Adam Del Deo Movies

The central premise of the Kirkwood-Dante-Kleban-Hamlisch Broadway musical A Chorus Line is by now overly familiar, examining as it does the 17 actors auditioning for spots in a chorus line on the Great White Way. Recalling Donn Pennebaker's Moon Over Broadway and other similar efforts, documentarians Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern's film Every Little Step travels behind the scenes of the auditions for 2006 revival of A Chorus Line to investigate the goings-on and the interplay among the hopefuls. The film thus establishes a neat corollary between the events of the play itself and the offstage experiences of the aspiring tryouts. On top of this, Stern and Del Deo work in a layer that pertains to the original genesis of the show, and its evolution from an idea by Michael Bennett, who recorded an ensemble of dancers speaking confessionally and used that as the basis for everything else. Here, the filmmakers play those original tapes back, on-camera, thus resurrecting old ghosts; score composer Marvin Hamlisch also turns up and revokes the past, courtesy of a revealing and racy little nugget about the history of the tune "Dance: Ten; Looks: Three." Above all else, the film works in extensive footage of the auditions themselves, on songs such as "At the Ballet" and "I Can Do That" -- thus interweaving an aura of suspense throughout the narrative over who will eventually wind up in the production itself. The title of the documentary, of course, is a reference to the lyric of the seminal tune "One" ("One singular sensation, every little step she takes"). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A group of teens discover that the next generation of survival horror games are more realistic than they thought when they begin dying in the same manner as their pixilated counterparts in director William Brent Bell's bloody tale of video games gone bad. In the days following the mysterious death of an old friend, a young group of gaming enthusiasts comes into possession of a chillingly realistic game based on the exploits of a 17th century noblewoman who earned the name "The Blood Countess" for her murderous exploits. Their curiosity piqued by the fact that they were obviously not supposed to come into possession of the grisly game, the teens soon give in to temptation and begin doing battle for high score. When the chilling events of the game begin to bleed over into the real world and the real-life deaths of the players begin to mirror the deaths of their in-game characters, the race is on to defeat the murderous Blood Countess and ensure that other curious gamers don't fall into the same deadly trap that they did. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

While the traditional American stereotype of people from China portrays them as short, studious, and not especially athletic, Yao Ming turned that image on his head -- standing seven foot six, Yao became the most talked about player in professional basketball when he signed to play with the Houston Rockets in 2002, the first Chinese émigré to play in the NBA. Yao was largely unknown when he first suited up with the Rockets, and many were skeptical about his abilities, especially when he displayed an unsure command of the American style of basketball in his early games. But Yao soldiered on, and by the end of the season he was proving his detractors wrong, among them player-turned-sportscaster Charles Barkley, who once on air promised to kiss the rear end of one of his fellow television commentators if Yao ever scored 19 points in a game -- and had to make good on the pledge when Yao managed the feat. The Year of the Yao is a documentary (produced in part by the NBA) which looks at Yao Ming's first season with the Rockets, how he adapted to American basketball, his relationship with his family and teammates, and what his success means to fans in the United States and China. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Deep in the heart of New York City, at an undisclosed location, eight of the city's most talented freestyle rappers gather for the ultimate lyrical battle. After an all night session in which the skilled rhymers fell one by one, only the Battle Slams champion was left standing - microphone clenched confidently in hand. In this release, hip-hop fans are offered a front row seat to this remarkable rhyme-off, inter-cut with some of the most spectacular street-ball footage ever captured on camera. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide