Tyson

First Hit: Fascinating, disturbing and a very interesting view into one of the most feared men in boxing.

Mike Tyson was one of the most devastating ruthless boxers the heavy weight division has ever known. As he became a public figure with this notoriety, he also became one of the most devastatingly lost public individuals we’ve known as well.

Mike is pictured through most of the film sitting on a white couch with two colored pillows on each side of him as he calmly describes his upbringing from Brooklyn. Throughout the interview we flash to scenes or pictures of him as a younger man, boxing, hanging out with women, and with his mentor Cus D’Amato.

Mike, although not particularly articulate, is intelligent, thoughtful (full of thoughts not mindful), and is introspective yet seemingly has little control, at times, over his behavior. Witness his account and voice over of his fight with Evander Holyfield where he bit off Evander’s ear; twice.

One of the more revealing things about Mike, which is brought out by a number of segments, is that he was afraid a lot. He was moved and motivated by the fear of failing and the fear of getting hurt both internally and externally.

Fearing each boxer before each fight, this fear would change to confidence that he was unstoppable the moment he entered the ring.

His other behavior with women was partially covered and there was no attempt to tell both sides of the rape conviction story of him and Desiree Washington.

James Toback directed this documentary. Although Mike’s out of the ring meltdowns (watch his comeback press conference when he calls out a “white reporter”), the outstanding montage of fight scenes reminded me of Mike’s utter devastation in the ring. James also used split screen views and fades during the interview to create additional views and senses of Mike. The last ring interview was perfect and reflected Mike’s evolution, “I don’t have the heart for it any more.”

Overall: This was powerfully well executed film of a public figure which has been honored and vilified by the public. Whether you like boxing or not, this is a story about Mike Tyson learning about himself.

Every Little Step

First Hit: A very moving extraordinary film providing a wonderful window into the world of performers attempting to be cast for a Broadway play.

I have never seen the theater production of “A Chorus Line”. However, if it were to appear in a theater, I would certainly go after seeing this film.

It starts off with a partial clip of the audio recording Michael Bennett made with some of his theatrical dancing cohorts as they sat around and discussed their lives and desires in their chosen profession. What came out of this tape was the script for A Chorus Line. In this film we see the casting process for a remaking of a new production of A Chorus Line with each of the actors/dancers looking to play the parts of original cast and also to bring their own experience to the part.

This casting call brought out 3,000 people who wanted to be in the remake.

This film was wonderfully directed by James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, who moved between interviews of the initial cast, Bob Avian, the original audio tape, and some of the 3,000 who wanted to win a part.

Overall: I was swept away by the processes and the interwoven discussions and clips of the past into the present. It was fun to guess who would get the part and see how close I came.

Earth

First Hit: Beautifully filmed and does provide interesting information about this unique blue ball we travel through space on. However, it fell short of telling a succinct story.

Without a television or DVD player I’ve not seen the series called Planet Earth which was an eleven episode view of our Planet narrated by David Attenborough.

Earth is a version of this narrated eloquently by James Earl Jones. It is formulistic in its presentation but the pictures are divine, full and rich in color and the immenseness and expansiveness are well choreographed.

For days following the film certain scenes reappeared in my mind. They include: The birds of Papua New Guinea, the male polar bear’s endless search for food, the large group of lions attacking the elephant, flocks of birds flying, the Cheetah’s head holding steady during a chase, and the relentless wolf.

There were many others as well. There were also facts that helped me understand Earth better. Two of such were that 1/3 of all the forests live in a ring just south of the North Pole and 1/3 of the earth is covered in desert.

Overall: Very entertaining and interesting. Although the polar bear family, the elephant family and the humpback whale family were part of the producers attempt to humanize nature; it took very little for me to see the beauty and relentlessness of nature unfolding itself to itself.

Valentino: The Last Emperor

First Hit: If you want to watch an interesting film about a delicate ego, watch this one. If you want to know how he came up with his fashion designs, you won’t find it here.

I was disappointed with this film because it provided very little insight to the complexities of how Valentino came up with his designs which gained a worldwide following.

The film follows Valentino around in the last year of his 50 year career and sets up for an extravaganza retrospective show in Rome. What the film does do is give you a deeper glimpse into his long time relationship with Giancarlo Giammetti, who was his lover, friend, and able business partner who navigated Valentino’s design career.

We get a little glimpse of the process of how his creations are made, by exchanges between Valentino, his longtime seamstress and her assistants. We see some scenes of fittings, changes to the original designs, but nothing concrete about where his designs came from.

There are three scenes of him drawing some design sketches and that’s it.

The overall execution of this film was very good and even for this type of documentary. The exciting parts came with the filming of occasional outbursts of temper, orders to quit filming, and hand shoves moving the camera lens out of the way.

Overall: I didn’t really think this film did Valentino the designer any justice, but it did give the audience a full dose of his ego.

Ballerina

First Hit: I enjoyed this interesting film showing how Russian Ballerinas are chosen for a prestigious school and then into a ballet company.

The film begins by setting the stage of the importance of The Ballet in the Russian culture. Although not started in Russia, the form of dance itself has been officially and completely embraced by the Russian people.

Ballet is a beautiful form of dance which, within its confines, can continue to provide new and fresh performances of age old dances. Swan Lake is seen, in parts, three or four times in the film and regardless, it is mesmerizing when done by these different talented dancers.

After a brief history the film takes us into the Russian ballet school selection process. Young girls ages 8 – 12 standing around, topless waiting to be scrutinized by a table full of people for their body shape, head size, flexibility, beauty and presence. These unformed students are then placed in a rigorous program of learning how to dance.

The stern instructors hold no quarter when pushing these students to learn the dance. As they move to a company, the rigors of the lifestyle take over. One thing that is readily apparent in all of the featured dancers, they are good, they bring who they are to the role, and they love to dance.

Shot in Super 8 format, I was surprised how easily I adjusted to the film size and texture; this was because the content was interesting.

Overall: If you have an interest in the ballet go see this film.