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Trailer here. (http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/murderball/)
Release Date: July 8th, 2005 (LA/NY); July 15th, 2005 (expands to select cities)
Director: Henry-Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro
Premise: A film about quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby in Mad Max-style wheelchairs - overcoming unimaginable obstacles to compete in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
So glad this is getting a decent release. This was one of my two favorites from SXSW.
It was really impressive.
NPR Interview with co-director Dana Adam Shapiro and featured subject Mark Zupan. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4715570)
The story of how he became quadruplegic is one of the most horrible things I've ever heard. Can't wait to see this.
This film has been Bethie Approved 8) . You should all see it.
i approved it first.. right around the time i was first to say Me and You and Everyone We Know would be the best.
Quote from: Cinephileright around the time i was first to say Me and You and Everyone We Know would be the best.
and now ur saying Crash is, so..
INVALIDATED
Quote from: PubrickQuote from: Cinephileright around the time i was first to say Me and You and Everyone We Know would be the best.
and now ur saying Crash is, so..
INVALIDATED
better watch it..
Cinephile has a wicked left hook.
i have a wicked everything. :yabbse-thumbup:
...is this based on a true story?
EDIT: The movie, not Cinephile having a wicked everything.
It's a documentary, so you could say that it's based on a true story.
Quote from: Cinephilei approved it first.. right around the time i was first to say Me and You and Everyone We Know would be the best.
**Cough*Cough** (http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=781&start=15)
Quote from: RegularKarateQuote from: Cinephilei approved it first.. right around the time i was first to say Me and You and Everyone We Know would be the best.
**Cough*Cough** (http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=781&start=15)
I was first to make a thread about it.
i was lying when i said i approved it recently..
murderball was invented in canada.. and when it was started up, i told them that i approved of the sport. so everything after that.. was spawned by my approval.
oh and as far as i know, bethie approves quadriplegics too.
that's cool Cine, I approved your birth. so, you know...
Quote from: RegularKaratethat's cool Cine, I approved your birth. so, you know...
now that's a wicked left hook..
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Murderball is definitely one of the most unique documentaries you will see this year. Its about quadriplegic rugby players who slam into one another with their wheelchairs. Sounds insane but it won the Documentary Audience Award and a Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. It follows a few storylines; one is the story of Mark Zupan, the craziest guy on the American team. He became a quadriplegic after his best friend drove them home drunk and got into an accident. The next is Joe Soares, a man who was a huge star on the American team but didn’t make the cut one year so he went to go coach the Canadian team and Keith, a young man who just became a quadriplegic and is considering joining the team.
Daniel Robert Epstein: I read that this film first got started from a Maxim article. Who wrote that?
Dana Adam Shapiro I wrote it.
DRE: Then how did you get involved Henry?
Henry Alex Rubin: Dana called me. He had never made a movie and I had produced documentaries so we teamed up.
DRE: How do you guys know each other?
SHAPIRO: Through a mutual friend.
DRE: How did you first hear of the sport?
SHAPIRO: I was a senior editor of Spin Magazine at that time and I did the non-music features. I was constantly searching obscure websites, newspapers and magazines always looking for interesting stories to do. I just came across this sport right at that time when I was looking to make a film. After doing journalism for like eight years, I wanted to switch to documentary. I called the guys that ended up in the movie like Zupan and Joe Soares. We started talking and interviewing them about what happened to them, “What’s it like to become a quadriplegic?” and also “What is this sport called Murderball?
My image of quadriplegics, like most people was Christopher Reeve at home under a blanket, sipping their food on a motorized wheelchair. I didn’t think that they were smashing into each other in Mad Max style wheelchairs and driving in modified cars. I certainly didn’t think that they were having sex with good looking girls or any girls. Even in the original article they were talking about this rivalry between this quadriplegics and paraplegics, because quadriplegics can get it up and paraplegics can’t for some reason.
So all of these plots started coming up and we started thinking, “Is this a short film or is this a magazine article or is this a feature film?” This story that needs to be filmed visually because you can’t understand what it is like until you see these guys playing.
DRE: What did you shoot the movie on?
SHAPIRO: 24 hi-def, though we started off with bunch of different kinds of cameras.
DRE: Where did the money came from?
RUBIN: [Producer] Jeffrey Mendel always came through with the money. We live in New York so anytime we wanted to shoot, we needed to fly, get a hotel room, rent equipment in the beginning so it was expensive to go shoot.
DRE: When did you realize that this could be a more exciting documentary than just one with talking heads?
RUBIN: For me it was the second we saw these guys play. That’s when I was like “This has cinematic possibilities.” We knew that if we could communicate the speed and the anger and the metal grinding and all that stuff it could be an amazing film. In terms of our characters in the story, when Joe went to Canada we knew that this would be great for the movie. You couldn’t make up that first act.
SHAPIRO: The revenge story didn’t take up much time onscreen so at the end of the day the movie isn’t really about this rivalry between USA and Canada. In the same way that way Rocky isn’t about the boxing. What we did for two and half years is a universal story. We documented the relationship between Joe and his son, between Zupan and his best friend and ultimately between Keith and his new life. If it was just about the sports it would have been an eight minute segment on Real Sports or something like that. We didn’t want to make an essay about quadriplegia; we made a movie about these particular quadriplegics.
DRE: Did you realize that if you didn’t do this backstory on Joe Soares that he would end up as the villain of the piece?
RUBIN: We didn’t know where his life was going. We love and respect Joe but we do recognize that he is a very polarizing figure. We didn’t choose to make him arrive on time and hug his son at the end of the scene. It just happened then we just had to capture it.
DRE: When I first came into this room you two were having a minor argument, what did you guys argue about when making this movie?
RUBIN: I think underneath it all we respect each other enormously. It was mostly little creative and aesthetic things. Should we you know focus more on Zupan or Keith or Joe or you know and oftentimes Dana would propose shoots. Dana said that we should go to Joe’s anniversary dinner but I thought it would be boring. But we ended up getting this beautiful moment from Joe.
DRE: What kind of stuff is going to be on DVD?
RUBIN: I’d love it to be chockfull DVD.
SHAPIRO: I don’t know I have never brought a DVD because of the extras. There is a food fight that happened between the players that is hilarious. There’s a great scene in a hospital, late at night and these two black nurses with this one black quadriplegic who fancied himself to be a singer and they all did a doo-wop song.
Screw Dan. This is better: http://www.moviecitynews.com/columnists/mutiny/murderball.html
couldn't u find a more grating, irritating, unbeliavably obnoxious transition noise?
Well, farting would've been a little too off-putting. And wasn't near a chalk board...
an alternate title for this movie: "Assholes With Bad Limbs and Big Hearts". a controversial review follows.
i hated the beginning so much. those sarcastic comments were just the wrong note to start with. after the second example it was embarrassing, like they were trying too hard to say "hey, i can still be sarcastic, i'm totally able!" whatever man. ppl who offer help to ppl in wheelchairs, or are ignorant about them (except of course adorable little children), are obviously retarded. let's hammer on that for a few minutes. this kind of attitude kept popping up throughout the film and it was completely unnecessary -- unless they WANTED us to dislike the quads. it would not be an exaggeration to say this movie is slightly overrated.
now, things i liked. Joe the canadian coach, and the kid (keith?) who was in hospital recovering from his motorcross accident were the most sympathetic characters, with genuinely human stories. i liked that Joe's geek kid looked up to him, the truth of that relationship was captured brilliantly. like zupan he was apparently an asshole, but he cared. enuff to survive his heart attack and lead his team to victory, that's a good story. meanwhile keith was staging his own personal victory, he spoke sincerely and again was driven by genuine human spirit. his discovery of murderball even brought out a bit of humanity in zupan at the press conference following his visit to the hospital. just these two stories would be enuff for me.
this zupan guy was boring, his girlfriend was hot, and the bit where his dad cried was good, that was it really. i understand he was the necessary "superstar" for the poster.. no surprise from me at the announcement of him becoming the spokesman for whatever at the end of the movie. the much-talked-about backstory about his best friend seemed skimmed over. we were told the story of the tragedy, and the consequent guilt.. then suddenly by the end of the movie they are good friends again. wasn't THAT the point of the movie, to follow the relationship aspect? where did that go? i think it got muddled in the athens game. or maybe it happened while we were with joe and keith. apart from the focus on his friend, his story is interchangeable with the eminem look-alike.
Quote from: Henry Alex Rubin in the article Mac posted on previous pageWe didn't want to make an essay about quadriplegia; we made a movie about these particular quadriplegics.
there is a scene where zupan and other quads are humoring kids curiosities, basically explaining the basics of how it is to live as a quad, ie. getting in the chair, etc. in the end, the movie feels partly as if WE are the kids, despite intentions. i can't escape feeling that, for the most part, that is the effect this movie will hav on the majority of ppl watching it.
it was well made, the animations were helpful, and there were two GREAT stories in it. it really should be seen by all, i'd just rather watch Waterdance.
oh, and why did joe get fired?
SPOILERS
Those are the two stories that I thought were the most important. I didn't think that the movie really focused too much on Zupan and his friend... I think the reason behind that is that they never talked about what happened... there was no "I'm sorry man, I fuckin' love you" moment... so they just let it happen and yeah, kinda skimmed over it... I didn't know it was "much talked about".
The reason the movie is so good is the way they presented the events and stories... the way they turned the Canadian loss around to be Joe heading to his kid's recital was brilliant.
As far as your thoughts on the audience being "the kids", I disagree... the first part of the movie deals with the whole disabled thing... once it gets the audience used to the fact that it's subjects are in this condition and they need to get over it, the movie deals mostly with the emotional side of the subjects.
And yeah, Zupan's an asshole jock with a hot girlfriend... the movie is about asshole jocks.
Quote from: RegularKarateI didn't know it was "much talked about".
the NPR interview hacksparrow posted focused on it. it seemed a pretty major part of the story the way they were goin on about it. i heard that before i saw the movie, my mistake. i see what ur saying about em never really living out the conclusion to their story, or at least not verbalizing it, society's loss i suppose.
Quote from: RegularKaratethe way they turned the Canadian loss around to be Joe heading to his kid's recital was brilliant.
yes, definitely, i loved that part.
i forgot to ask before, did anyone else get a lot of ppl in wheelchairs at their screenings? i never seen so many at a movie before. i remembered tonite while watching Mysterious Skin, and thought maybe the room was again full of.. well, ppl who could relate to the movie. :shock:
Quote from: Pubricki forgot to ask before, did anyone else get a lot of ppl in wheelchairs at their screenings? i never seen so many at a movie before. i remembered tonite while watching Mysterious Skin, and thought maybe the room was again full of.. well, ppl who could relate to the movie. :shock:
haha... there was a guy in a wheelchair in the lobby when I was on my way into the movie and I caught myself assuming that he was going to see Murderball, of course, he then went into a different theater to watch a different movie and I was left to deal with the fact that I had just made an assumption based on the same thing that some people base the assumption that all the black people were there to see whatever Cedric the Entertainer movie is out.
I seriously think Murderball is the best film of the year.
Did anyone catch Mark Zupan and the gang on Larry King? My neighbour was talking to my Mom and I: "I saw the strangest thing on Larry King. Power something...power.." then she explained further and I said enthusiastically, "Murderball?!" It was on tv right at that moment. Damn her for it not being the first thing she mentioned. And damn all of you for not letting me know they were going to be on King. Cause of my neighbour + all of you, I missed over half of the interview.
Quote from: BethieI seriously think Murderball is the best film of the year.
why?
Quote from: BethieDid anyone catch Mark Zupan and the gang on Larry King? My neighbour was talking to my Mom and I: "I saw the strangest thing on Larry King. Power something...power.." then she explained further and I said enthusiastically, "Murderball?!" It was on tv right at that moment. Damn her for it not being the first thing she mentioned. And damn all of you for not letting me know they were going to be on King. Cause of my neighbour + all of you, I missed over half of the interview.
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'Murderball' Star Zupan Embracing FameMark Zupan, the most recognizable star of "Murderball," says he's embracing the fame brought by the documentary.
"Well, when you get recognized walking down the street, it gets really kind of strange," Zupan, with shaved head, goatee and tattoos, recently told AP Television News. "I'm still the same person."
"I just take the time and when people say, `Oh! Loved the movie. I don't want to take your time,' I say, `No, take time. I want to hear what you think. I want to hear what you like. I want to hear why you're curious.'"
"Murderball," now in theaters, is the story of quadriplegic athletes on the U.S. wheelchair rugby team. Wheelchair rugby or "murderball" is an intense, hard-nosed sport where players bash wheelchairs and flip each other while trying to carry the ball across the goal line in a gymnasium.
Zupan estimates that he's been interviewed more than 400 times this year, including an appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show."
Directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro filmed consistently over three years, and the documentary has drawn rave reviews, in part, for its raw intimacy.
"Initially, you're like, `There's a camera over there, there's a camera over there,'" Zupan said. "But then, as you get to know the guys and as time goes on, you become friends and you forget. You sit down and have conversations and it's just normal."
Quote from: BethieI seriously think Murderball is the best film of the year.
So far, I would agree. It helps that this has been a pretty awful year in cinema. Murderball works for me because the sport isn't the film, but the structure that connects the characters and stories of the film. I found myself caring about all the people involved.
The film also scores points for not having a Mighty Ducks ending with the final match...the fact that it was downplayed strengthens the film. It loses a few points with the recital scene...the editing and pacing of that scene seemed like something out of a bad romantic comedy.
Quote from: SHAFTRIt loses a few points with the recital scene...the editing and pacing of that scene seemed like something out of a bad romantic comedy.
That's the best part of the movie!!
Velocity will debut the critically acclaimed documentary Murderball on 11/29, with an SRP of $29.99.
Quote from: Bethie on August 04, 2005, 04:06:10 AMDid anyone catch Mark Zupan and the gang on Larry King? My neighbour was talking to my Mom and I: "I saw the strangest thing on Larry King. Power something...power.." then she explained further and I said enthusiastically, "Murderball?!" It was on tv right at that moment. Damn her for it not being the first thing she mentioned. And damn all of you for not letting me know they were going to be on King. Cause of my neighbour + all of you, I missed over half of the interview.
It's included on the DVD.
I just watched this, and I agree that it's one of the best, but maybe not the best, of the year. Zupan reminds so much of this guy who goes to my gym, the look, the personality, except he's not as angry as Zupan. Anyhow, I loved just hearing about everybody's histories and really what it's like to be quadriplegic, because I didn't have an inkling. I knew that Tom Cruise couldn't get it up in Born on the Fourth of July, but this movie kinda debunked that (or at least focused on quads that could get it up) with that really interesting, bizarre video. They might be assholes, but I think the film does humanize people that can be seen as fragile, as Andy describes it at one point. The sarcasm you refer to P was there I think to just add some edge real quick, to grease up these people as people, not tender cripples.
I really want to see how the Motocross kid turns up. And I second the question, why did Joe get fired? I'm sure there's no chance in hell of him getting hired to coach the USA team. This movie was fucking awesome.
Exclusive: Mangold's "Yuma" to Lionsgate; "Murderball" Next?
Breaking News: TMZ has learned that James Mangold has both found a home for his Russell Crowe-starring remake of "3:10 to Yuma" and is developing a new dramatic feature film based on 2005's Oscar nominated documentary, "Murderball."
First things first: "Yuma" had been ready to shoot over the summer at Columbia Pictures, but was put into turnaround last and was suddenly all hat and no cattle. That is, until Relativity Media agreed to finance it last month.
Then, late last night, a deal was inked for Lionsgate Films to release Mangold's new take on the classic Western, whose casting is rapidly firming up.
It's a major coup for Lionsgate, which has made piles of cash on low-brow fare like "Saw" and "Crank," but also won Oscars on more literate titles like "Monster's Ball."
By now, Mangold's probably used to this kind of drama in making serious films: His last movie, "Walk the Line" had been at Sony for years, but was ultimately dumped and then snapped up by Fox 2000, where it won Reese Witherspoon the Oscar for Best Actress last year.
Meanwhile, Mangold also recently sewed up the life rights to three characters from the wrenching-but-poignant doc about quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby -- in seemingly indestructable wheelchairs: Team USA wheelchair rugby captain Mark Zupan; Team Canada coach Joe Soares, and Christopher Igoe, Zupan's childhood friend.
For those familiar with the wrenching but fascinating doc, Zupan needs no introduction. A collegiate soccer star, the charismatic goateed athlete passed out drunk in the bed of his pal Chris Igoe's pickup. He was awakened by being plunged into a canal after his friend crashed the truck. His neck broken, Zupan would have to cling to a floating tree branch for fourteen hours before he could be rescued.
Facing life in a wheelchair, with only limited use of his four limbs, Zupan would battle years of agony and depression before transforming himself into a fearless athlete in a wheelchair rugby league and lead his Team USA to the Paralympics in Athens, Greece last year. Mangold also has the life rights to Joe Soares, one of the most winningest rugby players in the league, who famously defected to coach Team Canada after not making the cut on Team USA.
It's not hard to see how this all went down: Mangold is a mentor of sorts to "Murderball" co-director Henry Alex Rubin. Rubin had served as the second unit director on both "Cop Land" and "Girl, Interrupted." Having just directed Reese Witherspoon to an Oscar for her performance in his most recent film "Walk the Line," it was a cinch that Fox 2000 would jump on Mangold's latest idea.
Happily, you need not wait until Mangold wraps on "Yuma" to learn more about indomitable spirit of Mark Zupan: His new book, "Gimp" -- co-written by Premiere magazine West Coast editor Tim Swanson -- hits stores next month.
James Mangold Still Ready To Play Some 'Murderball'
Source: MTV
Never let it be said director James Mangold doesn't know how to mix up a career. Two years ago, his acclaimed music biopic "Walk the Line" dominated the awards season. This year he's back with a good old-fashioned Western with "3:10 to Yuma." And now he's keen on playing a game of "Murderball."
"It's something we're really excited about," Mangold said about his film inspired by the documentary of the same name from 2005. The critically hailed true life story of quadriplegic athletes who compete in the ultra competitive (and violent) sport of wheelchair rugby is currently in development for Mangold to direct. "We're working on the script right now. It's got great characters in that piece. Zupan is a great focal point in the film."
Zupan is Mark Zupan, essentially the hero in the documentary. Paralyzed from a car crash when he was just 18, Zupan was a stand out character in the original film thanks to a tenacious competitive streak and dazzling charisma.
Mangold, for one, is planning on sticking pretty close to the documentary's storyline. "I believe in the documentary. They isolated a great storyline. A lot of the characters and the stories and the way that movie works have been our guide."