Madonna's Truth or Dare Documentary

This was Madge at her height in terms of popularity. Its a fascinating documentary not only about the artist but the influence of the artist. The sequel, Ive Got A Secret is good but not as good because the subject is overly aware of her image.

When I was a kid and waited to see this I was **SO** excited.

Upon re-viewing it 2 years ago I was embarrassed, but not just for myself, for her. She comes off as the very worst the West has to offer, presented as the best.

why sad

Am old!

And, of course, we knew TOD was a big deal when it got its own parody.

Fantastic film. The contrast between the black and white documentary material and the beautifully shot concert sequences in colour works perfectly.

Also a time when Madonna's back-up singers (Niki Harris and Donna Delory) and dancers stood out more in her shows. She still hires wonderful dancers but they don't get the big roles like Slam did for the Dick Tracy numbers or Oliver for Open Your Heart and Jose and Luis for Like a Virgin. And her back-up singers are relegated to the background, barely seen anymore in her shows, whereas Donna and Niki became a big part of the show and adored by fans.

Damn, I'm old. I used to love Madonna, so I was obsessed with this documentary. This made me feel a bit nostalgic... :/

When this came out, I was 11 or 12 and couldn't rent the VHS—the guy at the rental store said "No way." It took another year or so before I found a way. I thought it was really entertaining, especially the scenes with Madonna's childhood friend who denied the two of them ever had prepubescent sex together. ("I remember looking at her bush. I KNOW.")

Haven't seen it in over twenty years. No interest in revisiting. A few years after this, I discovered electric guitars and developed my taste.

All I remember about this was that David Fincher was supposed to direct it and backed out at the last minute for some reason. There were rumors about him and Madonna having some kind of affair, even though he was newly married.

Never did like Madonna. I never thought she was a great talent. Her voice is nothing special, and she made her fame by just being outrageous. I became bored with her very quickly, and I never bought any of her music. Sorry, but I saw her as a weak talent. Am I going to be banished from DL now?

Still neat after all these years!

I loved it then and still love it.

Love the parody Julie Brown did of it. Medusa: Dare to be truthful. Madge sent Julie a warm, half consumed bottle of champagne after viewing it.

Thanks for the info. I did not know this was streaming on Netflix (and I usually am very thorough about checking out what is offered). What are some other titles (any subject) I might be missing?

I saw this at a midnight showing shortly after it was released, sitting behind a group of four young white thugs and their girlfriends. At the scene where the two guys begin kissing, all four of the guys began making loud retching noises and promptly got up and left the theatre, leaving the four girls behind.

I lost my virginity to a guy who had this movie poster next to his bed.

Anyway, I watched it on Netflix again after having only seen it in the early 90s. It still holds up as entertaining. Her tits never looked better than in that outfit she wore to have dinner with Antonio B.

You do realize all the black and white footage was staged for the cameras? I don't think there's an honest moment in the entire movie.

Except for that poor girl who got raped.

But it wasn't "rape" rape, y'all.

You gotta give M credit. She saw the trend coming. TorD was, in some ways, the harbinger of the Kardashians, Housewives, et blah.

R19, I remember in that great Howard Stern interview with Madonna he mentioned that the documentary was the beginning of reality tv.

R12 = Madonna

R17. 100% Correct. She 'controlled' everything & we saw what she wanted us to see. She's so gross & phony.

Julie Browns medusa dare to be truthful is better

I find it really creepy that r6 can name all of Madonna's [italic]back-up dancers[/italic] from 20 years ago.

It still rates as one of the most highly regarded music documentaries around. It was fantastic then, fantastic now.

r24 They are in the film you stupid moron. Pay attention.

R26 owns the VHS, DVD and BluRay DVD of the film and watches it every night. He KNOWS!

R25 = Madonna, too.

Is that supposed to be some sort of self-exculpation, r26? Who the fuck memorizes the names of the back-up dancers in documentaries about singers?

Honey, you are PRESSED.

Any fan would know the names of Nikki and Donna. Only a vadge stan would know the dancer's names.

[quote]Madge sent Julie a warm, half consumed bottle of champagne after viewing it.

That wasn't champagne. But it used to be.

r29 it's not about memorizing. I am just good with names.

Stay pressed, Mary.

Girls! Girls! EVERYone posting here is a CUNT!

The Julie Brown version was much better as it showed up the complete phoniness of the whole thing.

And you expect a DL thread to be anything but...???

I just watched 2 out of 6 parts of the Julie Brown thing. Does it get funny LATER on? Is that how it works?

Bitch!!!

I saw this at a late night showing with my then boyf who was a mad Madonna fan. Me not so much, but I went because he asked me to go with him to see it. After the film he asked me how I liked it and when I told him I had been underwhelmed, he said I was not invited to join him clubbing as punishment. We since broke up.

I love this. When originally broadcast, it was intercut with comedy sketches in color.

The best part is at the end, when Madona Jen show how she would give a blow.....

why are you talking about that old shit?

[quote]he said I was not invited to join him clubbing as punishment.

Well, I think most of us here would consider that a reward.

You know, there was a documentary that I watched, made by DL hate-fave Bruce Weber, called "Let's Get Lost" (it was about a jazz trumpeter, Chet Baker, who had once been *incredibly* beautiful in his day and destroyed himself through drugs). Made the mistake of watching ToD immediately afterwards and, boy, was that a stylistic slap in the face...Madge, honey, but *no*.

OP can't do math.

Chet Baker had a beautiful voice as well as a beautiful face, and Let's Get Lost shows he kept his voice as he got older.

Madonna's brother's book shines a whole new light on the making of this documentary and just what a sociopath Madonna is. The scene where she's rolling around on her mother's grave -- she had her brother driven out to the cemetery -- he didn't know where he was being taken, and after she was done rolling around being filmed, she went over to him and said, "Okay, your turn." He said, "Fuck you," and went walked off. He said it was then and there that he realized that nothing was off limits with her, not even their dead mother. She would do anything for publicity.

Oh, definitely R45. I will say this about Bruce - he definitely worked the B&W for that documentary.

Oh christ, does anyone remember that godawful Sex book? "Oh look, it's Madge and her vadge!"

Sitcom Blossom (starring Myam Bialik) made its own spoof of the documentary. Blossom, high on flu medication, watches the movie and falls to sleep. Hilarity ensues when she dreams of being Madonna. Warning, link is the full episode cropped in some weird way.

Karma is on Kevin Costner's side.

[quote]Who the fuck memorizes the names of the back-up dancers in documentaries about singers?

Their names are right there on the IMDb. You don't have to memorize anything to look shit up on the internet.

Hi Jabba, it's good to see you're back! Now can you please report back to the Janet threads so you can deal with her major disgrace and floppage?

I remember thinking at the time, she's just like everybody else: she doesn't get along with her father, she picks her nose and she can't get laid.

I thought it was funny the way she disproved the existence of God by repeatedly praying for a singing voice throughout the film.

In the UK this called In Bed with Madonna.

So desperate.

The documentary realy shows why Madge became the queen of pop. She just had "it". Everything. Hella charisma, not forced, sexy but not girly. Not one of her predecssors match her sense of style and creativity. Imma queen bey Stan and even she doesnt compare to Madge's natural charisma.

Why was she so offended by Kevin Costner?

Warren Beatty is a mysterious presence in the first half of the movie. He presumably befriended her when they made Dick Tracy which also perhaps explains why Al Pacino and Mandy Patinkin are in her dressing room at one point.

I thought it was interesting when someone made the comment that no one around her dares to speak the truth. Someone should have told that the I Dream of Jeannie hair extension did her no favors.

Peter Travers in his Rolling Stone review of the film said about the Kevin Costner neat that such a candy-assed adjective for the two-hour assault of energy and hightech flash that is Madonna's act sends the diva into jerk alert and exposes him as an abject dweeb in the ruthless glare of her pop-icon hipness.

There are stories around the Costner incident, that include how he was seeing another woman on her crew which pissed Madonna off, and how Madonna had invited him to see her show after he had approached her to do The Bodyguard film with him.

Should have won the Oscar for best documentary. Once again the Academy fucker her over. It was OK when she sang Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sondheim songs, but she has a list of great songs from movies she wrote that should have been at least nominated.

I think I read that he did attend one of her shows and told her it was "neat", and that made her mad. He didn't fawn enough over her.

Similar to R60, but I had heard the Madonna had tried approaching Costner to let her star in The Bodyguard but he rebuffed her. Among her attempts, she supposedly tried coming onto him, which, when he turned her down, made her more upset.

She was an insufferable bitch in this.

I was 14ish when this came out - I didn't know what a blow job was yet and didn't understand what she was doing with the bottle.

Loved the French and Saunders version where Madonna Jennifer was dared to perform a blow dry with the bottle.

I was surprised the director, Alek Keshishian, didn't have much of a Hollywood career after this. This film allowed him to do a dream project--"With Honors," which was about his experience as a Harvard student befriending a homeless guy--but it was a flop critically and commercially, and he had to go back to making MTV videos and commercials.

r61: Hi, Madge!

R10: Hi GaGa!

[quote]Should have won the Oscar for best documentary. Once again the Academy fucker her over. It was OK when she sang Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sondheim songs, but she has a list of great songs from movies she wrote that should have been at least nominated.

This Used To Be My Playground would have been her strongest chance but was up against Aladdin and The Bodyguard that year. In any other year I Have Nothing would have won.

Live To Tell would have been up against Take My Breath Away,, The Glory Of Love and Somewhere Out There.

I'll Remember would have been up against The Lion King, but was a Carol Bayer Sager song from that transphobic Emma Thompson pregnant man film better? Or a Randy Newman song from that Glenn Close newspaper film?

R66 But Brendon Fraser was so cute in it! And it gave us "I'll Remember" which I loved.

I went through a Madonna phase a few years ago and this documentary was the cure for it. The fact that she was so involved in what made the final cut is fascinating considering how awful she comes off.