MaestroReviews

Deb and I are artists, painters actually. We go see films as often as once a week. That's right, we go to the theater and sit in a dark room with strangers to see movies. We rarely rent. We like "little" movies, foreign and documentary films. We try to stay away from mainstream and blockbusters whenever possible, but a couple sneak in each year. We seek out the obscure. We try to avoid violent movies, and that really limits our choices, most film makers seem to think violence makes a story interesting.
I try not to give anything away in the reviews, but offer an honest reaction.
We rate them 1~10, 10 being highest.

Monday, May 28, 2012

First Position

Deb 7           Me 8

It seems like we've sen a lot of dance movies in the last few years and a whole lot of these competition films. This is another one that follows the successful formula laid down several years back. And its good. Charming and talented young people trying to do the best they can, either to satisfy an inner passion or fulfill the dreams of a crazed and inadequate parent. I've really come to appreciate the strength, dedication and physical power of dancers, really amazing. Their strength is such that they can toss each other around like rag dolls and done without the bulk of wrestlemania. 
This film follows the paths of a diverse cast of dancers through to an international contest where they compete in their age category. Their stories are varied and interesting and of course they're all good looking. My only gripe is that the footage of the actual competition is just horrible. I mean BAD. All the action has a digital strobe going on, so a kids arm might be in two places in the same frame. The director went with dissolves instead of cuts from camera to camera so you get the feeling time has passed between angles, only to find its confusingly real time. There's no excuse for it and turns a top flight effort into the look of a Jr. High class project. 
But I liked it fine.

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