define: boxing day

we've been to see two movies in two days which averages to 1 movie per day which is well above our average of like 1/365th of a movie per day. last night we saw the fighter which i'd say is well worth seeing if only for the presence of mark wahlberg, aka marky mark sans the funky bunch. let's just say ol' marky mark has aged well.

here micky is wearing shorts emblazoned with "mickey" but he soon makes clear the correct spelling has no "e".

this movie is based on the true story of a half-brother boxing duo out of lowell, massachusetts in the mid-80s. marky mark portrays the younger micky ward and christian bale portrays dicky eklund, the elder brother. they are 2 of like a half million irish siblings who live either with or near their extremely domineering and somewhat slutty mother. dicky and micky are the only boys in the brood, and the painfully plain-faced sisters form a screeching greek chorus who plaintively reiterate their mother's constant martyred wailing as she bemoans dicky's useless drug-addicted existence and micky's defiant pursuit of his own boxing career free of the anchor of his family's weighty influence. it's got the underdog, blue collar theme seen in such movies as the rocky series, good will hunting, and saturday night fever. the bad-news-bears-esque cheesy triteness is mitigated by its being a true story.

last night's cinema crowd was sparse at the late showing - there were maybe 20 folks sharing the screen with us - which would usually be a bonus but in this case was a bit of a detriment. whereas you never want to spend your good money to be burdened with a bunch of yakking wankers, a large group pulling together for the underdog generates energy that can enhance a storyline rife with competition, betrayal, and hard-earned success. this movie won't lose much when transferred to the small screen, and in this case didn't gain much from the cinema setting. not to say that we regret having gone, especially considering the fact that 2 of our 3 tickets were free.

free? yes. junior had graciously provided 2 coupons for $6 off the regular ticket price of $10. i explained to one ticket seller twice and another ticket seller once that our total cost should be $18, but both separately requested we pay $10. so, that's what we paid. $10 for the movie and $2.50 for our popcorn bucket refill and $5 for a few ounces of coca-cola, bringing the total to a bit more than half the usual cost for 3 tickets and well within the range of reasonable for a couple hours's entertainment. not that it would have been disappointing at full price, but getting the bargain adds to the fun.