Mary and I met Pat this afternoon at one of the local independent theatres, The Tivoli at Manor Square, to end our vacation with Mad Hot Ballroom. And what a delightful film to end on. In fact, it was the perfect book end to a vacation that began with Cinderella Man. Both are wonderfully triumphant films.

Mad Hot Ballroom is a documentary that follows elementary schools in the New York City area as they train and compete in the local ballroom dancing competition. The American Ballroom Theater offers a non-profit Dancing Classrooms program to over 60 public schools in NYC. These classes for fifth graders are composed of a 10 week training course with the option of participating in the city wide competition at the end of the course. The competition involves 5 couples from each school, each performing one of the 5 dances that are taught: the merengue, rumba, tango, foxtrot, and swing.

This is the first feature film for Marilyn Agrelo and Amy Sewell and it is marvelous. The film profiles students and teachers from 3 elementary schools who train and then participate in the competition. Along the way the camera captures both the teacher’s passion for dance and for their students as well as the many and varied things that go on in the minds of 11 year olds growing up in New York City. These children are not only incredibly funny, but they are wise beyond their years regarding the ways of the world and the dangers that they face each day. This film is funny, and charming, and ultimately very touching. You realize while watching it that few children get this type of hands on connection in the public school system and you also realize that despite the best efforts of the teachers that many of these kids will end up as part of the gang and drug culture that is rampant in their neighborhoods.

Ultimately, however, this is not a sad tale but a tale of triumph. I found myself amazed at how well these kids could dance after just a few weeks of lessons and how much they grew in regards to caring about their classmates and planning for their futures. During the competition portion of the film my heart was beating as fast as it would have been had I been watching a live sports competition. It was truly incredible. If you’ve seen and loved Spellbound then you will love Mad Hot Ballroom. If you have not seen either then you are missing out on 2 of the best movies made in the last few years. Don’t let yourself be put off by the fact that these are “documentaries”. These are truly 2 of the funniest films I’ve seen in a long time.

Mad Hot Ballroom is out in limited release. If you have the opportunity to see it you will not be not be disappointed.

(non-spoiler review)

Batman Begins

Dark, gritty, nightmarish and heroic…Christopher Nolan ‘s interpretation of the origin of the Dark Knight was all that should be expected of a Batman film and more. While essentially retelling a story that any Batman fan has seen or read many times, Nolan manages to imbue this chapter of the Batman mythos with new life. I found myself immersed in the movie immediately even while anticipating the inevitable death of young Bruce Waynes’ parents. Nolan gives the Waynes a heroic element of their own which reveberates throughout both the film and the timeline of the fictional Gotham City. This element helps to build the foundation of Bruce Waynes’ character and makes his desire to be the protector of Gotham City much more relevant.

I enjoyed the choice of the classic Batman villains. The portrayals of Ra’s Al Ghul and the Scarecrow were superbly done. I will not write much more concerning these two characters so as not to spoil the movie. I will say, however, that the special effects and method of shooting the Scarecrow scenes were terrific and truly nightmare inducing. I was actually quite surprised at the level of fright in a movie that many people will be taking young children to see. It was excellent but the PG-13 rating should be heeded by parents of nightmare prone children.

The entire movie was filmed, colored, and costumed to perfection. The color palate really set the tone that this movie would take right from the opening frames. The costuming was very classic and subtle…it added to but did not distract from the movie. The handling of the Batman costume was fantastic. Very well done. The cinematography and special effects were terrific…even more so because they too did not distract from the story. You noticed the special effects, but they did not awe so much that they took you out of the movie. I also have to give kudos to the designers who created the look of Gotham City. Gotham looked very much like a modern city but with a slight hint of classic science fiction “city of the future” elements that made it an interesting place in and of itself.

The choice of actors was very good. Christian Bale portrayed Bruce Wayne and Batman terrifically. In my opinion he is the best of the Batman actors thus far. Bale was able to be make Bruce Wayne/Batman both moody and likeable. Bale’s Bruce Wayne was charming, but not overly so and his Batman was moody and dark but not one dimensional. Michael Caine is Alfred and would’ve been the best and most logical choice for all of the Batman films. Katie Holmes makes the most out of an admittedly small role and I enjoyed her in this. Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman were excellent, as was Rutger Hauer. I haven’t seen Hauer in a movie in some time and I didn’t realize he was in this until he first appeared on screen. It was fun to see him again. Gary Oldman was a terrific choice for police officer and one-day commissioner Jim Gordon and he did a great job. A terrific cast…well done!

I attended this film with my brother and his family. Half way through the film my 10 year old nephew Elijah leaned over and said, “This is a great movie!”. At the end of the movie he looked at me and said, “If I had a microphone I bet I could say ‘raise your hand if you liked this movie’ and everyone would raise their hands!” Well Elijah, I would have to agree. My hand is up…..