Topic: A movie that really hit home

[Robin-Graves]

 I um,,dnt dont usualy post in this section. But concidering I just watched a movie that realy hit ome,I feelcompelled to post here.

I just watched a movie called " the Wrestler".
Now,,there have been alot said about this film,and I have to say Mickey Rourk did a hell of a job.
The scripting was fantastic,,and I do believe this isone of those movies that will stand the test of time

On a personal note though.
Pretty much all of you here know what I do for a living. Many of you may concider it a joke,,but oh well.
This movie hit what I do like ahammer hits a nail.
It was dead on balls accurate.I watched this movie and shivered. I saw nothing that was imbelished ( other than matches being shortened for obvious reasons).
Everything from fans reactions in public places,,the hardcorematch ( Gods,,Ive  been in too many of those), the broken and destroyed relationships ( Ive had my share because of the business), and the damage your body goes through.
This movie was the most realistic movie I have ever seen,,and Ive seen ALOT of so called "realistic" movies.
 
 When you see this movie,,and your a wrestling fan or not,,remeber the people that give thier odies,personal lives, and pretty much anything and everything they have to entertain you.
 Its never been for the money,,but for the love of the sport,,and mainly, thelove of the fans.
 Without the fans,,we are nothing.

[JackFrost]

Without the fans,,we are nothing.

There are many entertainment companies and entertainers who forget this simple rule.

Good to know you're not one of them RG...

I've really been wanting to see that flick, too.

[dweez]

Just to let you know, I don't think many people here consider what you do a joke.  I respect the hell out of athletes that do this level of exertion on a week by week basis.

[JackFrost]

I respect the hell out of athletes that do this level of exertion on a week by week basis.

True. I mean, I only run when chased, if you catch my drift.

[dweez]

BTW, what is the going rate for poo shoveler's?

[frankcapri]

Many of you may concider it a joke,,but oh well.

I hope you don't think that I think this 

I really liked The Wrestler.  I seemed liked much of this movie
was plausible, and it's nice to hear from someone with experience that
it was basically spot on. (Nice as in aesthetically nice, not life nice). 

It actually made me a bit angry that this movie wasn't nominated for best
picture.  By and large I thought it was a better film than The Reader,
and Marisa Tomei gets naked a lot 

[Robin-Graves]

I mean no offense about the joke statement,,just a safety net for those that concider it fake.
 That was real barbed wire ive been tangled in,real chairs ive been hit with,and real flloors ive fallen on.
And um,,personaly,,I have alot of respect for poo shovelers lol

Actualy,,if you havent seen this movie,,,please do so.
Mickey's character had the right attitude that it takes to make it in this sport.

There are many entertainment companies and entertainers who forget this simple rule.

Good to know you're not one of them RG...

I've really been wanting to see that flick, too.

Hulk Hogan is one that forgot the fans.
Even Vince Mcmahon thinks he invented pro wrestling.
Ive got freinds that are still in the higher feds like WWEand TNA. Once the fat pay checks and endorsement deals roll in, they forget that they came fromparking lot shows like everyone else did.
  It was the fans that made this sport what in is today,,not Vince or Jarrett.
And the fans can take it all back at any time.

[CMF]

As a fan of pro-wrestling and fan of movies, the movie was awesome!
And, in the end, it is the small promotions that make the business.
For me, WWE and TNA have only money as a goal and not to entertain people, which is the first and most important thing in this business, and the reason it existed, still exists and will exist.

[Robin-Graves]

Brotha man,,,you got the right attitude!

We dont do this for the money,,we do this for the fans.
Ive bled for the fans,,lost freinds,my home,mu family and alot more because of this sport,,and after hearing the fans reactions to what Imdoing,,I have NO regrets.
 Aslong as they let me come out to the ring,,Ill be there.
I look at every fan as family,,andbrother,,I got one BIG family

[goldshirt*9]

may i ask a question  RG
how much of wrestling is arranged ? i mean it cannot all be real.
how can a person carry on after some of those hits and being hit with certain objects
what i have seen makes me cringe.
a human body just cannot take some of that abuse and still carry on.
i'm not dissing your sport what so ever and i wish i could state i love my job as much as you do your's.
just wondering.

[Robin-Graves]

Want to know the truth?
Ok,,let me go through a list of SOME of the injuries I have had first.
In 1990, I got abroken rib ( this has happened a few times) . 1991 a permanent injury to my left knee, 1991 my right hand was broken, wrist sprained ( bad fall to the floor), in 1995 a severe concusion, I dont remember what happened there. Um,,1997 a fractured clavacle,,1998 more concusions,,and severe whiplash down my spine. In 2000 while in ECW I had blunt trauma and several lacerations while in a match with The Sandman. 2001 was an interesting year, my right hand was broken,,,,again after being stomped on by Terry Funk.
2003 my neck was efectively broken in the ring by a rookie trying to impress his stretchmark covered troll of a girlfreind.
2005 I was treated for bloodloss in San Angelo Texas when I took on Mace for the Southern Extreme Title ( and I won).
And last year a torn rotater cuff in my rightshoulder when I was thrown overthetop  rope and hit the ring apron with my shoulder on theway down.
All real injuries.
 Now,,most people say this sport is fake,,the athletisism is 100% real,as are the chairs,,tables,barbed wire,,thumbtacks are definitely real( they dont hurt as bad as youd think), kendo sticks,trash cans ( they have givin me concusions in the past) , and that is a  real floor we land on.
The conditioning of your body is amazing. My pain tollorance and stamina increased tenfold just during training when I first started.
 I guess if youve watched Beyond The Mat or The Wrestler,,you all knowwe arefreinds behind the scenes.
 And yes,,sometimes thematches are pre aranged.
BUT,,,get the adrenalin going,,the sound of the crowd,and the justplain enjoyment of what you are doing,,and sometimes it gets pretty real. Especialy when the egos get going.
Ive been in quite a few matchesthat turned real for one reason or the other.
All these people tht talk about how we are"just actors " andhow we ware all fakes need to get into the ring with me for five minutes.
 If they can walk out under their own power,,then maybe I will sit down and listen to their point of view.

[CMF]

All these people tht talk about how we are"just actors " andhow we ware all fakes need to get into the ring with me for five minutes.

The thing is they know only WWE na dTNA as wrestling which is definitely more theater than wrestling.

In 2000 while in ECW I had blunt trauma and several lacerations while in a match with The Sandman. 2001 was an interesting year, my right hand was broken,,,,again after being stomped on by Terry Funk.

You played in the Original ECW 
Matches used to get pretty sick sometimes.
And you fought against Sandman and Terry Funk  Man, these are two sick bastards!!!!!

[Robin-Graves]

I trained under Terry Funk too for a period of time. Great man,great sense of humor, and very good freind.
 Sandman was an interesting person, no wrestling ability whatsoever,,but he could play the crowd like nobodys business.
 I still cringe when I hear Motorheads virsion of Enter Sandman.
Yeah , I was in the original ECW for a period of time, Paul Heyman still owes me and alot of others money.
 Back then, it was a very well paying indie production. Now it is but a pale shadow of what its former glory was.
 It still pisses meoff to know it is just a developmental program for WWE.
I hate Vince,,I wish he would curl up and disapear.
 
 Back in 2003 ,, me and a freind from ECW,,Terry Pantera started BCW in Poteau Oklahoma. BCW was based on the priciples of what Paul Heyman used to create ECW.
Bare bones productions with generous portions of violence. The fans were amazing.
 That place and ECW are badges of honor as far as Im concerned.
If you could survive either of those two places,you could survive anywhere.
 I have such fond memories of those places.
 Unfortunately, due to bad businessdecisions by Pantera,,BCW closed its doors officialy in 2005.
 To this day,,its still mentioned with reverance by the former core tallent as thestart of such names in the indies as Eric Raiden, The Sexecutioners ( I was a member), Wildfire Sean Rich , and a few others of note in the circuit.
 Eric Raiden has SRV now,and is officialy retired ( Chris Benoit had SRV,,God rest his soul).
 The hardcore match in The Wrestler brought back memoriesof BCW. The movie itself was so true to life,I was shaking when itwas over.

[goldshirt*9]

no offense was intended here. 
i just wanted to ask a question about the sport 
some serious injuries you've had.
yes i agree you are fit and have to be.

i can believe  " once the adrenaline gets going " part.
i could never play a game of rugby against my own teammates, nor play a "friendly" game.

i didn't mean to imply they are fixed but as an outsider looking in, it looks as if it would be easy to kill someone.

i once watched a documentary about English wrestling
a reporter criticised a wrestler ( Mick McManus) and then went in the ring with him for a little training.
well you can imagine the result. .

[Robin-Graves]

I never meant to imply you were criticizing me lol.
Im just very impasioned about the subject. Ive had people come toshows and say " I can do that,thats so phony", and when you offer them a waver to come into the ring with you,,they find some reason to decline. lol
 A close friend, The Enforcer Steve Anderson ( yes,,one of the Anderson Family) Actualy got one of these winners to take up his offer.
 Well, after kicking Steve in the balls, Steve proceeded to dismantle this idiot.
Needless to say this guy never said howfake it was again.
 Ive been in alot of matches that have turned pretty damned real.
And anytime someone says the moves are fake, the real truth is,Every move wedo in that ring is potentialy debilitating or fatal.
We have to know what we are doing 100% of the time without fail.
The guy we are going against is more than likely a friend.

[goldshirt*9]

no prob's,
just wondered.
if you never ask you never learn.

[Robin-Graves]

And knowing is half the battle.

GO JOE!!!!

[ohcheap1]

Ive been thinking about this thread for awhile. So many movies have a temporary impact on me but thats usually just an entertainment effect. One that I remember actually changed my perception on life would be "Ordinary People". I came from a very outspoken Mom and understated Dad and always wondered how those two personalities ended up gel-ling.
 
Plot synopsis
The film opens to a montage of shots depicting Chicago's North Shore to the tune of Pachelbel's Canon, which serves throughout as the film's main theme. The Jarretts, an affluent family, try to return to normal life after the attempted suicide of their youngest teenage son, Conrad, who has recently come home following a four-month stay in a psychiatric hospital. Alienated from his friends and family, Conrad, having left the hospital, chooses to continue seeing psychiatrist, Dr. Berger, who learns that the boy had been involved in a sailing accident that killed his older brother, Buck. Buck, a superior athlete and student to Conrad, clearly came first in everyone's estimation (including Conrad's). Calvin Jarrett, the father, awkwardly struggles to connect with his surviving son, who is tormented by clinical depression, survivor guilt, and post-traumatic stress disorder. His wife Beth, who clearly loved Buck more, has shut off her emotions and has become obsessed with maintaining the appearance of perfection and normality.

As Conrad successfully works with Dr. Berger and learns to allow himself to have feelings, he starts dating Jeannine, a kind and nonjudgmental girl from his school choir, and begins to regain a sense of optimism. However, the suicide of a friend from the hospital, Karen, threatens to send him spiraling back into depression.

Finally, Conrad is able to stop blaming himself for Buck's death, and the boy realizes his mother's frailties as Dr. Berger advises him to accept her as she is. Calvin, aided by a session with Dr. Berger himself, finally begins to recognize the degree to which Beth has emotionally isolated herself, not just from Conrad, but also from Calvin himself. Calvin confronts Beth about his new feelings, telling her that he questions his love for her, and inquires whether she is capable of truly loving anyone. As Beth packs to leave, her facade is momentarily shattered by a sob, but she struggles to restore the mask.

The next morning Calvin informs Conrad that Beth has left and Conrad's first reaction is to blame himself. Calvin at first angrily rebukes Conrad for taking that attitude, but then regrets losing his temper. They talk as each man continues to work through his regrets about their past relationship. But now, with each man having achieved some level of revelation and resolution with regard to Beth's feelings toward them, father and son are finally able to truly connect with another, and they embrace as the film ends.

The lesson that stuck with me is that if I have pain I would rather suffer openly than privately.

[Skadi]

"Ordinary People

  That's freaky kismet-ish. There's three times the mention of this movie has come in my path the last month. Now, this is the fourth. All four mentions were wildly unrelaed. I've only seen it once. I'll have to rewatch it. It's got meaning for me also. Very painful meaning. But, doable. I'll hunt it down and see it again soon.

[dweez]

I only caught brief glimpses of this movie but I did have to read it in my American Lit class (I say "have to" but it was honestly a great book).  I could see this book having a lot of meaning and impact on people as I bet many people can intimately relate with at least one of the things afflicting the main characters.  It's a tragic story but one of healing too.

[Skadi]

but I did have to read it in my American Lit class

^ That's one of the four intersects... lol..well..not 'I'd heard dweez read it in lit' But, the fact that it was a book. I was in the library reading a book, and it cited the author of that book, and it mentioned how quickly that book had been picked up for movie rights. But..the book I was reading wasn't even about film. It just had a quote from the author of Ordinary People..then went off on a sid note about that movie. I can't explain it really..it was just a weird moment that stuck out. It was odd.. Like some force was 'willing' me to go watch that movie..and trying to do so through an unrelated topic matter ..it was weird..maybe I'd had library overdose. I almost pickd it up off the shelf and watched it that night. Freaky >_<  Now I'll have to make a note to read the book also

The other event was seeing a short few seconds of Donald Sutherland in The Dirty Dozen this weekend...and I'd started to think about back tracking and watching Donald Sutherland movies...

The third?.. too weepy

The 4th? this thread.

[Skadi]

When I got home last night they'd looped a back to back showing of Am?lie Before I always thought I sat to watch bits of it because it's well made. Now I'm thinking it's also because I identify with it. Her demeanor is lots like mine. Some of her history is similar. Or similar enough. She views the world like I do. I dress like her lots of times. More importantly if a 'view of the world' were going to be filmed from my perspective..the 'way' the movie is put together would reflect me. The colors..the whimsy..the randomness..all of it.

[davidsolomon83]

^ @ Skadi, that is quite a match, it is surprising how fiction can sometimes be so real. Maybe in a way it proves that deep down we are all the same and think and feel the same.

Honestly speaking, to find a movie i can relate to close enough is something i havent "achieved", and i am sure i never will, there are things about me that can hardly happen to anyone (in a very serious manner  )

Since I have to name one, it would be "The Fountain", a movie made in 2006, based on a novel, it is "complex" to say the least. I would recommend all of you especially Skadi to watch it. I wont describe it since it is different for everyone how they perceive it. If you have already seen it, watch it once more, for me. 

Personally i'd say it summarizes this for me:

"Fear only the truth to defeat fear. Truth is the Truth of everything, deep within us it resides, we already know it but fear clouds it. Have the courage to reject your reality, your surroundings and you will see the actual reality. Have the courage to accept it. Use your weakness to become great, and what is the greatest weakness of man BUT MORTALITY. How ironic it is then that in death lies Immortality. You just have to touch it or as they say "FINISH IT!" ".

Spoiler (hover to show)

this is a spoiler in every sense of the word and prefer the whole movie to it but still

[Skadi]

^ I was originallyl really excited to see that. Then I didn't see it because I didn't want to watch it and be dissapointed. Mostly because at the time the director had the rights to do Lone Wolf and Cub..which I really didn't want to see flubbed. So for weird reasons I ended up not watching it.

Now you suggested it though, I'll watch it 

[davidsolomon83]

^  and again 

.....................I just watched Amelie, and I have to say this:

             " Aah  , now thats how movies should be made, just  . Its actually funny how some of the things just seem to be from your own life, or maybe thats just a few of us, most of my friends would find it Uber Girlie but for me its serenity. I think that word doesnt fit it completely but more or less".

[Skadi]

^ Amelie ..heh..I hadn't thought about it being 'girlie' I suppose it is. At least it's unconventionally girlie


The Fountain-

I would recommend all of you especially Skadi to watch it. I wont describe it since it is different for everyone how they perceive it.

^ Is it the Eduardo Galeano connection? ?or just general stuff I talk about?

I liked it. And it?s what I expected originally, so I should have seen it when it first came out. I was afraid if it was bad, it would stress me out about Lone Wolf and Cub. Which I think he released rights to right after that anyway, so won?t direct it after all. I haven?t followed up on that in awhile.

Anyway.. the movie? If people wanted edgy sci-fi..they might have been disappointed. But if you like ethereal movies, you?d like The Fountain. I also liked that it blended myth, sociology, and science. I love those three subjects anyway, but all 3 wound together into an ethereal story about life and love made it very cool. I?m glad I finally got to see it.



*I still need to see The Wrestler also.

[ohcheap1]

Someone recommended the documentary "The Corporation" to me recently and I watched it over the weekend. I seriously think that schools should require it students to watch this film before then can graduate!! If for nothing more, to argue and research the information that it exposes. EXCELLENT and informative film. As a matter of fact I made a copy to take to work and loan out to people that want to see it. Some I would like to tie to a couch and MAKE them watch it.

[Robin-Graves]

Ive heard about that movie, havent had a chance to sit down and watch it yet though.

[goldshirt*9]

i re-watched The Game last night.

a slow moody film which i absolutely love.

[dweez]

The one with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn?  I really enjoy that movie a lot.

[goldshirt*9]

yep thats the one

[Robin-Graves]

I just got to watch Fanboys.
I laughed so much I think I might have peed a little .lol

[dweez]

Lol, I just saw it for the first time last week RG.  Loved it!

[Robin-Graves]

Scary part is, I know people like that lol