Yesterday was Mickey Rourke’s birthday. In late 2008, on the eve of The Wrestler opening, I wrote a giant piece about Rourke’s career for The House Next Door. It was one of those pieces that was like the Energizer Bunny. It just kept going. It is one of the most linked-to essays I’ve ever written. I’m still proud of it.
I read this on my way into work this morning. Absolutely awesome (the comments are fantastic, too — Facebook and Twitter have destroyed good, evergreen comments … boo!), and not just because I’ve been in a Mickey Rourke state of mind. But that helps …
http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2012/09/mickey-rourke-highs-lows-video-tribute.html
Jason – I know – member when HND had that great comments section? Been on the run all day – very excited to watch your video!
Remember when ANY blog had a great comments section? The House was especially blissful. You know, I’ve often thought to myself that right around 2008 was the height of the cinephile environment for me. There were lots of blogs worth reading and there were engaging comments sections where people really wanted to make arguments and deepen the conversation. Don’t get me wrong, that still happens now, here and there. I’m fortunate in that it happens at my blog once in a while. But Facebook and Twitter have effectively ended that.
To be fair, sometimes the commenting is better on Twitter (I can’t speak for Facebook) because the character limit forces you to get to the point and creates an immediacy to the exchange that sometimes was difficult with longer responses. But those tweets disappear. On the other hand, I read this piece this morning and the comments might as well have been posted yesterday (I mean, other than the fact that some folks still hadn’t seen The Wrestler). What a beautiful time capsule!
I don’t want to regulate how people use Twitter (to each their own), but sometimes when I open my feed I marvel at the number of people who seem to have this need to fill Twitter with ‘something’ … constantly … even if they have nothing to say. (More than once, I’ve read tweets to the effect of: “I feel like I should tweet something but I have nothing to say.” I suspect folks think they’re being ironic when they tweet that. But it isn’t funny. It’s just sadly revealing.) Where was I?
Anyway, even without the comments I loved this piece. You should be proud of it.
When you have Robert Downey Jr, Sam Rockwell, and Don Cheadle in a movie, and they aren’t the guys you watch closest, you know Mr. X is something extra special.
Mickey Rourke has been on my must-see list since I saw him in Body Heat. It’s one of the best scenes in a film I truly love.
The Wrestler was just amazing. I thought he really nailed it, and I’m a life-long and unapologetic wrestling fan.
But I thought he came close to ruining Iron Man 2.
God, yes, that scene in Body Heat. You could just tell: that guy’s got IT.
Oh, and I thought he was the best thing in Iron Man 2. Oops!
Thanks, I was feeling left out.
This was the piece that settled the question of whether I would ever voluntarily miss anything you wrote ever again. Thanks for four great years…
April – wow, thank you so much!!