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Reviews
Untold: Malice at the Palace (2021)
"Untold: Malice At The Palace" is a straight-to-the-point documentary detailing one of the worst moments in NBA history.
"Untold: Malice At The Palace" is a great breakdown of what happened in the Pacers-Pistons regular-season game in 2004.
The documentary attempts to be fair in ensuring that everyone involved is held accountable. The players are responsible for leaving the court and engaging in physical altercations with the fans, and the fans are responsible for acting irresponsibly towards the players. The NBA as a whole is responsible for not keeping both fans and players safe. I do believe that David Stern did not mention the fans when suspending Steven Jackson, Ron Artest, Jermaine O'Neal, and Ben Wallace because he was worried about his bottom line: money. He was, in my opinion, ultimately worried about fans not wanting to come to games.
I did feel like there was a lot of justification in behavior from both fans and players. Also, I agreed with Jermaine O'Neal's take on the NHL and their accepted fighting culture and the media's acceptance of it as part of the game. But when it comes to "overpaid," mostly inner-city basketball players, they are referred by the media as "thugs." It was obvious that part of the problem from the "Malice At The Palace" is that the incident turned into an unspoken topic about race.
I do not believe the documentary itself was attempting to excuse the behaviors of some of the players. I do think by telling some of their backstories, the viewer understands some of the philosophical reasons for "backing my teammate up" and/or "riding together as a team." You could tell how disrespected and hurt Steven Jackson was when he learned of Ron Artest's departure from the Indians Pacers.
I think out of everyone I felt the most bad for Reggie Miller. All he wanted to do was win and in the 2004-2005 season, it was his last chance to win an NBA championship. Also, what we do know today is that earlier in his playing days despite coming from a traumatic childhood, Ron Artest was playing while having an undiagnosed mental illness. The difficulty of managing emotions tells me that he may have had Bipolar Disorder.
It's totally worth the watch.
McGregor Forever (2023)
A fair Docuseries of a complicated MMA fighter
In "McGregor Forever" the Netflix docuseries begins with Conor McGregor's match against Khabib "The Eagle" Nurmagomedov and then documents his matches against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone and Dustin "The Diamond" Poirier.
My reason for giving the docuseries a 9 out of 10 is because Netflix, in my opinion, conveniently left out some other reported negative behaviors of Conor McGregor like punching a bar patron in Ireland because he reportedly didn't take a shot with him or punching an Italian DJ and reportedly breaking his nose. Besides the community service he had to complete because of the hand-truck incident involving Khabib Nurmagomedov, there appears to be little consequence for his behaviors which only allows for further destructive behavior. I imagine maturing, having children, and experiencing personal/professional setbacks can change some behavior over time.
I will say though that all-in-all the docuseries is really good and gives the viewer an insight into Conor McGregor's motivation for staying in the fight game despite success, fame, and a lifetime of comfort.
There is a scene in the docuseries where Conor McGregor is wearing a shirt that says either "Stay Humble" or "I am humble." I think the underlying theme of this docuseries is humility, not forgetting where you came from, and how much fame, money, and celebrity can impact drive, focus, and hunger. It is also quite fascinating to also see how fast the media can change their narrative based on your last performance. Media and its storylines/opinions should not decide one's future or career plans.
I do believe there is underlying insecurity Conor McGregor is facing here. He was professional and respectful towards Dustin Poirier in their second fight and decided to return to his old brash ways in their third fight. It felt as if returning to the villain role would help him recapture the days when being notorious was an edge he had in maintaining popularity and earning a victory.
Making money and ensuring that everyone considered family is taken care of is admirable; however, it certainly can affect vision and focus. Conor McGregor denies being afraid of losing or being successful. I dare to say that he is afraid of being forgotten about and/or afraid of irrelevancy. I believe his motivation for staying in the game is real and authentic.
The moments he has with his girlfriend, Dee Devlin, and their 3 children show another side of a man who appreciates his family and respects the woman who was by his side when he was struggling and didn't have much. The relationships he has with his team is close and remarkable. Although I question how much they set boundaries with him and hold him accountable.
Lastly, there is Dana White who knows Conor McGregor is a goldmine for the UFC, but sometimes doesn't know if he is actually worth the risk to book. I wonder if he shut him out of the UFC after his fight with Donald Cerrone or if McGregor's team was making him look like a victim. I do think that Dana White supports Conor McGregor overall, but has also enabled his poor behavior.
The docuseries leaves you regardless with formulating your own opinion on someone who people either love or hate.
Mike (2022)
"Mike" is a good biopic, but the pacing of the story and the in-between narration hurt this series.
I understand that a lot of people on social media were upset with Mike Tyson not being a part of his own story. People were equally upset with him not receiving any compensation for the biopic. I understand the anger and disappointment; however, if Mike Tyson had control of his own story it's possible that certain aspects of himself would not have been shown. The Hulu presented biopic, "Mike" is meant to leave the viewer with having to formulate their own opinion.
Mike Tyson and Don King were both well-portrayed. It felt like you were watching them play themselves. There are a total of 8 episodes with 22 minutes or so to each episode. Personally, I would have liked if the episodes were longer and would not have minded if there were multiple seasons to this biopic.
I listen to and watch Teddy Atlas' YouTube podcast called "The Fight Game," and he has talked about Cus D'Amato at length and never once talked poorly about him. Teddy Atlas was a "street tough" himself and neither he nor Cus I think knew how to address Mike Tyson's behavior. I understand that I am only basing my opinion off of Teddy Atlas so I do not truly know if Cus D'Amato was portrayed accurately. I think it leaves the viewer once again having to formulate their own opinion on who was actually in Mike Tyson's life to support him and who was there to only manipulate him. It left me wondering about Cus D'Amato's intentions, but I've heard consistently that he believed in him and treated him like family. Cus D'Amato, by the time he met Mike Tyson, was older and had lived for boxing and I think that was his way of teaching him about life and showing him love. Cus D'Amato's unwavering support of Mike Tyson I believe eventually pushed Teddy Atlas away.
I think the biopic does a good job of also holding Mike Tyson accountable for his own behaviors, that although a victim of trauma and being used by unsavory people he also made poor choices and hurt a lot of people, physically and emotionally.
I was not too fond of the boxing scenes and wish they were a bit longer. I understand it's about his story, but the boxing scenes also matter. For a figure that can be so polarizing I also wish they went slower with telling Mike Tyson's story. In some ways it felt rushed. The in-between narrating was excessive and took away from certain moments. It felt like literally in every scene there was some kind of narration. I don't need it all the time to understand the point. In some ways it also felt like the writer/director were trying too hard. When Mike Tyson was shown on stage there were some scenes where you could see the line of his bald cap. It might sound trivial, but for a major streaming service you have to do better.
It's a good biopic, but you don't need to watch it more than once. A 6/10 rating is more than fair.