Michael Nardelli Movies
Fifty years after the Soviet Union made history by launching Sputnik into space, the reverberations of that historical event are still echoing around the world. Produced to coincide with the 50th anniversary of this defining moment in human history, this documentary from filmmaker David Hoffman draws on lost footage and informative interviews to detail the remarkable story surrounding the launch of Sputnik, as well as the incredible events that unfolded in America the following year. While American enthusiasm over this technological breakthrough was at first palpable, that excitement quickly turned to dread as politicians and the media pointed out that the same rocket used to propel Sputnik into space could have just as easily been outfitted with a nuclear warhead and used to launch a devastating war against the United States. The following year, tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States reached an all-time high, effectively propelling the Cold War into overdrive. With bomb shelters being built, nuclear testing lighting up the atmosphere every three days, and then-senator Lyndon B. Johnson comparing the launch of Sputnik to another Pearl Harbor, it's no wonder that folks began to get so fatalistic. In this film, Hoffman explores the tenuous first steps into the modern age, the positive and negative effects of those steps on international relations, and the staunch determination of Americans to always be the first and the best. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
A teenage boy develops a sense of purpose and some new friends through an unlikely alliance with a aging musician and his horse in this drama for the whole family. Fifteen-year-old Patrick McCardle (Zac Efron) is the son of a former professional football player, Jim (William R. Moses), who wants his boy to follow in his footsteps as an athlete. But Patrick has never had much aptitude or interest in football, baseball, or track, and doesn't feel especially close either to his father or his classmates at school. Patrick has struck up a friendship with Houston Jones (Bill Cobbs), an elderly blues musician who likes to drink and tell stories, but Jim considers Jones a bad influence and Patrick avoids telling his father about the time they spend together. In his younger days, Jones was a jockey and horse trainer, and when he rescues an injured race horse, Jones is convinced the animal has what it takes to be a winner again. Jones sets his sights on entering the horse in the State Cup Steeplechase Race, and Patrick becomes his right hand man, along with Jill (Crystal Hunt) and Chuck (Rob Pinkston), two new kids who have just moved into town from the big city. With only six weeks before the race, can Jones and his three young assistants turn an underdog into a champion? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Cobbs
