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MOVIE |
DESCRIPTION |
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Against the Ropes
Rated PG-13 |
Detroit's Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan) managed boxers and
brought many of
them to victory in the ring. She left her husband for the sport and later became head of the
International Female Boxers Association. |
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Annie O
Rated PG |
There is no girls’ varsity basketball
team at Washington High School, but Annie "Sure Shot" Rojas plays better
than anyone in the school. The boys’ coach invites her
to try out for his team. Initially she is ostracized at but eventually
her teammates realize that she is not
a threat but the reason the team keeps winning.
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Bend
It Like Beckham
Rated PG-13 |
Bend It Like Beckham is
a great comedy
that centers on Jess (Parminder Nagra), an Indian girl born in England.
Jess has a strong desire to become a football--or, as we say
in America soccer--star like her idol, David Beckham.
It shows her success despite her traditional
family who refuses to even consider the idea. |
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Blue Crush
Rated PG-13 |
Blue Crush is about a young Hawaiian named Anne Marie
(Kate Bosworth) and her struggles to excel as a champion-class
surfer. She must overcome the fear of drowning, which she nearly did
in a previous wipeout, as well as raise a kid sister with absent parents
and borderline poverty. Supportive friends (Girlfight's Michelle
Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake) help her to reach competition on
Oahu's infamous Bonzai Pipeline. |
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Bring It On
Rated PG-13
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Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) is the new leader of the Toros,
the cheerleading squad of Rancho Carne, an affluent San Diego high
school. cheerleading
team. With a national championship, this cheerleading squad are the ones who bring in
the spectators to
the football games. Torrance quickly discovers that her
snotty, forerunner was regularly stealing cheer routines from a poor
inner-city school, and passing them off as the original work of the Toros.
Once the truth is uncovered Torrance struggles to do the
right thing and take home the national title once again. |
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Center Stage
Rated PG-13 |
The primary appeal of dance movies is the dancing, with some added
emphasis on the romance the art expresses. Center Stage wins on these
counts, despite its reveling in overly familiar characters and formula
plotting. Or maybe this reveling is responsible for what goofy fun this
film is. The arduous task of becoming a professional ballet dancer is
incarnated by many good-looking teens, all stock dance-film characters
affectionately portrayed mostly by newcomers. But Center Stage holds
Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), who may never be a great ballerina, but
she's certainly one [great] jazz dancer. Then there's the arrogant
genius (Ethan Stiefel), the dictatorial impresario (Peter Gallagher),
the demanding instructor, the bulimic, the stage mother, etc. As we
follow these characters, the message develops that one should let go and
do what feels good. Jody may not be ballet material, but she scorches
the stage when she's uninhibited…[the film] is all fun. --Jim Gay
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Cutting Edge
Rated PG |
As far as ice-skating movies go (or those that prominently feature the
cold-bladed sport), this romantic movie is one of the best, thanks to
utterly charming performances by underrated actors D.B. Sweeney and
Moira Kelly. The couple play, respectively, a washed-up hockey player
and a prima-donna skater who end up in doubles figure skating together
at the Olympic Winter Games. Of course, the mismatched pair falls in
love. In between, there's a lot of verbal sparring, talk of toe picks
and surprisingly skillful directing by Paul Michael Glaser (Kazaam,
The Air Up There ). Direction here is critical--unlike in
Flashdance , where the dancing was done in the shadows, face and
feet obviously shot separately--and credibly highlights the actors and
their professional stand-ins. This is such a fun, sweet story that the
facts the film takes liberties with--including the alacrity with which a
hockey player takes to Olympic-level figure skating--are easily
forgivable. --N.F. Mendoza
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Double Teamed (Disney)
Not Rated
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High school freshman and twins, Heidi and her sister
Heather, have little in common except for
basketball. Heather dreams of stardom in the WNBA, while Heidi dreams of
stardom as an actress. With their parents at odds over their future and
a jealous teammate revealing secrets that could hurt their
basketball career the girls need a game plan quickly. |
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Eddie
Rated PG-13 |
Whoopi Goldberg plays a loudmouthed, obsessive fan of the New York
Knicks who wins a contest to coach the team. She soon finds that
handling players is tough, fans are tough, owners are tough and so on,
but she's big enough to conquer them all with determination, smarts and
personality. The first half of the film is pretty cute as Goldberg's
character makes the jump from opinionated spectator to the gal in the
hot seat. But everything derails in the second half, which is mostly an
op-ed piece about keeping pro-ball teams from moving out of their
cities. --Tom Keogh
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A League of Their Own
Rated PG
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This film is based on real events. The year is 1943 and the
ranks of Major League Baseball have gone to war. America still wants to
watch the game so the first All-American Girls Professional Baseball
League was formed. It took women out of the house to play ball and
changed their lives forever.
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Nadia
Not
Rated |
This movie is the Biography of Romanian Nadia Comaneci. It shows her
astounding triumphs in the 1976 Olympics as well as how her personal
life plummeted to tragic depths and how she struggled to pull herself
back up.
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Million Dollar Baby
Rated PG-13
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Trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) isn't prepared for boxer Maggie
Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) to enter his life. Maggie is a determined
young athlete who eventually convinces Dunn and his cohort (Morgan Freeman)
to help her get to the top. |
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Ice Castles
Rated PG |
Considered too old for a professional ice-skating career, 16-year-old
Alexis nonetheless triumphs over her critics to become one of the
world's best ice skaters. Tragically, she falls and suffers a concussive
brain injury that leaves her nearly blind. With the help of her father
and her boyfriend, Alexis reemerges against all odds and attempts once
again to become a top-ranked skater.
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Quarterback Princess
Not Rated |
This classic ‘80s film puts an average high school girl, Tami Maida
(Helen Hunt), into the role of quarterback for her high school’s
football team. When Tami’s dream of playing football actually comes
true, it has the whole school and town talking. Her ability to handle
the pressure from her family, opponents and her own teammates to come
out on top makes this a must-see.
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Save the Last Dance
Rated PG-13 |
After her mother dies, Sarah (Julia Stiles) gives up her dreams of going
to New York's famous Juilliard School. She must move to Chicago, live
with her dad (who's virtually a stranger) and attend an urban school
that's a far cry from the small-town atmosphere she's used to.
Fortunately, Sarah befriends Chenille and Derek, who teach her not only
how to hip-hop dance but also how to dream again.
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Thin Ice
Not Rated |
A musical comedy in which Sonja Henie plays a skating instructor at an
Alpine hotel. Romanced by incognito Prince Rudolph (Tyrone Power),
everyone assumes that Henie knows she is being pursued by royalty. She,
however, insists she is actually engaged to Rudy Miller (not realizing
that they are one and the same person) and the usual comical
entanglements and convoluted misunderstandings ensue.
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Troop Beverly Hills
Rated PG |
Troop Beverly Hills is a comedy about lifestyles of the
rich and outrageous in Beverly Hills. Flamboyantly wealthy Phyllis Nefler
(Long) has everything money can buy except her husband, Freddy (Craig T.
Nelson), who's leaving her for good. Determined to prove she's
still the woman Freddy once loved, Phyllis throws luxury to the
wind and becomes leader of her daughter's Wilderness Girls troop. But
how much can she take before she crumbles? You will be amazed at
her creativity.
Shelley Long blazes new comic trails in this hilarious trial-by-campfire
that leaves the wilderness wilder than ever.
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