Strike a Pose

2016
7.2| 1h24m| en| More Info
Released: 29 June 2016 Released
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Country: Netherlands
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

In 1990, seven young male dancers joined Madonna on her most controversial world tour. Their journey was captured in Truth or Dare. As a self-proclaimed 'mother' to her six gay dancers plus straight Oliver, Madonna used the film to make a stand on gay rights and freedom of expression. The dancers became paragons of pride, inspiring people all over the world to dare to be who you are. 25 years later, the dancers share their own stories about life during and after the tour. What does it really take to express yourself?

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Reviews

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
s-thienen This documentary is truly moving and teaches many lessons. As not having witnessed the HIV epidemic (born 1993), this docu gave me a harsh but eye opening impression what it would have been. But most of all the Irony of the tour and the emotion that it gets out of them, when they talk about it years later. This is pain, this life. Amazing.
gregorybmowery I'm actually shocked at the number of insensitive reviews of this excellent documentary about a group of talented, young dancers who got lucky enough to enter the surreal performing world of Madonna at the top of her stardom during her 1990 "Truth or Dare" tour, and what happened in ensuing twenty five years. Seven young, attractive and blazingly talented dancers were plucked out of an audition process by Madonna and her team to support of her TRUTH OR DARE tour. Six are gay and mostly closeted to the outside world and have significant ballet and dance training. The seventh performer both straight and fro the hip-hop world. For many months these kids performed with the most famous pop singer in the world with audiences for each concert ranging from 20 to 80 thousand fans. It was a heady experience where they concentrated on supporting their their star and with all their needs being taken care of by the backstage tour personnel. Everything was first class. In this heady time, the dancers wore designer clothing, were photographed everywhere with Madonna. A bit older than her charges, she became their big sister, tour mother, their shining star. She took care of them, loved them, coddled them. Arguably, the biggest star in the world at the time, Madonna was fearless in her pronouncements. At the height of the world-wide AIDS crisis, Madonna was outspoken in her support of friends who were dying, and in the process, insisted that those brave enough to come out were deserving of the world's respect and compassion. It was a naive assumption and it compelled her to out some of her dancers who were not emotionally ready to share that information. One of the dancers she publicly outed, died of AIDS. Once the tour was over, there was creeping reality that there lives would go back to being ordinary again, and some of the dancers sued her for breach of privacy. Hurt and angry, Madonna withdrew from them all completely. At least two more members of the group contracted HIV and had to learn how to cope with their fear. The straight hip-hop kid headed straight for Las Vegas after the tour where he attached himself to the club scene, and drowned himself in booze for a long time. There was only one really successful member and that was Kevin Alexander Stea (so much for those who have written none of them were a success after the tour), who worked with Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Prince and Beyonce, among others. Carlton Wilburn, another dancer, has had success as an actor and writer. Here you have seven young dancers who got swept up in Madonna's orbit and then they were left to figure out the rest of their lives. Most of them were ill-equipped to make that transition. And that's both the inspiration and the heartbreak of this documentary. Madonna was generous in giving the filmmakers access to the music and images of the tour. But she is completely absent here and that's too bad. All the dancers professed to having no bitterness, or feelings that they're owed something from her and that's a good reality check. They were not exploited by having worked with her, except perhaps in her over-zealousness in outing some of them. All of them express a deep love, respect and gratefulness to Madonna for touching their lives. Too many here are critical of the tears shed in this film, and are very dismissive of this team's emotional ties and that's too bad. They were naive kids, barely out of their teens, and not at all sophisticated to the dangers of the world out there. They were beautiful, and because they were dancers had beautiful bodies and were admired for their looks as well as their talent. This period in their lives could not have been an easy one to traverse without some emotional fallout. I felt terrible for the man whose mother shares her disappointment that her son should have continued dancing with Madonna in order to buy her a house she always wanted. I'm surprised he's even speaking to her. How selfish. Her son is vulnerable and trying to carve out a life for himself. He admits to crippling self-doubt and it can't be easy to in the place he is now in--living in a room in his mother's apartment. Yes the final reunion dinner seems a tad stagy--how could it not be? Six guys--a brilliant team--were getting together who had not seen each other in years. Their joy at being in each other's company is palpable. They get to share war stories from their youth, and measure their own sense of self-worth at this stage. I was never a Madonna fan--I didn't dislike her--but her music didn't touch me and her outlandish PR machine seemed more silly. I also was put off by her failure to become a successful working actor, further distancing her from interesting me. But there is no question of her mark on the culture of her time. Some of the videos are still magical to watch. She was a massive star and it was virtually impossible to ignore her. For me, STRIKE A POSE, humanizes her in a way that was surprising. I hope her dancers from that tour stay in touch. They have a lot of emotional investment in each other. And they will always have the memories of that astonishing period in their lives to draw on.
Charlie Bravo! Yet another failed attempt at being relevant. Why any reputable filmmaker would choose this subject matter over something of greater social import is beyond comprehension. Nothing more than a band of has-beens that have somehow managed to ride Madonna's coattails for nearly thirty years. Their cries of being exploited echoed decades later by yet another series of false tears; a last- ditch effort to tug at the entertainer's heart strings. How embarrassing.Madonna should have just named her tour Blond; the "ambition" only resulted in a misnomer. Four months of fame and a lifetime of frivolity. A wasted opportunity to do something productive for themselves and their families. Faded photographs and tattered newspaper clippings offer a fleeting escape from reality. Most have held onto this brief moment in time without realizing that their time was up long ago. An epic failure where they enjoy each other's company in an abyss of disappointment.Claims of being family are cheapened by the multiple lawsuits filed against their "mother", yet they yearn to be nestled in her bosom again. Their hypocrisy overshadowed only by their gluttony. How deplorable – the unfounded attempts at acquiring fortune off of someone else's hard work. Nothing more than the baseless accusations of disgruntled employees who were paid as agreed while enjoying numerous perks and benefits. You danced. You got a check. End of tour. Move on.Nothing was quite as tragic as the story recounted by one dancer's mother. Cameras are ushered through what seemed to be a maze for cattle. To the right is an aptly named "junk room" where the dancer lives with his boyfriend who peers around the doorway to say 'hello'. It's as if he is hanging from a bunk bed. A couple feet later and you find yourself in a living room the size of a walk-in closet. Here is where this mother shares her grief.She describes a postcard of sorts that had the image of a home on it. She says that her son was going to buy her that home, but that the home never came. She sobs and repeats how hurt she was to the point you believe the tape is looped. The home never came, she states. Of all the dancers, this is the one whose downward spiral seems to never end. Older than fifty and living with his boyfriend in his mother's apartment? A celebrated dancer who was on tour with one of the world's foremost entertainers? Sad.And yet the media has the audacity to classify these men as inspirations. As leaders in the LGBT community. Herein lies the issue with our culture and lifestyle – a misguided respect for those who are undeserving of our recognition. Drug addicted egomaniacs that have no place among the true pillars of our landscape. By venerating these individuals, you do a disservice to younger generations. You discount the worth of what others have accomplished.Strike a Pose will certainly Strike a Chord with those of us who know what really happened.
peter billionaire Lots of crying. Documentary-makers love it. Almost everybody in the movie gets to cry. Coming out of the closet and AIDS, AIDS, AIDS. No, it is not "powerful." It is stagey and manipulative. The individual stories are familiar. The only difference is Madonna. Like the gay Waiting for Godot. Everybody talks about Madonna, but she's not there. "We were like a family" is the motif. I doubt that the dancers were really that naive. They were Madonna's employees. Did they really think that they were going to be pals with her once the tour was over? There is a shot of a mother watching a video of her dead son. There is a discussion of Bell's palsy. There is an awkward reunion dinner apparently staged for this film. It's as if the dancers know what is expected. Lots of hugging and more crying. Declarations of undying love and friendship. A cringe-inducing replay of truth or dare. Everyone aware of the cameras. It seems self- conscious. What do you do with your life if it peaks when you're 22? To be cast out of MDNA paradise. There are vague images of the dancers in what may be their present careers. One of them is a waiter, but it is implied that they are still in dance. No specifics are given. The idea is to leave on an upbeat note.