David O. Russell, Marky Mark, Batman, Amy Adams, Boston, boxing, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc-BamdweoM

Can you fill in the blank?

"This looks g------."

Maybe it's just the way the trailer was cut.

And if it's not that, oh, well . . . it'll probably make some money and get O. Russell back making other movies with real budgets once more. So something good will come of it.

And his brother was in a great doc about crack in Lowell.

Should be an interesting movie, I am looking forward to it.

Nonetheless, still the movie I'm most looking forward
to seeing in 2010.

And the trailer is cheesy to make that green...the movie
is going to be intense and gritty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icrigyQQh_U

(If they had led with this, then I wouldn't have needed a shitty post title to entertain myself.)

I know I couldn't do that.

Quite the odd biopic... it is a David O. "I (heart) Huckabees" Russell film after all...

Nominally it was supposed to be the story of Irish Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a fighter who rose up from a tough Massachusetts neighborhood to become a champion. At first he fights local fights with the assistance of his half-brother Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale), a smoked-out shell of of an ex-boxer whose repeated source of pride is the fact that he "knocked Sugar Ray Leonard down" when they fought back in '78, and managed by their mother Alice (Melissa Leo). Along the way Micky hooks up with a bartender (Amy Adams) who helps steer him away from his highly dysfunctional family.

The best performance, hands down, was from Christian Bale, who reportedly lost 30 pounds to play a crackhead. It was interesting to see Dickie go from smoked-out has-been to jailbird to possible redemption in the end. His is the showiest role, and while there was plenty of room for potential white coonery I thought Bale did a solid job of toning Dickie down when necessary, keeping him likable throughout. You can see why he charms so many in his life, from his mom to his girl to his fellow crackheads. I thought Marky Mark was fine but it was odd that his performance was so muted in light of the fact that the movie's kinda-sorta about Micky. It was certainly admirable of Marky Mark to step aside and leave the heavy lifting to Bale.

I thought that all of the female roles were caricatures. Amy Adams was the Tough But Sexy Broad Who Stood Up for Herself and Her Man. Whoop-de-damn-do. I thought Melissa Leo was the Overbearing Mama Complete With Gaudy Hairstyle Which is Supposed to be a Signifier of Unabashed White Trash. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Dickie and Micky's obnoxious sisters, all seven of them. Imagine the three loudmouth sisters from Punch-Drunk Love with a little more weight and a lot more "sass," and you get these ladies. Not to say that I didn't find them amusing.

In fact the entire enterprise is surprisingly funny for what is supposed to be a seriously rousing biopic of a dude who beat the odds. A lot of the humor is right in line with Russell's quirky sensibilities, but it was still unexpected.

The fight scenes were okay but not anything we haven't seen before. If I remember correctly, Russell even pays homage to an infamous Raging Bull shot of a fighter's blood splattering at ringside.

This is a "rousing" boxing movie that takes quite the peculiar route to get to the "rousing" stuff. Others will surely dig it more than I did; I thought it was a nice diversion, but nothing -- aside from Bale's award-worthy performance -- that will stick with me in the long run.

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>The best performance, hands down, was from Christian Bale, who
>reportedly lost 30 pounds to play a crackhead.

I think this dude thinks half of acting is losing weight. Motherfucker loves to lose weight. In The Machinist this man was disgustingly frail.

It was
>interesting to see Dickie go from smoked-out has-been to
>jailbird to possible redemption in the end. His is the
>showiest role, and while there was plenty of room for
>potential white coonery I thought Bale did a solid job of
>toning Dickie down when necessary, keeping him likable
>throughout. You can see why he charms so many in his life,
>from his mom to his girl to his fellow crackheads.

Agreed

I thought
>Marky Mark was fine but it was odd that his performance was so
>muted in light of the fact that the movie's kinda-sorta about
>Micky. It was certainly admirable of Marky Mark to step aside
>and leave the heavy lifting to Bale.

Marky Mark can act a little bit. He really could have done a little more with that role.

>
>I thought that all of the female roles were caricatures. Amy
>Adams was the Tough But Sexy Broad Who Stood Up for Herself
>and Her Man. Whoop-de-damn-do. I thought Melissa Leo was the
>Overbearing Mama Complete With Gaudy Hairstyle Which is
>Supposed to be a Signifier of Unabashed White Trash. And I
>would be remiss if I didn't mention Dickie and Micky's
>obnoxious sisters, all seven of them. Imagine the three
>loudmouth sisters from Punch-Drunk Love with a little more
>weight and a lot more "sass," and you get these ladies. Not
>to say that I didn't find them amusing.

I wanted to stick my arm out and run down the line with my hand extended slapping all those broads consecutively

>In fact the entire enterprise is surprisingly funny for what
>is supposed to be a seriously rousing biopic of a dude who
>beat the odds. A lot of the humor is right in line with
>Russell's quirky sensibilities, but it was still unexpected.
>
>The fight scenes were okay but not anything we haven't seen
>before. If I remember correctly, Russell even pays homage to
>an infamous Raging Bull shot of a fighter's blood splattering
>at ringside.
>
>This is a "rousing" boxing movie that takes quite the peculiar
>route to get to the "rousing" stuff. Others will surely dig
>it more than I did; I thought it was a nice diversion, but
>nothing -- aside from Bale's award-worthy performance -- that
>will stick with me in the long run.

He was good but I don't think it's award-worthy, strangely

He left a lot to be desired as far as capturing any depth outside of his actions (jumping out windows, working out, wearing sweaty greasy clothes and hitting the pipe)

I felt like his reform in prison could have been depicted in more detail but I think that's a directing issue

Marky Mark's parts were pretty boring. His love story, his inner dilemmas, some more of the humors / rage he brings to roles would have been helpful. His comeback was exciting but that knockout by knockout montage is kinda played out.

The codependence that enables drug addiction between Dicky and his mother and Dicky and Micky etc. was delved into, which was good. Dysfunctionality in desperation "we're all that we got" was a theme that stuck out and rung true. Now that I think about it, Marky Mark pretty much only contributed what Micky did, which was to be the guy boxing.

I would do some things to Amy Adams make her great great great great great great granny blush my nigga. Them redheads do something to a nigga fam, for real.

n/m

----------------------------

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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

------------------------------------------
America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

bale's performance was goofy and unnatural from the jump, though others in the theater thought it was brilliant. it either works for you or it doesn't. didn't for me. i didn't buy him as a crackhead. the story is pretty standard boxing movie fare. scrappy local kid fights his way to the top while battling personal issues at home, gets a title shot and wins. i was bored. not sure why make this movie.

"i smack clowns with nouns, punch herbs with verbs..."

>Can you fill in the blank?
>
>"This looks g------.

...then a crime is committed. I thought this was an excellent movie and really well done. Loved that Aronofsky was still involved in some capacity. Amy Adams was fucking banging in this.

Sidebar: I love the Paramount screening room in NY. Free wine for a nigga to get drunk off of and some expensive ass cheese too. Wahlberg is the fucking man too!!!

------------------------------------------
America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

> Loved that Aronofsky was still
>involved in some capacity.


He "executive produced" it, but he had
no creative control over the project, from
what I understand


Odds are his version would have been grittier
but less appropriate for box office success



----------------------------

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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

...in some form. Him handling the process of getting this to screen in some form put a fucking smile on my face. Even if it was just pushing papers. And fuck Brad Pitt for leaving D.A. high and dry. Twice.

------------------------------------------
America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

>...in some form. Him handling the process of getting this to
>screen in some form put a fucking smile on my face. Even if it
>was just pushing papers. And fuck Brad Pitt for leaving D.A.
>high and dry. Twice.

He was not involved. He had no creative input, at all,
and has been pissed about it. His name is still on some
part of the credits, and he helped "produce" it, but he
had no creative input at all, which is all Aronofsky is
known for.

This film looked nothing like an Aronofsky film

----------------------------

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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

The man had a hand in getting this to screen. This is a David O' Russell film, not an Aronofsky film. Just beacuse this is not his film doesn't mean he was not involved in the PROCESS to get this to screen. I don't see where the argument is coming from as I never stated that this was Aronofsky's film.

------------------------------------------
America from 9:00 on: https://youtu.be/GUwLCQU10KQ

After The Foutain, The Wrestler & The Wolverine, I fully expected Black Swan to be titled The Ballerina.

Good flick regardless.

>The man had a hand in getting this to screen. This is a David
>O' Russell film, not an Aronofsky film. Just beacuse this is
>not his film doesn't mean he was not involved in the PROCESS
>to get this to screen. I don't see where the argument is
>coming from as I never stated that this was Aronofsky's film.

Thanks


----------------------------

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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

Bale completely steals the show but Melissa Leo was great as well. I liked the mixed of old school/new school music and there were some great exchanges of dialogue throughout. Really enjoyed it & will probably see it again.

Really liked it a lot. Completely surprised at how funny it was. One of the more entertaining films of the year. Predictable yes but still very enjoyable which is nice sometimes.

Thought Bales was great and really thought all the actors (even those in smaller roles) were great as well. Nice work as an ensemble.

Loved Bales performance and the flick was very good overall. It's not flawless by any means, but the boxing itself is shot very well. While a movie about boxing will always draw comparisons to Raging Bull, I thought the boxing scenes had a few nods to RB (sprayed blood, sound design, even the Super 8 family footage).

I really enjoyed it. Bale lurked that shit too. I've yet to see a better supporting role this year.

------------------------------

17x NBA Champions

& Bale did his thing!!! If you ever met a white crackhead...trust, he hit it right on with his performance.

Generic was how the initial trailer looked, but this film had a genuine voice of its own, mostly derived from its effective sense of humor. Loved the fluidity with the camera movements, as it didn't draw attention to itself but enhanced the storytelling. The sound design was pretty interesting too. Early on, it was a noisy film, in a fitting way, dialogue distorted / layered by music (diegetic and not) and the riff-raff of the background.

Also, I was wrong on Christian Bale. While this is only the second performance of his that I think merits any sort of special recognition, that recognition deserves to be strong. He needs to find more characters that do not so quickly fit the "sullen" mold he largely favors. He was excellent here, as was Amy Adams.

The look and sound of the fights, from the different film used to the announcers, especially during the Neary fight, was great / realistic.

>He needs to find more characters that do not so quickly fit
>the "sullen" mold he largely favors. He was excellent here,
>as was Amy Adams.

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and the mother

"hear i go again on my own" means a bit more to me after the scene when he's walking to the ring.

psst!

It certainly makes Lowell look like one big den of drugs, seedy folks, and Jerry Springer style women.

It's definitely entertaining, with its share of great moments. Bale steals the show, for better and for worse. Humorously, just as Bale was outshone in The Dark Knight by the more colorful supporting cast, here Wahlberg gets outshone by Bale and Leo. Wahlberg does a fine job staying restrained for the most part, but I simply couldn't care about Micky when Dicky and Alice were far more complex and interesting. Micky mostly feels whiny. It's like the old criticism of Hamlet-- how do you make someone whose trademark characteristic is being indecisive more interesting than a bunch of characters who make decisions all story long?

Ricky's point above about all of the overlapping sound and dialogue did make the movie feel pretty fresh, and there's certainly more humor than I expected (especially from Bale), but there were a few scenes where I felt a sense of repetition, like "oh great, here's another scene where they all shout Fuck You at one another." It didn't hurt the overall enjoyment, but it did make the film feel a little draggy at times.

The final fight was really exciting and terrific. The sound design makes you feel the body blows, and the movie does a great job of establishing how each punch adds up.

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For taking the words out my mouth.

Yes, Bale needs trophies for this, BUT why y'all understating how incredible AA was. Yeah, she was handed the sexy/trashy hot-headed stand up for her man caricature, but she gave it a dynamism and sex appeal I could not take my eyes off of. She really is a great young actress.

EDIT: accidentally responded to Longo's post

i'd say we, but i'm not technically from lowell, just right outside it. i actually worked one summer with a few people who were exactly like Wahlberg's sisters in the movie. I just saw the movie last night, the theater is in lowell. everyone in the audience could relate to the shit, but i feel like that could be the same for the rest of america. the part about residents who were embarrassed by Dickie was so true, dude was like a disgrace after that documentary. Bale really pulled it off, one of the best performances i've seen all year. Marky-mark did his boston-accent tough guy thing, the contast makeout scenes w/ adams were a bit much though. The acting from the main 4 was great, even though the movie was weird at points, esp the shaky camera in like 3 scenes, wtf was that? But as someone who has been around lowell my whole life, these guys nailed it.

______________________________


"Take one for the team when the opponents disperse damage"

it captures the area perfectly and actually since that documentary came out Lowell has revitalized itself and is a model city in MA.

I actually lived there for two years during college and even since then it has elevated itself.

Didn't know it had turned around some. That probably makes the history easier to swallow.

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Shit like that can get glossed over conveniently

I've been hearing about Lowell TRG's and ABZ's for a long time

Bale gives an Oscar worthy performance.
Grade B+

They should have made Mickey's character a little more interesting.

>They should have made Mickey's character a little more
>interesting.

He's like the same character Wahlberg played in boogie nights - he doesn't do anything and just lets everything happen to him. He wasn't active.

Could have been another formulaic boxing film, but Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams elevated it with their performances. Also, shout out to the screenwriters for giving everything a nice pace and sense of levity.

Not in my top 5 for films, but I hope Bale and Leo get Oscar noms, they're well deserved.

------

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-----------------------------------------------------------------

bale was amazing like everyone has said, and I was really really impressed with Amy Adams and feel when it comes to awards she is more deserving then the mom, though she was really good as well, acting was great in general in this movie...

But Wahlberg made Ward really genuine and easy to root for... really felt for him being torn between his girl/career and family...

excellent movie... with it obviously being based on a true story the parallels with Rocky are kinda crazy


www.twitter.com/spathegod

I really enjoyed it. Of course Bale killed it like everyone said. I wish they'd focused a bit more on Micky since we didn't really learn about him as a character as much as everyone else.

Amy Adams was a lot of fun to look at in this flick.

Also, I am glad the Boston accents weren't god awful.

__________________________________

*Note to self: Add Sig*

a) Sorry, Christian Bale over-acted. Or maybe Mark
Wahlberg under-acted. Somebody whiffed, b/c their chemistry
was non-existent. They were acting on two different
planets. I saw nothing between them, at all.


Compare the interactions between these characters
to the interaction between the characters in....Rocky. The
characters in 'Rocky' are wildly different, but the interactions
are genuine....in 'The Fighter' Bale was trying to win a
fucking Oscar, and the dumbass pretentious Oscar people rewarded
it. The performance was trite and disigenuous.


Bale didn't join the cast because he was captivated
by the story. He joined it because he wanted to play
a crackhead. This is why I wish Matt Damon did it, because
Damon, while not as talented a pure actor as Bale, is from
Boston and felt a connection to the STORY. Bale could give
a fuck about the story. He basically hogged the ball and
fucked with the flow of the film.


b) Unlike 99.99999% of people who saw the movie, I am
an actual fan of Micky Ward, read the book, and know
the story. Them bending the story didn't bother me AT
ALL. What bothered me is that the story is just not that
interesting or inspiring as told in the film. It was trite
and predictable and silly....niggas was trying to sell
tickets (I'm not mad at that though), at the expense of
making an actual good movie.


c) Aronofsky better. He would have made a much better
film.


d) The mom was good. She acted appropriately, captured
the right mood, didn't overact.


e) The girlfriend sucked and was boring. Her relationship
with Wahlberg was terrible. I was basically on the side
of the family when they were beefing, because she didn't
come across as loving or genuine at all. What, exactly,
was her character about? Like, what the fuck was she
about? Seriously? Do niggas even try to develop characters
anymore?


f) Wahlberg was dreadful...or maybe his character was
dreadful. Seriously, who the fuck was he? Who was Micky
Ward? What was he about, really? Either the acting or the
writing was bad, probably both.


I give this bullshit a C plus, and the "plus" is just
because its about a story that I know and like.

I don't disagree with most of what you said, but Bale was phenomenal. And at times a bit too realistic. I bet that dude smoked rocks to prepare.

_
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He was more interested in impressing the Academy with
his crackheadness than in trying to actually nail the
character.

It was selfish and it ruined the chemistry.

BTW, in reality crackheads can still loving people
with actual character. Bale had none. He was being
flashy.



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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

Watching Dickie in that documentary, and watching interviews with him over the years, I feel like Bale did a pretty great job. And he did have heart. There's moments like the Sugar Ray meeting when he asks him to be in the documentary, and the scene in jail during the premiere, and when he's sober and meets with amy Adams that I think he put a lot of character work in.

I'm really more blown away that people not only thought Amy Adams was good, but nominated her for an Academy Award. She was Lifetime movie of the week'n that bitch.

_
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http://linktr.ee/yothatsmyjawn

>I'm really more blown away that people not only thought Amy
>Adams was good, but nominated her for an Academy Award. She
>was Lifetime movie of the week'n that bitch.

I mean, zero personality. None.

The mom was good, though.

----------------------------

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O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

You can say Bale focused on the crackheadedness of his character to impress the Academy, but the bottom line is the script is written to depict primarily Dicky's crackheaded moments. Bale only comes off over-the-top to me when on screen with Wahlberg-- he looks like he fits in perfectly in the scenes with the rest of the Ward family.

Wahlberg is just such a flat, uninteresting actor with zero life in his eyes and zero ability to turn a phrase in an interesting manner that everyone will come off bad around him.

So I don't blame Bale at all. I certainly don't think he should've won the Oscar, but he did as well as he could considering the character was written to be somewhat over-the-top and his main acting partner might as well have been a cardboard cutout.

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Amazing...he carried the film.

As far as the film itself....the family stuff was better than the actual boxing(which was shot well but just so stiff) and even that got repetitive with a number of shouting scenes and the sisters gang. We get it.

The leading women in the movie were like caricatures, but Wahlberg gave a solid and understated performance. However, there's no doubt that Bale just absolutely killed it. Having seen some interviews with Dicky, and there's one during the credits, Bale was incredible in portraying a character who has so many different levels. He was the movie.

---------------------------------
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L D E A

Actually has more to do with the other two people they followed than Dicky, but they show Micky and Dicky's mom for a few minutes and that gave me even more respect for Melissa Leo. She captured the mom PERFECTLY.

Also the documentary is great/terrifying.

excellent film. I had tears in my eyes after the final fight. Bale deserved every bit of Oscar he got. I laughed so much it was crazy. I thought the relationship with Mickey trying to balance his girl and his mom was interesting. However, I see what folks are saying with Marky Mark playing the same role sometimes.

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