Abdi Aden's the final blog

When we were kings is based on the fight between legendary boxers Muhammad Ali & George Foreman. The documentary is based on the build up of the fight. The fight takes place is Zaire, which is now present-day Democratic Republic of Congo. The film does a good job of trying to get you to take Muhammad Ali’s side that happens to be the underdog in the film. It also does an incredible job of giving you B-roll prior to the fight. There’s interviews and work out footages. The essence of the story is Muhammad Ali’s comeback to boxing after he was stripped of the title due to the Vietnam War scandal. Part of the scandal was the United States Army was attempting to force Muhammad Ali to enlist in the war in which he refused and was stripped of his world title. This documentary takes you back to his return to glory. Music also plays a role in the film too. Because the fight takes place in Zaire, there is a huge African influence. There’s a segment in the documentary when Muhammad Ali discusses about African culture and how everyone from the planet is really from Africa. George Foreman comes off as someone who doesn’t care about the African culture and kept to himself for most of the documentary. I personally wish I could’ve witnessed something as big as this event in Zaire. The people of Zaire were also thrilled when they overthrew their dictator. Here's a snippet of the film.

When 60 minutes interviewed Marshall Mather’s also known as Eminem, it was special. The interview takes us through Eminem’s recovery from drugs. Coincidently his album is also named “Recovery”.  Eminem doesn’t usually let the media into his personal and family life but through his music, he shares with us everything about his personal and family life. The interview was well done because they didn’t keep it to one location. They had parts in the studio, B-roll of his come back concert. One particular part that was very interesting was when Eminem shows Anderson Cooper his box full of rhymes he’s written throughout his life. I personally thought the questions that Cooper asked were interesting. In his new album “Recovery”, Eminem takes us through his drug addiction and how he overcame it.

 

Randall Dale Adams is a man that was falsely accused for the murder of a police officer. He served 12 years in prison and was actually 72 hours away from his death sentence when someone came forward with new evidence claiming his innocence. The 1988 documentary “The Thin Blue Line” covers this remarkable story. The way the film is made through reenactments and several interviews. This is one of those movies where it actually solves the crime. Eventually someone is caught and is sentenced to death for the murder.

 

 

Abdi Aden: Three-Peat

Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary written, produced and directed by Michael Moore. The documentary shows the story of the Columbine school massacre where 2 kids walked into their high school and began open firing on students and staff. This massacre is similar to the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. Michael Moore explores America’s homicide rate and compares it to different countries one being Canada. In Detroit there were 500 homicides, but just over the bridge was Windsor and it has a very small murder rate. He also shows moments of how easy it is to get a gun in America. A bank in Michigan gives customers the chance to walk out with a gun if they sign up and deposit some money and pass a background check. Seriously? This is ridiculous, what’s next, getting a free gun for signing a library card? There are two sequences that I found very interesting and make the film much more eye popping.  There are 2 montages of the impact guns have had on politicians and people. After looking at the soundtrack the song that is being played in the background is a Beatles song called “Happiness is a warm gun”. I thought that was cool. The film also attacks the behavior of depressed or victims of bullying, and what they potentially can do if lets say people don’t listen or help them. The interview with controversial artist on his own, Marilyn Manson was very interesting. He said something that made me really think more about what less fortunate people have to deal with everyday. Moore asked him “what he would say to those kids before the incident?” and he responded “I wouldn’t say anything to them I would’ve listened and that’s what no one did.” I just said wow after that. The whole interview was well done.

The 9/11 attacks were extremely tragic. Over 3000 people lost their lives because of the attack. This film which is called “9/11”, originally explores the story of a fireman Tony Benetatos. Then suddenly the first plan hit the tower and the brothers were taping it. They captured all kinds of footage, which has shots of the mass panic in New York.  CBS aired the documentary 6 months later after the attack. This attack happened almost 10 years ago. Its funny how time flies by, but the reaction of civilians is what shocks me the most. I mean like if you seen this happen to your city wouldn’t you think it was Armageddon? 

Michael Vick was once a superstar quarter back for the Atlanta Falcons; his current team is the Philadelphia Eagles. This 60 minutes interview takes a deeper look at his fall in football. Michael Vick was accused of having dogfights in his home with his close friends. He later confessed to the crime citing “We used to kill the dogs, electrocute them, drown them and starve them if they lost a battle”. Animal Cruelty is a huge crime in society. He served a 23-month sentence for his crime. When he was released, he now is dedicating his life to helping others in need. He developed his own reality like TV show, showing himself in his new lifestyle. He was also re instated into the NFL and signed by the Eagles. He served as a backup quarterback, but in due time, he came starter once again. I like how they got the ESPN analysts to introduce the blogs and even ask him some of the questions. They got the former Indianapolis Colts coach, Tony Dungie to help rehabilitate Michael Vick as well as get him back into playing shape. The documentary uses extreme close up shots and well as still images to show Vick in his playing days.  There are also some wide-angle shots to show him speaking at a press conference. Even though Vick committed a huge crime, he has paid his debt to society. He is now dedicated 100 percent to football and helping others in need.