Oct 21 2009 'The Wrestler' Trailer: Grindhouse Edition

Feeding the Internetbeast's insatiable desire for movie trailers re-edited to look like different movie trailers, here's a trailer for Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler made to look like a grindhouse film. It's pretty good. Hopefully good enough to settle the Internetbeast, contenting him enough that he might not release another swarm of cyber-wyrms.

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Feb 19 2009 Steroid Dealer from 'Wrestler' Arrested for Dealing Steroids

Classic case of life imitating art or just a guy being a turd? I just saw this on NBC New York:

An actor who played a steroids dealer in the movie "The Wrestler" was arrested on drug charges after leading police on a high-speed chase in Eastchester on Thursday.

Scott Siegel was under surveillance by DEA agents who saw him picking up a package in New Rochelle on Wednesday before leading them on a car chase in his SUV, investigators said.

Siegel struggled with DEA agents before they were able to take him into custody at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Main Street, authorities said. Siegel is charged with attempting to distribute steroids and assaulting a federal agent.

Thursday's arrest was not Siegel's first brush with the law. He was arrested in 1999 for distributing steroids, ecstasy and an animal tranquilizer that can be used for hallucinations.

Siegel's character sells the main character Randy "The Ram", played by Mickey Rourke, steroids and painkillers in a locker room in "The Wrestler".

They say the best hiding place is sometimes out in the open, but I'm not sure that applies to playing a steroid dealer in an award-winning film and then actually being a steroid dealer. That's more being a fool. And with Mickey Rourke also nearly taking part in Wrestlemania, what is up with everyone trying to make The Wrestler become reality?

Nov 21 2008 'The Wrestler' Trailer Flying Elbows Onto I-Net

Man, Mickey Rourke is hard to look at. In this trailer, when he says he's "a broken down piece of meat," he is not kidding. I recommend only looking at his face by poking a pinhole in a box and letting his shadow form on a paper plate (instructions). Despite that, this looks really good, even though the combination of sad images/dialogue and depressing Bruce Springsteen song make you want to kill yourself (or let Mickey Rourke kill himself). The best part is when he emerges from the back of a van, and the group of children attack him like the monster he is:

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Nov 17 2008 'The Wrestler' Poster Looks Tragically Defeated

In fact, every shot I see of Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler makes him looks like the saddest sack on Earth. Is being repeatedly beaten with a folding chair really so hard on the psyche? Is it so emotionally crippling to have a large, stringy-haired, half-naked man shout in your face, jump off a ladder, and attempt to force his body across yours, all while you have to kind of go along with it as part of an act? Yeah, probably. That sounds awful. That is the nightmare of a nightmare. I would only agree to become a professional wrestler if it was a respite from prison. Why is this pseudo-sport still existing?

The Wrestler Poster [IMPA]

Sep 8 2008 'The Wrestler' Theme Song, and Just in Time for Karaoke Night

Someone who loves Bruce Springsteen soundtrack songs went to a screening of The Wrestler and used technology to record a low-quality copy of the Boss's title track. JoBlo has it here.

It's pretty hard to make out the vocals, so I've transcribed the lyrics for you:

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Sep 8 2008 'The Wrestler' Looks Good, Mickey Rourke Does Not

Here are some short clips from The Wrestler intermixed with brief interviews with director Darren Aronofsky and star Mickey Rourke. Even if you don't care about The Wrestler (but you should), you need to see what Rourke looks like in the interview portion. He's become a pre-humanoid Johnny Depp, and it's awful.

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Sep 2 2008 'The Wrestler' Just Got Bossier

Bruce Springsteen has written a new song for The Wrestler soundtrack, and it will make you cry. From director Darren Aronofsky's blog:

off to venice on wednesday. but i wanted to just share with you all the other music news i talked about in the past post. bruce springsteen wrote a beautiful original song for the closing the film. called THE WRESTLER it is a wonderful acoustic piece. makes me choke up every time i hear it. he really captured the spirit of the film and mickey's character in the piece.

Hey, this sounds like the best Bruce Springsteen movie soundtrack song that also has the title of the movie in the song since Dead Man Walking's "Dead Man Walking" and Philadelphia's "Streets of Philadelphia"! Then again, I can't remember any Springsteen songs less than a decade old, so maybe it won't be that good. But at least it will speak to the blue collar American worker,* and that's what's important.

*Assuming their blue collar work consists of wrestling.

Aug 12 2008 'The Wrestler' Photos Are the Second Saddest Wrestler Photos I've Seen Today

Bad Taste has some new shots from The Wrestler, Darren Aronofsky's film about a retired pro wrestler who returns to the ring despite the risks to his health. Star Mickey Rourke's wretched mug is one of the most depressing things I've ever seen, but I still get the sense the face of an old wrestler could be more pathetic. For example, let me present Ultimate Warrior's website. See, Mickey? Undying sincerity is so, so much sadder, particularly when paired with a triumphant score juxtaposing all the lost dignity in the visuals. It's almost enough to make you cry, until you find out the Ultimate Warrior legally changed his name to Warrior, giving his kids the Warrior surname. Then you laugh.

Feb 12 2008 Marisa Tomei Stripping for 'The Wrestler'

Variety reports Marisa Tomei has signed on to star opposite Mickey Rourke in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler. In the film, Rourke plays a retired, over-the-hill wrestler who moves in with a stripper (Tomei) and her son. Yet another serious role as a stripper pried from the lacquered nails of Pamela Anderson. Don't worry, baby; you'll get your chance one day. Maybe in a direct-to-video sequel with Hulk Hogan, or is that too appropriate?

Tomei joins Aronofsky's 'Wrestler' [Variety]

Feb 8 2008 Mickey Rourke Looking Healthy as 'The Wrestler'

My first thought was, "Man, Kim Basinger is looking busted," then, "Oh, it's just Bret Michaels wrestling for something VH1 must be sponsoring, and he's on meth." As it turns out, both instincts were wrong; it's just Mickey Rourke playing the down-and-out titular character on the set of Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler. Knowing that, he actually looks pretty good for Mickey Rourke.

Thanks, Kevin.

WXW Show for Darren Aronofsky's 'The Wrestler' [WXW Wrestling]

Nov 12 2007 Mickey Rourke Deemed Superior 'Wrestler'

Variety has announced that Mickey Rourke will be starring in Darren Aronofsky's indie drama The Wrestler, a project previously planned for Nicolas Cage. No explanation was given for the change, but I imagine it went something like this...

Nicolas Cage has just emerged from Darren Aronofsky's bathroom wearing a professional wrestling outfit and his typical bewildered yet concerned expression.

Nicolas Cage: So how do I look?

Darren Aronofsky: You know, now that I see you, here in the light, dressed in a full leonard, I realize you look absolutely nothing like a wrestler.

Nicolas Cage: Hm. I'm not sure what you mean.

Darren Aronofsky: Well, it's just that a wrestler--and I'm just saying typically--is a large, imposing, menace of a man.

Nicolas Cage: Right... So you're worried I'm not that much like that?

Darren Aronofsky: You're nothing like that. You're just a wide-eyed balding guy who frequently looks confused.

Nicolas Cage: I see.

Darren Aronofsky: Yeah, sorry. Jeez, I don't know what I was thinking offering you this role. I clearly need someone more like... Jesus, who's that giant freak?

(At this point, Aronofsky turns to his television and sees the above image of a crazy, bare-chested Mickey Rourke strutting out of a courthouse. Aronofsky's eyes turn into dollar signs, or maybe wrestling rings, if that could be clearly conveyed in the area of a pupil.)

Mickey Rourke wires 'Wrestler' [Variety]