|
|
The first edition of Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge by H. Anthony Medley was the fastest selling beginning bridge book, going through more than 10 printings. This updated Second Edition includes some modern advanced bidding systems and conventions, like Two over One, a system used by many modern tournament players, Roman Key Card Blackwood, New Minor Forcing, Reverse Drury, Forcing No Trump, and others. Also included is a detailed Guide to Bids and Responses, along with the most detailed, 12-page Glossary ever published, as well as examples to make learning the game even easier. Click book to order. | |
|
The Fighter (9/10) by Tony Medley Run time 114 minutes. Not for children. What’s amazing about this film, based on the true story of Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his brother Dicky (Christian Bale), is that under the end credits is a film of the real Micky and the real Dicky. Bale is a carbon copy of the real Dicky, even down to his mannerisms. Shot in 33 days in Lowell, Mass., Micky is the younger brother of Dicky, who are the sons of Alice (Melissa Leo), a über-controlling woman who manages her son’s boxing career, poorly. Dicky is a crack cocaine addict who once floored Sugar Ray Leonard. Micky has approximately 7 sisters, all of whom just sit around and expect Micky to support them. It is a family from hell. Micky falls for a bartender, Charlene (Amy Adams), who exerts an influence on Micky to divorce from the strings of his family and go out on his own. I consider boxing an anachronistic remnant from Roman gladiators who fought to the death in front of bloodthirsty crowds. As a result, I detest most movies about boxing. But this isn’t your typical boxing movie. It’s really a character study. Bale gives a once-in-a-lifetime performance as Dicky, and his performance is the one you will remember. But the test of a terrific actor is one who can give a performance that is believable and fits into the story but that you don’t necessarily remember because you don’t realize he is acting. That describes Wahlberg, Adams, and Leo, all of whom deserve awards nominations. For Amy Adams fans, there is a lot more of her displayed in this film than has been seen before. It’s not only her acting that is eye-popping. Tightly directed by David O. Russell from a script (Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson), this captures the gritty atmosphere of lower middle class Massachusetts. Russell succumbed to the temptation of most sports movies of making the sounds of the fights unrealistically loud, which results in one wondering how anybody can stand up after being hit by just one of the blows that sound so devastating. In real life, boxers don’t make these kinds of sounds. That’s a minor criticism that is applicable to almost all sports movies, and it’s not enough to detract from the excellence of this film, which is clearly one of the best of the year regardless of how you feel about boxing.
|
||
