I paid to see The Wrestler back on Tuesday 1/20/2009 but just now finding time to write about it. Paid the student price of 7 bucks at the Enzian which is a deal. But as usual with this place, the food is expensive. That’s one reason I don’t like going out often. You just wanna see a flick but you know you’re gonna have to eat and no theater food is cheap. Couldn’t go anyplace to eat before cuz I’d just got out of work and this was the only opportunity I’d have to see this movie so I had to rush. I went with my homeboy and we’ve been there before and they change up the menu often. We went half on a pizza and some doughnut thingies. Pizza was subpar. Nothing special. Dollar Totino’s from the freezer tastes better. Actually Totino’s is that bomb either way, regardless if it don’t cost shit. The doughnut things were on point too.

My objective was to see a good movie and support the battered wrestling community. The movie was pretty good. No complaints about the acting or anything but the in-ring camera work and direction coulda been a bit more authentic. Rourke really did a great job of acting and doing all his own ring work and taking bumps. Tomei still looks smokin’. And Ernest Miller is a lot bigger than he used to be but at least he ain’t fat and out of shape. Necro Butcher looked ridiculous as always but that’s really him though. Bald as a bat and barefoot trailer park trash. And the scene where Rourke nailed the rat in the bathroom got some good laughs. That and the black lady that ordered the fried chicken. Just had to be a black person, huh Darren? There’s other laughs throughout and some really serious moments. Evan Rachel Wood did a pretty good performance too but no one’s hoopin’ and hollerin’ about that for some reason.

My friend pointed out the comparison to The Passion of the Christ. Tomei’s character said Rourke was like Jesus and over the next few scenes Rourke was in a hardcore match and had a heart attack after but didn’t die. The guy was seriously living in the past and Darren did do a really good job of showing that. Pay phones and Super NES? Need I say more? Yes, there’s drugs in wrestling, rats, rabid and even dumb fans, low paydays, small crowds in crappy buildings, and I could go on and on. The life of a wrestler ain’t easy and that point was driven home. I liked the “use my leg” scene. And I can assure you that was authentic.

I’d say one of the more powerful scenes was the sign convention for the wrestling legends. It showed just how bad things are and can be. Charging fans for pics and autographs, waiting there as pathetic as can be for any kind of payday. The cam did a full circular of the room and it wasn’t a pleasant view. As a fan, it really hit home cuz unfortunately, it was accurate. The legends of the biz don’t get much love and it’s a shame. What made it even more powerful was the low turnout of fans in the scene. Just showing all those old guys there in the shape they were in was pretty saddening.

The movie ended the way I think it should have. Good job there. Yep, there’s nudity. You get to see Tomei’s boobies and she’s still on point. I’d recommend this to anyone cuz it’s a good movie all around but it does help to have some knowledge of the biz. They reveal some secrets but a hardcore fan knows about this stuff; casual fans may learn something. Non-wrestling fans will too and be treated to a good movie with good acting and direction. You’ll think you’re watching the movie Hitman with all the behind-the-back shots but if you’ve never seen that movie or don’t know anything the game, then you’ll have no idea what I mean. I give this movie 7 out of 10 stars. The theater was packed, by the way.

Thursday 2/5/2009 I went to see Sword of the Stranger at the Regal Cinemas at this new power retail center called The Loop in Kissimmee. It was playing one night only so I got approved to go into work later so I could peep it. Heard all this good stuff bout it, all these awards and shit…the movie wasn’t all that great. Can’t go wrong with the animation since it’s Studio BONES but the story wasn’t all there. Either details weren’t there to begin with or something was lost in translation since they showed the dub. For instance, who was the kid and lady that No Name killed in flashback? That was never explained at all. The movie was a bit confusing cuz of lack of exposition. The closest comparison I could make for it is Rurouni Kenshin (which was great) due to the nomadic samurai theme and music soundtrack which my friend liked.

The colors were dark too which was different. At first, I thought it was the screen. Then I thought things would brighten up once the sun finally came out or if they showed the blue sky. Didn’t happen. Afterwards, they showed some interviews of the creators talking about how they wanted to evoke the feeling of coldness since a majority of this takes place when it’s snowing. Yet, for the most part, none of the characters were dressed appropriately so it’s kinda contradictory. I wanted to support the anime community by paying for this one. $12.50 and the theater had only about 20 or 30 people in it. Coulda paid for a cheaper regular admission ticket and snuck in as I knew I could, but I opted out. If these things don’t have turnout, they won’t do it anymore.

I’ve done Anime Bento from Fathom Events, saw the first Bleach movie, and now this. The only reason I knew about it was cuz of a banner on animenewsnetwork. If not for that, I would’ve known nothing. I can’t recall seeing an ad during adultswim or anything. I’m not watching any AniMonday shows so I don’t know if they did ads during that either. But I think they could’ve did a better job of promoting this. One night only? On a Thursday night? I can see why, cuz it’s probably a slow night for theaters and they can spare the extra screen, but damn. And there’s better movies out there. I can’t recommend this one to anyone. It’s not good. It has its moments but overall it’s just not worth the time to see when factoring in total entertainment value.

I’ll still show up for anime movies as long as they keep bringing them in though. Gotta take the good with the bad. As far as The Loop is concerned, the place used to be all trees, now it’s this open air retail spot with tons of vacancies. One thing I hate about Florida construction is that we build out rather than up. I prefer the trees over this place. Not to mention it’s pretty far away and there’s no fast food joints around except a KFC/Taco Bell further down the street with all teenage girls working in the back. You want quick food, you can forget it. Not knocking the jit girls, I’m just saying, there’s only sit-down restaurants at this place. Parking was easy though. I got the closest spot for the 3 places I went to. Can’t beat that.