Creed

Ryan Coogler, 2015

IMDB

4/5

When people heard that there was going to be a Rocky reboot, they probably let out a sigh of disappointment. They probably said to themselves oh great now Rocky isn't even safe. The sponge was about to be wrung out again, beating an American classic to death. Then they saw the film. Creed goes on to defy the rebooting culture that we have grown accustomed to. It doesn't just try to repurpose a classic for a quick moneygrab (cough Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Creed isn't a bastardized version of the classic Rocky films. It has its own personality, its own youngness. It's own style. It's own energy. It's an inspiring film about past and present. Old and new. The old - Rocky Balboa, who warms the screen when you first see him. The legend of Rocky is evident throughout the Philly streets. The new: Adonis Creed - the young offspring of the late Apollo Creed. Rocky has a long career behind him and Adonis is an aspiring boxer who can't escape his genetic urges to fight in the ring. He tracks down Rocky and is persistent in his attempts to take him on and train him. They say that kids that do not have active fathers will look for fathers in life. And you can sense the feeling of obligation that Rocky feels, having been personally affected by Apollo Creed's death in the ring. Rocky at this point is tired, beaten, still grieving. Time has caught up with him, and as he says so poignantly time is the real "undefeated champion".

One of the most refreshing aspects of the film is it's not built on the tired premise of the kid from the streets who comes from nothing and has something to prove. has something to prove. Adonis comes from money, could easily have stayed in his desk job in the corporate world. He would have had success without fighting. But he just couldn't resist. So he ultimately has to defy expectations that he's just a son of a hero that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Stallone does an amazing job of carrying his history with him. He walks slowly, his mumbling voice reminds you of all of the punches to the head that Rocky has had to endure. He's an aged man. Humbled by father time. You see them both fighting themselves on some level, although the fights are so different in nature.

There's something so truly American about the Rocky films. The struggling working class man pushing yourself to he limit, overcoming the odds. The underdog story. Everyone has the images ingrained in their memory of Rocky at the tops of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art with his hands in the air in that classic shot. And although Adonis isn't necessarily a working class hero, he does have something to prove and something to personally overcome. Creed even has it's own version of the "top of the steps shot" that is actually quite moving. What is a Rocky film without the epic big fight scene? Creed doesn't hesitate to create its own David vs Goliath, Country VS Country scene. USA Vs. England. The film builds to that final fight so remarkably. The final twenty minutes will have you on the edge of your seat, shadowboxing and biting your nails.

Let the Fire Burn

Jason Osder, 2013

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Let the Fire Burn documents the very much overlooked and forgotten 1985 standoff between members of the Philadelphia-based radical political group MOVE and the police. Entirely using archival footage, very much like 2010's Senna, the doc is a stream of mostly news footage and really puts you in the middle of the crisis. Those not familiar with the organization do not really learn a lot about the group's philosophies from this film (but thats why we have Wikipedia). What you do learn is that they are a Christian-oriented group focused on minimalist living standards, crying out against technology by not using electricity and heating their headquarters with wood-burning stoves. They are profoundly anti-establishment, at times antagonizing the city police to engage in some kind of a confrontation. When the film opens with footage of the deposition of child Michael Moses Ward as he recounts the traumatic night, he immediately draws sympathy just knowing that there were children involved in the incident. And there certainly were children involved in the organization, as you see them spouting off parts of the MOVE doctrine as the matriarchal figure stands beside them.

While the MOVE members appear to be educated (successfully representing themselves in court on more than one occasion), at times they come off as very adversarial and threatening to the neighbors around them. These neighbors must suffer with constant political banter over loudspeakers mounted outside the building. They have to endure the eyesore of a boarded up building that basically looked condemned. The tension builds to the day of May 13, 1985 when the Philadelphia police section off and station themselves outside the Osage Avenue row house where a dozen MOVE members are hiding and local government attempts to evict them from the premises. The outcome is a destructive gripping series of events that literally went up in flames, and how the film got its very fitting title.

It's such an interesting style in terms of documentary filmmaking. No cloudy interviews made years later. No reenactments. Just raw footage. It adds a certain purity to it, really puts you in the moment. By watching the look of shock on a news reporters face when they are surprised by sudden automatic rifle fire, you get a real sense of distress as if you are watching it live. There are clear inconsistencies when it comes to the Philadelphia Police Department's handling of the whole event, and the documentary does a terrific job of really laying out the facts. Although the MOVE members are not innocent by any stretch, the film still leaves you feeling troubled and disheartened.

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles

Jon Foy, 2011

4/5

This documentary follows the relentless pursuit of identifying an unknown artist who has laid ambiguous tile plates throughout the world from Philadelphia to South America. On the plates reads the phrase: “Toynbee Idea in Kubrick’s 2001 Resurrect Dead on Planet Jupiter”. You watch as obsessive fans/cataloguers tirelessly try to track down the mysterious artist. The story is intriguing, and the cinematography is striking. The narration captures the determination and the film is peppered with tenebrous artwork which is a recollection of a manic artist’s pursuit of the elusive Toynbee Tiler.