Author Archives: jjcwn

Movie Review: Creed III

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , • Leave a comment

In 1980, Robert De Niro won the best Oscar for “Raging Bull”, released in 1980, he created a new genre of acting that included becoming a great athlete first – by training for months, to play Jake La Motta, the great middleweight boxer. De Niro’s performance in Raging Bull was so significant that there was no way he was not going to win the Oscar for best actor, even to the point of moving the best actor nomination for Timothy Hutton in “Ordinary People” to supporting actor, so he could win a deserved acting award for his outstanding performance for that great movie. De Niro then went on to gain 60 pounds so he could play La Motta in his later years, making De Niro’s great acting performance secondary to an amazing physical achievement unprecedented in movie history.

For all of the 9 Rocky and Creed movies, one has to admire the physical shape of all of the actors in the boxing scenes are in. This requires a great deal of hard work and training for months in order to become believable in their roles as professional boxers. For the 3rd installment of the Creed franchise, “Creed III” the shape Micheal B. Jordan and Jonathon Majors are in for this film is some of the best within both the Rocky and Creed series.

The boxing scenes are as always – not realistic because no human brain can take repeated shots like these and continue boxing. The other flaw with most of these movies is that the Boxing Association would never sanction a fight where one boxer is in a completely different weight class than the other fighter. In this case, Jonathan Majors, who plays Damian Anderson weighs at least 240 and Michael B. Jordan, who plays Adonis Creed is at most 205 pounds. In the real world of professional boxing, middle-weight or lightweight boxers do not fight heavy-weight boxers.

Aside from the flaws in this film, I thought the story was as good as the previous 2 Creed movies, although the extremely fast rise of Damian who gets out of prison and very quickly gets to fight for the heavyweight title is not believable under any circumstances. But this is a movie and very often to create a great conflict story, corners sometimes have to be cut.

Overall, I thought that the acting was good throughout this film, with Tessa Thompson, as Adonis Creed’s wife, and
Phylicia Rashad, as Creed’s mother. Florian Munteanu, returns as Drago from Creed II and he weighs close to 260 pounds, making the weight class issue even more obvious in the last movie.

There is no mention of the character of Rocky throughout this entire story, and due to politics with Sylvester Stallone and Irwin Winkler, it seems that Stallone has been pushed out of the Creed franchise. One reason is that producer Irwin Winkler owns the rights to both franchises. I would rather have seen some explanation about what happened to Rocky, given that he was battling Cancer in the last movie and Stallone gave such a great performance in the previous 2 Creed movies.

I agree with the high Rotten Tomatoes ratings for Creed III of 86% and highly recommend this film.

Past Movie Review: Ordinary People – using ChatGpt

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , • Leave a comment

Out of curiosity, I asked the amazing new AI Software ChatGpt to write a 1000-word review of the great movie from 1980, Ordinary People – easily one of the best movies ever produced. Here is the impressive output:

Ordinary People is a 1980 American drama film directed by Robert Redford and written by Alvin Sargent. The film is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest. The story revolves around the Jarrett family, whose lives are turned upside down following the tragic death of their eldest son Buck. The film explores the themes of guilt, grief, and the difficulty of communication within a family.

The Jarretts are a well-to-do family living in the Chicago suburbs. The father, Calvin (Donald Sutherland), is a successful tax attorney, and the mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), is a perfectionist homemaker. Their eldest son, Buck, was the golden boy of the family, a star athlete and beloved by all. However, Buck died in a boating accident, leaving his younger brother Conrad (Timothy Hutton) deeply troubled and guilt-ridden.

The film opens with Conrad’s release from a psychiatric hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for depression and attempted suicide. Conrad is distant and withdrawn, struggling to come to terms with the trauma of his brother’s death. His parents are also struggling to cope, with Beth, in particular, unwilling to acknowledge the extent of Conrad’s pain and refusing to seek therapy for him.

The film’s central conflict arises from the tension between Calvin and Beth’s differing approaches to dealing with grief. Calvin is compassionate and empathetic, wanting to support his son and help him through his pain. Beth, on the other hand, is cold and dismissive, more concerned with maintaining the appearance of a perfect family than addressing the emotional needs of her son. The conflict comes to a head in a scene where Calvin confronts Beth about her emotional distance and lack of support for their son.

What makes Ordinary People such a powerful film is its exploration of the complexity of human emotions. The characters are flawed and often frustrating, but they are also deeply human and relatable. Conrad’s struggles with guilt and depression are portrayed with sensitivity and nuance, and Timothy Hutton’s performance is raw and emotionally charged. Mary Tyler Moore is equally impressive as Beth, conveying both the fragility and the stubbornness of a woman struggling to hold on to her carefully constructed façade.

The film’s themes of communication and the difficulty of expressing emotions are also particularly resonant. The Jarretts are a family that struggles to communicate honestly with each other, with Calvin and Beth’s marriage strained by years of unspoken resentment and emotional distance. Conrad’s attempts to open up to his parents are often met with dismissiveness or discomfort, and the family’s inability to address their pain head-on only serves to deepen their wounds.

The film’s cinematography is also worth noting, with Redford employing a minimalist style that emphasizes the emotional weight of each scene. The camera often lingers on characters’ faces, allowing the audience to see the pain and turmoil beneath their exteriors. The film’s use of music is similarly effective, with a haunting score by Marvin Hamlisch adding to the film’s emotional intensity.

One of the most poignant moments in the film comes towards the end when Conrad finally confronts his mother about her emotional distance and the impact it has had on their family. In this scene, we see both the depth of Conrad’s pain and the possibility for healing that comes from honest communication. It’s a powerful moment that encapsulates the film’s central message: that healing requires honesty, vulnerability, and a willingness to confront difficult emotions.

Overall, Ordinary People is a beautifully crafted film that explores the complexities of grief, guilt, and the importance of communication in a family. The film’s themes are timeless and universal, and its exploration of the emotional landscape of a family in crisis is both moving and thought-provoking.

Movie Review: Cocaine Bear

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Leave a comment

What is an example of a dark comedy that is not funny and is too dark? “Cocaine Bear” which was released today. Why would anyone think that heads decapitated, limbs bitten off, heads blown off, and people disemboweled is somehow humorous, even under an excuse umbrella of something that is called a dark comedy? The cardinal sin of all advertised comedy movies are those that are supposed to be funny and are never funny. This one is one of the all-time champions of very unfunny comedy movies, mainly because the deaths are way too disturbing to ever be considered funny even for a very dark comedy.

In 1985 in Georgia, a drug smuggler dropped bags of cocaine into a forest from an airplane and this movie tries to speculate what would happen if a black bear found this cocaine and got high. How anyone could consider this a viable movie idea, is anyone’s guess. The real fact is that there was a bear that ate some cocaine in the 1980s but died immediately because that is what happens when a bear eats too much cocaine. I found the scenes of violence and death extremely disturbing throughout this mostly bad movie. It is also a shame that the last movie the highly respected late actor Ray Liotta made was this low-level film. According to IMDB Liotta died of natural causes at only age 67, but maybe his regret over taking this small part in a bad B movie could have caused him too much stress at the end because this was one bad decision at the end of a distinguished career in film-making. The problem with acting always is to find that one miracle script that is so hard to write and may never get through the politics and the middle men that dominate the movie industry and far too often, greenlight the wrong scripts.

Cocaine Bear movie stars Keri Russell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Kristofer Hivju, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, and the late Ray Liotta. For the most part, I was surprised at all of the well-known actors in this film agreed to make this movie, mostly because a dark comedy is supposed to be funny at some point, and this film did not achieve any funny high notes.

Cocaine Bear was the third film directed by Elizabeth Banks and unfortunately, her first 3 movies including Pitch Perfect 3, Charlies Angels, and this mostly bad film, are not good starting points.

This is not a movie for any children to see and there will probably be some parents who will think that the bear on cocaine is cute and will be horrified at some of the scenes and will have to quickly escort their children out of the movie theater.

The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for this movie are too high 72% with my rating in the 50% range and a solid miss.