Fat City (1972)

Two men, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take opposite momentum.

Great performances, especially Susan Tyrell, and great faded color photography. The downbeat story was slightly lost on me, though, since I've seen worse fates depicted on screen before.

Raging Bull (1980)

The rise and fall of the prizefighter Jake LaMotta.

A remarkable masterpiece in black and white carving a character study out of the downward spiral of its protagonist's life.

Halliwell****: "Tough, compelling, powerfully made ringside melodrama. A poll of American critics voted it the best movie of the 1980s."

Maltin****: "Extraordinarily compelling...That such an unappealing  man could inspire so vivid a portrait is a tribute to the collaboration Scorsese, De Niro, and writers Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin. There's not a false note in characterization or period detail."