The Dark Knight Returns has been called the prime example of how a Batman story should be. It changed the public view of Batman from the Adam West camp to the dark, brooding vigilante that became so popular among fans. Frank Miller was called a genius and became a pop culture icon for his ground breaking work on The Dark Knight.
Fifteen years later Frank Miller created a sequel called The Dark Knight Strikes Again. And it was a jumbled mess at best, and just a crappy uninteresting story at worst. And since then Frank Miller’s writing and artistic ability has only dipped in quality, and he has become a source of mockery for his more recent work. (Anyone who had the misfortune of reading Holy Terror can attest to this).
But, now, after some time Frank Miller is back at DC with another sequel to TDKR. The Dark Knight III The Master Race is billed as the end of “The Dark Knight” stories. (At least until Miller writes the fourth one.) However, Miller is not alone this time. Comics veteran writer, Brian Azzarello is co-writing the script, Andy Kubert is penciling, and Klaus Janson ink the “three-quel.” Despite Frank Miller not being completely in charge, the news of this book’s release met online criticism due to Frank Miller’s recent work.
However, not only does DK III issue 1 succeed in being a cohesive story, but in my opinion it is one of the better comics to have come out this past year.
The story takes place sometime after the events of The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Batman is an outlaw from the authorities again, and heroes seem to have gone into hiding once more. The narrative has a lot of intrigue and follows multiple characters throughout this world. We get a glimpse of Commissioner Yindel responding to the return of Batman, a glimpse of Superman and Wonder Woman’s daughter, Lara, discovering the shrunken city of Kandor, and a glimpse of Wonder Woman fighting a hybrid between a Minotaur and a Centaur. Each one has unique struggles, and interesting perspectives about the world they’re in. The book surprises by having really strong female characters that aren’t the stereotypical female action hero that is a parody of itself sometime. They’re certainly more complex and interesting than most of Miller’s female characters of recent years.
Some of the original pencils from Andy Kubert
There are some questions raised about the world we’re introduced to and what has happened since we last saw these characters, but like any pilot episode the writers are smart enough not to give away all the details, and keep some things to raise intrigue levels up. So it feels all right that we’re in the dark about certain things. However, questions definitely need to be answered sooner than later.
The story definitely has the same classic Miller ideas and story beats, but it feels like Azzarello took charge on the dialogue and the pacing of the story. For example: there’s a two page spread that invokes the classic TDKR talking heads bit. It’s only contained to those two pages, but it works well because it invokes the constant stream of news through the internet and network news programs. There’s also a clever twist on the use of slang, which Miller made famous in the TDKR, with texting.
The art is some of the best on the market now. Andy Kubert’s pencils have dynamic images and show awesome action. The colors have a similar muted quality from Miller’s earlier Dark Knight work, they allow for darker shadows and backgrounds while highlighting the characters. Kubert’s artwork (along with Janson’s inking) certainly creates a wonderful homage to Miller’s classic artwork, but it also is its own unique design. One of the best parts about the artwork is that all the characters look unique and different. There’s no one body type they all conform to.
The reveal is pretty awesome.
The art in the book isn’t clouded by a lot of text, which is great. It allows the artwork to show not tell and create the mood in the story. The minimal text of the story also doesn’t distract us from the action scenes. There are a few, but the book isn’t constant action, and a few quiet moments in the book. There’s a particularly great moment with Ellen Yindel contemplating her choices and The Batman at the bat signal.
This book is fantastic, it’s not perfect, but it’s very entertaining and has a lot of intrigue to the story. It just needs to fill in some of the gaps sooner than later. Now some might complain about the 5.99 price, but let’s think about it for a minute. The book is printed on wonderful smooth paper, has been fantastically bound and stapled, has no advertisements, is thirty-two pages long (which is longer than the average comic) and comes with a free twelve page mini booklet story. That’s a good deal, certainly better than what Marvel has been charging for comics lately.
Oh and speaking of the bonus story:
BONUS REVIEW Dark Knight Universe Presents The Atom #1
Much better than that cover I refuse to put up.
The first issue of DK III came with a free copy of a tie in story featuring Ray Palmer. (Which is a pretty novel idea actually. Shorten the tie in books and give them away with the issue. But I digress). Ray is contemplating the actions of the Justice League, and his own life as a superhero. There’s an action scene at the beginning involving lizard creatures that’s pretty entertaining, but for the most part it’s a slower paced comic that ends with Lara bringing the city of Kandor to Ray Palmer. This issue stands out by having a notoriously awful cover drawn by Frank Miller, but Miller drew the inside art and it’s actually pretty good. Nothing outstanding, but all the characters look dynamic, and the backgrounds shine very well. It’s definitely worth reading as well, as it gives us some more information about some of the other characters as well.
As the Star Wars: The Force Awakens promotion by Disney hits an epically obnoxious level, we do get a glimpse of Simon Pegg’s character in the latest spot promoting Daisy Ridley’s character Rey.
“Rey is so wonderful. She’s vulnerable. And she’s strong. She’s a scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku. She’s up for new experiences. And new adventures. This has been really special. I love the films. But obviously, now being a part of it, is really amazing. And it has been a lot of fun on set. I think the kids are going to love it, because they can really connect with the characters. BB-8 is amazing. We are packed full of creatures. It’s really cool,” said Ridley.
(Right to left: J.J. Abrams, Daisy Ridley, Simon Pegg)
Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18, 2015.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.
Just as there are people who still have their Halloween decorations out in the middle of November while others have already put up a Christmas Tree, there are songs just now being released that are trying to catch the passing tides of the Halloween spirit while other tracks are coming out now in preparation for the upcoming waves of the Christmas Season. However, there is hardly any music directed towards the American holiday of Thanksgiving. While some may argue that major musicians refrain from Thanksgiving songs for the reason that it would not spread outside of the United States, that still does not explain why holidays such as Independence Day are showered with songs about liberty and freedom. Why are there no Thanksgiving songs?
When this song came out in November of 2012, it was received with nearly universal disapproval (as can be seen by the fact that the music video has over 270,000 dislikes.) Some credit this to the Rebecca Black Friday fiasco and how many associated the two songs as being similar, but the lyrical content of the song points to an entirely separate reason. Analyzing the lyrics of The Thanksgiving Song, you can quickly see what might be the most simple way to answer this question: Songs about turkeys and mashed potatoes serve as terrible lyrical content.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, or in this case any sane musician, to realize songs pertaining to eating yams, pumpkin pie, and stuffing do not provide a very good subject for a song. Even if Frank Sinatra sung The Thanksgiving Song it would have still been a terrible song from a lyrical standpoint. Though this is only one example, there is a vast sea of similar if not worse songs. There will always be exceptions; it can be said that, as a whole, the relationship between music and Thanksgiving could seriously be improved.
If you’re here I’m assuming you’ve seen Jessica Jones, but if you haven’t, STOP, go watch it and then come back to share your thoughts! Jimmy Kimmel brought it up when talking to Krysten Ritter, when is it okay to say anything about a show that premieres all at once like Netflix does? I gave you a week, now let’s get to it.
When it comes to Netflix, binge-watching is the norm, and that’s exactly what many of us did this past weekend with Jessica Jones. Some of the early reviews of the show put it up on a pedestal, rating it even higher than Daredevil. My guard was already up because the superhero market is saturated enough to keep making more and more shows, especially if there aren’t going to be exciting crossovers within the Cinematic Universe.
It took me four episodes to really get into Jessica Jones, but when it started to become interesting, I was all in, and by the end I’d fallen in love. I wanted to talk about it, hear what people thought about it…
One of the things I enjoy the most about these kind of shows and movies are the easter eggs and sneaky references. Here are a few I caught myself and some others I found while searching around. How many of these did you notice?
Comic strip sequence.
Jessica Jones’ front door is a character in itself. At the beginning of the show you might remember a man being thrown out of her apartment through it. That was taken straight out of the first comic book in which Jessica Jones appears, Alias #1.
During the first third of the show, the only appearances of the villain, Kilgrave, are in Jessica’s PTSD episodes, whispering creepily in her ear, surrounded by flashes of purple light. Later on, he dresses in purple and ends up having purple veins showing up when he exercises his power, but he isn’t purple from head to toe like his character in the comics. The color is a tying feature around him more than his signature image.
AKA Hulk and Captain America.
There are a few references, especially toward the beginning of the show to both the events of The Avengers in New York (the city where Daredevil and Jessica Jones work in) and to “the big green dude who’s cruel” and “the Flag-waver”. Later on we see a kid dressed-up as Cap, shield and all, running around. These kind of references would be cooler if they mentioned them by name, but Jones makes a point to distance herself from them, so it makes sense that she doesn’t name them… I guess.
In this same vein, secondary characters refer to people with habilities as “one of them”, meaning one of those rare people like The Avengers, Loki, Inhumans, the mutants they can’t mention, etc.
It’s Jessica Jones’ BFF!
Since the first stages of development of the show, Melissa Rosenberg had to adapt to the MCU, so as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel got her own movie, her original role of BFF went to Patsy (or Trish) Walker. She doesn’t have powers, but we see her training and find out how many resources she has to help out Jessica. In the flashback scene where we see Jessica Jones considering the super heroine role, Trish shows her an outfit and names her Jewel. In the comics, that’s an identity Jones adopted briefly.
Any other P.I.s in the room?
Jessica mentions Angela Del Toro being another private investigator. In the comics, Del Toro is White Tiger, a supporting character in Daredevil. We can guess she could be cast soon, either to appear in Daredevil, Luke Cage or Iron Fist.
Who the Nuke is that?
Will Simpson might be the shakiest character in Jessica Jones, but the writers really knew how to spice him up towards the end. Dr. Koslov gives him three kinds of pills: red, blue and white, the colors of the US flag, which Simpson/Nuke had painted in his face in the comics.
Barman, a Luke Cage, please.
When Luke Cage first appears on Jessica Jones he’s wearing his signature golden-yellow t-shirt from the comics, and he also says “Sweet Christmas!” like his character, in later episodes.
What doesn’t kill you… What?
Corey from Moviepilot caught another very interesting reference in Episode 11. Either Nolan’s The Dark Knight exists in the MCU and Jessica Jones is a huge fan of the Joker, or someone was having some fun playing around with DC quotes in the writer’s room.
Finally, a Daredevil connection!
In the last episode, Rosario Dawson makes an appearence as Claire Temple, the nurse treating Luke Cage, also commenting that he’s not the first one with habilities she has encountered, because of course that was Matt Murdock AKA Daredevil. We already know we’ll see Claire in Cage’s solo show, along with her mother.
What easter eggs and/or references did I miss? Let me know in the comments.
Pixar released their 16th film with The Good Dinosaur this week. I gave it a 4.7 out of 5 stars, check out my review.
The Good Dinosaur is very impressive, and that led to the question, “What is the best Pixar Movie of all time?” So I sent out some tweets and posted on Facebook to conduct an official poll of Pixar, and the overwhelming response caught me a bit off-guard.
The above images are just a small sampling of the replies on Facebook alone, and this clearly told me a few concrete things. First, everyone has strong opinions on this topic but no one seems to be consistently picking the same Pixar titles.
For my Top 5 Pixar movie list to have any validity, it has to have some criteria to help sift through the many Pixar films. Without set rules, this list is nothing more than just me picking a couple of random titles and calling it a day. Having criteria isn’t that big of a deal as we all have our own personal standards when we pick which movies we love. The image below is someone’s criteria as to why Finding Nemo should be the #1 Pixar film of all time.
The criteria that we will be using to create this Top 5 list will be – Animation, Story Line, and Impact. The reason these were the three picked is that they are measurable. So without further delay .. let’s get into the Top 5 Pixar Movies of all time.
5) Toy Story
Toy Story certainly was a popular choice on social media for the #1 Pixar movie of all time.
@mrsingleton@monkeys_robots Oh man. Let's see. Toy Story has to be number 1. A Bug's Life. Nemo. Ratatouille. They gotta be on there.
Toy Story is my #5 Pixar movie. While I won’t debate anyone on the impact of Toy Story (It certainly did put Pixar on the map) it’s just not in the upper echelon on animated features from Pixar. Maybe that’s due to when Toy Story originally came out (1995) but still that plus and an all too familiar story-line bring this movie down a couple of notches. Nemo , The Incredibles , Up , and The Good Dinosaur all have more of an original story-line and have had ( or will have) a deeper impact in film. It’s a fantastic Pixar film but not worthy of being the best of all time.
4) Finding Nemo
Finding Nemo certainly had it’s supporters on Twitter.
Animation wise, it’s slightly better that the original Toy Story but the story-line boasts some original characters ( you can’t get much more original than an amnesiac fish named Dory and a bunch of greedy seagulls). The success of Finding Nemo certainly had an impact on other films as Dreamworks quickly pushed its answer to Finding Nemo, Shark Tale, which floundered at the box-office. Nemo certainly has original characters and had an impact on film industry but not to the extent as our third Pixar movie of all time.
3) The Incredibles
The Incredibles is the #3 Pixar movie of all time. The Incredibles is the first time Pixar ventured into the world of Superheroes. The animation inthe film is crisp and clean, and the way the superpowers are brought to life is quite awe-inspiring. Pixar certainly stepped up its level of animation with The Incredibles as well as its level of story telling too. A story about retired superheroes rediscovering their roots is the epitome of originality. As for impact, The Incredibles not only won two Academy Awards but became the first animated feature to win the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The Incredibles certainly has better animation than Toy Story and Nemo and it’s way more of original as well. The Incredibles could have easily been the #2 ranked Pixar movie of all time but our #2 film is in a class by itself.
2) UP
Up is the #2 Pixar movie of all time. Up was such a daring subject to tackle in an animated feature. Addressing the idea of what happens after the love your life passes on is certainly something that you wouldn’t expect to see from Pixar but it was handled so beautifully. The animation of the house lifting into the heavens and traveling to South America was breathtaking. If the animation isn’t enough to bring tears to your eyes, then the theme of following your dreams will certainly do the trick. Up was a brilliant movie, and it was a home-run with all audiences scoring a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.com. It had a profound impact as Up was the first Pixar feature to be nominated for Best Picture.
Up easily could have been my #1 Pixar film but it simply doesn’t compete in the category of Animation. While Up is head and shoulders above Toy Story, Nemo , and The Incredibles in multiple categories ( Story, Animation, and Impact) it just couldn’t surpass the level of animation in my #1 Pixar movie of all time.
1) The Good Dinosaur
The Good Dinosaur is my #1 Pixar movie of all time. No one on either Facebook or Twitter even mentioned The Good Dinosaur in any Top 5 list of Pixar films. Obviously, The Good Dinosaur is still new to almost everyone but based on the criteria it’s my #1 Pixar film of all time. For starters, the animation is so realistic that it looks like you are watching an actual documentary on the Dinosaur. The Good Dinosaur is the most beautiful animated film ever made. The animation bar has been raised with The Good Dinosaur, and other films will have to try and reach that very high bar. The story-line is not as original as say the movie UP, but the idea of a story about growing up and making your mark in this world is nothing to dismiss. The Impact of this film is yet to be fully understood, but the animation is so profoundly better than anything else that has ever been created that it’s easy to assume that it will have an effect on future films.
The Good Dinosaur is light years better than Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Up in the category of animation. The Good Dinosaur’s easily surpass The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story in the story-line category but it’s neck and neck with Up. What puts The Good Dinosaur over the top into the #1 Pixar movie of all time is how impactful the animation will be on future animated films. The realistic animation in this film will raise the bar in animated features for years to come.
What do you guys think of my Top 5? Do you agree or disagree?
It was announced earlier this summer that Sesame Street would air it’s next five seasons on HBO after four decade on PBS. When the deal was announced, it was seen as a win for the cash-strapped Sesame Workshop but it also drew a tremendous amount of criticism from many educational television supporters. The chief complaint was that Sesame Street was being removed from public television and turned over to a premium channel that’s known for it’s less than kid friendly content. For HBO it’s a great move because they are now aligning themselves with the most recognizable children’s program in history. That first season on HBO (Sesame Street’s 46th) – will premiere on January 16th, 2016. Two new 30-minute episodes will air back to back that day.
With Sesame Street’s new half-hour format (On PBS they would run an hour long), several other changes will occur along with the show’s move to HBO. Perhaps the biggest change is the addition of a new cast member, Nina, a young Hispanic Woman. Cookie Monster will have a brand new segment where he fights crime with cookies. Elmo will move into a brownstone at 123 Sesame Street (which is a big step for Elmo) , Cookie Monster will move into an apartment above Hooper’s Store ( poor Alan), Big Bird will settle into a new nest ( Big Bird doesn’t handle change well) and Oscar will be in a new garbage can . Scheduled to appear in the first group of episodes are Gwen Stefani, Pharell,Alan Cumming, and Ne-Yo. The HBO version of Sesame Street will also feature a new theme song.
Reruns of the previous seasons of Sesame Street will still air on PBS five days a week. Sesame Street purists won’t have to wait too long to see the new season of the hit children’s show as it will air on PBS in late 2016.
With November coming to an end, it’s time to look at all the different geeky movies and TV coming to Netflix in December. Many of you will need something to watch after marathon watching Jessica Jones. Of course, you could rewatch it again but just in case here are a few titles that warrant your attention.
1. Darkman (December 1st)
Before the current flood of movies based on comic books, movies like Darkman feature to were made, which felt like their source material was a graphic novel. Sam Raimi brought this Liam Neeson feature to life; Raimi later made the first Spider-Man Trilogy.
2. The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (December 1st)
With talk from Vin Diesel that he’s working on another Riddick film, it may help to watch this anime movie that came out around the time Chronicles of Riddick hit the theaters. Who knows, it may pay to watch it just incase the story becomes part of the Riddick-verse later.
3. Broadchurch: Season 2 (December 1st)
Need more David Tennent after his time in the new Jessica Jones series? Well, check out this British series where he played a detective tracking down a child killer. A third season has been announced so best to play catch up now.
4. A very Murray Christmas (December 4th)
Billy Murray is producing a classic Christmas variety show. Not interested. What about if George Clooney, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, and Rashida Jones came to give him a hand? Now that sounds like a Christmas party.
5.Puss in Boots: Season 2 (December 11th)
Another season of the devilish feline who wears boots and is a master swordsman. Considering there has been little talk of the sequel coming out, this may be the only helping of Puss fans will get in the near future.
6. The Da Vinci Code (December 14th)
Need something to watch with the folks but want it to have a bit of an intrigue behind it? Then put on the Da Vinci Code and watch Tom Hanks solve an ancient riddle. When it’s over, you’ll wish you had your own cryptex to figure out.
7. Phineas and Ferb: Season 4 (December 15th)
Much like Spongebob Squarepants this is a series that a lot of adults find themselves watching. Now with the final season, fans will be able to cap off the adventures of Phineas, Ferb, and Perry as Agent P in a proper fashion.
8. Glitter Force (December 18)
Still trying to wash the taste of the live action Jem and the Holograms out of your mouth? Try Glitter Force, an anime from the long-running PreCure series, the premiere magical girl franchise. This one is based on Fairy Tales and will hopefully be a new favorite for anime fans.
9. Dawn of the Croods (December 24th)
Need more Dreamworks in your life? Well, the new stone age family, The Croods will be getting a sequel in 2017, but before then you can check out their new series. Sadly, Nicolas Cage probably won’t revise his role as Grug for the TV series.
10. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Season 5 (December 28th)
The popularity this show has garnished is insane to the point there are documentaries about it. The latest season will be uploaded at the end of the month and pony fans can binge watch into the new year. Might want to pad it out as season 6 won’t be up until sometime in 2016.
There you go, another great month of Netflix titles that deserve your attention. Get watching!
It feels like Hollywood has been talking about a Freddie Mercury biopic for over a decade, but with reports of a script being assigned to Anthony McCarten and rumors of Ben Whishaw being cast as Freddie, maybe the project has finally passed through the dreaded zone of developmental hell. Sony has the rights to the story and they know a lot is at stake portraying the equivalent of a musical god. I personally had Freddie’s band, Queen, serenade me to sleep almost every night as a child, and when Bohemian Rhapsody plays at any bar, I would bet my life savings that the crowd erupts in the wake of its melody and lyrics. They must not mess this up; people will riot!
Ben Whishaw is a fine choice. I thought he gave great performances in particularly risky roles of Cloud Atlas, and I’m Not There., but this article will discuss 5 different actors that could or would be just as good portraying Freddie Mercury.
1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
I must admit I have a man-crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but how could you not? With a resume that includes Inception, 50/50, The Dark Knight Rises, 500 Days of Summer, Looper, and The Walk, he has proven he can do comedy, drama, action, foreign accents and even a young Bruce Willis. Plus, he survived and thrived after being a child actor. That’s very impressive given the history of child actors as adults. Also, even if he can’t sing, he’s a lip-synching master!
2. Adam Lambert
This American Idol-Season 8 stand-out is a bit obvious. His show audition included Bohemian Rhapsody, and he ended up touring as the lead singer for Queen in 2011. He has studied Freddie and embraced his impact with the history of the band. Many musicians have taken the leap from music to film, and have done tremendous jobs. I believe Adam would pull it off. After all, he has already been doing it on tours.
3. Zachary Quinto
Zachary Quinto has immense talent and just generally seems like a nice guy. If this man can pull of the iconic Spock, he can do anything. He’s played the villain in Heroes, various roles in American Horror Story, the slapper in The Slap, so basically the guy has the range and talent to encompass any role. He would master a role and opportunity to play Freddie Mercury.
4. Ezra Miller
An upcoming actor, Ezra Miller, has established himself as a rising star with his emotional performance in The Perk of Being a Wallflower, to his creepy portrayal in We Need To Talk About Kevin. High profile movie executives must belief the same thing, since he has been cast in a pivot Warner Brothers/DC entity, The Flash 2018. Ezra may be young, but I believe he would capture Freddie with no qualms.
5. Hugh Jackman
Who doesn’t love Hugh? At this point in his illustrious career, his acting speaks for itself. His filmography is well documented, yet so is his singing ability. Hugh Jackman is a trained opera singer, so he can belt out tunes with the best of them. Since he is tad older, a brilliant option would be having him take on half the role, similarly how they structured Brian Wilson’s biopic Love & Mercy.
Honorable Mention: Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen was listed or rumored to play Freddie for a couple of years, but it just never worked out. He is certainly an unconventional choice; however, I do believe he has the ability. Behind all his zany characters is a unique skill set. Playing and singing in Les Miserables, proved it.
All these actors or entertainers would provide a great perspective to Freddie Mercury. I truly believe any of them would be a fantastic choice. Let’s just hope the rumors and news turn concrete, so that another doesn’t bite the dust!
So there you have it, WWE Survivor Series 2015 is in the bank. I hope you all maybe enjoyed it on some level. Let’s jump straight into the matches and what happened and figure it out from there.
The pre-show was a traditional survivor series match of Miz, Bo Dallas, Stardust and The Ascension versus Neville, Titus O’Neil, Goldust and The Dudley Boyz. The only facts of note were that Goldust made his return on a PPV pre-show as apparently that 3 hours of Raw is all filled up this week. Titus O’Neil, Goldust and The Dudley Boyz were left winning the match for their team. So yes Neville of all people was the only one eliminated on that side just so we’re aware of his standing. On that note onto the main show!
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final: Roman Reigns Vs Alberto Del Rio
This was an odd choice of match to open things with and it immediately became a bad choice when the crowd were not into it from the start. The issue being Del Rio is pretty flat at this point and Reigns got a surprisingly negative reaction on his entrance which carried on in the ring. It surprises me a little that it’s still going on so long after Wrestlemania. To both guys credit they worked hard to get the crowd into it which they pretty much did by the end. Del Rio broke out some cool spots and Reigns did really strong things including picking Del Rio off the ground from an arm bar to turn it into a single arm powerbomb. Triple H was shown watching the match backstage which feels like a hint to a turn or Authority shenanigans later in the night. To finish Reigns won with a spear. It seems a bit damaging that Del Rio as U.S Champ loses clean again and so soon after his return but with injuries piling up there wasn’t a lot of options for a tournament.
There was a backstage segment of Ambrose congratulating Reigns on his win, with Reigns telling Ambrose he needed to do his job and beat Owens so they can be friends fighting for the title. Seems like a hint of Ambrose turning but then again they’ve been doing these kinds of segments for months. Owens then turned up to mock them both and how Reigns keeps getting so close. Good for Owens referencing what happened in the last year, something that rarely happens in WWE.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semi-Final: Dean Ambrose Vs Kevin Owens
As opposed to the previous match the crowd were hyped for this from the start with a good reception for both guys. They worked a good back and forth match with Owens being a dick and mocking Ambrose and the crowd throughout, which I love, and Ambrose doing his wild and crazy offence. My only issue, and it’s a minor one, is that some of the things Ambrose does to fit his style seem impractical in a match. A prime example being when they were both up top on the turnbuckle struggling with one another Ambrose took the time to wind up his punch. It seemed a bit goofy but then this is the industry where not too long ago the Worm was a finisher so what do I know? After a bunch of counters, Ambrose hit the dirty deeds for the win. This was a good match, it flowed well and had a plan of how the match progressed with the crowd into it the whole way.
Traditional Survivor Series Match: Ryback, Lucha Dragons and The USOs Vs New Day, Wade Barrett and Sheamus.
We didn’t know who we were going to get when they came out and I’ll be honest my initial reaction was disappointment. Now knowing Cesaro is out injured now along with several others starts to explain things a bit but looking at the match from the pre-show a bit of mix and match might’ve made things a bit more interesting. Xavier Wood’s has new hair and from that New Day, continue to be all out entertainment and I’ve got a suspicion Barrett and Sheamus asked to have their entrance judging by how much fun they seemed to be having on that walk to the ring. The match itself was also pretty fun, I continue to be more of a fan of the Lucha Dragons every time I see them in one of these big matches. Sin Cara pulled off the single arm powerbomb nearly exactly like Roman Reigns did earlier in the night which suddenly made it seem less impressive. The big spot where the Luchas and Usos went flying out of the ring was awesome and Ryback then taking the jump to the outside was surprising and cool. The ending kicked in with Barrett already out and Big E getting eliminated. Kingston and Woods decided Big E was hurt, took him to the back and never returned leaving Sheamus with Ryback, Kalisto and Jey Uso. It was an amusing twist to the match but Sheamus carried on fighting and did okay but got triple teamed to finish with the Shell Shock from Ryback. The issue there was that Sheamus started to feel like the face in that situation, fighting against the odds but they wrapped it up quickly enough to kill that feeling.
WWE Divas Championship Match: Paige Vs Charlotte
Regardless of anything else Paige does a good entrance, particularly as a heel, she’s just full of attitude. The match started with grappling, Charlotte trying to use her power to throw Paige around and Paige making the ropes constantly. Usually I’d be happy to see so much actual wrestling in a Divas match but when during the build they’ve made this match so personal and bitter starting with holds and throws doesn’t seem to fit the bill. But that’s a recurring problem I have with big WWE matches a lot. Also as a side note there was nothing of the mentions of Reid Flair in the hype video before the match indicating a possible change of approach at the last minute. Early on and into the mid point there was a lot of rest holds, and then whenever any momentum would build it would either go back to another hold or Paige would go to the outside and Charlotte might follow. It broke things up horribly, it felt long and a “we want Sasha” chant started indicating the crowd felt the same. After a weirdly out of place spear off the barricade they went back into the ring and Charlotte won with a figure eight. Maybe I’m being too optimistic but I’d like to see another match between these two because I believe they can do so much better.
Dolph Ziggler Vs Tyler Breeze
Ziggler comes out looking like an overeager Motley Crue fan. I like it that he keeps debuting new gear it would just help if it looked any good. Ziggler started off strong but they went to the outside and Breeze employed the old heel tactic of using Summer as a shield, they then went back in the ring where Breeze took control. Ziggler sold the knee injury when he remembered which he did for the finish which led to Breeze hitting the unprettier for the win. Well, it’s a positive that Breeze wins clean as it helps him so much more than a Summer Rae distraction win would have. This feud will continue, though.
The Undertaker and Kane Vs Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper
The brothers come out separately, and Undertaker’s entrance is pretty big but not surprising given the theme of the show. In the montage of Taker’s faces, they showed American Bad Ass, which was cool as they don’t acknowledge that now. To start the Wyatt’s tease that two it’s going to be with Rowan taking a run at the Brothers and getting destroyed for his trouble. I can’t help but feel that’s a preview of the rest of this match. It ends up being Bray and Harper with commentary selling it that Bray wants to get the job done himself, which makes some sense I guess. Taker and Kane dominated early on until Kane ended up on the outside which led to Strowman getting involved and a cool confrontation between Strowman and Taker. The Wyatt’s were then in control until a hot tag to Taker, who ran wild until Strowman distracted which resulted in a double chokeslam through the announce table. While it was a cool spot it would have helped everyone immensely if that was the first time Strowman had been floored but they threw that away on Raw. Another good spot where Taker and Kane did a double sit up while Bray was doing his crab walk that had been done before but the crowd loved it. The ending came with a double chokeslam and Harper taking the best looking Tombstone piledriver Taker has done in a while. It wasn’t a classic match, but it was Undertaker playing his greatest hits and Kane supporting which is what people wanted to see. It’s just a shame the Wyatt’s had to be on the receiving end as it’s tough to see where they go after this.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final: Roman Reigns Vs Dean Ambrose
They started brawling immediately and then both trying to end it which fit well bearing in mind they’ve already had a match tonight. The match felt important, both were doing all they could to win, and there were little references to the friends who like to fight factor that I love as it’s different and helps their characters.
The finish came when there was a big striking exchange and Reigns hit a spear seemingly out of nowhere for the win and the title. The finish felt kind of abrupt for a match like that but overall it was good.
After a moment, Ambrose came over to hug and congratulate then left as pyro and confetti went off. So no heel turn by either guy, not surprising but the quick end to the match, the lingering celebration and twenty minutes still left of the show makes the feeling overwhelming that something else is coming. This only builds further when Triple H comes out to congratulate Reigns and shake his hand. Rather than a handshake Reigns decides to spear Triple H just as Sheamus arrives to brogue kick Reigns and cash in!
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns Vs Sheamus
Sheamus goes for a pin, but Reigns kicks out and is up. He runs the ropes but eats another Brogue Kick, and Sheamus wins the title.
Well, I’ll hand it to WWE I didn’t expect it earlier in the night when Sheamus was making jokes with the New Day and getting smacked around by Kalisto and an Uso. I get that it adds another chapter to Reigns getting so close and it being yanked away from him, but I’m not sure why Sheamus as champion is going to be any better than previous times that didn’t go brilliantly. And at a time when injuries and absences have taken their toll on an already thin main event scene they needed to make someone here, and it might have been better just to have Reigns go over and bite the bullet. Though I say that, but on the coverage they leave the feed on Reigns leaving the ring as he’s crying with confetti stuck to him and he’s still being booed and jeered so maybe not.
There were some good to really good matches there, nothing totally bad but nothing great either. New Day were as entertaining as always, Owens Vs Ambrose was the best match, and you have to appreciate seeing Undertaker do his thing. Unfortunately, these were the main and only real highlights of the whole show, and it seemed the crowd felt the same as they were pretty much dead for most of it which hurt things. That would make it an average to poor show but the damage done to the long term put it in the poor bracket. Rather than take the opportunity set-up to try and put someone firmly in the top tier they took the get out and gave the title to Sheamus. With Ambrose and Reigns no better off than when this started. Add that to the Wyatt Family now having no credibility what so ever and the Paige-Charlotte match and programme adding another dull note to the Divas picture and Survivor Series 2015 did nothing for anyone.
The main event for TLC 2015 was set in the first segment as Roman Reigns Vs Sheamus for the WWE World Title. I’m a big fan of getting the main matches for a PPV set early, but it’s a shame it took a twenty minute Authority talking segment to get there. It did also lead to the return of Rusev however who superkicked Reigns and got a match that night with him for it. To cut to the chase there, Wade Barrett got involved to help Rusev giving Reigns the win by DQ. It makes about as much sense as that sentence to be honest.
There was a tag match of Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose against Kevin Owens and Tyler Breeze, so it looks like the Ziggler-Breeze feud is continuing and possibly an Ambrose-Owens program has started.
Charlotte and Paige had the customary PPV rematch so I didn’t have to wait long to see it again after all. It ended with a double count out which led to Paige getting the Scorpion Cross Lock on the announce table because for some reason it hurts more on the announce table. On a side note, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch had a match that got a grand total of four minutes.
Finally, the Wyatt’s rehabilitation began with a distraction win over the Dudley Boyz followed by the Wyatt’s beating them down. It’s good it started the night after Survivor Series as there is a lot of work to do there.
In other news, Solomon Crowe asked for and was granted his release from NXT. Noteworthy because he’s a name in NXT, but I can’t say I’m entirely surprised, my first exposure to him was a beat down and humiliation by Kevin Owens and since then he’d just been there and wasn’t going anywhere being brutally honest. He made his name in EVOLVE, CZW and PWG so hopefully he can go back to success in the indies.
Cesaro is out with a shoulder injury sustained in his match with Roman Reigns on Raw. Reports are estimating he’ll be out between four to six months.
The Raw mentioned earlier hit a ratings low. The viewership was the lowest for a non-holiday Raw since 1997 with a variety of other negative facts to go with that.
Mick Foley wrote on his Facebook page about his frustrations with the current WWE product. Very worth a read as he makes some excellent points and he’s a man with an informed opinion.
As usual any thoughts on Survivor Series, Raw or anything else going on in Wrestling post them up in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll be back later in the week with more grapple goodness.
While it wasn’t a surprise consider the lackluster set-up last week, Sakurako-san Episode 8 ‘The Entrusted Bones Part 2’ fails to even meet those low expectations. Review of Sakurako-san Episode 8 ‘The Entrusted Bones Part 2’
The largest flaw with this episode is how… separate it feels. The main plot had very little connections with last week’s, though that might also be due to how little was established last week, with a thirty-second exposition scene this episode could have been a standalone. That is not someone a two parter should aim for.
Add the fact that this seemingly standalone story wasn’t worth twenty minutes of screen-time, let alone forty, and you’ve got a pretty disappointing episode.
An interesting moment, however, was when Sakurako went to confront Sayuki about her story. In the story Sayuki mentions that Natsuko buried the baby immediately after birth, of course that doesn’t make sense. I had brushed it off as “another example of poor writing” so I quite enjoyed seeing the show itself call Sayuki out on that. Good on you, Sakurako-san, good on you.
Diagram of Family relations: Credit goes to /u/recentlyquitsmoking
However, the assumption that Sasaki had made regarding Natsuko’s ‘baby’ wasn’t the only option. It’s possible, nay more likely, that his father had sex with Natsuko, not them being half-siblings. However, this is a tiny gripe that could be attributed to Sasaki’s non-perfect reasoning. Remember, the show puts Sasaki and Sakurako as basically the same, so if Sasaki can make mistakes, so can Sakurako? Of course the show addressed this, “Even I make mistakes sometimes” Oh we know that full well, Sakurako, in fact, I have a list of a few… care to take a look?
The issue of separation I mentioned before doesn’t end with the separate episodes, there are two major storylines in this episode. The first being the aforementioned foot story, the second being the rift between Sakurako and Shoutaro. Again this feels separate, the show first tackles the foot story, than the rest is devoted to Sakurako and Shoutaro.
Finally the episode ends with Sakurako’s uncle once more. It seems like a series long story is being introduced. Which is great! But it seems like episode 8 is a little late…
In conclusion, Sakurako-san Episode 8 ‘The Entrusted Bones Part 2’ is full of disappointment, and while the next arc set-up seems promising, this show is far from recommendable.
