Creed

Wow, where to start. There were high points in this movie. I enjoyed a lot of the callbacks to the "Rocky" series. The training sequences were great and staging the whole of the first fight between Creed and Leo the Lion in one continuous shot was ballsy as hell and really worked. However, that's where my praise has to end. Michael B. Jordan is a much better actor than this movie let him show. If you liked him here, please rent "Fruitvale Station" immediately, for which he should have gotten award attention. Creed's character development was shallow at best, and we aren't given enough of him as a child in the streets for me to buy the rage he stows inside him. But, for me, the crime was how Rocky's character was written. Anyone who knows anything about concussive trauma knows that, if you follow the trajectory of Rocky's head trauma, he should be significantly impaired in this film, and he's just not. Stallone has always been so careful to sell Rocky's TBI that I was floored at how much better his condition was than in "Rocky Balboa". However, when I saw Stallone neither wrote nor directed this film, so much made sense. This was an average film that could have been great in more capable hands. And, further, Stallone's performance was not strong enough for the Oscar nod he got. Sorry, but this was just average for me. 3/5

EDITED TO ADD: Ack, totally forgot. The revelation in this film was Tony Bellew who played Pretty Ricky Conlan. I had to look him up after I finished, and he really is a boxer. Damn that kid can act. I hope to see him do more in the future.

Creed on Netflix

Fruitvale Station

This recounting of the tragedy at Fruitvale is powerfully told, wonderfully acted & heartbreaking to watch. 4/5

Fruitvale Station on Netflix

Chronicle

I feel I need to explain myself a little with this review. Maybe it's because I really love these through-the-eye-of-the-camera films (when done right). Maybe it's because TK is my own power of choice. Maybe it's because I understood, related to, and totally got every character's motivation throughout the film. It's all these things and more. When I rate films I rate on the Netflix scale. 1 star means I hated a film, 2 for didn't like, 3 for just liked. 4 for really liked, and 5 for loved. 5 stars doesn't mean it's a perfect picture, or Best Movie material, or something the AFI needs to score. 5 stars means I really loved watching it, would watch it again, would tell others to watch it and will likely be thinking about it for some time. This is a 5 star movie. WATCH IT. 5/5  

Chronicle on Netflix