Warrior & Point Blank
Warrior
Warrior (2011)
Lionsgate
PG-13 rated
Running time: 139 minutes
Director: Gavin O”' Connor
Drama/Sports
****1/2
Cast: Joel Edgerton (Bredan Conlon),Tom Hardy (Tommy Conlon), Nick Nolte (Paddy Conlon), Jennifer Morrison (Tess Conlon), Kevin Dunn (Principal Zito), Denzil Whitaker (Stephon).
Three men–two brothers and their father–battle amongst themselves over past wrongs, misgivings and dysphoria over present and future encounters, individually and collectively. Paddy Conlon (played by Nick Nolte in what”'s worthy of a best supporting actor nomination), the father of two sons: the older, Brendan Colon (Joel Edgerton), married to Tess (Jennifer Morrison), with twoa children; and the younger, Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy), both were mixed martial artists. Brendan is a high school physics teacher in debt up to his ears and about to lose the house. Without telling his wife, he”'s secretly training at a shady, underground club called Tender Club for cash under the table. He”'s suspended by the superintendent of schools when it”'s discovered he”'s training there. His wife isn”'t a happy camper about him returning to the cage and also being temporarily suspended from teaching due to his return to the mixed martial arts world. His brother Tommy returns to his dad”'s house loaded with resentment. Tommy”'s a hero for bravery in Afghanistan and what”'s strange–he goes AWOL.… Read the rest “Warrior & Point Blank”
Fishing Trip
Peter Molenaar
by Peter Molenaar
It is good for an inland worker to visit big water from time to time. My father and I are just now returned from fishing Lake of the Woods in northernmost Minnesota. The curvature of the horizon is discernable to the eye there. So, thank you Smith Foundry for letting me go.
As I was not pressed to engage the machine, the promising sunrise then lingered. The inlet bay of our camp offered a calm cold mist among the green cattails. But the big water answered with wind and waves.
Several flotillas of cabin cruisers located the walleye far from shore. But we with our smallish boat opted to troll the shoreline for northern pike or maybe a musky. We had paid a high price for a day”'s worth of frustration when, wop, “FISH ON!” I shouted. It made one glorious straight up leap– “YEOW! It”'s a bass!”
Such an extraordinarily handsome specimen of a smallmouth bass it was. I gently removed the hooks all the while apologizing and wondering if the notion of Karma were true. But, ego prevailed. Our bass was brought to shore to be weighed (4.3 lbs!), photographed, displayed among the humanoids, and consumed.… Read the rest “Fishing Trip”
