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Check out the trailer for the forthcoming comedy starring Kevin Spacey and spot-on-genius-casting with Michael Shannon as the King: Elvis & Nixon - this is a hoot and a holler with the latter who looks like he's having tons of fun (and frankly, who could blame him!) 
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 Rocky to boxing is what Miyagi is to karate. Creed (2015) Director: Ryan Coogler Running time: 133 min Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew I had the pleasure recently of watching the 73rd Annual Golden Globes (nice one Gervais!) and witnessing Stallone collecting his award for Best Supporting Actor (spoiler alert!) to a standing ovation no less. A beautiful moment that brought man-tears to my eyes and Sly informing us that back in 1977, it was a tumbleweed affair when he turned up in dodgy 70s gear to collect his gongs for Rocky(1976). That film alone is the reason I love hitting the gym, and while the only inevitable injuries I've had (lower pain in my back to slamming my fingers between dumbbells), nothing compares to the struggle Stallone endured to get Rocky made. It's an amazing story which never gets old. The Italian Stallion wrote the screenplay in 3 days (and nights I believe) at his apartment in Hell's Kitchen and even sold his beloved pooch to survive! When it won the Oscars in a sociopolitical climate that was recovering from Vietnam, Jason Robards was less-than-impressed and failed to understand why; but it would appear America found itself a new sweetheart who now has a statue in Philadelphia and the best training montage in cinematic history. As I was telling a friend last week, Rocky is not only my favourite film of all-time, but still my pick from that very successful franchise (yes, I'll even include 5 for all of its misfires). Rocky Balboa was Sly putting things right again with an emotionally charged story, infused with great humour and onscreen chemistry and thought it was the swansong to end them all. As countless stories will state, Coogler, who helmed the critically acclaimed Fruitvale Station had an idea for Creed, but still keeping it within that beloved universe. Stallone was reluctant at first to reprise his most famous role but look at where it's landed him (and a now-confirmed nominee for the 88th Oscars announced on 14 January 2016). I hold my breath in anticipation for the lovable lunk-head to collect a long overdue accolade for acting next month. The story of Creed goes back its basic roots - Adonis Creed (played by rough-around-the-edges B.Jordan) is small punk kid with fists of steel who ends up in juvie and appears to attract trouble on a full-time basis. He is visited by Mary (Rashad) who reveals herself to be the fling-on-the-side his late father (Apollo) had. From here, things take an unexpected turn, 'Donnie' as he prefers, grows up into quite the academic who lands a promotion in his suit-and-tie role. But it's not enough and resigns, realising that it's not just the ghost of his dad that hangs over him, it's also the inescapable family genes. Leaving his fancy mansion and disapproving mother behind (her graphic description of looking after an incapacitated Apollo is enough to put anyone off boxing), Donnie heads off to Philly to track down the one man who knew his father...Rocky Balboa, who still runs Adrian's restaurant. Their first meeting is what you'd expect: A young, brash kid who thinks he knows it all and a wise owl who's been there and done it; digital meeting the analog all over again with added tweaks. As you'd expect in this urban-coming-of-age-tale, there are knockdowns aplenty (and some you cannot see coming a mile off). This is an exceptional sports-drama movie that someone like Kevin Costner could have directed in his day and scores in so many ways. Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of rap music, it's used to good effect here to define who and what Donnie (or 'Hollywood') is. I've always liked Jordan, a good-looking man with the right hint of brashness and if he plays his cards right, will be in as much demand as Oscar Issac. He doesn't go all gangster as John Boyega occasionally strayed into in a galaxy far, far away and the boy did good in the gym (ladies and gents, you'll be crushing Mikey in the droves!) Despite this, Coogler makes sure that we're still in Rocky's world and are treated to some welcome Easter eggs, and in some ways, echoing the very first film and crap Balboa was going through. There is great support from the pretty Tessa Thompson as Bianca, whom Adonis meets in the funniest of circumstances. Yes, she appears to be another superficial babe whose dream is to be America's new soul sensation, but wait...she has layers that I couldn't comprehend, which only Donnie's eagle-eye could spot. This is my first time seeing her but she's a very good actress and interesting to see what she does in Westworld for HBO this spring/summer. Then there's Scouser Tony Bellew as 'Pretty Ricky' Conlan and like some of the previous entries in the series, he is also a boxer in real life and quite the ominous physical presence in and out of the ring. And for the record, he is pretty, in a convict kinda way (just kidding!) Phylicia Rashad proves there's still life left in that former Huxtable girl and for her small time on the big screen, she still remembers how to act (are you reading this Carrie Fisher?) Sly...this guy is a living legend and despite the marital problems that became dirty laundry in public, the boy did good with Jennifer Flavin (and have you seen his daughters, ouch! Pity the future sons-in-law who mess with that family!) I loved him as Rocky in 2006 and for a while, there was a danger that he wouldn't take orders from anyone behind the director's chair but himself, but as Creed has taught me, never underestimate anything. Coogler has coaxed the most beautiful performance from Stallone (okay, that might be overkill) but who could forget Cop Land? He was up against some formidable acting talent, but under the direction of James Mangold, held his own and here it's a whole new ball game. For stalwarts like Clint Eastwood who only managed to reprise 'Dirty' Harry Callahan successfully with Sudden Impact, then later made us regret it with The Dead Pool; Sly has been so fortunate to revisit the best imaginary friend we never had, and adding more to the emotional landscape. It's been a longtime since I've man-cried (although Warrior does qualify on so many levels) but Sly delivers the performance of a lifetime and cannot wait to see where they might go with the Godfather 2 style sequel that's been spoken of recently. Adrian, Paulie, Apollo and Mickey would be proud of their Philadelphia Boy. A knockout 10/10  That standing ovation, that anthem #GonnaFly  David O. Russell's latest affair is anything but Joyless. Joy (2015)
Director: David O. Russell Running time: 124 mins Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Bobby De Niro, Isabella Rossellini, Bradley Cooper, Virginia Madsen. Joy reunites the dream team of Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, from Oscar nominated director David O. Russell (almost disappointed he's not Irish!) 2016 hasn't had a chance to breathe and already have one of my top ten placements (certainly an inspirational one too on a personal level). I walked into this movie not really knowing what to expect, and for a while thought O. Russell was going to retread I Heart Huckabees territory; the visual gags of Joy Mangano (Lawrence) getting trapped inside a soap opera box with TV characters worse than her own dysfunctional family certainly led me to believe that. Some idiots have moaned that these scenes are distracting and don't add anything (er, yes they do) and what I admire about the director is that he just doesn't give a crap and will do it anyway. Besides, who doesn't want to see Susan Lucci and Donna Mills sending themselves up. When we first see Joy (and so typically of O. Russell who doesn't want to signpost his flashback for the audience) I deduced it's a wintry 1970s where a sunshine-and-happiness kinda girl is with her best friend Jackie (an excellent Dascha Polanco). One can only imagine this is due to the failing marriage of her parents Rudy and Terry (De Niro and Madsen in a career best, who's aged beautifully, despite some enhancements). Fast forwarding time, Joy is all grown up into the formidable Miss Lawrence. Instead of being the glamour puss about town, our girl is a bookings clerk for Eastern Airlines and clearly not getting any kind of job satisfaction; but has some nifty plumbing skills back at the ranch. On the advice of her grandma Joy sets out to become a strong independent woman in the cut throat world of business building "wonderful things." Just one thing though, she needs to come up with an idea which eventually becomes the self-wringing Miracle Mop. It's no easy feat mind you, she needs backing and luckily her divorced father meets a rich widow Trudy (Rossellini) who agrees in financing the passion project through an amusing process-of-elimination Q&A. Agreeing on taking out a second mortgage, Joy secures an appointment through ex-hubby and close friend Tony (Édgar Ramírez in top form) who knows the executive of QVC (Quality, Value, Convenience) - Neil Walker, as played by the always reliable Bradley Cooper. At this point you just care about the outcome and boy, it's a pretty emotional one at times which had me welling up. Jen Lawrence is 26 and the Number One Actress in the world right now, make no mistake. After winning the Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook, you'd think she would succumb to the curse most actors dread, the ending-up-in-a-DVD-bargain-bucket-for-a-movie-not-even-your-dog-watched syndrome. She's gorgeous, very career driven and one-hundred percent committed about which roles to seek out and in a rare position with Hollywood to call the shots. Right now I am hating Chris Pratt (man-crush supreme) as it's been reported he's filmed a sex scene with J-Law for sci-fi flick Passengers; I can only imagine what a chore that was. In real life Jen is still adorably funny and says what she likes (although she really should date a better class of man than Chris Martin! Yeah, Coldplay sucks but can blame Gwynnie for that fiasco). It's a given she will be nominated again for Best Actress but from the chatter I've been hearing, Brie Larson is the hot contender for Room (and I will be reviewing that in the future). This is a more lighter outing for O. Russell, who manages to infuse uncertainty with the proceedings, but still has time for laughs, particularly with De Niro and Ramírez, the failed Tom Jones wannabe (speaking of singing, witnessing the flashback where Joy and Tony are on stage with Something Stupid is a moment to smile at; Jen should release an album interlaced with Metallica!) OK, that might be pushing it too far but one can dream! Virginia Madsen shows a comedic side to her talents; Jimmy Jean-Louis as Toussaint is short-lived but sticks in my mind and Elisabeth Röhm as bitchy sister Peggy is painful to watch (always used to her playing nice and feisty, but this a nice departure and holds her own against the heavyweight ensemble). As this was based on a semi-autobiographical true story, checkout the inspiration behind it. Gotta say, the real-life Joy sure has a mean set of pins :-) This is an ideal post Christmas feelgood flick, which given its release is timely and reminds us not to take our home comforts for granted. It might be preaching to the females, but men can easily embrace the message and be inspired (just don't expect me to don a blonde wig and sunglasses though). A Moptastic 8/10 |
