Dave Magarity -- What Coaches Watch

The response has been tremendous.

Over the past couple of weeks I have received a Jeff Ruland amount of emails. In other words -- an enormous amount of movie review requests -- which includes some suggestions from many of my piers.

Now that Jack LaLane Ruland's Iona team has won two straight I can get back to taking a few shots at my fellow "portly and stout" club member.

From Rick Pitino to a vast number of college assistants, the requests have been "Fast and Furious." By the way that film, starring Vin Diesel, will be in video stores on Jan. 3.

This week's starting five will be reviews of coaches favorite films. But first lets address some of the fine selections submitted by my loyal readers.

THE WHITE BUFFALO (from Terry Lypell): I am not sure if this title refers to Colorado assistant Jason Shelton or Rick Majerus and his fashionable white sweater.

This is an excellent film from the mid 1970s, which stars Charles Bronson who portrays the legendary Wild Bill Hickok. He and his counterpart, the great Indian Chief, Crazy Horse pursue to elusive white buffalo.

PLANET OF THE APES (from Henry Cohn): The remake was nicely done, but nothing compares to the original masterpiece, starring Charlton Heston. His character Taylor quickly befriends a lovely number named Nova who is played by Linda Harrison.

Nova never utters a single word during the film, but her performance was tremendous. What an excellent job by the costume department did outfitting Ms. Harrison.

The screenplay was co-written by Rod Serling, of Twilight Zone fame.

TOMB RAIDER (from Mitch Keating): Another outstanding performance by a lovely female actress. Angelina Jolie gives an eye-popping performance, which includes a brief revealing shot.

The idea for the film comes from the popular video game, in which Ms. Lara Croft checks in with the cinematic equivalent to the double-double. That would be "DD," which is prevalent in the video game. In the movie Ms. Jolie sports a "D" and in real life she is a "C."

How about that for movie trivia!

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (from Lenny Carlson): Lenny wanted me to review any of George Romero's films. Romero has a cult following for his long line of zombie flicks, but the original remains the best because it was such a groundbreaking film, in 1968.

The premise of the film is a stranger virus, which returns the dead to the living. It's literally a gut-wrenching spectacle.

Believe it or not I actually know someone that was in this film. Old timers from the Pittsburgh area may recall the name "Chilly Billy Cardile" who was the host of a weekly horror movie festival on local television.

Cardile had a bit part in the film as a newscaster.

MY COUSIN VINNY (from Joe Cantafio): It's no surprise that the assistant athletic director at Virginia Commonwealth selected this film as his favorite. The only person alive shorter than Mr. Cantafio is Joe Pesci.

The attractive Marisa Tomei won the Academy Award for best supporting actress.

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (from Danny Milanese): One of the best war movies ever made, which stars Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, David Niven, and Anthony Quayle.

Peck's character leads a commando team sent to a Greek Island to destroy the giant German guns, which are controlling a strategic channel in the Aegean Sea during World War II.

This motion picture was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It's a long movie, but well worth watching.

MARIST IN THE BIG DANCE (from Kevin Quinn and Michael Francis Camarota): These two loyal Marist fans suggested that this film would be released in March.

Obviously I am big fan of this potential blockbuster, which has been over a decade in the making (1987 was the last trip to the NCAA tournament). All of my friends would be invited to this theatrical premier, which is still a long ways from completion. A very good-looking and powerful man is cast in the lead role.

THE STARTING FIVE

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (from North Carolina assistant Bob MacKinnon): No question that we can have a lot of fun with this title. There are quite a few possibilities in casting "The Ugly."

This film conjures up memories of coach MacKinnon's questionable behavior at a Wendy's drive thru in Niagara Falls, NY.

It was about 4:00 a.m. and I was hungry -- big surprise there -- but we almost did not get our order due to the actions of coach MacKinnon. I would recommend contacting coach MacKinnon for the entire script from that evening many years ago.

Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef are a tremendous trio in the spaghetti western, which is among the classic western films of all time.

THE DELIVERANCE (from Bucknell assistant Bryan Goodman): A very curious choice by Mr. Goodman, who has obviously spent too much time in the back woods of Pennsylvania. Bizarre choice coach, I'd like to see a guest list for one of your parties.

This film also takes me back to North Carolina's Bob MacKinnon who bears a striking to resemblance to one of the characters in the classic dueling banjo scene. And I am not referring to John Voight.

Voight and Burt Reynolds star in the film version of James Dickey's best-selling novel. It's without question the best work in Reynolds career, with the exception of the "Smokey and the Bandit" films.

By the way, Voight is the father of Ms. Angelina Jolie. You could make a case that is one of his greatest works.

THE DEER HUNTER (from DePaul head coach Pat Kennedy): No surprise from my former mentor. This classic film is set in western Pennsylvania and stars Robert De Niro who is one of my all time favorite actors.

Christopher Walken gives his greatest performance and it's one of the first films for Meryl Streep.

One of the great scenes is the wild wedding scene, complete with a rowdy crowd and consumption of adult beverages. This conjures up memories of nights on the road with coach Kennedy.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (from Loyola Marymount head coach Steve Aggers): Leave it to a coach in the shadows of Hollywood to strike a chord with me. This is one of my all-time favorite films, which stars Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins.

Robbins' character, Andy Dufresne is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover in the late 1940s. Dufresne, who knows he has been wrongfully accused, must acclimate himself to life behind bars.

Based on a novel by Stephen King, this timeless classic offers up a tremendous climax, which will surprise you. This is a must for every team to view on one of those perilous bus trips.

Keep your eyes open for the outstanding "One Million Years B.C." movie poster, which graces the wall of Dufresne's cell. It's a tremendous visual.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS (from Lehigh head coach Sal Mentesana): Sal's performance in "American Pie" was superb. Now the Eugene Levy of coaching offers a sensational suspense-thriller.

This film was the coming out party of who I consider to be one of the great actors of the day in Kevin Spacey who plays Verbal Kint.

Kint is a cripple who is interrogated by Chazz Palminteri who struggles to find out the identity of the infamous Keyser Soze.

This film has an outstanding cast, which includes Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, and Benicio Del Toro.