To paraphrase Robert Burns "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Way back in January, which seems like eons ago, I was going to see Creed, but I thought I should see Rocky first. I saw Rocky but couldn't get to Creed. Until now. You may recall there was quite the foofaraw when the Oscar nominations came out regarding the lack of diversity in the nominees, and Creed was one of the movies cited. Sylvester Stallone was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but Ryan Coogler (director) and Michael B. Jordan (Adonis Creed) were not. This was not the first time that Coogler and Jordan were not nominated for a worthy film (in my opinion) - Fruitvale Station was a powerful movies and deserved consideration. But, I think that both of those men are very talented and we'll hear more from them. So, back to the movie. Rocky Balboa (Stallone) is a much older man, now a widower and seemingly without close friends, still living in Philadelphia. Adonis Johnson (Jordan) is a young man in California, who after a rough childhood in group homes, has found success in the securities world, but he would rather box. Adonis was taken in by Apollo Creed's widow, Mary Anne (played by the beautiful Phylicia Rashad) she doesn't want him to fight. Of course he has to follow his dreams and heads to Philadelphia with the hope of getting Rocky to train him. We follow as Rocky, albeit reluctantly, trains Adonis the way Mickey trained him over 35 years before. Adonis (Donnie) wants to make it on his own, not relying on his father's name and fame, but it eventually gets out. Donnie gets a couple of fights, and the last one is a doozy. I really loved this movie; the script does a great job of recalling the memories of the earlier Rocky movies without getting weighed down by nostalgia, and I never thought I would say this, but Sylvester Stallone was really good. Rocky was more grounded, not the goofball he was in the first movie, but insightful and well-spoken when he was giving guidance to Donnie, whom he treats like a son. The chemistry between Rocky and Donnie (or maybe better to say Stallone and Jordan) was perfect, it seemed like they had been working together for a long time, the banter and the arguments were very realistic and believable. I'm guessing there will be a sequel and if there is, I hope Stallone is in it as well, and I also hope they can catch lightning in a bottle twice. Donnie also had a love interest, Bianca (Tessa Thompson). Most of you know I'm not a fan of love stories in the middle of my movies, but this worked; it wasn't too much or mushy and it didn't detract from the main story.
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| Philadelphia |
I have a surprise for you: I'm working on another list. I love Agatha Christie: Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and even some of the lesser known works. David Suchet completed making television movies for all of the Hercule Poirot collection and I have decided to watch all of them (again). I won't be reviewing them all, but I may give periodic updates, or not. I may be spontaneous. What I do want to share is how much David Suchet IS Hercule Poirot, no disrespect to Peter Ustinov or Albert Finney, but it's no competition. Poirot, and the others in the canon, are still so popular today because there is no artifice; no ultra complicated plots with bizarre twists; a video tour of England, and the stories are set in a bygone era, and yet so much a part of it - the art deco, the world after Downton Abbey, if you will; and the characters themselves - Poirot, Hastings, Japp, Miss Lemon totally own their idiosyncrasies, and Poirot operates from the most honest of premises - always for the greater good and he has no patience for evil intentions, but compassion for the oppressed, less fortunate and lovelorn. And, I love his quirks, the way he uses his "little gray cells". More to follow.
The other series I mentioned a while ago was "Nurse Jackie" with Edie Falco. I am now in season seven, the last one, and I will be sad it's over, but it's probably time for it to end. Some shows make the mistake of going on too long and rehashing stories or getting so ridiculous it's just stupid. I think they avoided that issue, but I suppose anything can happen in the next 6 episodes. I really like this series - in less than 30 minutes I laugh, I cringe, I get irritated, and I care about these characters who are very multidimensional and complex. My favorite is Zoey, who has come a long way from being shy and uncertain to being a really good nurse, with a good heart and is unable to form a malicious thought. A friend and I were discussing how much there is to watch, so many options it's hard to choose. If you're looking for something new, I would suggest "Nurse Jackie".
My next stop is Cleveland and my favorite theater, the Cedar-Lee, and lunch at Tommy's, and with any luck, I will get in one day at the Cleveland International Film Festival AND Batman v. Superman with my brother.
