182 replies to this topic

[Zorin Industries]

I liked the film a lot. Though Rourke is better than the film itself.

Agreed.

If I were the creative team behind ROCKY BALBOA, I would be a tad concerned that THE WRESTLER is more than similiar - though Arrenofsky does not need to steal. They both shared a great deal though - the blue collar setting, restaurants and kitchens replacing the boxing ring, winter, the kindlings of love with an older woman, the strained relationship with the now adult child, the same comments about getting older...

Quite. And I'll say it again: I don't think THE WRESTLER even does it better than ROCKY BALBOA. It's no more "adult", harder-hitting or "deep". Good film, though, but, c'mon, we've seen it all before (and done every bit as well).

BTW, Zorin, I'd be interested to read your views on SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Have you seen it?

I enjoyed Balboa but please it's no Raging Bull and I'm sorry I don't see anything hard hitting about it like The Wrestler.

Rocky always has someone to go back to, his kid loves him and there is Paulie. The Ram lives in a Trailer and his daughter hates him, his life has fallen apart and he works stacking shelves in a supermarket, the first Rocky might have touched on this but The Wrestler isn't gritty just because of the docu style, it's subject is far more darker than anything Rocky has ever approached.

I'd like to know where your beloved Balboa competes with that, I'm afraid your love for this film has convinced you it's some kind of masterpiece, the original film is so much better than all the sequels but that's a fairytale in comparrison to The Wrestler.

For the record I'm not saying the Wrestler is a better film than Rocky, Balboa yes but gritty, you gotta be kidding.... right?

Balboa is a PG family movie, The Wrestler is certainly not!

MY beloved ROCKY BALBOA? Who said it was beloved. It is just a more successful film about the same subject matter, that's all. My fondness for ROCKY BALBOA comes from not loving and avidly watching the rest of them (I couldn't even tell you when I last saw any of the others), but because it is a cerebral film about people getting by (as is THE WRESTLER). I just think ROCKY BALBOA has more heart. And because it did nearly all the same things first, I tip my hat to that more than THE WRESTLER. But don't get me wrong. I liked Rourke's effort. He was mesmerising to watch. The film just didn't do a single thing that that genre hadn't done better elsewhere for the last thirty years.
And although THE WRESTLER is not a PG (due to Tomei's mantlepiece if nothing else), the film is very aware of children. It is about a wrestler who appealed and still appeals to kids. Kids love wrestling.

Well, neither did QoS...but that hasn't stopped your heart from going pitter-patter for tens of thousands of words. I'll be seeing the film this evening and will weigh in once I've seen it. Goal: to put to bed, once and forever, the faux comparisons between TW and RB.

Well until you see THE WRESTLER you are in no position to say "faux" or otherwise. The comparisons are easily there - but with ROCKY BALBOA, not the other five entries. I have made the reasons why QUANTUM OF SOLACE is a vastly superior Bond film than most die-hard fans can handle on this site and elsewhere. My heart doesn't go "pitter patter" for anything, young Dodge.

I would add that THE WRESTLER is as classically Hollywood as they come - which puts it in the ROCKY camp more than either film's ardent followers would like to admit.

Well, you've certainly stated your reasons on QoS, Zorin-but for my money you've never made your case.

Then you really can't see the wood for the trees. Nor have you read my review or its extended cousin.

And why should it matter how many "scores of reviews" you have read on THE WRESTLER when surely your own opinion should count the most?

[Loomis]

You're seeing it this evening?

*Apollo Creed voice* It's time to go to school!

Yes, fortified by the verdict of our very fine local critic:

"...the plot suggests the Rocky films, though The Wrestler is more scupulously honest than any of those and not one tenth as sentimental."

Utter nonsense.

ROCKY is as scrupulously honest as they come. I'd trust it to do my taxes. And in any case, it really does beat THE WRESTLER on every conceivable level.

Then again, it also beats everything else. ROCKY is the single greatest film of all time.

[Turn]

One thing Rocky has in its favor was its timing. The film came out when Watergate was still fresh on people's minds, as was Vietnam and our films were reflecting that. The films nominated for Best Picture of 1976 included Taxi Driver, Network and All the President's Men.

The U.S. Bicenetennial was going on and Rocky came along as the perfect compliment to it. Rocky reminded people of what America could be when the other films reflected what it was. Although the least original of the bunch which really had no reason to work, it did.

[dinovelvet]

I saw The Wrestler last night and thought it was fantastic. Completely emotionally devastating, and not just in the obvious, Oscar showy moments. Pretty much every single scene is laced with poignancy! Who knew that a kid explaining how you play Call of Duty 4 could be a crushing emotional downer.

I don't really see the Rocky comparisons, sure the films are in the same genre, but Rocky's stock in trade is uplifting, feel-good, overcoming adversity type stories, whereas The Wrestler pretty much deals the main character, and the audience, one devastating blow after another.

[dodge]

I saw The Wrestler last night and thought it was fantastic. Completely emotionally devastating, and not just in the obvious, Oscar showy moments. Pretty much every single scene is laced with poignancy! Who knew that a kid explaining how you play Call of Duty 4 could be a crushing emotional downer.

I don't really see the Rocky comparisons, sure the films are in the same genre, but Rocky's stock in trade is uplifting, feel-good, overcoming adversity type stories, whereas The Wrestler pretty much deals the main character, and the audience, one devastating blow after another.

You're as right as poor Loomis is wrong. Allow me to piggy-back, please, on your post to deal with the absurd charges of TW 'ripping off' ROCKY. The two films have as little in common as Twiggy does with Dolly Parton. Yes, the two women both have breasts...but what can you say about Twiggy's--and what can't you say about Dolly's? Enough about boobs, though. Let's get down to business--so that I can weigh in through the week with further reflections on TW, which knocks the living tar out of RAGING BULL.

Why ROCKY is Twiggy (using the name to refer to the entire franchise):
1) The pure schmaltz, feel-good factor. ROCKY is a shrewd, highly manipulative variation on the Horatio Alger story. In I-IV, our hero rises from the gutter to the heights through will, determination, superior training--and a rousing sound track. By IV, his halo shines so brightly, a crowd of cheering Russians cheers him on, thanking him for putting Drago through the floor. True, he loses everything in V, but he rediscovers his freedom in bankruptcy, whipping an ungrateful protege and a crooked manager. And in RB, which I loved, his brain damage is healed and he finds his lost mojo again in the ring--along with some much-needed moolah.
2) The medium is the massage: No matter what happens to Rocky, the message that's cheered us for decades has been: the virtuous man can't be beaten. The classic film score can still quicken heartbeats and make warriors weep.
3) Behind every man there's a great woman. Adrian's always there for Rocky, even when she's dead.
4) Sly's a decent actor, capable of moving movements, but with a limited range.

Why THE WRESTLER is Dolly.
1) Here's a down and gritty powerhouse film that takes the conventions of ROCKY and turns them all on their heads. The Ram is a broken-down has been--a piece of meat, as he says--who's locked out of his trailer and scrambling for cheap paydays in the circus that is wrestling. He's in the last, miserable stretch of his life when he suffers a masssive heart attack that blocks him from the ring, the only thing he knows or loves. Like Rocky, the Ram takes a miserable job--working in a deli--but when he's offered a bigger-paying job in the ring, it isn't for a fortune...he won't earn a statue on top of the steps...he'll be fighting an old foe, who's been retired for years and is way out of shape. The catch is, the fight will almost certainly kill Ram--and, imo, it does. He wants only to die with his boots on.
2) The style is as spartan as the moral it espouses: it's better to die for whatever you love than to live a lie. TW has more in common, imo, with THE SHOOTIST or GLADIATOR than with ROCKY. The soundtrack is unobtrusive--really, hardly even there. We see the Ram seeing essentially the same signpost at every step of the way: You have an appointmet in Samara. He turns to his daughter...like Rocky, he tries to make amends...then, coked up, he forgets their date and loses her forever.
3) A good woman? Ram has sexy Pam, a stripper beautifully played by Marisa Tomei, who's as sexy as they come. These star-crossed not-yet lovers seem destined at the end for a Rocky-style moment: after spurning Ram, she tracks him down just as he's headed for his fateful showdown. He leaves her there. She pursues him, showing up at the ring where he tells her: no spoiler. See the film. There could not be a less Rocky-like moment on earth.
4) Rourke's performance is titanic. And quite a bit of it is nonverbal. For a long stretch at the opening, he conveys who he is and where he's at--in terms of pain--through body language and anguished, muted grunts and groans...deep, labored breaths. In another powerhouse scene, trying to train again after his heart attack, he collapses against a tree--and though I could see him from the back, I felt the pain in my own heart.

Give the man the statuette he has so richly earned.

[dodge]

It's also interesting to note that a few of the Ram's best moments are when he feels most alone: the scene in the deli when he turns his violent emotions in on himself, nearly losing a couple of fingers...and the final scene where he's poised on the ropes. There are people around him, of course, but he really is--unlike Rocky--in near-total isolation.

[dodge]

This just in, an hour ago:

HOUSTON — Listen up wrestlin' fans: actor Mickey Rourke says he's ready to rumble with WWE superstar Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 25 in Reliant Stadium on April 5.

Rourke portrays professional wrestler Randy the Ram in the acclaimed movie "The Wrestler."

He's signed to wrestle Jericho, for real.

He made a surprise announcement Sunday night on the red carpet before the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.

He said he was pleased by the acceptance of the movie by all the WWE wrestlers — except Jericho.

Then Rourke said he was going to toss Jericho "around the ring like tossed salad."

Meanwhile, Jericho, appearing on WWE television, said, Rourke was out of line and that he was offended by Rourke's comments. He said Rourke made "a mistake."

Stay turned.
source: http://www.chron.com...tx/6234109.html

Mick, for God's sake, get a hold of yourself! Act legit like your friend Penn if you wanna bag that statuette.

Edited to include another piece just in:

Mickey Rourke has won a Golden Globe, been nominated for a SAG (he lost to his weepy pal Sean Penn) and been nominated for an Oscar for his comeback in “The Wrestler,” the bittersweet saga of a former pro wrestling legend who hits hard times.

But at the SAG Awards, the actor — who actually had quit acting to become a pro boxer in the past — revealed he’s getting in the ring again, this time as a wrestler. He’s skedded to be on WWE’s “Wrestlemania 25” in Houston on April 5.

“The boys from the WWE called me and asked me to do it,” Rourke told Access Hollywood. “I said, ‘I want to.’ I’m talking with [WWE legend] Rowdy Roddy Piper about it.”

Call me crazy. Call him crazy.

But I think if Mickey seriously goes ahead with his plans and continues to talk about this new gig at oh, say, the Oscar luncheon, he can kiss his Oscar shot goodbye.

For one thing, this Wrestle Mania may prove to Oscar voters that he wasn’t really seriously acting at all in “The Wrestler.” Why, he was just being his crazy self.

Plus, he already looks like a "broken down piece of meat" who has had too many corrective surgeries to repair boxing damage. And now he wants more?

Is the guy a glutton for punishment or what? What's he trying to prove?

source:
http://latimesblogs....d-mickey-r.html

[Zorin Industries]

I saw The Wrestler last night and thought it was fantastic. Completely emotionally devastating, and not just in the obvious, Oscar showy moments. Pretty much every single scene is laced with poignancy! Who knew that a kid explaining how you play Call of Duty 4 could be a crushing emotional downer.

I don't really see the Rocky comparisons, sure the films are in the same genre, but Rocky's stock in trade is uplifting, feel-good, overcoming adversity type stories, whereas The Wrestler pretty much deals the main character, and the audience, one devastating blow after another.

You're as right as poor Loomis is wrong. Allow me to piggy-back, please, on your post to deal with the absurd charges of TW 'ripping off' ROCKY. The two films have as little in common as Twiggy does with Dolly Parton. Yes, the two women both have breasts...but what can you say about Twiggy's--and what can't you say about Dolly's? Enough about boobs, though. Let's get down to business--so that I can weigh in through the week with further reflections on TW, which knocks the living tar out of RAGING BULL.

Why ROCKY is Twiggy (using the name to refer to the entire franchise):
1) The pure schmaltz, feel-good factor. ROCKY is a shrewd, highly manipulative variation on the Horatio Alger story. In I-IV, our hero rises from the gutter to the heights through will, determination, superior training--and a rousing sound track. By IV, his halo shines so brightly, a crowd of cheering Russians cheers him on, thanking him for putting Drago through the floor. True, he loses everything in V, but he rediscovers his freedom in bankruptcy, whipping an ungrateful protege and a crooked manager. And in RB, which I loved, his brain damage is healed and he finds his lost mojo again in the ring--along with some much-needed moolah.
2) The medium is the massage: No matter what happens to Rocky, the message that's cheered us for decades has been: the virtuous man can't be beaten. The classic film score can still quicken heartbeats and make warriors weep.
3) Behind every man there's a great woman. Adrian's always there for Rocky, even when she's dead.
4) Sly's a decent actor, capable of moving movements, but with a limited range.

Why THE WRESTLER is Dolly.
1) Here's a down and gritty powerhouse film that takes the conventions of ROCKY and turns them all on their heads. The Ram is a broken-down has been--a piece of meat, as he says--who's locked out of his trailer and scrambling for cheap paydays in the circus that is wrestling. He's in the last, miserable stretch of his life when he suffers a masssive heart attack that blocks him from the ring, the only thing he knows or loves. Like Rocky, the Ram takes a miserable job--working in a deli--but when he's offered a bigger-paying job in the ring, it isn't for a fortune...he won't earn a statue on top of the steps...he'll be fighting an old foe, who's been retired for years and is way out of shape. The catch is, the fight will almost certainly kill Ram--and, imo, it does. He wants only to die with his boots on.
2) The style is as spartan as the moral it espouses: it's better to die for whatever you love than to live a lie. TW has more in common, imo, with THE SHOOTIST or GLADIATOR than with ROCKY. The soundtrack is unobtrusive--really, hardly even there. We see the Ram seeing essentially the same signpost at every step of the way: You have an appointmet in Samara. He turns to his daughter...like Rocky, he tries to make amends...then, coked up, he forgets their date and loses her forever.
3) A good woman? Ram has sexy Pam, a stripper beautifully played by Marisa Tomei, who's as sexy as they come. These star-crossed not-yet lovers seem destined at the end for a Rocky-style moment: after spurning Ram, she tracks him down just as he's headed for his fateful showdown. He leaves her there. She pursues him, showing up at the ring where he tells her: no spoiler. See the film. There could not be a less Rocky-like moment on earth.
4) Rourke's performance is titanic. And quite a bit of it is nonverbal. For a long stretch at the opening, he conveys who he is and where he's at--in terms of pain--through body language and anguished, muted grunts and groans...deep, labored breaths. In another powerhouse scene, trying to train again after his heart attack, he collapses against a tree--and though I could see him from the back, I felt the pain in my own heart.

Give the man the statuette he has so richly earned.

Sorry Dodge, but it's ROCKY through and through. Well, ROCKY BALBOA through and through. That doesn't make it a bad film or anything - just perhaps an effort that could have been a tad more original.

I would have put money on Mickey Rourke deservedly getting the Oscar a week ago, but Sean Penn has the lead now (if the SAG and PGA Awards are anything to go by). That is where Rourke will lose out...i.e. the film is good but not great in a year that has surprisingly indie fare emerging from obvious mainstream quarters (i.e. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE has been packaged in a very non-World cinema way, but is the natural son and heir to CITY OF GOD). THE WRESTLER promises an indie film with indie sensibilities (which it does exude), but is nothing more than a fluffy bunny of Hollywood-marinated fun.

[dodge]

I saw The Wrestler last night and thought it was fantastic. Completely emotionally devastating, and not just in the obvious, Oscar showy moments. Pretty much every single scene is laced with poignancy! Who knew that a kid explaining how you play Call of Duty 4 could be a crushing emotional downer.

I don't really see the Rocky comparisons, sure the films are in the same genre, but Rocky's stock in trade is uplifting, feel-good, overcoming adversity type stories, whereas The Wrestler pretty much deals the main character, and the audience, one devastating blow after another.

You're as right as poor Loomis is wrong. Allow me to piggy-back, please, on your post to deal with the absurd charges of TW 'ripping off' ROCKY. The two films have as little in common as Twiggy does with Dolly Parton. Yes, the two women both have breasts...but what can you say about Twiggy's--and what can't you say about Dolly's? Enough about boobs, though. Let's get down to business--so that I can weigh in through the week with further reflections on TW, which knocks the living tar out of RAGING BULL.

Why ROCKY is Twiggy (using the name to refer to the entire franchise):
1) The pure schmaltz, feel-good factor. ROCKY is a shrewd, highly manipulative variation on the Horatio Alger story. In I-IV, our hero rises from the gutter to the heights through will, determination, superior training--and a rousing sound track. By IV, his halo shines so brightly, a crowd of cheering Russians cheers him on, thanking him for putting Drago through the floor. True, he loses everything in V, but he rediscovers his freedom in bankruptcy, whipping an ungrateful protege and a crooked manager. And in RB, which I loved, his brain damage is healed and he finds his lost mojo again in the ring--along with some much-needed moolah.
2) The medium is the massage: No matter what happens to Rocky, the message that's cheered us for decades has been: the virtuous man can't be beaten. The classic film score can still quicken heartbeats and make warriors weep.
3) Behind every man there's a great woman. Adrian's always there for Rocky, even when she's dead.
4) Sly's a decent actor, capable of moving movements, but with a limited range.

Why THE WRESTLER is Dolly.
1) Here's a down and gritty powerhouse film that takes the conventions of ROCKY and turns them all on their heads. The Ram is a broken-down has been--a piece of meat, as he says--who's locked out of his trailer and scrambling for cheap paydays in the circus that is wrestling. He's in the last, miserable stretch of his life when he suffers a masssive heart attack that blocks him from the ring, the only thing he knows or loves. Like Rocky, the Ram takes a miserable job--working in a deli--but when he's offered a bigger-paying job in the ring, it isn't for a fortune...he won't earn a statue on top of the steps...he'll be fighting an old foe, who's been retired for years and is way out of shape. The catch is, the fight will almost certainly kill Ram--and, imo, it does. He wants only to die with his boots on.
2) The style is as spartan as the moral it espouses: it's better to die for whatever you love than to live a lie. TW has more in common, imo, with THE SHOOTIST or GLADIATOR than with ROCKY. The soundtrack is unobtrusive--really, hardly even there. We see the Ram seeing essentially the same signpost at every step of the way: You have an appointmet in Samara. He turns to his daughter...like Rocky, he tries to make amends...then, coked up, he forgets their date and loses her forever.
3) A good woman? Ram has sexy Pam, a stripper beautifully played by Marisa Tomei, who's as sexy as they come. These star-crossed not-yet lovers seem destined at the end for a Rocky-style moment: after spurning Ram, she tracks him down just as he's headed for his fateful showdown. He leaves her there. She pursues him, showing up at the ring where he tells her: no spoiler. See the film. There could not be a less Rocky-like moment on earth.
4) Rourke's performance is titanic. And quite a bit of it is nonverbal. For a long stretch at the opening, he conveys who he is and where he's at--in terms of pain--through body language and anguished, muted grunts and groans...deep, labored breaths. In another powerhouse scene, trying to train again after his heart attack, he collapses against a tree--and though I could see him from the back, I felt the pain in my own heart.

Give the man the statuette he has so richly earned.

Sorry Dodge, but it's ROCKY through and through. Well, ROCKY BALBOA through and through. That doesn't make it a bad film or anything - just perhaps an effort that could have been a tad more original.
I would have put money on Mickey Rourke deservedly getting the Oscar a week ago, but Sean Penn has the lead now (if the SAG and PGA Awards are anything to go by). That is where Rourke will lose out...i.e. the film is good but not great in a year that has surprisingly indie fare emerging from obvious mainstream quarters (i.e. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE has been packaged in a very non-World cinema way, but is the natural son and heir to CITY OF GOD). THE WRESTLER promises an indie film with indie sensibilities (which it does exude), but is nothing more than a fluffy bunny of Hollywood-marinated fun.

I've already addressed all this in my post above, which you clearly haven't read. It's ROCKY through and through, with a hero who dies at the end (imo)--and a daughter who won't even attend his funeral? It's ROCKY through and through with lapdancer who shows up at the final match and runs away in horror after the Ram tells her this is where he lives? No training montage, no rousing score, no lunkhead-style Rocky speech, no assurance that anyone--not even you, Zorin--will prevail through hard training and a virtuous heart. The only slambang fight scene in the carnival of fakery is with a psycho hillbilly whose staplegun causes Ram's heartattack! the final fight is with an old foe who hasn't fought in 20 years and now runs a used car dealership. Fluff bunny stuff you say--NOT!

[Judo chop]

Is sad better than happy? In movies, I mean.

I’ll judge a movie not based on whether the emo chart points upwards or downwards, but how deftly it carries me through the ups and down from start to finish, how strongly it registers from baseline, and how honestely it does so.

I haven’t seen THE WRESTLER, though I seriously intend to. But I’ll not listen to attacks against ROCKY based on the fact that it’s happy and not sad, as if the latter is always the superior stance. (Worth pointing out that he doesn’t 'win' in ROCKY.)

[dodge]

Is sad better than happy? In movies, I mean.

I’ll judge a movie not based on whether the emo chart points upwards or downwards, but how deftly it carries me through the ups and down from start to finish, how strongly it registers from baseline, and how honestely it does so.

I haven’t seen THE WRESTLER, though I seriously intend to. But I’ll not listen to attacks against ROCKY based on the fact that it’s happy and not sad, as if the latter is always the superior stance. (Worth pointing out that he doesn’t 'win' in ROCKY.)

If you're referring to me, that was not my drift. I've spoken out loud and clear in praise of the ROCKY franchise. The argument here is over the word schmaltz and the position a couple of members have taken that THE WRESTLER is every bit as schmaltzy as any of the ROCKY films. Different strokes for different days, I'd say. There'll always be times when I'm in the mood for Stallone. But when I'm in the mood for a gritty and thrilling, if somewhat downbeat, more realistic take...Well, surely you wouldn't begrudge me my Mick.

[Judo chop]

The argument here is over the word schmaltz and the position a couple of members have taken that THE WRESTLER is every bit as schmaltzy as any of the ROCKY films.

Ah, I see. My apologies, then.

Yes, the Rocky series (outside of the first and last issues) does indeed do the schmaltz in perfect 3-4 time.

[00Twelve]

Whoa, whoa, fellas.

Just saw THE WRESTLER this afternoon, and loved it. Aronofsky's best movie IMO by far (And yes, I do like THE FOUNTAIN).

Of course I saw the fundamental similarities to ROCKY BALBOA. Did it matter? Uh, no.

Why the penis length contest over the Rocky films and this one? ROCKY is my favorite movie and always will be. Nothing's about to dethrone that in my eyes. But this is a wonderful movie that deserves all the praise it's getting. Just let these movies be the separate stories they are without having to pit them against each other, as if their merit only stands on one's superiority to the other.

Easy, killers.

[dodge]

Whoa, whoa, fellas.

Just saw THE WRESTLER this afternoon, and loved it. Aronofsky's best movie IMO by far (And yes, I do like THE FOUNTAIN).

Of course I saw the fundamental similarities to ROCKY BALBOA. Did it matter? Uh, no.

Why the penis length contest over the Rocky films and this one? ROCKY is my favorite movie and always will be. Nothing's about to dethrone that in my eyes. But this is a wonderful movie that deserves all the praise it's getting. Just let these movies be the separate stories they are without having to pit them against each other, as if their merit only stands on one's superiority to the other.
Easy, killers.

Thank you, glad you liked it--and I repeat my affirmation that there will always be ROCKY days for me and WRESTLER days. The best thing about TW, for me, is that Mick's back in the ring...and, hey, working together with Sly. Ain't life grand?

[dodge]

Smart move from The Mickster:

At the SAG Awards on Sunday, the Academy Award nominee (he played Randy "the Ram" Robinson in "The Wrestler") made a big to-do to reporters about how he was planning to be in the upcoming wrestling event.

But now the match, set for April 5 in Houston, will not happen, according to E!

Why? Well, it sounds to me as if someone talked some sense into Mr. Rourke.

"Mickey was very honored to be asked, as he has the greatest respect for WWE. However, he will not be participating in WrestleMania," says the actor's official rep, Paula Woods, in a released statement. "He is focusing entirely on his acting career."

Let's reinforce that: FOCUS ON YOUR ACTING CAREER!

You need to save your strength, Mickey. You already have the biggest match of your life coming up.

For your career's sake, you need to KO your Oscar opponent, Sean Penn.

C'mon, take him down!

source: http://latimesblogs....y-rourke-b.html

Plus: great clip on TMZ last night: Mick coming out of an LA restaurant and heading for his limo when an awesome blonde flashed her boobies and squealed like Diana Rigg: Oh, Miiiiiiiiiiiiiickeyyyyyyyyyyy! Without missing a beat, Rourke purred "Nice t--s."

[dodge]

Delighted to hear that Rourke won the BAFTA Best Actor award. According to the news, his acceptance speech was remarkably restrained, tasteful and profanity free.

[Vauxhall]

Delighted to hear that Rourke won the BAFTA Best Actor award. According to the news, his acceptance speech was remarkably restrained, tasteful and profanity free.

It was all the more entertaining for all the profanities! He brought the house down. I look forward to his Oscar speech.

Mickey Rourke BAFTA Speech

[dodge]

Delighted to hear that Rourke won the BAFTA Best Actor award. According to the news, his acceptance speech was remarkably restrained, tasteful and profanity free.

It was all the more entertaining for all the profanities! He brought the house down. I look forward to his Oscar speech.

Mickey Rourke BAFTA Speech

Delightful. Thank you. He's the real deal, all right. yeah!

[dodge]

Some recent photos of Rourke have been a pleasant surprise. In TW, of course--with the 40-odd pounds he packed on--his face appeared to be ruined. One common adjective was 'melting'. But now that he's taken the weight off--and added a mustache/soul patch--he's pretty darned handsome again. One pic in particular--of him with Stallone--is four star. Mick's got a spiky hairstyle, instead of the stringy, somewhat greasy looking style he's been sporting for a while. Go, Mick.

[Vauxhall]

Not only did Rourke win Best Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards last night (and apparently stole the show with his acceptance speech), but THE WRESTLER also won Best Film.

Mickey Rourke's speech at the Independent Spirit Awards - fantastic audience reception, although Philip Seymour Hoffman hasn't particularly dressed up for the occasion.

[Agent 76]

Not only did Rourke win Best Actor at the Independent Spirit Awards last night (and apparently stole the show with his acceptance speech), but THE WRESTLER also won Best Film.

Mickey Rourke's speech at the Independent Spirit Awards - fantastic audience reception, although Philip Seymour Hoffman hasn't particularly dressed up for the occasion.

great acceptance speech! Go Rourke!

[Turn]

Mickey winning Best Actor will make my night. I've been a huge fan of his for years. The Independent Spirit Award win is a good sign as I've heard a lot of buzz about Sean Penn building momentum for Milk.

I think Rourke has the better comeback angle and Penn has some other factors working against him. He won a few years ago for one, he's not that popular as far as being pretty unsociable and wouldn't attend the Oscars when he was nominated for years.

Rourke would likely make a much better speech. Penn would defend Jude Law and walk off the stage. What I've seen of his Harvey Milk performance seems like he deserves all the accolades he's received. But the guy should try lightening up now and then. Anybody who remembers his performance Fast Times at Ridgemont High would likely agree with that.

[dodge]

Mickey winning Best Actor will make my night. I've been a huge fan of his for years. The Independent Spirit Award win is a good sign as I've heard a lot of buzz about Sean Penn building momentum for Milk.

I think Rourke has the better comeback angle and Penn has some other factors working against him. He won a few years ago for one, he's not that popular as far as being pretty unsociable and wouldn't attend the Oscars when he was nominated for years.

Rourke would likely make a much better speech. Penn would defend Jude Law and walk off the stage. What I've seen of his Harvey Milk performance seems like he deserves all the accolades he's received. But the guy should try lightening up now and then. Anybody who remembers his performance Fast Times at Ridgemont High would likely agree with that.

Well said. I'm praying that Rourke wins...and hope his occasional past bluntness and 'crudeness' don't deprive him of the trophy he so richly deserves. Any man who has the cajones to grope Thandie Newton on stage and tell her she is fine and fit deserves every prize in the book.

[Vauxhall]

Poor Mickey. Nice shout-out from Sean Penn though.

[dinovelvet]

Poor Mickey. Nice shout-out from Sean Penn though.

And the winner is...Political Correctness. Sean Penn will accept on PC's behalf.

[00Twelve]

With all due respect to Penn, whom I do respect as a terrific actor, Mick got robbed like an old lady in Central Park.

[DR76]

Poor Mickey. Nice shout-out from Sean Penn though.

And the winner is...Political Correctness. Sean Penn will accept on PC's behalf.

Actually, I suspect that this is about Hollywood trying to make up for its lack of Political Correctness, when it failed to give BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN the Best Picture Oscar, three years ago.

[Safari Suit]

So if Hollywood gives an Oscar to Sean Penn in Milk it's because he's playing an important Gay figure and they're only giving it to him because of Political Correctness. But if they don't give the Best Picture award to Brokeback Mountain it's because the central characters are gay, and they obviously made that decision because they're too homophobic. They can't win, basically.

[dodge]

With all due respect to Penn, whom I do respect as a terrific actor, Mick got robbed like an old lady in Central Park.

Absolutomondo. If Mick's wrestler had been gay...

[Zorin Industries]

With all due respect to Penn, whom I do respect as a terrific actor, Mick got robbed like an old lady in Central Park.

Absolutomondo. If Mick's wrestler had been gay...

He'd have been a gay washed-up wrestler giving a great performance in an average film.

Rourke was very good in THE WRESTLER, but Sean Penn was light years ahead in terms of nuance, understanding of his role and showing a character develop over time. MILK was also a film that had a few spikes and an edge to it. THE WRESTLER was extremely formulaic (in a good watchable way), but was no classic. Doing the "comeback" thing is not enough to bag an Oscar.

And to be honest, the gay angle has nothing to do with why Penn won his second Best Actor Oscar (well unless you remember that a great many queens work in Hollywood, are Oscar voters and know a decent performance when they see one).

Do we claim that SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE won because it featured poor Indian people and that shows we have a heart? No, of course not.