the fighter...

disclaimer:
it was the year 1995
& a cute boy i liked invited me to an event called
'the smoker'
it had nothing to do with cigarettes
or
cooking a large animal...
it had everything to do with
regular college age frat & non-frat guys getting
into a boxing ring &
pounding the crap out of each other.
did i even think twice about going to this?
uh, a cute boy asked me so, no,
no i didn't...
the cute boy was going to be helping
a friend of his get the crap pounded out of him,
be 'in his corner' literally
so i was going to sit with the cute boy's roommate
& watch the fight...
as we got the arena
(mac court, for eugeneies)
there were tons of people,
huge long lines.
however i was with the cute boy
& he had an 'i'm in the crap pounding corner' pass
so we started weaving through the crowd
as we got closer to the door
& it was more & more packed
the cute boy grabbed my hand & pulled me
through the maddening, butt kicking, crap pounding crowd...
& then he just kept holding it...
*sigh*
cute boy delivered me to his roommate
& went the corner to support the pounder/poundie...
& a pounding it was:
on my back...
cute boy's roommate was so into the fight
& so excited that every time something good (?)
would happen he would pound on my back with his fist...
true story.
i was in so much pain
but he just couldn't help himself...
thankfully we were friends
so i wasn't being pounded by a stranger
but still, quite hilarious...
the testosterone was really flying!

but despite me getting pounded
& the frat guys getting pounded
& the non frat boys getting pounded
it's still one of my favorite memories
& why wouldn't it be?
it's the first time brian & i ever held hands :)

ps the roommate is married to one of my best friends...
don't worry, before they got married i
warned her never to go to a fight with him...
or if she did to at least wear some back padding...

the end...

oh wait!
this is a movie review...
my nostalgia got away from me...

so 'the fighter' yes 'the fighter'
i really enjoyed this movie
firstly, because i didn't have to keep my hands over my eyes
unlike another movie that shall remain nameless.
secondly, it was set in the 80's &
the clothes, shoes & hair were beyond rad.
thirdly, the acting was incredibly awesome.
fourthly, mark wahlberg.
(is that not a complete sentence?)

i don't really need to address the 'firstly'
it was really just a dig at 'black swan'
& i am over the fear & dementedness that is that movie...
did i mention that the costumes were beautiful?
the 'costumes' in the fighter
i would not really describe as beautiful...
more like authentically wicked cool


this picture of the sisters does not even
do any of those things justice.
but if you've seen the movie, just one look
at these girls & you are transported back to
their ever changing array of
lycra shorts,
teal & pink shirts,
stirrup pants,
acid washed,
reeboks,
hair up to there
wonders...
& their mom, too
she was glamor-trash-errific


the performances were amazing
my friend, lisa's husband said they should just hand
christian bale the oscar right now
& i agree
from the first second you see him, until the last scene
he's not playing dicky eklund
he IS dicky eklund...
& it might sound cheesey
but it was a pleasure to watch this performance..
never felt over the top
never felt like he slipped out of it...
christian bale may be a jerk in real life
(youtube has a few examples, i'm sure)
but so is alec baldwin
& just try to stop me from
watching '30 rock' every thursday night



an actress who i would imagine isn't a jerk in real life
is amy adams...
june bug, enchanted, julie & julia, night at the museum...
sweet girls one & all
& even in this she isn't playing a jerk
just a tough chick...
she was great & i'm excited to see her in more serious roles
if she so chooses...


melissa leo was so great too...
love her grit & take-no-prisoners parenting...
kind-of scary but you could really see her heart
if you could get past the aqua net...

& mark wahlberg
do i really need to say anything?

~~~~~~~
joanna & i were the only night owls this week
in fact
we were the only people in the entire theater, period.
which made it very nice
to be able to comment on the clothes
& laugh loudly if we wanted to...
thanks joanna, you're fun :)



did i mention that we are watching '127 hours' next week?
i'm pretty excited to see this...
even with the fainting :)

see you there!
love view...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

check out my other
reviews (& i use that term loosely)
of academy award best picture nominees
here
they're wordy but mildly entertaining...

:)