The Wrestler – Movie Trailer
Jan 5th
His sense of identity fading into nothingness after the spotlights dim and he experiences a close brush with mortality, a retired wrestler begins to evaluate his life while considering the comeback that could very well kill him in director Darren Aronofsky’s poignant portrait of an introspective former superstar in the twilight of his career. Back in his heyday, wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was an icon in the ring. His image immortalized in action figures and video games, he would headline arenas across the globe. Twenty years later, those glory days have passed, and Randy is forced to earn his keep by brawling before handfuls of fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey. In the wake of a heart attack, the former icon attempts to earn a little extra cash while working in a deli and making an effort to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). Yet, despite Randy’s continued attempts at convincing local stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) to settle down with him in his humble trailer, the ring still calls to him. Later, when the prospect of a high-profile rematch with his longtime nemesis presents itself, Randy is forced to weigh his mortality against his desire to hear the crowd roar one last time. The Wrestler snagged two Oscar nominations, one for Best Actor (Rourke) and one for Best Supporting Actress (Tomei).
“Frost/Nixon” Worthy Opponents
Dec 31st
Worthy Opponents
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
FROST/NIXON is the fantastic film based on the award-winning stage play, and if you think it is going to consist of two men playing David Frost and former president Richard Nixon just sitting down and conducting the interviews that resulted in the May 1977 broadcasts, think again.
Directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon, the film covers the time between August 1974 when Nixon became the only president to resign while in office and immediately after the last interview was broadcast three years later.
In other words, we also see the beginning of Frost’s idea to conduct the interviews in order to rejuvenate his own career in television, the tricky negotiations to get Nixon to agree, the preparations on both sides for the taping of the interviews, and then the interviews themselves, which resulted in Nixon’s famous exclamation, “I’m saying that when the president does it, it’s not illegal!”
Yes, there are many obvious parallels between Nixon’s presidency and the current President Bush Administration and the situation in Iraq, and those parallels are obviously intentional.
It was also obvious from the film that Nixon didn’t agree to the interviews just to set the record straight. He was paid $600,000 and would receive 20% of any profits, the interviews took place in a rented house not far from Nixon’s home in San Clemente, California, Nixon would not see the questions beforehand, and Frost had total editorial control of the finished product.
The only stipulation was that no more than 25% of the interview would be about Watergate, and as we see from the film, that led to a controversial discussion as to the definition of “Watergate.”
Kevin Bacon plays Jack Brennan, an aide to Nixon who figures prominently in the preparations, and based on the film’s publicity, you might not even have realized that he appears in the film.
Even given the importance of the two people involved and the subject matter of the interviews, Frost and his producer had a difficult time selling advertising for the project and even getting a television network to air the results.
If you want to see the finished product as broadcast, those interviews are now available on DVD.
FROST/NIXON is an excellent dramatization of those worthy opponents, and there is suspense up until the final shot.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Colorado Magazine December 29th – January 5th, 2009
Dec 29th
It’s Colorado Magazine’s end of the New Years TV Special with Colorado’s number 1 TV talk show host Jann Scott. It’s look back at our best shows from 2008. First up it’s Dan Culberson Hotshots Movie Review of Milk, TTS Auto Tips Gas Savings Tips, Music Channel 1 brings us a look at one of the best music videos of 2008 with Bjork’s Wanderlust. Our best of 2008 holiday videos at the Denver Zoo Lights and Hammonds Candy Cane Festival, then Sky Guy asks How Many Stars are There? Next here on CET and Colorado Magazine.
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