Movie of the Week: Rocky

   

    Movie of the Week (4/11/14-4/17/14): We all love a good underdog story and there is no better one than probably the one that started them all. Boxing has sort of faded away a little in today's age, although there are still plenty of fights, it is not as popular as it used to be twenty years ago. Boxing was popular for a very long time in the United States and people watched many boxers rise from the bottom to the top. I'm sure you know which ones I'm talking about. But, in 1976 we were introduced to one that started from the very bottom and rose to the top by making a 'nobody' become a 'somebody' in, Rocky.
    Rocky Balboa is a collector for a loan shark and he gets paid here and there when he collects money. He is also a small time boxer and has very small fights every now and then. The problem is he doesn't get paid very much and is struggling, he lives in a terrible apartment with bugs and dirt. Then he gets the chance of a life time. Champion Apollo Creed comes to town and Rocky sees this as a chance to become 'somebody.' He and Apollo plan to fight an exhibition that is suppose to be an easy fight that Apollo is suppose to win. Rocky wants to train as hard as he can while falling in love with a girl and prove that he's got what it takes to step in the ring with a Champion.
    As you all know by now, Sylvester Stallone plays Rocky, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, his only nomination. That is probably because this is his best acting that he has done, although he has a few other movies were he didn't receive the recognition that he deserved. But, nevertheless he was great in this movie and brought Rocky to life I don't think anybody else could. Talia Shire plays Adrian and she too was great here as a struggling woman who finds a man she least expected. Burgess Meredith and Burt Young play Mickey and Paulie respectively and both got nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Again, they too are great in every scene adding to the emotion filled film. Carl Weathers is also very good here as Apollo Creed, he and Rocky were great when on screen together.
    As I said this is a great story about an underdog rising up from the very bottom and that is what Stallone gave us. He actually wrote the screenplay when he had next to nothing and sold it to become a millionaire over night. He actually went and bought his dog back, which he sold because he needed money so badly. But, he gave us a great story with wonderful character development and characters that we want to cheer for over and over again. Director John G. Avildsen gives us great classic direction with perfectly filmed scenes with a very realistic feel to them. The boxing scenes were filmed very well too with a good mix of close up and wide shots so we are not overwhelmed, they were very well balanced.
    Of course we have great editing from start to finish, some scenes with very little and some with several good cuts to give the film excellent flow. The film also has great sound as it is mixed and edited perfectly in each scene, especially the boxing scenes and the iconic training scenes when Rocky goes from workout to workout all the way up those famous steps. Of course this film would not be complete without its powerful and motivating musical score. Bill Conti gave us a wonderful and moving score that is still being used today, we all get pumped when we hear it. Rocky is a film that never gets old as we cheer on its underdog every time we watch it, including its sequels, and get moved by its story and characters.
4/4 Stars  

Movie of the Week: Minority Report

   

    Movie of the Week (5/4/14-5/10/14): Murder is everywhere in the world and it happens everyday, whether we want it to or not. The murder of innocent people and the murder of guilty people happens yet in a future world we see where humans have come up with a way to stop murders all together. In a perfect world that is what people want, to have no more murders, but of course everything has its pros and cons. The system that is used in this film appeared to have been hiding something, something that might have put the wrong people in jail and, when in the wrong hands, could be used to commit murder again. Now, that being said some people have an image that could have proved they would have been innocent, but some do not, some future murderers have a, Minority Report.  
    John Anderton leads an elite crime fighting force called Precrime, in 2054, which is a new kind of program that can see people who are about to commit a murder. For six years it has been perfect, and in six years there has not been a murder. The system has three gifted humans called Pre-Cogs that work together to see the future murders. Anderton soon discovers that the system predicts him to commit a murder on a victim he doesn't even know. He is then on the run with his former teammates after him, with his past haunting him and used against him, he must find out who and why has set him up for a murder that he is suppose to commit in 36 hours.
    Tom Cruise plays John Anderton and I was very, very impressed with his performance in this movie. This is probably my favorite character of his because he seemed to enjoy playing it and delivers an electrified performance with a great and in depth character. Colin Farrell plays Danny Witwer, a man trying to find flaws in the system and when he seems to have found them begins chasing Anderton. Farrell was also very good in this picture and gave a very good supporting actor performance. Max Von Sydow plays Lamar Burgess, who is the Director of the Precrime force. He was very good in a role that we don't see him in very often and played it well to the point that we are shocked in the films climax, another fine performance from Sydow. We also have a good supporting cast that delivers very well in Neal McDonough, Steve Harris, Patrick Kilpatrick, Jessica Capshaw, Samantha Morton, and Tim Blake Nelson.
    In case you didn't know, this was directed my Steven Spielberg and you can most definitely tell that it has his touch. His intense and hands on direction shows that he wanted this film to be a very good film, I loved his way of directing this movie in making it feel like an action film while giving it the look of a true Sci-fi film. But he couldn't have done it without the work of cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who has worked with Spielberg a lot. He gave the film an interesting glare look to it to make it look more futuristic, of course he used it more in the dramatic scenes do give them a boost. The lighting was also interesting here too.
    We also have fantastic editing here, to me editing that deserved an Oscar nomination, that made the film absolutely fun to watch especially during the chase scenes and the revelations scenes. John Williams score is also very moving and riveting. But this film would not be what it is with out the visual effects and production design. These two combined make this an effective movie, along with them being Spielberg's trademark in his films. They are both great and put the finishing touches on this great film because it is beautiful to look at with these fantastic visuals and sets. It is also a great story, with Sci-fi, action, and mystery all mixed in one because of a great screenplay, it is very well written. With great performances, stellar direction, eye-popping cinematography, visual effects, editing, and sets, and an intense story, this is a new modern Sci-fi classic.
3.5/4 Stars