This is a spec promo commercial for HBO’s “Boxing After Dark” called “I Still Have a Soul,” which unfortunately means that it’s a standalone short film, not a trailer for a new series. It’s about a homeless man who scrounges for money in a variety of ways to pay for training at a boxing gym in pursuit of his dream to be a fighter, and it’s outstanding.
There isn’t a single word of dialog in the video, yet it’s still more compelling than anything I’ve seen for “Lights Out,” FX’s forthcoming drama about a former heavyweight champ (teaser trailer here). Probably because the former heavyweight champ in “Lights Out” is a white Irish guy. Really? We’re still doing this in 2010? Do people who make movies and films about boxing even know that there are black actors?
[Paradise Square via The Daily What; also watch on Vimeo]
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“I Still Have a Soul”
So he bought it back from Comic Book Guy. Good for him.
Irish Terry Conklin: I’m not Irish.
Sol: It’s boxing. It just means you’re white.
“He keeps stopping to check on his bindle”
Coming Summer 2015: The Pursuit of Jabbyness, starring Jayden Smiff.
That guy is huge on the hobo boxing circuit, he’s beaten Boxcar Bob, Boxcar Fred, and Boxcar Ira.
Was that a Rex Ryan post? Because suddenly I want to run through a gd brick wall.
That was brilliant. Good show, Penfold.
Fuck and yes.
That was awesome. I want to blog about it now, too.
Agreed. I’ll watch it.
That’s perfect as it is.
Nothing smartass to write, that was magnificent.
Inspiring clip. That’s sort of what I envision when I see a homeless guy, but instead of heading to the boxing gym he fills out an application at McDonalds.
And Re: “Lights Out” – what I can’t believe we’re still doing in 2010 is paying too much f*cking attention to what color someone is. So what if the guy on the show is white? Assuming you’re saying a white heavyweight champion is unrealistic, keep in mind that out of 13 heavyweight boxing champions crowned in the past five years, only three have been black and only one of those three was an African American.