What were they thinking?
Faria Sanjana
There are some people who simply adore the limelight. Cameras clicking around, crazy fans swooning over them and famous controversies surrounding them they have it all! However, what we fail to understand on common grounds is the reason behind all these commotion. More often it is seen that such celebrities are widely popular for other causes rather than their respective jobs. Term us as cynical but to see younger kids getting rich in front of our eyes is a hapless disaster that is very difficult to take!
Who better to start this list other than overly-hyped teen singer/actor Miley Cyrus? Other than Hannah Montana, the masses have known her more for her affairs and scandals. Firstly there was much hullabaloo over the news that she was pregnant then came the exposing photos on Vanity Fair where she was alleged of getting too cozy with her father. Reports of her fling with Nick Jonas spread like wildfire.
Speaking of a Jonas, we must not forget the Jonas Brothers who now “sing” all the way to the bank. The trademark rings they wear on their fingers are supposedly their pledge to remain virgins before marriage. Huh and you want us to believe that? To come and think of it, it was quite righteous of South Park to make a spoof of these brothers. And the chronicles of the Jonas brothers continue with Joe Jonas's break up with singer girlfriend Taylor Swift. According to E! News, Joe Jonas dumped Swift on the phone over a 27 second phone call. Hilarious? We thought so too!
Imagine a high school or college background. There's a lead male and female and loads of students dancing on tables, chairs and whatever space they can lay their feet on. What does it remind you of? A typical Bollywood movie? Definitely not something out of the blue but over here, dear readers, we are talking about the High School Musical setting. Yes so we have our dear Zac Efron and on and off screen sweetheart Vanessa Hudgens singing and grooving to their beats. Pertaining it to be a “chick flick” yours truly tried real hard watching the movie but must say she failed miserably because with all the singing and dancing everything else went over her head! Now for the big dope Efron stood by his girlfriend Vanessa when she was trapped in a photo scandal which she termed as an “accident”. This made the entertainment-hungry people of America go all “aww'” and teary eyed! Umm we are impressed alright (yeah sure)!
After much analyzing we realized that probably without these “news” we would be deprived from a lot of entertainment and not to mention the laughs. So it's okay if the kids carry on with their crazy lifestyles. We surely don't mind do we?
By Max Power
Cast:
Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson/Robin Ramzinski
Marisa Tomei as Cassidy / Pam
Evan Rachel Wood as Stephanie Ramzinski
Todd Barry as Wayne
Ernest Miller as Bob / "The Ayatollah"
Quite often, you will succumb to the hype of the Oscars, and just go down to Rifles Square and buy that danged DVD. After all, Oscar judges cant promote a disappointing movie now can they?
Of course they can, and they have. The Wrestler, although delivers a good performance by Mickey Rourke (which I'll discuss in a bit) playing Randy 'the Ram' Robinson, the general trend in the movie is boring, predictable and average. This is a personal opinion, and depends on the viewer's own tastes though. I am just providing a lo-down of my own experience.
Randy Robinson starts off as a really successful wrestler, and drifts off into the invisible world of has-beens. The movie is about that world, and about how he copes with everyday life. Now, it's not as simple as that, since there are a few parallel stories involved. One story is between Randy and his daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) and the other between himself and his love interest, Cassidy the about-to-retire stripper. Randy tries to balance the cascading finances of his own life, with trying to woo Cassidy, and get back on speaking terms with his daughter, who hates him because of all the neglect in her childhood. Its a drama in its true sense, and if you're looking for action, you're better off paying 60 Taka to watch Machine Man at the Bolaka.
The movie isn't all that bad really; the cinematography is pretty good, with a nice soundtrack, good camera work, and a great performance by Mickey Rourke. The director did a good job of narrating the three aspects of Randy's life in complete harmony, making sure that none of the scenes felt sudden, or interrupted the flow of the movie. There is a good amount of realism, and really shows the gritty reality of life. It also does a great job of showing 'behind the scenes' of modern day wrestling (not the Olympic kind).
However, the reasons for not enjoying the movie are many. If you take a piece of paper, watch the first five minutes of the movie, and decide on an ending and write it down, you'll probably be right. The movie is predictable. It is meant to have a depressing storyline where you feel sorry for Randy, but myriad screw-ups on his part shown throughout the movie will make you wonder whether he deserves this or a whole lot worse. The acting from the supporting cast isn't all that good either. There are some cheesy attempts at humour, which aren't cheesy enough to be funny or funny enough to not be cheesy. These could have been overlooked, however, if the story had a point. It is not about surviving incredible odds, because clearly Randy's problem is the depth of his own stupidity. Neither is the movie about anything else for that matter. In the end, I felt more or less dissatisfied.
This movie is not for the faint hearted (IMDB rating: 18+). Nor is this for anybody who wants to spend two hours doing something productive. If however, like me, you just want to see what the hype is about and why this movie may think of deserving a nomination for the Oscars, plunge right ahead.
Rating: 2/5
