Customer Reviews

Madonna: The Name Of The Game

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Why on earth someone has produced this so-called documentary (other than earning easy money) I don't understand. Imagine a 45 minutes of documentary where almost 30 minutes are spent with Madonna leaving the make-up truck on the set of Body of Evidence. The biography is in no correct order and there is mis-information all the way through. They say she was born in 1957, that she was married to Sean Penn in 1980 (!!!) and so on... Nothing new, nothing unseen. Totally a waste of money.

This is a low budget documentary that is very poorly done. The seller does not describe what you are buying very well. Don't waste your money here like I did.

Repeative video clips of Madonna; not a lot of variety. They must have showed the Madonna & Michael Jackson video clip four times! Too expensive and low quality.

This is an unauthorized documentary that describes Madonna through the narration of the book author Mark Bego known for Madonna, Now and other biographies. It is a 47:29 minutes discussion that has Madonna's brother, Martin Ciccone, in between takes giving his opinion, feelings, and thoughts about his sister. There are a total of 6 menu screens [chapters] to choose from, another link with other titles sold, a biography link and a discography link. There is an option to view the documentary in Portuguese. It is Dolby Stereo 2.0 and is heard in English despite the Portuguese writing on back of DVD artwork, and menu screens.

The things that stood out to me the most after viewing this would have to be Madonna's brother, Martin Ciccone. He mentions his past being brought up in the Madonna - Truth or Dare documentary by Madonna and how he does not blame her for some of those comments yet feels many people that were exposed to it may perhaps portray a not so favorable view of him [including business contacts]. Furthermore, he claims that he feels the public and other sources should view the up close person "changed" man he has become in this documentary. He seemed from the viewing down-to-earth, casual, and very laid back. Obviously, life has not been easy for him and with a sister as famous as Madonna he can at least share his love about her strong character in the family as they grew up, her need to be like a "mother" after their mother passed away and at the same time reveal his new persona. This may be to some fans quite mystifying.

Aside those portion clips throughout, it was evident that Madonna "The Name of the Game" is about Madonna's impact on the world. There are background video clips that sometimes repeat that are somewhat annoying. Among the lovers discussed were Warren Beatty and Sean Penn. Not with much insight except perhaps video clips and discussions with respects to how they made their mark. Sean Penn being Madonna's first love and yet also the lover who couldn't take the constant cameras and fame his object of affection was creating. And then Warren Beatty being the womanizer type celebrity who was also not fond of the cameras or revealing his personal life too much.

Then when it comes to work ethic this documentary shows Madonna dancing ballet when she was young [very short clip], jogging [an every day routine 4 hours he claims], and waking up early at 7:00 AM to prepare for her acting roles such as Body of Evidence. Her early years were discussed with mentioning of her father Silvio, the childhood home, neighborhood, and atmosphere around it. There are also discussions of her fame being very much a shock to Martin as none of them saw it coming. Martin definitely expressed Madonna's hard work ethic and how she took her strong will and talent to achieve her success.

From love, movie acting, work dedication, and heritage there are parts of her sexual expression that created controversy very much pressing to critics and conservatives. There are mentionings of the Sex Book, Sex Video clips, Madonna - Justify My Love [VHS] and other photos. It was not a pleasant "picture painting" to what really went behind that era making it a bit over sensationalized. The Body of Evidence Movie was even sighted to be like rated X from the commentator Mark Bego. Also to the shock of my viewing Joan Rivers was shown with "Slam" [A dancer from the MADONNA Blond Ambition Japan Tour '90 in a brief clip [extremely short under a few minutes if it reached to that]. Many fans may feel offended by Joan River's mocking of Madonna. I did find "Slam" to look astonishingly stunning and gorgeous in his pose, style, and expressive nature. Due to contractual obligation nothing by Slam was spilled to the cameras in this clip.

Mark Bego comments how in the dance studio she met Christopher Flynn who introduced her to the male gay lifestyle and to the gay night club named Menjo's where Madonna was exposed to freedom of self-expression. Impersonators were seen not only in this club clip [lasting seconds] but in another part where a guy who dressed like her. The fan part has 2 gay guys commenting on how if they were asked what their religion is they'd say "Madonnaism". Even saying, "She is the queen and we are her servants". There were Madonna look a like contests, a woman who claims she wins the contests due to her similar appearance, and more. Pete Weinzettl Editor Madonna Fanzine spoke for a brief minute. Dibs Anan [a guy fan who did collage] expresses how he admires her strong character to be herself despite the negativity and how she isn't afraid to go against the mainstream or hard core values of traditional America. One fan stating, "She eats the attention and there's nothing wrong with that." Other fans discuss their admiration of how she is unique and talented. As well, as visiting Madonna's home. Another fan and impersonator named, Queerdonna expresses his anger with respects to Madonna's not signing autographs to many of his friends [sighting he had picture of Madonna and him with autograph).

Overall, if you are a die hard must have every single thing fan then this has nice artwork on DVD insert and her brother up-close. Other than that, there are no album positions, album discussions, concert talks, or much more than just her impact on the culture and world of music. I don't regret buying it because it has given me a much broader picture and clearer idea of how Madonna has impacted with her music, hard work, and dedication. The name of the game is exactly that: her IMPACT and how it relates to the outside world!

*This video has been edited to not show Madonna's chest during the Paul Gaultier walk. The clip repeats throughout at least 5 times.