Dell's Pointless Lists - Basketball Movies

[SHOGUN]

Love & Basketball is my shit.

 

[dell71]

Awesome list, knew where it was headed (really are there any other choices for top 2 in this category?), and still enjoyed the read.

Hoop Dreams is my favorite documentary ever made, and the the movie that inspired me to get into documentaries (still working on that, but the inspiration remains)....

He Got Game is too high on the list though. I like the movie a lot, but I have some huge quibbles with some aspects. For one, the storyline between Denzel and the prostitute has no need to be in the movie. For two, the name of the school he ends up signing with is so stupid. "Big State"....I mean really, Spike? And for three, the WTFness of the ending. Denzel throws a ball in the air and it lands on the court Jesus is standing in hundreds of miles away? How did that happen?

I love Spike's movies, but he always manages to screw them up with one or two implausible or ridiculous details. Always.

You're probably right about the prostitute angle of He Got Game.

Bickering about the school name is nit-picking and possibly a bit short-sighted. I think he just wanted generic names (iirc, the other school is Big Tech or State Tech - been a little while since I watched it) to help stress that these could be any schools in the country and not to villainize one or another but the whole system.

I wrestled with the ending quite a bit myself. You have to look at it as a metaphor not a literal occurrence. For me, it's about the bond formed between father and son. Could Spike have ended the movie without it? Sure. Over the years, the way he did it has grown on me so I've come to appreciate it.

 

[NAHSTE]

You're probably right about the prostitute angle of He Got Game.

Bickering about the school name is nit-picking and possibly a bit short-sighted. I think he just wanted generic names (iirc, the other school is Big Tech or State Tech - been a little while since I watched it) to help stress that these could be any schools in the country and not to villainize one or another but the whole system.

I wrestled with the ending quite a bit myself. You have to look at it as a metaphor not a literal occurrence. For me, it's about the bond formed between father and son. Could Spike have ended the movie without it? Sure. Over the years, the way he did it has grown on me so I've come to appreciate it.

Hadn't thought about it in these terms. I guess the sports fan in me prevented me from thinking about it abstractly.

As for the ending, I can see it working as a metaphor. Of the three complaints I raised, it's the one I am most willing to overlook.

 

[dell71]

Hadn't thought about it in these terms. I guess the sports fan in me prevented me from thinking about it abstractly.

As for the ending, I can see it working as a metaphor. Of the three complaints I raised, it's the one I am most willing to overlook.

Cool.