Joey’s Home Movies For the Week of May 22nd – ‘Creed’ and ‘Shazam!’ Sequels Spar For Attention

Welcome back to my Home Movies! This week, Michael B. Jordan and the Creed franchise leads the way with the surprisingly affecting sequel, Creed III. Also hitting shelves today is Shazam! Fury of the Gods for another sequel option, plus more, including a strong Criterion Collection pick. Read on for more…

Joey’s Top Pick

Creed III

There wasn’t a good reason to doubt Creed III, especially after the prior two installments had proven arguably better than expected. Still, Jordan’s directorial debut had to win folks over. Boy, did it ever, too. Now, the Jonathan Majors of it all, good as he is, complicates matters, but the film itself is still great. My rave review here had this to say:

Three times now, the Creed franchise has proven that they’re not only worthy sequels to the Rocky series, they’ve arguably exceeded expectations. Creed III continues that run, managing to give you a logical sequel to Creed II, while also pulling influences from both Rocky III and, interestingly, Rocky V. It’s a remix of the format in a manner that many won’t expect, but results in a film that suggests there’s plenty of life in these boxing tales yet.

Creed III is not just one of the better sequels in the franchise, it’s a coming out party for star Michael B. Jordan as a director. Sure, it also marks the official exit for Sylvester Stallone from what was initially the Rocky movies, but it’s charting its own path. His lack of a presence would have sank a lesser flick, but here, while he would have been welcome, it does feel like they made a good choice for the future, with potentially more installments still to come.

Also Available This Week

Bonanza: The Complete Series (TV)

Consecration

Last Sentinel

The Quiet Girl

SEAL Team: Season Six (TV)

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

A Thousand and One

V/H/S 99

Criterion Corner

Petite maman

From The Criterion Collection: “Céline Sciamma’s follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire transcends time and space to weave a delicate fable about grief, family, and connection across generations. In the wake of her grandmother’s death, eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) accompanies her distraught mother (Nina Meurisse) to her childhood home. There, Nelly’s encounter with another young girl (Gabrielle Sanz) brings mother and daughter together in a way neither could have ever imagined. Evoking childhood’s perpetual state of wonder through luminous, richly textured images, Petite maman takes viewers on a journey inward for a quietly miraculous tale of emotional time travel.”

Stay tuned for more next week…