My euphoria continues, for Hawaii crafted another improbably amazing win for the second straight week, beating San Diego State on Saturday, and now is officially set for the Hawaii Bowl on December 22, while the Rainbow Wahine Volleyball team, to the surprise of many, made the NCAA finals. Went to two movies, again, this weekend:
Rotten Tomatoes Box Office My Rating
Reviewers Audiences Mojo
Green Book 82 94 9 B+
Creed II 82 89 2 B
Interesting that the Kahala movie theater was packed for Green Book, but was so-so for Creed II.
I might also add that I had lunch between those films at Gomatei, a glass of Kirin beer with an excellent truffles ramen, which I would rank right up there with the belly bowl of Lucky Belly.
The Negro Motorist Green Book was published from 1936 to 1966 for African-Americans during the Jim Crow era. Not only the deep south, but throughout the country, blacks could not find restaurants and lodging when on travel. In the 1920's hotels in Salt Lake City were only available for whites. There were also sundown laws, and even at the end of the 1960's there were 10,000 of these cities where blacks had to be indoors at night, even in Glendale, California. John A. Williams wrote in his 1964 book, This My Country Too:
...that he did not believe "white travelers have any idea of how much nerve and courage it requires for a Negro to drive coast to coast in America." He achieved it with "nerve, courage, and a great deal of luck," supplemented by "a rifle and shotgun, a road atlas, and Travelguide, a listing of places in America where Negroes can stay without being embarrassed, insulted, or worse."[26] 
Thus, you can appreciate the title, Green Book, a mostly true story involving Dr. Don Shirley, a virtuoso African-American pianist, and Tony Vallelonga, a White Italian-American New York City bouncer, who went on to become maitre'd at the Copacabana, and whose son Nick helped write and produce this film, serving as the driver for a Black man through the South. I remember when I first went to Baton Rouge in 1969 there were still separate black and white drinking fountains. But I drove everywhere throughout the country and had no problems.
Don (Mahershala Ali) and Tony (Viggo Mortensen) formed an odd couple from opposite tracks of society, and the reversed positions made it all the more entertaining. You've seen Ali, of course, for he won an Oscar for his performance in Moonlight. Mortensen you've also seen a lot, for he has twice been nominated for Best Actor.
I can't say it any better, so let me use this quote:
Writing for The San Francisco Chronicle, Mike LaSalle praised Ali and Mortensen and said "...there's something so deeply right about this movie, so true to the time depicted and so welcome in this moment; so light in its touch, so properly respectful of its characters, and so big in its spirit, that the movie acquires a glow. It achieves that glow slowly, but by the middle and certainly by the end, it's there, the sense of something magical happening, on screen and within the audience."[23]
There have been eight Rocky movies, the latest, Creed II. The series has grossed more than $1.4 billion. The first, released in 1976--that's 42 years ago--won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. Sylvester Stallone received nominations as Best Actor for the first and seventh.
Many of us read books and go see the movie anyway, knowing exactly what will happen. Thus, this review tells it all. In Creed II:
- Adonis, son (Michael B. Jordan) of Creed I (not in film), coached by Rocky (Sylvester Stallone), who previously had beaten and coached Creed I, wins the world heavyweight championship.
- Ukrainian Ivan Drago (Dolf Lundgren) had previously killed Creed I in a fight, but Rocky subsequently beats Drago.
- This latest film builds a sympathetic platform for the Dragos.
- An eager American promoter talk's Drago and his son, Viktor (Florian Munteanu), to challenge Creed II.
- Rocky refuses to help out in this fight, and Viktor almost kills Adonis in the ring.
- Tell you what, go see the film, it's good. I won't reveal what happens next, but consider that Sylvester Stallone helped write the screenplay, was one of the producers and co-stars, but that the Dragos also deserve some redemption.
By the way, have you noticed how many producers there are on films these days? In 1994 the number was already up to 5.4, then 10 in 2013. Now? Don't know...but got to be more. What do they do? Read Vulture. I show the poster for The Producers, for it was a great film. There was a junk 2005 version, but the 1968 original earned an Oscar for Mel Brooks, not as a producer, but for Best Original Screenplay.
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