A couple weeks ago I picked up some awesome pulp fictions at Found, here in Lowell, on Middle Street.
Tom, the owner, had a box full of these tawdry titles from the late fifties/early sixties, but they were all at least a little water damaged.
He would have sold me the whole box (about 20 paperbacks) for ten bucks. I was tempted, but I don't have room for many more books in the old condo, so I picked out four that I thought had a little something special.
Irwin Shaw's Two Weeks in Another Town looks especially interesting. It's about a movie crew "On location in Rome -- expatriate Americans making movies, money...and love."
If you're in Lowell, check out Found. Great place to find vintage stuff -- everything from art to books to records to furniture to old typewriters, toys, and everything in between.
Spoiler alert-o-meter: There are more spoilers on Micky Ward's Wikipedia page than in this review.
The Fighter follows a long Hollywood tradition of sports movies. It uses the classic underdog-comes- from-behind sports-movie paradigm by showing the rise, fall, and rise of boxer Micky Ward. But The Fighter hinges on much more than this simple trope. To call this a movie about boxing does not do it service, and to say it’s a movie about brothers and the ties of families takes away from the fact that it’s also a riveting boxing movie and a fiercely anti-drug movie.
Shot in and around Lowell, Massachusetts during the very hot summer of 2009, The Fighter showcases my current home city. This fact alone might lend to my subjective take on the movie. We didn’t see any of the location shooting like we did for Ricky Gervais’ The Invention of Lying, but often I’d see the arrow signs along Thorndike Street directing the cast and crew to that day’s location. Having a major Hollywood movie shoot in your town is like having your best friends crowned King and Queen of the senior prom. Mark Wahlberg, who stars as Ward, fought for the film to be shot on location. This is not simply a movie shot in Lowell, but features a story about characters born and raised here that could not be shot anywhere else and purport to be authentic.
The Fighter fully and perfectly captures the story of Micky Ward, his girlfriend, his family, and above all the relationship with his brother, Dicky. Christian Bale, who has played Batman and an American Psycho, made me forget all his previous roles. In The Fighter he becomes Dicky Eklund, Mickey Ward’s half brother.
The story starts in 1993, on the hot streets of Lowell. The title sequence alone is a killer, opening with shots of Micky and Dicky (hey, that rhymes) working on a road paving detail early one steamy morning. They’re playful while they spar and reenact Dicky’s knockdown of Sugar Ray Leonard from a 1978 bout. Micky’s a junior welterweight who hasn’t had a fight in a while, he retired in 1991 after four straight losses. He’s learned everything he knows from his brother Dicky, a former welterweight and “pride of Lowell.” But now Dicky’s a crack head, which makes him unreliable as a brother and trainer. But that doesn’t stop Micky from loving him, and believing in him.
Dicky is manic and delusional, thinking the HBO film crew that is following him around Lowell is there to document his comeback. The crew is actually shooting what would become the near-legendary (at least here in Lowell) documentary, High on Crack Street, Lost Lives in Lowell. When this fact comes to light over the course of the movie, it’s heartbreaking.
Micky’s a good boxer, but he’s in his early thirties and isn’t getting any younger. He wants to start fighting again. His mother, Alice (a blistering Melissa Leo), acts as Micky’s manager. Alice gets Micky in the ring again, but he ends up fighting a boxer who’s got twenty pounds on him and he suffers another painful loss.
He starts dating local bartender, Charlene. Amy Adams plays Charlene as a tough, sexy, college-educated woman who feels she never lived up to her potential after dropping out of college. She helps Micky see that being managed by a mother who is blind to Dicky’s debilitating drug use and who books fights based solely on the money may not be the best choice for his career.
If all this sounds rote, it’s not. Director David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey, Three Kings ) and executive producer Darren Aronofsky (who directed Black Swan and The Wrestler), and the many writers credited with the screenplay (including Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy) leaven what could have been an average or even at times depressing story with humor and a compassion for all the characters, including Alice, Micky and Dicky’s seven sisters, and Micky’s beleaguered, henpecked stepfather.
When Dicky is sent to prison on a number of charges, Micky starts training with Lowell cop Mickey O’Keefe (who plays himself!), a mentor and longtime friend. Micky starts surrounding himself with people who know what’s best for his career. He starts getting better matches, and starts winning. Micky’s style is unique in that he will take punch after punch, round after round, until his opponent lets his guard down. Then he pummels with combination punches to the head, body, head, body until the opponent drops.
We’re never told exactly why he waits so long in a match to strike, but maybe it’s better left unspoken. For a boxer, the character of Micky Ward as played by Wahlberg is a passive guy. He’s nice to a fault, loves his mother and his stepfather, half brother, and his many sisters. Almost to a fault.
But toward the end, as he brings his newly clean brother into his corner that already contains Charlene and Mickey O’Keefe, it’s obvious Ward’s strength lies in his quiet persistence and ability to arbitrate the many facets of his personal and professional life to work together for his benefit. As any sports movie must, The Fighter builds to a final competition. In this case the bout between Ward and British fighter Shea Neary, with the winner taking home the WBU Light Welterweight Champion.
More than a movie about a boxer, The Fighter offers riveting storytelling, great acting, and exemplary location cinematography.
Stats:
Theater location: Lowell Showcase, Thursday, December 23, 6:45 show. Price $10.50. Viewed with Liz. Snacks--Water.
Coming Attractions:
Lincoln Lawyer. Based on the Michael Connelly novel. Matthew McConaughey in full-on serious lawyer mode. Co-starring Ryan Phillippe and Marisa Tomei.
Unnamed Alien Invasion Movie. The trailer cut off before they showed the name of it. Looks like District 9 crossed with Cloverfield. After a Google search (2011 alien movie), turns out it's called Battle: Los Angeles. Looks effective and frightening.
Thor. Marvel Comics' Thor gets the big-budget treatment. With Chris Hemsworth as the titular hero, along with Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, and Anthony Hopkins.
No Strings Attached. Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher play friends who end up sleeping together. And, I'm guessing from the plot twists exposed in the trailer, that he falls for her and she just wants the sex because she has a busy life as a doctor and doesn't have time for more? Could be cute, since the stars are both cute. Not sure Portman's made a rom-com like this.
If you live in Massachusetts, and are a reader or writer, then it's a good time of year. Over the next month there are no fewer than three festivals geared toward book lovers and writers. The following is a run down of the upcoming events.
Jack Kerouac Literary Festival Where: Downtown Lowell, MA When: Sept 30-Oct 3 Cost: Most events are free, although donations for some events encouraged
This is an annual event here in Lowell, although this year the festival is touted as new and expanded. The Jack Kerouac Lit Festival boasts a great line up of authors and speakers including Alan Lightman, Jay Atkinson, Russell Banks, Andre Dubus III, Ann Hood, Tom Perrotta, and Anita Shreve.
There will be lots of readings, films, panel discussions, walking tours, and other events. The cobblestone streets and industrial mill architecture in and around downtown Lowell really lend a great atmosphere for this crowd-pleasing event.
Highlights include:
Historical Kerouac pubs tour (Friday night starting at the Worthen House tavern)
Poetry and street prose competition
Dennis McNally's presentation on Kerouac and the American Bohemian
A walk in Doctor Sax's woods led by Margarita Turcotte
Children's book illustrators event, featuring David Macaulay, Chris VanAllsburg, David Wiesner, Christopher Bing, Kelly Murphy, and Matt Tavares.
"Art and Commerce" panel discussion, featuring Anita Shreve, Ann Hood, and Tom Perrotta.
Boston Book Festival Where: Copley Square, Boston When: Saturday, October 16th Cost: Most events are free
In only its second year, the Boston Book Festival (BBF) promises to convene plenty of talent for a single day of packed events. I attended last year and the hardest part is deciding which event to view at any one time since there are multiple events for each time slot. But, how else can you do it? There is a great variety, so if you're a fiction writer or reader, then you can choose a fiction reading over a memoir reading. While the schedule hasn't been set, click here to see a description of each planned event.
Speakers and authors slated to show include Atul Gawande, Stacy Schiff, Nick Flynn, Joyce Carol Oates (keynote), Chip Kidd, Bill Bryson, David Shields, Daphne Kalotay, Michelle Hoover, Gish Jen, Ann Hood, Joshua Ferris, Tom Perrotta, Dennis Lehane, A.M. Homes, and many more. And be on the lookout for fellow Beyond the Marginer and Drum founder Henriette Lazaridis Power who will be hosting the Fiction: Time and Place and Fiction: the Web of Relationship events.
Highlights include:
Writer idol: Have a professional actor perform the first page of your manuscript, then stick around while a panel of four judges that includes agents and editors let you know what they think. Presented by Grub Street. I attended this one last year, and it's actually a great way to get some immediate feedback on your first page, to find out whether it's working or not working, and why. And you also get an idea of what kind of writing agents and editors are seeking.
Guided open mic. With Steve Almond. Get on up there and read five minutes of your story, novel, or what have you, then see what Mr. Almond has to say about it, in terms of performance and reading choice.
Antique book appraisal. Bring in your rare and antique books, maps and ephemera for appraisal by respected industry experts. Sponsored by the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair.
The Book Revue: An evening of music and words. Features Nick Flynn, Kristin Hersh, Dean Wareham, and Joe Pernice.
Lots of booths representing literary magazines and book publishers. Great place to pick up stuff that's often hard to find elsewhere.
Concord Festival of Authors
Where: Concord, MA
When: October 20 - November 7, 2010 (2 weeks, people!)
Cost: Most events are free
The Concord Festival of Authors has been around for years. And for the past few years some of the events were held in Lowell. Unfortunately this year not a one will grace city limits. I suppose it makes sense if you're a festival with Concord in the title. It was never the Concord and Lowell festival. Still, it will be missed here in town.
This year's lineup offers up the usual stellar cast of authors who just want to talk about books and writing and publishing. Is that so wrong? Authors scheduled to appear include: Gish Jen, Brunonia Barry, Jon Katz, Andrew J. Bacevich, Nathanial Philbrick, Iris Gomez, Rusty Barnes, Tara Masih, Pauline Maier, David Macaulay, and Stace Budzko among others.
Highlights include:
Hoaxes, Frauds, and Forgeries. Panel discussion.
New Literary Voices 2010. Four emerging fiction writers (including Iris Gomez) discuss and read from their work.
Flash Fiction Panel. Discussion to answer the question, what is flash fiction. Features Rusty Barnes with whom I've studied at Grub Street. And yes, he knows much about flash fiction.
Publishing a Book in the Digital Age, panel discussion.
Lowell, Massachusetts is the birth (and resting) place of Jack Kerouac. And since Jack died in October of 1969, October is Kerouac month here in Lowell. And this year marks the 40th anniversary of his death. This weekend we're in the middle of Lowell Celebrates Kerouac. It started Thursday, but if you hurry on down this rainy Saturday you can still catch events like readings from Dr. Sax at Kerouac Park.
If you can't make that, then get downtown by 4 for The Kerouac Places of Downtown Lowell tour. This starts at the Lowell National Historical Park Visitors Center at 246 Market Street (around the corner from Unreliable Narrator's historic condo building). If you don't want to take a walking tour of Lowell in the rain, then find out how you can do it on your own time here.
If that's not your style (plus, it's raining), then check out an open mike starting at 5:30 at Brew’d Awakening, 61 Market Street. Here anybody can read a selection of their favorite Kerouac writing. Or, if you're a writer and Kerouac acolyte, then you can read your own Kerouac-inspired writing.
If you can't get to Lowell until tomorrow, then your best bet is to show up by 11:30 a.m. at Caffé Paradiso on Palmer Street, for a screening of Grave Concerns—A Deadly Road Trip, a documentary filmed during the On the Road scroll exhibit. Despite this gruesome and questionable title, it sounds like an interesting and apt addition to this festival.
Here's the trailer for Grave Concerns:
Two summers ago when the On The Road scroll exhibit hit the Boott Cotton Mills Museum in Lowell, Liz and I attended the opening night festivities.
Here's the scroll. I took this picture before I found out that I wasn't supposed to photograph it, especially with a flash. The flash didn't cause any additional damage, although I did spill some coffee on it:
I live right in downtown Lowell, MA. During the spring of 2008 Ricky Gervais shot much of his movie, The Invention of Lying (working title, This Side of the Truth), in Massachusetts. Many scenes were shot on location here in Lowell. One weekday Liz and I decided to head down to that day’s location to see if we could spot a movie star. We knew we were getting close when we saw Middle Street lined with trailers. We didn’t see familiar faces around the trailers, but the name on each trailer door was worth the trip.
Out onto Central Street and we found the crew, shooting a scene on the sidewalk. We were directed to cross the street to stay out of the shot, then funneled across to Merrimack Street, where we stood looking back down Central to watch the show. Us and about fifty locals.
We caught sight of Ricky early on. He was both director and lead actor, so he never stopped moving. It was difficult to tell when they were shooting, rehearsing, or changing camera angles. The scene they were shooting involved a lot of movement, so they used a steadicam instead of a stationary camera or a camera atop a tripod or dolly.
We spent a half hour or so watching the bustle of the movie crew.
Aside from Ricky, none of the other actors were around, including Jennifer Garner, Louis C.K., and Rob Lowe.
Why am I mentioning this now, over a year later? Because the trailer for the movie, scheduled for a fall release, just came out. And Lowell is all over this thing. There’s restaurants like the Dubliner and Cobblestones, not to mention the very scene they shot on the sidewalk the day we were there.
Check it out, 18 seconds in:
Okay, that’s not all. Come this Monday, July 6, Hollywood arrives again, this time to film The Fighter, a film directed by David O. Russell, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. According to themovieblog.com, “Wahlberg will play (Micky) Ward, a fighter (from Lowell) who was losing bouts and was ready to hang up the gloves when his brother came back into his life. Bale will play Eklund, whose drugs and robbery spree drew him a 10- to 15-year sentence in state prison. There, he kicked drugs, became a model prisoner and emerged as a changed man who helped his brother reach the glory that eluded him.” I have no idea how much of the movie they’re shooting in town, but it’s always cool to see a movie crew hanging about. Keep track of the shoot here.
Also, check out Liz’s blog post from last year. She talks more about seeing the Ricky Gervais shoot, with additional pics. Plus, she gives you a little history of another film shot in Lowell.
This past weekend Lowell, Massachusetts hosted the first Massachusetts Poetry Festival. When I received a flyer about the event in the mail, I was happy to see fellow Grub Street writer Ann Killough scheduled to appear. Ann and I have taken a few of Ms. X’s classes together where I found her writing incisive, inventive, and profoundly lyrical. She was an enthusiastic participant in the critique discussions and generous and honest in her written comments.
On Saturday I attended her event. She read poetry and participated in the panel discussion Poetry and Our Times, alongside Martin Espada and Richard Hoffman. Conducted at the Whistler House Museum of Art, the hour-long panel (moderated by poet Michael Ansara) was engaging and enlightening. All three poets write with a keen social conscience and moral perspective.
Readings covered the disparate but acquainted topics of apocalyptic visions of George W., social injustice in the courts of Chelsea, the growing migrant class in America, and the idea of country as a metaphor for its condition. Discussions and audience questions touched upon the global financial crisis, America through the eyes of other nations, and the realization that Sarah Palin could conceivably be president of the United States within a year. Literature of ideas and conscience risks crossing into propaganda or didactic rants. But these poets proved that social cause can be rewarding and personally emotional without striking righteous false notes.
It was great to see a festival of any literary pedigree in Lowell. Lowell is home to a vibrant poetry scene and carries its literary history with a fanatical, domineering pride. Who doesn’t know that Lowell is the birthplace of Jack Kerouac? Lucy Larcom met John Greenleaf Whittier in Lowell while he was an editor at a local newspaper. Last summer Lowell hosted Kerouac’s legendary On the Road scroll in an award-winning exhibition. There are parks in Lowell named after Kerouac and Larcom.
On the Road scroll under glass at the Kerouac exhibit: Brew’d Awakening, a Lowell coffee shop, champions local poets with a monthly open mic and poetry slam night and sells chapbooks by local poets. Lowell is also home to small presses and literary journals that emphasize poetry including Bootstrap Press, Shakespeare’s Monkey Revue , and Loom Press.
From all accounts (so far, mine), the Massachusetts Poetry Festival was a success. It was good to reconnect with a fellow writer while seeing Lowell continue to nurture its creative class. Pick up a copy of Ann Killough’s latest chapbook, Beloved Idea. She’ll inscribe it for you if you ask real nice-like.
