The ABA and the NBA once upon a time were competing leagues. Then the NBA acquired some of the ABA teams, leaving some players without a plan and without a pension. A non-profit group and a lawyer went to battle to help these players regain some of their pensions and money.
Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment.
This isn’t the ultimate Rocky Collection. I’m sure Warner is planning a big deluxe set with all the bells and whistles somewhere down the line because, while it is a very good set, it doesn’t have every Rocky chapter. Despite being a spin off, the “Creed” movies are “Rocky” movies to their very soul and should be included in the library. I don’t know if they’re waiting for “Creed III” or some anniversary, but “Creed” deserves its spot in this massive library alongside “Rocky III” and “Rocky.” They’re both wonderful films the same as Stallone’s creations are. Stallone has also expressed big interest in re-cutting “Rocky V” for re-release over the last few years, so if that ever gets off the ground, there’s room for another set down the road.
Nevertheless, for fans that wanted another go at the “Rocky” series, Warner releases an interesting and more thorough (thorougher?) collection.
Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment.
Luca Guadagnino is a talented filmmaker, one that knows how to handle genre films well, but so far he feels so out of his element with “Challengers.” For all intents and purposes, “Challengers” is a very good movie, it’s just so ill fitted for Guadagnino’s abilities as he struggles between directing a film that bounces back and forth between dark suspense and darkly comedic drama. “Challengers” is a lot of ways about the passion of sports and the lengths we’re willing to go through to remain married to it, even when our prime has passed. “Challengers” isn’t so much a love triangle, as it is a dark drama about three people willing to be as cut throat as possible to remain in the game.
The Slamdance Film Festival runs Digitally and In-Person from January 19th to January 28th.
Directors Stephan Peterson and Sonya Ballantyne’s documentary is probably one of the most important and meaningful documentaries about the art of pro wrestling ever released. It’s a movie just not about the love and sacrifice for the art form, but also a documentary about the marginalized and how more and more the indigenous community is quietly being pushed out off the edges of Canada and being transformed in to a sea of blank and forgotten people. Stephan Peterson and Sonya Ballantyne chronicle the weeks long tour across Manitoba known as “The Death Tour” where a group of pro wrestlers visit various indigenous and small communities in the dead of winter to perform for children and families.
Allegedly writer and director Sean Durkin had to water down the story of the Von Erich family because he didn’t think audiences would fully buy or comprehend such misery could befall one family in reality. For those that are in the know, they understand the all too heartbreaking tale of the Von Erich family and their wrestling dynasty. While they and many blame the alleged “curse,” what ultimately tainted them and their success was a combination of toxic masculinity, a seemingly relentless father who demanded too much from men that were ultimately human, and a profession that is still notorious for its high mortality rate, and ability to destroy its performers time and time again.
There’s a moment before the big race in the finale of “The Boys in the Boat” where the American team are waiting to enter and they come across Jessie Owens. Owens, being the only black character who appears a total of twenty seconds, confirms that he hopes he is “the fastest man alive” when they ask him. “You gonna race for Germany and give Hitler what for?” they ask salivating, “No, I’m gonna do it for America.” They all give each other bewildered looks (Him America not like Our America? Nuh uh!) pretty much perpetuating the sheer tone deafness of George Clooney’s latest film.
His movie almost always finds an interesting angle and point to go in and then veers off the track colliding in to sheer nothingness.
Now Available at Vinegar Syndrome.
The best way to summarize “Shredder Orpheus” is if “Gleaming the Cube” and “Videodrome” had a torrid violent, sexual love affair while high on shrooms that projected new wave music videos in to their brains, all the while the pair ended their rendezvous with a round of skateboarding. Courtesy of Boom! Cult and AGFA, Robert McGinley’s VHS SOV genre film is simultaneously oddly entertaining but also incredibly mind numbing. It’s a dystopian tale that seems to be working toward some kind of coherency at times, but occasionally gives up in exchange of using the budget to showcase skateboarding. In lieu of story there are just aimless scenes of people skateboarding.