FiyaStarter.com - Reel Hot Movie Review with Dean Sizzle

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“I was gonna drive around
the corner and get a blow job.”
-Charles Barkley
Drunk ass political hopeful.

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Dean Sizzle (32)

--Gay
--Loves foreign films, independent films, dramas and romantic comedies.
--fired from Village Voice for refusing to have sex with female editor…but, that’s just his side of the story. We called his former boss and learned that he was actually fired because he made a pass at Rupert Everett during the press junket for The Next Best Thing. We haven’t confronted him about it.

FiyaStarter RATING =

(4½)Fiyaballs

Movie Review

Mad Hot Ballroom
Ballroom Dancing: Kid Stuff
by: Dean Sizzle, for Entertainment

I admit it. It’s tough being the arthouse/indy critic during the summer movie season. Most people aren’t going to see the movies I review. They want to see stuff being blown up, bodies riddled with bullets, no-talent “it” girls and horrible one-liners delivered by The WB alums. Indeed, this time of year makes me sick.

However, films like Mad Hot Ballroom remind me why I keep going. This enchanting documentary gives us a glimpse of the lives of precocious New York City public school students who give their all in preparation for the city-side dance competition. You’d never think kids from low income areas in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan’s own Washington Heights would even care about a ballroom dance competition, but their dedication, pride and spirit was truly…well, scary…in a good way. It was nice to see teenagers care about something other than humping each other. It was also nice to see younger kids care about something besides videogames.

As the film progressed, the benefits of the 10-week dance course they were involved in became obvious in many of the children. Grades rose, pants stopped sagging and little ladies and gentlemen appeared right before your eyes. The transformations were so startling; I couldn’t help but wonder if some of it was scripted. That’s a lot of change in 90 minutes. Granted, cameras followed these kids for over two months, but if all it takes is a little dancing to straighten out hard-headed kids, I think Footloose should be required viewing for every 8th grader in the world. Lord knows it got me through some tough times when I was a kid. I don’t know where I’d be without Kevin Bacon and Chris Penn.

While Ballroom may not have the cultural impact that Bacon’s masterful Bo jangling did, it’s still a film worthy of an audience. The sight of knee high squirts performing the Tango, intensely gazing into each other’s eyes is worth the ticket alone. Besides, some of the kids are actually very talented dancers. Specifically, there’s Michael, a 10-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, who speaks no English and barely even practices his dance routines. But, when it comes time to compete the kid turns into Fred Astaire. That little boy has too much charisma on a dance floor for his own good. I found it disturbing, quite frankly. There were grown women in the audience that looked like they were getting turned on by the kid. That just ain’t right.

Guys, this is a really good date movie, by the way. If you take a girl to see this, chances are you’ll get laid. Nothing does the trick like cute kids.