The last time we checked in on Rocky Balboa was 2006. It was a bittersweet coda to a franchise that provided 30 years and six films of the life and times of Rocky Balboa. Some were truly great films. I'd count the first and last as in that category. Some were near misses like the third and fourth films, while the fifth was pretty much a total disaster. In those years and films we watched Rocky go from a hungry Philadelphia wannabe boxer to the champion several times over. Like the franchise, the character had his own highs and lows. There's no question that the Rocky franchise has gone the distance. And while it might have been a split-decision, the Rocky films still stand as the champion of the film genre. It's no surprise that Hollywood would want to pump a little more cash out of this reliable franchise. With Sylvester Stallone not exactly in his peak shape, we enter the often disastrous territory of the roboot/reimagine/remake. Just like an athlete who doesn't know when it's time to hang it up, Hollywood is known for propping up a franchise long after its staying power has faded. In both cases somebody is going to get hurt. But don't call Rocky down for the count just yet. Writer/director Ryan Coogler just might have found a way to breathe new life into the old franchise. Rocky just might have been saved by the bell with the arrival of Creed. All of a sudden it's a whole new fight game.

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) has grown up a troubled youth. His mother is dead, and he doesn't even know who his father is. He ends up in and out of juvenile detention centers until he's rescued by a woman with a story of her own. Her name is Mary Anne Creed (Rashad), and she was married to the late fighter Apollo Creed. The fighter had an affair years ago with Adonis's mother, and now Mary wants to take the boy in and raise him as her own. Adonis finds himself with a new identity that explains a lot about why he is the way he is. It also explains why he'll eventually give up a high-paying career to fight. Up to now he's been completely self-taught and ripping up the Mexican underground fight circuits. Now he wants to go legit and understands that requires the training he never had. There's only one man who can give him that. He makes the exodus from L.A. to Philadelphia where he approaches his father's best friend and fiercest rival...Rocky Balboa (Stallone).

“You've gotta earn your mark by doing something big...bigger than yourself.”

It was actually 20 years ago this month that a certain animation studio made an indelible mark on cinema. When Pixar released Toy Story in November 1995, it was the very first computer-generated animated feature, and it made us believe that movies really could go to infinity...and beyond! In the ensuing years, the studio has produced an unprecedented and unparalleled run of films that mix breathtaking technical wizardry with inventive stories that touch moviegoers' hearts along with their funny bones. The Good Dinosaur, Pixar's latest effort, gets about half of that equation right.

By The Sea is literally like a vacation. It is a beautiful time that is a little over two hours at a picturesque resort. It is an exquisite location with lovely views. By The Sea is a beautiful little movie. It is small and nice, but it has two very big stars, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Angelina Jolie Pitt has written and directed the film and has co-starred with her husband for the first time (because Jolie was not married to Pitt when they made Mr. and Mrs. Smith). It is clearly something that is very important to Jolie and is probably very personal to her. I will get back to speculation about Jolie and her intentions.

The film starts with a drive through gorgeous countryside in a very expensive sports car. Roland (Pitt) and Vanessa (Jolie) seem somewhat inscrutable, somewhere between sullen and curious. They talk sparingly but pleasantly. They arrive at a very remote, exclusive, and ornate old world hotel that rests on a rocky ocean inlet in Malta, which is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean. Roland is a writer who has had some success in the past, and Jolie admits to doing very little at all. They check into a spacious suite and go about setting up the room for a long stay. Roland goes off to write every day but really only spends time drinking in the bar downstairs. Jolie mostly stays in the room and on the balcony. A young couple moves into the room next to theirs after a few days. At one point, Vanessa discovers a hole that allows her to spy on the young couple. These very basic elements develop over the course of the film, which leads to a catharsis and climax of sorts.

The Secret In Their Eyes is a heavily plotted and intense police thriller, but there is much more to discuss about this film than that. The film has a lot of issues, both in the story and in the making of the film itself. One of the issues is the casting. We have two of the grand dames of cinema facing off for the first time, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman (which is surprising, though Nicole did co-star with Sandra Bullock once, which is close enough). If you detect a tinge of sarcasm, you are correct. Not to be sexist or ageist, but what those two actresses always sold was vibrancy and excitability. Here they are toned down and depressive. That is what their characters in this film should project, but the effect is awkward. There is a large degree of range and intensity required here that is hard to pull off, and I don’t want to fault these actresses, but I do have some issues with them. It is a very emotional and complicated story that requires all kinds of subtle shading. I don’t believe either actress aced the subtleties. But let’s move on.

This is a remake of a highly regarded Argentinian film of the same name from 2009 that won the Oscar for best foreign film. When a foreign film is particularly successful, it is natural for Hollywood to use it as an easy blueprint for a big-budget draw for top A-list talent. That is what happened here, and, in fact, the remake is pretty close in story and structure to the original, but there is a considerable difference in tone and execution. Even if this current version with big name actors is good, I think everyone will say that the original is better. There was a different political backdrop as well (Argentina’s “Dirty War”), which is handled a little awkwardly in the American version by focusing on external terrorist threats instead. Part of the complexity of the story is conflicting law enforcement agencies butting heads over jurisdiction and the resulting obstacles to the solving of the case.