David O. Russell’s The Fighter is one of the films that has been on my radar for some time.  It was once set to be in the hands of Darren Aronofsky, but ended up with O. Russell who should do the story justice. The film tells the story of “Irish” Micky Ward, portrayed by Mark Wahlberg, as a boxer brought about by his half-brother and trainer Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale).  Dicky had a history of crime and drug abuse but came to aid Micky’s run through a career of pugilism that lasted throughout the mid-’80s and ’90s.  Ward is best remembered for his epic trilogy of brawls with the now deceased and notorious bleeder Arturo Gotti. Two of those fights are remembered as fights of the year in their respective years and are among the greatest in the history of the sport. Amy Adams, of Sunshine Cleaning and Doubt fame, plays the eventual girlfriend of Ward.  She is a “tough, gritty bartender and former college high-jumper” for whatever that is worth. The Fighter is set punch its way into our hearts next year.

Below we have a look at some photos of the film and characters as well as a few behind the scenes videos of Wahlberg and his workouts in order to capture the Irish legend (my heritage too!) on screen.  Good stuff for fight and film fans alike, I suspect.  The source IamRogue via /film, has a boatload more of pics if interested. As a fan of the sport (used to be a big fan) and films that cover the topic, like Tyson, I eagerly anticipate this one.  The boxing realism, often is a make or break feature of these films and with Ward being the brawler that he was (he loved to fight on the inside and was regularly bloodied as a result), this will be interesting to see how O. Russell (Three Kings) handles it. Because I want you to truly enjoy this post, I even left you a classic Marky Mark workout video at the end.  Shredded and hilarious. Out.

Critics Corner – “Public Enemies”

Film Outlet	Movie Critic	Rating Given	Review Date
	The Rake	2 / 4 nests	7-2
	Peter Travers	3.5 / 4 stars	6-30
	Lisa Schwarzbaum	B-	6-30
	Roger Ebert	3.5 / 4 stars	6-29
	Critics / Users	B / B+	7-3
	Rob Calvert	3 / 4 stars	6-30
	Rating / T-Meter	6.3 / 63%	7-3

As we are close to capping off our “Michael Mann Week” here at The Film Nest, I have a question that might really need to be addressed: Has Michael Mann lost his magic touch?  In reviewing all of Michael’s works in this week’s Michael Mann: Career Retrospective piece, I didn’t see any point in his career where he had back to back missteps as a director.  Well, with Public Enemies, I am sad to report, this occurrence has happened.  Coming on the heels of the major let down (at least in box office) that was 2006’s Miami Vice, Mann was sure to hit at least a solid double with mega-stars Johnny Depp and Christian Bale on base, right?  Unfortunately, it is more like a bloop single at best.

Public Enemies is a biography of sorts, tracking the travails of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger, in the depression era 1930’s.  The film opens in 1933, four years into the economically woeful situation in the United States, and the height of Dillinger’s fame and fortune.  Yes, I said fame and fortune, though neither are remotely explained.  I’m still trying to determine what this movie was: a cops and robbers heist film (maybe); a character study (no way); a love story (more than anything, perhaps).  Public Enemies seemingly tries to be all of these and is none of these at the same time.

We follow Depp’s Dillinger busting his way out of prison in the opening sequence.  Confusion and gun fire reign, who’s who and what is what are unknown, and seemingly unnecessary, as we watch what unfolds on the screen before our eyes.  Dillinger’s gang is living large through robbing banks, perpetually on the run from the law.  Enter Christian Bale’s Melvin Purvis, based on the true to life individual, promoted to head of the newly formed FBI, ready to hunt down Dillinger and uphold justice.  Seems like it could be a nice little setup, but to what avail?

"Cock the hammer, it's time for action."

We see Dillinger rob banks and meet a lovely young woman whom he instantly falls in love with, the worthy Oscar winning actress Marion Cotillard, and the only questions that remain are; will his life of crime catch up to him or can he go on living lavishly forever? I think you know how this one goes.  Dillinger is a man living in the moment, which sounds great, if we cared at all.  We don’t because there is little character development, and what does take place is just thrown into a cycle of heist, arrest, break out; rinse, wash, repeat.

So yeah, Dillinger gets caught by Purvis and his men (history tells us this, hence its not a spoiler), only for Dillinger to somehow break out of prison again, and end up on the run.  While this all may be based on true events, the way in which Mann “organizes” the film is more chaotic than controlled.  There seems to be scene after scene of disconnectedness, while even when one thing leads to another, there is no emotional involvement in what happens.

This could all essentially be excusable, meanwhile, while it’s the middle of summer and audiences want to have fun.  But alas, there is little fun to be had here.  There are some shootouts, but no joviality in the plot, as in say, Road To Perdition, which is a heavier film in tone anyway, but still allowed us to have some laughs and thrills with the characters.  The much ballyhooed shootout in the forest is the most exciting set piece in the film, and still, it reeked of mediocrity for the most part.  Some people die, some don’t, but the lack of strong characters never help the film around all of its continuity issues.

It doesn't always feel "good to be a gangster."

Depp and Bale are fine, and what little acting that is required is relatively good throughout, there’s just not that much required.  A vast array of characters come into play; various agents and gangsters (Frank Nitty, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson), a madam for hookers, and of course, the love story with Cotillard which really “drives” the film.  Steven Dorff, Channing Tatum (in a huge 30 seconds of screen time, hand him an Oscar!) and my kiss of death, Giovanni Ribisi, all show up.  But they are all thrown into a loosely structured framework that simply doesn’t add up to much.  Have I said that yet?

This is not a summer blockbuster but rather your average, run of the mill actioner, with either a middling script, or poor editing and execution, most likely both.  It’s not like this group struck out on three pitched balls, but its just not nearly what you would expect from all the talent involved.  You have to blame Mann and now he has misfired twice in a row.  You might start to question where he will go from here, but last I checked Brett Ratner still has a career, so I guess Mann’s safe too.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a David O. Russell film. 2004, to be exact. That’s when I Heart Huckabees was released and became more well-known for the on-set tirades between the director and actress Lily Tomlin. He has lensed a film, titled Nailed, recently, which stars Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal, but it’s been struggling to find a release for some reason, so who knows when that film will grace us with its presence.

Until then, we turn our eyes toward Russell’s next effort, The Fighter. The cast already includes Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. Wahlberg is to play Irish boxer Mickey Ward, and Bale his trainer and half-brother. Today, it was announced that Amy Adams, star of and the forthcoming Sunshine Cleaning and Julie & Julia has been cast as a tough-girl bartender who winds up dating Wahlberg’s character.

The film is set to start shooting in the next month or two and at the moment is aiming for a 2011 release. The Fighter details the life of Ward and his Boston upbringing, through his rise to prominence on the boxing circuit.

I pray this film is completely unlike Fighting, with Channing Tatum, which was released just a bit ago. Adams is great and so is the rest of the cast. I think the film’s success lies in the hands of Russell, who’s always possessed a kind of quirky style, which I wonder how it will meld into this type of story.

What are your thoughts on Adams’ casting and the film’s chances as a whole?

I used to be a fan of the political hip-hop group Public Enemy, so when I first received word that there was a film titled Public Enemies, my initial reaction was one of befuddlement: Chuck D and Flavor Flav turned to acting?  But alas, that skepticism was met with greater delight when I learned that Michael Mann would be helming the picture and he would have some great actors in Johnny Depp and Christian Bale to help bring his story to life.  Mann has long been one of my favorite Directors, leading such enjoyable films as Heat and Collateral, among several others.  He is a veteran of the crime/action genre, so who better to bring the story of notorious gangster John Dillinger to the big screen?

"He's got a gat and ain't scared to use it."

To tell a bit about what the film will be based on, “PE” is set in the depression-era of the 1930’s (how apropos that America has been in a depression of sorts over the past year or two as well), Dillinger (Depp) and his crew have been doing what they do best, robbing from the rich (banks) and giving to the poor (kind of, depending on how the tale goes), in a manner that might make Robin Ghetto (that’s “Hood” to you) proud.  Dillinger was lauded by the public, since they hated the banks for the depression, and known for busting out of jails with greater ease than Jebediah from Out of Sight.  Bale (yeah, The Dark Knight and the just released Terminator: Salvation star), will play real-life federal agent Melvin Purvis who was the man obsessed with capturing the elusive Dillinger.  A cast that includes Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, Watchmen), Channing Tatum, and Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard bring heat to the film in a way few summer blockbusters can claim.  This will be a game of cat and mouse with Dillinger trying to stay a step ahead of Purvis the entire way.

"Why so serious?"

Some intrigue remains as to how well this film will do in the box office given a.) the current state of our economy and the types of films people are paying money to see (typically escapist) and b.) whether or not Bale will receive any public backlash from his outburst on the set of T4, which I wouldn’t think is likely to affect this film, but you never know.  On the flip side, Depp is among the most singularly popular actors working today, so odds of it blowing up (that’s slang for “doing well”) are in its favor.

"Oh, that's why!"

Early stills and the trailers look fabulous, so count me among those who are revved up for this one as it’s been a summer of slow starts in terms of quality films thus far for me.  This will only be Mann’s 8^th film in the last two decades, so expect quality to win out over quantity almost every time.  I always anticipate Mann’s movies (though his Miami Vice disappointed) and I am sure with the great attention to detail that both he and the lead actors are known for, we should be in for one hell of a fun ride.  This will be looting your box office funds come July 1st.

The future of war is already upon us. We deal with it on a daily basis in the Middle East. It’s composed mainly of a war against terrorism. They are the new villains we face. The weapons used are all state-of-the-art, but there’s a constant fear of falling behind in the arms race. Companies spend every waking moment developing newer technologies to help destroy its fellow man. No matter where we are in the present, the future is firmly in our grasp. However, at the moment, our wars are fought man versus man. The future depicted in Terminator Salvation is man versus machine, in which man fights all on the same side.

Throughout the Terminator franchise, the moment of “judgment day,” in which a nuclear holocaust wipes out the vast majority of human civilization, leaving Earth to be ruled by machines, has been seen only briefly. It’s mentioned in The Terminator, shown very briefly in a futuristic vision in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and is the backdrop for the end of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as John Connor along with other important world leaders are stowed in a fallout shelter while the rest of the world endures nuclear annihilation. The future after judgment day has always been shown briefly throughout the series and with the present day storyline pretty much all visualized, the next logical step is to venture into that future when man is at war with the Skynet machines as humanity attempts to stay afloat.

In 2003, a man names Marcus Wright sits on death row. He’s a murderer and no longer redeemable to fit into society. Just before his execution, he’s met by Dr. Serena Kogan. Dr. Kogan requests that Marcus donates his organs after he’s killed. He signs a waiver and is executed via lethal injection. The film flash-forwards to 2018. Judgment day has occurred and left the planet a vast wasteland. Humans are scarce and only scattered throughout. Skynet machines have become self-aware and want to rule the planet for themselves. Their only course of action in order to do so is to eliminate the human race.

John Connor is the leader of the resistance. He is the prophesized individual to help the humans win the ongoing war with the machines. He is tasked with finding and saving his father who years later had traveled back in time to conceive him, Kyle Reese. Reese is only a teenager. He heads the “L.A. branch” of the resistance, which consists of him and a mute five-year-old girl. While performing his life’s work, battling machines, Reese comes across an individual resembling a human, but is not part of the resistance. He seems unaware of his being. He is Marcus Wright. Marcus is revealed to be a terminator, but is adamant he’s human. The question is whether he is friend or foe to the humans and is his objective to help or hurt them.

Scar tissue that I wish you saw..,

Terminator 2: Judgment Day used to be known as the action piece of the franchise. Indeed it is, as it’s one of the greatest pure action films ever made. What made it a great film though, is over and above the great set pieces, there was a rush of adrenaline with some substance to it. Terminator Salvation aims to give T2 a run for its money action-wise, but what it forgets is to make it mean something. Sure there are huge robots equipped with incendiary devices of all sorts blowing up what remains of the Earth in attempt to eradicate humans, but isn’t much beyond that and the subtle trust/mistrust of Marcus. The bleak, post-apocalyptic atmosphere created by director McG looks great, but the whole script is predicated upon making sure nothing really happens. The whole point of the film is to make sure it sets itself up for another sequel. It ultimately ends exactly where it began, like a non-serialized TV episode.

McG had to convince Christian Bale to take a chance on him. Take a chance the director of slick-looking fare like the Charlie’s Angels series could reinvent himself with a more gritty style. The look of it is certainly there and the action scenes are well-executed. For that, he should be commended, but most human interaction seems void of any real emotion. The script by John Brancato & Michael Ferris (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines) just doesn’t go anywhere. The concept of the human/terminator, Marcus, is an interesting one, but doesn’t lead to any emotionally-relevant state. It’s a stagnant film with no real arc and it seems as if somebody involved in the production just wanted to tread water instead of diving in.

Christian Bale certainly has the intensity necessary as John Connor to carry the fate of the world on his shoulders, but it doesn’t seem to translate when he shares the screen with Aussie actor, Sam Worthington, as Marcus. They’re both worthy actors, but don’t generate the type of heat needed for the on-the-brink-of-extinction premise, especially if compared with the charisma of the Arnold Schwarzenegger-headlined parts of the franchise. Speaking of Schwarzenegger, his “cameo” as a CGI-face on the body of another actor as a T-800 model terminator is plainly awful. The CGI looks waxy and expressionless and the whole occurrence made no sense in the context of the film. It would have been far better if it were excised, especially since it happens during the climax of the film. Once Alfred Hitchcock became such a recognizable face, he continued to do cameo’s in his films, but only toward the beginning, as he knew the audience was waiting for his presence and he didn’t want it to overtake the narrative. This is a lesson Terminator Salvation should have learned.

It’s definitely a positive that the human existence hasn’t stared elimination in the face, even with the current rapid-rate production of WMD’s. It’d be nice if the state of the world can remain that way for while instead of facing mass takeover by the machines we’ve created, ala HAL 9000. Although it looks good and the action sequences are all visually stunning, there isn’t much glue holding this film together. It’s all fairly mindless. What makes matters more saddening is the knowledge that this isn’t the end. In fact, in shows no signs of stopping and sometimes you just need to know when to quit. It will entertain throughout its runtime, but when the credits roll you will have wished for something more.

One of THE most anticipated films of the year is the Viggo Mortensen post-apocalyptic film, The Road. Of course it was one of the most anticipated last year, too, until it was delayed for further awards consideration. Only a few stills have been released so far. No poster and no trailer yet. [Boing Boing] linked to some style frames done for the film. They’re kind of like rough concept art. If this is what we need to get some Road action, so be it. It’s slated for released in October, according to IMDb.

David O. Russell’s name has been mentioned a lot lately, attached to various projects, but his latest is The Fighter, about Irish boxer Mickey Ward. It’s taken forever to get this project off the ground, so we’ll see if this version will happen. Mark Walhberg is set to play Ward, and guess who’s set to play Ward’s trainer? That would be Christian Bale. I look forward to the inevitable Russell/Bale stand-off on-set. Here’s what they did as individuals. Should be epic. [Film Drunk]

Zack Snyder has continued to suffer fallout from Watchmen’s box office underperformance. His next film, Sucker Punch, has lost three key women all due to scheduling conflicts. Out are Amanda Seyfried, Evan Rachel Wood and Emma Stone. In are Emily Browning, Jamie Chung and Jena Malone. [Obsessed With Film]

Jason Statham is set to fill the shoes of Charles Bronson for director Simon West in the remake of The Mechanic. I’d imagine more than cars get fixed. [We Are Film Geeks]

Wanted creator Mark Millar decided to pipe up against the uproar of Evan Spiliotopoulos (writer of The Lion King 1 1/2) being tapped to write Wanted 2. He says Spiliotpoulos wrote an unproduced action-oriented spec script and that’s what won him the job.  Take that. [Fused Film]

[Cinema Blend] tells us Marlon Wayans is set to star in The Year of Living Biblically about a man who attempts to live his life with a strict adherence to the “Bible” for a year. As Ned Flanders would say, “Even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff.” Sounds like a high concept project hopefully better than any Wayans brother comedy.

Following up yesterday’s slew of new film pics, here’s one from the new Neil Marshall (The Descent) film, titled Centurion. [Beyond Hollywood]

Finally, today we leave you with [Cinematical]’s speculation of the chance of Harley Quinn appearing in the next Batman film. It’s not much evidence at all, but the speculation is there. Why not fuel the fire that’s died down a lot since last summer?

The Terminator, which was first released in 1984, established the notion of man trying to stop machines from taking over the world. When the sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day (often considered the best movie of the series) was released in 1991, it launched the franchise into the popular incarnation of what it is now. Since then, another Terminator film has appeared (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 2003), a television series (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”), video games and comic books. It also placed Arnold Schwarzenegger in his iconic role. Along with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek, the upcoming sequel, Terminator Salvation, the fourth of the series, will be one of the most anticipated films of 2009.

"Walk in my line of vision again! I dare you!"

Christian Bale (freshly removed from his classic rant on the Terminator set) will take over the reigns from Arnold as the leading man. He plays John Connor, the leader of the human rebellion against the machines. Unlike the first three films where most of stories involved time travel to the present day, this one focuses solely on the war in the future, 2018 to be exact.  Bale, who no doubt was last year’s biggest star with The Dark Knight, will be the fifth actor to portray Connor. The others being Edward Furlong (young) and Michael Edwards (old) from T2, Nick Stahl from T3 and Thomas Dekker from the TV show. The story takes place after T3, where man is struggling in a bloody war to stop machines from destroying mankind. The machines, led by an artificial intelligence computer network named Skynet, first tried to alter the future by killing John’s mother, Sarah (Linda Hamilton, who will narrate some of this movie). They then made the attempt to kill John and failed. The machines, however, succeed by taking over the world’s computers and launched nuclear missiles to eradicate man. By 2018, the world is a desolate wasteland of war, death and destruction. Skynet uses “endoskeleton” large metallic robots shaped in the mold of the human skeletal system, to eradicate the last of the human resistance. John, who’s not yet the great leader, is struggling to find his place with the resistance. He has alienated some of his contemporaries by having a wide familiarity of Skynet. He informs people that Skynet is taking human prisoners and replicating them with flesh-covered endoskeletons. When the resistance meets fellow soldier Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), they are shocked to find out he has memories of being human, but is actually a machine.  When John is confused whether Wright is from the past of future, he uses his help to fight Skynet and hopefully take it offline for good.

Mastering the art of walking on hot coals is much easier with boots on.

The film also stars Bryce Dallas Howard as John’s wife, Kate Connor, Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese (who’s character, played by Michael Biehn, went back in time in the first film to father John), rapper Common as Barnes, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams and Helena Bonham Carter as Serena Korgen. Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger does make an appearance as well, but only provides his voice while his features will be digitized onto actor Roland Kickinger. A lot of this movie will also hinge on its director, McG. He has done some very different work with the Charlie’s Angels movies and We Are Marshall, so hopefully he succeeds in changing his style. Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato wrote the screenplay and they have collaborated on garbage like Catwoman and Primeval. Hopefully they’re writing skills (or lack thereof) won’t transfer to this film, but I am hopeful since they also wrote T3 and The Game (for David Fincher), and both of those ended up positive.

I will definitely see this one and I’m sure everyone else will too. This movie will be huge and it may break some kind of box office record. However, I wouldn’t imagine it’s about to challenge Bale’s other franchise.

Terminator Salvation opens May 21^st.

There are a few other items that I have come across in regards to Christian Bale’s blow-up, that make me want to finally finish this topic off (hopefully).  First off, do you want to be up on the trendy tip?  Then there is this shirt that you can buy from /film that covers this topic. You can buy the shirt here, for those that want to be up on something so silly. Have to hand to the entrepreneurs who put this together, I guess.

It’s not as expensive as say, the “Watch Paris Die” t-shirts that were a big deal when Paris Hilton was in that House of Wax flick, so that’s a plus.

Honestly, sometimes perspective is necessary in these matters.  I still don’t condone his behavior in any way, but it’s not like this is all that uncommon.  It just so happens that with the profile of actor in this case, he is Batman after all, and with the access to stories such as this being made so much easier than in the past, that news like this becomes bigger than it warrants.  In all respects, it should have stayed on set.  But remember there are always tales of actors losing it on set.  Case in point, the classic Lily Tomlin blow-up at David O. Russell while filming I Heart Huckabees.  This was news back then, not nearly as big due to the name involved or scope of project, but by all accounts, everyone hates David O. Russell, so this is common place.  I mean, if the George Clooney/O. Russell blow-up was caught on film rather than a war of words, who knows where that might have taken us?

So in the end, where does this all leave us? Probably just with something that was hot enough to make news in the entertainment world, but certainly nothing earth shattering. I still think perceptions are no doubt going to be shaped on Bale as a result of this, but I don’t think anyone will do anything drastic like skip Batman 3 as a result. Agree or disagree?