Darts Movie Reviews

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden, who was revered as the "Wizard of Westwood" while guiding UCLA to 10 national championships (including an astounding seven in a row), presents his philosophy for success in life in this intelligently produced video that transcends the world of basketball. After a notable career as a college player at Purdue, Wooden graduated in 1932 and became an English teacher. And his love of literature and his thoughtful nature are very much on display as Wooden, at the age of 90, sits before an intimate audience and presents his "Pyramid of Success." In Wooden's system, attributes such as friendship, initiative, poise, and confidence all build upon each other to create the pinnacle of "great competitive success." Wooden, speaking in a gentle and articulate manner, offers anecdotes from his decades of coaching, and punctuates his lessons with dramatic vintage game clips showing some of the great players he coached. Appearing in interviews to speak of how much they learned from Wooden are Phil Jackson, Bill Walton, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In an age when college basketball coaches are often in the public eye for their atrocious behavior, Wooden's thoughtful manner and gentle humor are all the more remarkable. Besides imparting lessons for ballplayers (and others), this is an insightful look at Wooden's remarkable personality. --Robert J. McNamara

Dave Mirra and Ryan Nyquist have been lords of the BMX scene even before they were old enough to drive a car. Now that they're highly decorated and seasoned extreme athletes (Mirra alone earned 19 medals at the X Games between 1995 and 2000), admirers could be forgiven for wanting to know more about their lives both at work and play. A loose, airy documentary that includes everything from old home videos to private banter to practice sessions on the bikes, Miracle Boy and Nyquist has picked up a couple of film festival awards for its very human portrait of Mirra and Nyquist. Not that there's a shortage of action. There are loads of tricks to gape at and dissect for technique, and for additional fun there's an outtake section featuring the guys in a few of their more mundane moments on the golf course and in a bike shop. --Tom Keogh

This DVD showcases two vintage film biographies of the greatest African American sports superstars of their day, Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis. The Jackie Robinson Story is unusual in that Robinson portrays himself, and the movie was produced in 1950, barely three years after he took up his position at second base for the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the "color line" in professional baseball. After providing a fast portrayal of Robinson's early life, up to his collegiate sports career at UCLA and his stint in the U.S. Army, the story turns serious when Branch Rickey offers him a contract to play for a Brooklyn Dodgers farm team. Interestingly, some of the scenes, such as an incident when Robinson and his teammates were locked out of a stadium at a spring training game in Florida, may have more impact with viewers today than when the film was first released.

The 1953 biographical film about boxing legend Joe Louis features actor Coley Wallace in the title role, and is somewhat remarkable because the portrait of Louis is not entirely complimentary. Though a great fighter and a hero to black Americans, Louis had lifelong problems handling his money, and that aspect of his life is part of the screenplay. These films provide credible, if somewhat simplistic, portrayals of Robinson and Louis, but they are perhaps most remarkable for delivering a strong message about racial equality a full decade before the Civil Rights Movement would galvanize America. --Robert J. McNamara