Entries Tagged 'movies' ↓

gymnastics – The Secret of Deva

I finally saw this low budget Romanian documentary.

… famous for the legendary gymnast Nadia Comaneci, and its boarding school, which for decades has trained world class gymnasts.

Pitic and Malina might be two of its future stars, but the long road to the podium is full of deprivation. They are eight and nine years old and have been at the school in Deva since they were six. They train for four hours every day and spend the rest of their time in school.

This documentary follows the girls … leading up to their first and most important competition, capturing an intimate and moving insight into the contrast between their dreams, and the often harsh reality.

Teachers.tv

I’ve got mixed feelings. Perhaps that’s not surprising. I’ve got mixed feelings about Romanian gymnastics.

On the one hand, with a population only about as large as Texas, one of the poorest nations in Europe consistently bested Russia, China and the U.S.A.

Their girls were incredibly tough on Floor and Beam. For decades after Nadia.

On the other hand, I’ve heard more nonsense coaching theory from Romanians than any place else in the world. What kind of coach education system have they had there? None? I’m told there’s an intensive program. I’d love to see the curriculum.

The 3 coaches highlighted in this film are excellent examples of how not to coach.

Yes I realize I’m imposing Western values on Romania. Aside from ethics, what’s shown in the documentary is simply not the best way to develop elite gymnasts.

I do get the impression that things have improved there since Nicolae Forminte took over as National Coach.

Leave a comment if you know where people can download or stream The Secret of Deva.

Related posts:

• remember Adriana Giurca (1982-1993)

allegations of gymnast abuse in Romania

Romanian-Gymnastics.com posts a Wall of Shame naming coaches who have been accused of being abusive.

(via Stephthemagicdragon on IG forum)

gymnast stunt doubles

UCLA Gymnastics is well known for having their athletes go on to careers in the Circus after graduation. Less well known is how many girls go on to stunt work.

UCLA magazine posted an excellent article on Bruin gymnasts getting work as doubles on TV and in the Movies.

Five former UCLA female gymnasts work on Make it or Break It.

Natalie Padilla ‘08, Jordan Schwikert ‘09 and Ariana Berlin ‘10 perform as stunt doubles for some of the lead characters; Tasha Schwikert ‘09 plays a gym-nast on the show; and Karin Silvestri-Coye ‘98 serves as the show’s gymnastics coordinator. …

2008 NCAA Champion Tasha Schwikert

2008 NCAA Champion Tasha Schwikert

… Other former Bruin gymnastics stars who have found stunt work in Hollywood include Dee Fischer Murphy ‘96 and Kiralee Hayashi ‘00 …

Heidi Moneymaker, has been doing stunts full-time since 2001 …

Read the article – Stunts and Circuses

Related – cool new ad for G2 (Gatorade) features Chellsie Memmel on Bars

Update – check the comments for more information on stunt work gymnasts

Food Inc. – the movie

It’s the season of gluttony where I live. Perhaps we need rent this movie to slow the gorge.

Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner.

The film examines large-scale agricultural food production in the United States, concluding that the meat and vegetables produced by this type of economic enterprise have many hidden costs and are unhealthy and environmentally-harmful.

The film is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, two long-time critics of the industrial production of food.[ The documentary generated extensive controversy in that it was heavily criticized by large American corporations engaged in industrial food production. …

Wikipedia

Excellent. Scary. Recommended. It had an unbelievably high rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

I felt the movie was quite “balanced”. Their charges against big agriculture are indefensible.

… The producers invited on-screen rebuttals from Monsanto Company, Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, Perdue Farms, and other companies, but all declined the invitation. …

official movie website

companion book – Food Inc.: A Participant Guide: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorer—And What You Can Do About It

Related posts:

Fast Food Nation
Super Size Me – teaching kids about fast food

the skill of gymnastics, the kill of karate

Gymkata is a 1985 film filmed in Yugoslavia and starring Kurt Thomas as Jonathan Cabot, an Olympic gymnast who combines his gymnastic ability with ninjutsu to enter a deadly competition in a fictional country, Parmistan. It is based on the novel The Terrible Game (1957) by Dan Tyler Moore.

The film has developed a minor cult following as an unintentional comedy for its dubious premise, poor production quality and low budget. Maxim lists the film as the 17th “Worst Movie of All Time”.

Gymkata – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The scene always bemoaned loudest by every coach is the pommel horse battle:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube:

gymkata.jpg

Gymkata – Amazon

These days Kurt is a successful coach and club owner in Texas.

Thanks Helen.

U.K. gymnasts needed

Want to be in the movies?

We are looking for UK based girl gymnasts aged 12 to 15 who think they may be suited to one of the roles below, Nadia or Bee. If you are interested in being considered for this exciting project then please send us a 15 second clip of you talking to the camera (via youtube or other) …

Jessica Ronane, Casting Director at jessica.ronane AT workingtitlefilms.com …

Dates (Shooting, Rehearsal, etc.):Some rehearsal Nov/Dec (subject to availability). Shoot for 1 week late Dec/early Jan.

details

Whip It – roller derby movie

A friend gave a positive review for Drew Barrymore’s Directorial debut, Whip It.

He found it a positive girl coming of age/sports movie. As you know, there are far too few roles for females in Hollywood films. (Love interest and Princess)

The star is Ellen Page, who I loved as the title character in the film Juno. On The Simpsons she cameoed as a character named Alaska Nebraska, a parody of Hannah Montana.

In Whip It she plays Bliss, a rebellious Texas teen who throws in her small town beauty pageant crown for the rowdy world of roller derby.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

At my gym one of the Moms joined a Roller Derby team. Got fit. Loves it.

Stick It – movie review

The Couch Gymnast posted a detailed second look at the most famous and popular gymnastics movie of all time.

… Stick it is a weird movie. I watched it again last night with some friends who know nothing about the sport of gymnastics. They loved Bring It On and wanted some more of that kind of funny, infectious teen-brand zing.

Seeing it through their eyes really adjusted my focus on the film. I realised, Stick It is confusing.

It is really funny in parts, and quite enjoyable but I think it has a huge plot problem, particularly for the layman viewer. …

read the review – A Tale of Two Movies

I saw it last with a bus load of gymnasts en route to a competition. They mostly enjoyed it.

Imperfect as it is, it´s a movie about them. That´s part of tha attraction of the Make it or Break It TV show too.

contortion – the Ross Sisters 1944

The Funny Page posted this 1944 video of the Ross Sisters, a scene from the movie Broadway Rhythm.

Are Aggie, Maggie and Elmira triplets?

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This must have been one of the earliest contortion acts to reach a Hollywood film audience.

Thanks George.

Dancing with Bart Conner?

Sounds like Shawn did well with the Waltz on Week 5 of Dancing With the Stars.

Perhaps Bart Conner will audition next season. (His wife Nadia was quickly fired by Donald Trump when she debuted on Celebrity Apprentice in 2008.)

Click PLAY or watch Bart dance in a clip from the 1986 movie Rad on YouTube.

Gawd, the ’80s were awful.

Thanks wordsmith who stumbled into this clip while looking for Gymkata clips on YouTube.

Gymnastics films

GymNiceTic posted a list of movies free to watch on the internet:

  • Nadia (1984)
  • Little girls in pretty boxes (1997)
  • American Anthem (1986)
  • Reach For the Sky (1991)
  • The Gymnast (2006)
  • White Palms (2006)
  • Peaceful Warrior (2006)
  • Click through for details.

    I recall coach Jim Holt, years ago, kept a complete list of Gymnastics Films. I’d love to post that.

    more posts tagged with “gymnastics movies”

    Alicia Sacramone in Monty Python

    The Olympic gymnast confronts a fire breathing poodle in a long internet TV commercial so weird, it’s watchable.

    Alica-quest-for-G.jpg

    It’s called The Quest for G, a Gatorade spoof on the old Monty Python comedy troupe.

    Watch it on MissionG.com.

    The recession does not seem to be slowing down Gatorade (PepsiCo). They must be paying a fortune on this campaign tied to the Superbowl. They hired director Spike Lee for the commercials. And signed a pile of famous athletes, including Nadia and Alica.

    Harry Potter stunt double injured

    The stunt business is dangerous.

    HARRY Potter’s stunt double could be left paralysed after an on-set explosion on Wednesday.

    Romford man David Holmes, 25, plummeted to the ground while he was rehearsing a flying sequence for forthcoming film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – the last chapter in the series.

    It is thought the blast, believed to have been part of the stunt, rocked the harness in which David was suspended high above the ground at the Leavesden Studios, Watford.

    The local stuntman, who has appeared in all the Potter movies, was sent crashing to the ground and had to be rushed to Watford Hospital. …

    David, who recently moved from his home off North Street, Romford, to Leigh-on-Sea with his girlfriend, is said to be in good spirits despite his injuries.

    He told colleagues he couldn’t feel his legs. …

    David-Holmes.jpg

    Harry Potter stunt horror

    Best wishes for a full recovery to the former competitive gymnast.

    The Gymnast (Full Movie) free

    Likely you’ve heard of the critically acclaimed feature film called The Gymnast. It’s a lesbian love story of two circus aerialists starring Dreya Weber (gymnast) and Addie Yungmee (dancer).

    The-Gymnast.jpg

    If you have time over the holidays, you can watch it free streamed on the internet in the U.S.A. at LOGOonline – The Gymnast

    (You need a computer utility like Hotspot Shield to watch it outside the States)

    Adult content.

    It’s an excellent film, I thought. The start of the movie is gripping; the ending not nearly as good.

    related post: The Gymnast – a short fictional film (Jennifer Sey)