As with any basketball movie review, it is important to note that "Gunnin' For That #1 Spot“ 不是 ”Hoop Dreams。" It doesn't try to be. But the temptation to compare any movie focused on the lives and times of high school basketball prospects to that seminal work is overwhelming. Such is the Jordanesque shadow that "Hoop Dreams" casts. Do "Gunnin'" justice and put "Hoop Dreams" aside. You will surely enjoy this movie on its own merits.
Directed by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, Gunnin' chronicles the lives of 8 nationally-ranked basketball prospects (Jerryd Bayless, Michael Beasley, Tyreke Evans, Donte Greene, Brandon Jennings, Lance Stephenson and Oregon's own Kevin Love and Kyle Singler). The players span the high school classes of 2007-2009 and most are pictured in the movie as they prepare to head off to college. Their lives are given snapshot treatment, which makes for some great juxtapositions (Evans is interviewed sitting on a park bench in front of a hardscrabble blacktop court in Chester, PA; Love is shown flinging shots into a hoop suspended over his family's backyard pool).
The profiles are interspersed with commentary on high school ratings services (the "#1 spot" in the title jointly referring to the top of these Hot 100 lists as well as the more familiar "King of the Court" playground designation), shoe company influence on grassroots basketball, and an homage to Rucker Park in Harlem, the playground mecca where the 8 profiled prospects, along with 16 other players, eventually will play in an "Elite 24" All Star Game.
电影的主要阶层是篮球成功的恰当有多少路径的插图。每个球员特色都有一个引人注目的独特（如果有些熟悉）的故事。贝瑞斯（我来自亚利桑那州，所以每个人都低估了我）;Beasley（我是一个麻烦人，但篮球让我直接留下）;埃文斯（篮球是我走出艰难的社区）;绿色（我想在法庭上取得成功，为我的弟弟提供）;詹宁斯（篮球是我表达康普顿繁殖的创造力的一种方式;斯蒂芬森（我有整个社区的压力，Coney Island，它希望我成为下一个）;爱（我是NBA球员的儿子，并且总是比我对抗的所有人更大而更好）;和单演者（我是一只来自无处的健身大鼠，准备证明我可以发挥）。 These stories, especially when taken in during the week that many of these players were drafted, are rich and authentic.
The unifying theme among all 8 stories was easy to decipher: to attain that "#1 Spot" it takes work.... a lot of very hard work. All 8 players are shown going through rigorous workouts in the gym and each has a mentor (whether it be AAU coach, brother, or father) who makes sure the player's primary focus is all basketball, all the time. Even Beasley, who was knocked in recent months for being "lazy," shows a fanatical work ethic and exudes the hyper-confidence that only a well-prepared athlete can possess in good conscience. The gym, and the work that goes on there, plays a central role in each player's life.
During one riveting interview with Tyreke Evans' older brother (himself a basketball star, the movie notes, whose team beat Kobe Bryant's team in high school but who evidently didn't "make it"), a distinction is drawn between "the gym" and "the playground." Mr. Evans talks at length about how he has always helped guide Tyreke to indoor games because the floor is easier on his knees and, more importantly, because it is a refuge from the struggles of their neighborhood. Tyreke, shown as an unassuming, quiet man throughout the movie (which was consistent with my impression当我在四月与他短暂谈话时的）, shows a glimmer of an embarrassed younger brother who doesn't quite want his older brother compromising his street rep like that. This moment lingered for me because ofthe recent murder chargefacing Tyreke's cousin and Tyreke's own personal involvement in the murder (which the movie doesn't discuss). Of the 8 characters shown in the film, his future undoutedly seemed the most tenuous.
但埃文斯是例外。这部电影明确表示“击中或错过”猜测篮球前景的猜测游戏已被玩家分析的科学和相对较新发现和广泛的支持系统（AAU，鞋士公司等）所取代精英前景的发展。这些家伙都是因为，他们会做出赔率。证据是在布丁：Beasley，Love和Bayless都是今年NBA选秀中的所有最佳选择;格林也在第一轮中起草;埃文斯，尽管有戏剧，请在孟菲斯获得全面的骑行;Singler在公爵主演;詹宁斯，假设他可以获得他的成绩，将在亚利桑那州（他的备份计划：在欧洲专业地玩！）。这是从日子里哭泣亚瑟·艾瑞。
There are, of course, unintended consequences to the industrialization of hoops prospects. In one funny scene, NJ Nets coach Laurence Frank tries in vain to give a motivational speech to the Elite 24. His message of hard work and dedication falls on deaf ears (even the always-engaged, wide-eyed Singler seems bored) not because the players don't care about the message but because their lives and identities are already fully consumed by the message. No one in the room lacks for dedication and, tellingly, no one in the room is impressed by the presence of an NBA coach. Indeed, some of these guys have had NBA coaches scouting them for 3 or 4 years already. Such is life at the very top of the hoops food chain.
在最后30分钟,Gunnin从告诉the stories of individual players to telling the story of the Elite 24 all star game, played at Rucker Park. The all star game scene, set amidst the Polo Grounds housing projects, is complete with NBA stars watching from courtside (Jason Kidd, Ben Gordon, etc.) and hoops legend Bobbito Garcia doing the public address play-by-play and doling out memorable and funny nicknames (Singler is dubbed "The Wig" for his mane of blonde/orange hair). The all star game, even in all its manufactured pageantry, just looks like a lot of fun. Importantly, the players are smiling.
如果在这部电影中发现了一个主要的磨石，它是在游戏中的内容的编辑。编辑对倒带的速度，慢动作的动作有点触发，这在我看来，从戏剧上分散了他们自己。在高中所有明星游戏中，大多数观众都意识到会有很多扣篮和很多漂亮的通行证;看到任何单独的通行证或扣篮，三个甚至四次，缓慢的莫和反向，是无偿的。这部比赛本身就是说话。
对我的耳朵分散注意力，就是声音，它具有来自所有常规嫌疑人（NAS，Jay-Z，Biggie等）的精选歌曲，而是不可用的这些嘻哈经典的编辑版本。制作一部关于篮球的电影，将它放在嘻哈宇宙中心的诙谐垫子公园，并选择与亵渎的电影有亵渎的歌曲，如50 cent的“讨厌它或爱它”和胖乔的“我的”生活方式“只是似乎是令人彻底的错误。嘻哈歌曲中使用的声音效果覆盖亵渎的速度加入到90分钟内，达到热烈的混乱。如果你要把部分创造力脱离音乐，为什么不仅展示了基本上的篮球比赛（2手胸部通过和银行镜头！）？也许这不会扰乱大多数观众。但我非常感到失望，因为我的预期更多更多Adam Yauch, a man whose hip hop credentials rightly go unquestioned .
Otherwise, the aural elements of the movie were great: sneaker squeeks, dramatica pauses, and various regional dialects all came through quite well. The most memorable moment sonically was Yauch's use of the following train-of-thought from Notorious BIG, pulled from the intro to Jay-Z's "My First Song," as the players exited the bus in preparation for the final all-star game.
我只是，试着留在水之外y'know
Just stay busy, stay workin
噗噗地告诉我，这个关节的关键
The key to staying, on top of things
是对待一切，就像你的第一个项目，knahmsayin？
Like it's your first day like back when you was an intern
Like, that's how you try to treat things like, just stay hungry
这是完美的选择，框架这些年轻人在全明星游戏的尖端上，可以帮助他们的声誉作为精英的精英，更重要的是，框架它们的尖叫声有多少，更大的名望和财富。他们孜孜不倦地准备的生活仍然不做。声道完全加强了球员共同的特质，他们不自然的渴望成为最好的篮球。
这一事实是要人做建议疯了e the stakes seem even higher and made the scene oddly haunting. Biggie, the viewer realizes, was a man blessed with raw skills and an unnatural work ethic but was unable to escape a horrific murder. The moment made you want to root that much more passionately for these players, all of them, to succeed. And that should go down as "Gunnin's" greatest achievement.
Gunnin' For That #1 Spot is currently playing at Fox Towers.
It's difficult to gun for that #1 spot when the sun is in your eyes.
- 本（benjamin.golliver@gmail.com的）
PS. If you want to get excited about Jerryd Bayless, go see this movie.
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