Chan and I saw Cinderella Man, aka "Seaboxcuit" last night. (Note: I didn't see Seabiscuit, but before we saw Cinderella Man, Chan said that it's supposedly similar to Seabicuit, so if it is, hopefully you enjoyed my "Fishtar"-style wordplay.) (Also, I think "Seaboxit" sounds better, but it's harder to tell what I'm talking about when you see it written out, whereas "Seaboxcuit" has that key "cuit" syllable that leaves no doubt.) (I've killed this already, haven't I?) (I know I can still delete all this, but I'll go ahead and leave it.)

So, I didn't know much about this movie going in. I didn't even know that Paul Giamatti and Renee Zellweger were in it. All I knew was that Mike & the Mad Dog and a lot of their listeners enjoyed the film, and that Russell Crowe did something totally fake just to get publicity right when his new movie was coming out. Oh yeah, and that it was about James J. Braddock.

So when I saw Renee, I, like a little kid who just realized that their favorite cartoon just got pre-empted for a speech by the president, literally said, "Awww, maaan!" It just irritates me how she's always crying or about to cry. How can you live like that? But I also got the bonus of being surprised to be suddenly watching a Paul Giamatti movie. He was great as usual. It's funny how you watch him and think, "This guy's kind of cheesy. But I'm on board and I don't care. "

It seems like there could have been a whole hour dedicated to "Hooverville," a shanty town in Central Park during the Depression. Instead, they summed it up and moved on. I guess they figured the non-eating and non-working is all we needed to know about the Depression. And maybe they were right, considering it is dumb Americans' money they're after. Americans don't have time to think, as we know.

The boxing was good. It wasn't like Rocky, where every punch lands somewhere. But there were an awful lot of swings and misses, which almost never really happens. And I'd still rather watch Rocky, especially because of the memorable music, which this movie didn't have. Maybe I need to see it again, and then I'll remember the music, but right now, all I hear in my head is "Gonna Fly Now." Also, Renee ZellMiller blatantly copied Talia Shire's frightened, pretend-it-isn't-happening boxing wife routine.

Crowe's Jersey accent occasionally turned Australian. One time he said he had so many wins as an amateur and so many as a "prew."

They definitely made you want the dude to win, which was good. And for that reason, and Giamatti's continued excellence, I enjoyed this film. It even made this non-violent reviewer want to turn around and beat the shit out of the people behind me who were doing that "loud whisper" the whole time. I give it 65.8 Chans out of 80. Chan probably would've given it 40 me's out of 80, but he's not here so I can't ask him.