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.