One must wonder if the reason The Fighter was such a passion project for Mark Wahlberg was because of the parallels between his musical and acting career and the boxing career of “Irish” Micky Ward. America loves a good boxing picture, so much so that one has come out every year since Rocky walked home with Best Picture at the Oscars in 1976. The Fighter centers around Micky and his crackhead trainer brother, Aaron Sorkin Dicky Eklund, played by the great Christian Bale. Unlike most boxing movies, The Fighter doesn’t center around the big fight. The big fight in Ward’s career being the legendary Gatti Trilogy, much to the chagrin of die-hard Ward fans. Instead, it focuses on Ward’s family, which has its share of issues to say the least. Between his domineering mother (Melissa Leo) and the shadow of his brother, Micky finds he’s able to deal with them with the help of a feisty waitress named Charlene (Amy Adams). Wahlberg is an actor who had to find his place as a musician (okay, a white rapper, not really the same thing) and later as an actor in the footsteps of his big brother, Donnie. We all know Donnie Wahlberg from New Kids on the Block, a group that was big before the Funky Bunch started metaphorically scarring eyes and ears everywhere. I’m not suggesting that Marky Mark was trying to get his career started while Donnie was sucking a crack pipe or anything, but you get the idea. Wahlberg, like Ward, had a big brother in the same profession who had already found great success. Both not only matched their siblings, but surpassed them entirely in pop culture. Melissa Leo and Christian Bale won Oscars for this film, unfortunately Marky Mark has yet to get himself a gold statue. I guess it’ll be a while before Hollywood forgets The Happening.
Clint Eastwood’s prolific output as a filmmaker at his age is impressive to say the least, as he seems to put out at least one movie a year (sometimes he knocks out two). Eastwood as an actor is an American icon, be it in the library of fantastic westerns he starred in, or on the streets of San Francisco as his most famous character, “Dirty” Harry Callahan. In recent years though, Eastwood has gained respect as a director, many critics mentioning him in the same breath as Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg as great American filmmakers. His latest film, Hereafter, was met with a lukewarm response, which is a shame because it actually looks very interesting. Personally, and this may come off as heresy, I find Eastwood’s style as a director to be too broad and overtly manipulative. He is a director who lacks nuance in his approach, which isn’t always a bad thing, but his later work lacks the grace to make his big brush strokes work most of the time. Hereafter weaves together several plot threads dealing with death, one being about a weary man who can commune with the dead (Matt Damon), another being about a woman who has a near death experience during a tsunami (it should come as no surprise that the movie was just pulled from Japanese theaters). Despite my reservations with his talents behind the camera, Hereafter’s premise is different enough from the rest of Eastwood’s body of work that it seems like one worth checking out, even to a naysayer like me.
Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Blu-ray/DVD combo
Other Noteworthy Releases
Au revior les enfants: Louis Malle’s semi-autobiographical film about the childhood friendship between two Catholic schoolboys in Nazi-occupied France comes to Criterion Blu-ray.
Available on Blu-ray, previously available on DVD in Criterion’s Louis Malle box set
Yi Yi: Another Criterion re-release, this one being Taiwanese director Edward Yang’s final and most acclaimed film.
Available on Blu-ray, previously available on DVD
BMX Bandits: This one clearly comes from the cinematic tradition of masterpieces like Rad and Thrashin’. If this trailer doesn’t sell you on this movie, I don’t know what will. Keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of a very young Nicole Kidman, in what I’m sure must be the pride and joy of her career.
Sharktopus: Because why the Hell not?
The Switch: Jason Bateman and Patrick Wilson are sperm donors whose donations get switched on Jennifer Aniston, I’m guessing hilarity ensues.
