Bill Simmons on "The Wrestler"

[Michael Echan]

I know everyone here likes to rag on Simmons being a psuedo-journalist, but I think he does a bang-up job with his review of The Wrestler. He nicely points out how some roles can only be portrayed by one actor (and that you aren't able to say that until after the fact) and talks about how the wrestling industry goes through it's talent like a meat grinder. Not bad at all.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3773747

 

[JC]

Fenian should be here within the hour to tell you what an idiot you are.

I thought the review was great, I guess that makes me an idiot as well

 

[Double Down]

Fenian should be here within the hour to tell you what an idiot you are.

I thought the review was great, I guess that makes me an idiot as well

Generalize much?

 

[JC]

Fenian should be here within the hour to tell you what an idiot you are.

I thought the review was great, I guess that makes me an idiot as well

Generalize much?

Did you read the other thread on this?

 

[Joe Williams]

Several reviewers beat Simmons to the perfect-actor-for-the-perfect-role angle, as seen on www.rottentomatoes.com.

Joe Morgenstern of WSJ wrote that angle a week ago or more. It's no great critical insight on Simmons' part.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Several reviewers beat Simmons to the perfect-actor-for-the-perfect-role angle, as seen on www.rottentomatoes.com.

Joe Morgenstern of WSJ wrote that angle a week ago or more. It's no great critical insight on Simmons' part.

Absolutely.

Part was WRITTEN for Mickey, for heaven's sake.

 

[Ace]

Several reviewers beat Simmons to the perfect-actor-for-the-perfect-role angle, as seen on www.rottentomatoes.com.

Joe Morgenstern of WSJ wrote that angle a week ago or more. It's no great critical insight on Simmons' part.

Absolutely.

Part was WRITTEN for Mickey, for heaven's sake.

Yeah. Mickey Rooney. That's what makes it such an Oscar-worthy turn by Rourke.

 

[hockeybeat]

Read the link on the other thread yesterday. It comes off like Simmons lost focus; that the first half of the review was the review and the second half was why he cannot watch professional wrestling in the aftermath of the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide.

 

[Sly]

As far as I'm concerned, Chris Benoit's escapades should have a lot less to do with him not watching wrestling than the fact that he's ****ing almost 40 years old.

 

[SportsDude]

I have a hard time reconciling Simmons' concern over the abuse Chris Benoit did to his body with Simmons showing his wrestling creds with his attendance at a show, where a guy took a 20-foot dive off the top of a cage. Talk about hypocritical.

 

[sprtswrtr10]

I thought the review was fine. I don't know if there's any way to "nail" a review like that. I also think it sort of was two different stories; one about how blown away he was by Mickey Rourke's performance and two, about how he's moved on from wrestling and why; I do though, wish, that he might have began a discussion about why I've moved on, for the most part, from wrestling, because it was all right there, with the thumbtacks and staple description. Once a fake sport that did not dare let the cat out of the bag; it has become a fake sport that admits to everything, which has only served to raise the ante on the antics; which has ushered the ultra-hardcore wrestling sideshow. Oh, and Superfly jumped off the cage against Bob Backlund. Not the magnificent one.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

When appearing together, two indicators which stamp "asshole" on the forehead of any columnist:

(1) Writing as if he/she, and he/she alone, discovered the subject at hand.

(2) Writing as if he/she is the sainted last word on said subject.

If the shoe fits . . .

 

[Ace]

If the shoe fits . . .

... hurl it at the president?

 

[Ben_Hecht]

If the shoe fits . . .

... hurl it at the president?

Or at Simmons. Or the Dwarf.

 

[mpcincal]

I thought the review was fine. I don't know if there's any way to "nail" a review like that. I also think it sort of was two different stories; one about how blown away he was by Mickey Rourke's performance and two, about how he's moved on from wrestling and why; I do though, wish, that he might have began a discussion about why I've moved on, for the most part, from wrestling, because it was all right there, with the thumbtacks and staple description. Once a fake sport that did not dare let the cat out of the bag; it has become a fake sport that admits to everything, which has only served to raise the ante on the antics; which has ushered the ultra-hardcore wrestling sideshow. Oh, and Superfly jumped off the cage against Bob Backlund. Not the magnificent one.

Actually, he did it against both. The one against Muraco is the one I used to see all the time on the old WWF videotapes. Muraco actually won that match by falling out of the cage after Snuka beat the crap out of him, and then Snuka dragged him back into the cage to set him up for the big leap after the match was over. The one with Backlund (which I haven't seen) was where he made the leap but missed, and then Backlund crawled out of the cage.

 

[Ashy Larry]

I read a lot of movie and television criticism, and all due respect to Mr. Simmons -- whose work I for the most part enjoy -- this did not strike me as brilliance. Or anything resembling brilliance.

Dana Stevens, David Denby, Anthony Lane, A.O. Scott, Roger Ebert, Stephanie Zacharek, David Eledstein, Owen Gliberman, Scott Tobias, Carina Chocano, Steven Hunter ... those are real movie critics.

This is A.O. Scott's review, btw. Different audience, sure, but more insight with fewer words. (Brevity as a virtue? What?)

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/movies/17wres.html

Bill Simmons and I both wish we could write this well.

Did anyone say it was brilliant?

 

[Songbird]

Anthony Lane in the New Yorker ...


http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/12/15/081215crci_cinema_lane

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

I read a lot of movie and television criticism, and all due respect to Mr. Simmons -- whose work I for the most part enjoy -- this did not strike me as brilliance. Or anything resembling brilliance.

Dana Stevens, David Denby, Anthony Lane, A.O. Scott, Roger Ebert, Stephanie Zacharek, David Eledstein, Owen Gliberman, Scott Tobias, Carina Chocano, Steven Hunter ... those are real movie critics.

This is A.O. Scott's review, btw. Different audience, sure, but more insight with fewer words. (Brevity as a virtue? What?)

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/movies/17wres.html

Bill Simmons and I both wish we could write this well.

Did anyone say it was brilliant?

IIRC, the original thread on this topic did.

 

[Boomer7]

When appearing together, two indicators which stamp "asshole" on the forehead of any columnist:

(1) Writing as if he/she, and he/she alone, discovered the subject at hand.

(2) Writing as if he/she is the sainted last word on said subject.

If the shoe fits . . .

While I usually like Bill's work, he's definitely guilty of No. 1 above. Years ago (maybe on his old site), he expressed shock that someone other than him had used the term "pantheon" when discussing the elite of sports, and he wasn't entirely convinced that it was a coincidence.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

When appearing together, two indicators which stamp "asshole" on the forehead of any columnist:

(1) Writing as if he/she, and he/she alone, discovered the subject at hand.

(2) Writing as if he/she is the sainted last word on said subject.

If the shoe fits . . .

While I usually like Bill's work, he's definitely guilty of No. 1 above. Years ago (maybe on his old site), he expressed shock that someone other than him had used the term "pantheon" when discussing the elite of sports, and he wasn't entirely convinced that it was a coincidence.

Utterly believable . . . regrettably.

And he won't understand a word of the sentence, above.