I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Akshay Tandon to talk about the feel-good “I Play Rocky,” the wild “Victorian Psycho,” the “Ebenezer” remake and the crime thriller “How to Rob a Bank.”
Watch the whole thingh HERE!
I join “CTV News Toronto at Five” with anchor Zuraidah Alman to talk about the feel-good “I Play Rocky,” the wild “Victorian Psycho” and the crime thriller “How to Rob a Bank.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 14:20)
I join CTV Atlantic’s Todd Battis to talk about the feel-good “I Play Rocky,” the wild “Victorian Psycho” and the crime thriller “How to Rob a Bank.”
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 25:39)
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk about the feel-good “I Play Rocky,” the wild “Victorian Psycho” and the crime thriller “How to Rob a Bank.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I sit with “I Play Rocky” director Peter Farrelly and stars Anthony Ippolito, who plays Sylvester Stallone in the feel good flick and Stephan James who plays Carl Weathers.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join the Bell Media Radio Network national night time show “Shane Hewitt and the Night Shift” to talk about a new study that suggests there isn’t enough emotion in new music, the “Notting Hill” blue door, the movier “I Play Rocky” and I suggest some drinks to enjoy while in the ring.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “I Play Rocky” Sylvester Stallone won’t take no for an answer. “I’m not giving this up. Not for a million bucks. Not for 10.”
CAST: Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, Toby Kebbell, P. J. Byrne, Stephan James, Jay Duplass, Robert Morgan, Tracy Letts, Matt Dillon. Directed by Peter Farrelly.
REVIEW: “I Play Rocky” is not a reinvention of Sylvester Stallone’s original story or the movie “Rocky,” it’s simply a crowd-pleasing reminder of a true underdog phenomenon.
The story begins in 1970s New York City with Mike Stallone (Anthony Ippolito) eking out a living with odd jobs while unsuccessfully auditioning for film roles. At his movie theatre usher gig he meets Sasha Czack (AnnaSophia Robb), who quickly becomes his girlfriend and biggest booster. She also encourages him to be himself and use his real name. “There are a lot of Mikes in the world,” she says. “There’s only one Sylvester. Sylvester Stallone.”
To be closer to the action, the new couple moves to Los Angeles. On a night off from his valet job, Stallone watches a heavyweight championship match between Muhammad Ali and part-time liquor salesman Chuck Wepner. Watching the underdog Wepner take a beating but never giving up inspired Stallone to write his own script. “Write a script.” Says Sasha, “and give yourself the best part.”
Working day and night he bangs out the script for what would become “Rocky” in just three and a half days. When producers Irwin Winkler (P. J. Byrne) and Robert Chartoff (Toby Kebbell) got hold of it they thought it would be a perfect film for Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson. But despite a Brinks Truck of studio money backed up to Stallone’s apartment, he refused to sell the script unless he was cast in the lead. “I won’t sell it for $1 million,” he says. “Not $10 million. I play Rocky”
His persistence pays off, and the rest is Hollywood history.
An inspirational film about an inspirational movie, “I Play Rocky” is an audience friendly (i.e. formulaic) underdog tale that captures the spirit of the 1976 original film, even when it leans into sentimentality and exposition.
As Stallone, Anthony Ippolito does great work, handing in a performance that doesn’t feel like an imitation. Stallone is a pop culture staple, so we expect the marble-mouthed voice and muscles bursting out of his white tank top, and Ippolito nails that. More importantly, however, he captures the character’s ambition and underdog tenacity.
Ippolito is supported by a good ensemble, particularly Tracey Letts as an increasing frustrated studio executive.
“I Play Rocky’s” underdog story is so potent, that even though we know how it ends it still packs an emotional (but, it must be said, not intellectual) punch.
Based on Julia Walton’s 2017 young adult novel of the same name, “Words on Bathroom Walls,” now on EST, VOD, DVD and Blu-ray, follows a teenager, diagnosed with schizophrenia, navigating mental illness and life in a new school. “How hard could it be to hide my burgeoning insanity from the unforgiving ecosystem that is high school?” says Adam Petrazelli (Charlie Plummer) in the film’s opening moments.
Adam is a foodie with dreams of being a chef but when he accidentally injures a classmate during a psychotic break in lab class his future is jeopardized. A diagnosis of treatment resistant schizophrenia leaves him ostracized from his former friends. They taunt him in the halls—“Where’s the straightjacket?” and call him “freak” as he confronts the voices in his head, the new-agey Rebecca (AnnaSophia Robb), the Bodyguard (Lobo Sebastian) and troublemaker Joaquin (Devon Bostick), a varied group he calls “my inescapable roommates.”
A new drug trial offers hope, as does a switch to a new Catholic school. For the first time in ages he feels like he has autonomy over his life. “I woke up to complete silence. No whispers. No banter. No visions. Just pure, unfiltered, beautiful quiet.” His friendship with valedictorian Maya (Taylor Russell) blossoms, but as the medication slowly affects his ability to cook he struggles to hide the side effects from mother (Molly Parker) and step dad (Walton Goggins).
“Words on a Bathroom Wall” is a coming-of-age story with a difference. Adam’s journey with schizophrenia is sensitively handled, with director Thor Freudenthal finding inventive ways to put the viewer into the main character’s shoes. The voices and hallucinations are brought to life without sensationalism or exploitation. Instead, they show us what is happening in Adam’s mind as he navigates the minefield of high school and first love. Far from demonizing his disease, as has been the case in other less humane cinematic depictions of schizophrenia, they add dimension to the story.
Plummer hands in a break out performance as Adam. He’s an awkward teen, a dutiful son who learns how to cook to comfort his mother and a teen struggling with an illness. His subtle performance goes a long way to creating a character in three-dimensions who is both strong and vulnerable. He shares good chemistry with Russell who brings depth to an underwritten Maya.
“Words on a Bathroom Wall” hits hard before settling into more familiar, optimistic territory but the respectful tone established early on makes up for the sappiness that bogs down the film’s final moments.
