ONE BAND, ONE SOUND: There are few things I enjoy more in movies than a well-made formula movie, and one of the oldest, best formulas is The Prodigy Who Needs To Learn Disclipine And Be A Team Player For The Sake Of The Mission. From Top Gun to Purple Rain to Rocky to Bring It On to Harry Potter to The Program, the formula is an eternally renewable resource, the solar power from which many great movies have emerged.

To that list, I am happy to add the just-released Drumline. Think of it as Top Gun, only instead of a flight academy it's a historically black college marching band. You've got the rebel prodigy drummer who plays by his own set of rules, the disciplinarian mentor, the by-the-rules competitor, the love interest, the wacky friends. That's the formula.

What makes Drumline special are the ways it enhances the formula. First off, and most importantly, is the subject matter. These bands have a rich history and tradition which is to be cherished, and this movie does right by them. Heck, go here and here to see and hear some of the best of what's going on right now. And the movie takes the bands seriously, and brings their joy and craft to a wider audience.

This is a movie about values: of musicianship over flashiness, of discipline and teamwork over narcissism and rebelliousness. These are not typical values to be pushed in a movie targetting towards the same teens who are otherwise seeing "be the rebel" movies like xXx and The Fast and the Furious, but they are there and the message is strong.

And finally, this is a well-done movie. The performances are all strong, led by (new-to-me) Nickelodeon's Nick Cannon and Orlando Jones of 7-Up commercial fame, surprisingly good as the serious, traditionalist marching band director. Kudos as well to Charles Stone III, the director (of Budweiser "Wazzup?" fame) -- the movie was well-paced and especially well-shot. Sometimes you just need to know where to put the camera to make the screen come alive, and with a minimal of showy effects, he did so here. You will understand every drum beat, every cymbal crash, every step. The marching band performances are all highlights of this movie, which is filled with opportunities to sit back, watch and listen. The finale, shot before a live crowd of 50,000+, is something to behold. Even if you think you know how it's going to end, you'll be surprised.

This is a movie for the whole family. Its values are good, its language is clean (how it got a PG-13, I have no idea), its heart is in the right place and its entertainment value you will keep you smiling. Not every movie has to break ground or be challenging -- sometimes, a movie is worth seeing just because it knows what it wants to do, and does it well, with heart, sincerity and enthusiasm. This is one of those movies.

IF HE DIES, HE DIES: Okay, I may have spoken too soon. There's even worse news today. Ladies and gentlemen, there will be a Rocky VI.

For Bill Simmons' take on Rockys I-V, enjoy yourself here.

DEUCE BIGALOW AND HOWARD THE DUCK HAD PREVIOUS COMMITMENTS: Now bringing joy to the children of the Middle East: Patch Adams!

For more, see Roger Ebert on Patch Adams.

AND NOW, FOR THE WORST NEWS ALL DAY: The NFL has re-upped with DirecTV for another five years for its Sunday Ticket package, as opposed to moving the all-access package to digital cable. The NFL will not be able to revisit the issue until 2006.

Why? Because if they switched over to digital cable, too many people would be able to watch it. Seriously. And the networks don't want that. Let ESPN Page2's Gregg Easterbrook explain the rest.

A TRICKLE BECOMES A DRIZZLE, BECOMES A STORM: Here's a good summary of Trent Lott's voting record on racial matters. If nothing else, he's consistent.

TWO TO ONE SAYS HE GETS REINSTATED: With all that's in the news about Pete Rose lately, it's worth reminding people that all the source material concerning his activites is available online, along with this great summary of the evidence by baseball writer Sean Lahman. Perhaps Bud Selig needs to be reminded of Commissioner Giamatti's remarks at the press conference announcing Rose's ban:

The matter of Mr. Rose is now closed. It will be debated and discussed. Let no one think that it did not hurt baseball. That hurt will pass, however, as the great glory of the game asserts itself and a resilient institution goes forward. Let it also be clear that no individual is superior to the game.

A NOBLE THOUGHT: A bunch of us were emailing around one day debating the following question: the next time a writer working in the English language wins the Nobel Prize for Literature, who should it be?

Philip Roth and Thomas Pynchon were among the more worthy names tossed around, and I added two to the discussion. My first choice was the Czech-born playwright Tom Stoppard, whose brilliant words and sheer wit, questioning and considering everything, embody the best of what writing can do.

My number two choice was a bit of an odd one: Princeton's John McPhee, America's best nonfiction writer, and I'm posting this today because this profile in yesterday's Boston Globe makes this case for his all-encompassing brilliance far better than I could (which does not get much more articulate than drooling over his Bill Bradley pieces.)

He would not be the first Nobel laureate to win for non-fiction writing, and he would be as worthy as they come.

Disclaimer: My wife was a student of his at Princeton.