After the Christmas binge Hugh Jackman makes working out a family affair
After spending the Christmas period with a house
crowded with his extended family, it would be unsurprising if Hugh Jackman were
to head off to the gym for some alone time.But it seems the Hollywood actor
can't get enough of his relatives, inviting them to join him for a post-binge
workout today. The actor, his mother-in-law Faye Duncan and his wife Deborra Lee
Furness all pulled on their exercise gear as they headed to the gym in
Melbourne, Australia.
With Wolverine star Hugh in charge of the workout, it's sure to have been a
challenging one. Hugh, 42, and Deborra are staying with her parents over the
Christmas break on the Mornington Peninsula. The couple and Oscar, ten, and
five-year-old Ava, normally live in New York, where the children attend school.
But the Jackmans regularly return home to their native Australia to ensure their
children know their friends and family. Hugh was looking slightly heavier than
usual this morning, perhaps as a result of his recent run of accidents.
Earlier this month the actor dramatically zip-wired onto the set of the Oprah
Winfrey show when it visited Sydney. But the stunt went wrong and he ended up
with a nasty cut to his eye which needed stitches. Then a Boxing Day cricket
match, in which he took on Shane Warne, saw him take a direct hit to the groin
when the legendary cricketer bowled what is known as a wrong'un. And days before
Christmas Hugh received an accidental kick in the back from daughter Ava, as she
played on a swing set.
Real Steel, Hugh Jackman And Why We Like To Watch Men Punch Each Other In The Head
Screenwriter: “Hugh Jackman is a former boxer
and robot boxing promoter, reluctantly convinced to train a championship
contender.”
Producer: “Why does he need to be a robot?”
Screenwriter: “No, he promotes robot boxing.”
Producer: “Oh, well that's OK then.”
That's probably how the pitch for the upcoming Hugh Jackman film, Real Steel,
went. Jackman (who, as Tim has pointed out to me, has the best pornstar name of
any non porn actor) stars as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter turned small
time robot boxing promoter.
I'm no Hollywood type, but when I saw this trailer, I thought: “Man is this
movie going to bomb.” Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of boxing (and robot
fighting) on the big screen as much as the next man. If there was a robot fight
happening down the road, shit yeah I'd go and see it. But as a boxing fan, the
whole premise rang hollow. Not just because it's Hugh Jackman, though it is kind
of hard to think of The Boy from Oz as an former pugilist. And not just because
it's a movie about a boxing promoter (though they made one about Don King and
I'd probably go to see Bob Arum: The Musical starring Brian Dennehy as Bob).
Real Steel doesn't feel right because robot boxing just wouldn't be enjoyable.
As I said before, hell yes, you'd go and check it out once or twice; especially
if it was in some crazy futuristic arena where everybody gets a floating
platform, as the trailer seems to suggest will be the case.
But violence between machines simply doesn't have the same appeal as violence
between men. That's why we watch boxing every weekend, and not robosaurus
(though maybe you watch both, I'm not sure).
Thinking about this fact led me to think some half-arsed deep thoughts about the
nature of our sport. The truth is, we all watch boxing to see people get hurt.
Yes, the level of skill on show is often amazing, but it's a secondary
consideration.
Boxing's drama is the boxer's pain. His power and his vulnerability. In the best
fights, both men hurt each other. In the worst, one man cannot hurt his rival or
both refuse to hurt each other. Many of us dislike the Klitschkos, not because
the heavyweight duo doesn't hurt people, but because their style rules out the
possibility of being hurt themselves.
It's not just boxing fans. Bone-crunching slow motion replays are the highlight
of many people's football watching experience. Fights in hockey are almost part
of the game. Soccer fans create their own violence to compensate for the lack of
it on the pitch.
Not to mention that the behind the scenes human drama is a huge part of boxing
fandom. Think of the recent focus on the death of Michael Katsidis' brother,
Anthony and Lamont Peterson sleeping in cars as young men or Manny Pacquiao's
escape from poverty.
Robots just couldn't provide that (I find it hard to believe that I just typed
that sentence). Though there did seem to be a touching sequence (possibly taken
from a montage) in the trailer of Hugh Jackman teaching a robot to throw a left
hook.
Maybe all this says something about human nature. Maybe not. I'm just a boxing
writer. Will the movie tank? Who knows. Movies with worse looking trailers have
done well at the box office. Maybe Hugh Jackman attracts a huge female audience,
I don't know.
Moreover, I didn't know it when I watched the trailer, but the screenplay is
loosely based on Steel, a 1956 short story by Richard Matheson (which was later
made into an episode of The Twighlight Zone). Not to mention that Steven
Spielberg is producing. So they're pluses.
If there's one good thing about the rise of MMA, it's that it demonstrates that
boxing isn't going to get banned any time soon. Besides, I liked robots much
better when they were gay.
'Dark Tower' Casting Rumors: Viggo Mortensen, Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig & Jon Hamm
It was eight months ago that we first heard that
director Ron Howard, writer Akiva Goldsman and producer Brian Grazer had
acquired the rights to Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' and were planning an
ambitious multi-platform adaptation of the seven-book series that would span
three films and two seasons of television. After much speculation as to what a
Howard-directed fantasy epic would look like, plus the wringing of sweaty,
fanboy hands over the potential quality of such an endeavor, the LA Times has an
excellent "first look" of sorts at the current status of the project.
As the headline suggests, a series of names are thrown about for the role of
Roland Deschain, a wandering Gunslinger who goes on an epic quest across
multiple dimensions to reach the fabled Dark Tower and save the universe from
destruction, and Howard doesn't shoot any of them down: Viggo Mortensen, Hugh
Jackman, Daniel Craig and John Hamm.
Casting rumors aside, the original article is
quite a read, especially for fans of the series who must be scratching heir
heads as to how they can possibly pull this thing off, particularly in regards
to the last few books which just get, well, weird. As in unadaptable weirdness.
As in "There is no way this conclusion could ever work in a film" weird. (Fans
are still debating over whether or not the final stretch of the series even
works at all). Heck, the sprawling, mythic story already defeated director JJ
Abrams and writer Damon Lindelof, who should know a thing or two about weirdness
after their work on 'Lost.'
Howard directly addresses the difficulty in adapting the series and his thoughts
can be boiled down to one simple statement:
And you know what? He's right. A filmed version of 'The Dark Tower' will never be able to encapsulate everything about the books and there are more than enough moments in the series that simply don't feel particularly cinematic (particularly a controversial ending that feels stunningly anti-climactic after seven books of build-up). Stripping down the story and making it about a group of characters on an epic quest and sidestepping the metatextual subplots that permeate the second half of the series will be the only way for a film version to even begin to function.
Although Howard doesn't seem like the first
choice for this series, his enthusiasm feels palpable in this article. The
strongest endorsement for this take comes from Stephen King himself:
"I've been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in
these books to film and TV viewers around the world. Ron, Akiva, Brian along
with Universal and NBC have a deep interest and passion for the 'The Dark Tower'
series and I know that will translate into an intriguing series of films and TV
shows that respect the origins and the characters in 'The Dark Tower' that fans
have come to love."
So keep yourselves optimistic, ladies and gentlemen. The project still hasn't
even received and official green light from Universal, which means we've got a
long wait ahead -- and it's better to wait in anticipation rather than dread.