Glass Jaw: "Creed III," reviewed.

Jonathan Majors and Michael B. Jordan in the Jordan-directed sequel Creed III. (MGM)

I go into a Creed sequel hoping for another Creed or Rocky Balboa but perfectly willing to accept a Rocky III or a Creed II. Creed III is... well, better than Rocky V, but dang. I'm so disappointed.

A Split Decision for Chuck

Liev Schreiber and Ron Perlman in Philippe Falardeau's Chuck Wepner biopic. (Sarah Shatz/IFC)

Here's my NPR review of Chuck, a biopic about Chuck Wepner, the self-sabotaging New Jersey boxer who inspired Sylvester Stallone to write Rocky.  It ain't bad, but I wanted to love it. Anyway, Rocky already has a wonderful latter-day lega-sequel.

Halo, Goodbye: Bleed for This, reviewed.

Here's my NPR review of Bleed for This, writer-director Ben Younger's new biopic about super middleweight champion Vinny Paz's unlikely-but-true comeback from a massive injury. Not essential, but not bad. 

Gonna Fly Again: Creed, reviewed.

Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan. (Barry Wetcher)

In my NPR review of writer-director Ryan Coogler's stirring new Rocky sequel Creed, I avoid mentioning that I sorta-cried four times during this movie but only once during Inside Out. Read it here, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Requiem for a Middleweight: Southpaw, reviewed.

Like Robert De Niro and Daniel Day-Lewis before him, Jake Gyllenhaal transformed his body to play a boxer.

Those who're skeptical of the doctrine of self-mastery through sweat probably won't find much to hold their interest in Southpaw, a boxing melodrama so old-fashioned it's almost new. But I dug it. If my NPR review contains slightly fewer cliches than the movie does, it's not because I took a dive.