Regardless if you are not a boxing or sports movie fan, one cannot help but admire the 8 movies in the Rocky franchise that started 42 years ago in 1976 with the release of Rocky, arguably one of the most emotional, relatable and best movies ever made. The movie Rocky came with both a screenplay and a new star that came out of nowhere – Sylvester Stallone. After Rocky, what followed was a very good sequel, Rocky 2 in 1979, another very good sequel, Rocky 3 in 1982 and two bad movies Rocky 4 in 1985 and Rocky 5 in 1990 that most people thought was the end of the franchise. The amount of work involved in making movies like this, including the intense boxing scenes with real contact and physical training involved is extremely impressive. Michael B. Jordan is in the kind of shape for this movie that Stallone was in for Rocky 3 and his acting in this movie is of Academy Award level quality.

Stallone revived the dead Rocky franchise 16 years after Rocky 5 with the release of “Rocky Balboa” in 2006, which was a return to a quality story and the end of Rocky boxing in a movie. What is even more brilliant is the new branch of this franchise with Creed, starring Michael B. Jordan, released in 2015 and Creed 2, released today that are both outstanding films. For Creed 2, the story idea is even better than Creed, with the son of Ivan Drago from Rocky 4 fighting Adonis Creed, remembering that in Rocky 4, Ivan Drago killed Adonis’ father Apollo Creed in the ring. I thought that the actor who plays Victor Drago, Florian Munteanu was miscast for this movie, because he is a huge heavyweight and 6’4′ and Jordan is at best a light heavyweight at only 5’11, but more of a middleweight. Because of the extreme weight difference, no boxing association would ever allow this match to even happen in the first place.

Creed 2 follows the same story paradigm as Rocky 3 and has references to Rocky 2, 3 and 4 throughout this movie that even included the return of Brigitte Nielsen, who appeared in Rocky 4 as Ivan Drago’s wife but thank God she has no lines in this film. The boxing action in this movie is as outstanding as the last Creed movie, with this version showing some brutal body shots that included broken ribs. As with all of the movies since Rocky Balboa in 2006, I have found it depressing that both Adrian and Pauley died of cancer some years earlier and Rocky still visits their grave sites, talking to them while reading the paper. The character of Rocky in both of the Creed movies leads a depressing lonely life and even gets cancer himself in Creed but is able to recover with the help of Adonis Creed.

The acting and the fight sequences in this movie are outstanding and like all of the previous Rocky movies include real impact with boxing that is extremely realistic. The Rotten Tomatoes for Creed 2 is a very high 79% and my rating is 95%. I highly recommend Creed 2.

The new movie “Boy Erased” that stars Russel Crowe, Nicole Kidman and rising star Lucas Hedges is about the practice of “Conversion Therapy” that is still being used today in most states. This therapy tries to change someone from being gay into being straight. The results of this therapy can be very harmful to whoever is forced to go through the program, and the story of Boy Erased is about the events that precede, follow and during the therapy of the main character Jared Eamons played by Hedges.

The solution to all of hatred and abuse of gay people for so many years in this world is to simply live and let live. Most simply, people minding their own business or having some level of tolerance towards the life choices of other people would alleviate so many problems that include violence against gay people. Only God can judge another person, other people should never judge who another person chooses to be. Trying to change someone into being what they are not, is absurd and barbaric and at they end of this movie, they announce that 700,000 people have been forced to go through Conversion Therapy and it is sill legal is 36 states.

This is s story that needed to be told and several of the scenes in this movie were hard to watch. The acting is outstanding throughout this film, and Lucas Hedges will probably receive an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Russel Crowe gained a great deal of weight for this role and you have to admire his dedication to a relatively small role and gaining what looked to be at least 30 pounds.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for Boy Erased are a high 85% and I agree with this rating and recommend this movie.

The best thing about the new movie “Instant Family” is that it is based on a true story. If this story were not true, it would not be believable enough and lack of believe-ability for this story would result in a lesser movie. A couple in their 40’s who collaborate to flip houses, decide that their lives are not fulfilling enough and after being inspired to adopt a foster child, wind up adopting 3 children, who were abandoned by their mother because of her drug addiction.

The instinct for any couple like this would be to want to save these 3 kids who have had a very difficult time surviving and being shipped around to different foster homes. What makes this movie good is that it shows the reality of taking on the huge responsibility of living with 3 emotionally damaged children. The couple, played by Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne volunteer to become foster parents for these 3 children, so that eventually they would be able to adopt them. This is not always easy considering the court systems in this country and the possibility of their mother wanting them back after she leaves prison and rehab. This very well written story points out the harsh realities of foster care and how dire the lives of so many children who have no family, and no real future because of parents who either abandoned them or died. There are so many children that need homes but not nearly enough parents to adopt them, but the huge responsibilities and cost of taking on foster children are overwhelming.

The cast of this film includes Tig Notaro, Octavia Spencer and the excellent stand-up comedian Iliza Shlesinger in what is her first movie role, playing a woman who wants to adopt a football player. This is a reference to the very good movie “The Blind Side” that was released in 2009 starring Sandra Bullock. This sub-story is played for laughs during the entire movie and for the most part works very well. The acting in this film is also very good, as is the message and the attempts at humor. The highlight of this movie is actress Isabela Moner who has both looks and acting ability that should give her a very long career in Hollywood. This movie has also reviewed very well receiving a very solid 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and I both agree with this rating and recommend this very solid family film.

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