Console best movie i've ever seen.

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

museumofdave "Excellent!" is a word I've heard applied to this film by so many different viewers from so many different backgrounds; one prominent New York critic refers to it as "slight and charming;" I rather think of it as "monumental and utterly mesmerizing." We observe a batch of disparate kids from various ethnicities come together as they are exposed to art, in this case the art of dancing; this is not a sugarcoated look at childhood, but a fascinating examination of what happens when dedicated teachers are able to interact with love and discipline and give kids honest self-esteem which they earn by active participation. This film is the best argument I've seen for increasing the Federal Arts Education Budget and perhaps spending a little less on bombs and already obsolete armaments; your contacts with many of the kids will leave you with a pleasant feeling, instead of feeling assaulted with car explosions, torrents of expletives and noisy special effects--this is excellent entertainment at a high level--and without condescension or sugar coating!

charlessmith702210 The way the movie sets up reminds me of my ballroom dance days in college, where you take a lot of ballroom dance classes leading up to the college's own dance competition. So, here are some public school teachers in New York, dealing with K-8 students as they teach them ballroom dancing. Some of the K-8 students are, obviously, latch-key kids who are having rude attitudes and antisocial behavior, as those teachers take those young students on a journey to what competitive ballroom dancing is like. At the end of the movie, these young dance sport competitors realize that if you can succeed in dance sport, you can succeed in other areas of life, way, way from the dance floor.It is almost amazing as the teachers teach them the waltz, merengue, swing, tango, rumba, and foxtrot.The flick reminded me of "Music From The Heart" featuring Meryl Streep, because in this big project, New York public school teachers and students wanted something that would make those who slashed funding for the arts in public schools take a second look at ballroom dancing as probably equally better as music to help them increase their grades in school courses not related to ballroom dancing.I strongly focused on one of the competitors named Tara, who joined in a group of student competitors called the "Green Team". Tara was almost like me, because as a ballroom dancer myself, I love to give it my all on the dance floor. Therefore, Tara was immediately believable in character. I followed Tara all the way in one of the local dance competitions where she shined in her favorite dance--the swing. She wails, she rocks, she shimmies her way in the first round of competition and she gets one of the level trophies. Then all of this ballroom bliss turns to shock for Tara when she finds out that she was not picked for the semifinal round. I see Tara's disappointment as she cries as if she lost her favorite friend. Later, I realized that her overconfidence in her dance skills was probably why she did not make the semifinals.But as the finals came in, the movie became better and better. I can reminiscence the days when the 1990s had two good periods--the rebirth of salsa and the swing. Especially when the swing number "Hot Line" ("706-6655") by the Jet Set Six, caused both the competitors and even spectators to excite themselves. There were two good merengues also that made me get off the chair and dance.Then I focused on the bald-headed guy who was for the Indigo Team when the team competed against the Green Team for the Challenge Trophy. Another believable character too, as he shined especially in the Latin dances, especially the merengue.The biggest tension came when the emcee said "...There is no third-place, there is no second-place; there can be only one Challenge Trophy". As the Indigo Team was announced as the winner for the trophy, it was almost like a madhouse as the bald guy is surrounded by the victorious mob, as if the team won the state high school basketball championship, even though it is not a basketball championship game--just a dance sport event. You see the Green Team members frozen in shock, and in disgust.Then the Indigo Team guy shows the greatest sigh of relief as he holds the trophy. That ending of the movie shows perhaps the greatest innocence---that which New York needed after being terrorized by the 9-11 attacks.That is why "Mad Hot Ballroom" is a great hit. "Mad Hot Ballroom" is is not just for fans of "Shall We Dance?"--whether in the Japanese version or the new twist on the flick featuring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. "Mad Hot Ballroom" is for the ballroom dancer in all of us! This is very great, and that is why I adore this movie highly.

pacieterra-1 This documentary, following on the tails of "Spellbound," "Rize," and other up-from-the projects documentaries, is gloriously rendered. The real children who participated in this film are hilarious, persevering, and a joy to behold. All are being cajoled into learning the basics of various "ballroom" dances by real dance instructors, in order to win a competition among various New York middle schools. There is not a moment in this documentary that is not insightful, inspirational, or factual. So much unintentional, delightful humor is given by the various pre-teen children learning the dances or commenting on their experiences, that you might think they had spent hours listening to or watching comedians.The winning finale of many, many hours of practice, lack of co-ordination, and rejections will make an audience, (or now, home viewer), stand up and cheer. Highly Recommended for all ages!

jsbmd1 This is amateurish, camcorder-level shooting. The content is essentially an argument by teachers for why the program should be funded, and would have been better off used for this purpose with the NYC Board of Education.I was sorely disappointed by this film, as I am originally from NYC, went to a "P.S." grade school, and was charmed by the idea of reminiscing a little watching the opening credits.It is a boring documentary with a few cute moments when the kids are dancing, and a few interesting comments by two children -- one a 10 y.o. girl, who is a sort of philosopher, and one a 10-y.o. boy, who is quite talkative. The reasons for my rating of 2 and not 1.The cutting is terrible. I enjoy dance, and some of the kids were good dancers, but the photography tries to capture faces (poorly), and jumps, as in an action movie, every 3 seconds. The included announcements of winners is trying to sit through, slow and trite.A minor complaint: It was also annoying to see that although this is about 5th grade, the winners of the "contest" seem to be kids who are at least 13 years old. They therefore are able to manage "Cuban" motion better, as they are apparently already postpubertal. Although the teachers seem to struggle with making the competition fair, and with not hurting any child's feelings (although sensitive, this also got repetitive), the entire contest actually seemed unfair to many, who were only about 10 years old.