ECLECTIC MEANDERINGS ON BOOKS, PULPS, NOIR, '60S SPY SERIES, SOUNDTRACKS, JAZZ, THE RAT PACK, THE LOUNGE LIFE, Y/A NOVELS, COMICS, AND ANYTHING ELSE OF MILD AMUSEMENT . . .
ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES OF THE YEAR ... EXCELLENT ACTING (ESPECIALLY TOM HARDY) ... NICK NOLTE WILL BE OVERLOOKED FOR A BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR NOMINEE, BUT HE DESERVES ONE ... AVAILABLE ON DVD AND BLU-RAY DECEMBER 20TH. IT'S ON MY CHRISTMAS LIST ...
THE WESTERN PULP LEGEND OF CASH LARAMIE CONTINUES TO GROW . . . HERE'S THE WORD FROM CREATOR DAVID CRANMER . . .
I think the secret is out of the bag that some top writers like Wayne D. Dundee, Chuck Tyrell, Heath Lowrance, and Nik Morton are writing Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles stories. I couldn't be more thrilled with the excellent work I've read from these authors... it's as if they've crept into my mind and delivered stories that one would expect from these characters that I've become quite fond of.
First up will be a Gideon Miles novella by Heath Lowrance called Miles To Little Ridge, which is in the final proofing stage as we speak.
CHECK OUT THE FIRST TWO VOLUMES OF CASH LARAMIE YARNS BELOW . . .
Combine six of the finest fantasy authors working in the genre today: Mike Resnick and Brad R. Torgersen, Jay Lake, Mel Odom, J.M. McDermott, and Cat Rambo, and mix in veteran editor and New York Times best-selling author Philip Athans, and what comes out is the Fathomless Abyss: a wild new fantasy world where the laws of physics only work against you, there’s no way out, and time means nothing.
This is the world of the Fathomless Abyss, a bottomless pit that opens who-knows-when onto who-knows-where, just long enough for new people from a thousand different worlds and a million different times to fall in and join the fight for survival in place where the slightest misstep means an everlasting fall into eternity.
Tales from the Fathomless Abyss features six new short stories, and it’s only the beginning. From here, each author will branch out to spin a series of new books sharing this impossible, explosive, infinite setting.
Your fall into the Fathomless Abyss begins here.
“At the heart of it, science fiction and fantasy authors are at play in the fields of wonder, fueled by “what if” and held hostage by the people, places and problems that populate our wacky, slightly-offset imaginations and spill out of us in Story. And if you love Story, you’re in for a solid meal here. And this is just the appetizer. Over the next few months, the real meal begins as the individual titles make their way into the world.” - Ken Scholes, from his introduction.
Lipsyte is a self-described accidental sportswriter, but aside from his sports reporting he has written four boxing novels that are standards of Y/A fiction – emotionally involving, heart-felt, flat-out great reads . . .
THE CONTENDER
Before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender.
Alfred Brooks is scared. He's a highschool dropout and his grocery store job is leading nowhere. His best friend is sinking further and further into drug addiction. Some street kids are after him for something he didn't even do.
So, Alfred begins going to Donatelli's Gym, a boxing club in Harlem that has trained champions. There he learns it's the effort, not the win, that makes the man – that last desperate struggle to get back on your feet when you thought you were down for the count.
THE BRAVE
Sonny's been an outsider all his life.
He has never fit into either world: the Moscondagas on the Reservation see him as white; whites see him as Indian. So far, Sonny's managed to harness his anger – what he calls "the monster" – in the boxing ring. But Sonny wants out of the Res. He's headed for New York City, where nobody can tell him what to do.
Sonny doesn't count on stepping into the middle of a drug war when he gets there – or on tangling with a tough Harlem boxer-turned-cop named Alfred Brooks. Brooks seems to think that Sonny's got the talent to make it to the top – to be a contender. But first Sonny's got to learn to be smart, take control of his life, and beat the monster. Only it isn't as easy as it sounds...
WARRIOR ANGEL
Sonny Bear is a champion . . . but he needs the help of an angel.
Sonny Bear, the Tomahawk Kid, is on a fast downhill slide with the heavyweight championship at stake. He hardly knows who he is anymore, or why he should keep on fighting.
Then the first e-mail arrives.
“Do not lose heart. I come on a Mission from the Creator to save you.” – Warrior Angel
The Warrior Angel might be just what Sonny Bear needs – but will Sonny be prepared to save him, too?
THE CHIEF
A fight for his people.
Sonny Bear, the Tomahawk Kid, has a championship left hook. But his boxing career's going nowhere, and he's ready to hang it up.
Then his manager, tough ex-cop Alfred Brooks, and his "writer," college boy Martin Malcolm Witherspoon, scheme Sonny into a glitzy Las Vegas match. Suddenly he's everybody's darling and headed for Hollywood stardom.
But fame isn't all it's cracked up to be, and Sonny needs to make the fight of his life to decide where he really belongs.
THE ICONIC MCQUEEN – ALWAYS COOLER THAN COOL – IN SHOTS FROM LIFE MAGAZINE – LOOKING A LOT LIKE I IMAGINED FELONY FLYNN WOULD . . .
ABOVE: PARAMOUNT'S NEW HEAVYWEIGHT . . .
McQueen works out at the gym at Paramount Pictures, for whom he was making the movie Love With the Proper Stranger opposite Natalie Wood. Perhaps a signal of their confidence that he was the next big thing, Paramount's suits also gave McQueen a plum dressing room on the lot: one that belonged to Gary Cooper.
AN AMAZING MIXED MARTIAL ARTS NOVEL . . . SECOND ONLY TO ONE OF MY FAVORITE NOVELS OF THE YEAR, SUCKERPUNCH BY JEREMY BROWN . . .
Cal and his trainer, Riley, are on their way to Mexico for a make-or-break rematch with legendary fighter Rivera. Four years ago, Cal became the only mixed martial arts fighter to take Rivera the distance -- but the fight nearly ended him. Only Riley, who has been at his side for the last ten years, knows how much that fight changed things for Cal. And only Riley really knows what's now at stake, for both of them.
Katie Kitamura's brilliant and stirring debut novel follows Cal and Riley through the three fraught days leading up to this momentous match, as each privately begins to doubt that Cal can win. As the tension builds toward the final electrifying scene, the looming fight becomes every challenge each of us has ever taken on, no matter how uncertain the outcome.
In hypnotic, pared-down prose, The Longshot offers a striking portrait of two men striving to stay true to themselves and each other in the only way they know how.
During the early 1960s, Italy was gripped by a new craze: adult comic books, known as fumetti neri, which pushed out the boat in terms of sex and violence. Characters such as Diabolik, Kriminal and Sadik became household names, not least because of repeated concerns voiced about their dubious morality in the conservative press. And film producers, never slow to spot a trend, quickly leapt on the bandwagon.
Fantastikal, Diabolikal Supermen is the first ever English language book to cover the curious genre that resulted. As well as including detailed reviews of over 30 films, from better known titles like Diabolik to obscurities such as The Devil’s Man and Three Supermen of the West, it also examines them in the light of the wider Italian film industry at the time, detailing how the cine-fumetti related to other trends such as Eurospy films and Spaghetti Westerns.
Featuring relevant excerpts from interviews with the actors and directors concerned and lavishly illustrated with numerous lobby cards, photos and posters, this is an invaluable reference guide to an otherwise ignored and forgotten cinematic phenomenon.
FEATURING CHRIS F. HOLM, CHARLES GRAMLICH, GARNETT ELLIOTT, AND CHAD EAGLETON
I’VE BEEN NEGLIGENT IN GETTING THE WORD OUT ON THIS GEM, HOPING FOR A VERSION DIRECT FROM AMAZON, BUT THE SMASHWORDS VERSION IS STILL A DELIGHT . . .
Dr. Robert Berlin has created The Baryon Core, a powerful device with the ability to predict the future and retrodict the past by tracking the position and vector of every particle in the universe. Berlin swipes his own creation from The Company and disappears into history. The Company's time-cop Simon Rip and the sexy, brilliant Dr. Serena Ludwig join together to track Berlin and return the device. Their pursuit will take them back to the ice age and forward to the end of time.
A Rip through Time follows the time-cop's travels in a series of five short stories written by several of today's top pulp writers. Chris F. Holm opens the collection with the fast-paced "The Dame, the Doctor and the Device." Charles A. Gramlich's "Battles, Broadswords, and Bad Girls" and Garnett Elliott's "Chaos in the Stream" breath new life into the time travel story. Bringing the saga to a gripping conclusion in "Darkling in the Eternal Space" is Chad Eagleton, who then takes it a step further with a mesmerizing coda, "The Final Painting of Hawley Exton." And for all the time-traveling enthusiasts, Ron Scheer provides an insightful essay, "Are We Then Yet," which explores the mechanics of time travel in popular fiction.
MATTHEW HOLNES GIVES US A SPOT ON SPOOF OF THE VIGILANTE MEN'S ADVENTURE PAPERBACKS OF THE '70s AND '80s – THE REPRISALIZER – ALONG WITH HIS VIOLENT EDGE-STYLE WESTERN COUNTERPART – KIRK DRAW . . . ALL BY THE PSEUDONYMOUS TERRY FINCH . . .
THE REPRISALIZER
TERRY FINCH
Bob shuter – a human whirlwind. Waging one-man war against The Business. Blasting Thanet’s underworld apart in a hail of .38 slugs – a vigilante whose war of vengeance is brutal. No gangster, no punk, no red tape will stop . . . The Reprisalizer!
SOUNDS LIKE A SLIGHTLY SANER VERSION OF LEE GOLDBERG'S VIGILANTE .357 SERIES . . .
THE PROBLEM IS IF HOLNES ACTUALLY TURNED THESE CHARACTERS INTO BOOKS, I'D READ THEM . . .
Nashville Private Investigator Jared McKean has a son with Down Syndrome, a best friend with AIDS, an ex-wife he can't seem to fall out of love with, and a weakness for women in jeopardy – until one frames him for murder.
His DNA and fingerprints are found at the murder scene. His voice is on the victim's answering machine. A man of his height and build was seen leaving the scene of the crime, and the victim was killed by a bullet from his gun. To further complicate matters, his teen-age nephew has just come out of the closet and run away to join a dangerous fringe of the Goth subculture. Now Jared must find a way to hold his family together, clear his name, and solve a case that could cost him his life.
AN ONGOING SERIES HIGHLIGHTING POSSIBLY DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH E-BOOKS BY RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AUTHORS, FOUND WHILE CRUISING THE E-BOOK SHELVES ON AMAZON WITH PRICES MAKING THEM WORTH TAKING A CHANCE ON . .
TODAY’S FIND . . . COP STUFF!
A DETAILED MAN
DAVID SWINSON
KINDLE EDITION $2.99
I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS AHEAD OF PUBLICATION . . . IT’S A GREAT SLICE-OF-COP-LIFE SEEN FROM SOMEBODY WHOSE BEEN ON THE INSIDE . . . A GREAT READ . . .
Half of DC Police Detective Ezra Simeon’s face is immobilized from a persistent case of Bell’s Palsy—he must drink through a straw and eat carefully to avoid chewing through his own cheek. He has been detailed from robbery to the cold case department while he heals.
“How odd to dream with one eye open, like having one foot in reality,” Sim muses in the dark, bluesy vein that is typical of his Chandler-esque narration. “That’s what makes dreaming dangerous and why I moved my gun farther from the bed.”
Detective Simeon’s half-frozen world begins to heat up when a friend from his Academy days drops dead of a heart attack, and Sim is tapped to replace him, detailed now to homicide, where he inherits the high-profile case of a murdered escort he alone thinks may be the victim of a serial killer.
PRAISE FOR A DETAILED MAN
"A relentless tour of DCs most crime-ridden streets,with many beautifully written surprises, and darker than the deepest noir." ~ Madison Smartt Bell
"David Swinson grabs you by the scruff of the neck and never lets you go. With clean, tight, enticing writing, Swinson provides authentic detail about Washington, D.C. and some of its crime-flush neighborhoods. He also captures perfectly the jaded attitude of a veteran cop in the big city." ~ Alan Lengel, editor of ticklethewire.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Swinson spent the 1980s as a punk rock music promoter and film producer, booking acts like Social Distortion and the Red Hot Chili Peppers into clubs and producing spoken word events with Hunter S. Thompson, John Waters and Jim Carroll. He produced the cult classic film Roadside Prophets, starring John Doe of X and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys. In 1994, Swinson returned to his hometown of Washington DC and joined the police force, where he worked robbery, homicide and narcotics and became one of the city’s most decorated detectives. A Detailed Man is Swinson’s first novel.
INTRODUCTION BY DAVE CREDICOTT EDITED BY JOHN LOCKE / ROB PRESTON
OFF-TRAIL PUBLICATIONS ~ NOW AVAILABLE!
For the first time, we’re able to offer a complete pulp career in a single volume. Richard Credicott’s first story appeared in October 1929, unlucky timing indeed. Over the next few years, he struggled to make the pulp racket pay. His best work appeared in the gang pulps and ranks with the very best to be found there, wildly entertaining stories of mob mayhem and intrigue. His specialty was the molls, the tough chicks who gave the ultra-violent gangster life the touch of spice that made it all worthwhile.
This volume includes all eighteen of Richard Credicott’s stories, published from 1929-33, in Mobs, The Underworld, Racketeer Stories, Gangland Stories, Detective-Dragnet, Dime Detective, and others. Included is a complete biography of Credicott’s life and writing career, offering rare insights into the ups and downs of the pulp-magazine world of the early Depression.
Until this time, there were no known living relatives of any of the gang-pulp authors. In fact, it’s exceedingly difficult to discover even the most basic information about this mostly obscure group. Therefore, it was a complete surprise and an unexpected privilege to meet Richard’s son, Dave Credicott, who enthusiastically provided an introduction to this volume, counterpointing the history with reminiscences of his father.
All of which makes this volume a unique contribution to pulp history.
This week on the show, Koop tells us about the Hukilau for next year, gives us swank advice on Christmas music, and news on a Howard Hughes Picture due out next year. In Review, Koop takes on a book on the Havana Mob in Cuba in the fifties.
PLAYLIST
Lushy ~ French 75 Wynton Marsalis ~ The Cat In The Hat is Back Mr Ho’s Orchestrotica ~ Maika George Shearing ~ East Of The Sun Crazed Mugs ~ Maround on a Desert Island Jack Jones ~ The Impossible Dream Linda Lawson ~ Like Young Jimmy Vargas ~ A Blue Negligee Nestor Amaral and His Continentals ~ Tico Tico Karen Souza ~ Do You Really Want To Hurt Me Dante And His Orchestra ~ I Fall In Love With You Everyday Jackie Gleason ~ Lonely Is The Name
Billy Miske: The St. Paul Thunderbolt is Clay Moyle's second biography and a worthy successor to his critically acclaimed tome concerning the life and career of Sam Langford.
Hall of fame boxer Billy Miske was arguably the most courageous and inspirational figure in boxing history, and his story is long overdue. During a career that was impeded and cut short as a result of his ongoing battle with a terminal illness, Billy fought a number of the greatest fighters who ever lived, including the likes of Jack Dillon, Harry Greb and Jack Dempsey.
The thrilling details and stories surrounding those fights and those of many other ring legends are all here, brought back to life for the reader to enjoy. The books goes far beyond simply chronicling Miske's career, but provides the reader with an in-depth view of a number of the sport's greatest contests and one of the more remarkable periods in boxing history.
Miske's courage and perseverance in the face of his impending death, and his personal sacrifice to provide his family with one last Christmas to remember him by, will tug at your heartstrings and leave you with an indellible image of the man.
Modern noir is a bit more difficult to define than classic noir. Modern noir has all the trappings of its predecessor, but the focus appears to be more on the violence than simple tension . . . modern noir shows with blood and pain the consequences of travelling the dark highway, not just the mental anguish associated with noir from the past.
While the origins of modern noir can be traced to Derek Raymond’s Factory novels, author Ken Bruen has seamlessly continue the tradition becoming one of the dark stars of the genre – more on him later.
Modern noir has also travelled away from its tradition American settings, with the grimier parts of Ireland and England established as the mean streets of choice.
I recently saw a small independent feature film, The Guard, and was blown away by the dirty, twisted little story of a man corrupt by the standards of others, yet ultimately heroic by his own measure . . . and this is the key to modern noir, even more than the precedents set by violence – a moral code based on that of the individual, not that of a weak mainstream society.
Another film, London Boulevard, is due to break on American shores. Based on Ken Bruen’s book of the same name, London Boulevard, looks to be another hard-hitting crime film in the tradition of Get Carter, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, and Layer Cake – bad men pushed by worse men to the depths of their capacity for violence.
However, it’s the source material for London Boulevard, Bruen’s novel, that truly displays the trappings of modern noir. Bruen’s use of language, dialect, and literary stylings deliver a different experience, at first uncomfortable, but eventually all consuming.
The plot, as in most modern noir offerings, is deceptively simple: A hard man released from prison choses to turn his back on his past, but there are those who will not leave well enough alone, eventually pushing the anti-hero to lash back with the force of an unleashed maniac.
LONDON BOULEVARD
KEN BRUEN
Mitchell is finally free after a stint in prison for assault. A crony offers him a job as a loan-shark enforcer, and though Mitchell isn't crazy about the idea, he doesn't have any better offers. He's perfect for the job - mean and merciless. But he's also got another, softer side: he's an avid reader of crime novels, he's a loyal friend, and he'd even like to get married one day if he can find the right woman.
He figures his luck might have changed when he lands a legitimate job as a handyman for a rich actress who's eager to reward him with cash, cars, and sex. Then he meets Aisling – smart, beautiful, and, best of all, as crazy about Mitchell as he is about her.
But Mitchell can never truly escape his violent past or the dangerous world of loan sharks, druggies, and other bottomfeeders. When an arrogant error in judgment threatens everything that's dear to Mitchell, he plots his own ghastly form of revenge on those who've stolen his life.
London Boulevard takes its cue from 1950’s Sunset Boulevard, transporting the shared plot angles to the dark underbelly of London, where Bruen populates his tale with characters who are recognizably human, yet are defined as bad or worse by either a partial or total lack of empathy.
Bruen’s prose beats across the page with staccato stylings, which like be-bop jazz takes a while to find the heart and flow, but is ultimately rewarding as the reader moves through Bruen’s world of modern noir. There is the dense and oppressive atmosphere of old cigarettes, cheap alcohol, and seedy lives of traditional noir, yet there is also the lurking violence and ambivalent moral compass of modern noir trappings – all building to a read that pushes the reader to challenge his own standards.
Bruen may not be a household name yet, but as his dark, modern noir vision of the world continues to be discovered (more of his work has been optioned for film), he will no doubt find himself among the pantheon of great crime writers.
AN ONGOING SERIES HIGHLIGHTING POSSIBLY DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH E-BOOKS BY RELATIVELY UNKNOWN AUTHORS, FOUND WHILE CRUISING THE E-BOOK SHELVES ON AMAZON WITH PRICES MAKING THEM WORTH TAKING A CHANCE ON . .
TODAY’S FIND . . . NOIR / PULP!
DIG TWO GRAVES
ERIC BEETNER
KINDLE EDITION $2.99
Dig Two Graves is a novella-length piece about Val, an ex-con who thinks he has figured out the trick to continuing his bank robbing life without ever getting caught. Except then he gets caught.
It’s not his plan that backfires, oh no. There’s a rat somewhere and Val is pretty damn sure who it is – Ernesto, his prison lover who has joined him on the outside as his partner in bank robbery.
Val stalks the city night on the hunt for Ernesto to exact revenge for breaking the ultimate criminal code: you don’t rat out a partner.
Along the way Val wrestles with his feelings for another man. Was it a prison infatuation born out of necessity? Or is it something more? And which makes the betrayal sting worse?
Populated by small time losers and petty crooks, Dig Two Graves is tough and stripped down like a fight without gloves. The humor is strictly from the gallows and the pace is relentless, plowing through one furious night like burning hate coursing through veins.
LATER THIS MONTH, WRITING AS JACK TUNNEY, ERIC GIVES US THE THIRD ENTRY IN THE FIGHT CARD SERIES, SPLIT DECISION . . .
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS NOVEL, BUT IT CAN'T POSSIBLY LIVE UP TO THE AMAZING OPENING . . . OR THE COOL COVER . . .
Dan Baldwin knew how it felt to wake up in the gutter- coming to in the desert was much more frightening. — "I open my eyes, focus them, then let out the god-damnedest, loudest, most terrified nerve-grinding croak in my life! Standing on my outstretched arm, talons dug deep into my skin, is the ugliest most repulsive, horrifying monster of a vulture I have ever seen! Its beak is sunk into my biceps, and it is shaking its head viciously, attempting to rip off the flesh!"
Dan Baldwin's life was a mess- and it looked as if his death would be one, too.
A cursory check of the Internet quickly turns up a ring-full of listings for Top 10 Boxing Films, most of which are as predictable as the fate of a Rocky opponent.
Virtually all start with The Professional, The Harder They Fall, and Fat City and end with Rocky, Million-Dollar Baby, and Raging Bull. The four films in-between may vary slightly, leaning either toward noir (The Set-Up), the maudlin (The Champ), or the politically correct (Hurricane) – rarely do they even consider the inspiring.
I love the Rocky films – yes, all of them, even Rocky V – because when I walk out of the theater or pop one out of the DVD, I feel great – I feel . . . inspired! Despite the predictability, I am always carried away from the mundane and made to feel, whatever my problems are, I can punch my way through. Okay, okay, so the feeling is ridiculous. I don’t care. I crave the effect like an inspiration junkie.
Million Dollar Baby is a great film – one of my all-time favorites – but it is less about boxing and more about the moral dilemma faced by characters dealing with tragic consequences. It was an amazing short story (from the collection Rope Burns by F. X, Toole) and an amazing film. It made you think – something most films, let alone boxing films, don’t want you to do. It inspired, but in a different way than the blatantly feel-good Rocky films.
For me, Raging Bull is an overrated boxing movie – overshadowed by DeNiro’s foul-mouthed performance. I appreciated the acting, but I came away ultimately depressed – not the effect I want from my favorite genre of film.
For me a boxing film doesn’t have to always end with a Rockyesque flair, but there needs to be an ultimate triumph. The Professional and Fat City are good films, but are complete downers in their attempt to show the fight game in a realistic light. Who wants realistic? Not me . . . I go to the movies to be entertained.
So, while I appreciate the movies on most top ten boxing films lists, I want to go beyond those usual pugilists and take a look at a top ten list of boxing films that ‘coulda been’ contenders . . . boxing flicks that entertain and inspire in the same way the Rocky series does . . .
Let’s be clear – After thirty-five years “on the job,” I’ve never seen a cop movie or television series that comes anywhere near real life. Doctors of my acquaintance start to hyperventilate at the mere mention of an episode of House or ER. Things aren’t any different with boxing films.
The films on my list are not going to please or satisfy boxing purists – but that’s not their reason for being. As long as I can ‘suspend my disbelief’ over the fight scenes, if they are choreographed well, and look cool . . . I’m happy.
Also, since I don’t want to have to argue with myself, the following films are listed by release date rather than personal preference.
BISH’S ALTERNATE TOP TEN BOXING FILMS
1. KID GALAHAD – 1962
ELVIS PRESLEY / GIG YOUNG / LOLA ALBRIGHT / CHARLES BRONSON
In what is often rated as one of his best films, immortal heartthrob Elvis Presley stars as Walter Gulick, an ex-G.I. who returns to his rustic hometown in upstate New York looking to work as an auto mechanic.
Circumstances cause Walter to intercede on a lady's behalf, decking one of the top fighters in shady promoter Willy Grogan’s stable. Grogan, knowing talent when he sees it, ropes the ambitions, but naïve, Walter into taking a shot in a legitimate ring. With his loyal trainer, Lew Nyack, at his side, the iron-jawed, anvil-fisted Elvis quickly becomes the top-drawing champion "Kid Galahad."
When the mob (inevitably) tries to muscle in on the action, the cool-headed fighter is forced to pull no punches in the ultimate bout to protect his honor and his dreams.
For this role, Presley was tutored in the arts of pugilism by former world junior welterweight champ Mushy Callahan, who appeared in the film. The reigning welterweight champion Orlando De La Fuente also appeared in the film as Ramon "Sugar Boy" Romero.
Elvis’ voice gives the romantic soundtrack a kick, and his performance as a fighter is pretty good. Yes, it’s an Elvis film, and, yes, it’s sappy, but it’s also fun. A knockout hit for the entire family.
2. HARD TIMES – 1975
CHARLES BRONSON / JAMES COBURN / JILL IRELAND /STROTHER MARTIN
Hard Times was the perfect vehicle for the craggy-faced Charles Bronson, here paired up with his Magnificent Seven co-star James Coburn, in Walter Hill’s directorial debut and first fistic masterpiece.
Bronson inhabits the character of Chaney like a second skin, playing the taciturn, ageing (Bronson was fifty-four at the time of filming), 1930's depression bareknuckle boxer as a man literally fighting to make ends meet.
Coburn is Speed, the fast-talking wheeler-dealer manager with gambling issues. And Strother Martin is pitch perfect as the cutman, Poe, a direct descendant of Edgar Allan.
1930s New Orleans is as bleak and harsh as the depression itself. Bronson knows his body will betray him soon, but until then, he figures to let his fists do the talking – and they speak very loudly.
Bronson is one of my cinematic heroes. The Magnificent Seven, Mr. Majestic, The Mechanic, Death Wish, and many others … Hard Times tops them all.
3. THE CONTENDER – 1979
MARC SINGER / MOSES GUNN / KATHERINE CANNON
Originally a five-part miniseries, The Contender was also made available as a pared-down feature film.
Better known as The Beastmaster and for his role in the television show V: The Series, Marc Singer is perfectly cast as Johnny Captor – an amateur boxer from Coos Bay, Oregon, with Olympic aspirations.
When his dad commits suicide, Johnny decides to forego his college studies and amateur status in order to support his mom and brother by boxing professionally.
Moses Gunn costars as Captor's trainer George Beifus, who vicariously relives his own glory days in the ring through Johnny. Katherine Cannon is the obligatory girl friend who hates boxing and wants Johnny to quit.
Guided by Beifus – a former prizefighter who believes Johnny will be the next "great white hope" – the series follows Johnny as he struggles to become a world champion.
The Contender ran on the CBS TV in 1980. Hard to find, but worth tracking down.
4. STREETS OF GOLD – 1986
KLAUS MARIA BRANDAUER / ADRIAN PASDAR / WESLEY SNIPES
This little gem about redemption and vindication still resonates with me. It is an excellent portrayal of the underdog going for glory.
The fight scenes are more realistic than most, which doesn’t give them quite the pop of other more dramatic boxing movie fight scenes, but they still work because the viewer is aware of the realism being sought.
Brandauer is Alek, an immigrant from the Soviet Union. A talented boxer in his day, he was kept off the Soviet Olympic team because he was a Jew. Once a national hero, he is now a dishwasher in the Russian immigrant conclave of Brighton Beach in the Bronx, he is angry and depressed.
Walking the streets one night Alek sees street fighting Roland (Snipes) in a brawl. Afterward, Alek gives Roland an unwanted boxing lesson. This is seen by Timothy Boyle (Pasdar) who later seeks out Alek to train him.
A feud develops between Roland and Boyle, which is only partially resolved when Alek agrees to train them both.
And what are they fighting for? A spot on the American team set to take on a Russian boxing squad.
Okay, you can see the final fight being set up even as you read this. It doesn’t matter. The complications leading toward vindication for the fighters and redemption for their trainer all drop comfortably into place, but you know you’re going to be there when the final punch is thrown and somebody hits the canvas.
5. THE POWER OF ONE – 1992
STEPHEN DORFF / MORGAN FREEMAN
From the director of Rocky and The Karate Kid, comes an almost unheard of movie based on a truly inspirational book by Bryce Courtney.
Seen through the prism of Apartheid, The Power of One uses boxing (and some astounding African scenery) as a journey for the human spirit, following one young man's perilous quest to unite men from all races.
The themes of the film have their political detractors (the ‘great white hope’ saves the indigenous peoples), but I wasn’t concerned with the politics. I was concerned and involved with the story of P. K., an orphan outsider in Africa – even among white South Africans because of his English birthright – who uses his fists to rise above incredible abuse. Along the way he unites an entire country and honors the man (Morgan Freeman) who trained him.
See the movie if you can find it, but put the book at the top of your must read list.
6. GIRLFIGHT – 2000
MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ / SANTIAGO DOUGLAS
A smoldering, Brando channeling, Michelle Rodriguez had her breakout role as Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who gets control of her aggression by training to become a boxer. She, of course, does this in spite of the skepticism of her abusive father and the prospective trainers in the male-dominated sport.
First-time director/writer Karyn Kusama earns her chops through the compelling unfolding of events as Diane, a scowling lightning rod for sudden violence, discovers a sense of personal grace in boxing. The discipline demanded in the ring inevitably transfers into Diane’s daily life as she fights back against her difficult circumstances.
This is Rodriguez’ film right from the start. She is absolutely believable as a female boxer, in a time before women were recognized as legitimate contenders in the sport.
Rodriguez’s commanding presence makes even the Rocky-like implausibility of the film’s climatic battle work as Rodriquez/Diana is thrown into the ring against a male opponent with whom she is romantically entangled.
Girlfight is straightforward and familiar, but it was clearly made with a sense of passion and pride in the uncharted territory it represented for women at the time. Girlfight is engaging and even touching.
7. UNDISPUTED – 2002
WESLEY SNIPES / VING RHAMES / PETER FALK
After Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was sent to prison for rape, this film became inevitable.
A high-concept movie pitch if there ever was one: The heavyweight champion of the world gets sent to prison for rape (how close to the Tyson case could they get) where he squares off against the man who ‘coulda been a contender.’
Directed by action maven Walter Hill, Undisputed is a suspenseful boxing drama with great action sequences and well defined characters. The film plays far better than the exploitive plotline on which it is based.
Hill’s self-proclaimed love of boxing is constantly in evidence as Monroe (Snipes) faces down James Iceman Chambers (Rhames) in a boxing match to determine who is the best, while an elderly mobster (Falk) pulls the strings to control a warden who doesn’t want the final match to take place.
Scenery chewing is rampant, but so it should be – this is over the top, mano-a-mano, last man standing fisticuffs of the first order.
Undisputed didn’t score a knockout at the box office, but it became a big enough cult hit to spawn two sequels.
And here is the beautiful and surprising final punch: Both Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and Undisputed III: Redemption are both worth watching for fight movie fans.
8. BLACK CLOUD – 2004
EDDIE SPEARS / RUSSELL MEANS / JULIA JONES
“The Will Of A Warrior. The Heart Of A Champion.” With a tag line like that, you know I’m going to be in the movie theater opening night.
Written by Ricky Schroder (yes, that Ricky Schroder, the kid from The Champ all grown up), Black Cloud, is an inspirational story about a young Navajo, Native American boxer, who overcomes personal challenges as he comes to terms with his heritage, while fighting his way for a spot on the US Olympic boxing team.
Black Cloud (Eddie Spears) is the name of the young Navajo man, who must take a journey of personal growth (is there any other kind?) to prepare himself for a chance at boxing in the Olympics.
There is a lot of culture clashing as Black Cloud lives up to his name before understanding his personal silver lining. By that time he’s in the finals of a tournament , squaring off against Rocket Ray Tracy, the number one ranked Light Heavyweight fighter who is planning on turning pro after the tournament.
A small film with limited distribution, worth checking out via Netflix or other DVD outlet.
9. CINDERELLA MAN – 2005
RUSSELL CROWE / RENÉE ZELLWEGER / PAUL GIAMATTI
This story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s, is just as inspiring today.
While quite appropriate, I think the title stopped the film from reaching a wider audience – being called a Cinderella Man in the 1930s had a whole lot different connotation than it does today.
While Charles Bronson’s fictional Hard Times character was beating on the Great Depression with his bare knuckles, real life common-man hero, James J. Braddock – a.k.a. the Cinderella Man – was using his gloved fists to become one of the most surprising sports legends in history.
The impoverished ex-prizefighter was seemingly as broken-down, beaten-up and out-of-luck as much of the rest of the American populace who had hit rock bottom. His career appeared to be finished, he was unable to pay the bills, the only thing that mattered to him – his family – was in danger, and he was even forced to go on Public Relief.
This was before the entitlement generation of today. Rightly or wrongly, for a man like Jim Braddock, going on public assistance (unemployment) was akin to losing his manhood.
But deep inside, Jim Braddock never relinquished his determination. Driven by love, honor and an incredible dose of grit, he willed an impossible dream to come true.
In a last-chance bid to help his family, Braddock returned to the ring. No one thought he had a shot. However Braddock, fueled by something beyond mere competition, kept winning.
Suddenly, the ordinary working man became the mythic athlete ... The real 99% rose up to support him. Not only did he not let them down in the fight of his life, but he didn’t go to Disneyland afterward – instead, he went back to the public assistance office and paid back every cent ‘loaned’ to him.
Crowe gives an outstanding, restrained performance in the film. He is believable both as Braddock and as a caring family man torn by his conscious and what he sees as a man’s role in society.
This one should have you cheering. I certainly was.
10. WARRIOR – 2011
JOEL EDGERTON /TOM HARDY/ NICK NOLTE
I hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth already. Get over it! Times change.
People are screaming, “But Warrior isn’t a boxing film, it’s a MMA (mixed martial arts) film!”
To that I say, “Bunk!”
Warrior is every bit as much a boxing film as Rocky. Just because the fighters have a ground game as well as a stand-up, doesn’t mean a thing – the set-up and pay-off is the same.
That said, being a boxing snob, I wasn’t much of a MMA fan (I think the words, “nothing more than alley fighting,” may have crossed my lips, and I couldn’t have been more wrong) until I saw this film and followed it up by reading Sam Sheridan’s excellent non-fiction fight travelogue, A Fighter’s Heart.
I now understand much more about the sport and, while some of it is still just alley fighting, I can see how difficult it is at the higher levels.
Warrior is the tale of two estranged brothers. One is a brooding loner, a Marine back from Iraq. The other is a family man, a high school teacher struggling to make ends meet. Both hate their alcoholic father (Nick Nolte), with good reason, even though he is attempting to make amends.
Both brothers are fighters. Both have reasons for attempting a comeback. Both find different unconnected ways to qualify for the biggest MMA tournament ever. And, of course, both start from different ends of the tournament chart, leading (inevitably) to their face-off in the finals.
There you have it – my choices for an Alternate Top 10 Boxing Films list, which avoids the easy and common choices of most Top 10 Boxing Films picks. With a little effort, most can be tracked down on DVD and will provide solid entertainment with a punch.
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