Posted on by chloetalksfilm

160 Movies and Television Shows (and Books) That Represent Disabilities Authenticity

Advertisements
  1. Coda – 2021
  2. Phoenix Rising – 2020
  3. All the Beauty and gthe Bloodshed – 2022
  4. The Peanut Butter Falcoln – 2019
  5. Then Barbara Met Alan – 2022
  6. Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution – 2020
  7. Special – 2019-2021
  8. Run – 2020
  9. Sound of Metal – 2019
  10. Loudermilk – 2019-Present
  11. The Best Years of Our Lives – 1946
  12. Children of a Lesser God – 1986
  13. Wonder – 2017
  14. The Theory of Everything – 2014
  15. The Fundamentals of Caring – 2016
  16. Still Alice – 2014
  17. I Am Sam – 2001
  18. The Terry Fox Story – 1983
  19. Breathe – 2017
  20. Ray – 2004
  21. Sex Education – 2019-2023
  22. Years and Years – 2019
  23. The Way He Looks – 2014
  24. Afterlife – 2003
  25. X+Y – 2014
  26. Forrest Gump – 1994
  27. The Father – 2020
  28. My Left Foot – 1989
  29. Mozart and the Whale – 2005
  30. Temple Grandin – 2010
  31. Heartbreak High – 2022-Present
  32. Parenthood – 2010-2015
  33. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – 1993
  34. The A Word – 2016-
  35. After Thomas – 2006
  36. Snow Cake – 2006
  37. Adam – 2009
  38. Off the Rails – 2016
  39. The Drummer and the Keeper – 2017
  40. Land of Silence and Darkness – 1971
  41. The Devil and Daniel Johnston – 2005
  42. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – 2007
  43. Hear and Now – 2007
  44. Benny & Joon – 1993
  45. Chained for Life – 2018
  46. The Elephant Man – 1980
  47. Murderball – 2005
  48. The Tribe – 2014
  49. All Together Now – 2020
  50. Autism in Love – 2015
  51. Dad’s in Heaven with Nixon – 2010
  52. Deej – 2017
  53. Fly Away – 2011
  54. How to Dance in Ohio – 2015
  55. Keep the Change – 2017
  56. Life, Animated – 2016
  57. Mary and Max – 2009
  58. My Name is Khan – 2010
  59. Amy – 1981
  60. And Your Name is Jonah – 1979
  61. Cop Land – 1997
  62. A Beautiful Mind – 2001
  63. Ailey – 2021
  64. Awakenings 1990
  65. Homeroom – 2021
  66. Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story – 2017
  67. Five Easy Pieces – 1970
  68. Gaby: A True Story – 1987
  69. The King’s Speech – 2010
  70. Dominick and Eugene – 1988
  71. Whose Life is it Anyway? – 1981
  72. Warm Springs – 2005
  73. Please Stand By – 2017
  74. Stand Clear of the Closing Doors – 2013
  75. The Horse Boy – 2009
  76. Deaf U – 2020
  77. Lost and Sound – 2012
  78. Mr. Holland’s Opus – 1995
  79. Boys Town – 1938
  80. David and Lisa – 1962
  81. Jacob’s Ladder – 1990
  82. Dummy – 1979
  83. Freak City – 1999
  84. Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements – 2019
  85. The Hammer – 2010
  86. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – 1968
  87. Wildflower – 1991
  88. Bedlam – 2019
  89. Life Goes On – 1989-1993
  90. Switched at Birth – 2011-2017
  91. Girl, Interrupted – 1999
  92. A Brief History of Time – 1991
  93. St. Elsewhere – 1982-1988
  94. Alexa & Katie – 2018-2020
  95. Children of the Mountain – 2016
  96. Good Morning Peyton – 2017
  97. Notes on Blindness – 2016
  98. The Silent Child – 2017
  99. The Miracle Worker – 1962
  100. Speechless – 2016-2019
  101. The Intouchables – 2011
  102. Ocean Heaven – 2010
  103. Down for Love – 2022-present
  104. Mobility – 2023
  105. Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard? – 2023
  106. Best Interests – 2023
  107. Simon Birch – 1998
  108. A Space in TIme – 2021
  109. 37 Seconds – 2019
  110. CinemAbility – 2012
  111. The Rebound – 2016
  112. David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived – 2023
  113. The Pride of the Yankees – 1942
  114. Philadelphia – 1993
  115. The Black Balloon – 2008
  116. The Specials – 2019
  117. The Miracle Worker – 1931
  118. Iris – 2001
  119. Including Samuel – 2007
  120. The Dark Horse – 2015
  121. The Best and Most Beautiful Things – 2016
  122. Give Me Liberty – 2019
  123. Run – 2020
  124. My Beautiful Broken Brain – 2014
  125. Mask – 1985
  126. The Mighty – 1998
  127. Autism: The Musical – 2007
  128. Miracle Run – 2004
  129. A Normal Life – 2018
  130. Haben: The Deafblind Woman who Conqured Harvard Law by Haben Grima
  131. The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
  132. The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann
  133. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Austistic Savant by Daniel Tammett
  134. Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Asperger’s by John Elder Robison
  135. Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
  136. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey
  137. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper
  138. Rules by Cynthia Lord
  139. The Child Who Never Grew by Pearl S. Buck
  140. Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive Outside the Lines by Jonathan Mooney
  141. Easy Beauty: A Memoir by Chloe Cooper Jones
  142. The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search for His Disabled Son by Ian Brown
  143. In a Different Key: The Story of Autism by Caren Zucker and John Donvan
  144. The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland
  145. Born Extraordinary: Empowering Children with Differences and Disabilities by Meg Zucker
  146. The Cracks That Let the Light In: What I Learn from Disabled Son by Jessica Moxham
  147. The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the SPectrum by Temple Grandin
  148. Unmasking Autism: Discovering the New Faces of Neurodiversity by Devon Price PhD
  149. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
  150. If at Birth You Don’t Succeed: My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny by Zach Anner
  151. Ugly by Robert Hoge
  152. Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silberman
  153. Joni by Joni Eareckson Tada
  154. Summon the Tiger by Wendy Sura Thompson
  155. The Boy Born Dead: A Story of Friendship, Courage, and Triumph by David Ring, Jon Driver, and David Wideman
  156. Not a Poster Child: Living Well with a Disability by Francine Falk-Allen
  157. Year of the Tiger by Alice Wong
  158. Intelligent Love: The Story of Clara Park, Her Autistic Daughter, and The Myth of Refrigerator Mother by Marga Vicedo
  159. The First Thing About You by CHaz Hayden
  160. Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig

Posted on by chloetalksfilm · 1 Comment

The Iron Claw (2023)

Advertisements

The Iron Claw is a 2023 biographical sports drama film written and directed by Sean Durkin. Based on the life of professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich and the Von Erich family, the film stars Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Stanely Simons, Maura Tiereny, Holt McCallany, and Lily James.

In 1969, Texas NWA heavyweights champion Kevin V0nErich worries his father, WCCW owner Jack “Fritz” Von Erich, is urging his youngest brother Mike away from his musical dreams. Their brother David makes his wrestling debut with Kevin in a tag-team match against Bruiser Brody and Gino Hernandez, where Kevin meets and starts a relationship with a woman named Pam. He tells her about the “Von Erich Curse” that killed his oldest brother Jack Jr., supposedly brought on by Fritz changing his last name to Adkisson to his mother’s, whose family had suffered constant tragedy.

Kevin fights world champion Harley Race to himself in the lead for the championship contender, but is savagely beaten and only wins when Race attacks the referee and disqualified. A disappointed Fritz is excited when David shows a natural talent for showmanship while destroying Race. The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott slashes the Von Erich brother Kerry’s hopes of competition, so he moves back home. Fritz pressures him to fight with Kevin and David, while Pam helps the boys sneak Mike out play a gig against his parents’ wishes.

In 1983 the trop beats the Fabulous Free birds for the six man tag team championship title, and Fritz enlists David over Kevin to fight current world champion Ric Flair. Kevin and Pam get married, and he reveals at the wedding to a sick David that he will soon be a father. A week before the match, David, while touring in Japan dies of enteritis. Both Kevin and Kerry volunteer to fight Flair in his place, and Kerry is chosen in a coin toss, beating Flair and winning the title. Still disheartened, he goes out for a motorcycle ride and loses his foot in the accident.

Keven begins training Mike, who badly injures his shoulder during a match and goes into a toxic shock induced coma during surgery. Fearing the curse, Kevin has his newborn son legally surnamed Adkisson. Mike narrowly emerges from his coma, but Fritz pressures him to get back in the ring, he commits suicide and Kevin starts to distance himself from Pam and their son. He fights Flair for the championship, but is disqualified when he ignores the referee and grabs with the signiture Von Erich “iron claw” move for too long.

Kerry remains the only Von Erich wrestling with his new prosthetic foot, while Fritz has given Kevin the job of running the WCCW as his focuses on life with Pam and their two sons.

Focusing on the sport of wrestling, this film is very intense. There is a lot of wrestling matches and practices. You see the main characters go through lots of injuries. There is also a lot of tragedies and victories throughout this movie as well. Parts of the film are very slow, but the majority of it is fast paced. This is not a very happy film either, in fact, it’s rather depressing, but learning about the Von Erich family and the sport of wrestling is fascinating and is just one thing that makes this film interesting and enjoyable. The acting is outstanding throughout the two hour and twelve minute runtime of this film.

This movie is not just for wrestling and sports fans, it is also for anyone interested in history and dramatic films as well. I liked wrestling some as a kid, but currently, I am not a huge fan, but I really enjoyed this movie a lot. There is no laughing moments at all, but there are are plenty of moments where you find yourself cheering on the characters, as well as many scenes where you tear up. It is a very depressing movie in a lot of ways, but also a very happy one in a lot ways as well.

The acting, and cinematography in this film is superb, as well as the making of the wrestling seem one-hundred percent authentic. This is one of the best wrestling and sports films ever. It is equal parts intense, dramatic, exuberant , and tragic. You feel the pain and happiness all the main characters go through, and not many films do that. It will leave you intrigued, happy, and sad, making this a truly special film, and one of the best films of the year. The Von Erichs were both a special family, as well as an unfortunate one and this movie tells their story outstandingly. This film takes you on a roller coaster of emotions, in such a spectacular way, that makes even the biggest haters of wrestling, at least a little interested in the sport.

Despite the slowness of many of the scenes, this is truly a masterpiece of cinema and storytelling. Every actor was perfectly chosen for their roles and everyone of them excellently portrayed in both their looks and acting portrayal. This is a film that will stand the test of time, it is an instant classic, and one that should be seen on the big screen. Powerful to the max. 18+ 4/5

Posted on by chloetalksfilm

Elvis (2022)

Advertisements

Elvis is a 2022 epic biographical musical drama film directed by Baz Luhrmann. It stars Austin Butler as Elvis Presley with Tom Hanks, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Olivia DeJonge, Luke Bracey, Natash Bassett, David Wenham, Keven Harrison Jr. and Kodi Smit-McPhee in supporting roles. 

In 1997, Elvis Presley’s manager, Coloner Tom Parker is on his deathbed looking back at how he met the future King of Rock and Roll. In the early days Elvis has bettled a poverty-stricken childhood with his parents Vernon and Gladys. He finds music to be his redemption, even though he his picked on by his friends because of his love for African American music od Memhis’ Beale Street. Parker is a carnival peddler who calls himself a modern day PT Barnum. 

Although Parker is already managing country singer Hank Snow, as soon as he hears Elivs on the radio, he is impressed by what he hears and has dreams of becoming his manager. He eventually meets and coaxes Elvis to let him take control of his career. However, not all of the public is impressed with the young performer. Many parents believe that his ruining their children and racist politicians also attack him. After a violent incident at a concert, Elvis is faced with a possible jail term. However, Parker persuades the government to draft Elvis into the US Army as a way of avoiding anymore legal compications. During his time in the service, Elvis suffers the sadness of his mother dreaking herself to death. 

While stationed in Germany, Elvis meets Priscilla Beaulieu, and upon his discharge, he resumes his career making concert tours and movies while Parker’s control of his life grows stronger. After Parker locks him into a long contract at a Las Vegas hotel, Elvis starts to grow tired of his deceitful manager and tried to fire him, only to be sued by Parker for a substantial amount that will leave him broke and he will lose everything from his house, to his cars, to all his Elvis merchandise. A brutal argument develops, where Elvis has to admit that he has no choice but to keep Parker, although they grow apart and rarely see each other afterwards. Elvis’ life eventually goes downhill as Priscilla takes their daughter Lisa Marie and leaves him over his prescription drug addiction, which grows even more after she is gone. 

When I saw a preview for this film for the first time. I couldn’t see Austin Butler as Presley, but after watching it, I do see it one-hundred percent. The fact that he acts, sings, dances and plays the music is amazing. He brings the King of Rock and Roll back to life and you learn so much about Elvis’ life. The Elvis voice, singing, music playing and dancing done by Butler is spot on. He does the bouncy voice, the shaking and gyrating so perfectly, you forget you’re watching an actor and you feel like you have stepped back in time with the real Elvis. 

Oliva DeJonge does an outstanding job as Priscilla Presley. She looks the part perfectly and you’d never believe she’s actually Australian. Tom Hanks does a great job as Colone Tom Parker, though his accent does get pretty annoying and makes you wonder if Parker actually talked like that (if you didn’t already know). Helen Thomson does a great job too as Elvis’ mother Gladys Presley. Richard Roxburgh does a fine job as his father Vernon Presley. Luke Bracey is really good as talent manager Jerry Schilling. 

The story, acting, costumes and makeup and scenery and props are all spot on, period perfect. This film introduces young(er) generations to Elvis’ music and other music of the 50’s to 70’s. You learn so many things about the life of Mr. Presley, his childhood, his music, his relationships, fandom and addictions. The movie is really long at a nearly three hour runtime and could have been quite a bit shorter, as some scenes are really drawn out. You do wonder if the film is ever going to end, but other than that, it is extremely entertaining and makes you love Elvis’ music, either for the first time or all over again. 

This movie is as shocking as it is entertaining and Butler, DeJonge and Hanks all deserve awards for roles. Fantastic film from begining to end! 18+ 4.5/5 

, , , , ,
, , , , ,
Posted on by chloetalksfilm · 2 Comments

House of Gucci (2021)

Advertisements

House of Gucci is a 2021 American biographical crime film directed by Ridley Scott, based on the 2001 book House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour and Greed by Sara Gay Forden. The film follows Ptrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) and Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), as their romance blossoms into a struggle for total control over the Italian fashion brand Guicci. Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino also star. 

In 1978, Patrizia Reggiani is a young, pretty Italian woman working as an office manager at her father’s small trucking firm. At a party, Patrizia meets Maurizio Gucci, a law student and heir to 50% interest in the Gucci fashion house through his father Rudolfo. Patrizia forcefully pursues the awkward Maurizio. Rudolfo warns him that she is only after his wealth and tells him that he will disinherit him if he marries her. Maurizio chooses Patrizia over his relationship with Gucci, leaving the family. Patrizia and Marizio marry and he takes a job at the Reggiani trucking company. 

When Patrizia gets pregnant, she sees her child as a way for family recognation . She slips it out to Maurizio’s uncle Aldo and he is delighted by the news takes them in. Maurizio reconciles with his very ill father shortly before his death and Rudolfo writes him back into his will, but forgets to sign the papers, sending the Gucci shares to him before he dies. Patrizio falsifies his signature, giving Maurizio 50% interest in the company. 

Patrizia starts to invent a scheme to take a powerful interest in Gucci by taking Maurizio’s uncles Aldo and Paolo’s shres. At a family ski trip, Patrizia senses that Maurizio is having an affair with a family friend and consults a psychic for help. Maurizio asks for a divorce and says he also is going to take away her shares in the company. Many illegal events happen after she is dropped from Maurizio’s life and the Gucci brand, prompting her to devise a plan with the psychic to hire hit men from Siciliy to trick Maurizio and shoot him. 

You don’t have to be rich, a fashionista, or even a fashion designer yourself to enjoy this movie. The acting is equally superb from all the main stars. The soundtrack is awesome with a great mix of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s hits. The constumes and makeup is outstanding as well. Parts of the film are very slow and not much time is spent on the tiral of Patrizia and Pinna the psychic, just facts on the screen mostly. I was affraid the actors wouldn’t get the Italian accent right, but most of them did, except for Jeremy Irons whose accent was a mixture of Italian and British. 

This a really long movie at two hours and thirty-eight minutes and seemed like it wasn’t going to end. I did find myself a bit bored at times, wishing certain scenes would get over with. Some scenes are dragged on, like Aldo and his birds, just show he has them and move on, it’s not that important to the overall story. So much of the film seemed a bit soap opera-ish, like an Italian version of Dynesty, making it not as entertaining as Ridley Scott intended. For a film of a highly talented cast, I was expecting an exceptional motion picture, but got far less. Not worth spending money to watch on the big screen that’s for sure. 

The acting, fashion and music are the only things really good about this movie, so those award nominations will be well deserved, but not Best Picture or Best Director. Save yourself time and money and just read the book on audio, because the film is not as good they make it seem. 18+ 3/5 

Posted on by chloetalksfilm · 1 Comment

Shirley (2020)

Advertisements

Shirley is a 2020 American biographical drama film directed by Josephine Decker based on the novel of the same name by Susan Scarf Morrell. It stars Elizabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg Odessa Young and Logan Lerman. The film follows a young couple that moves in with Shirley Jackson and her Bennington College professor husaband, Stanley Hyman, hooping to start a new life. Instead they find themselves in a psycho thriller drama that inspires her next book.

You learn a lot about the life of thriller and mystery writer Shirley Jackson and her mental and physical health. She was a heavy drinker, had severe manic depression, was paranoid schizophrenic, agoraphobic, selfish and often times mean, speaking exactly what she was thinking. She was married to Stanley Hyman from 1940-1965 when she died.

Shirley (Moss) never leaves the house and studies the young wife, Rose Nemser who is living in the house and helping out around the home while going to school and looking for a job. Rose’s husband is Fred Nemser and he eventually becomes a professor at Bennington too, like Stanley. The young couple discover that Shirley is mentally ill and needs 24/7 care but Stanley refuses it telling them to just leave her alone and let her do her writing alone. Rose finds a page of Shirley’s newest novel in progress, starts to read it, discovering it’s about Fred and her,  gets upset and offended. Shirley walks in and finds her reading it and they both get angry and fight. Shirley hits Rose across the face.

Rose tells Fred about what happened and he doesn’t believe her until one evening at dinner when Shirley acts out dark and twisted scene, pointing a knife at both of them. The couple tell Stanley they can’t continue living there with Shirley in the house and they both beg him to send her to a mental institution, which he turns down, saying she is better off at home with him. Other parts of the film read and reenact scenes from Jackson’s book Hangsaman.

Elizabeth Moss is fantastic as Shirley Jackson and Michael Stuhlbarg is outstanding as Stanley Hyman. Odessa Young and Logan Lerman are very good, not great as Rose and Fred Nemser. The chronicles the life of Shirley and Stanley and the Nemsers that live with them and her latest novel.

Them film is fairly spectacular but would have be better if it had started from her childhood but it’s not a documentary. But you still get to know Shirley well as in her mental illnesses, her drinking problem and her inspirations and writing style. She may have been ill, but she was a fantastic writer and has inspired many ther writers.

This film is filled with illnesses, selfishness, drinking, smoking, fighting and sex. There is full frontal nudity in a couple of scenes as well, so no young viewers at all, only adults. The role of Shirley was one hundred percent perfect for Moss. No other person could have played her but Elizabeth. This a dark, pretty disturbing (at times) film. It shows how how mental health issues affect people and the ones around them and how a writer comes up with their stories. Some parts are a bit slow, but overall an  excellent movie. 18 & up 4.5/5