Murderball

[mutinyco]

Screw Dan. This is better: http://www.moviecitynews.com/columnists/mutiny/murderball.html

[Pubrick]

couldn't u find a more grating, irritating, unbeliavably obnoxious transition noise?

[mutinyco]

Well, farting would've been a little too off-putting. And wasn't near a chalk board...

[Pubrick]

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.

We 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?

[RegularKarate]

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.

[Pubrick]

I 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.

the 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.

[RegularKarate]

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:

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.

[Bethie]

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.

[Pubrick]

I seriously think Murderball is the best film of the year.

why?

[MacGuffin]

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.

'Murderball' Star Zupan Embracing Fame

Mark 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."

[SHAFTR]

I 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.

[RegularKarate]

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.

That's the best part of the movie!!

[MacGuffin]

Velocity will debut the critically acclaimed documentary Murderball on 11/29, with an SRP of $29.99.

[MacGuffin]

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.

It's included on the DVD.

[Gamblour.]

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.