"Eat Your Heart Out, Tiny Lister"

I've had a love-hate relationship with Darren Aronofsky throughout his directing career. I loved Pi and Requiem For A Dream but hated the piece of dreck known as The Fountain enough to cover any love I had for his previous work. When I heard he was going to tackle the comeback of an over-the-hill pro wrestler making a return to the ring, I had mixed emotions. I am a pro wrestling fan as is Brother Brady, SW Dave, and so many others in the FMAD family. I was encouraged by the casting of Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. Rourke can bring the heat when he wants to (9 1/2 Weeks, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Sin City) and Oscar winner Tomei has come into her own since the days of being Joe Pesci's love interest in My Cousin Vinny.

Well it turns out that The Wrestler just may be a pretty darn good film. The first review of the movie was incredibly positive especially given the fact that I didn't foresee the Hollywood mainstream embracing a movie such as this. Since that review was published, The Wrestler has gone on get more good feedback out of the Venice Film Festival and wound up winning that festival's prestigious Golden Lion award. Some of the greatest directors in history including Kurosawa, Cassavetes, and Altman have won this honor in the past.

So now I'm worried this is going to be embraced by the hipster indie film crowd that I have to put up with as I enjoy offbeat cinema while retaining my Republican Party membership and degenerate gambling persona. We fascists enjoy The Grand and Lars And The Real Girl too. I will be there when The Wrestler comes to my area and I will retain an open heart and an empty stomach.

Some clips from the filming were caught by a renegade extra. Enjoy.