Posts tagged Rocky
EDITORIAL: The 10 best Italian-themed films
EDITORIAL: The 10 best Italian-themed films

As an equal opportunity movie writer and fan, I would be negligent and remissed if I didn't show my friends of Italian ancestry the same love I did just week for my fellow Irish-Americans.  For those who don't know, today, just two days after St. Patrick's Day, is the Feast of St. Joseph, or St. Joseph's Day.  This list is a refresh of an editorial list I made five years ago.  To my Italian-American readers and friends, take in this list of muddled stereotypes and relish in what the American audience thinks of you and your heritage.

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2017, Column, Editorial, LIST, SPECIALDon ShanahanItaly, Italian films, Italian-Americans, Italian themes, List, Top 10 list, Best Italian-themed films, 10 Best, The Godfather, The Godfather trilogy, St. Joseph's Day, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Rocky, The Good Bad and the Ugly, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Roman Holiday, Moonstruck, Big Night, My Cousin Vinny, Cinema Paradiso, Il Postino, The Postman, film commentary, movie commentary, IMDb, IMDB, stereotypes, foreign films, classic films, Donald Shanahan, Don Shanahan, Every Movie Has a Lesson, All the Money in the WorldComment
MOVIE REVIEW: Creed
MOVIE REVIEW: Creed

Take away every rooted piece of cheesy disconnect and disdain you have calcified in your hearts and minds for whatever bloated quality you remember or assigned to the six-film "Rocky" series and shelf it immediately.  The spin-off film "Creed" is a new tangent that gracefully and respectfully builds from the nostalgic anchor that comes with the "Rocky" territory,  but grows to never be bound by that history for a second.  Ryan Coogler's film successfully strives to be its own bold and rousing saga fitting of the shared connection.

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2015, 5 STARS, MOVIE REVIEWDon ShanahanAMC Cicero 14Creed, Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Rocky, Rocky Balboa, Apollo Creed, Ludwig Goransson, Maryse Alberti, The Wrestler, Southpaw, Adrian, Tony Bellew, Wood Harris, Ritchie Coster, Mighty Mick's Gym, Philadelphia, Fruitvale Station, Chronicle, Adonis Creed, Adonis Johnson, Phylicia RashadComment
MOVIE REVIEW: Southpaw
MOVIE REVIEW: Southpaw

If you've seen one boxing movie, you've seen them all.  They are their own formula, cliche, and sub-genre of sports movies.  If you've seen one rags-to-riches triumph or riches-to-rags-back-to-riches redemption, you've seen them all.  If you've heard one trash talking villain or one sage mentor/trainer/coach jaw on their own, you've heard them all.  If you've seen one smoothly-edited training montage that leads to the big, loud and predictable ending fight, you've seen the all.  "Southpaw" sadly brings nothing new to the table.

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ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW, 2015, MOVIE REVIEW, 2 STARSDon ShanahanAMC River EastForest Whitaker, Antoine Fuqua, Kurt Sutter, Rachel McAdams, 50 Cent, The Fighter, Rocky, Jake Gyllenhaal, life lessons, Curtis Jackson, Oona Laurence, Sons of Anarchy, Million Dollar Baby, sports movies, life lessons from movies, life lessons from films, Donald Shanahan, sports films, Boxing movies, Don Shanahan, Olympus Has Fallen, Every Movie Has a Lesson, The Equalizer, Southpaw, Miguel Gomez, boxing films, Raging BullComment
EDITORIAL: My picks for the greatest movie scores
EDITORIAL: My picks for the greatest movie scores

Here's my official list of my top 10 movie scores with three unbreakable ties.  I can't call them the "greatest," but I'll put my list next to anyone's and defend my choices.  My friends and followers kind of poked the bear and encouraged me to make and rank my own list.  Well, I love a good challenge and I knew this one would be easy.  Movie scores and I get along.  

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SPECIAL, Editorial, 2014, ColumnDon ShanahanEditorial, The Shawshank Redemption, Jaws, Hans Zimmer, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Batman, Interstellar, Ennio Morricone, Gladiator, film music, Dr. Zhivago, Star Wars trilogy, Column, Nino Rota, Elmer Bernstein, Star Wars, The Good Bad and the Ugly, Out of Africa, John Barry, James Bond theme, Rudy, James Horner, Howard Shore, The Dark Knight, Up, Legends of the Fall, John Williams, Superman, Movie music, Michael Giacchino, Gone With the Wind, Vertigo, Bill Conti, Danny Elfman, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Good, Titanic, Braveheart, Bernard Herrmann, The Magnificent Seven, Dances With Wolves, Indiana Jones, Psycho, Schindler's List, Jerry Goldsmith, The Godfather, The Mission, Rocky, Lawrence of Arabia, Itzhak Perlman, Thomas Newman, film scores, The Lord of the Rings Comment