An intimate look at the rise and fall of Iron Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion ever speaks plainly about his life and boxing in the recently released “Tyson” directed by James Toback.

After watching the movie there is no doubt that Malik Abdul Aziz (Tyson’s Muslim name) is/was the most intimidating fighter in boxing. Before a fight he would walk slowly to the ring, surrounded by his entourage, having already broken a full sweat, with no robe or sweatsuit, pounding his gloves together over and over hoping to push his knuckles closer to the surface of the Everlast leather. On top of that, the speed and power of his combinations was plain frightening. You can see the fear on the face of his opponents.

The film is comprised of a few long interviews cut and mixed together with footage from fights, training, the early years with Cus D’Amato and some of Kid Dynamites more, ehem, candid moments. The story is told solely through Tyson’s point of view and oftentimes he speaks directly into the camera creating an eery dynamic for the viewer. The fact that the director, Toback, and Tyson are friends helps Mike to open up a bit more than usual to speak truthfully about his success and misfortune. For someone that, at times, might have seemed a bit delusional to some, Tyson is surprisingly so matter of fact when describing his troubled youth and career. Especially interesting is his commentary during fights later in his career when he starts to lose.

You’ll be hard pressed to find a more entertaining and insightful documentary this year. Now playing in NY and LA, be sure to catch it if it comes your way. More info at Tyson.

A while back while walking through Union Square in NYC I think I saw a Sesame Street taping, although no one knows who this character is. Do you?

We are apparently keeping track.

For the past several months a lot of my time has been devoted to curating, planning and organizing the 99% conference and it’s finally all happening this Thursday and Friday, 16 and 17 April.

A different approach to the conference scene, we joined forces with Behance, the organizational gurus of the creative class, to look at how the inspiring art, design and culture that Cool Hunting features comes to be. We’ve assembled a diverse cast of speakers to present on the successful execution of creative ideas. Each will attest to their own unique take on productivity, offering a behind-the-scenes look at their process and how their ideas come to life.

As equally inspiring perhaps as the speakers and their ideas themselves, the two-day event will be held in Renzo Piano’s new stunning NY Times Center and we’ve got a few other surprises up our sleeve.

More info is available at The 99 Percent Conference site. We’re almost sold out!

The 99% Conference
16-17 April 2009
NYTimes Center
242 West 41st Street
New York, NY 10036 map