The Fighter

[Sxottlan]

David O. Russell is apparently replacing (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=54687) Darren Arronofsky and Christian Bale is joining the cast.

I predict by the end of the shoot, someone will be arrested for murder.

And possibly...

rape.

:pritch:

[Ezee E]

Good to see that David O. Russell is still getting work.

Really looking forward to his movie this year. Ridiculously strange premise.

[Skitch]

Wow...this will make for some good youtube videos.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm so over Boxing films.

[Grouchy]

David O. Russell is apparently replacing (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=54687) Darren Arronofsky and Christian Bale is joining the cast.

I predict by the end of the shoot, someone will be arrested for murder.

:pritch:
Hahahah! Awesome.

Whalberg is also an aggresive factor. But then again, he has already worked with Russell, right?

[Ezee E]

Hahahah! Awesome.

Whalberg is also an aggresive factor. But then again, he has already worked with Russell, right?
Twice.

[number8]

And the movie's about fighting. What a terrifying idea all around.

[Sycophant]

Hopefully all the rage on set benefits the end product.

[megladon8]

I can't say that Aronofsky leaving anything makes my anticipation grow, but adding Bale to the cast certainly helps.

Haven't really seen enough from Russell to say whether this is good news or not.

And I think there would have been just as much juicy confrontation between Bale and Aronofsky. He's infamously difficult.

[Ezee E]

I think Aronofsky will simply be a great director that will always be screwed for his entire career. It sucks too, because he made Marlon Wayans legit, Jared Leto legit, and got career performances from Mickey Rourke and Ellen Burstyn.

[Qrazy]

I can't say that Aronofsky leaving anything makes my anticipation grow, but adding Bale to the cast certainly helps.

Haven't really seen enough from Russell to say whether this is good news or not.

And I think there would have been just as much juicy confrontation between Bale and Aronofsky. He's infamously difficult.

Plus they look alike although Bale is better looking. Aronofsky would have been incredibly pissy for the entire production.

[megladon8]

Is much of Bale's draw his looks?

I think he was considered more of a "babe" earlier in his career. Now I think he's known more for playing psychos, and not so much for being handsome.

[number8]

I think his draw is his voice.

"You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me. Set the dogs on me."

*swoon* Yes, sir.

[transmogrifier]

Bale is one of those actors, kind of like Sam Rockwell, who seems decent enough, and who never sucks outright, but is really, really, really flavourless and bland.

[megladon8]

He's my favorite English-speaking actor working right now.

Everything except Hard Times has benefitted greatly from his presence.

[Winston*]

I don't know how you came to that Rockwell opinion, trans. Sam Rockwell has a distinctly Sam Rockwelly thing going on, more like a Downey Jr than a Bale. Also, he's great.

[transmogrifier]

I don't know, I appreciate that Rockwell tries to be distinctive, but he comes across as remarkably blank and personality-free to me. To me, Rockwell is a non-committal shrug personified.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Nah, Rockwell is awesome, and as Winston put it, quite Rockwelly.

[Qrazy]

I don't know, I appreciate that Rockwell tries to be distinctive, but he comes across as remarkably blank and personality-free to me. To me, Rockwell is a non-committal shrug personified.

http://www.dlisted.com/files/ctophotness2.jpg

Is this personality exciting enough for you?

[Ezee E]

Yeah, Rockwell definitely is akin to Downey.

I wonder if Harsh Times is Bale being himself, especially the scene after he finds out he won't be in the PD.

[number8]

Everything except Hard Times has benefitted greatly from his presence.

What the hell are you talking about? He was the only decent thing about Harsh Times. That movie benefited enormously from his presence.

[Ezee E]

What the hell are you talking about? He was the only decent thing about Harsh Times. That movie benefited enormously from his presence.
Yeah. It actually almost worked because of him. I've watched it a few times, and there's a lot more to his role than I originally thought.

[megladon8]

What the hell are you talking about? He was the only decent thing about Harsh Times. That movie benefited enormously from his presence.


No f-ing way.

That was one of the worst "white boy from the hood" depictions I've seen in, maybe ever.

Every time he said "dawg" I laughed.

[Ezee E]

No f-ing way.

That was one of the worst "white boy from the hood" depictions I've seen in, maybe ever.

Every time he said "dawg" I laughed.
I'm not sure you got the movie right. Notice how he completely changes when talking with PD, his interviews. Again, when it's him and his potential wife. He's got four or five different voices in the whole movie.

[megladon8]

I'm not sure you got the movie right. Notice how he completely changes when talking with PD, his interviews. Again, when it's him and his potential wife. He's got four or five different voices in the whole movie.


Yes but none of them rang true to me.

When he speaks with his wife in Spanish, it's incredibly awkward and stilted. This is something I probably wouldn't have even noticed if it weren't for the fact that I've spent so much time with Spanish-speaking people over the last few years. He doesn't sound like a white guy who learned Spanish...he sounds like an actor pronouncing things phonetically.

And his friend who is Spanish and grew up in a rough neighbourhood seems to be completely unbothered by how false Bale's posing and "hood speak" sounded. I didn't think this was an intentional personality trait of the characters, I think it was just Bale feeling awkward with the dialogue he was given.

The only parts that really rang true with me were his flip-outs and the scenes where he was feigning a clean-cut image for the military guys.

[Acapelli]

Yes but none of them rang true to me.
that sorta seems like the point

[megladon8]

that sorta seems like the point


Not when the fact that they weren't supposed to ring true didn't ring true.

Honestly I blame David Ayer's horrible writing more than I blame Bale.

But Bale was definitely not the right choice for the role.

[Ezee E]

Not when the fact that they weren't supposed to ring true didn't ring true.

Honestly I blame David Ayer's horrible writing more than I blame Bale.

But Bale was definitely not the right choice for the role.
Ayer's writing was horrible though, and the movie had the potential to do a lot more, but ended shitty.

[Ivan Drago]

I wonder if Harsh Times is Bale being himself, especially the scene after he finds out he won't be in the PD.

Is that the scene on Youtube everyone on RT links to when something bad in movie news comes up? This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w09rqkY0hbg

[Ezee E]

Is that the scene on Youtube everyone on RT links to when something bad in movie news comes up? This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w09rqkY0hbg
Don't know of the RT stuff, but that is the scene.

[Dukefrukem]

This film is being shot in the town next to my hometown, and auditions are next Sat. Staring Mark Wahlberg. Got the e-mail today. I box three days a week. Think I should audition for a part?

THE FIGHTER is a drama about Lowell boxing champ "Irish" Micky Ward and his half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded after nearly being destroyed by drugs and crime.


BOSTON CASTING HOLDING OPEN CALL AUDITIONS FOR FEATURE FILM
'THE FIGHTER'
-- Saturday, May 30 from 10 - 4 --

Boston Casting, the state's largest casting company, is holding an open call audition for the new feature film THE FIGHTER starring Mark Wahlberg, on Saturday, May 30, 2009 from 10 am - 4 pm at the VFW Hall, 190 Plain Street, Lowell, MA.

Boston Casting is looking for people to play the following roles:
· Boxers and fighters in their 20's and 30's
· Trainers
· Women in their 20's and 30's with blonde or red hair
· Residents 18 years and older from Lowell and surrounding communities

The audition is open to everyone 18 years and older. No kids for this audition.
Everyone MUST BRING a headshot and resume or a current photo and bio to the audition. The audition is open to union and non-union actors.


Audition Information
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2009

Time: 10 am - 4 pm

Location: VFW Hall
190 Plain Street
Lowell, MA 01852

Sorry I didn't check to see that there was already a thread. Please merge.

http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=2025&highlight=Fighter

[EvilShoe]

I will only see this movie if you're in it, Duke.

[Dukefrukem]

I will only see this movie if you're in it, Duke.

I plan on attending the audition. Maybe I'll get to be an extra or something.

Could someone please tell me what to expect when they ask for;


a headshot; I know there's a certain size you need to bring, I have no idea what that size is.
resume or a current photo; what do I put on the resume if I've never auditioned for anything before?
bio; they want a bio of my life?

[Sycophant]

Headshots are usually 8.5x11, standard printer paper size. Should be the same size as your resumé. Your resumé, if you don't have any film work, should probably then primarily feature information on skills that could be useful or interesting to the casting director and filmmakers. Any special or unique skills/tricks you can do? Make sure they know. Include information about your boxing training and any accomplishments or competitions in that arena.

Do include, though, standard (but brief) resumé experience information, so they see you're reliable and responsible.

What they mean by bio, I don't know.

[Spun Lepton]

You'll voluntarily work with Russell? You must be a masochist. :lol:

[monolith94]

I would suspect that by bio they would mean a brief description of your personal history with acting/drama/movies, etc.

For example, my bio might read:

J.R. began acting at an early age, participating in his community's local acting classes, and continued on throughout High School. Upon graduating, he became disillusioned with the craft, and vowed never to whore himself out again.

Your bio might want to be a bit different in order to market yourself.

[Dukefrukem]

thanks for the info guys.

also mods please merge this thread

[Dukefrukem]

So I'm going bright and early to this tomorrow morning. Is it expected that we shave? or how do you usally dress to these things?

[number8]

I don't know, but take set pictures for me. :P

[Dukefrukem]

I don't know, but take set pictures for me. :P

I will when they start shooting. This is just a casting call.

I'm gonna have all the inside info anyway. I'm training right now with Micky's nephew Sean.

[Dukefrukem]

audition went well. they said i may get a call in a few weeks, supposedly for a small boxer role. who knows.

[number8]

Jesus Christ, Bale.

http://dlisted.com/files/imagecache/photo-preview/files/galleries/FP_3265531_Bale_Christian_F.jp g

[Dukefrukem]

Jesus Christ, Bale.

http://dlisted.com/files/imagecache/photo-preview/files/galleries/FP_3265531_Bale_Christian_F.jp g

Blocked. Is it this pic (http://www.latinoreview.com/news/skinny-bale-on-set-for-the-fighter-7387)? Dicky wasnt too beefy as a boxer anyway. He'll make it work.

BTW, they came into the gym the other day. Took over the whole boxing section. Walberg, Bale, Casting, Director, everyone.

They're also shooting in my hometown as well (yesterday). Had I know about it before hand I would have checked it out.

[Sycophant]

I'm not sure I get what's wrong with that Bale pic?

[Grouchy]

I'm not sure I get what's wrong with that Bale pic?
He looks almost Machinist thin. Plus it looks like he's getting bald.

[number8]

I was commenting on him continuing the dangerous weight gain-loss he's been doing.

In this movie alone, he goes from boxer to crackhead. This is his crackhead look.

http://dlisted.com/files/imagecache/photo-preview/files/galleries/FP_3265534_Bale_Christian_F.jp g

[Wryan]

Shoulda just CGIed it.

[Watashi]

Here is the trailer. (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thefighter/)

[megladon8]

That looks awful.

[Dukefrukem]

Wow. Bale talks and walks just like Dickie... great shit.

[number8]

Well, that was a good short film. I like how they got big names like Wahlberg, Bale and Adams to do that. Pretty swift montage sequence too.

[Raiders]

Why the hell is David O. Russell directing a Ron Howard film?

[megladon8]

Why the hell is David O. Russell directing a Ron Howard film?

:lol:

[B-side]

I'll pass.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Why the hell is David O. Russell directing a Ron Howard film?

Exactly. Can a good film really have a trailer that awful? I just can't imagine the film being worth watching after that.

[number8]

Huh. So this is the first feature Russell directed that he didn't write.

Hard up for cash, eh.

[Ezee E]

Huh. So this is the first feature Russell directed that he didn't write.

Hard up for cash, eh.
One for the studio, one for him? With good behavior?

[Hugh_Grant]

I'm still bitter that the David O. Russell film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1137470/) shot in my hometown is still unfinished and may never see the light of day.

The trailer does not look promising.

[Ezee E]

I'm still bitter that the David O. Russell film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1137470/) shot in my hometown is still unfinished and may never see the light of day.

The trailer does not look promising.
I was wondering whatever happened to that.

And the trailer isn't promising, but I have to say that the Three Kings trailer didn't look any good to me either, and they don't mention Bale's drug problem in the movie, just that he's a bad guy.

[EvilShoe]

I lost all interest when Duke didn't get hired.

[eternity]

Huh. So this is the first feature Russell directed that he didn't write.

Hard up for cash, eh.
Nailed was (is) quite the ordeal; the project has screamed OSCAR! since we first heard about it. If there's anything for him to go for without writing it, I think this is a good choice.

[DavidSeven]

Bale's dramatic weight loss kind of seems distracting more than anything else. I mean, I'm sure it's well-intentioned and maybe it does help the performance, but it actually feels like it kind of draws attention to the fact that a known actor is playing the role. We're inevitably going to think damn, the buff guy from Batman, Terminator, and American Psycho got really skinny for this. I sort of feel that no one has really done it as convincingly as De Niro (Hanks might be close), and it comes across as more of a gimmick or a play for credibility these days. I'd probably rather see him play crackhead with an average build. Either that or cast someone who actually looks like a crackhead every day.

[number8]

Mark Wahlberg at a press conference for this. :lol:


I was such a huge fan of [Amy Adams]. We’d actually had the luxury of having lunch before to talk about another movie, and it was a bad movie that I did. She dodged the bullet. I don’t want to tell you what movie… All right, The Happening with M. Night Shyamalan. It is what it is. Fucking trees, man, the plants. Fuck it. You can’t blame me for wanting to try to play a science teacher, you know? I wasn’t playing a cop or a crook.

[Dukefrukem]

HAHA That's great.

http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/WahlbergDuhHappening.jpg

[number8]

Shit, this movie is actually really good.

[number8]

I guess the tragic thing is that there's no way to market this film accurately in a way that won't confuse the hell out of audiences as to what it's about, so they just focus on it being a boxing movie.

[Dukefrukem]

Did you see me in the background in Lowell?

[number8]

Did you see me in the background in Lowell?

I forgot to look out for you. I'd probably miss you anyway, since I was pretty into the movie.

[NickGlass]

I guess the tragic thing is that there's no way to market this film accurately in a way that won't confuse the hell out of audiences as to what it's about, so they just focus on it being a boxing movie.

Well, I haven't seen the film yet, but this is what I find so interesting about its marketing campaign (essentially, its theatrical trailer/conventional TV spots vs. the arty trailer that played during the Mad Men season finale).

[Dukefrukem]

Scene was probably cut out anyway. It was a scene chasing someone down the street.

Good news you liked it.

[number8]

Well, I haven't seen the film yet, but this is what I find so interesting about its marketing campaign (essentially, its theatrical trailer/conventional TV spots vs. the arty trailer that played during the Mad Men season finale).

Hmm, yeah, just saw this trailer. It's a bit closer in style than the Ron Howardesque theatrical trailer, but it still doesn't quite convey the Wrestler-like looseness and Russell's pitch black humor that pepper the movie.

[DavidSeven]

Trailer #2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQkOAlyt0c)

So much more promising. I don't know what this movie is anymore.

[number8]

That's the Mad Men trailer Nick and I were just talking about.

[NickGlass]

Yeah, I'm going to a screening tomorrow, so I'll see where I fall on which trailer is more accurate (or if neither are).

[DavidSeven]

That's the Mad Men trailer Nick and I were just talking about.

Yeah, I figured. Wanted to see what others thought. Can't remember two trailers for the same film feeling so different.

[MadMan]

The trailers make this, despite its rather standard premise, look really good. Maybe its largely due to the awesome cast, or the fact that I like David O' Russell as a director as a result of Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees. Probably.

[Ezee E]

My screening is next Tuesday.

[Irish]

Recent NY Times interview with David O Russell:


Q. The film opens with a documentary-style interview with Micky and Dicky that exposes their relationship, but that wasn’t in the original script?

A. [It was] a discovery in the editing room. We had no time in the schedule. You shoot these interviews as you go, throw them in the frames: Tell me about this. Talk about this.

Q. It was totally unscripted?

A. We had worked on the characters. Christian was in character nonstop, and Mark, coming from the John Garfield school, is always kind of in character, because it’s always him in some way. I pretend to be the HBO interviewer, and I would say, tell me when you started fighting. Then Christian would go down the road, and then I would say, no, say this.’ I would just start throwing lines at him that we would make up on the spot, and we got that gold where he cried at the end. That’s like a cinematic haiku.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/movies/awardsseason/09bagger.html?_r=1

[Grouchy]

I don't care how much of an asshole he's supposed to be, David O. Russell is a great, great, great film director.

[number8]

I don't care how much of an asshole he's supposed to be, David O. Russell is a great, great, great film director.

Truth. He has yet to make a movie less than really good.

[megladon8]

I hated I (Heart) Huckabees and was lukewarm on Three Kings.

Can't say I'm all that Russell-impressed.

[Russ]

So is Nailed ever going to be released?

[number8]

So is Nailed ever going to be released?

Released? They didn't even finish filming.

[Russ]

Released? They didn't even finish filming.
Yeah, that's what I thought. Strange that IMDb lists it as being in post-production. It was filmed in Columbia, SC (my town) and I remember local stories of filming being suspended for lack of funding (more than once); they tried to keep the cast around as long as they could, but it got pretty ridiculous after a while.

[Pop Trash]

Truth. He has yet to make a movie less than really good.

Feckin' A right. I've been following his career since Spanking the Monkey. Flirting with Disaster is kind of a proto Stiller in Greenberg flick. Huckabees is one of the most underrated films of the last decade.

[number8]

Oh, here's my review. (http://www.justpressplay.net/movie-reviews/40-reviews/7225-the-fighter.html)

[megladon8]

Great review, 8. Makes me kind of interested in a movie I'd pretty much written off as "not for me".

[number8]

Been reading reactions from people who know the real Dicky. Looks like everyone agreed that Bale was uncanny.

[Dukefrukem]

Been reading reactions from people who know the real Dicky. Looks like everyone agreed that Bale was uncanny.

I've personally trained with Dicky a million times and I can tell it's insane from the trailer alone...

[number8]

I will forgive Peter Travers just for making this happen.

H6gIc_8pXUI

[MadMan]

That's awesome and hilarious.

[megladon8]

It's nice to know that Bale at least has some semblance of a sense of humor.

Though he looked incredibly uncomfortable.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I liked it. It's more about family than a Rocky-esque success story. In fact, the boxing arc is pretty much put on the back burner for at least the first half, then the two main fights are significantly character-driven. Christian Bale pretty much owned this movie. A very showy performance, but it seemed authentic--maybe the best I've seen from him. Amy Adams seemed miscast somehow. And considering his great performances with Russel in the past, I was disappointed to see Wahlberg pretty much be Wahlberg.

[Sxottlan]

I was disappointed to see Wahlberg pretty much be Wahlberg.

But he's a peacock! You gotta let him fly!

[RoadtoPerdition]

I really enjoyed this movie. Very strong acting overall, especially from Bale and Leo. I'll be pulling for Bale to win the Oscar. Marky Mark gave the weakest performance of the principles, I would say. As someone else noted, it's just Marky Mark being Marky Mark; it's nothing outside of his usual comfort zone.

[Ezee E]

This movie is pretty tough to watch, and it's not the fighting scenes. The family dysfunction here is simply brutal. Everyone, minus Wahlberg, is topnotch here, especially Bale who pulls out a performance like he did before his Batman years. Amy Adams plays against type, which is something I didn't think she could pull off.

Despite the dysfunction being brutal to watch, there's a lot of dark humor here too. Sometimes both occurring at the same time such as in the backyard of a certain house.

It's too bad Wahlberg remains Wahlberg here, because the movie is really good.

Two key scenes especially got to me. The entire sequence of what Dicky's movie about is especially hard to watch, and probably the highlight of the movie.

The second is when Dicky is punching a locker. THe movie could've easily played the tears line as they pan to the son and he cries. Instead, it becomes even more hard and disturbing to watch as the son follows suit.

[Briare]

I liked it. It's more about family than a Rocky-esque success story. In fact, the boxing arc is pretty much put on the back burner for at least the first half, then the two main fights are significantly character-driven. Christian Bale pretty much owned this movie. A very showy performance, but it seemed authentic--maybe the best I've seen from him. Amy Adams seemed miscast somehow. And considering his great performances with Russel in the past, I was disappointed to see Wahlberg pretty much be Wahlberg.

These are essentially my thoughts as well, especially on Amy Adams. I caught Doubt on cable this past week and that film contains one of her best performances, showing a vulnerability and realism in her emotion that pretty much doesn't exist here. Her performance is uncharacteristically flat for a film like this and I felt she really does drag certain parts of the film down. Wahlberg is serviceable, but the two have pretty much no chemistry. No complaints on the rest of it, a decent timekiller.

[Morris Schæffer]

Whoa, Briare, where have you been?

[TGM]

Yeah, I thought it was pretty good, with a particularly excellent performance from Christian Bale.

[Duncan]

Everything but the actual boxing was pretty great. Was way better than I thought it would be going in.

[elixir]

I didn't like it really, outside of the performances. But even there, I found Adams' role to be very little (cursing doesn't add dimension to a character) and she was just defined by her boring relationship with Micky. Leo's role felt underwritten, and it was just all shrieking and crying--perhaps that was the point, but I never really got a sense of vulnerability or pain beneath that veneer of screaming and shouting. Bale was definitely great, and it was a showy role, but he still nailed it.

But for me, the story about the family just did nothing. And other than that, the boxing story just was very formulaic and uninteresting (both in story and style). I just didn't find Micky's struggle compelling at all, perhaps because the character himself was just so darn bland.

Also, I found the humor often seemed to tell audiences to laugh AT the family. I'm still unsure how on the film itself really views the family, but at times it felt sort of condescending towards them, and even devolved into some white trash stereotypes.

I wanted to like it, but nothing really worked for me.

[DavidSeven]

I liked this. Pretty damn conventional, and I doubt people will have much to say about it after awards season, but it works for what it is. Bale was stellar.

[NickGlass]

I liked the film when I could see Russell actually giving a shit (so, the first half), when he didn't give a shit about boxing (so, roughly 2/3rds), when he resisted unimaginative musical montages (which he often didn't, since there are about four), and when the acting was downplayed (so, pretty much whenever Melissa Leo wasn't snarling onscreen along with her army of condescending caricatures).

[Watashi]

(so, pretty much whenever Melissa Leo wasn't snarling onscreen along with her army of condescending caricatures).

Never been to Boston, huh?

[NickGlass]

Never been to Boston, huh?

I lived there for three years. Not in Lowell, of course, but I know the type. On the surface, they may seem like some of those characters, but they have, you know, personalities outside their accent and pottymouth. Well, some of them.

[Rowland]

At least the Jerry Springer crap was funny. I presume it was supposed to be.

[Ezee E]

At least the Jerry Springer crap was funny. I presume it was supposed to be.
Of course it was.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Hey, who put a boxing movie in my family drama?

[Henry Gale]

I actually really enjoyed this, especially with it being among the last of the big awards season movies I still needed to see, and one of the ones I wasn't necessarily dying to see.

It's an extremely well-controlled and lively film, thanks mainly to Russell's style and nearly every actor doing as good a job as possible (even Wahlberg was tolerable to good!) I'm usually hesistant to fall head over heels for actors that go all out for roles to transform their appearance and radically alter their weight and things like that, but I can't deny that Bale absolutely keeps every scene he's in in the palm of his hand and is really the most compelling, guiding force of a movie that, in theory, should have so many big personality characters competing for importance through every frame. He's just so good and for me it was simply one of those performances that one moment I'm completely in awe of it, and then the next moment I'm just completely enthralled by it and not thinking about it as acting at all.

And though I now see it said here in the thread, going in I had no idea that it was going to have the ability to be as consistently and truly funny as it was. It even finds a way to make those out-of-the-blue-but-hilarious moments realistic and meaningful to what's going on around it, all while not straying or losing grip of the drama otherwise.

It does have its issues, but those as just things that hurt it from being completely great instead of outright ruining any of it. I found it struggled mainly to find clarity or resolution with so many of the characters and convey the overall emotion of the story's big triumph by the end. Also, some of its overly long music montages and choices feel weird. (Seriously, of all the Chili Peppers songs, that one? Plus it's from 2006, making it stand out as maybe the only anachronistic song in the movie.) But overall, it's now something I'm pretty fine with being up for Best Picture, having been kind of unsure and dismissive of it all the way up to its announcement today.

[Henry Gale]

Hey, who put a boxing movie in my family drama?

Funny as that is, it's true. Not that I found the actual boxing scenes badly done or out of place, it just felt like it was moving along perfectly well, just dealing with the characters for a long time and then "oh right, this is that fight-y sport I saw them do in all the ads!"

[Sycophant]

I can't remember what parts of the movie I liked now (seeing Black Swan immediately afterward probably blew them out), but I'm pretty sure they were all in the first half. It's not a bad movie. But it doesn't really feel like all that much of a movie in a lot of places. I can't figure out quite what to do with the family, or the girlfriend, or the people in Micky's corner, or Micky. I can't help but feel the movie's somewhat constrained from being based on a true-life story.

Gonna go against the grain and say that Bale's performance rubbed me the wrong way about half the time. He often seemed to be acting in a different movie than the other cast, especially in his two-shots with Wahlberg. Maybe this is really just crack addicts? Still, at times it was almost like watching Roger Rabbit if he'd been dropped into The Maltese Falcon instead of a wacky Zemeckis picture.

A pity that Wahlberg is actually being Wahlberg at his quietest and blandest, since I've loved his previous collaborations with Russell. His performance in Huckabees is him at his best.

[Dukefrukem]

Finally saw this. Was good. Not great. Crazy, seeing how I'm now living in Lowell. Every landmark is recognizable.

Also crazy to see Sean (my trainer) in this movie. Hes the guy who runs into the shop when the cops are beatin on Dicky.

Also Officer O’Keefe, plays himself in the movie. Did not know that.

[Sycophant]

Also Officer O’Keefe, plays himself in the movie. Did not know that.

Nice. For being a non-actor, he did a great job. Were he an actor, I'd say he did a really good job, too.

[Briare]

Whoa, Briare, where have you been?

oh you know, around. Just popped my application for film school in the mail. gonna give sound mixing and editing a try, I took a few courses at the local tech last summer, seemed to kind of be my thing so I'll see where I can go with it. I'm more of a lurker these days, I haven't been able to glean much discussion out of much I've seen recently. Mostly, I just try and enjoy a film for whatever it is. i do like reading other people's thoughts though.
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[Irish]

I enjoyed this a great deal, but I was expecting more of a payoff in the end. The movie just feels like it ends abruptly, all the air going out of it in the third act.

Bale though. Dominates the movie. Sheesh. Freakishly talented. Reminds me of Daniel Day Lewis. Guy just disappears completely into the character.