Posts tagged race
“The Wrestler” Nothing New Is Old Again
Jan 21st
Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Hotshots Movie Reviews
Nothing New Is Old Again
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE WRESTLER is a comeback film that has caused a lot of attention, has already won some awards, will likely win some more, but you could very well be disappointed when you see it.
Starring Mickey Rourke as Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a professional wrestler who was at the top of his profession 20 years ago, the film shows how Randy struggles today with his so-called sport, his relationships, and just making enough money to keep up with the lot fees for the trailer he lives in.
In other words, the theme is “Down and out and struggling to get up.” Sound familiar?
Most of the attention is on Rourke, who gained weight and beefed up for the role that mirrors his own Hollywood career, but Marisa Tomei is also very good as an aging stripper named Cassidy who befriends Randy, but isn’t willing to become romantically involved with him.
We see Randy struggling to make a little money on the independent wrestling circuit and how the matches are choreographed beforehand, as well as how Randy hides a razor blade to cut himself for more dramatic effect.
And we see how Randy tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Stephanie, played by Evan Rachel Wood, telling her, “I’m an old broken-down piece of meat, and I deserve to be alone. I just don’t want you to hate me.”
So, we see a few tender moments with Randy, such as when he plays with the neighborhood kids, a lot of gruesome moments in the wrestling ring, some scenes with Randy working in a supermarket to make some extra money, and some scenes with Cassidy and Stephanie as Randy tries to reconnect with the human race.
And then Randy has some serious health issues as well, which puts him in the hospital at one point.
So, this is definitely not a “feel good” movie, and the only reason to see it is to watch Rourke try to redeem his own career or Tomei, who is always watchable, even more so without any clothes on.
There is even some trite philosophizing about the difference between the phony worlds of professional wrestling and erotic dancing and the “real world” “out there,” where people can get very hurt.
THE WRESTLER just shows that nothing new is old again, and even the ending is disappointing.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Australia” Simple Stories Writ Large
Dec 4th
Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Hotshots Movie Reviews
Simple Stories Writ Large
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
AUSTRALIA is the big epic film starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman that was directed by Baz Luhrmann and which will likely remind you of many other movies and possibly annoy you with its many endings.
The difference between all those other movies and this one? All those other movies are stitched together into one movie and relocated Down Under in Australia just before World War II.
The reason there are many endings? All the stories are stitched together, one right after the other, each with its own ending, so that just as you think the movie is over at one satisfying ending, another familiar story begins with the same characters and leading to another ending. More than once.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: Hollywood has run out of ideas. This time, big time.
The first story begins in September 1939 at a cattle station called Faraway Downs in the Outback of Australia. We hear the narration of Nullah, a little boy who says he belongs to no one, because he is a “creamy,” a child of mixed race whose father was white and whose mother is an Aborigine.
Nullah sees cattle being stolen, comes face to face with the body of a murdered man, and then proceeds to tell the story of whom he calls “The strangest woman I’ve ever seen.”
She is Lady Sarah Ashley, and we see her in England complaining that her husband spends too much time in Australia. So, she travels to Australia in order to sell Faraway Downs and return to England.
Then we meet The Drover, whose occupation is to drive cattle from one place to another. He was sent to meet Lady Ashley in Darwin and take her to Faraway Downs.
They “meet cute,” with a lot of cheap laughs. They travel to Faraway Downs, which is no easy task. She learns that her husband has been murdered in a connection to steal her cattle and buy out Faraway Downs by a competing rancher.
Then comes the “Cattle Drive” story in which seven people–Lady Ashley included–drive 1500 head of cattle to Darwin to sell to the Army. If you have seen one cattle-drive story, you have seen this one.
But, wait! There is more. Many more.
AUSTRALIA is nothing but simple stories writ large.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”