Tag Archives: The Fighter

The “Common Text Film Series” comes to UMass Lowell with an invitation to cast, crew & extras from “The Fighter”!

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UMass Lowell’s English Department and First-Year Writing Program
present the Fall 2012 Common Text Film Series
for Andre Dubus III’s “Townie”

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* See below for a Special Invitation to local Cast, Crew or Extras who worked on the The Fighter!

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Please join UMass Lowell for this series of films that relate to Andre Dubus III’s “Townie,” UML’s First-Year Writing Program’s Common Text for Fall semester 2012. All screenings take place on UML’s South Campus at O’Leary Library, 61 Wilder Street (Room 222), at 6:30 PM. There will be brief introductions before the films by members of the faculty and discussions following each screening. All screenings are free, handicapped-accessible, and open to the public!

For more information, please contact Professor Robert LeBlanc at 978-934-4087 or Robert_LeBlanc@uml.edu. The full Common Text Film Series schedule is below:

 

Wednesday, September 12: The Fighter  | *All cast members, crew, or extras who worked on The Fighter are welcomed and encouraged to attend this screening and share your experience! No need to RSVP, please come as you are — feel free to contact Professor LeBlanc for more details! This 2010 film is based on the true story of two Lowell natives: Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund, Jr. (Christian Bale). The film follows Micky Ward’s comeback in the world of welterweight boxing. His trainer is his troubled half-brother Dicky, and his emotional mother Alice (Melissa Leo) feels betrayed when Micky begins training without her. Beyond a common focus on boxing, this film shares with “Townie” a focus on strained family relationships. Leo and Bale both won Academy Awards for their performances.

Tuesday, September 25: Billy Jack | This controversial 1971 film gained huge audiences when released theatrically, and one of its big fans was a young Andre Dubus III, as noted in “Townie.” Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) is shown as a mysterious “half-breed” Native American fighter who is loosely connected with an alternative school. In response to harassment by locals of the hippie students from the school, Billy Jack fights bully Bernard Posner (David Roya) and his friends violently with both hapkido and gunfire. Film critics like Leonard Maltin have expressed confusion about the film’s message. It is, nevertheless, a thought-provoking story of violence and vengeance.

Wednesday, October 10: The Boondock Saints | Troy Duffy’s 1999 film also features many scenes of violence as carried out by the fictional McManus twins (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus). The McManus twins get into a brawl with members of the Russian mafia and begin planning attacks on evildoers in their city. They are pursued by Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe), who eventually ends up sympathizing with them. This troubling story of vigilantes is set in Boston, like some parts of Townie.

Tuesday, October 30: Fish Tank | Andrea Arnold’s film is set in a rough part of London and explores the coming of age of a troubled girl named Mia (Katie Jarvis). Her outbursts have caused friction between her and her family and classmates, and she feels uncomfortable at home. Her mother’s new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender) begins to encourage Mia to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer, but is it appropriate for Connor to spend so much time with her? This film portrays adolescence as a rocky road in East London.

Wednesday, November 14: In the Bedroom | Based on the short story “Killings” by Andre Dubus II, this 2001 film focuses on a family from coastal Maine whose son, Frank (Nick Stahl) has just returned home from college and is seeing a divorced woman named Natalie (Marisa Tomei). When Natalie’s ex-husband Richard (William Mapother) begins to bother her and her kids, Frank gets involved in the turmoil. After another shocking act, the story forces viewers to examine the effects of violence.

Thursday, November 29: House of Sand and Fog | This film is based on Andre Dubus III’s 1999 novel of the same name and tells the story of two people struggling for ownership of the same house. Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) is evicted from her family home, and it is purchased quickly by Massoud Behrani (Ben Kingsley), a former colonel in the Iranian army. The dispute over the home’s ownership leads to deceit and violence, but also to powerful moments of kindness.

Monday, December 10: A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints | This 2006 film is based on the memoir of the same title by writer-director Dito Montiel and offers flashbacks to Montiel’s adolescence in Queens in the 1980s. Dito (Robert Downey, Jr.) has become a writer and left behind his neighborhood, while his friends who got involved in gang-related violence have now gone their separate ways. The film focuses on the reunions between Dito and his family and old friends, as he confronts the consequences of violent acts.

Mark Wahlberg & Christian Bale visit Lowell to promote “The Fighter” – an exclusive from 980 WCAP!

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This week’s Lowell buzz centered around The Fighter can be heard all the way down to our vacation spot in New Orleans! Before heading to a local private premiere of the film, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale made a stop to Lowell’s Kun Khmer Federation martial arts studio on Middlesex Street for a little press time with our good friends at 980 WCAP. We’re glad you guys were on the scene.

Visit 980 WCAP to see exclusive photos of the visit as well as this great video footage. For those of you that know local restauranteur and favorite man-about-town Teddy Panos, look closely — you’ll see our dear friend Teddy rubbing elbows with two Hollywood heavyweights:

The Fighter premieres nationwide on December 17, but four select Massachusetts cities, INCLUDING Lowell, will premiere the film on Friday, December 10. For tickets and showtimes, visit Lowell’s Showcase Cinemas.

Wahlberg keeps his eye on the prize in “The Fighter”

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Its been many, many months since Lowellians have seen those big movie trailers and bright spotlights. We got a little pampered for a while there with the downtown filming of  Ricky Gervais‘ indie comedy The Invention of Lying, followed closely by the Mark Wahlberg – Christian Bale big budget film The Fighter, which has had to contend with its own share of left hooks and headbutts. To his credit, Wahlberg has completely embraced the project, and true to his welterweight training has fought hard to land the film a dedicated studio. According to movie buzz in the New York Times, the job has gone to Paramount, who will begin heavy promotion of the film during the fall football/sports season in anticipation of its December 10 release. The holidays marks Hollywood’s big push to the Oscars, so we should expect to see a bold lineup of films coming to DVD or to the cinema with heavy promotion leading the way, The Fighter included.

Second in line to direct The Fighter behind Darren Aronofsky (Lost, The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream), director David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) commanded a tight ship, pushing actors to their emotional limits to fulfill his vision of Micky Ward‘s and Dicky Eklund‘s remarkable story. Unlike The Invention of Lying, shot almost entirely in Lowell but nothing ABOUT Lowell, The Fighter will put the Mill City at center stage, and we’re pretty darn excited about that.

Below are some one-minute clips found amongst the many Fighter teasers and interviews in the YouTube world. Some good footage also exists of Ward and Eklund, courtesy of the Lowell Sun.

Mark Wahlberg training in the ring:

Lowell fighters audition for The Fighter:

Executive producer of “The Fighter” makes a special appearance at Boston University!

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Filmmaker Keith Dorrington, executive producer of the upcoming Lowell-based film “The Fighter,” will be guest speaker at Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts in just a couple of weeks. The series, titled Big Shots, is the CDIA’s film industry experts speaker series, and is something worth keeping tabs on. If you’re not aware, “The Fighter” is a feature film starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg that tells the story of Lowell son and boxer Mickey Ward. The film was all the buzz this past summer as film crews set up throughout Lowell for weeks of local shooting. Bale and Wahlberg caused a stir, of course, hanging out at local eateries and leaving a trail of swooning fans in their wake. The film is highly anticipated!

Tickets for Dorrington’s talk are very limited, so make your reservations TODAY!

Here are the deets, per the CDIA’s e-newsletter:

Wednesday, December 16
6 – 8PM
BU Center for Digital Imaging Arts
274 Moody Street, Studio C
Waltham, MA 02453
Free admission!

Join us for an evening with filmmaker Keith Dorrington, who will be speaking on his personal experiences and working on “The Fighter.” Among other topics, he will be talking about strategies for aspiring filmmakers on how to get your story heard and sold to a major film studio. Keith is living his childhood dream, on his own terms. This dream, which started in nearby Billerica, MA, and led him to Hollywood, became reality upon choosing to leave life on the road in international sales in favor of documentary filmmaking. His catalyst and inspiration came from an unlikely source: local boxer Micky Ward and his brother, Dick Ecklund, his reluctant coach. Their personal story and triumphant comeback into the world of boxing after devastating defeat in the early 90′s would lead to a multi-million dollar film, “The Fighter”, with Dorrington as executive producer, starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg. “The Fighter” is about turning failure into success, about commitment, about drive – it is a story that Keith Dorrington knows well, and is proud to tell.

Space is limited! To save  your seat, RSVP to Stacey at events@cdiabu.com.

For more info on the CDIA at Boston University call 800-808-CDIA.

 

 

 

PR Rolls out Strong for TIOL

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Gervais hams it up at Lowell Memorial Auditorium for TIOL's casiono scene

The Lowell Memorial Auditorium's Hall of Flags was the perfect backdrop for TIOL's casino scene!

While Lowell is in a fervor with camera crews and star sightings related to The Fighter, which is being filmed right here in the City, we here at the LFC are feeling the excitement and anticipation of the premiere of The Invention of Lying (TIOL), formerly This Side of The Truth (TSOT), which stars British funny man Ricky Gervais and a cast of notables including Tina Fey, Louis C.K., Christopher Guest, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Patrick Stewart as “the narrator.” TIOL was filmed in DTL at Lowell hotspots including The Dubliner, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, La Boniche, and other neighborhood haunts. There are a couple of release dates bouncing around out there, the most publicized one being September 25. We keep up with TIOL at its official website, Lecture Films, started by Matthew Robinson, the film’s co-writer and co-director. And yeah, he’s a pretty funny guy, too.

We’ve mentioned it before, but word on the street has it that a special screening of TIOL will take place on the film’s opening weekend here in Lowell. Whether Gervais will make an appearance or not is still making the rumor mill rounds.

Does anyone out there have a confirmation?

In any case, the September 25 release date is being kicked around alongside an October 2 release date. Seeing as we’ll be out of town on the 25th, we’re crossing our fingers for the October target. Rest assured — we’ll keep everyone informed as plans for this screening event take shape!

In the meantime, show Lecture Films some love and visit it often for humorous updates and shenanigans related to TIOL.