289 - Hoop Dreams

[captainofbeef]

- Letterboxed presentation enhanced for widescreen televisions
- Two audio commentaries with stars Arthur Agee and William Gates and filmmakers Peter Gilbert, Steve James, and Frederick Marx
- Segments from Siskel and Ebert tracking the acclaim for Hoop Dreams
- Original music video
- Theatrical trailers
- A booklet featuring a dedication to the Gates and Agee families written by Steve James; new essays by writer and cultural historian John Edgar Wideman, and Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander Wolff; and Michael Wise’s Washington Post article “Looking Back at Broken Dreams”
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

[captainofbeef]

I love basketaball! So I think I am going to love this. Will netflix it before i buy it though.

[criterionmaster]

This is the best documentary I have ever seen and I HATE basketball. This is such an amazing story that really never gets boring despite its 3hr running time. It's a shame this got fucked by the academy. Everyone needs to see this.

[ie]

Going to have to say this:

I couldn't finish Hoop Dreams. I tried my damnedest, and yet after about the hour and a half mark, I just stand to finish it.

The documentary is very well done, don't get me wrong.

I just found myself realizing that I couldn't sympathize with the people that were being documented. Both families went through hard times, I won't deny that, but everything was being spun in such a negative light. They were going through hard times, yet didn't want to do anything about it. That, and my complete disinterest in basketball kind of stacked up against me.


Sure, whenever I express an opinion that is outside of the norm, people will bitch at me, and this time I probably didn't explain myself well enough, but the truth is, I thought I would be on the same boat as criterionmaster - enjoy the documentary experience, even if it was on a subject that disinterests me at best - but I just couldn't make it on that boat.

People who like basketball will love Hoop Dreams. People who could tolerate basketball will enjoy it, but those who can't will still see how well done it is as a documentary but just won't love it to death.

[criterionmaster]

ie said:

Going to have to say this:

I couldn't finish Hoop Dreams. I tried my damnedest, and yet after about the hour and a half mark, I just stand to finish it.

The documentary is very well done, don't get me wrong.

I just found myself realizing that I couldn't sympathize with the people that were being documented. Both families went through hard times, I won't deny that, but everything was being spun in such a negative light. They were going through hard times, yet didn't want to do anything about it. That, and my complete disinterest in basketball kind of stacked up against me.


Sure, whenever I express an opinion that is outside of the norm, people will bitch at me, and this time I probably didn't explain myself well enough, but the truth is, I thought I would be on the same boat as criterionmaster - enjoy the documentary experience, even if it was on a subject that disinterests me at best - but I just couldn't make it on that boat.

People who like basketball will love Hoop Dreams. People who could tolerate basketball will enjoy it, but those who can't will still see how well done it is as a documentary but just won't love it to death.

Well I think you should try to finish it sometime, you may like it more. But I too hate when people complain about what they don't have and don't do anything about it, although I feel these people actually couldn't do anything about their problems. It's hard to explain, it really needs to be finished to understand their problems. I normally wouldn't care at all for these people, in fact they would have irritated me, but for some reason they were able to hold my attention, and actually gain sympathy for at times. I found their story very entertaining. Like I said, you should really force yourself to finish it, you already made it half way, because the whole second half is really great, and then we will know that you actually hated it since you will have finished it all.

And yeah, I keep trying to get this movie shown at my school since all those bitches like sports so much they would probably like it. Even though I could care less, in fact now that I think about it they probably would find it boring or something stupid just to piss me off, but at least I would enjoy it. But yeah, most sensible people who like basketball would enjoy this movie a lot. I know there are more thoughts; doesn’t anyone else want to chime in with their two cents?



This synopsis says a lot about the film as well, and I agree with it:

"Two ordinary inner-city kids dare to dream the impossible — professional basketball glory — in this epic chronicle of hope and faith. Filmed over a five-year period, Hoop Dreams follows young Arthur Agee and William Gates as they navigate the complex, competitive world of scholastic athletics while striving to overcome the intense pressures of family life and the realities of their Chicago streets. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this landmark documentary chronicling two remarkable families who challenge the American dream."

[ie]

I didn't hate it, and I wouldn't give it a very low score or anything.

I just didn't care for what I did see of the movie.

[misterbalco]

I got this played at my school.

How much of this film did you see and didnt care for it? Do you have no soul? To not care for these boys is to not appreciate life.

(and im not a huge fan of basketball by the way, still in my top 10 of all time)

[ie]

I didn't really explain that aspect of it.

I watched about half of it, so, I got about one and a half hours in before just not being able to finish it.


It's true that both of the families were in poor conditions, were stuck and the lot they were given in life was unfair. But the whole idealistic putting everything into basketball, which seemed an awful lot like the lottery, was just something that I could not get behind. Also, you go to college to take classes and learn, not just so you can play professional basketball.


Also, I don't care for this kind of one-sidedness where if I don't care for a certain movie, that implies that I have no soul, or that I'm not sympathetic toward people in lesser conditions than my own. That's just not true for any movie.