from The Playing Field) to discuss Neveldine/Taylor's 2009 film, Gamer.

Introduction

Character Name Game intro - 03:08

In My Netflix - 03:47

Media Consumed

Joe
"Mad Love" - 08:05
"Blue Bloods" - 09:45

Tyler

Zork - 10:45
Red Riding Hood - 12:50

Michelle
Rift - 14:00

The Fighter - 14:38

Ben
Steel Panther concert review - 16:57

Review

Gamer - 20:50

Wrap-Up

Next Week: The Italian Job double feature - 01:01:21

Listener Voicemail/E-Mail/Twitter - 01:02:09

Character Name Game - 01:03:11

Where You Can Find Us - 01:05:14

Paul

While Paul is not the third entry into the infamous Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's third cinematic team-up is almost as enjoyable as their previous collaborations. Let's face it: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are both awesome movies, and without Edgar Wright behind the camera to complete the triumvirate, one might assume that another director stepping into the situation would be a bit intimidated to work with such a close-knit group. Not the case for Superbad and Adventureland director Greg Mottola, who, while not matching Wright's unique dynamism, imbues Paul with his own pacing and comedy sensibilities that ultimately results in a very enjoyable moviegoing experience.

Paul
Director: Greg Mottola
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman

The story follows Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), two geeky British comic book creators who travel to America to go on a road trip to see their favorite alien hot spots across the country. Along the way, they discover an actual alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) and go on the run from Agent Zoil (Bateman), a "man in black" tasked with hunting the alien down. Pegg and Frost's influence is felt all over this film and keeps with their signature style of slightly mocking a genre, paying homage to it, and adding an exciting new entry to its ranks all at the same time. This is one that movie geeks will love in the same way that gamers and pop culture nerds loved Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; there are so many references to other movies (alien, road trip, and otherwise) that I could spend an entire post listing all of them.

The CG work for Paul's alien body was surprisingly impressive, never aiming for "realism," per se, but always remaining fluid and true to the character. And speaking of the character, Paul was hilarious. He's a smoking foul-mouthed version of E.T., embracing (and at times contributing to) human pop culture in a way that makes his character almost pleasant among all the cursing and drinking. Honestly, Paul himself was the character about whom I had the biggest doubts going in, but Seth Rogen - an actor yet to give a truly excellent performance in my opinion - did a fantastic job with the voice work and really gave the alien an extra spark of life that would be hard for many other actors to replicate.

The movie featured smaller roles for a lot of people we've seen in comedy before. Kristen Wiig is charming as the extremist Christian whose world is turned upside down with the discovery of extraterrestrial life (her character also doubles as Pegg's love interest and provides a bit of conflict between Pegg and Frost). Sigourney Weaver has a small cameo as the determined head of the government agency looking for Paul. Bill Hader ("SNL") and Joe Lo Truglio (Superbad) play rookie agents tagging along with Bateman, David Koechner (Anchorman) and Jesse Plemons (TV's "Friday Night Lights") are a couple of redneck homophobes that become bitter enemies to our heroes, and Jeffrey Tambor ("Arrested Development") has a small role as a self-centered comic creator the guys meet at Comic-Con.

Speaking of Comic-Con, the movie has the best depiction of the convention I've ever seen on screen. It's such an accurate representation of what it's like, and though the movie wasn't actually shot at the convention, it could have fooled me. I had a chance to attend my first Comic-Con last year with the guys and girls at GeekTyrant (check out all our coverage here), and Paul not only captured the physical accuracy of the convention center and surrounding areas but also the giddy feeling of excitement it provides - geeking out as only geeks can.

If I have any qualms with the movie, it's that the story was a bit predictable at times. Due to personal bias, I'm more willing to forgive predictability with movies that embrace fun than ones that aim for seriousness, so this wasn't as big of a turn off for me as it most assuredly will be for some. To me, the comedy and the heart are the most important parts of this movie, and they hit on all the right beats. A lot of people will find the anti-Christian overtones to be a bit off-putting, but aside from that one issue, I think the entire film has an infectious enthusiasm to it - all of the protagonists are extremely likeable and Pegg and Frost's writing makes it very easy to root for them. The pacing was solid, with no scene dragging on too long and the action moving quickly across different locations to keep things visually interesting.

Paul is a great entry into the ranks of the Pegg-Frost collaborations, and a new high point in Greg Mottola's career alongside Superbad. This movie will undoubtedly put smiles on the faces of movie lovers across the country as they take an insane road trip with these characters that ends at the absolute perfect location. Until next time...

Battle: Los Angeles

Roger Ebert just gave Battle: Los Angeles a 0.5 out of 4 star review. I happened to enjoy the movie a considerable amount more than the old curmudgeon, especially when you take my low expectations into account. This is not a movie for the intellectual crowd: the dialogue is atrocious, most of the characters are under-developed, and the motivations behind the alien invasion are murky at best. But if you're looking for some solid action and passable special effects, Battle: LA fits the bill.

Battle: Los Angeles
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ne-Yo, Michael Pena

This is one of the best summer movies that didn't actually come out during the summer. It's a broadly painted action flick, complete with the requisite explosions and action one would come to expect from summer fare. That may carry a negative connotation to some (depending on your tastes, of course), but I thought the film was actually pretty well executed. There isn't much of a story - aliens invade, no one really knows why - but we're given just enough of a basic outline to start pulling for the characters by the end. My roommate says it's Independence Day meets Cloverfield, and I think that's a really apt description.

It's hard to tell whether the concept for this movie is lazy or brilliant. By not providing any legitimate exploration of the alien culture and concentrating on a small group of soldiers in the wake of a global event, it positions the film as the first of a franchise; the interesting part is not the straight sequels that will surely follow, but the potential of stories told at the same point on the timeline as this one. There was talk of a Cloverfield sequel in which the monster attack on New York City is told from the perspective of different characters, a similar idea that ended up not coming to fruition. The odds are no better for this happening with this franchise, but it's not far-fetched to assume that we could see a Battle: Miami (or its equivalent) in the next few years.

Director Jonathan Liebesman has been making the rounds in the trades over the past year, at one point in contention for Christopher Nolan's upcoming Superman film (a job which ultimately went to Zack Snyder) and actually securing the director's chair for the sequel to Clash of the Titans. His tactic here was to attempt to replicate the dramatic documentary style used to such great success in the 10-part HBO masterpiece Band of Brothers: the handheld, snap-zoom happy, shaky cam feel most widely associated with Paul Greengrass and the Bourne films. To some degree, Liebesman succeeds; the style works best when we're pulled into the action with the squad and following them through the charred streets of L.A. in search of a way out. But this style of camerawork really isn't needed in the post-title sequence of the movie in which we're introduced to all the characters. Snap-zooms and bouncing framing aren't needed when two characters are having a conversation in a florist shop. Aside from this minor quibble, I like the look of the movie and think the cinematography has an immersive quality to it.

The first act of the film has a strong horror vibe. We don't get a good look at the aliens until later, so we're left wondering what they look like and when our heroes go searching through a dangerous zone on the way to rescue some civilians, we jump as they turn every hazy corner, waiting for something to jump out at us. There's some legitimate suspense here, and it works well for the most part. When we finally get a look at the aliens, I wished we hadn't. They're terribly designed and awfully rendered, a jerky CG army that seems cobbled together by ideas from other films: biologically controlled guns (ahem, District 9), snaky tentacles (Independence Day, Predator), and the upright posture of your typical movie extraterrestrial.

We've seen you before. Hang yourself.

The special effects need to be really special to kick a movie like this to the next level, but the same derivative design work we see with the aliens is replicated with their ships (smaller ones resembling Serenity and larger ones straight out of District 9). There are a lot of visual effects in this movie - especially in the final act - but if you're looking for a stunning presentation, I imagine you'll be disappointed. I thought the film's biggest accomplishment was its depiction of the city of Los Angeles, since it was shot on location in Shreveport and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (The Santa Monica scenes were particularly evocative of their true-to-life locales.)

The dialogue is terse and bland, not allowing any character to step out of the shadow of his or her stereotype. Michelle Rodriguez and Michael Pena give supporting performances exactly in line with your expectations, but hip-hop star Ne-Yo rose far above the eye-rolling I'm sure you did when you read his name in the cast list. Aaron Eckhart carries the film, not because of his character (or the cheesy speeches he's prone to give), but because of the actor's charisma and screen presence. Eckhart commands the screen every second he's on it and his defined jaw seems tailor made for action hero roles. To be clear, he's way better than this film would indicate and if you're unfamiliar with his work, check him out in Thank You For Smoking. (I also happen to think he's one of the best parts of The Dark Knight.)

I've highlighted a lot of the things that I didn't particularly care for here, but Battle: Los Angeles knows how to entertain an audience. The action (lacking in effects as it may be) is intense enough to make it worth a watch, and the sound design is effective and very well done. Though this movie takes cues from other films and doesn't manage to equal any of them, this is passable entertainment and a good precursor to Summer 2011. Until next time...