MOVIE REVIEW: The Fighter

Finally saw David O. Russell's The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo in the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.

The Fighter tells the true story of Micky Ward, a Boston-Irish boxer whose (half)brother Dicky Edlund was a marginally successful but is now primarily coaching and training his younger brother while unsuccessfully trying to hide his crack addiction from his brother and mother. Micky is played by Mark Wahlberg and Dicky is played by Christian Bale. Their mom (and manager) Alice is played by Melissa Leo and Micky's girlfriend and future wife Charlene (played by Amy Adams).

The Fighter is animated by incendiary performances. The first of these is Bale's transformation from handsome, muscular hero (Batman begins, The Dark Knight) to a gaunt, hyperactive, confused drug addict. It is a harrowing performance to watch. ("Just give him his Oscar now" I whispered to my Other Half on the way out of the theater.) The flip-side of Bale's Dicky is Wahlberg's Micky. Although Wahlberg is the lead actor and presumably the eponymous fighter referred to in the title, Micky's lot in life resembles a follower, not a fighter. He basically does whatever his brother or mother tell him to do, and only slowly does he begin to realize that their wishes may not be parallel to his best interests. Wahlberg's performance is quiet and self-effacing where Bale's is flashy and unforgettable. Leo's Alice and Adams' Charlene are relatively similar in tone and appearance: strong, willful women with rough (and somewhat repellent) exteriors.

Although boxing is a 1-on-1 gladiatorial sport, in The Fighter most of the fighting (or squabbling) is done in threes: Micky and Charlene versus Dicky, Dicky and Alice versus Micky, Micky and Dicky versus the World, and Micky and Charlene versus his entire family. As you can see, many of these fights are between family members and are fraught with the intense emotions that can arise in those situations.

Overall, all boxing movies come into the world in which Rocky and Raging Bull have influenced the audience. The Fighter is a worthy addition to that oeuvre, and with the depiction of family dynamics and the excellence of the acting, the movie should be viewed favorably with the great family dramas (Ordinary People and Dangerous Liaisons).

Title: The Fighter.
Running Time: 1 hour, 54 minutes.
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality.
Release Date: Friday, December 10, 2010.
Attendance Date: Thursday, December 30, 2010.

Plot: B.
Acting: A+.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: A- (3.667/4.0).

The Dark Knight Breaks $500m Barrier (in 45 Days)

Nikki Finke is reporting that The Dark Knight has broken the $500 million barrier in a record 45 days this past weekend. It now owns 14 box-office records:

1. LARGEST NUMBER OF OPENING THEATRES WITH 4,366 (MORE THAN THE 4,362 DEBUT THEATRES OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END IN 2007).

2. BIGGEST MIDNIGHT PREVIEW GROSS WITH $18.489 MILLION IN 3,040 THEATRES (THIS BEATS STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH AT $16.9 MILLION IN 2,915 THEATRES IN 2005).

3. BIGGEST IMAX MIDNIGHT PREVIEWS SET AN NEW RECORD WITH $640,000 (THIS AMOUNT WAS APPROPRIATELY INCLUDED IN THE $18.489 MILLION PREVIEW NUMBER).

4. BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY GROSS IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $67,165,092 (THIS BEATS THE $59,841,919 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

5. BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $158,411,483 MILLION (THIS BEATS THE $151,116,516 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

6. BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS FOR AN IMAX RELEASE IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $6,214,061 MILLION IN 94 THEATRES ($66,107 PER-THEATRE!) (THIS BEATS THE $4.7 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007) - IMAX SHOWING AT FULL CAPACITY $1.9 MILLION ON SATURDAY ALONE.

7. BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY SUNDAY GROSS WITH $43,596,151 (THIS BEATS THE $39,937,865 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 ON ITS DEBUT WEEKEND).

8. FASTEST SPRINT TO $200 MILLION DOMESTICALLY IN JUST FIVE DAYS (BEATING PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST, SPIDER-MAN 2, AND STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH WHICH EACH TOOK 8 DAYS TO REACH $200 MILLION).

9. POSTS THE BEST SECOND WEEKEND GROSS EVER AT $75,166,446 (BEATING SHREK 2 AND ITS $72,170,363 SECOND WEEKEND GROSS).

10. CROSSES THE $300 MILLION MARK IN JUST 10 DAYS (BEATING 2006's PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST WHICH TOOK 16 DAYS).

11. THE FILM IN IMAX WORLDWIDE CROSSED THE $20 MILLION MARK IN JUST 11 DAYS (BEATING HARRY POTTER 5 WHICH TOOK 16 DAYS).

12. THE FILM CROSSED THE $400 MILLION MARK IN JUST 18 DAYS (BEATS SHREK 2 WHICH TOOK 43 DAYS TO DO IT)

13. BECAME THE SECOND-HIGHEST GROSSING FILM OF ALL-TIME DOMESTICALLY IN JUST 30 DAYS OF RELEASE SURPASSING THE ORIGINAL STAR WARS ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008 (ON THAT DAY IT HIT $466,365,174 BEATING STAR WARS ($461 MILLION)

Of course many of these records are silly because Hollywood doesn't adjust box-office records for inflation. So, Titanic's $600 million domestic gross from 1997-1998 is significantly more than that amount in 2008 dollars. But, still, $500 million is still a LOT of money, even in Hollywood.

I wonder how long it takes before we start hearing about fights between Christopher Nolan (and/or his brother) who wrote, produced and directed the movie and Warner Brothers over a fair share of the profits? 1, 2, 3, 4, ....

The Dark Knight Becomes 2nd Highest Grossing Film Of All Time

The Dark Knight has continued its record-breaking box-office performance by hitting $471 million, eclipsing Star Wars (1977) which has grossed $461 million for the #2 position on the all-time list, behind Titantic (1997) at $600.2 million.

It is unlikely that The Dark Knight will break Titantic's total, but it has a very good chance of breaking the $500 million barrier, according to most models. In fact, Warners Bros. is so happy about its 2008 box-office prospects it has moved one of its potential big hits, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (the sixth movie in the franchise) to July 2009 from its Thanksgiving 2008 release date. The final Harry Potter book will be split into two movies that will be released in late 2010 and 2011.

REVIEW: The Dark Knight

Saw The Dark Knight this weekend. Since it's release at 12:01am Friday July 18th the film has been repeatedly breaking box-office records, and as of this writing has grossed $312 million(!) in 10 days putting it a mere $2 million behind the box-office champ for 2008: Iron Man (MadProfessah's review). Some industry observers are predicting a $500 million final gross and say that Titanic's $1.8 billion worldwide gross may be in jeopardy (I doubt that).

The movie is directed by one of my favorite directors, Christopher Nolan, who made Memento and The Prestige (see MadProfessah's review), two of my favorite films of all time. In fact, in my opinion, Christopher Nolan (who co-writes and also produces his films) has yet to make a bad movie in the six feature films in his oeuvre so far: The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Insomnia and Memento.

The Dark Knight is a fitting member of this club. Although it is not as intellectually satisfying as Memento or The Prestige it is another example of damned good film-making similar to Batman Begins but it is better than that movie.

The cast (like in the original) is quite impressive and uniformly excellent: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal with even minor roles filled with excellent actors like Nestor Carbonell (The Mayor of Gotham City) and Anthony Michael Hall (an important cop) and Eric Roberts (an important gangster).

A little over half-way through the film I whispered to The Other Half "How much did this film cost?!" It looks incredible and you really can't believe all the things they were able to do on-screen, even with the magic of computerized visual effects.

The film does have a significant flaw: the film is simply too long. It is his longest film to date, and I think it's because he wanted to give the fans a summer entertainment where they feel they got their money's worth. Well, he had me after the first hour. The running time could really be anywhere between 15-30 minutes shorter. There's simply too much plot for a popcorn movie (how often does say that about a summer blockbuster?) which leads to a sense of enervated appreciation by the end.

The strengths of the film are many and much celebrated at this point, with the most significant being the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker. He is absolutely riveting to watch, at times terrifying, funny and violent. It is an Oscar-calibre performance for which he will almost certainly win year-end acting awards posthumously (personally I would not vote for him for Best Supporting Academy Award if it were up to me because I think living actors should benefit from the exposure of winning the film industry's highest honor but there's no question it is one of the strongest supprting performances by a male actor in any film this year so far).

Unsurprisingly, Oscar-winners Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are also incredibly strong in their supporting roles, as is Aaron Eckhart as the politically ambitious District Attorney Harvey Dent. Gary Oldman is almost unrecognizable in his Sir Albert Finney-like disappearance into his character. The only slight weakness in the top tier talent is Maggie Gyllenhaal's although I do think she was an improvement on Katie Holmes who originated the role of Bruce Wayne's love interest Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (he doesn't really get to do any acting as Batman) is solid and I found it signficant that there are almost no scenes of Bale's incredible body shirtless--in fact there is almost no sexuality whatever in the film.

The film, instead seems to be more about the puzzle of vigilante-ism and the nature of the body politic of a city, as well as the nature of madness and criminality and how far "the good guys" will go to stop the "bad guys" from getting their way, even if that means the line between good and bad get blurred. But, ultimately, it is an incredibly entertaining way to spend almost 3 hours in the dark.

OVERALL GRADE: A-.

ACTING: A+.
IMAGERY: A-.
PLOT: A-.
IMPACT: B+.

Top 10 Movies of 2007

Last year's list of the Top 10 (MadProfessah-reviewed) movies of 2006 was not issued until March 6, 2007, a week after the Oscars were announced and the Top 10 (MadProfessah-reviewed) movies of 2005 was not published until January 18th, 2006.

However, I want to make sure the list to be a list of the best movies that I actually saw in 2007, since my previous Top 10 list was published here.

10. 3:10 to Yuma. The best western since Unforgiven stars Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in a remake of a classic which matches the original for intensity and suspense--with the added benefit of a scenery-chewing performance by Ben Foster as the fey psycho violent sidekick.

9. Boy Culture. What? A well-written gay movie? Yes, Virginia, they do exist! This romantic comedy had very handsome actors interacting in a surprisingly real and really surprising way.

8. 300. A homoerotic smorgasbord of computer generated ultraviolence masquerading as a historic epic. "1800 abs" was a unique visual experience, very stimulating and although story-deficient, oddly compelling.

7. Ratatouille. The latest film from Brad Bird, the creator of my 2004 favorite film, The Incredibles is the creative force behind this tour de force animated masterpiece from the magicians at Pixar about a rat in a Paris restaurant who loves to cook.

6. 28 Weeks Later / Sunshine. From the mind of Danny Boyle (28 Days Later) and each featuring Rose Byrne comes these two very different, science-fiction based action films. 28 Weeks Later is actually more effective than the original. Sunshine is an absolutely gorgeous spaceship-based thriller influenced by seminal films like Alien and 2001.

5. The Simpsons Movie. Like a really good, 90-minute episode of The Simpsons--what's not to like?

4. The Namesake. I may be influenced by my trip to India last year, but I was greatly moved by this film adaptation of one of my favorite books by Jhumpa Lahiri. The story is about the intergeneration conflict between immigrant parents and their American born children. In addition, the acting by Kal Penn and Irfan Khan is extraordinary, and Mira Nair's directing is at her most proficient to date.

3. Sicko/¡Salud!. The health care crisis in the United States is only growing worse day after day and these two documentaries pointed out the ridiculous state of affairs while also highlighting that there are other solutions many other countries around the world have identified and implemented.

2. The Bourne Ultimatum. A technically flawless summer action movie helmed by director Peter Greengrass and carried by Matt Damon which starts with the accelerator to the floor and doesn't let up until the final frame.

1. Juno. The most enjoyable time I spent at the movies all year was watching this heartfelt, pitch-perfect comedy that has an impact which is felt long after the movie is over. Diablo Cody's script along with an incredible ensemble cast headed by the hitherto unheralded Ellen Page in the title role are destined to receive Oscar recognition.

Honorable Mentions: The Host, American Gangster, Hairspray and I Am Legend.

It should also be noted that I have yet to see end-of-year contenders like Sweeney Todd, Atonement, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, The Great Debaters or Persepolis. When I see them, I will review them, but they will count towards my 2008 Top 10.

REVIEW: 3:10 To Yuma

The user reviews for 3:10 To Yuma were impresssive so Mad Professah and the other half went to our favorite local multiplex in Alhambra and caught a weekend screening of the Russell Crowe-Christian Bale remake, rejecting Jodie Foster's revenge fantasy The Brave One and a repeat viewing of Matt Damon's The Bourne Ultimatum in the process. The other film we seriously considered was David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts.


So, surprisingly, we chose the western. We were not disappointed. The most notable feature of the film is not the interplay between Russell Crowe's Ben Wade and Christian Bale's Dan Evans but the mesmerizing performance by Ben Foster as Charlie Prince, the slightly-fey, exceedingly homicidal sidekick to Ben Wade. Although, After Elton objects to an allegedly homophobic subtext that director James Mangold (Walk The Line) has added to his remake which do not appear in the original 1957 version starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. Foster's performance is the first performance I have seen this year where one walks out of the theater thinking "That guy should get an Oscar nomination."


When Foster's Prince is on screen, he is absolutely riveting. He exudes a wild-eyed, devil-may-care, sense of someone who has no respect for life whatsoever. His character is shown repeatedly violating various social compacts and particularly the golden rule (do unto others as you would like them to do unto you).

The movie itself is quite suspenseful, with an engaging plot and a suprising twist at the end. Christian Bale's character is part of a posse led by Peter Fonda's character to take Russell Crowe's character to the nearest big city (which is 50 miles away) in order to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma, AZ where there's a federal prison with a hangman's noose for Crowe's Ben Wade, who has been responsible for dozens of robberies and murders. Bale's Dan Evans joins the posse entirely for the money ($200), which he desperately needs to pay off his struggling family farm's mounting debts, which is about to collapse due to a long-running drought.

The movie becomes quite psychological, where the roles of Wade, the greedy, heartless killer and heartless gang leader, and Evans, the gentle, principled farmer and married father of three boys, trade verbal barbs and meaningful glances while they compete for the heart and soul of Evan's oldest boy William. William (played well by Logan Lerman) is unimpressed by the careful ways of his father and is attracted by the danger and dominance exuded by the gangster. By the end of the film, the roles of Crowe's bad guy and Bale's good guy have becomes blurred and it becomes unclear who is leading who to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma.

REVIEW: A-.