Shameless Self Expression

Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) wins the title, and finds himself immediately targeted by a familiar and hated name: Drago. This time it’s up-and-coming Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu), son of hardened Russian boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Ivan of course being the terrible (shut up) killer of Adonis’ father Apollo Creed in “Rocky IV” . Adonis’ mentor (and Ivan Drago’s conqueror) Rocky Balboa (Sly Stallone), thinks it would be a grave (literally) mistake for Adonis to take the fight. Meanwhile, Adonis’ squeeze Bianca is pregnant with their first child. I rather enjoyed the first “Creed” , it was easily the best “Rocky” film since “Rocky III” . However, that’s obviously faint praise at the end there. I don’t think it entirely managed to fit both the Rocky and Creed characters’ stories into a fully comfortable whole to where it was a really good film. Part of that is due to the almost complete lack of threat/conflict in the form of an opponent for Jordan’s Adonis Creed...

Although it seems to be largely an American phenomenon, you’ve probably heard about how missing kids’ photos have adorned milk cartons over the years (A brilliant idea, whoever came up with it, by the way). This 2014 documentary by David Beilinson is about the first such missing kid, 12 year-old newspaper boy Johnny Gosch. Actually, it’s predominantly concerned with his loving, tirelessly crusading mother Noreen. I must admit I did not immediately warm to Noreen in this film. An early piece of news footage showing Noreen addressing the media in the hopes of getting information about the whereabouts of her son seemed forced and fake to me. It seemed like Noreen was something out of a corny made-for-TV movie. She was saying words that I just didn’t think a worried mother would ever really say. I was suspicious. Based on every other moment in the film with Noreen, I feel ashamed for questioning her for even a second. I don’t know what was going on in that press conference footage, but...