Michael Peña

A young man goes through a rigorous exercise routine in his bedroom while a small television plays a motivating speech by Tom Brands, the famous American wrestler and Olympic gold medalist. The man is clearly inspired by the fictional character of Rocky, as evident from the posters all over the room's walls, backed by the many small trophies and medals announcing his achievements. But the biggest challenge in the life of this young man, Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome), is that he has had only one leg since birth because of congenital amputation. Irrespective of this disability, though, Anthony dreams of pursuing wrestling as a sport in college, and so the night of the High School Nationals Championship Final is of extreme importance to him. Anthony's coach, Bobby Williams (Michael Pena), prepares him mentally for the fight that is about to come. Anthony represents the Mesa High School, from Arizona. Anthony competes with a single leg in all his bouts. Anthony is evidently a bit distracted by a group of scouts from Iowa University, the college of his dreams, as he hopes to be selected for the university team and also get a fully funded academic package. Bobby brings him back to the present, and as Anthony steps onto the wrestling mat, a rigorous spirit drives him towards success, despite the remarkable fact that he competes in the regular format of the tournament, meaning that none of his opponents have physical disabilities. The young man does not in any way seem to be lacking the strength of his missing leg and uses his mobility and quick reflexes to defeat the opponent wrestler. Despite this great achievement, though, of winning the high school-level championship, Anthony is not able to grab the attention of the Iowa scouts, and they instead go for the safer choice of the fully able wrestler whom he had just defeated. Quite used to such subtle instances of discrimination, Anthony keeps hoping that Iowa State University will grant him a scholarship and is not too keen when his ever-supportive mother, Judy (Jennifer Lopez), is able to arrange for a program from Drexel University. Although Drexel offers him a fully funded college education and a confirmed spot on the wrestling team, he is not as excited as his mother after hearing of the chance. This is not only because Drexel is far away from his home, meaning that he will have to move away from his beloved family, but also because the college does not have a reputed wrestling program. Iowa had produced 73 national champions and Drexel had none. Anthony wants to be trained by the very best coaches so that he can have a good chance at competing in the NCAA championship. As Iowa, or any other better colleges, still do not reach out, Anthony decides to join Arizona State University, where his education will be funded, but he will have to be a walk-on member of the wrestling team, meaning that his position in the team is not guaranteed. When Anthony goes to meet the head coach of the ASU wrestling team, Shawn Charles (Don Cheadle), the latter makes it clear that he will have to prove his worth in order to be selected, and the young man starts to prepare himself for the trials. Meanwhile, he had put in an application at Iowa State University as well, and when they outright rejected his application, Anthony finally joined Arizona State University to train and play under coach Charles. In his freshman year, he goes through all the rigorous training exercises, which are extra difficult for him because of his disability, but Anthony never lets it come in the way of his dreams. Even when the entire roster is made to run around the track field with heavy weights in their hands, Anthony puts a sling around the weights and carries it on his shoulders, as his hands are occupied with the crutches. He does not want to get any unfair advantage over the others in any respect, even though he is technically already at a disadvantage against them. When the rest of the team goes through a very difficult trek, or run, through the Phoenix Mountains, Anthony does not give up, even though he gets injured on the way up and bleeds profusely. Although it is a race up to the peak for the rest of the team, Anthony knows that it would be enough for him to just complete the course and prove his mettle, and he does just that, instantly impressing the coach and the whole team as well. Anthony is very quick at making friends, and he can impress people with ease, both because of his charming personality and also his dedication towards fighting for his goals. The first major setback to his college wrestling career comes at the beginning of sophomore year, when Coach Charles gathers the whole team and announces that wrestling has been cut from the roster of sports to be officially held at the university for the year. With more popular sports like basketball and football bringing in more money for the college, the authorities decide to skip participating in the NCAA wrestling tournament for the year, and this naturally hurts all the students who had been preparing to make it to the team. Anthony was already very close to making it into the team by this time, but there was nothing he could do about the situation. Even Coach Charles tearfully admits to his team that he tried all he could have, but there was simply no way to turn things around. Finally, in the next season, Anthony continues to train and fight for his position on the team when Coach Charles calls each of the players to his office individually and asks them to vote for or against their teammates for the final roster. In this vote, Anthony initially fears that people might have voted against him because of his disability, as some might feel that he would be a liability to the team. However, it is revealed that everyone in the roster had voted in favor of Anthony, wanting him to be a part of the team, as he had not only proven his worth to them but had also become a motivating figure for all of them. In this manner, Anthony becomes a part of the ASU wrestling team. In his first showing at the NCAA national championship, Anthony gets all the way to the finals only to lose to Matt McDonough from Iowa State in the finals. Anthony knew that he had only more attempt left to achieve his dream. Bigger than any personal or institutional setbacks that Anthony Robles has to face in his career are the difficulties at home, originating because of a horrible and insensitive stepfather, Rich (Bobby Cannavale). Being the eldest among all his step-siblings, Anthony is really loved and adored by everyone at home, except for Rich, who has still not been able to get over the fact that he is not Anthony's biological father. Judy has had to go through some really difficult patches in life, during which she got pregnant with someone and had Anthony, before she was left alone to raise him. It was then that she met Rich and decided to start a family with him, and Anthony was made a part of this new family as well. However, Rich always evidently bore a grudge against him, to the point that he even directly told Anthony (when he was just a boy of eight or so) that he was not like his step-siblings and that the boy should just be thankful that someone is taking care of him. Even in his teenage and young adult years, Anthony has to often encounter snide remarks and insensitive comments from his stepfather, who believes that someone with his disabilities cannot pursue wrestling, or any other sport for that matter. Therefore, Rich wants him to just pursue his education without any distractions in the form of sports and try to get a job at the earliest so that he too can start paying the bills for the family. Although some really nasty arguments take place between the father and son, during which Rich's hateful nature makes itself obvious, they are still not the worst harm that Rich does to the family. Instead, it is his disgusting nature of physically abusing and assaulting Judy, all because of his terrible anger issues, that causes the most trouble in the household. Rich is emotionally unstable, and he abandons his family on one occasion, after realizing that his wife and children actually live happier in his absence. But he returns a few weeks later, after he has been fired from his job at the police department, although he never tells anyone about it. On a number of occasions, Anthony finds him to have raged against Judy or to have even physically assaulted her. Despite his anger and concern, he is unable to do anything against Rich only because Judy stops him. However, on one particular occasion, things get really out of hand, and Anthony has to use his wrestling moves on the abhorrent Rich, who is then taken away from the house by the police. Although Rich leaves the family after this, and so the members live in peace, Judy gets distraught when she realizes that the mortgage for the house was no longer being paid, meaning that she and her kids would soon be on the streets. It is Anthony who pushes his mother to stop spiraling out of control and take initiatives to better her position in life, and Judy then finds a way to have the mortgage issue solved. Anthony Robles enters the NCAA wrestling championships as part of the ASU team and remains undefeated throughout the season. He has to face the most difficult competitor in the final round, in the form of a wrestler named Matt McDonough, representing Iowa State University. Therefore, it is not just the winner's trophy that is at stake in this wrestling bout, but also the very prestige of Anthony, as he has to face a wrestler from the very college that he always wanted to attend. After a number of tough rounds, Anthony ultimately wins the bout and the tournament, becoming the NCAA wrestling champion of the year. He was also the first and only athlete to be signed by Nike after his retirement, since he did not pursue wrestling as a profession after college. In 2013, he was even appointed to the President's Council on Fitness, Sport, and Nutrition. In 2022, Anthony Robles took over the job of the wrestling coach at Mesa High School, where his dreams of becoming a wrestler had first taken shape. Judy completed her Doctorate of Education in 2022 and currently serves as the Assistant Dean of Students at Arizona State University.

The Instagram-perfect image of Brandy Melville hides a toxic culture endemic to fast fashion.

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When the moon gets knocked off its orbit, it goes hurtling towards the earth, endangering all of humanity. A ragtag trio of astronauts makes it their mission to stop Earth`s destruction.

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When her parents mysteriously disappear while looking for the Lost City of Gold, Dora must swing into action and lead ill-equipped high schoolers on a quest to save them.

Post 9/11, a special force team under the leadership of a new captain is deployed in Afghanistan to take down the Taliban. Whilst the team comprises of the best soldiers, their challenge is to work in coalition with an Afghan warlord to trace the Taliban hideouts.

In this big-screen Ninjago adventure, the battle for Ninjago City calls to action young Lloyd, aka the Green Ninja, along with his friends, who are all secret warriors and LEGO Master Builders. Led by kung fu master Wu, as wise-cracking as he is wise, they must defeat evil warlord Garmadon, the Worst Guy Ever, who also happens to be Lloyds dad. Pitting mech against mech and father against son, the epic showdown will test this fierce but undisciplined team of modern-day ninjas who must learn to check their egos and pull together to unleash their true power.

Jon Baker (Shepard) and Frank Ponch Poncherello (Pea) have just joined the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Los Angeles but for very different reasons. Baker is a beaten up pro motorbiker trying to put his life and marriage back together. Poncherello is a cocky undercover Federal agent investigating a multi-million dollar heist that may be an inside jobinside the CHP. The inexperienced rookie and hardened pro are teamed together, but clash more than click, so kickstarting a partnership is easier said than done. But with Bakers bike skills combined with Ponchs street savvy it might just workif they dont drive each other crazy along the way.

When a successful New York advertising executive suffers a great tragedy he retreats from life. While his concerned friends try desperately to reconnect with him, he seeks answers from the universe by writing letters to Love, Time and Death. But it’s not until his notes bring unexpected personal responses that he begins to understand how these constants interlock in a life fully lived, and how even the deepest loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.

When a priest (Michael Pena) is called upon to exorcize a powerful satanic force, he enters a battle not only for a woman`s soul, but also the fate of the world.

The film follows Chavez`s efforts to organize 50,000 farm workers in California, many of whom were bracerostemporary workers from Mexico permitted to live and work in the United States in agriculture, and required to return to Mexico if they stopped working. Working conditions are very poor for the braceros, who also suffer from racism and brutality at the hands of the employers and local Californians. To help the workers, Mexican American Cesar Chavez (Michael Pena) forms a labor union known as the United Farm Workers (UFW). Chavez`s efforts are opposed, sometimes violently, by the owners of the large industrial farms where the braceros work. The film touches on several major nonviolent campaigns by the UFW: the Delano grape strike, the Salad Bowl strike, and the 1975 Modesto march.

From the makers of `Madagascar` and `Kung Fu Panda`, TURBO is a high-velocity 3D comedy about an underdog snail who kicks into overdrive when he miraculously attains the power of super-speed. But after making fast friends with a crew of streetwise, tricked-out es-car-goes, Turbo learns that no one succeeds on their own. So he puts his heart and shell on the line to help his pals achieve their dreams, before Turbo-charging his own impossible dream: winning the Indy 500.

After the workers at a luxury Central Park condominium discover that a billionaire has stolen their retirement, they plot the ultimate revenge: a heist to reclaim what he took.

In the action-comedy 30 Minutes or Less, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a small town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two wanna-be criminal masterminds (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). The duo kidnaps Nick and forces him to rob a bank. With only a few hours to pull off the impossible task, Nick enlists the help of his ex-best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari). As the clock ticks, the two must deal with the police, hired assassins, flamethrowers, and their own tumultuous relationship.

Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers - they`re all on Mickey Haller`s client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence - it`s about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it`s even about justice. A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney`s dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career. Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal - this time to save his own life.

An advocate faces many obstacles to fight against corrupt senior government functionaries, rampant tax evasion and god-men who sexually exploit their disciples

Fleeing into the woods after committing a crime, Craig meets Walter, a man who has made his home in the forest. Walter takes Craig under his wing, and tries to help him become a new man, but this process is painful and dangerous.

Lions for Lambs is a story woven around an idealistic professor and two students at a West Coast university, Arian (Derek Luke) and Ernest (Michael Pea). Professor Dr. Malley (Robert Redford) tries to motivate them to do something significant with their lives. Meanwhile, the charismatic congressman Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) gets in touch with inquiring veteran T.V. journalist (Meryl Streep). Will she reveal anything about congressman and his new military plan for Afghanistan? Where would their professor`s motivation lead Arian and Ernest?

An expert marksman living in exile, is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Now on the run after being double crossed for the assassination attempt he was trying to prevent, he sets out for the real killer, and the truth. Bob Lee Swagger, one of the world's great marksmen and the son of a Medal of Honor recipient, is a loner living in the Rockies. He's left the military, having been hung out to dry in a secret Ethiopian mission a few years before. He's recruited by a colonel to help find a way that the President of the US might be assassinated in one of three cities in the next two weeks. He does his work, but the shot is fired notwithstanding and Bob Lee is quickly the fall guy. Wounded and hunted by thousands, he goes to ground and, aided by two unlikely allies, searches for the truth and for those who double-crossed him. All roads lead back to Ethiopia. —<jhailey@hotmail.com> A top Marine sniper, who previously abandoned the military after a routine mission gave way to tragedy, is double-crossed by the government after reluctantly being pressured back into service in Training Day director Antoine Fuqua's adaptation of Stephen Hunter's novel Point of Impact. There was a time when Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) was the best trigger-man in the military, but after growing disillusioned with the system, he disappeared without a trace. When high-profile government officials locate him at his remote mountain retreat following an extensive search, Swagger is coerced back into service in order to stop a determined assassin from taking out the President of the United States. In the process of carrying out his mission, however, Swagger suddenly realizes that he has been betrayed when he becomes the subject of a nationwide manhunt. Now wounded and desperate to reveal the culprits behind the conspiracy before it's too late, Swagger sets into motion a revenge plan that will send shock waves rippling to some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world. Having seen his spotter buddy Donnie Fenn die as disloyal brass abandoned them on mission, US Marine champion sharpshooter Bob Lee Swagger resigned to live in the Wyoming Rockies, alone with his dog. Colonel Isaac Johnson uses his fellow Medal of Honor reputation and patriot appeal to lure Bob back for a short mission: working out how a 'suspected' sniper could kill the president, speaking at public venues. After his report, a second speaking guest of honor, Ethiopian archbishop Desmond Mutumbo, is killed 'by accident,' and a local cop fails to eliminate Bob. Shot twice and on the run, he handcuffs rookie FBI special agent Nick Memphis and steals his FBI car, which he drives into the river after a long chase. Unable to treat his wounds effectively, he drives to Donnie's widow (Sarah Fenn) in Kentucky. She helps sew him up and assists his search for the culprits, later joined by Nick, who faces dishonorable discharge or worse but smells a rat and dares dig for the nasty truth on Johnson's White House ploy (rescued by Bob before a torture team disposes of him, too). Taking on the schemers proves dangerous for all. —KGF Vissers

On September 11, 2001, Port Authority Police officers John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) got up from a night's sleep at his usual time and got ready for a day of duty. John's wife Donna (Maria Bello) is still sleeping as he heads into work. People use various modes of transport to come into Mahattan. At the station, McLoughlin is in charge of assigning the daily duties to his officers. McLoughlin and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena), who are patrolling the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, see a plane fly dangerously low overhead. As all of the police officers return to the station, they see on TV and that the North Tower of the World Trade Center has been hit by a plane. When the plane hit the tower, a shudder was felt even inside the station. Sergeant McLoughlin assigns many of the officers (including Colovito (Nicholas Turturro), Polnicki (Ned Eisenberg), Washington, O'Reilly, Jimeno, Hogart, Bavli, Rodrigues, Giraldi (Danny Nucci), Pezzulo, Stolman, and others) to assist in an evacuation attempt of the still undamaged South Tower and they board a commandeered Metropolitan Transit Authority bus. On the bus, they hear reports that the South Tower has also been hit. McLoughlin informs Lieutenant John Kassimatis (Nick Damici) that while the NYPD is prepared for many kinds of attacks such as car bombs, chemical, biological and so on, but they are not prepared for an attack of this size and scale. They never planned for it and as such there is no equipment with the force to deal with it. There are expected to be 50/60,000 people inside the 2 towers. Jimeno tries to call his wife Allison (Maggie Gyllenhaal), but the phones are not working. When they arrive at the World Trade Center, they realize the extent of the disaster and see one of the first victims to jump out of the towers to a certain death. Paper from the offices inside the 2 towers is flying everywhere and the towers are spewing smoke. Sergeant John McLoughlin, veteran of the 1993 bombing, assembles a group of volunteers to evacuate the towers. Not everyone was keen to go. The group consists of McLoughlin, Jimeno, Dominick Pezzulo (Jay Hernandez) and Antonio Rodrigues (Armando Riesco). They enter the complex through Building # 5, to grab their safety equipment (mainly oxygen tanks and cutters) from the police desk. The men enter the concourse between the towers. An officer named Chris Amoroso (Jon Bernthal) appears to inform them of other events, such as the attack on the Pentagon and the second plane's hit on the South Tower, though the group does not accept this. The group meets Officer Reynolds (Tom Wright) who was also helping with the evacuations. McLoughlin grabs more tanks as spare to help people that they find trapped. As the men prepare to enter the North Tower, the buildings begin to rumble. McLoughlin realizes that the South Tower is collapsing onto them and that their only chance of survival is to run into the service elevator shaft. Chris trips and does not have time to get up. Rodrigues is unable to get to the shaft in time. McLoughlin, Jimeno and Pezzulo manage to escape the huge amounts of dust and rubble flying down from the South Tower. However, as the rubble continues to crush the elevator shaft, the three are trapped. McLoughlin knew that the elevator shaft is the strongest part of the building and hence was their best chance of survival. As the cascade of debris subsides, Pezzulo realizes he can free himself and manages to move nearer to Jimeno who, along with McLoughlin, is pinned under rubble and cannot move. Pezzulo tries but fails to shift the debris covering Jimeno's legs. Pezzulo wanted to go out and find help but is told by McLoughlin not to leave. As Pezzulo becomes optimistic that they will live, the rumbling begins again as the North Tower starts to collapse. Although Jimeno and McLoughlin are not further harmed, Pezzulo is fatally injured when a concrete slab crushes his torso. Pezzulo manages to fire his sidearm once into the air, in an attempt to alert rescuers to their whereabouts just before dying. Jimeno and McLoughlin spend hours under the rubble, in pain but exchanging personal information. McLoughlin continues to communicate on his wireless device but gets no response. Both are thirsty, but there is no water. McLoughlin's knees are crushed together. The duo are buried under several feet of rubble and topside there is absolute mayhem as the 2 towers are completely demolished. The news of the attacks on America reverberates around the world. Several hundred police and fire rescue officers are reported missing and unaccounted for. Allison and Donna have no clue if their husbands are alive or not. Donna is glued to the TV hoping to see McLoughlin. When Building 7 collapses, both men scream and accept their demise, but they survive without further harm. They survive burning gas flares and raining debris, which was also on fire. McLoughlin is particularly anxious to keep Jimeno from falling asleep. Jimeno is bleeding inside, and McLoughlin knows that if he goes to sleep, he may not be revived later. Jimeno also realizes that by straining to grab a metal bar above his body, he can make a noise that rescuers might hear. Two United States Marines, Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon) and Jason Thomas (William Mapother), who are searching for survivors, do hear it and find the men, calling for help to dig them out. Jimeno is rescued first, and then hours later McLoughlin is lifted out of the debris, barely alive. Both men are reunited with their families at the hospital and undergo medical treatment, including extensive surgeries, and McLoughlin is placed in a medically induced coma. In 2003, Jimeno and McLoughlin, both medically retired from duty, attend a celebratory barbecue with their families. The epilogue reveals that both men were two of twenty people found alive at Ground Zero, and they were numbers eighteen and nineteen, respectively. David Karnes reenlisted in the Marines and served two tours in the Iraq War.

Following a bizarre series of events, Jimmy, a local amateur boxer, finds himself pitted in a match against the world champion. Jimmy Connelly, an English bachelor milkman, 'accidentally' knocks down his boxing club's champion as a stand-in sparring partner. The champ was scheduled for a title fight against the reigning, American world champion, so the sleazy manager decides to substitute him with Jimmy, who is now groomed for stardom. Naive Jimmy does everything the crook says, only to be blamed when it all explodes in their faces big time. Will he keep taking it or stand his ground before his whole career and private life are ruined? —KGF Vissers