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Post by Doc Holliday on May 31, 2009 11:45:27 GMT -5
Rented it last night.
Interesting and kind of touching but I somehow felt it could have been much more.
Definitely cuts from the traditional "Rocky" scheme though that most sports movies aligns on.
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Post by Polarice on Jun 1, 2009 10:43:26 GMT -5
I watched it a few weeks ago, like you I liked it, but felt it could have been much better.
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Post by habernac on Jun 1, 2009 15:48:46 GMT -5
Rourke was great. I liked the way it was filmed, gave it that "documentary" feel to it. I enjoyed it. The hardcore match made for some cringe-worthy moments.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 1, 2009 16:37:36 GMT -5
Definitely want to see it. When I was a young lad my dad would take my sister and me to the wrestling matches at the Ottawa Civic Centre. It used to be a big deal back in the day. It came to town every two weeks then later, every week.
The largest crowd to see an indoor sporting event in Ottawa's history (at that time) was for a cage match between Killer Kolwalski and Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. Practically the whole crowd was routing for Vachon.
I was talking to a friend about this movie and he's into wrestling big time. He thought it was pretty good in that it revealed a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff. Not as revealing as Brett Hart's book, "HITMAN" but a good look anyway.
Did you guys find it that way as well?
Cheers.
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Post by habernac on Jun 1, 2009 17:39:00 GMT -5
yes, there were some great behind the scenes moments. I won't spoil it for you, you'll know when you see it.
Hitman's book is fantastic. Pulls no punches, doesn't paint himself in a sympathetic way, either. what a screwed up family.
I haven't watched wrestling in years, can't stand McMahon and his ilk. So many of these performers dying because of ridiculous travel schedules, overwork, illegal drugs, pain killer addictions etc. Yes, I know they chose their profession, but there really needs to be something put in place to protect these guys.
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Post by CrocRob on Jun 1, 2009 22:24:59 GMT -5
I don't know how it could have been better. It was fantastic. Told a tragic tale as well as it could be told.
That being said, I went to see it with my mother who hated it.
I won't go further into it because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who's not seen it (as clearly some here haven't).
I'm going to have to pick up this Bret Hart book and add it to my never-ending reading list.
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Post by Doc Holliday on Jun 2, 2009 12:13:11 GMT -5
Definitely want to see it. When I was a young lad my dad would take my sister and me to the wrestling matches at the Ottawa Civic Centre. It used to be a big deal back in the day. It came to town every two weeks then later, every week. The largest crowd to see an indoor sporting event in Ottawa's history (at that time) was for a cage match between Killer Kolwalski and Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. Practically the whole crowd was routing for Vachon. I was talking to a friend about this movie and he's into wrestling big time. He thought it was pretty good in that it revealed a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff. Not as revealing as Brett Hart's book, "HITMAN" but a good look anyway. Did you guys find it that way as well? Cheers. It definitely paints a portrait that is more "old time" wrestling than the endless bla-bla stuff of today. In Montreal you could go to Le Centre Paul Sauvé to watch the "Mad Dog", Jo Leduc, Gilles "The fish" Poisson, "Tarzan la bottine", the Rougeaus, and so on... This movie seems more about these kinda guys than about the Triple X, Rock and other millionaires of today... |
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Post by Doc Holliday on Jun 2, 2009 12:15:05 GMT -5
I don't know how it could have been better. Without spoiling it I felt the story with his daughter was a little corny, predictable and "easy"... The rest I really liked. |
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Post by jkr on Jun 2, 2009 13:15:25 GMT -5
Definitely want to see it. When I was a young lad my dad would take my sister and me to the wrestling matches at the Ottawa Civic Centre. It used to be a big deal back in the day. It came to town every two weeks then later, every week. The largest crowd to see an indoor sporting event in Ottawa's history (at that time) was for a cage match between Killer Kolwalski and Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. Practically the whole crowd was routing for Vachon. I was talking to a friend about this movie and he's into wrestling big time. He thought it was pretty good in that it revealed a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff. Not as revealing as Brett Hart's book, "HITMAN" but a good look anyway. Did you guys find it that way as well? Cheers. It definitely paints a portrait that is more "old time" wrestling than the endless bla-bla stuff of today. In Montreal you could go to Le Centre Paul Sauvé to watch the "Mad Dog", Jo Leduc, Gilles "The fish" Poisson, "Tarzan la bottine", the Rougeaus, and so on... This movie seems more about these kinda guys than about the Triple X, Rock and other millionaires of today... Oh boy - you're bringing up memories. I remember getting crammed into the Forum to see Kowalski, Andre the Giant & Abdullah the Butcher. BTW - didn't Mad Dog Vachon have a brother that went by the name of Paul "the Butcher" Vachon? |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 2, 2009 21:21:02 GMT -5
It definitely paints a portrait that is more "old time" wrestling than the endless bla-bla stuff of today. In Montreal you could go to Le Centre Paul Sauvé to watch the "Mad Dog", Jo Leduc, Gilles "The fish" Poisson, "Tarzan la bottine", the Rougeaus, and so on... This movie seems more about these kinda guys than about the Triple X, Rock and other millionaires of today... Oh boy - you're bringing up memories. I remember getting crammed into the Forum to see Kowalski, Andre the Giant & Abdullah the Butcher. BTW - didn't Mad Dog Vachon have a brother that went by the name of Paul "the Butcher" Vachon? Yes he did. And they had a sister who wrestled as well. Her name was Vivian Vachon. She had a neice, Luna, who also wrestled. Interesting tidbit about Mad Dog. I remember reading a somewhere many years ago after Maurice lost a leg in what I thought was a vehicle accident. However, I just looked it up and it was a hit and run. That said, I remember reading that he was the most popular athlete in the province of Quebec, second only to Maurice Richard. I don't think I can find a link to that but if I do I'll post it. Some of the wrestlers I saw live back in the 70's included: Édouard Carpentier, Don Leo Johnathan, Kowalski, Gilles "the fish" Poisson, Tarzan "the boot" Tyler, "Sweet Daddy" Siki (who I saw sing live here in a Kingston pub called Muldoon's back in '81), Reggie Park, "The Giant" Jean Ferré (Andre the Giant), The Leduc brothers, Paul and Jos, the Vachons, Gino Brito and Dino Bravo, and countless others. Interestingly enough, my old warrant officer was from Quebec and one time on his way home for a vacation, he and his wife detoured to the town of Godbou, PQ, to check out the legend of the Leduc Brothers. They got there and no one knew who they were ;D Good times for sure. Cheers. |
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Post by franko on Jun 2, 2009 21:53:28 GMT -5
[Killer] Kowalski, Andre the Giant, Abdullah the Butcher, Mad Dog and Paul "the Butcher" Vachon, Édouard Carpentier, Don Leo Johnathan, Gilles "the fish" Poisson, "Sweet Daddy"Siki, Dino Bravo . . . names and memories from the past [the others don't ring a bell].
Was out west just before Stampede Wrestling's heyday, with the Harts and the stable [all never forget Ed Whalen's In the mean time . . . in between time . . . that's it . . . another edition of Stampede Wrestling!
Saw Davy-Boy Smith, the British Bulldog, and the Dynamite Kid get their starts . . . and watched terrible acting wrestling as they foudn their way -- pre-steroid and skinny [but quite athletic]. And who could forget Jake "the snake" Roberts?
There was a lot of cross-over . . .
[edit: the names keep coming . . . Whipper Billy Watson . . . and Angelo Mosca . . . ]
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 3, 2009 5:15:42 GMT -5
[edit: the names keep coming . . . Whipper Billy Watson . . . and Angelo Mosca . . . ] My dad used to talk about Gene Kiniski and Yukon Eric. Eric lost his ear to a knee drop from Killer Kowalski. Cheers. |
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Post by CentreHice on Jun 3, 2009 7:33:33 GMT -5
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Post by Doc Holliday on Jun 3, 2009 7:48:54 GMT -5
Anyone remember Eddie "The brain" Creachman... He was a "bad guy" manager... This guy was getting the crowd worked up like mad. I also remember as a kid, a tag team called the the "Del Santos", they were masked and everytime they'd wrestled someone would try to take their mask off but of course never succeeded... wild rumors that they were badly burned or were hiding nasty, scary scares underneath those masks... this was suspense everytime...  ...memories... |
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Post by franko on Jun 3, 2009 8:01:07 GMT -5
Anyone remember [or admit to remembering] The One and Only with Henry Winkler?
Not quite The Wrestler.
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 3, 2009 11:07:03 GMT -5
Anyone remember Eddie "The brain" Creachman... He was a "bad guy" manager... This guy was getting the crowd worked up like mad. I also remember as a kid, a tag team called the the "Del Santos", they were masked and everytime they'd wrestled someone would try to take their mask off but of course never succeeded... wild rumors that they were badly burned or were hiding nasty, scary scares underneath those masks... this was suspense everytime... ...memories... I left wrestling alone for many years until I went overseas. Some of the biggest attractions in the mess in Germany were the "Summer Slams" and "Battle Royales." Any big promotion from the WWF was huge for business at the mess and since it came in via satellite (the big dishes back then) it was usually aired during the evening (5 hours ahead depending on the time of year). So, you had to get a seat sometime around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, which meant most of the guys were half-baked by the time the event came on. It was at one of these events I noticed just how much wrestling had changed. There were guys like Jake the Snake Roberts, Hacksaw Jim Dunnigan, Sgt Slaughter, the Bushwackers, the Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty), the Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan, The Hart Foundation ... scores of others. But, what I noticed was how much of a production it had become. Vince McMahon had taken it from simply scripting the outcome, to a full production. I was watching for the time I was in Germany but not through the same set of teenage eyes as I did years before. After we came home I gave it up again. All that said, I still can't believe the following WWE has even today. It's huge. McMahon has made his millions but he's also produced quite a few millionaires as well. But, there is another, darker side to it, though. More so when you think of how many wrestlers aren't with us any more. Cheers. |
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Post by Doc Holliday on Jun 3, 2009 11:52:11 GMT -5
But, there is another, darker side to it, though. More so when you think of how many wrestlers aren't with us any more. ...which is what The Wrestler more or less covers |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 13, 2009 21:39:00 GMT -5
But, there is another, darker side to it, though. More so when you think of how many wrestlers aren't with us any more. ...which is what The Wrestler more or less covers Just saw it tonight. It's about a guy who made some bad choices and can't recover from them. I haven't seen a lot of his movies because I really don't like his acting, but I thought Mickey Rourke sold this part pretty well. Marisa Tomei also did a great job. Her character was going down the same road as Rourke's but she was able to turn it around. Thought the hand-held camera work was excellent. I found it gave me a better focus on the character and maybe what others were seeing in him from that perspective. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. Went to IMDB.com to find out some tidbits about the movie. Interesting that the relationship "The Ram" had with his daughter, may have been based on the relationship Jake "The Snake" Roberts had with his daughter. Cheers. |
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