The Cinematic Review-verse

  Sydney Sweeney as former professional boxer Christy Salters in the film ‘Christy.’ Courtesy of Black Bear Pictures. In a combination of ‘Rocky’ and ‘Fighting with my Family,’ Sydney Sweeney lead the way in ‘ Christy ’, a biopic about female former professional boxer Christy Salters . I really liked Sweeney’s performance as Christy when she empowered herself in and out of the ring. I also liked the scoring and cinematography, specifically during the fighting. The film started off with Salters’ boxing career taking off as she finished high school in the late 80s. Her brother seemed to be the only one who supported her, until she proved herself to doubtful trainer and her future husband Jim Martin , played by Ben Foster . As her career of successful knockouts went on, Christy took a turn for the worst when Jim’s paranoia and controlling behavior with her professional and home lives made her act like she was in her own psychological thriller. Christy Salters, played by Sydney Sweene...

Photo courtesy of William Beavers. Hello, readers. In Dwayne Johnson's latest acting/producing work, he starred as former wrestler/mixed martial artist Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's 'The Smashing Machine.' At first, I wasn't too impressed because of Kerr's hunger for victory and blood in the fighting ring. But as he recognized that drugs were messing up his life and he went in to rehab, I liked Kerr's characterization and Johnson's performance of him. I felt that Johnson and his character reminded me that fighters are human beings that want to do their best out of the ring. I also liked Emily Blunt's performance as Kerr's girlfriend Dawn Staples. Blunt gave emotional power in her character trying to reason with Kerr and make sure Kerr looks out for her own wellbeing. Though I could see it was not easy when there were times when they would argue and Kerr would snap their door in half in frustration. On the other hand, it was nice to see that they co...

In Zendaya's latest cinematic venture, Challengers , she plays Tashi Duncan , a former tennis prodigy caught in a professional and personal dilemma between her tennis player husband Art Donaldson , played by Mike Faist , Riff from Spielberg's West Side Story, and his former best friend and another tennis player, Patrick Zweig , played by Josh O'Connor . Zendaya (center), Mike Faist (left), and Josh O'Connor (right) in Amazon MGM's 'Challengers'. Photo courtesy of MGM. The good parts were Zendaya's passion for tennis, like a young Venus Williams-type player, the conflicting foreplay with Zendaya, O'Connor, and Faist, O'Connor's character's antagonistic behavior, and the electronic background music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, whom you may recognize from Nine Inch Nails and films like The Social Network or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. You might have some fun watching Zendaya dancing to some cool 2000s hip hop throwback music. The ...