#49: BEN-HUR (1959)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Never

BEST SEQUENCE

Chariot race, no question, nothing else even comes close

BEST LINE

"Ben-Hur, done that"

- Just kidding. But actually, there were no lines that I thought worth mentioning from the movie, so instead you get this bon mot, courtesy of my wife

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

87%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Uneven, but in terms of epic scope and grand spectacle, Ben-Hur still ranks among Hollywood's finest examples of pure entertainment."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, but it's not long before he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge."

DIRECTOR

William Wyler

MAIN CAST

Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Haya Harareet, Hugh Griffith

THOUGHTS

• The chariot race is truly incredible. I knew it was considered one of the greatest action sequences of all time, but I was still prepared to be a little underwhelmed, given its age. Upon seeing it, however, I wholeheartedly agree, it really is one of the best action sequences I've ever seen. The action is dynamic and gripping, the camerawork is stunning, and it combines two things I've praised in the past - practical effects and car stunts (or, at least, the 1st-century version of car stunts)
• At the time the chariot race alone cost 1 million dollars to film, which would be the equivalent of 10.6 million today. I also must acknowledge, I was somewhat biased against this movie because I thought it was the one that had multiple horses die during its making, but I was wrong - that would be the silent version of Ben-Hur that was released in 1925. As far as I can tell, no horses were hurt during the making of the 1959 Ben-Hur
• So if you haven't seen Ben-Hur's chariot race, I do highly recommend it, even if you don't care to watch the rest of the movie. I mention this also because, to put it bluntly, the rest of the movie is boring as shit
• Admittedly, I'm being deliberately flippant here. There's some entertainment to be found in the scale and grandiosity inherent to so many movies of this type, and there are a few other memorable moments, including the scenes set on a Roman ship where Ben-Hur was enslaved as a rower, as well as a naval battle that was pretty unlike anything I'd ever seen before. But the vast majority of the movie outside of the chariot race was really not interesting to me, to the point that I wonder if I'm being overly generous giving Ben-Hur a 5/10 considering the chariot race takes up about 10 minutes of a 212-minute movie. Take that as one last indication of how great I thought that sequence was
• Going into it I knew that this was a religious movie of some sort - the book it's based on is subtitled A Tale of the Christ. I didn't really know how Jesus would factor into the story, though. Turns out Ben-Hur and Jesus were going down adjacent paths, only intersecting at a few key moments, and the movie is bookended by Jesus's birth and death. And while I found it a little jarring when the movie shifted focus to Jesus's crucifixion, its depiction was undeniably effective, even for an atheist like me  
• Finally, Ben-Hur set a record at the Oscars in 1960, winning 11. This number has never been beaten and it wasn't even tied until Titanic in 1998 (and then tied again by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2004). Ben-Hur's Oscars included a Best Actor win for Charlton Heston, and I do believe this will be the last Heston movie we'll be talking about after he showed up in Touch of Evil and Planet of the Apes. When I reviewed Touch of Evil I commented on the fact that Heston was playing a Mexican character, but I think it's also fair to mention that at the time of Touch of Evil and Ben-Hur Heston was a staunch Democrat and advocate for civil rights (as was Orson Welles, the director of Touch of Evil). All of this may be surprising given Heston's political views later in life. Also surprising - the egregious brownface used on actor Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur, a Welsh actor playing a character named Sheik Ilderim, and also a performance that won Best Supporting Actor (somewhat inexplicably, in my opinion; aside from the brownface it wasn't even that memorable a role or performance and not terribly significant to the movie as a whole)

Up next: It's been a while since the last Hitchcock movie, Rebecca at #80, but he's back with Dial M for Murder

#50: MARATHON MAN (1976)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once, I think in high school. Incidentally, if it seems like I saw a lot of these movies for the first time in high school, this very list that we're reviewing was unveiled in June of 2001 when I was in grade 9. There was a TV special counting down the list, hosted by Harrison Ford, and I watched the hell out of that special, and it definitely led to a lot of my movie picks over the next few years

BEST SEQUENCE

The interrogation scene

BEST LINE

"Is it safe?"

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

82%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Marathon Man runs the gamut from patient mystery to pulse-pounding thriller, aided by Laurence Olivier's coldly terrifying performance and a brainy script by William Goldman."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"After the murder of his older brother, a New York history student is hounded by shadowy government agents on the trail of a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds."

DIRECTOR

John Schlesinger

MAIN CAST

Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller, William Devane 

THOUGHTS

• There are some movies on this list that have clearly been chosen for one indelible segment, and in my opinion Marathon Man is one such movie. Best remembered for its interrogation scene mentioned above, the sequence is incredibly effective and squirm-inducing even if it's not really all that graphic or violent
• In fact, I usually try not to give too much away in these reviews just in case you get the urge to watch the whole movie, but this time I think it's worth watching just the interrogation sequence alone. All you need to know is that Laurence Olivier is trying to get information out of Dustin Hoffman, and Hoffman has no idea what he's asking about; in fact, he doesn't even really understand the question. Content warning: dental trauma (and if you do decide to watch this clip but don't want the rest of the movie to be spoiled, stop at 6:35)
• And I can't stand going to the dentist even when I'm NOT being tortured!
• Outside of this standout sequence, the rest of the movie is still pretty good if a little more forgettable. The performances are effective, and there are even some other noteworthy scenes - the part where Olivier's ex-Nazi, Christian Szell, gets recognized on the street by Holocaust survivors is worth mentioning, and there's also a part where Roy Scheider kills a guy by putting his knee on the guy's back, grabbing him by the chin, and breaking his spine - extremely visceral, and something I remembered even from my first viewing
• I feel like I would be remiss if I didn't mention a fairly famous behind-the-scenes story from the making of Marathon Man. Dustin Hoffman was a method actor, and, so the story goes, he had stayed awake for two days before shooting scenes where his character had not slept for 72 hours. Upon hearing this, Olivier was quoted as saying to him, "My dear boy, why don't you just try acting?" Now, there are conflicting reports about how contentious this was intended to be, or if this was actually due to Hoffman's acting method or just his personal life at the time, but still - the zing goes to Olivier
• Finally, I recently ran my first marathon, and I decided that this would be the perfect movie to watch the next day, despite already remembering that there's actually fairly little about marathon running in the movie. Dustin Hoffman's character, Babe, is a marathon runner, the titular marathon man (and side note, Babe is a nickname, presumably coming from the character's middle name of Babington, but man, it's still kind of silly every time we hear him referred to as such). When Hoffman is being pursued by bad guys he certainly does do some high-stress running, but I think this character trait was mostly deemed important to explain how he can put up with all the pain he goes through. As Babe says, "Well, I'm a marathon runner. When you race 26 miles, you don't give in to pain. It hurts, but I don't pay any attention." 

Up next: A new one for me, and a long one, to boot - at 3 hours and 32 minutes it's the longest movie I've reviewed so far (but it will eventually be bested by Lawrence of Arabia's 3 hours and 42 minutes). From 1959, it's Ben-Hur

#51-B: GOODFELLAS (1990)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

8.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, many times, and I'm not even sure when the first time would have been. Probably in university, but maybe in high school

BEST SEQUENCE

The montage of bodies being found after the Lufthansa heist, with the perfect musical accompaniment of "Layla"

BEST LINE

"I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?"

- and by the way, this scene is actually probably tied for my favourite sequence of the movie

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

95%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Hard-hitting and stylish, GoodFellas is a gangster classic -- and arguably the high point of Martin Scorsese's career."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito."

DIRECTOR

Martin Scorsese

MAIN CAST

Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, Paul Sorvino

THOUGHTS

• Goodfellas is one of my favourite movies of all time, and yet, despite this, I feel like there's a chance I'm inflating the Thrill Score a little bit. However, even if there may not be a whole lot of individual heart-pounding moments, the 8.5 rating is more applied to the movie as a whole. There's an all-encompassing jitteriness to Goodfellas that leaves you feeling breathless and on edge. It's kind of similar to Pulp Fiction, in fact, which also got an 8.5/10 from me
• We're talking about Goodfellas because of the reunion between Scorsese, De Niro and Pesci (and more on them in a minute) but Ray Liotta is the lead as Henry Hill, and I think he's fantastic in this. Despite being a completely unapologetic criminal he's still relatable and even sympathetic at times (and at other times wholly unsympathetic). I also think his voiceover narration is absolutely perfect and adds so much to the movie. For all these reasons I was shocked when I learned that Liotta didn't even get an Oscar nomination that year (and more on Goodfellas at the Oscars in a minute, as well)
• Joe Pesci, the Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor that year, plays Tommy DeVito, a character who is completely unhinged and even more unapologetic than Liotta's Henry Hill. It's clear that Pesci had a ball making this movie, and he's captivating to watch, also providing a lot of the thrills with the completely unpredictable nature of his character. The "funny how" scene I quoted above is a perfect example of this - Pesci creates a ridiculous amount of tension between him and his friend, and then breaks it at the drop of a hat, just for kicks. The scene is iconic, but something I didn't even remember until this rewatch, it's also basically our introduction to Tommy DeVito as a character. I believe it's Pesci's first dialogue scene in the movie and it sets his tone perfectly
• And De Niro is also very good as Jimmy Conway! His role is a little less flashy, though, so it makes a bit less of an impact
• Rounding out the main cast, Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill is also excellent, also nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and also provides great narration. Sidebar, I'm in the middle of a Sopranos rewatch, and it's always funny to see how much crossover there is between Goodfellas and The Sopranos. Lorraine Bracco is, of course, a prominent character in both, playing Tony Soprano's psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi, but you've also got a young Michael Imperioli (Christopher in The Sopranos) playing Spider, the bartender who Tommy shoots for mouthing off to him (justifiably after Tommy previously shot him in the foot), and even Tony Sirico shows up in Goodfellas in a very small role, much smaller than his role of Paulie in The Sopranos
• And getting back to it, Goodfellas has had remarkable staying power as a movie, so it might be surprising to learn that Pesci's win was the only Oscar awarded to this movie. In the big categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing, Goodfellas lost to Dances With Wolves, a movie I haven't seen, but which I understand to be less highly regarded these days. A possible explanation, though, and something I also only just realized with this rewatch: this was the same year that The Godfather Part III was released, another movie that I would consider to have less staying power than Goodfellas. Still, I wonder if it caused some split votes, giving the advantage to Dances With Wolves
• And I think I'm going to leave it there, even though there's still more that could and should be praised! The soundtrack, the editing, the long and intricate tracking shots like Henry and Karen going through the back door of the Copacabana. It's all so good and it's all so influential, and endlessly rewatchable, and it's partly this rewatchability that puts Goodfellas in my top ten movies of all time

MINI REVIEW: CASINO (1995)

Well, gang, if you liked Goodfellas, there's a very good chance you'll like Casino as well. Scorsese, De Niro, Pesci; a sprawling story of crime based on real-life events; even co-written by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote not just Goodfellas but also the book it was based on. However, while I can't really blame them for sticking with what works, there is a familiarity to Casino that forces us to compare it directly to Goodfellas, and that leads me to consider it the lesser of the two, even if only slightly. De Niro's good in the leading role, and Pesci's playing a nearly identical character, just with a different accent. Sharon Stone got an Oscar nomination (the only nomination Casino received), and I thought it was a very nice touch to cast several stand-up comedians who would have performed at the Vegas casinos in their heydays, including Alan King, Dick Smothers, and, especially, Don Rickles. Like I said, if you enjoyed Goodfellas, I definitely do also recommend Casino. It's just not quite on par (and I honestly think Liotta's narration in Goodfellas is better than De Niro's or Pesci's in Casino).

Up next: It will almost certainly be Dustin Hoffman's last appearance in these reviews, Marathon Man from 1976

#51: RAGING BULL (1980)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once, around 2009

BEST SEQUENCE

When Jake's jealousy and paranoia completely consume him, more than we've ever seen before, and he takes it out on his wife and his brother in violent fashion. Harrowing to watch, but intensely gripping

BEST LINE

I don't typically shy away from swearing in these reviews, especially when quoting a movie, but I'd rather let Waiting for Guffman speak for me:

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

92%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Arguably Martin Scorsese's and Robert De Niro's finest film, Raging Bull is often painful to watch, but it's a searing, powerful work about an unsympathetic hero."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it."

DIRECTOR

Martin Scorsese

MAIN CAST

Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty

THOUGHTS

• Through no one's fault but my own it's been a long time since I posted my Rocky review, but I watched Rocky and Raging Bull fairly close together (with Creed in the middle) and it's a pretty interesting contrast. Rocky Balboa and Adonis Creed are true heroes in their movies, upstanding and honourable men who just happen to be quite talented in the violent and bloody sport of boxing. Jake LaMotta, on the other hand, is, frankly, a real piece of shit. He's not just brutally vicious inside of the ring but also outside of it in his personal life, and he's a jealous, cruel, selfish and spiteful man. This is made even more interesting by the fact that LaMotta was a real person and Rocky Balboa wasn't. Raging Bull was even based on LaMotta's own memoir, which must have been harshly honest about the type of man he was. A positive depiction, it is not
• There is a fair amount of boxing depicted in this movie, effectively shot with beautiful black and white cinematography. The rings look huge, and the stadiums look cavernous and black. But, again, the boxing isn't really the most important part. The boxing is more shown as something that LaMotta is naturally good at because of the type of person he is
• Raging Bull won De Niro his second Oscar after The Godfather Part II and, as of now, his last Oscar. It was also his fourth movie with Scorsese out of an eventual ten feature films. He really is very good in this, he fully inhabits the character, and it's one of the prime examples of De Niro physically inhabiting his characters as well. Not only did he train intensely to depict LaMotta at his prime, even fighting (and winning) several genuine boxing matches in Brooklyn, he also then put on roughly 60 pounds to depict LaMotta in his later, heavier years
• As good as De Niro is, though, the real soul of the movie is Pesci as LaMotta's brother Joey. Only his second movie, he goes toe-to-toe with De Niro in every scene (as an actor, anyway; his character receives a lot of abuse from LaMotta). Same with Cathy Moriarty as LaMotta's second wife Vikki, and both actors were deservedly nominated in the supporting Oscar categories
• Finally, this isn't the first time we've talked about Scorsese and De Niro working together (Cape Fear from 1991), and it won't be the last (Taxi Driver is the 22nd most thrilling movie on the AFI list). However, we still haven't touched on my favourite Scorsese/De Niro movie, and as a bonus we'll get to reunite them with Joe Pesci (and it's not The Irishman, even though I liked that movie a lot as well)

Up Next: I've been meaning to shoehorn this in at some point, and now seems like a pretty good time to do so while we're enjoying the Scorsese/De Niro/Pesci vibes. It's Goodfellas from 1990. But that's not all, we're also going to talk about the next movie the three of them collaborated on, Casino from 1995 (possibly in a separate review, but I'm probably just going to talk about both movies at the same time)

BONUS REVIEW: FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 (1981)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once, in January of 2017

BEST SEQUENCE

Ginny putting on Pamela's sweater to defeat Jason

BEST LINE

“Jason! It’s all done, Jason! You’ve done your job well and mommy is pleased”

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

33%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Friday the 13th Part 2 sets the template for the franchise to follow with more teen victims, more gruesome set pieces, and fewer reasons to keep following along."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"Five years after the events of the first film, a summer camp next to the infamous Camp Crystal Lake is preparing to open, but the legend of Jason is weighing heavy on the proceedings."

DIRECTOR

Steve Miner

MAIN CAST

Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Stu Charno, Warrington Gillette, Steve Daskewisz

THOUGHTS

• Very cutting, Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus, but keep following along we shall
• First movie with Jason as the killer, but not necessarily the most recognizable version of him. No hockey mask, that's in the next movie. Instead Jason wears a burlap sack with a very off-putting single eyehole. Jason's also a bit more agile in this one - running through the woods, pursuing his victims, not quite the lumbering menace that we'll come to know and love
• Everything else is pretty unremarkable and nondescript, though. Forgettable victims, zero plot, buy hey, that's slashers for ya
• The most memorable segment is probably when we see Jason's shrine to his mother, complete with Pamela's sweater and decomposing head, but even that is presented without much fanfare. It's kind of just there and then it's in the background
• Best kill: machete to the face, wheelchair rolling backwards down the stairs
• Second-best kill: spear through two people and also through the mattress, reminiscent of Kevin Bacon's death in the first one, which is appropriate because in this movie this happens to an actor called Bill Randolph, whom I would describe as Dollar Store Kevin Bacon. Kevin Spam
• Side note, since rewatching the first Friday the 13th, I watched a movie called In a Violent Nature, and I liked it a lot. I saw it as an elevated version of the Friday the 13th movies (even if some people cringe at that term), and man, some of the kills in In a Violent Nature you won't be forgetting anytime soon
• Lastly, I had the honour of rewatching Friday the 13th Part 2 with my wife, Ashley, and my friend, Analisa, and here are their one-line contributions to this review
  
• Ashley: "Muffin the Dog is the winner"
  
• Analisa: "Pamela Voorhees is an icon"
• Not long to wait for the next one! We'll be seeing that hockey mask in December

#52-B: CREED (2015)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

8.5

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Never

BEST SEQUENCE

Final fight with "Pretty" Ricky Conlan

BEST LINE

“Your father was special. Tell you the truth, I don’t know if you’re special. Only you’re gonna know that when the time is right.” - Rocky to Donnie

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

95%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Creed brings the Rocky franchise off the mat for a surprisingly effective seventh round that extends the boxer's saga in interesting new directions while staying true to its classic predecessors' roots."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed."

DIRECTOR

Ryan Coogler

MAIN CAST

Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew

THOUGHTS

• There's more boxing so it gets a higher Thrill Score. End of review
• Just kidding. I don't think it's fair to say that Creed is better than Rocky, as they're fairly different movies (despite a lot of obvious similarities) and Creed certainly benefits from not only building off of the foundation laid by Rocky, but also the advances in filmmaking and storytelling that we've seen in the 40 years between the two movies being released. I do think it's fair to say that I was more entertained by Creed, though. More consistent action, and I was physically pumping my fist during Donnie's climactic fight in a way that I wasn't during Rocky's climactic fight with Donnie's father (and incidentally, the character's name is Adonis, but he refers to himself as Donnie throughout the movie so that's how I'm going to refer to him as well)
• I do also think Creed benefited from this being my first time seeing it, whereas I knew exactly what to expect for Rocky. This is also still kind of funny, though, because a lot of the beats are the same, especially in the final boxing matches - the protagonist seems outmatched, then he starts landing some hard punches, and baby, you got a stew going (to quote Apollo Creed himself, Carl Weathers). And, spoiler alert for both Rocky and Creed, in a funny twist of fate, both fights even end the same way - our protagonist goes the distance and gives the champ more than he bargained for, but our protagonist still loses in split decision. And I appreciated this ending in both movies - it was still entirely satisfying to see both Rocky and Donnie prove that they had what it takes to take on the champ, even if it didn't result in a full victory. Besides, gotta save something for the sequels, right?
• This is a great starring role for Michael B. Jordan, charismatic as always, and Sylvester Stallone got his second ever acting nomination for a very poignant, touching performance as the aged Rocky. If I recall, I'm pretty sure Stallone was heavily favoured to win Best Supporting Actor that year, but it ended up going to Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies
• Some incredibly dynamic and exciting camerawork from Ryan Coogler, especially during the fights. It almost feels like you're there in the ring with them
• Finally, as a reboot/spinoff of the Rocky franchise, Creed was also kicking off a new series all its own, really, and I liked the differences in motivation between the two movies. In Rocky, Rocky Balboa was a nobody, someone who had to prove himself and start his own legacy through grit and determination. Donnie, on the other hand, already had a built-in legacy, and sky-high expectations that he needed to live up to. I liked seeing how the two different characters dealt with the differing circumstances

Up next: Well, I don't know if this was just coincidence or somehow intentional on the AFI's part, but there's more boxing coming at you (and I didn't even mention the fact that Pulp Fiction was also boxing adjacent with Bruce Willis's character Butch). It's one of Martin Scorsese's most highly regarded movies, Raging Bull from 1980

#52: ROCKY (1976)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

6

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, but it's been a long time, probably 20 years ago or so

BEST SEQUENCE

It's tempting to pick the climactic bout between Rocky and Apollo Creed, but I'm going to go with the training montages. The final fight is well done, and it is exciting, but those training montages actually stirred the soul and gave me chills

BEST LINE

"I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighbourhood."

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

92%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"This story of a down-on-his-luck boxer is thoroughly predictable, but Sylvester Stallone's script and stunning performance in the title role brush aside complaints."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect."

DIRECTOR

John G. Avildsen

MAIN CAST

Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith

THOUGHTS

• Rocky is an enjoyable movie, and as a film it's better than the 6/10 that I gave it, but I wouldn't call it thrilling. It's actually very patient, I'd even call it quiet for the majority of its runtime. It stands to reason that what thrills we would find in a boxing movie would come from the boxing content, and by my count we see less than 15 minutes of Rocky actually boxing in this 2-hour movie. Do I wish there was more boxing? Honestly, no, not really. What we get is effective, but this is really more of a character study of a guy who gets his lucky shot at the big time. Still, while that final boxing match is certainly meaningful for the characters involved, it's hard to give this a higher thrill score based on that alone
• And so, I'm giving the edge to the spirit-lifting as opposed to the heart-pounding. Watching Rocky train for the big fight in classic montage fashion really did give me some chills. Kicking off with Rocky drinking five raw eggs (which Stallone clearly actually did, no movie magic there), running in his iconic grey tracksuit and Converse high tops (which I couldn't even imagine running in), and the wonderful shots of Philadelphia, including the famous run up the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps (which is especially meaningful because earlier in the movie we see Rocky panting and limping his way up the same steps before walking away, defeated)
• And the music! If you don't have a visceral reaction to "Gonna Fly Now," well, I don't know what to say. This may also be more common knowledge than I realize, but worth mentioning, there's no "Eye of the Tiger" to be found here - that wasn't released until 1982 and Rocky III
• As alluded to in my last review, Rocky did very well at the Oscars that year - nine nominations and three wins, taking home the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. It was also a pretty competitive year, and Rocky won Best Picture over the previously discussed All the President's Men and the eventually to be discussed Taxi Driver, among others
• Rocky was Stallone's breakthrough role, and not only was he nominated for Best Actor, he also received a nomination for the screenplay he wrote. Looking through his filmography I was surprised by how few of his movies I've seen - I haven't seen any Rambos, and this is the only Rocky movie I've seen, and those two franchises make up a large percentage of his starring roles. He's very good in this, and Rocky is a much sweeter character than people may realize, shy and unassuming. While I haven't seen any more movies in the Rocky franchise, I do have a good idea of what follows, including the eventual fate of Apollo Creed. And so, before moving on from the tale of Rocky Balboa, I'd like to check in on him again, a little later in his life. Therefore...

Up next: We're supplementing the list again with Creed from 2015