4:36:09

Whoa, just

4:36:09

curious. Welcome to Just curious

4:36:16

media. This is let's talk

4:36:16

movies. And I'm Jason Connell on

4:36:19

the show. Today I'm talking

4:36:19

about the fighter 2010 Filming

4:36:24

locations. Now I'm coming off

4:36:24

two episodes prior, where I

4:36:27

visited different locations from

4:36:27

two different movies. One was

4:36:30

funny farm, I was up in Vermont,

4:36:30

went to some locations. And then

4:36:34

in the bedroom, I was visiting

4:36:34

Maine and visited a couple of

4:36:37

those locations as well. So this

4:36:37

movie, The Fighter was filmed in

4:36:42

Massachusetts. And I currently

4:36:42

live in Massachusetts. And I

4:36:46

knew a couple of these spots

4:36:46

were around, but I finally went

4:36:49

there and visited them. So I can

4:36:49

talk about them here. But before

4:36:53

that, I'm going to kind of break

4:36:53

down the makers of this movie,

4:36:56

some backstory, it's incredibly

4:36:56

well acted, directed. There was

4:37:01

Oscar nominations all over some

4:37:01

Oscar wins. I mean, it's that

4:37:05

type of movie. And I remember

4:37:05

being in the theater, and being

4:37:09

hooked the moment the opening

4:37:09

sequence came on. I'm a huge fan

4:37:14

of the director. But this one

4:37:14

may be top of the list top of

4:37:17

the heap for me now I can

4:37:17

revisit it all the time. And

4:37:21

let's jump in. So the synopsis

4:37:21

for the fighter is based on the

4:37:26

story of Mickey Ward, a

4:37:26

fledgling boxer who tries to

4:37:30

escape the shadow of his more

4:37:30

famous but troubled older boxing

4:37:34

brother and get his own shot at

4:37:34

greatness. And yes, it is based

4:37:40

on a true story. I already love

4:37:40

it. Yeah, we didn't have a

4:37:44

shortage of boxing movies. I

4:37:44

wasn't even excited by the

4:37:47

notion of another boxing movie

4:37:47

being a huge fan of Rocky and

4:37:51

then all these other boxing

4:37:51

movies come out and to be good.

4:37:54

They really got to separate

4:37:54

themselves from the pack Million

4:37:56

Dollar Baby. Sure. Oscar winning

4:37:56

movie. Well, in my opinion, this

4:38:01

should have coulda woulda won

4:38:01

the Oscar as well back in 2010.

4:38:05

But it did not unfortunately.

4:38:05

Now the director of this movie,

4:38:09

David O. Russell, I'm a huge

4:38:09

fan. He did movies like spanking

4:38:14

the monkey Three Kings I Heart

4:38:14

Huckabees. Oscar nominated for

4:38:19

Best Director for the fighter

4:38:19

2010. Also Oscar nominated for

4:38:24

Best Adapted Screenplay for

4:38:24

silver lining playbook. 2012.

4:38:29

Also a fantastic movie. For that

4:38:29

same movie. He was Oscar

4:38:33

nominated for Best Director. And

4:38:33

if that's not enough, Oscar

4:38:37

nominated for Best Original

4:38:37

Screenplay, American Hustle,

4:38:41

another fine feature in 2013.

4:38:41

And that same movie, he was

4:38:45

Oscar nominated for Best

4:38:45

Director. So wow, he needs a

4:38:49

win. That's for sure. And again,

4:38:49

I think it should have been for

4:38:52

this movie. Now. The fighters

4:38:52

written by Paul thomassie

4:38:56

Screenplay story credit, Eric

4:38:56

Johnson screenplay story credit

4:39:01

Scott silver screenplay credit

4:39:01

Keith Durrington. Story credit a

4:39:05

lot of writers in there but

4:39:05

check this out. Oscar nominated,

4:39:10

Best Original Screenplay, the

4:39:10

fighter 2010. So bravo to the

4:39:16

writers room, because another

4:39:16

Oscar nomination. Now the

4:39:22

cinematographer is Hoyt von

4:39:22

Hoytema. hope I'm saying that

4:39:26

correctly. He did movies like

4:39:26

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and

4:39:30

Interstellar and Oscar nominated

4:39:30

for Best Cinematography for

4:39:34

Dunkirk in 2017. So he's worked

4:39:34

with Christopher Nolan on a

4:39:38

couple of occasions, another

4:39:38

good director to collaborate

4:39:41

with. Now the composer was

4:39:41

Michael Brooke hated movies like

4:39:45

Into the Wild the vow Brooklyn.

4:39:45

Now that cast Mark Wahlberg

4:39:51

plays Micky ward. Of course, you

4:39:51

probably know Mark Wahlberg from

4:39:56

Boogie Nights Three Kings I

4:39:56

Heart Huckabees, the last two

4:40:00

were able to Russell films. Now

4:40:00

Wahlberg was Oscar nominated for

4:40:04

Best Supporting Actor The

4:40:04

Departed an incredible film by

4:40:08

Martin Scorsese. 2007 also Best

4:40:08

Picture that year. And he was

4:40:13

Oscar nominated for Best Picture

4:40:13

for the fighter in 2010. Because

4:40:16

Wahlberg was a producer on this

4:40:16

movie, go figure. And of course

4:40:22

there's Christian Bale one of if

4:40:22

not the best actor we have today

4:40:26

he plays Dickie Auckland, the

4:40:26

older half brother to Mickey

4:40:31

ward. And he's in movies of

4:40:31

course, like American Psycho

4:40:35

Laurel Canyon, the Batman

4:40:35

trilogy by Christopher Nolan.

4:40:39

Bale also Oscar winner for Best

4:40:39

Supporting Actor for The Fighter

4:40:44

2010 Oscar nominated for Best

4:40:44

Actor in American Hustle 2013

4:40:50

also a David Russell film, Oscar

4:40:50

nominated for Best Supporting

4:40:54

Actor in The Big Short 2015 and

4:40:54

Oscar nominated for Best Actor

4:40:58

in vice 2018. And bail is

4:40:58

incredible in this movie, you

4:41:03

really believe you're looking at

4:41:03

a drug addict with his best days

4:41:07

behind them living in the past,

4:41:07

trying to help his brother

4:41:10

constantly getting in his own

4:41:10

way. It's a tour de force

4:41:13

performance. I mean, just watch

4:41:13

the movie again to see bail,

4:41:16

it's worth it. Then we have

4:41:16

Melissa Leo plays Alice Ward,

4:41:21

and she is Mickey and Dickies

4:41:21

mother and she is also

4:41:25

incredible in this. She's a

4:41:25

movies like flight Oblivion

4:41:29

prisoners, Oscar nominated for

4:41:29

Best Supporting Actress in

4:41:32

frozen river. And 2008. Also the

4:41:32

movie where Jennifer Lawrence

4:41:37

was discovered, and Oscar winner

4:41:37

for Best Supporting Actress in

4:41:41

vellfire 2010. In May I just say

4:41:41

Leo has never been better than

4:41:47

in this movie. She's chained

4:41:47

smoking, she's always jabbing at

4:41:51

her flock of daughters dragging

4:41:51

them around. She's Mickey's

4:41:55

manager for part of the movie.

4:41:55

It's just wow, acting at its

4:42:00

finest. And then we have Amy

4:42:00

Adams who plays Charlene Fleming

4:42:04

the love interest to Mickey and

4:42:04

kind of pulls him away from the

4:42:09

family so he can have success

4:42:09

essentially, or have more

4:42:13

success. And of course, she's in

4:42:13

movies like Catch Me If You Can

4:42:16

the Muppets arrival now, no

4:42:16

surprise a lot of Oscar

4:42:20

nominations for her to Oscar

4:42:20

nominated for Best Supporting

4:42:23

Actress in Junebug 2005 When she

4:42:23

was really discovered. Oscar

4:42:27

nominated for Best Supporting

4:42:27

Actress in doubt. 2008 Oscar

4:42:31

nominated for Best Supporting

4:42:31

Actress in Val fighter right

4:42:34

here. 2010 amazing. She's

4:42:34

incredible in this movie. Oscar

4:42:39

nominated for Best Supporting

4:42:39

Actress in the Master 2012 Paul

4:42:43

Thomas Anderson shout out great

4:42:43

film, Oscar nominated for Best

4:42:46

Actress in American Hustle 2013.

4:42:46

So she has been paired up with

4:42:50

bale before and David Russell,

4:42:50

and Oscar nominated for Best

4:42:53

Supporting Actress and vice

4:42:53

2018. Again with bail. So you

4:42:58

can just see the high caliber of

4:42:58

these actors. I mean, I'm just

4:43:03

listing four of them and look at

4:43:03

this dossier on them. It's

4:43:06

incredible. Now there is one

4:43:06

additional award for this movie

4:43:09

Oscar nominated for Best Film

4:43:09

Editing. So the movie it was

4:43:13

released December 17th 2010. I

4:43:13

must have seen it like opening

4:43:18

weekend or opening a week. I

4:43:18

started the Lowe's fleece three

4:43:21

theater and again was floored

4:43:21

now, this episode is about the

4:43:25

filming locations. The movie is

4:43:25

set in Lowell, Massachusetts

4:43:29

because Mickey and Dickie are

4:43:29

from there in real life. Dickie

4:43:32

Auckland was known as the pride

4:43:32

of law, and he held the USA New

4:43:37

England welterweight title twice

4:43:37

between 1979 and 1983. And once

4:43:42

even fought Sugar Ray Leonard,

4:43:42

and his half brother Micky Ward

4:43:48

was the former WVU champion.

4:43:48

Now, as for low, it's known as

4:43:53

the birthplace of the American

4:43:53

Industrial Revolution, and it's

4:43:57

about 25 miles outside of Boston

4:43:57

laws, a pretty good sized town,

4:44:02

crime rate in that town is

4:44:02

higher than most towns, maybe

4:44:06

all of them in Massachusetts.

4:44:06

It's very diverse. There's an

4:44:11

old historic area, there's some

4:44:11

charm there, there's a few

4:44:14

museums, some parks, but there's

4:44:14

also just an old area in which

4:44:19

they filmed this movie. So I

4:44:19

drove to that specific region,

4:44:22

because the opening sequence in

4:44:22

the movie shows Wahlberg and

4:44:25

bail in law on Hastings Street.

4:44:25

And then there's the HBO crew

4:44:30

filming them, while the heavy

4:44:30

plays how you're like, man, now,

4:44:35

it's just an amazing sequence.

4:44:35

And they're walking up and down

4:44:40

the street. It's like you can

4:44:40

kind of tell the locals just

4:44:42

come into the scene, it's this

4:44:42

great little montage to really

4:44:45

get the movie going, I can watch

4:44:45

that sequence over and over and

4:44:50

over again. So I'm visited this

4:44:50

very spot, because they were

4:44:54

doing like road work. Leading up

4:44:54

to the opening sequence.

4:44:57

Wahlberg does that if he's not

4:44:57

boxing, he's like paving roads.

4:45:00

And they even show Hastings

4:45:00

Street there. So I stood right

4:45:03

there, got some shots,

4:45:03

everything looks the same. The

4:45:06

establishments look the same,

4:45:06

because this movie was probably

4:45:09

filmed in 2009. So it's not too

4:45:09

far away from when I was there.

4:45:13

But it does look the same. And

4:45:13

it was really something special

4:45:17

just to kind of take that in,

4:45:17

like really understanding these

4:45:20

different parts of

4:45:20

Massachusetts. So also in

4:45:23

Lowell, there is Rama holes West

4:45:23

and gym in which they go into,

4:45:29

and I visited that as well. Now

4:45:29

it's in a very industrial area.

4:45:32

And I was like I was trying to

4:45:32

find that exactly. So I took

4:45:35

lots of photos, but there was a

4:45:35

truck out front with a Rama his

4:45:37

name on it. So I knew I found

4:45:37

it. But if you didn't know that

4:45:40

Jim was there, you would just

4:45:40

assume it's an old rundown

4:45:42

building. That's just how rugged

4:45:42

and dilapidated it was. And it

4:45:46

shows in the movie when you look

4:45:46

at it. I mean, that's really it.

4:45:49

They'd be exterior. Now. Once

4:45:49

they go in the gym. I'm not

4:45:51

clear if they cut somewhere

4:45:51

else, because I know there are a

4:45:54

couple scenes filmed in Los

4:45:54

Angeles, but I definitely know

4:45:57

they use the exterior there. And

4:45:57

also, which I didn't go by was

4:46:01

Dickey's crack house because he

4:46:01

is addicted to crack and that's

4:46:04

in law as well, but it didn't

4:46:04

visit that one. So that was

4:46:07

really fun to see law to

4:46:07

explore. ransa to feel like I

4:46:11

was on set in the fighter. I got

4:46:11

some good photos, and I will

4:46:16

post that on our YouTube

4:46:16

channel. And in another seeing

4:46:21

Mickey takes Charlene to see a

4:46:21

movie in Lexington,

4:46:25

Massachusetts, which is where

4:46:25

the first shot of the American

4:46:29

Revolutionary War was fired. And

4:46:29

to be exact. It's literally a

4:46:33

Frisbee throw away from this

4:46:33

location, which is entitled

4:46:37

Lexington venue. Now I live much

4:46:37

closer to where this was filmed.

4:46:42

Then law. I can literally walk

4:46:42

there ride a bike there. It's

4:46:45

super close. This is such a

4:46:45

charming area. It's so

4:46:49

historical. I mean, Paul Revere

4:46:49

came up the street to warn

4:46:53

everybody the British were

4:46:53

coming. They have reenactments

4:46:56

every year, Lexington and

4:46:56

Concord, which is the town

4:46:59

adjacent is where the American

4:46:59

Revolutionary War began. The

4:47:02

British troops marched in from

4:47:02

Boston, and then they were

4:47:06

ambushed all the way back to

4:47:06

Boston when the Americans

4:47:09

galvanized and stood up to the

4:47:09

British. so awesome that it was

4:47:14

here. I love it. And

4:47:14

coincidentally, I recently saw

4:47:17

both Top Gun Maverick and

4:47:17

Downton Abbey, a new era there.

4:47:21

And it's a smaller theater. It's

4:47:21

just a two screen. It's old

4:47:24

school. It kind of reminds me of

4:47:24

the Los Felice three if you're

4:47:27

familiar with that venue in Los

4:47:27

Angeles, where I held my United

4:47:31

Film Festival for many years

4:47:31

there in the VISTA, which is now

4:47:34

owned by Quentin Tarantino. But

4:47:34

in the movie, they're going to

4:47:38

see Bell a puck, this foreign

4:47:38

film, which won the Oscar for

4:47:43

Best Foreign Film in 1992 was a

4:47:43

Spanish film, and it started

4:47:47

young Penelope Cruz. So he's

4:47:47

taking he being Mickey's taking

4:47:51

Charlene to see this movie and a

4:47:51

few towns away because he

4:47:54

doesn't want to be seen in law,

4:47:54

because he lost a fight. And as

4:47:57

I was all jacked up, so he was

4:47:57

hiding laying low. But she takes

4:48:01

issue to this thinking. He's

4:48:01

trying to hide her, you know,

4:48:05

and there's this great sequence

4:48:05

and they pull up on

4:48:07

Massachusetts Avenue, which is

4:48:07

right there. And it looks

4:48:10

exactly the same today with the

4:48:10

same local shops like the

4:48:13

pharmacy, the barber shop, etc.

4:48:13

And I like this little exchange

4:48:17

they have and Charlene is like,

4:48:17

what are we doing and Richie

4:48:20

Rich Lexington come to this

4:48:20

theater a lot. And Mickey's like

4:48:23

it's a good theater. They got

4:48:23

good movies here. He's trying to

4:48:26

keep it on the DL. She wants to

4:48:26

know why they're going several

4:48:29

towns away. And she's absolutely

4:48:29

right. Richie Rich Lexington it

4:48:34

is very nice. So Charlene and

4:48:34

Mickey actually go in see the

4:48:38

movie, there's a couple shots of

4:48:38

Mickey falling asleep. You know,

4:48:40

he's got a hard day's work,

4:48:40

working on the road watching the

4:48:44

foreign film thinking it's what

4:48:44

Charlene is gonna like. But the

4:48:47

shot really is done. The

4:48:47

interior is at the theater

4:48:50

because having been there I

4:48:50

recognized it. And then they

4:48:53

accident actually kind of make

4:48:53

out a Massachusetts Avenue by

4:48:56

the car, which is great. But if

4:48:56

you looked up on Massachusetts

4:49:00

Avenue where they're facing,

4:49:00

you'll see the famous Lexington

4:49:03

Minutemen statue staring back at

4:49:03

you, you know, the life size

4:49:07

bronze figure of the colonial

4:49:07

farmer with musket. And it's

4:49:10

amazing. And we've seen it in

4:49:10

history books, it's just right

4:49:13

there. So it kind of blew my

4:49:13

mind to see it as well. But

4:49:17

beyond that, I actually spoke to

4:49:17

the GM at the Lexington venue.

4:49:21

And he shared the whole filming

4:49:21

experience with me, which was

4:49:23

super cool. And inside they have

4:49:23

a framed movie poster of the

4:49:26

fighter hanging inside the lobby

4:49:26

along with a few newspaper

4:49:30

clippings. But unfortunately the

4:49:30

poster was not signed. Not yet.

4:49:34

Anyway, I believe that should be

4:49:34

done. So yeah, that's really

4:49:37

these two locations were

4:49:37

fantastic. I had no idea that

4:49:42

they went to the theater in

4:49:42

Lexington until I started

4:49:45

researching it and law I knew

4:49:45

about because Dickies nickname

4:49:48

was the pride of law. But it was

4:49:48

good excuse to go to law and see

4:49:52

it up close and personal to feel

4:49:52

like I'm connected to that

4:49:55

opening sequence which I love.

4:49:55

And I just highly recommend any

4:49:58

and everybody to go back and

4:49:58

watch this movie. It holds up

4:50:02

look at the pedigree of actors,

4:50:02

Director. Everything works the

4:50:06

music, wonderful, wonderful

4:50:06

movie. So without further ado,

4:50:10

please enjoy the fighter. So

4:50:10

thank you so much for listening

4:50:15

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