Despite what the WWE may want you to believe, Vince McMahon didn’t invent wrestling. He didn’t invent women’s wrestling. And he sure as hell didn’t even the first superstar of women’s wrestling. Queen of the Ring examines the life and career of Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards), a single mother chasing a dream who would become the most famous female wrestler in the world at a time the sport was banned in most states.
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Unstoppable is your typical by-the-numbers sports biopic underdog story that succeeds in what it sets out to do. Jharrel Jerome stars as Anthony Robles, a one-legged student athlete who through the first-hour of the movie struggles to make his dream of wrestling for a major college program a reality. If this wasn’t a true story, Disney would likely have made something quite like it (albeit perhaps with less of the family drama).
The film is filled with struggles for Anthony to overcome including an abusive step-father (Bobby Cannavale), money troubles, not being recruited by the big schools, and finally making the team as a walk-on only to see the wrestling program cut because of lack of funding. Strap in, because it’s going to be a Sisyphean struggle for this kid to live his dream.
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Director Jason Reitman, who co-wrote the script with Gil Kenan, offers a witty, fast-paced, love letter to the rocky beginnings of a modern comedic touchtone by going behind the scenes in the hours just before the first live performance of Saturday Night Live. With two hours until air, we follow Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) around the chaotic setting of Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The film plays up tensions at NBC at the time between the network and Johnny Carson which allowed for the show’s creation even if, as the film suggests, no one at NBC expected Saturday Night to ever make it to air.
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“You’re kind of an asshole, Bob.”
There’s a scene between Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) after their first night together that sums up the themes of the movie succinctly. Returning to music over her, while also offering an offhand dismissal of her work, Bob still brings her back to his bed through his songwriting. In a nutshell, just as Ms. Baez so eloquently puts it, Bob is indeed an asshole. However, he’s one hell of a talented asshole.
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A Complete Unknown Read More »
Maria explores the final days of renown opera singer Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie) looking back on her life in a self-medicated haze that blurs fantasy and reality in her quest to rediscover the voice she lost years ago. The standouts here are Jolie’s performance, for which she trained 7 months to learn to sing opera (a mix of both Jolie and Callas’ voices are used throughout the film), and the film’s amazing look courtesy of cinematographer Edward Lachman, set decoration by Sandro Piccarozzi, and costumes by Massimo Cantini Parrini.
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