Darren Aronofsky is taking on The Wrestler

[Cinemaman]

Don't know about The Wrestler, but as for 300, I must admit they're right. The film directly stated that Iranians, who are aso known as today's Persians, are equal to animals.

I don't protect Iran, but I also don't like when some country is being accused. However, it's not rare to see Iranians abusing Jews on Iran's TV.

 

[Luchastyle]

the ayatollah is a gimmick. and it's based on the iron shiek. that story will get no play. even the 300 story didn't get much play, and there was at least some argument for that one.

but in 300s defense, it was just a story and i don't think it was meant to be racist. it wasn't about iranians or modern persians. it was just an exaggerated myth.

but there is no case to make against the wrestler, which all of these offended people haven't even seen. it's a gimmick a gimmick a gimmick. russians and iranians were the heels of the 80s.

 

[nite-owl]

The movies been endorsed by Mrs Foley's baby boy.

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/16/former-wwf-champion-mick-foley-endorses-the-wrestler/

 

[The Sage]

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/92674/Tons-of-Reviews-on-The-Wrestler.htm

The Wrestler debuts to much praise, but also some negativity…

- The Los Angeles has turned in a negative review for The Wrestler. Kenneth Turan states in the review, "While the director was essential in collaborating with Rourke to create that memorable performance, it remains real work in an essentially fake film, and there is nothing anyone can do about that." You can read the full review here.

- Elizabeth Weitzman of The New York Daily News gave The Wrestler 4 out of 5 stars. You can read the review

- The New York Post scored the film 3½ out of 4 stars, and the full review is available here.

- Rafer Guzman of New York Newsday gave the film 3½ stars, and commented that while Rourke is getting much deserved Oscar buzz, not to forget about Marisa Tomei. The full review can be read here.

- The New York Times also reviewed the film. They didn't give out a rating, and compared to other reviews, weren't as complimentary. You can check out the full review here.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/17/bruce-springsteens-the-wrestler-on-itunes/

As you probably know, Bruce Springsteen wrote a beautiful original song for The Wrestler, which plays during the film’s ending credits. The song, self titled “The Wrestler”, is now available for download for 99 cents on Apple iTunes. Thanks to Tim at FilmTalk for the tip. I’ve included an excerpt from my Toronto interview with director Darren Aronofsky below, where he talks about how they got Bruce to do the song:




Peter Sciretta: Can you talk a little about the music of The Wrestler. You have Slash doing guitar riffs for Clint Mansell’s score, and you have Bruce Springsteen… How did you pull that one off?


Darren Aronofsky: Well, Bruce Springsteen did the film for one reason. And it had nothing do with me. In fact, to be honest, I met with Bruce, and he’s heard of me, which is very flattering, but he had never seen any of my work. He did it for one reason and that was that he did it for Mickey. He’s a friend of Mickey’s. He’s a tremendous fan of Mickey’s and when he heard about this film, he felt that this was something that Mickey’s been looking for for years. So he wanted to help, and that’s the only reason he did it. And he did it for basically nothing.


Peter Sciretta: That’s awesome.


Darren Aronofsky: Purely out of love for Mickey. And so I can’t wait for him to see the movie because Asbury Park is in it and I think he’ll be psyched.


Peter Sciretta: Oh, I’m surprised he hasn’t seen the movie. You listen to that song and it’s so dead on…


Darren Aronofsky: He actually put more effort into it. He read the screenplay which is probably harder than watching the movie. He read the screenplay, knew it and basically just pumped it out. It’s a beautiful song. As Mickey says, rock stars love him, and so he got Axl [Rose] to close a deal on Sweet Child of Mine. It was really fun rediscovering all that old Hair metal and finding a place for it in the film. And then Clint did a very subtle job in this movie, as compared to what we’ve done in the past. The film really didn’t call for a big score and what I really admire about what Clint did with the help of Slash is that they did very very very subtle work.





The Wrestler hits theaters in Los Angeles and New York today. Take a look at the full release date roll-out schedule to see when the film is coming to your city.

 

[The Sage]

Review: http://popcornjunkies.com/2008/12/17/the-wrestler-review/

 

[nite-owl]

On a comptley different note kick ass avatar sage.

 

[The Sage]

Fan of The Wire?

 

[nite-owl]

Yeah, it's my second favourite show of all time.

 

[nite-owl]

Didn't this come out yesterday? so where are the reviews.

 

[Luchastyle]

reviews http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/wrestler2008

 

[tzarinna]

Rourke is going to be on David Letterman tonight.

 

[MoPlaYa]

Im looking forward to seeing this movie!!!

 

[The Apatow Crew]

Didn't this come out yesterday? so where are the reviews.

Its in limited release and then later in january it gets into more theaters.

 

[The Sage]

This movie was great.

One of the best of the year. Not only does it capture the theatricality and dark side of the professional wrestling business, but Mickey Rourke gives an Oscar worthy performance. Pretty powerful story about how much a man would give for the roar of the crowd.

 

[Figs]

Its in limited release and then later in january it gets into more theaters.

Thank god.

I was looking in the papers and couldn't find it in any of my local theatres.

 

[K.B.]

Anyone able to send me the song "The Wrestler" by Springsteen?

 

[Neto Magnus]

I just watched The Wrestler and man, what a sad ****ing movie. It accurately depicts how depressing it is to live in New Jersey. But anyway, I hope Rourke gets an Oscar nom for this. I dont think he'll win but deserves a nomination none the less.

btw, I hate all this talk I'm hearing about this being Mickey Rourke's comeback. Um, Sin City???

 

[Gallagher]

The kind words from Foley have forced my hand. I will do anything that man says. :heart:

 

[echostation]

My opinions... **** SPOILERY SO DO NOT READ AHEAD if you don't want to*********

This is a superb film... very much almost like a docu-film on a broken man who despite destroying himself even further has this courageous spirit... The ending is just stabbingly brilliant... i mean the tone is so obvious and implied but there's that minute glimmer of hope... as in just maybe... just maybe is the feeling I had.. This film stayed with me the entire night while I was asleep, an effect very few films have on me and most of it is due to Rourke's acid sharp, layered and brilliantly complicated performance... It's so amazing to see such nuances in his acting..

 

[Laderlappen]

The films is amazing, and Rourke deserves an oscar for his performance.

 

[The Chairman]

I just watched The Wrestler and man, what a sad ****ing movie. It accurately depicts how depressing it is to live in New Jersey. But anyway, I hope Rourke gets an Oscar nom for this. I dont think he'll win but deserves a nomination none the less.

btw, I hate all this talk I'm hearing about this being Mickey Rourke's comeback. Um, Sin City???

You're kidding, right? Rourke was awesome in Sin City but in no way did it get him the attention he's getting now. All Sin City did was get him typecast as thuggish brutes.

 

[Terminator]

Maaan, that fireman party was a bad idea.

 

[Nirvana]

This movie was incredible. Rourke gave one hell of a performance and I really do hope he gets some recognition for the role. I loved the cinematography, how the camera would follow Randy throughout his activities. Excellent movie.

 

[Luchastyle]

saw a pretty cool bit about the wrestler on cinemax. be on the lookout for that. it's an expanded version of the scene we've seen with ram and marisa tomei having a beer. and then rourke and aronofsky talk about the movie a little. it's pretty cool