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A bright and simple poster focused on its subject for Clare Lewins' I Am Ali
Documents the childhood experience of Cassius Clay, which opened him to the world of boxing, covering his charismatic, wild, braggadocio media style, the boldness of his beliefs of protest held against the Vietnam War, which locked him out of the boxing world, his loving, expanding family life, as well as his impact and enthralling light of life.
I Am Ali is written, co-produced and directed by debuting great English filmmaker Clare Lewins (Perspectives (2013, TV-series)).
It is a deeply moving and fascinating documentary with fantastic sound recordings of Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali's own making from back in the 1970s as well as interviews with a wealth of richly vivid intimate sources from high and low in society. Ali's warm humanism and grand persona, - one of the greatest of US history and the 20th century, - make this a film not to miss. Outstanding.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: In excess of 7k $
= Uncertain (projected return of 0.1 times its cost)
[I Am Ali was released 10 October (Germany, USA) and runs 111 minutes. Shooting took place in England, including in London, England, New York, Kentucky, Washington, Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois and in Las Vegas, Nevada. The film only grossed 7k $ in 11 theaters in North America over the course of 2 weeks. Its grosses in its other theatrical release markets Germany, the UK and Ireland are unreported online. If a larger amount in grosses is presumed there with a final gross of 50k $, the film would rank as a box office disaster if made at a small cost of 0.5 mil. $. The-numbers.com estimates that the film additionally made at least 279k $ on the North-American home video market. Lewins has since only returned with a TV movie and a video. I Am Ali is fresh at 65 % with a 6.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
An intense still of a knuckle-wielding star Denzel Washington captures the viewer's attention on this classy poster for Norman Jewison's The Hurricane
Rubin 'The Hurricane' Carter is a boxing champ, when his life in 1966 is put on pause, because he is convicted of a double homicide, which he did not commit.
The Hurricane is written by Armyan Bernstein (Windy City (1984)) and Dan Gordon (Rambo: Last Blood (2019)), based on Rubin Carter's autobiography The Sixteenth Round (1974) and Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton's Lazarus and the Hurricane (1991), and directed by great Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison (40 Pounds of Trouble (1962)).
A miscarriage of justice in a racist system is treated with refinement here and a framing story of a young black man, who gives an aged version of Carter back his optimism through the iron bars. This lifts what would otherwise have been something of a long ordeal to sit through.
Denzel Washington (Fallen (1998)) is outstanding; Rod Steiger (Duck, You Sucker! (1971)) is fitting, and excellent, as the judge who finally brings justice forth. The Hurricane is good but feels a bit like sitting through a long triple hour home study class.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 73.9 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.47 times its cost)
[The Hurricane premiered 17 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 146 minutes. Washington was paid 10 mil. $ for his performance, which reportedly required that he did boxing training for a year prior to production. Shooting took place from November 1998 - February 1999 in New Jersey and Toronto, Ontario. The film opened #21 to a 384k $ first weekend in 11 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #2, behind new release Scream 3, and spent a total of 5 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#3-#3-#2-#5), grossing 50.6 mil. $ (68.5 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, lost to Kevin Spacey in American Beauty. It won 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Jewison returned with The 20th Century: Funny Is Money (1999, TV movie), Dinner with Friends (2001, TV movie) and theatrically with The Statement (2003). Washington returned in Remember the Titans (2000). The Hurricane is certified fresh at 82 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
An imagination-fueling poster for Walter Hill's Hard Times that effectively sets us in a specific place and time
A fortune-hunting boxing promoter finds his new bare-knuckle sensation in an unimpressed man, who can punch so that even the heaviest adversaries see stars. But the promoter will have to borrow a big amount to get his new fighter going.
Hard Times is written by Bryan Gindoff (The Candy Snatchers (1973)), Bruce Henstell (The Candy Snatchers, assistant director) and debuting co-writer/director, Californian master filmmaker Walter Hill (48 Hrs. (1982)).
An enormously simple story gets presented in the most beautiful way in Hill's period boxing drama; handsome sets, beautiful image compositions (cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop (Class Reunion (1982))) and an iconic performance by Charles Bronson (Murphy's Law (1986)). Some of the nuances here lie in the fact that one senses the inherent degradation in having to fight until blood spurts in order to survive; SPOILER along with the ending's implicit point about protecting and helping those you have fought along with, even if you don't care much for them.
James Coburn (Intrepid (2000)) is strong as the promoter, a man caught between a rock and a hard place. The scene in which Bronson sets things right in Louisiana is fantastic. The film's final fight, (despite the fact that the camera doesn't linger much on the impact of the punches), is the fight of the decade.
Hard Times is a phenomenal, inconspicuous song of a hero, a gift for men - and probably Bronson's best starring picture.
[Hard Times was released 13 August (France) and runs 93 minutes. AIP producer Lawrence Gordon gave Hill the chance to direct after he had been successful with a number of action screenplays. Bronson was paid "almost 1 mil. $" for his performance. Shooting took place around September 1974 in Texas, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, and in New Orleans, Louisiana. The film's box office numbers are not easy to dig up; the-numbers.com allege that it made 5 mil. $ in North America, relatively little compared to the 26.5 mil. $ total gross listed elsewhere, and the fact that Hill in 2009 said that he still received profits from the film. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Hill returned with The Driver (1978). Bronson returned in Breakheart Pass (1975); Coburn in Skyriders (1976). Hard Times is fresh at 92 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
The two stars in contrasting suits are "up to something big" on this stylish poster for Eddie Murphy's Harlem Nights
A guy, who as a boy becomes a murderer for gambling nightclub owner Ray, as an adult works as his right-hand man, as a white man moves in to try to take their 'cake' away from them.
Harlem Nights is written and directed by debuting Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop II (1987, story)), who also co-stars as said right-hand man.
Harlem Nights is dead on arrival, an incredible bore and very long to sit through. The tone and genre is hard to define, - the public at the time would also likely have been confused by the poster above, which seems to recall such fare as George Roy Hill's masterpiece The Sting (1973) instead of anything resembling the comedies hitherto connected to Murphy's 1980s super-star status. In any case Harlem Nights is neither funny, touching nor exciting. Not Murphy, not Richard Pryor (Wild in the Streets (1968)), not Danny Aiello (Wilbur Falls (1998)) - nor any of the other stars in it raise matters.
Furthermore the language is extremely filthy and there are plenty of noisy but uninteresting shooting scenes. Just about the only quality to attribute Harlem Nights is the colorful visuals and the exterior street scenes, which have some nice visual texture to them.
= Box office success (returned 3.16 times its cost)
[Harlem Nights was released 17 November (USA) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place from April - July in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 16 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends (#2-#3) in the top 5 and grossed 60.8 mil. $ (64 % of the total gross). It was nominated for the Best Costumes Oscar, lost to Henry V. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Murphy said about the experience in 1990: "It wasn’t a pleasurable experience. I just wanted to direct—just to see
if I can do it. And I found out that I can’t, and I won’t do it
anymore. And the biggest thing is I didn’t enjoy doing it. The problem
with Harlem Nights wasn’t the directing as much as it was the writing of
it. It was just written fucked up, and that’s because I threw it
together real quick. And then it was disappointing because Richard
wasn’t the way I thought Richard was gonna be. I thought it would be
like a collaborative thing where I would get to work with my idol, and
then it would be like, “This is great.” But Richard would come to the
set, say his line and leave, it wasn't like a collaborative thing." Pryor talked highly of Murphy around the time of the film's release but later in his autobiography stated: "People talked about how my work had influenced Eddie, and perhaps it
did. But I always thought Eddie's comedy was mean. I used to say,
"Eddie, be a little nice" and that would piss him off. I finished Harlem
Nights thinking that Eddie didn't like me." Murphy never directed again but returned as a star in Another 48 Hrs. (1990). Pryor returned in Another You (1991). Harlem Nights is rotten at 23 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
+ Best Boxing Movie of the Year + Best German Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year + Best War Movie of the Year + Most Under-Appreciated Movie of the Year
An inharmonious poster for Dennis Gansel's Before the Fall, which highlights its two attractive young male leads and the fascism that they face
In 1942, Friedrich is a young German boxer who is discovered and then encouraged to apply to one of Hitler's NaPolA schools, (which were to educate the future political and military elite of the Nazi empire.) But despite the promising and adventurous prospects, his meeting with fascism becomes merciless. Before the Fall is written by Maggie Peren (Kiss and Run (2002)) and its great German co-writer/director Dennis Gansel (Girls on Top/Mädchen Mädchen! (2001)), based on the real Nazi NaPolA schools (short for National Political Institutes of Education) and first-hand knowledge from Gansel's grandfather's experience in one of these. It is a thoroughly well-made film, which offers a new perspective on the Nazi era; that of the thousands of German children and youths who were inducted witlessly into the evil paradigms of Nazism. The film's production design is unostentatious and credible throughout, and the performances are outstanding, achieving impressive authenticity: In particular Max Riemelt (The Wave/Die Welle (2008)) as young, beautiful Friedrich, SPOILER the protagonist who in the end seems to come to terms with the fact that he loves his tragically sensitive homosexual friend Albrecht. Tom Schilling (Woman in Gold (2015)) is also brilliant as Albrecht. The boys' fathers and the tough commanders in the school are also always credibly portrayed. The relatively small story here stays clear of the later mass deaths of NaPolA students at the war's conclusion, but it works excellently as an also finely photographed (by Torsten Breuer (Bandits (1997))) story of some of WWII's victims, far from the battlegrounds. It is a strong and in places heartbreaking portrait of a tragic heritage.
Cost: Reportedly 4.5 mil. $ Box office: 3.7 mil. $ = Huge flop (returned 0.82 times its cost) [Before the Fall premiered 4 July (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic) and runs 114 minutes. Gansel has named Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist (1970) as an inspiration for the film. Shooting took place in Germany and in Prague, Czech Republic from September - December 2003. It opened #83 to an 8k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #70 and in 4 theaters (different weeks), had a remarkable 28 week-long run, regrettably only accruing 144k $ (3.9 % of the total gross). Main production country Germany was the by far biggest market with 3.4 mil. $ (91.9 %). North America was 2nd biggest, and Austria 3rd biggest with 97k $ (2.6 %). The film won a German Film award for its script. Gansel returned with The Wave (2008). Riemelt returned in (Feinde) (2005, short) and theatrically in Hallesche Kometen (2005); Schilling in Egoshooter (2004). Before the Fall is fresh at 67 % with a 6.37/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Before the Fall?
The elegant, simple poster for David O. Russell's The Fighter
The Fighter tells the story of boxing brothers Micky and Dicky Ward of Lowell, Massachusetts. It is in a way the story of the other America, the one that we are rarely treated to on the silver screen: The prejudiced, crudely talking white trash-segment that is really very large. The film is a wildly unglamorous and focused boxing picture with realistic fight scenes and fine performances from Oscar-winning Melissa Leo (Treme (2010-13)), Oscar-nominated Amy Adams (Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2000), TV-series) and Oscar-winning Christian Bale (Henry V (1989)), whereas Mark Wahlberg (Planet of the Apes (2001)) is a bit less impressive. The Fighter is written by Oscar-nominated Eric Johnson (The Finest Hours (2016)), Scott Silver (8 Mile (2002)) and Paul Tamasy (Air Bud (1997)) with Keith Dorrington (The Merger (2007)) contributing story elements and directed by Oscar-nominated, great New-Yorker filmmaker David O. Russell (Three Kings (1999)), whose 5th feature it is.
Christian Bale lost weight and reportedly stayed in character for the duration of the shooting of David O. Russell's The Fighter
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 25 mil. $ Box office: 129.1 mil. $ = Big hit [The Fighter was released December 10 and runs 115 minutes. Martin Scorsese and Darren Aronofsky were contacted to direct, before Russell finally got the job. Filming lasted 33 days from July - August 2009 in Massachusetts, including in some of the facilities the real Wards had trained in. At its wide opening weekend, the film opened #4 (behind Tron Legacy, Yogi Bear and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) to a 12.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 93.6 mil. $ (72.5 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 10.1 mil. $ (7.8 %) and Australia with 6.1 mil. $ (5 %). The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning two for supporting performances (Leo and Bale), the first film to do that since Woody Allen's great Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). Adams lost Supporting Actress to Leo, Best Picture was lost to The King's Speech, directing to Tom Hooper for King's Speech, original screenplay to King's Speech's David Seidler and editing to The Social Network. It was also nominated for 6 Golden Globes, winning the same two it did at the Oscars, and for 3 BAFTAs, winning none. Wahlberg has tried to develop a sequel, but that hasn't materialized yet. The Fighter is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of The Fighter?
One of the more curious 1970s phenomenons, James Fargo's Every Which Way but Loose
QUICK REVIEW: Philo Beddoe is a truck driver, who is good at fist-fighting and lives with his orangutan Clive. He falls in love with a country singer, (Sondra Locke (Death Game (1977))), whom he pursues with bikers and the police at his heels! Every Which Way but Loose is something of a crazy hillbilly comedy. It has something in the neighborhood of 400 fights in its, including Clint Eastwood (A Fistful of Dollars (1964)) beating a man with a fish. Our hero also hitches Clive up with a lady orangutan. In a way this film is deeply speculative, cashing in on our fondness of our Simian friends, - but on the other hand, - why the hell not?!? It is also original and charming as few other films. Ruth Gordon (Jimmy the Kid (1982)) is a hoot in one of the film's many funny supporting parts as Ma, who takes her driver's license again and again. Clive is, by the way, played by orangutan Manis, who probably had the time of his life on the movie, after which he returned to life as a show monkey in Las Vegas. The ending of the film is as untraditional as the rest of it: SPOILER Eastwood loses his grand fight and also doesn't get the girl. Every Which Way but Loose is written by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg (Going Ape! (1981)) and directed by James Fargo (The Enforcer (1976)).
Cost: Estimated 5.2 mil. $ Box office: Reportedly 106 mil. $ = Blockbuster [Every Which Way but Loose was released December 20 and runs 114 minutes. Eastwood went against numerous advice from his production and agent teams in doing the film, which was shot from April 1978 in California, Colorado and New Mexico. The film was panned by critics but became Eastwood's biggest hit at the time and the second highest-grossing film of the year. It is reportedly still among the 200 highest grossing films of all time (adjusted for inflation.) The film opened to a 10.2 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it grossed 85 mil. $ (80.2 % of the total gross). It got a sequel in Any Which Way You Can (1980). 28,071 users have rated Every Which Way but Loose 3.1/5 on Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Every Which Way but Loose?
Beautiful poster for Charlie Chaplin's City Lights
QUICK REVIEW:
The Tramp falls for a blind flower-seller and befriends an eccentric millionaire. Master filmmaker Charlie Chaplin's (Modern Times (1936)) iconic character also survives a boxing match and a gig as street sweeper, before SPOILER he is able to give the girl her sight back with a voyage to Austria.
The hilarities of City Lights are repeated several times, and many of the drunkard gags struck me as dumb and awkward. There are funny moments, but they are not as plenty as in Chaplin's best films. Also, I have a hard time swallowing SPOILER the very sentimental ending of City Lights. - But I am pretty alone with these misgivings: Several respected critics and filmmakers find that this is Chaplin's best film, and that its ending is the best ever!
Watch an original trailer here
Cost: 1.5 mil. $ Box office: 5 mil. $ = Box office success [Despite sound films' swift overtaking of the Hollywood production by 1928, Chaplin's affinity for the silent film conquered with City Lights, one of the last successful silent films, (it has a musical score though, by Chaplin, José Padilla and orchestration by Arthur Johnston and Alfred Newman.) Trivia: Guest of honor at the film's LA gala premiere were Alfred Einstein and wife.] What do you think of City Lights?
+ Best Boxing Movie of the Year + Best Irish Movie of the Year
Two of the best UK actors of their time make up most of this dark poster for Jim Sheridan's The Boxer
Set in the Belfast area in the 1990s Irish civil war between Protestant and Catholic Christians, The Boxer tells the story of Danny, an former IRA terrorist, who is released from prison after a long stint and wants to turn things around by opening up a boxing club. He falls for another prisoner's wife in the mix.
The Boxer is written by Terry George (In the Name of the Father (1993)) and great Irish filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot (1989)). The boxing and the love are the strong elements that lift up this very dark period piece of Irish and British history out of a gutter of utter despair. Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood (2007)) delivers one of his best performances ever, accomplishing total credibility as the low-down boxer Danny. In other big parts, Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves (1996)) and Brian Cox (L.I.E. (2001)) excel.
Sheridan achieves a great portrayal of the division between the societal groups in The Boxer, which elevates it historically. It is an excellent story about a grim chapter in Irish history.
Cost: 4.7 mil. $ Box office: 16.5 mil. $ = Big hit (returned 3.51 times its cost)
[The Boxer opened 31 December (North America, Philippines) and runs 114 minutes. Day-Lewis reportedly prepared by boxing for 3 years for the performance. Shooting took place from April - July 1997 in Ireland, including in Dublin. The film opened #19 to an 86k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and grossed 5.9 mil. $ (35.8 % of the total gross). In the UK, including Ireland, it made 2.2 mil. $ (13.3 %). It was nominated for 3 Golden Globes, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Sheridan returned with In America (2002). Day-Lewis returned in Gangs of New York (2002); Watson in Hilary and Jackie (1998). The Boxer is certified fresh at 81 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
