The Fighter – Way Too Indie http://waytooindie.com Independent film and music reviews Fri, 02 Dec 2016 17:34:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Way Too Indiecast is the official podcast of WayTooIndie.com. Our film critics grip and gush about the latest indie movies and sometimes even mainstream ones. Find all of our reviews, podcasts, news, at www.waytooindie.com The Fighter – Way Too Indie yes The Fighter – Way Too Indie dustin@waytooindie.com dustin@waytooindie.com (The Fighter – Way Too Indie) The Official Podcast of Way Too Indie The Fighter – Way Too Indie http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/waytooindie/podcast-album-art.jpg http://waytooindie.com The Fighter http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/the-fighter/ http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/the-fighter/#respond Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:12:05 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=1193 David O. Russell’s The Fighter is based on a true story about the boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). Micky involves his entire family around his boxing career; using his half-brother Dicky (Christian Bale) as his trainer, his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) as his manager and his seven sisters act as sort of his cheerleader squad. […]]]>

David O. Russell’s The Fighter is based on a true story about the boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). Micky involves his entire family around his boxing career; using his half-brother Dicky (Christian Bale) as his trainer, his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) as his manager and his seven sisters act as sort of his cheerleader squad.

The Fighter begins in 1993 in Lowell, Massachusetts as an HBO documentary crew is there to film the older brother Dicky. The crew follows him around the streets and his daily interactions with the locals. Dicky believes the documentary crew is capturing his comeback into boxing as he once had a successful but short career himself. The highlight of his career, and quite possibly his life, is that he knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard. A fact that you will not forget as he will remind you at any chance he gets, although many people speculate that Sugar Ray Leonard tripped.

But the real reason behind the documentary is not to showcase his comeback but instead a look on how a one-time boxing hero is now a cocaine addict and criminal. Because Dicky spends most of his time getting high he is often late to training, still you can tell that he is very passionate about boxing and wants to see his brother succeed.

The Fighter movie review

Up to this point, Micky is just considered a “stepping stone” of a fighter, one favored fighters use for as an easy win to climb the ranks. Although he has the talent to be a greater fighter, his dysfunctional family may be getting in the way. Micky credits everything he knows about boxing to his brother Dicky, whom he greatly idolizes even with his setbacks.

Micky’s new girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) confirms his suspicion of his family hindering his chances to advance his career into something he can be proud of. Micky is obviously torn between his family and his desire to win a championship belt and Charlene is there to guide him along.

The opportunity to train in Vegas is given to Micky under the condition that he leaves his mother and brother behind. Charlene sort of pushes him to accept the offer as it would eventually lead him to a championship fight. Alice was never very accepting of Charlene’s new role in Micky’s life but more so as a mother than a manager. Alice thinks Charlene is trying to control Micky rather than seeing she is actually trying to help.

Still, Alice and Dicky follow them down to Vegas where Micky is ultimately forced to decide between his new crew including his girlfriend Charlene or his family. Micky breaks down and tells his family his is about him and his shot at winning the championship, he wants to decide how things will be ran. Doing so may result in losing his girlfriend, loyalty to his family or not winning the championship. It’s a tough fight for him already and he is not even in the ring yet.

The scene that stood out to me the most was when Dicky watches the documentary made about him, all excited for it only to realize it is about his addiction instead of his career. It not only embarrassed him but acted as a wake-up call for him, a blessing in disguise. Given the opportunity to go back to his old lifestyle when he runs into his old coke addict friends, he declines. That had more of an impact on me than any other part of the film.

Christian Bale might as well be working on this acceptance speech as he is a clear choice for Best Supporting Male at this year’s Oscars. He shows off his amazing talent portraying the cocky, twitchy and passionate ex-boxer now trainer. His dedication for the role is visually shown as he lost a significant amount of weight, repeating what he did before in The Machinist (then he was then forced to put it all back on for his role as Batman). Bale easily steals the film and is what makes it amazing.

It is hard to judge Mark Wahlberg’s performance because he, for the most part, stays out of the way. But he does this on purpose as the story is more focused on his brother Dicky. Micky is not supposed to have a huge personality but instead just be determined to win. Wahlberg was definitely physically built for the role and the fighting scenes looked real.

On the surface, The Fighter is just another boxing film that we have seen before in Raging Bull, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby, but somehow it stays relevant and memorable. The story is enjoyable but the acting is what makes this film so great. It does not get much better than Bale as far acting goes and Wahlberg, Adams and Leo follow his lead with solid performances as well.

]]>
http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/the-fighter/feed/ 0
2011 Oscar Nominations http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2011-oscar-nominations-list/ http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2011-oscar-nominations-list/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=960 The 2011 Oscar nominations were announced this morning with The King’s Speech leading the way for the 83rd Academy Awards. The film, which also led the Golden Globes nominations (but only took home 1 award), took 12 nominations which include; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Surprisingly, The Social Network only took 8 which tied Christopher Nolan’s Inception and behind Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit which had 10 nominations. Click Read More to see all the nominations.]]>

The 2011 Oscar nominations were announced this morning with The King’s Speech leading the way for the 83rd Academy Awards. The film, which also led the Golden Globes nominations (but only took home 1 award), took 12 nominations which include; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Surprisingly, The Social Network only took 8 which tied Christopher Nolan’s Inception and behind Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit which had 10 nominations.

Another surprise was Christopher Nolan’s absence from the Best Director’s category. But another person’s snub is another person’s gain as Darren Aronofsky earns his first ever Oscar nomination for Black Swan in the Best Director category. Some say he was snubbed two years ago in that category for The Wrestler.

Even though there were a few surprises, most of the nominations were fairly predictable, especially if you paid attention to the Golden Globe and Independent Spirit Award nominations. Most of the leading nominations were mostly expected.

See who I predict will win Oscars

It was a very solid year for cinema making the award shows very interesting to watch as there was a lot of strong competition all around. The 2011 Oscar winners will be announced on February 27th (a day after the Independent Spirit Awards).

Best Picture:

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Best Actor:

Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 hours

Best Actress:

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Director:

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
The Coens, True Grit

Best Supporting Actor:

Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Original Screenplay:

Mike Leigh, Another Year
David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, The Fighter

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy, 127 hours
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3
The Coens, True Grit
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini, Winter’s Bone

Best Foreign Film:

Biutiful
Dogtooth
In A Better World
Incendies
Outside The Law

Best Animated Film:

How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Best Cinematography:

Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Best Art Direction:

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit

Best Costume Design:

Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Best Original Song:

“Coming Home”, Country Strong
“I See the Light”, Tangled
“If I Rise”, 127 Hours
“We Belong Together”, Toy Story 3

Best Original Score:

How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Documentary:

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

Best Film Editing:

Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

Best Makeup:

Barney’s Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Best Sound Editing:

Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Best Sound Mixing:

Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Best Visual Effects:

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Best Documentary (Short Subject):

Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Comes Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Best Visual Short Film (Animated):

Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

Best Short Film (Live Action):

The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

]]>
http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2011-oscar-nominations-list/feed/ 0
2011 Golden Globe Award Winners http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2011-golden-globe-award-winners/ http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2011-golden-globe-award-winners/#respond Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:42:17 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=749 Ricky Gervais hosted the 68th Golden Globe Awards this year. Even though The King’s Speech had the most nominations with seven, it was rather unsurprising that The Social Network ended up with the most of the film awards that included; Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Original Score. I was very happy to see Natalie Portman won Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama, it was very well deserved. Glee had the most awards for TV with three total wins. I was happy to see Jim Parsons win Best Actor in a TV comedy or musical. Not only do I enjoy The Big Bang Theory but it was nice to see someone in a comedy or musical get some respect other than Glee. Click Read More for the full list of winners.]]>

Ricky Gervais hosted the 68th Golden Globe Awards this year. Even though The King’s Speech had the most nominations with seven, it was rather unsurprising that The Social Network ended up with the most of the film awards that included; Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Original Score. I was very happy to see Natalie Portman won Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama, it was very well deserved. Glee had the most awards for TV with three total wins. I was happy to see Jim Parsons win Best Actor in a TV comedy or musical. Not only do I enjoy The Big Bang Theory but it was nice to see someone in a comedy or musical get some respect other than Glee. Here is the full list of winners:

FILM

Best Motion Picture – Drama:
The Social Network

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical:
The Kids Are All Right

Best Director:
David Fincher, The Social Network

Best Actress – Drama:
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Actor – Drama:
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical:
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version

Best Supporting Actress:
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Foreign Language Film:
In A Better World

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture:
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network

Best Animated Feature Film:
Toy Story 3

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:
“You Haven’t Seen The Last Of Me”, Burlesque

Cecil B. DeMille Award:
Robert De Niro

TV

Best Drama Series:
Boardwalk Empire

Best Comedy Or Musical:
Glee

Best TV Movie/Miniseries:
Carlos

Best Actress – Drama:
Katey Sagal, Sons of Anarchy

Best Actor – Drama:
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical:
Laura Linney, The Big C

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical:
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Actress – TV Movie/Miniseries:
Claire Danes, Temple Grandin

Best Actor – TV Movie/Miniseries:
Al Pacino, You Don’t Know Jack

Best Supporting Actress – TV Series:
Jane Lynch, Glee

Best Supporting Actor – TV Series:
Chris Colfer, Glee

]]>
http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2011-golden-globe-award-winners/feed/ 0