Larry Bagby III Movies

High spiritual ideals don't quite mesh with the spirit of competition in this sports comedy. In the 1920s, the leaders of the Church of Latter Day Saints began encouraging their congregations to form basketball teams and church leagues as a way to promote fitness, wholesome fun, and teamwork among Mormon youth. However, the downside of this plan was the rise of wildly competitive teams who were a lot more interested in winning at all costs than good sportsmanship. In the 1970s, Bishop Linderman (Fred Willard) has been watching his Mud Lake basketball team get trounced in the Church League championships for nearly two decades, which doesn't sit well with him. Linderman used to be Mud Lake's coach before we was banned from the game for fighting, and with the team facing another losing season, he appoints a new man, Dennis Buckstead (Andrew Wilson), to lead Mud Lake on the court. When LDS elders announce that they're putting an end to church ball and the upcoming season will be the last, the pressure is on Buckstead to bring home a championship for Mud Lake's final season. But with a team comprised of myopic clerk Gene (Clint Howard), rotund Don (Chad Long), timid Thurman (Steve Anderson), half-pint car salesman Charles (Gary Coleman), short-tempered Mickey (Ross Brockley), and Borat (Sina Amedson), an immigrant who knows soccer far better than basketball, Buckstead's prospects are not very good. Not wanting to disappoint Linderman, Buckstead tries to recruit a pair of ringers for the Mud Lake team -- Moses Mahoney (Thurl Bailey), a seven-foot-tall prodigy who teaches sports to underprivileged kids, and Jeremiah Jones (Stan Ellsworth), a fierce player who may be just a bit too competitive. Church Ball was directed by Kurt Hale and released through Halestorm Entertainment, a leading producer of LDS-oriented films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

James Mangold's Walk the Line tells the life story of country music legend Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), focusing primarily on the long courtship he had with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). The film is structured as an extended flashback opening with Cash readying to take the stage at his historic Folsom Prison Concert. The film touches on his childhood, relating a horrific early incident from his life and establishing the troubled relationship he would have with his father (Robert Patrick). Cash joins the military and leaves home. During his time in the armed services he begins writing songs and romances a hometown girl (Ginnifer Goodwin). After the end of his duty he settles down and attempts to begin a music career, but his wife has trouble adjusting to his dreams. Cash auditions for Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts), signs to Sun Records, and soon finds himself on tour with a roster of young soon to be legends that includes Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Malloy Payne). On this tour he meets June Carter, the daughter of the famous Carter family, and they take a liking to each other although she refuses any serious advances from him. Cash gains world wide fame thanks in part to the inspiration he gets from June, but eventually his marriage crumbles and he develops a serious drug addiction. The film is based on Cash's autobiographies. Phoenix and Witherspoon performed all of their own singing in the movie, just as Sissy Spacek and Beverly D'Angelo did in Coal Miner's Daughter a quarter-century before. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

A handful of fighting men must defy the odds to save their own lives and thousands of others in this drama set during World War II. In late 1944, a band of nearly a hundred American soldiers are making their way through a wooded region of Belgium when they are ambushed by German forces in a battle that became known as "the Malmady Massacre." A small group of American soldiers are able to take cover -- hard-boiled Sgt. Gunderson (Peter Holden), a grunt from Louisiana called Kendrick (Lawrence Bagby), a cynical medical officer from Brooklyn by the name of Gould (Alex Niver), and Cpl. Greer (Corbin Allred), known to his pals as "Deacon." Deacon is a devout Mormon who doesn't drink or smoke, carries his Bible with him at all times, and spent time in Germany as a missionary before the war, giving him an empathy with the enemy that sometimes puts him at odds with the other men. Deacon is also a master sharpshooter who has been having a crisis of conscience after nearly killing an innocent Belgian family while on patrol. Surrounded by Germans and with seemingly no means of escape, Gunderson and the men encounter Oberon Winley (Kirby Heybourne), a British intelligence officer trapped by the massacre. Winley has top secret information that could change the course of the war if it gets to Allied commanders in time, so Gunderson, Deacon, Kendrick, and Gould must find a way to get themselves and Winley away from Malmady before its too late. Inspired by a true story, Saints and Soldiers was the first feature film from Ryan Little, a Utah-based filmmaker who previously made a number of short subjects relating to issues of faith in the Church of Latter Day Saints. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Taking a breather from the increasingly soap-operatic plot entanglements of the Faith (Eliza Dushka) story line, "Earshot" displays the simpler spirit of season one. After battling a couple of fish-like demons, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) kills one rather messily, with some green demon ooze soaking into her hand. Over the next week, Buffy begins to be able to read students' minds; Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) informs her that the ooze probably imbued her with the telepathic powers of the demons. At first the thoughts are benign, then in the cafeteria, she hears someone think, "This time tomorrow, I'll kill you all." Other people in the school, including a teacher, voice similar sentiments -- setting up red herrings -- as Buffy and friends attempt to find the disturbed person. This allows for some comic scenes such as when Xander (Nicholas Brendon) utilizes the situation to question girls on their turn-ons and date choices. It also leads to Buffy finding out that her mother had sex with Giles on the hood of a police car while under the influence of tainted snacks (see "Band Candy"). Buffy is soon receiving too many telepathic voices to make sense of them and will be driven insane if the power doesn't go away. ~ All Movie Guide

It's a Wonderful Life echoes throughout this episode as Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) makes a fateful wish. Anya, (Emma Caulfield) a new girl at school, bonds with Cordelia over their mutual loathing of Harmony (Mercedes McNab). Anya also does not seem critical of Cordelia's now ended relationship with Xander (Nicholas Brendon). Cordelia then goes to The Bronze to prove to Xander that she is over him. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) tries to put in a good word for Xander, but a vampire attack cuts the discussion short and Buffy pushes Cordelia aside. Angry at everyone -- especially the Slayer -- Cordelia later complains to Anya that she wishes Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. Besides being a good listener, Anya is a rascally demon -- Anyanaka -- and grants Cordelia her wish. Suddenly the town is infested by vampires who have the upper hand -- students must dress in clothes that won't attract vampires and the Master vampire holds court at The Bronze. Cordelia tries to adjust, but obviously regrets her wish. Soon, a vampire Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and a bloodsucking Xander drain Cordelia, and it is up to Giles (Anthony Head) and Angel (David Boreanaz) to reverse Anyanaka's spell. ~ All Movie Guide

In classic horror movie style, Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) are attacked by a werewolf while making out in a car. Soon, Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) runs into a hunter named Cain who wants the werewolf's pelt. After a high school girl named Theresa is found killed, Oz (Seth Green) begins to act weird. Suspicious, Buffy goes to Oz's house to confront him and finds him turning into a werewolf. Oz's dog days seem numbered until Theresa reappears as a vampire bearing greetings from none other than Angel (David Boreanaz). Interestingly, Oz's newly discovered lycanthropy actually brings him and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) closer as they start dating. ~ All Movie Guide

Everyone is preparing for the night by buying their costumes at Ethan's (Robin Sachs) Costume Shop. Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) wants to dress like an 18th century noblewoman -- the kind Angel (David Boreanaz) had the hots for back in the day. Willow (Alyson Hannigan), meanwhile, covers up as a ghost and Xander (Nicholas Brendon) plays against type as a macho military soldier. The night starts out great until Ethan, a mystic, casts a spell causing everyone to take on the characteristics of their costume. Buffy becomes a helpless weakling, Xander goes all Rambo, and Willow can run through doors -- closed doors. The spell is discovered as Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), dressed in a cat outfit from another store, does not act like a cat -- at least not any more than usual. Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), an old acquaintance of Ethan's, uncharacteristically beats the spell reversal out of him. This encounter is the first glimpse of Giles' sketchy past with the occult. ~ All Movie Guide

The exciting world of rollerblading provides the basis of this tale of a young teen who tries to inspire the affection of a pretty girl with his skating prowess. The lad is 15-year-old Mitchell Goosen who is sent from sunny southern California to snowy Cincinnati to live with relatives while his parents go on a long trip to Australia. The boy comes to the Ohio city clutching his surfboard and meets his goofy cousin who quickly becomes his friend. Naturally his laid back West Coast ways make him the subject of ridicule in his new high school. His biggest foe is the school jock. The pain of his new life is eased a bit after Mitchell meets perky blond Nikki. They talk and then he is forced to play in a hockey game. Mitchell has no idea what hockey is about but still manages to score the winning goal causing him to be the victim of more ostracism. In the spring, he begins rollerblading and the other kids are amazed by his many stunts. Eventually, he uses his skills to win the respect of his enemies and Niki's heart, but not without a lot more daring skating escapades. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide