‘Christy’ Movie Review, AKA ‘Wow, They’re Sure Are a Lot of Boxing Biopics, Aren’t There?’

November 13, 2025

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Think Pink? (CREDIT: Black Bear/Screenshot)

Starring: Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian, Ethan Embry, Coleman Pedigo, Jess Gabor, Chad L. Coleman, Tony Cavalero

Director: David Michôd

Running Time: 135 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: November 7, 2025 (Theaters)

If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, then perhaps you are already familiar with my approach of asking myself, “Would I like to live in the world of this movie and/or be the protagonist?” In the case of the sports biopic Christy, in which Sydney Sweeney stars as pioneering boxer Christy Salters Martin, the answer is a definitive split decision of “Yes in some ways” and “No in other ways.” On the one hand, professional athletic glory sounds like something I’d love to bask in. But on the other hand, being a queer woman in a homophobic world who’s married to a controlling and abusive man sounds much less appealing. So since that strategy didn’t result in a singular response, I’ll instead think of this movie as an advertisement for what a great friend Christy surely is to all those who have the good fortune to be a part of her life now and in the future.

Grade: 5 Belts out of 8 Mullets

This Is a Movie Review: ‘Blindspotting’ is a Little Messy, But It Has Plenty to Say About Violence and Gentrification

July 21, 2018

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

CREDIT: Ariel Nava/Lionsgate

This review was originally published on News Cult in July 2018.

Starring: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ethan Embry

Director: Carlos López Estrada

Running Time: 95 Minutes

Rating: R for Confrontational Profanity and Intense Physical Violence

Release Date: July 20, 2018 (Limited)

Are we defined by the most extreme moments in our lives? Please, somebody, tell Blindspotting, because it would like to know!

Longtime friends and Oakland, California natives Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal star as longtime friends and Oakland, California natives Collin and Miles, respectively. They work together at a moving company, managed by Collin’s ex Val (Janina Gavankar). Collin is approaching the end of his probation, his jail stint the result of a violent incident that has forever seared itself on Val’s memory. A central question in Blindspotting is whether or not Val can ever look past Collin at his worst, and looming even wider is the question of whether or not Collin and Miles can look past the version of their hometown that they grew up in.

Gentrification has arrived for every urban area in this country with any hint of trendiness, and Miles could not be more opposed. Collin is more serene about the matter, perhaps because he has more intimate experience with the consequences of myopia. Development efforts may take away local color, but they also can make cities safer. Alas, they often just tuck the danger away into hidden corners, which Blindspotting does not turn its eyes away from. If only gentrification could clean up a population’s morality and make it more compassionate. It is a phenomenon that has its failings, but those failings do not call for as violent a reaction as Miles is predisposed towards. There is a lot of confrontation from all directions in this movie – the challenge is to cut through your blind spots and find the most useful message.

Blindspotting is Recommended If You Like: Daveed Diggs breaking big, Socially conscious sitcoms, Wayne Knight cameos

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Kwik Ways