New set photos from the Sydney, Australia set of Alien: Covenant show some creepy frozen humans. Or at least they appear to be humans.
The photos were snapped at the Quarry in the capital, and they show some sort of possible global event? There’s no telling with the zaniness of these Prometheus films, but here are the pics, courtesy of The Daily Mail:
So there you have it. There’s no clues here as to the setting of Alien: Covenant, because CGI can render this as any steps leading to any temple in any setting. Here’s the official synopsis of Ridley Scott’s film:
Bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, the crew of the colony ship Covenant discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world — whose sole inhabitant is the “synthetic” David (Michael Fassbender), survivor of the doomed Prometheus expedition.
Michael Fassbender is the only holdover from the original Prometheus. Joining him this time around is Billy Crudup (sure to be a villain because, I mean, it’s Billy Crudup), Katherine Waterston, and Danny McBride. Alien: Covenant will hit theaters August 4, 2017.
At the long drawn out close to Season 6 of The Walking Dead we meet the new big bad Negan, who despite being played the very capable Jeffrey Dean Morgan, (The Comedian in Watchmen), was lackluster. Negan was soft-spoken, jovial, and despite adding a beard to the character’s design, didn’t come off as rugged or imposing enough to really pose a threat to someone like Rick. The entire threat against Negan was what the Saviors could pull off, and not anything Negan could do himself
With the last episode of Fear The Walking Dead, we met Celia Flores, Strand’s weird pseudo mother-in-law, who seems to be our new series villain for at least the end of part one of this season. Like Negan, she was heard from before she appeared. First from her son and then with her poison massacre. In other words, she also got a running start in our minds, but then we meet her, and things diverge.
Celia is not at all physically imposing; she’s smaller than Madison, and really she doesn’t need to be, her power isn’t in beating people up. Celia’s danger is in her fanatical religion and its power. The town priest seemed to call her a witch, and her strange devotion to Santa Muerte, a Mexican death ‘goddess’ and patron saint of things such as smugglers and protection against violence, has a Voodoo or cult vibe to it. And it has power, partially because she has power. Celia not only believes the Infected are still alive she will prosecute those who kill them. She will kill to defend them.
The moment she speaks she sounds powerful and authoritative. She has the power to go against even Strand in that respect and is more than a match for Madison at this time. Celia is filled with the intrinsic and natural power and ability to inspire fear that Morgan’s Negan just was unable to achieve.
Well, we made it. Last night’s season three finale of The 100, ‘Perverse Instantiation: Part Two’ did many things, very quickly. Unlike the previous two seasons, there were very few plot threads being dangled for the future, no other character arcs following their own paths and no other plan than to destroy A.L.I.E. and the City of Light. This sort of focus made the world more claustrophobic than ever but allowed almost every event in season three to be resolved in an hour’s time.
FULL SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
In a truly zany plot to destroy the City of Light, Clarke discovers a way to implant The Flame in her head so she can find the kill switch in The Matrix*… sorry… The City of Light. Because she needs Nightblood to keep her brain from liquefying once The Flame is inserted, Clarke and Abbey rig a system to transfuse Ontari’s blood into Clarke’s body.
Also, the chipped members of society are scaling the exterior wall of Polis to get to our heroes.
‘Perverse Instantiation: Part Two’ doesn’t take time to linger on many items as it knows it has a hell of a lot of plot and story to resolve. Clarke fights her way to the kill chamber with the help of Lexa (!). The return of Lexa was a very welcome one and we’re reminded just what a presence that character had in the very short time we get her here.
The one thing the finale does linger on is Bellamy explaining to Pike why he had to go on this particular journey from light to dark to light again all during a tense moment trying to keep the chippers from entering Polis. It’s almost as if this entire episode was written as an explanation for all the bad storytelling that previously occurred. Nothing Bellamy says is new to us but it is the quickest way to get Pike and Bellamy to a particular understanding before this entire story thread goes away. The writers broke out the plot jackhammer for this one.
When Ontari’s body begins to shut down from the transfusion, Abbey must perform the quickest internal cardiac massage known to man as she breaks open Ontari’s rib cage and begins to manually pump blood from Ontari’s body to her daughter’s. Murphy takes over for Abbey and toward the end of the episode we’re treated with the best image from the season with Murphy squeezing an exposed heart, black blood seeping into Clarke’s veins and Bellamy, Octavia, Pike and co. keeping the Chippers at bay while Clarke decides how to destroy A.L.I.E. It’s pure madness and I couldn’t help but smile with joy at the ridiculous image. If only it had come at the end of a season with stakes as high as the last two.
When at the precipice of destroying A.L.I.E., we get the metaphorical reset button with the big picture plans for where our heroes will go next. A.L.I.E. tells Clarke that she’s been protecting human life because of the current meltdown of nuclear plants all around the world. In six months, 96% of the planet will be uninhabitable and A.L.I.E. was providing safe haven for when that event occurs. What happens next is the exact same push a button/flip a switch beat we were treated to when Clarke and Bellamy committed genocide in Mt. Weather except with none of the emotional stakes at hand. There is absolutely no tension as we’re all positive Clarke will destroy the City of Light for good and learn to deal with the next problem as it comes. That’s her character and the way this was always going to end.
Goodbye A.L.I.E. and good riddance.
Elsewhere, all the Chippers wake from their trance and we see the looks of horror and relief on characters like Kane**, Jaha and Jasper. The Jasper moment was actually quite touching as he admits how happy he was in the City of Light and with his look of loneliness even in the midst of his closest friends. This is a damaged and interesting character.
The final beat of the season is Octavia finally seeing through her revenge and killing Pike. Of course Pike deserves to die after all the illogical and horrific acts he’s committed but what The 100 has proven so adept at doing is pivoting characters from hated to understood. Pike had a reason to align with those he once fought against and common ground is always found in battle and life-endangering situations. The fact that we lost this character to such a predictable beat is a lamentable one given we finally have reason to be invested in Pike’s journey. It’s also a weak ending to a season finale. We aren’t treated to anything new or exciting as we see the fissure between Bellamy and Octavia rise again to the surface.
Ok, so where to from here? As bad as I believe this season was, there were some truly great moments. The season started on a strong note but quickly digressed into a convoluted, weightless and standard AI plot. Bright spots like the two Kim Shumway scripted episodes, ‘Ye Who Enter Here’ and ‘Nevermore’, shone brightly and proved that there is still magic in this world to be mined. The show has also never looked better as the heightened budget also shone through and looked like every dollar was placed on the screen. I’m not sure what that picture will look like for season four as I’m sure the audience has tempered a bit on this show for the time being.
I also have to give credit to the show for even attempting so many bold sci-fi ideas this season. They weren’t well handled but The 100 tried very hard to give its CW audience hard sci-fi week in and week out and as a sci-fi nerd, that’s a very cool thing to see. Taken at strict face value, season three of The 100 will be something the Netflix generation can binge through and enjoy because of how pretty and dramatic it is and tries to be.
At the end of season three I still love many of these characters and am truly glad to see basically everything from season three be jettisoned by its closing titles. We’re on to a fresh start and another terrible situation to escape. The 100 has now had its creative lull. I truly believe we’ll see it roar back to life next year.
“We’ll figure something out. We always do.” – Clarke
*This entire episode owes everything to The Matrix from Raven seeing through code to a multi-Agent Smith-ish battle.
**Kane beating Bellamy to a pulp is a continuation to my favorite game in The 100: “How badly can we eff up Bellamy’s face and make Bob Morley act through it (which I believe he does a more than admiral job under all that makeup)?”
Check out my reviews of previous episodes of ‘The 100’ here:
Shane Black has a niche, and he knows it. He’s practically perfected it. The screenwriter behind the original Lethal Weapon has transformed the buddy cop genre into the Hollywood staple it is today, for better and for worse. But nobody can do it quite like the master. In an age where stinkers like Cop Out, Ride Along and The Heat bring a bad taste to the procedure, we were in dire need of Black’s talents. And thankfully, Black is back, and he comes with full force into the field again with The Nice Guys, his third directorial effort after his mostly enjoyable, if mildly disappointing, Iron Man 3. And it’s like he’s back at home again, doing what he was put on this Earth to create in the first place.
Though Black’s latest might not be on par with his absolutely stellar directorial debut, 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, it’s still pretty damn good on its own right, and also deeply refreshing in practically every respect. It’s exactly the kind of maddeningly clever, electrifyingly entertaining, ball-bustingly uncompromising rat-a-tat, whiz-bang-buck action comedy that’s been noticeably absent from the big screen for far too long. And it doesn’t disappoint. Well, it mostly doesn’t. While it’s not without its fair share of great quips, beat-for-beat action and dynamite lead turns from Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, it somehow doesn’t quite rise to the perfection of Black’s other, better films.
Maybe it just feels more repetitious at this point? Perhaps we’ve been through this beat too many times to truly enjoy it? Or maybe this ‘70s-based period piece is just a little too misty-eyed about the past to provide any real commentary on the time and place? Whatever is the case, it sadly ends up somewhere between good-not-great and really good, never quite rising up to the height of its potential. But don’t get me wrong. The Nice Guys packs a lot of heat, and it’s locked and loaded with more laughs, bullets, extraneous action and gleeful, tongue-in-cheek insanity than any other film in the genre could muster within these past ten years. But now it feels both nostalgic and a little old hat. Keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who considers Black to be a God in the only church he regularly attends: the movie theater.
Holland March (Gosling) and Jackson Healy (Crowe) both serve the people, but their approach couldn’t be farther apart. March is a recently-widowed private eye, a man with a serious dependence for alcohol and the kind of low-level investigator known to scrap up whatever chump change he can in order to support his whip-smart 12-year-old daughter, Holly (Angourie Rice). He fights for what’s right, but he isn’t against doing a little wrong — especially if it earns him a little extra money in his pocket.
Healy, meanwhile, is a hired enforcer, and someone who’ll politely knock on your door, proceed to knock you out with some brass knuckles and kindly ask that you stop seeing underage girls from here-on-out. He’s straight-edge, but far from kind natured. But he does have a set of morals, which he follows rigorously. And he’s not infallible, especially if you offer him a Yohoo or two for the road. They might not be clean, but they can earn their results in the right measures. And through a certain turn-of-events, they first meet when Healy knocks on March’s door, kicks him around for a little bit and politely tells him what part of his arm he’s gonna break.
So they’re not exactly on friendly terms at first, but they’ll soon have to set apart their differences — whether they like it or not — to solve a doozy of a case. During one particularly late smog night, famous-but-fading porn starlet Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio) drives her car off the edge of a cliff and soon bleeds to death at the bottom of a hill. Everyone believes it’s little more than what it appears: an apparent suicide. Healy, however, believes some foul play is in order. He doesn’t know what’s up, but he knows it can’t be any good. And he ultimately feels the need to get to the bottom of it. And though he doesn’t have all the details, he knows where he can get them: March.
Thanks to one of his recent connections, March might know the whereabouts of Amelia (Margaret Qualley), a missing local girl who might be the key to this investigation. Through some digging, they discover there’s some criminal conspiracy in play —through both the porn industry and a few government higher ups, including Amelia’s mother, Judith Kutner (Kim Basinger). The details get more twisted and high-strung as they continue their search. And in the process, March and Healy begin to work together more-and-more, even if they still don’t trust each other along the way. But they soon find that they’re a hell of a team, and that they play well as the ying to the other’s yang. That’s the key to their eventual partnership, and when they’re working alongside one another, nothing can stop them. Well, except maybe a drink or two. Or one or two missing bodies, perhaps. Or, you know, some misplaced money. Or maybe other fast-and-loose morals. Look, nobody said they were perfect.
But in true Black fashion, what really sells The Nice Guys is not merely Black’s sizzlingly dialogue, written alongside first-time screenwriter Anthony Bagazzori, but the knock-about camaraderie shared between our two leads. Gosling and Crowe fit into their parts like finely-tailored high-collared blazers, and they never feel less than comfortable with their zany personalities. Their relationship is built on no bullshit, happy coincidences, pointed jabs and resentful trust — something Black knows how to play with perfectly —and they become only more endearing and appealing as the film continues on. Gosling relishes in the kooiker-than-normal personality he gets to wear. He owns up to every opportunity to play up the wackiness and goofiness with pizazz. And, thankfully, he does so in a way that never becomes grating or false-noted. His relationship with his on-screen daughter is also the beating heart of the film, and Black never forgets that.
Much like the friendship Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark shared between his child partner-in-crime mid-way through Iron Man 3 (which, for the record, were easily the best scenes in the movie because they were the only ones that felt like they actually came from the screenwriter), there’s an odd sweetness to their time together. Their relationship is build on straight talking and one-sided insults, but at the end of the day, there’s some genuine love shared. And Rice is a real keeper, making her character realized with maturity, occasional sweetness but also a conflicted and troubled past that makes her perhaps the most interesting one in the bunch. And though she’s pretty wonderful, it’s ultimately Crowe that really takes the movie home with him. He’s pitch-perfectly cast as Healy, owning up to his more rugged, rough-around-the-edges screen presence while finally letting his guard down a bit to play his most likable and appealing character in years, maybe ever. It’s the kind of role he needed by this point in his struggling career, and I hope it only invites more opportunities to play with his unique screen personality in the near future. The guy needs it, and it proves that there’s a lot of good milage left in him.
In many ways, The Nice Guys kinda plays like a more conservative, more focused variation of 2014’s Inherent Vice. Both shaggy detective stories have a massively appealing “anything goes” mentality, matched with a winningly disarming attitude and a refreshing disregard for being PC. But in studying both the reflective social landscape and the losing influence of the hippy movement from the decade prior, there’s a sneering, deeply cynical eye here that plays both to the film’s best moments, especially involving misplaced corpses and unsuspecting casualties, and also the film’s underlying bitterness, which can grow a little tiresome. The end suggests that Black might not have as firm a point as he suggested early on, and that this may be little more than a yuck-friend, blood-enthused buddy comedy. And that’s fine, but it also makes it feel a little too familiar and a wee bit too flat to really resonate far, especially compared to Black’s first directing outing. I’m not sure if he just decided to play it safe, or if he didn’t really have too much commentary to add to the time period behind nostalgia glasses, but it does leave wanting just a little bit more, especially in order for this to truly jump over the hump into greatness.
But for what’s here, it’s hard to really complain too much. Because Black knows what he’s doing, and while he’s not without the occasional pacing issue, he has clearly grown as a director. His Marvel days have given him a greater understanding of visual shine and Hollywood glamour, which is evident from the first shot onward, and it helps make some of the film’s better visual gags all the more rewarding and biting. Much like its lead characters, The Nice Guys is rowdy, rough-around-the-edges and doesn’t give a fat fuck what you think about some of its questionable tendencies. And that only makes it more lovable in the process. Because this is the kind of endlessly entertaining, massively quotable flick that Hollywood has sorely been missing these days, and the kind of genre restarter that I welcome with open arms and a warm embrace. It might not be as good as it can be, but any Black is worth celebrating. These guys might not be nice, but they know what they’re doing. And Black is exactly the same. And, really, that’s all you need to know. If that doesn’t wet your appetite, you can kindly go fuck yourself. Because Black means business, and I hope he’s here to stay.
Movies, TV show, and conventions, oh my! The duo of Matt and EJ review Shane Black’s ‘Nice Guys,’ discuss the future ‘The Flash’ and the girl power on ‘Game of Thrones.’ We are just one week away from MegaCon, visit our booth #3203.
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Never heard of Matt Sardo? For starters, he made the Kessel Run in less than 11 parsecs. Prior to that, he gave Doc Brown the idea for the flux capacitor and led the Resistance to victory over SkyNet – all while sipping a finely crafted IPA. As a radio host, he’s interviewed celebrities, athletes and everyone in between. He’s covered everything from the Super Bowl to Comic-Con.
Who is EJ Moreno? Is he a trained physician? No. Is he a former Miss Universe contestant? Possibly. But what we know for sure is he’s a writer, filmmaker, and pop culture enthusiast. Since film school, EJ has written & directed several short films. He’s used his passion of filmmaking to become a movie critic for MonkeysFightingRobots.com.
We’ve covered so much and come so short a distance in Season 3 of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. Part One of this two-part Agents of SHIELD season finale was entitled “Absolution.” As a standalone episode, “Absolution” didn’t do much aside from set things up. As part one of a two-part season finale, it was a bit more rewarding. We saw Daisy hit rock bottom and take her frustration out on Hive, and we saw Coulson do a slight return to his sit-com dad directorial style. For the second-last time this season, let’s have a recap …
Agents of SHIELD Season Finale: “Absolution” – My Recap
Part One of this Agents of SHIELD finale kicked off by showing us a dream of Daisy’s: she’s on the moon with Coulson in a SHIELD containment unit running out of air and the rest of the team is dead. She holds the gold crucifix featured in her Hinton-inspired vision.
Daisy wakes in a start in a SHIELD containment unit but she’s not on the moon. She’s in the base. Mac, May, Rodriguez, and Lincoln are in a Quinjet on their way to the missile launch platform that Hive has commandeered in order to launch his missile into the upper atmosphere. Once in the upper atmosphere, Hive intends to detonate the missile’s warhead and spread his Inhuman concoction over a heavily populated swath of the Earth. And, in case you thought becoming an Inhuman might be a fun way to spend an afternoon, keep in mind that the Inhuman concoction, “perfected” by Dr. Radcliffe, turns humans into pinch-faced Primitives, not superhuman former Chinese pop-singers.
Speaking of Daisy, she’s feeling pretty crappy about turning into a superhero version of Nurse Jackie. Simmons questions her periodically but things just aren’t the same since she nearly destroyed SHIELD’s last remaining base, broke Coulson’s leg, throttled Fitz, and nearly crushed Mac to death. Daisy tells Simmons she’s told them everything she knows but no one can figure out what Hive is referring to when he mentioned “absolution.”
Mac, May, Rodriguez, and Lincoln land their Quinjet near Hive’s commandeered missile launch facility while Coulson, Fitz, and Talbot work to determine the code that will abort a missile launch. Through some very goofy motion capture modulation, Fitz is able to make himself look like Talbot’s superior officer and instructs his underling to release the code to Coulson. Coulson pulls up just in time to receive the page-long code and recites it character by character back to Fitz who enters it just in time to stop the missile launch.
In order to free Hive’s hostages from the missile launch facility, Lincoln and Rodriguez lure Hive into a trap Mac has set up. The trap makes Hive unable to segregate the various identities he’s absorbed over time. With Hive stunned, the team helps the hostages escape. Hive starts shouting random quotations from his memories and, concerned, Giyera and Hellfire look on. Amidst the confusion, Hive shouts out an order to disconnect the warhead for absolution.
In a relatively unnecessary scene featuring Radcliffe and some Primitives, we see them work to try to determine a way to manually launch the missile since Coulson and the gang have remotely disabled it. Unable to make any headway, they are eventually attacked by May who’s nearly killed by one of the Primitives but is saved by Radcliffe who begs May to rescue him. Radcliffe admits he’s in way over his head.
SHIELD is evacuating the island when a rambling Hive stumbles out of the compound. Rodriguez pulls some fancy footwork and they’re able to take Hive prisoner using suspension gel. Huzzah!
How could you not trust him with a face like that?
Daisy insists she has no right to anyone’s friendship or pity, and Coulson tries to convince her that she was acting under duress. She won’t hear it though, saying she’s no better than Ward, who was previously brainwashed by John Garrett. Talbot orders Radcliffe to determine a way to reverse the effects of the Inhuman concoction on the Primitive members of the Watchdogs. Radcliffe is out of his depth but Fitz and Simmons are there to assist. Coulson finally tells Lincoln that he has a future in SHIELD but now that Lincoln has Coulson’s approval he doesn’t want it, saying that once the Hive dilemma is sorted out he’ll leave.
Mac walks into Daisy’s isolation cell and tells her that he forgives her. A typical addict-victim scene plays out and Mac takes Daisy in his arms as she vainly tries to fight him off: when Mac wants to hug you, you get hugged. Continuing on the mush train, we see Simmons booking a romantic trip for her and Fitz to Seychelles. She says she can’t wait to get there and … go snorkeling. Fitz goes to check on how Hive’s getting along in stasis and on his way he grabs the gold crucifix that Mac had dropped.
For some reason Hive’s gel matrix container is left in an open hangar … seems like a pretty bad idea for the world’s foremost spy agency but what the heck … Fitz assures Coulson that Hive is ready for transport and Coulson puts the base on lockdown in case anything goes wrong. And just then, Fitz realizes that a pile of boxes in the hangar are from Absolution, Montana, that’s right … Absolution!!
The boxes explode: a nearby guard goes through terrigenesis and turns into a Primitive. With the base on lockdown, Fitz can’t escape. Luckily, he and Simmons are able to override the security system and he makes it out just in time. Unfortunately, the newly minted Primitives are able to bust Hive out of his containment cube. Daisy realizes something’s up and goes to meet Hive in the hangar. She kneels, cries, and begs Hive to take her back.
Agents of SHIELD season finale: “Absolution” – My Critique
I had thought that part one of this Agents of SHIELD season finale would involve the reappearance of some of the interesting folks we’ve met along the way like Mockingbird, Deathlok, Lady Sif, Maria Hill, or Nick Fury. Or, since she’s now officially dead in both the ABC production schedule and the MCU, it would’ve been cool to see a time-traveling or holographic Peggy Carter get in on the action. Instead, this Agents of SHIELD season finale involved an emotionally overblown addict-victim storyline that didn’t accomplish anything interesting. I can see why ABC decided to release this as part one of this Agents of SHIELD season finale rather than as a standalone episode. It doesn’t even have a viable cliffhanger element: Daisy begging to be taken back by Hive doesn’t provide a compelling final image, it just makes Daisy look pathetic … so tune in next week …?
“No, you don’t get it. I don’t know how to act!”
As always, Brett Dalton‘s performance as Hive was stiff and one-noted. In what’s likely a character actor’s dream, he was given the chance to ham it up and portray himself as an alien being who’s experiencing a disconnected flood of each of his absorbed characters’ most personal moments. Instead of taking advantage of this moment, Dalton managed Hive’s memory lapse with the same level of yawn-inspiring depth that he’s used to portray not one but two characters on this show.
Also, what was with the big reveal? “Absolution” was the name of the town those exploding crates were from, and Hive knew that because he had them coated with the modified terrigenesis formula? Not only was that a letdown as a reveal, it made SHIELD seem pretty stupid indeed. They’re all concerned about Hive doing something relating to absolution and they take a shipment of crates from Absolution, Montana without even batting an eye? “Durr, I’ll sign for it. It’s not like this is part one of the Agents of SHIELD season finale or anything!”
After the disappointment with the battle against the Cluster from the previous episode, Gem Drill, it’s surprising how entertaining a slow paced episode like Same Old World could be. Basically it’s all about Steven flying around with Lapis Lazuli and trying to convince her why it would be alright for her to hang around Earth and make it her new home. A simple premise but it’s the little details which really help to make it enjoyable.
The first of the details which helps to redeem the episode is it’s an episode totally focused on Lapis Lazuli, a fan favorite character who hasn’t gotten a lot of time on screen since her initial introduction. Here she’s front and center and finally allowed to stretch her wings (literally) and discover all Earth has to offer. Second, there are a few serious moments as Lapis tells her back story of coming to Earth, getting trapped in a mirror, and being interrogated because the Gems from Homeworld thought she was part of the rebellion. Lastly, the episode really helps to showcase what other cities and town in the world of Steven Universe are like. They even manage to make a joke about Jersey. For some reason, Cartoon Network loves to do jokes about Jersey.
The episode ends with a perfect setup where Peridot and Lapis will be living together like in the barn. This will no doubt result in comedy if just from the fact Peridot doesn’t exactly have people skills. This again was set up months ago thanks to leaked trailers and clips. Man, the network really has to watch to make sure those clips don’t end up spoiling the entire season. Still, Same Old World is fun and let’s fans have what they have been wanting for a while which is some time with the Gem who has the power to control water, Lapis Lazuli.
WWE Gets Extreme This Sunday In The 8th Annual ‘Extreme Rules’.
Starting in 2009, WWE throws the rules out and dives into all things extreme for one night only. After the ECW/WWE flop, Vince McMahon honors the former “hardcore” brand with a night of gimmick matches named ‘Extreme Rules’.
Throughout the show’s history, we’ve seen some duds like last year’s lifeless main event but for the most part, there is some real stellar showings. I remember the first time a show stood out to me was the 2012 event. The card followed an uneven Wrestlemania but made up for it with the massive return of Brock Lesnar and some brutal matches. Since then, I’ve always looked forward to event.
So I had the pleasure of going through each card from the past ‘Extreme Rules‘PPVs & chose the five best matches in the show’s history.
5. Hornswoggle vs El Torito – (Preshow 2014)
-Probably the most obscure pick on the list but something about the match makes a lasting impression. Before the 2014 ‘Extreme Rules‘ show even began, the audience was treated to something unique. El Torito and Hornswoggle faced off in a TLC match which was dubbed a “WeeLC” match. You get it cause there was wee bit fellas in the match. The concept was horrid but the match turned out to be hysterical and entertaining beyond belief.
4. Edge vs Jeff Hardy (2009)
-From the first ever ‘Extreme Rules‘ event, the 2009 edition provided some interesting matches like a Samoan Strap match and Jericho v Mysterio match but nothing shined like the ladder match between Edge and Jeff Hardy. Two innovators for the match type, the men risked their lives once more for the sake of entertainment. As expected, the face-off was stellar. They did their signature spots and kept people on the edge of their seats.
3. John Cena vs Brock Lesnar (2012)
-After years away from WWE, Brock Lesnar returned with a point to prove. He was going to beat John Cena within an inch of his life. It was upsetting that Brock didn’t win the match but he made such a glorious comeback by mixing the brutal UFC style with WWE theatricality. Also, I believe this opened the door for WWE to bring back to some hardcore wrestling. Each Brock match after this has gotten more intense; 2012 ‘Extreme Rules‘ seems tame now.
2. The Shield vs Evolution – (2014)
– New School Faced Old School. 2014 brought the return of heel group Evolution fronted by HHH as well as the uprising of the beloved team The Shield. When the two teams faced off in a three-on-three tag, all hell broke loose. The match culminated with Seth Rollins diving from the arena entrance onto three men below while Roman Reigns gets the pin in the ring. This put the young men of The Shield over like crazy.
1. Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus – (2012)
–Daniel Bryan’s redemption match. After the tragic 18-second loss at ‘Wrestlemania 28‘, Bryan needed something to recover. The 2-out-of-3-falls match with Sheamus at the stellar 2012 event was exactly what the doctor ordered. The grappler Daniel Bryan played off Sheamus’s brawler style. This was one of the first times in WWE that Bryan got to truly be himself as a performer; this was the turning point of an epic WWE career.
Do you agree with my list? Let me know in the comments below!
The Meddler is everything that Mother’s Day wasn’t.
While audiences were forced to endure the latest contrived/trivial Garry Marshall film, Lorene Scafaria film is far more authentic and nuanced. Navigating the mother-daughter dynamic can be tricky and most writer-directors give that dynamic more of a sitcom-like feel. The Meddler is different. Lorine Scafaria creates a narrative that is so heartfelt, the film feels like a tribute to mothering.
Sarandon stars as Marnie Minervini, a widow from New Jersey who moves to Los Angeles to be closer to her screenwriter daughter Lori (Rose Byrne). Marnie views her move as a way to help her daughter; Lori perceives the move as “Meddling” in her affairs. She views her as an incessant calling, texting, obsessive person who loves to show up unannounced. Marnie is a lost soul looking for someone to care for after losing the love of her life.
Marnie seems to have difficulties handling grief. Her late husband has been dead for over a year, and she still won’t make a decision on the ashes. Instead of dealing with her problems, she tries solving Lori’s after a sudden breakup. Quickly this becomes too much for Lori, and she demands on that boundaries need to be set with her mother.
While most would think this would be the moment Marnie would finally confront her grief, she instead uses this moment to now “help” others. She sets out to befriend Freddy, the Apple Store genius who taught her how to use the I-Phone. Marnie also agrees to plan and pay for Jillian’s wedding as a way of “cementing” their bond.
Marnie quickly becomes self-aware that none of this is going to fill the hole she has after losing her husband. She does not reach this epiphany on her own; it takes the charm and tender heart of an ex-cop named Zipper (J.K. Simmons) to open up her eyes to the truth. Sarandon’s character is immediately drawn to him because both of having deep emotional baggage.
The highlight of this film is, without question, Susan Sarandon. She brings such an emotional core to the movie that elevates the overall quality. Sarandon demonstrates how emotionally trying being a mother can be. Conventional wisdom would suggest that being a mother was simply one thing but these days it is everything. It is a listener, it is a friend, it is there to help a child pick up the pieces. Mothering is not pretty yet there is a certain beauty that comes with being a good mother.
Sarandon is equally effective playing the role of the recent widow. She has such expressive eyes that her looks exhibited this deep seeded pain that was undeniable. Equally effective was just how lost she seemed at times, going from person to person trying to fill a void that couldn’t be filled. It is safe to say that this performance is the best that Susan Sarandon has had in many years.
Russell Crowe is one of the most volatile celebrities in Hollywood, but also one of the most talented. His recent career has slowed from the late 90s and early 2000s onslaught of quality work, and Crowe himself seems to have softened in his middle age.
The Oscar winner, nominated three times in three years and winning the middle of the trifecta, has played scholars and thugs, lowlifes and heroes, and often times these idiosyncrasies blend into some wonderful performances. Here are ten essential Russell Crowe performances, before The Nice Guys hits theaters this weekend:
10. Capt. Jack Aubrey, Master and Commander: The Far Side of The World – This Peter Weir high seas epic further shaped Russell Crowe as this generation’s Marlon Brando. While not a direct imitation of Mutiny on The Bounty, Master and Commander is a strong sea adventure (despite becoming a little aimless in the hefty midsection) pushed forward by Crowe’s Jack Aubrey, a man possessed and driven almost to the brink. And Crowe is certainly channeling the swashbuckling Fletcher Christian in a number of key moments.
9. Cal McAffrey, State of Play – Back in the spring of 2009, State of Play snuck into theaters and disappeared quickly, mostly because it’s a serious adult-oriented thriller based on a British TV series. And who has time for that? But Kevin MacDonald’s mature political drama was rife with great performances full of emotion and texture. And leading the charge of a cast including Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, and Ben Affleck, was Russell Crowe’s dogged reporter, Cal McAffrey.
8. Ben Wade, 3:10 to Yuma – One of the rare remakes to surpass the source material, James Mangold’s Western is a wonderful push and pull between the villain Crowe, and the man desperate to get him to the train on time, played by Christian Bale. This is Russell Crowe letting loose and adding some panache to what could have been an otherwise stock villainous character. He seems at home in the old west with his weary good looks and husky growl.
7. Noah, Noah – As problematic as Darren Aronofsky’s take on the Old Testament might be to devoted religious folk, there’s no denying the chutzpah Crowe brings to the central role. this is a complicated version of Noah, forever battling himself to understand what God is telling him to do, this father is nearly driven mad. Without Crowe to hold the center of the film into focus, Noah could have easily spun out of control. As it is, it’s a bit messy, but there’s still undeniable brilliance here.
6. Jim Braddock, Cinderella Man – The saccharine direction from Ron Howard does Cinderella Man no favors, but as downtrodden boxer and family man Jim Braddock, Russell Crowe feels right at home. With a little makeup and some heft, Crowe embodies the physicality of an early 20th-century prizefighter, and the riches to rags to riches narrative makes it one of the greatest crowdpleasers of the 2000s.
5. Richie Roberts, American Gangster – Ridley Scott’s true story about Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), the mobster who almost singlehandedly ruined New York neighborhoods with an influx of heroin, is another one of Crowe’s better performances in a film that came and went too quietly. This is a terrific true-crime thriller, and Crowe’s Richie Roberts is a great antihero. Richie isn’t the best detective, and even a worse human being, but he somehow manages to pull through in the end.
4. John Nash, A Beautiful Mind – Ron Howard’s Best Picture winner has waned in popularity over the years, and there’s no denying the incredible historical inaccuracies with John Nash, genius mathematician and paranoid schizophrenic. Certain darker elements of the character were left out, and the factual threads are flimsy to say the least. However, given what IS in the role, Russell Crowe balances the madness and the quirk to perfection. He sells the role, o matter how problematic it may be in the end.
3. Bud White, LA Confidential – Crowe had been building towards stardom throughout the 90s, and LA Confidential was his breakout. As the heavy for a corrupt police captain in 50s Los Angeles, Crowe’s Bud White is all burning intensity and inner turmoil. We see time and time again, White trying to make human connections. And over and over he is let down. His current aggressive nature informs us of his troubled life and, probably, tumultuous childhood. It’s all there in Crowe’s brilliant performance.
2. Maximus, Gladiator – The role that earned Russell Crowe his Best Actor statue is a magnificent, epic turn. Sure, it’s easy to dismiss Gladiator these days – that’s what we’re good at it 2016 – but Ridley Scott’s film builds an incredible world full of rich characters. Crowe’s fallen hero is another riches to rags to riches story, or some variation of it, and his intensity is once again on full display.
1. Jeffrey Wigand, The Insider – Crowe’s performance as infamous whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand is like nothing the actor had (has) ever done. Soft and flabby, gray-haired, wearing coke-bottle glasses and an air of smug coldness, Wigand might be the hero we needed to call out big tobacco; but he’s not the greatest guy. Wigand is a complicated figure, a family man who struggles mightily to hold on to his wife and children, and Crowe’s intensity here is something altogether unique. It isn’t boiling anger, but sadness and despair. This is the role for which Crowe deserved Best Actor.
