The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)

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rs98762001 · #26 Post by **rs98762001** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 12:47 am

I've always maintained Aronofsky is a writer-director in search of a writer. Thankfully it looks like he's found one.

TomReagan · #27 Post by **TomReagan** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 7:33 pm

The Wrestler takes the Golden Lion.

moviscop · #28 Post by **moviscop** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:05 pm

Congratulations to Darren and the crew. Can't wait to see the film. I do wish they were showing it in the LA area.

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chaddoli · #29 Post by **chaddoli** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 11:41 pm

rs98762001 wrote:I've always maintained Aronofsky is a writer-director in search of a writer. Thankfully it looks like he's found one.

Agreed! His only good film was so far was an adaptation of a great novel. Finally he got someone else to write for him after the abysmal screenplay The Fountain. As he told an audience I was in, "I just like cool music and bugged-out imagery, man."

Nothing · #30 Post by **Nothing** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:53 am

Have loathed every past Aronovsky flick, and you judge an award by it's jury - no-one on there I'd trust, except perhaps Lucretia Martel. But... this does sound interesting. We'll see.

moviscop · #31 Post by **moviscop** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:39 am

Nothing wrote:Have loathed every past Aronovsky flick, and you judge an award by it's jury - no-one on there I'd trust, except perhaps Lucretia Martel. But... this does sound interesting. We'll see.

I find the Venice jury pretty good myself. The only doubt I would have as to the quality of the film would be that it was the last in a series of stinkers.

Apart from that, I think it is going to be awesome.

knives · #32 Post by **knives** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:22 am

chaddoli wrote:
rs98762001 wrote:I've always maintained Aronofsky is a writer-director in search of a writer. Thankfully it looks like he's found one.
Agreed! His only good film was so far was an adaptation of a great novel. Finally he got someone else to write for him after the abysmal screenplay The Fountain. As he told an audience I was in, "I just like cool music and bugged-out imagery, man."

First hi. Secondly i never have understood this sentiment (Pi is my favorite of his). I understand people who don't like Lynch, Banal, ecad. not getting it, but assuming you like those guys why's everyone ragging on his writing?

moviscop · #33 Post by **moviscop** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:57 am

knives wrote:i never have understood this sentiment (Pi is my favorite of his). I understand people who don't like Lynch, Banal, ecad. not getting it, but assuming you like those guys why's everyone ragging on his writing?

I have always wondered this as well. I find Aronofsky's writing very good. The Fountain is a personal favorite of mine and apart from the mall scene prior to her passing out, the dialogue was very emotional and rich.

Nothing · #34 Post by **Nothing** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:31 pm

moviscop wrote:I find the Venice jury pretty good myself.

Martel has some good work to her name, as I mentioned. I love Gordon's ZIDANE film, loathe his 24-HOUR-PSYCHO; he's not someone I would necessarily trust to pass judgement in a narrative cinema competition. As for the director of BEVERLEY HILLS COP III...

Antoine Doinel · #35 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:34 pm

Not to derail the thread, but the value of film festival awards are only a few notches above the Oscars. Yes, I suppose they celebrate a higher calibre of film, but they also fall prey to the same kind of political schmoozing and marketing that the Oscars do.

MichaelB · #36 Post by **MichaelB** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:35 pm

Antoine Doinel wrote:Not to derail the thread, but the value of film festival awards are only a few notches above the Oscars. Yes, I suppose they celebrate a higher calibre of film, but they also fall prey to the same kind of political schmoozing and marketing that the Oscars do.

Both Alexander Walker and William Goldman have written vivid accounts about their time serving on Cannes festival juries.

And a couple of weeks ago I saw all ten competition entries at the Sarajevo Film Festival - given the general dearth of strong female performances, Best Actress was a bit of a shoo-in for Ayca Damgaci (My Marlon and Brando), but the implication that Buick Riviera stood head and shoulders above the rest thanks to it scooping Best Film and Best Actor was frankly absurd. Depending on the mood of the jury, both prizes could easily have gone in any of half a dozen directions.

Anhedionisiac · #37 Post by **Anhedionisiac** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:17 pm

A Wim Wenders-led jury awards it's top prize to a movie about a blue-collar has-been with a Bruce Springsteen song on its end credits.
Shocker!

Antoine Doinel · #38 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:09 pm

Fox Searchlight picks up the film for US distribution.

moviscop · #39 Post by **moviscop** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:32 pm

Antoine Doinel wrote:Fox Searchlight picks up the film for US distribution.

Does anyone know what the budget for this film was. Did they break even with the purchase from Searchlight?

Antoine Doinel · #40 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:39 pm

According to IMDB, the budget was $7 million. Fox Searchlight I'm sure will position the film as an Oscar contender (at least for a Best Actor nod for Rourke) and it will definitely do enough business to break even, and turn a nice profit.

flyonthewall2983 · Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:49 pm

Maybe this means he won't have to do Robocop after all.

miless · #42 Post by **miless** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:06 pm

or maybe he was signed on to do Robocop based on the buzz of this film.

Antoine Doinel · #43 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:07 pm

I just hope he gets around to directing an episode of Lost like he was supposed to do last season.

moviscop · #44 Post by **moviscop** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:23 pm

Antoine Doinel wrote:I just hope he gets around to directing an episode of Lost like he was supposed to do last season.

EW-- Fans of both the hit TV show Lost (which features a guy haunted by a sinister sequence of numbers) and indie filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (whose breakthrough film, Pi, was about a dude obsessed with devilish digits) will have to wait a bit longer to see if these two geek tastes can taste great together.

*palm to face*

But in all seriousness. Has anyone on this forum seen The Wrestler at Toronto or Venice? If so, I would like to hear some reactions.

P.S. Robocop is not going to disappear like other projects have. I think we are all stuck with this one.

Antoine Doinel · #45 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:33 pm

moviscop wrote:Robocop is not going to disappear like other projects have. I think we are all stuck with this one.

He also tentatively has The Fighter, a boxing film, on deck as well. I kinda hope that film and Robocop both fall apart, and Aronofsky uses The Wrestler cred to get Black Swan back into production.

moviscop · #46 Post by **moviscop** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:01 pm

Weren't their rumors about a Biblical epic he was planning on making? What was that all about?

Antoine Doinel · #47 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:53 pm

Oh yeah, shortly after The Fountain came out, he said his next film was a biblical epic based on something he wrote while he was in grade school, but that's about as far as it went.

knives · #48 Post by **knives** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:14 am

If the film cost the producers 7 mil and they sold it for four, wouldn't that be at a loss to them?

moviscop · #49 Post by **moviscop** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:19 am

knives wrote:If the film cost the producers 7 mil and they sold it for four, wouldn't that be at a loss to them?

that is only factoring in one piece of the whole pie. money comes from other areas.

Zumpano · #50 Post by **Zumpano** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:00 am

Latest Ain't It Cool Review:

Instead, Aronofsky opts to use a lot of metal and rock from the 80's. I believe this is the first time he's used popular songs in one of his films, and for the most part, it works to a great effect ("Sweet Child o'Mine" is a moment that really stands out)

Rourke. Golden Lion. GNR. Sold.

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The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)