Raging Bull released

Raging Bull Released: November 14, 1980 Studio: United Artists Genre: sports drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 23.38 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 77.50 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Martin Scorsese Screenwriting: Mardik Martin, Paul Schrader Starring: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci Review: “The most beautifully brutal sports film ever made, and one of the best movies of the 1980s regardless of genre.” TV “This brilliant biography” VD of boxer Jake LaMotta is “a poetic meditation on the nature of violence” RS and “the rigid and sentimental codes of masculinity which he clings to even as they destroy him.” T95 It is “beautifully photographed in rich black and white” VD and contains “some of the most intense fight scenes ever filmed.” VD It is “often noted for Thelma Schoonmacher’s achievement in editing.” A98 “De Niro gives one of his greatest performances” VD as “the anti-Rocky,” TV “a man whose only true emotional outlet was fighting.” VD The “hard-headed, animalistic, unlovable slum kid…becomes the 1949 middle-weight champ,” FS but his “opponents in the ring are no match for the demons he fights in his personal life,” A98 including domestic and emotional violence with his brother Joey (Pesci) and wife Vikki (Moriarty). “De Niro’s transformation from a sleek professional boxer to an out-of-shape, stand-up nightclub entertainer is simply remarkable.” FS “The movie was actually Robert De Niro’s passion project. It took him years to convince his friend and collaborator, Martin Scorsese, to make it. Scorsese wasn’t a fan of sports, and less so of boxing, not finding it to be a good visual medium.” MSN The result is “as a moving and beautiful film as anyone could make about an intolerably nasty, screwed-up man.” ML “That such an unappealing man could inspire so vivid a portrait is a tribute to the collaboration of Scorsese, De Niro, and writers Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin.” LM “There’s not a false note in characterization or period detail.” LM “Scorsese’s best.” ML Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” ML Movieline (Dec. 1995). “100 Best Movies Ever Made” by Virginia Campbell and Edward Margulies MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud RS Rolling Stone (12/30/1999). “100 Maverick Movies of the Last 100 Years” T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 2 – Best Actor (De Niro), Best Film Editing Nominations: 8 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci), Best Supporting Actress (Moriarty) Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Francis Ford Coppola Roger Ebert Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Leonard Maltin First posted 8/11/2019; last updated 6/2/2023.

Rocky introduces the world to a beloved, cinematic sports icon

Rocky Released: November 21, 1976 Studio: United Artists Genre: sports Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 117.24 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 540.00 Worldwide: 946.70

Directing: John G. Avildsen Screenwriting: Sylvester Stallone Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers Review: Sylvester Stallone championed his own script, fighting to get the movie made on his terms. He “was an unbankable unknown at the time – an underdog actor/writer in the film industry (with 32 previously-rejected scripts).” FS The result is that “Rocky Balboa, the under-classed boxer from Philadelphia,” A98 has become “an American film icon” A98 “a character so convincing and emotionally absorbing” E18 that he spawned a series of sequels lasting more than four decades. Stallone wrote the script for the “action-packed, feel-good crowd-pleasing story” in three days. FS It was filmed over 28 days, mostly on location in Philadelphia, with a mere million-dollar budget. It went on to gross more than $100 million. FS Apollo Creed (Weathers), the world heavyweight champ, decides to pull a publicity stunt by giving an unknown boxer a shot at the championship belt. Rocky proves to be a more formidable match than Creed imagined in this “fairy-tale, Cinderella rags-to-riches story” FS in which Rocky “proves that winning isn’t the most important thing (you gotta go the distance).” E18 He’s aided by “his wily and irascible boxing coach” A98 Mickey (Meredith) and supported by Adrian (Shire), his new “shy, hesitant, loving girlfriend.” FS Sources: A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies” E18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 3 – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing Nominations: 10 – including Best Actor (Stallone), Best Actress (Shire), Best Supporting Actor (Young), Best Supporting Actor (Meredith), Best Original Screenplay, Best Song (“Gonna Fly Now”), Best Sound Editing Other Lists/Honors: First posted 5/29/2023.