"Actor: Bo Eason"

• Hoop Dreams | DVD | (26/07/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  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.

• Tornado | DVD | (06/01/2003) from £11.35   |  Saving you £-8.36 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Samantha Callen is assigned to pull the plug on Dr. Branson's tornado project an untested machine to track and predict dangerous twisters. In the few days she gives him to finish his research she meets and falls for Jake Thorne a tornado chasing cowboy who along with his friend Tex shows her the devastating effects a twister can have on an entire community. Sam then begins to understand the importance of the doctors work and realizes she wants to help them. It's then that Jake receives word of a real monster tornado heading their way- a deadly gale force maelstrom- an opportunity to test Dr. Branson's machine but at great risk as Sam and Jake enter the vortex and face imminent death.

• Hoop Dreams | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This completely absorbing three-hour documentary follows the lives of two inner-city African American teenage basketball prodigies as they move through high school with long-shot dreams of the NBA, superstardom and an escape from the ghetto. Taking cues from such works as Michael Apted's 35 Up, director Steve James and associates shot more than 250 hours of footage, spanning more than six years, and their completed work actually moves like an edge-of-the-seat drama, so brimming with tension, plot twists, successes and tragedies that its length--170 minutes--is never an issue. Yet, what makes the film more impressive is how James moves his scope beyond a competitive sports drama (although the movie has plenty of terrific, nail-biting basketball footage) and addresses complex social issues, creating a scathing social commentary about class privilege and racial division. The film opens by introducing William Gates and Arthur Agee, two Chicago hopefuls, as they are being courted and recruited by various high schools to play ball, and continues until the pair are college freshmen. James allows the audience the experience of not only watching their journeys and daily routines (it's a sobering portrait of inner-city life), but also witnessing their maturation. Each takes a separate path along the way, stumbling over several obstacles (William suffers injuries, Arthur fails to meet his coach's high expectations); but James takes particular care to stress the importance and strong commitment of each character's family along the way, giving the film a essential centre. The parents and siblings emerge with as much depth and complexity as the two main "characters", and turn Hoop Dreams into an unforgettable film experience. --Dave McCoy