Best of the Year So Far

After watching Tyson (one of the movies on this list) I was just bored enough to make my Best Films of 2009... as of 10.26.09. Plus it's a nice way for me to plug the new blog by Benny Salb - I Just Might be an Idiot. I won't read it because I have class and taste, but I gave it a shameless promotion anyway. But I digress -

Top 10 Movies of 2009 (as of 10.26.09)
1. Inglorious Basterds
2. District 9
3. Up
4. Sugar
5. (500) Days of Summer
6. Funny People
7. Coraline
8. Tyson
9. Star Trek
10. Drag Me to Hell

Yet to See:
Sin Nombre
Goodbye Solo
Where the Wild Things Are
The Hurt Locker
Anvil: The Story of Anvil
Away We Go
Whatever Works
The Girlfriend Experience

Movie Critic - Tyson

It could be argued that Mike Tyson has been one of the most controversial athletes of the last 20 years, if not all time. James Toback explores the life of the troubled Heavyweight in the documentary Tyson. Shot using mostly footage of what appears to be a series of interviews with Mike Tyson, we explore the world of Mike, from his beginning to what he's been up to since leaving boxing in 2005.
In my review of the film Sugar I describe how rare it was for me to enjoy a sports movie, if only because my standards are so high. One of the aspects of sports cinema that has been drastically missing are compelling characters. As I mentioned earlier it just seems easier for directors and writers to fall back on old stereotypes of athletes, play Thunderstruck 18 times and use quick cuts to distract people rather than write interesting characters that people might actually care about. But I never mentioned how much I truly enjoy sports documentaries. With documentaries you get a whole new perspective. You don't have to worry about fabricating characters because they've already got a rich enough story to put to film, and because it's usually the actual humans in interviews you already have that connection that you might not get with actors. This is exactly what happens in Tyson. Instead of having some actor fall into a caricature of the Champ, you have the actual man telling you some of the more painful memories of his past. Whether it's bullies in the Bronx roughing him up for his lunch money, or talking about his hero and mentor Cus D'Amato - you can see real emotions in someone who you would have never imagined. One of the more compelling aspects of this documentary is Toback's shots of Tyson during the more emotional times, he never lets the camera stray too far away from his eyes, letting you see the pain that Tyson has.
Another great aspect of the documentary is the use of fight footage. Hearing him talk about these epic bouts while watching fights from my childhood was an indescribable sensation. It was like getting directors commentary on your earliest and fondest sports memories. I remember watching a taped version of the Michael Spinks fight, I vaguely remember being at a party and a shocked crowd as Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson. But I'm talking more the mid-90's fights, right when many people my age are just coming into their sports conscious. The two Holyfield fights and Lennox Lewis - we all know how those ended, but it's just a perspective of the fight you never imagined you would get.
I've read reviews that have argued that there's an agenda to this film. James Toback is a friend of Tyson's and it has been criticized for it's portrayal of such a controversial figure. The film shows Mike Tyson - alleged spousal abuser and convicted rapist, but also shows Mike Tyson - complex human being and proud father. Mike Tyson will never stop being a polarizing figure, but love him or hate him, after watching Tyson you will never look at him the same way again. Tyson is rated R for language including sexual references and gets a 4/5 Stars.

Movie Critic - Sugar

It’s been a while folks, and I apologize. But seeing as I no longer have a job I figured I can put a serious dent in my Netflix queue and get back to blogging (or at least I say that but it’ll probably be another month before I write again). Anywho, I’m here to review the film Sugar. In 2007 writing/directing team Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck showed they know one thing, characters. And because of that ma boy the Baby Goose Ryan Gosling got an Oscar nod in their film Full Nelson. Now their focus is on a young Dominican arm Miguel ‘Sugar’ Santos and his young baseball career in the Minor Leagues.
Now I’ll be the first to admit – I’m extremely hard on sports movies. It seems that people just love bad sports movies… there have been plenty. I understand not every sports movie hitting the multiplex can be a Hoosiers, Bull Durham, Tin Cup, or Raging Bull – but have some standards people. I hate when people talk about sports movies and bring up Coach Carter (essentially someone took the Hoosiers script and then made it shitty), Remember the Titans (sensationalizing racism… plus the pretty boy QB is pancaking linebackers), or The Replacements (woof… enough said). I get giddy like a school girl every time a new sports movie comes out that I can actually stand – and folks not only could I stand this one, it was down right fantastic. One of the things that many of the aforementioned great sports movies have is great characters. Not just transparent stereotypes of athletes, they all have legitimate and developed characters. The other thing a great sports movie has is realistic sports action, which Sugar has in spades. There’s not a miss step in any of the baseball action, all of feels real and is filmed perfectly.
One of the more impressive things in this film is the performance of first timer Algenis Perez Soto. According to his imdb page this is his first time out of the gate and I doubt anyone would be able to tell. He plays the character perfectly, there’s not a false note in this performance – whether it’s him pitching, struggling with his English, or having fun with friends. There seems to be a natural sincerity to the character.
Another impressive aspect to Sugar is Boden and Fleck’s direction. From being shot on what seems to be a shoe string budget Sugar moves beautifully from the slums of the Dominican Republic to the farm fields of Iowa to the metropolitan of New York City while never losing its message or purpose. The other thing that impressed me is that it’s apparent that the two are either huge baseball fans or have done a lot of research on Minor League Baseball and the men who pass through it at some point. The authenticity of the movie is shocking for such a small film.
One of the things that made this such a special sports film is that there were many layers. You could look at this as a baseball movie, an immigrant story, or a combination of the two. The performances are strong enough to carry some of the slower moments and make it genuinely believable. Whether Sugar makes it or not is not the main story, his development as a man is what really matters – and the filmmakers make sure it’s not some cheap payoff. Not only is this one of the better sports movies I've seen in a while, it's also one of the better films of 2009. Sugar is 120 minutes long and (for some reason) is Rated R for language, some sexuality and brief drug use – and gets 4/5 Stars.