Grudge Match is the most purely entertaining movie released during the Christmas season (American Hustle excepted), yet its strange lack of prestige reveals a change in contemporary film culture where Stallone and DeNiro–one-time pop totems–are now out of media favor. Grudge Match, the new entertainment starring Stallone and DeNiro, headlines a rematch of Rocky Balboa’s populism against Travis Bickle’s modernism. Turns out that was a defining moment for pop culture: Feel-good entertainment defeated thought-provoking art cinema and the challenge of serious life-reflection represented by the cresting movement of the 70s new American cinema gave way to subsequent decades of studio-financed crowd-pleasers. DeNiro and Stallone’s first face-off was at the Oscars 36 years ago when Rocky won the Best Picture Academy Award over Taxi Driver.
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