Creed II (2018)

I had mentioned that the first Creed made allusions to Rocky IV, being the movie in which Apollo Creed dies in the ring. Apparently, that was just a warm-up. Perhaps writer and producer Ryan Coogler (having turned direction over to lesser-known Steven Caple, Jr.) had this in mind all along.

Right after Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) wins the world heavyweight championship, a blast from the past appears: Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), his father's fatal opponent. Ivan hasn't gotten any kinder with age, nor has he softened his grudge against Adonis' trainer, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), for costing Ivan a lot of honor. His idea of settling the score is to have his own son, Viktor (Florian Munteanu), defeat Adonis.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

This movie is not getting ratings as high as I thought when my dad and I went to see it. Part of that may be backlash against now-scandalous Johnny Depp as the title character, but that's not the only reason. Things get pretty different from the immediate predecessor.

The year is 1927, and most of the events take place in Paris. If you were hoping to see Voldemort forerunner Gellert Grindelwald go on trial, I'm afraid he escapes in the midst of extradition to Britain early on. (Even when playing a wanted murderer laying low, Depp refuses to look ordinary on screen anymore.) His objective is to find Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), the young adult wizard finally in control of his immense powers, and recruit him to slaughter or subjugate all muggles. Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), presently a Defense Against the Dark Art professor, taps beast collector Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to reach Credence and talk him out of that crusade. In addition to the obvious challenges, Newt must contend with a distrustful Ministry of Magic and one Yusuf Kuma (William Nadylam), who wants to kill Credence for personal reasons.

Wild Boys of the Road (1933)

Usually, when a DVD contains two feature films, I watch only the more popular one. In this case, the two films together run less than 150 minutes, and there are no extras to take up more time. Besides, WBotR has a solid IMDb rating in its own right, just a little below the other William Wellman '33 hit, Heroes for Sale.

Gas-siphoning high school pals Tommy and Eddie seem to be high on life, until they find out that their parents aren't making ends meet. They drop out and travel the country to look for employment, which isn't easy during the Depression. When they're not stowing away on freight trains, they're usually taking up residence with other teens in a place that was not meant for habitation. Their closest new acquaintance is Sally, who disguises herself as a boy.

Heroes for Sale (1933)

When you think of Hollywood fare in the early '30s, you're likely to think of musicals, romantic comedies, gangster flicks, and/or horrors. But a handful of dramas from that time rate a mention to this day, and for the most part, they do not pull punches. They mean to reflect a dreary era.

This story begins in World War I, where U.S. soldier Tom (Richard Barthelmess) nearly dies in battle. He comes home a morphine addict, and his mom dies while he's in an asylum. Things start to look up after he and neighbor Ruth (Loretta Young) fall in love and he finds success in the laundry business, but he hasn't counted on the company falling into less scrupulous hands, costing lots of jobs. And that's before the stock market crash....

Logan (2017)

In honor of the late Stan Lee, I decided to watch the most popular Marvel movie I hadn't yet. Unfortunately, it's probably the bleakest, which makes it less than ideal for the occasion, not least because Lee doesn't get a cameo. Still, it's important to recognize multiple sides to his legacy.

In not-so-distant 2029, most people think superpowered mutants extinct, presumably thanks to a government effort. James "Logan" Howlett, a.k.a. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, finally looking his real age again), has been laying low as a limo driver, his rapid healing in decline thanks to adamantium poisoning. The only other mutants he knows to be alive aren't faring much better: Professor X (Patrick Stewart), in his 90s, is prone to telepathic seizures; and Caliban (Stephen Merchant), who has even sharper senses than Wolverine, needs to cover his skin completely before entering sunlight. Then comes Laura (Dafne Keen), the first preteen mutant they've met in a long time. The Professor insists that they help her reach a safe haven before the Reavers under Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook) get her.

It Started with Eve (1941)

Boy, Hollywood in the '40s and '50s sure had a thing for "Eve." There's All About Eve, The Three Faces of Eve, The Lady Eve...and you might count Adam's Rib. ISwE has the least justification, as no one in it is named Eve (or Adam) and the main woman is neither especially wicked nor most responsible for setting things in motion. The studio just settled on a generic battle-of-the-sexes evocation that, true to the era, favored men. No wonder I had trouble recalling the title afterward. But you shouldn't judge the film itself on that basis.

Johnny Reynolds (Robert Cummings) expects aristocratic dad Jonathan (Charles Laughton) to die in bed any minute. Sensing too little time to introduce his dad to new fiancée Gloria (Margaret Tallichet), he hires random stranger Anne (Deanna Durbin) to pose as her briefly. The plot thickens when Jonathan makes a gradual unforeseen recovery and wishes to see more of "Gloria." Since the truth might shock him to death, Anne is persuaded to sustain the act a bit longer, while Johnny must juggle two "fiancées."

The Pursuit of Happyness

It occurred to me that the only Will Smith movies I'd seen were a few '90s sci-fis. I thought it only fair to check out his more serious, perhaps more mature side in possibly his most esteemed later effort, which got him a second Oscar nod.

In early-'80s San Francisco, Chris Gardner (Smith) has made an unwise career move: selling expensive, seemingly optional bone density scanners to doctors. By the start of the movie, his family is behind on bills. Wife Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out on him and briefly tries to take five-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith!) with her. Chris decides that his best move is to take a six-month unpaid internship at a brokerage and hope to be the one chosen for the job among 20 candidates. In the meantime, his living situation will worsen.

Medium Cool (1969)

Once again, my timing was serendipitous: I didn't realize I'd be watching a political movie on Election Day. Better still, it takes place 50 years ago, when social tensions were even higher. (I suspect that the title, which paraphrases Marshall McLuhan, partly means to be ironic: Cool heads are in short supply.)

John, a Chicago news cameraman, has maintained an especially strong air of detachment from his subjects, no matter how intense the situation. This does not stop him from taking interest in the displaced widow of a West Virginia coal miner and her son. After he objects to his station's scandalous collaboration with the FBI and then loses his job, he finds himself a lot less detached.

A Perfect World (1993)

Heh, when I moved this up in my queue, I didn't know that the story would start on Halloween and end a few days later. That detail is too minor for a summary on Netflix or even Wikipedia. I just wanted something that wasn't horror, even if it is a bit of a thriller. And it's one of director Clint Eastwood's own faves.

In JFK-era Texas, Butch (Kevin Costner) and Terry (Keith Szarabajka) bust out of prison. Thanks to incautious if not unhinged behavior on Terry's part, they see fit to take a hostage, eight-year-old Phillip (T.J. Lowther). Their plan is to keep him until they drive to another state, quite some distance away. Red (Eastwood), a Texas Ranger, starts hunting for them, reluctantly bringing along criminologist Sally (Laura Dern) and FBI marksman Bobby (Bradley Whitford).