Fans of basketball superstar LeBron James will surely enjoy “More Than A Game,” a docu about the basketball team of the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio that launched him as an NBA superstar. The story is about high school students who have been playing for the same coach, Dru Joyce, since grade school. Dru left his corporate work trying to find more meaning in his life and he found this in being a coach.

Directed by Kristopher Belman, he has good material to work on courtesy of Joyce, other players and LeBron himself. What they come up with is a solid narrative about friendship, teamwork, the dangers of oversized egos and being a celebrity.

It would be easy to focus the docu on LeBron and his rise to fame after national sports media showered him with much attention during his high school days. But the docu treats him as just one of the original Fab Four composed of Willie McGee, Sian Cotton, Little Dru Joyce III and LeBron himself. There is some home video footage showing them playing basketball to hone their skills even when they were still pre-teens. They then played in the Amateur Athletic Union as the Shooting Stars who first became famous in Ohio then stunned basketball fans in a tournament in Florida.

You’d think they’ll have smooth sailing from then on but the film shows them going through various hardships, shake ups and setbacks. New members join the Fab Four and help them achieve more success, Romeo Travis and the father of Little Dru, Dru Joyce II. How the group evolves into a family of six players headed by Coach Dru shows their growth not only as cagers but also as individual persons.

The personal back story of each player unfolds at opportune times in the docu, allowing all of them to have their own moments and help enlighten the viewers about important events that affect their group as a whole, foremost of which is the media hype that LeBron, blessed with natural talent and athletic prowess at a very young age, gets after he appears on the cover of “Sports Illustrated.” This put the spotlight on midwestern high school basketball teams. LeBron’s overnight popularity affects them all, creating well-documented dramatic moments that are full of tension.

The film shows LeBron’s formative period in the eyes of the people who know him best, but the film manages to be not just his own coming-of-age story but of all the boys’ transition into manhood as they learn the significance of team glory rather than just individual triumph. It is also the story of Coach Joyce coming into his own as he achieves his own personal story of self-actualization. The ending that shows what each member of the groups is doing now is amusing and inspirational at the same time.

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‘Halloween 2,’ an out and out exploitation flick

The remake of the original “Halloween” was a hit so it’s not surprising that they’ve also remade the 1981 sequel, “Halloween II,” once again megged by rock star-turned-director Rob Zombie. This is meant primarily for horror-slasher flick fans, especially those who like watching killer Michael Myers as he goes on rampage. One year after she fought with Michael (Tyler Mane), Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor Compton) is trying to rebuild her life but nightmares continue to haunt her. Helping her maintain her sanity are her friend Annie (Danielle Harris) and Annie’s dad, Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif).Michael, in turn, is now guided by the ghost of his late mother Deborah (Sheri Moon, Zombie’s wife) who walks with a white horse. He has no qualms about killing anyone who dares cross his path.

Michael’s psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell), has written a book about Michael’s earlier killing spree, “The Demon that Walks Amongst Us,” and unknowingly has set a date for Laurie to face Michael once more. It is through him that we discover that she’s actually Michael’s long lost sister and he has become a publicity hound who’s going around on tour to promote his book.

Rob Zombie didn’t follow the original “Halloween II” blindly. He wants to have his own vision of mayhem and murder. He obviously feels the need to explore the motivations of Michael for being a deadly killer. We see him as a little boy who is being pushed by his mother, just like Jason in “Friday the 13th,” to have a little fun. As such, Zombie’s version has more blood and ultra violence. There’s no doubt that he is also more adventurous in his narrative design and in establishing an ominous mood, but the trouble is the effect of the scenes with Deborah and young Michael is kind of ludicrous.

The additional scenes of Michael going on a killing spree as he slays local folk don’t really forward the plot and are apparently made just to stretch out the running time before he finds Laurie, his real target. This makes it an out and out exploitation flick that will leave you numb, using violence for the sake of gratutious violence. In fairness to lead actress Scout Compton, her acting here has improved compared to the first one and she gets good support from veterans Brad Dourif and Malcolm McDowell.