Category: Media

Fat Guy In A Little Singlet- 1/13/14

Wait…haven’t we seen this before?

Yep, John Cena’s dad was attacked last night by Randy Orton on Raw which I believe is the 11th or 12th time he has been assaulted on camera. One would think he is a relatively smart man and would stay far away from watching his son wrestle. Not because he is always attacked with faux punches and kicks but just for the reason of not watching his son wrestle. Most of the time it is hard to watch and I would prefer being actually punched in the throat.

But wait! What’s this?!

Cena had a good match last night. Not just a good match but a really good match with Damien Sandow. The same Sandow who beat the holy hell out of Cena only two weeks after his fifth miracle early comeback in October with chairs and ring steps. He then cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and became only the second man to lose their match for the gold with the other being…yep, Cena. Even Cena gets return wins on MITB briefcase matches. But last night’s match was a good effort from both guys with Cena showing off some nifty new moves (that half-nelson neckbreaker was good) and Sandow getting a whoooole lot more offense than any match he has had with Khali over the past few weeks. You’re welcome.

Ryback kept trolling internet folks last night with his entrance. In case you missed it he went a bit Matt Hardy on Twitter this weekend putting up odd tweets that he had been released only to reveal it was for a traffic stop and played up the fact he gave Dolph Ziggler a (real life) concussion. He then promptly deleted his rage tweets and then tweeted that no one has deleted more tweets than him. Now we know the last fact is not true, that honor belongs to Kurt Angle and rightfully so.

Now either Ryback is just having some fun with trolling the trolls floating around on this giant porn-filled ship we call the worldwide web or…get ready for this…he is actually FUCKING NUTS. Rumors said that after he tweeted he was released that many were not surprised if it actually happened. And this guy was being set up to be “The Man” in 2012. Now he is tagging with Curtis “personality skips a generation” Axel.

The New Age Outlaws teamed up with CM Punk again after their great match with The Shield on last week’s Smackdown for a rematch. The crowd was hot for Punk/Outlaw team and the match was going just fine…until they pushed Punk off the stage in a dumpster (hypothetically speaking) and left him to face The Shield alone.

OH NO! It’s almost as if they are lifelong friends of HHH like Shawn Mich….ohhhhh. I get it.

Punk lost the match thanks to another Roman Reigns spear and got all up in Kane’s face backstage about having a problem with HHH. I smell a Pedigree and a 1-2-3 for Punk in April.

As I said, Reigns picked up another win on Punk and it is looking more and more likely that the WWE is going to hang their hat on him when The Shield breaks up and make him the Batista for this generation of PG WWE Network viewing. Whether you like it or not, you can’t deny that he is a talented big guy that can do stuff like this:

He’s like a 275 lb. flying Uso. Which makes sense seeing as they are related but DAMN was that sweet!

Del Rio, after getting his win back over Sin Hunico, picked up a win against Rey Mysterio further setting up the Mexican JBL to be destroyed by a returning Batista next week. The fun part about ADR and Batista getting together is that Del Rio seems to have actually pissed off Batista on Twitter when he made fun of the rider of buses lackluster MMA fight. Now we should get some extra stiff (giggity) action between these two.

Brock Lesnar was nowhere in sight when the Big Show wrestled Jack Swagger. By wrestle I mean completely squashed. Didn’t the WWE charged us $50 in 2009 for Big Show and Jack Swagger when Swagger was (somehow) WHC? Now we can watch it anytime we want on the WWE Network for only $10 a month, but why would you when you have WCW and ECW PPV’s to watch? Like sands through the hourglass.

Bray Wyatt, Daniel Bryan and The Usos opened and closed the show but that was not a big deal. The big deal was that Daniel Bryan finally, after months and months of being a member of The Wyatt family, broke free of his shackles. Wait, did I say months and months? I meant two or three weeks. Last night’s goatee liberation after such a short time just reaffirmed to me that The Wyatt Family/Daniel Bryan saga was meant as a punishment for the crowd reaction in Seattle last year that left HHH butthurt and it seemed like Bryan was being forced into a heel role because of it.

Welllll, small problem there. The fans would not allow it. They didn’t boo Bryan, they chanted NO to their favorite wrestler giving up. If anything it further solidified that he is going to be the man in WWE whether the higher-ups want it or not. So, last night, the mighty goat face attacked Bray Wyatt in the cage after The Usos had picked up the win. And the…crowd…went…fuck…nuts.

Jeeeesus Christ, what more does this company need to realize that we have sat through a decade of Cena and Orton and it is time to move on? How many WrestleMania’s over the past decade has Cena stood victorious over HHH, Michaels and The Rock to an indifferent crowd. WrestleMania is your Super Bowl. You don’t want that. Or maybe the WWE doesn’t care anymore and are truly in some kind of cruise control until Vince decides to go away.

Imagine the end of WrestleMania 30 with the crowd doing what you see above? One can dream. Don’t let that dream get too far because we will most likely be YES YES YES-ing all the way to another Undertaker win. Then we wonder why we do it. Then we turn on the TV the next night for more.

Until next week!

January 14, 2014
WWE’s AJ Lee Wins Maxim Cover Voting In A Landslide

Proving that wrestling fans will vote in droves for a chance to see their favorite female wrestler on the cover of a publication that used to matter, current Divas champion, AJ Lee, won a fan vote on who should have a Maxim cover in the future over Summer Glau, Miesha Tate and others.

To be completely honest can you see why she won by such a huge margin? If you can’t then we can’t be internet friends, but of course, there are almost no friends on the internet.

No word on if AJ would even consider being on the cover of Maxim. Maybe the fact fans voted her above everyone else on the list will convince her. God know it would be the only reason I would buy a Maxim again.

Photo courtesy showrenity.com

January 14, 2014
First Trailer Game Of Thrones Season 4

So much great stuff awaits us in the fourth season of Game of Thrones. What is left from the latter half of Storm of Swords will make up the season and it is some of the best material in the entire series. We get some great looks at the Battle of Castle Black, Tyrion’s trial, and Lord Oberyn’s battle with Gregor Clegane.

Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy, sexy, bloody ride.

Game of Thrones returns on April 6th.

January 13, 2014
HUGE Ant-Man News! Michael Douglas Cast As Hank Pym!

Marvel has officially announced that Michael Douglas has been cast in Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man due for release on July 31, 2015. The casting is not that odd since Robert Redford has a starring role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, rather it is the role that Douglas is taking on.

He will be playing Hank Pym.

That’s right. Michael Douglas will play the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym, and Rudd will be playing his successor Scott Lang. Edgar Wright had been dropping hints for weeks that he was purposely not announcing which Ant-Man Rudd would play but I assumed it was to just troll fans. Not the case!

This could be seen as a gamble by Marvel and Wright with many people excited to see Hank Pym finally on the big screen…just in his prime. Now in the official Marvel movie universe Scott Lang will be the hero with a 60-something Pym perhaps being the villain in some way (as rumors are now saying).

What do you think of the news that Hank Pym will be played by the Academy Award winner? Do you feel like your chance to see Pym in his heyday have been stolen or are you trusting Edgar Wright?

Check out the official Marvel statement below.

Michael Douglas has stepped into some of the biggest–or should that be tiniest?–shoes of his career.

The two-time Academy Award-winning actor will join director Edgar Wright and Paul Rudd in Marvel’s “Ant-Man,” hitting theaters July 31, 2015.

“With Hank Pym’s rich history in the Marvel Universe, we knew we needed an actor capable of bringing the weight and stature to the role that the character deserves,” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. “We felt incredibly relieved when Michael Douglas agreed to step into the part with the charm and fortitude he brings to every character he inhabits, and couldn’t be more excited to see what he will do to bring Hank Pym to life.”

The legendary actor, who earned an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor in a Leading Role for his iconic portrayal of Gordon Gecko in “Wall Street,” has also starred in numerous modern classics including “Basic Instinct,” “Fatal Attraction,” “The Game,” “Wonder Boys,” “Traffic” and many more. In addition to acting, Douglas has also served as Producer and Executive Producer on a number of films including “Romancing the Stone,” John Carpenter’s “Starman” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” for which he also won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Most recently, Douglas earned a Golden Globe and his first Primetime Emmy Award for his role as legendary entertainer Liberace in the HBO original film “Behind the Candelabra.”

January 13, 2014
Review: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

It certainly took long enough for Ron Burgundy and company to return to theaters. Nine years to be exact. When the original Anchorman released in 2004 it did moderate business at the box office but found cult-like status when it came home on DVD with 90 minutes worth of quotable lines as well as some of the most off-the-wall characters ever. It was kind of a big deal. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay kept trying to convince Paramount that audiences wanted a sequel and the studio would not listen then finally relented when Ferrell and McKay promised to make the movie on the cheap meaning they and stars Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell and Dave Koechner would do it at a discount.

Here we are! Nine years later and the Channel 4 News Team has entered the 80’s with less than stellar results. Champ owns a fried chicken restaurant that serves bats to save money calling them “chicken of the cave”, Brian is a successful kitten photographer and Brick…well, Brick’s dead. At least that is what he said giving his own eulogy at the gravesite.

Ron has fallen on harder times being fired from his anchor job by his idol and his wife Veronica has become the first ever female evening news anchor. This leaves them estranged with Ron’s son caught in the middle. He is soon offered a job at GNN, the first ever venture into 24 hour news. Ron loads the Burgundy-mobile and goes searching for his old team and convince them to come to New York with him and become the big thing in news again.

Needless to say if you thought events in the first movie got a little weird get ready, because that was nothing. As their fame grows so does Ron’s ego and he distances himself from the team while he begins a relationship with the news station’s African-American news director, which Ron can not stop mentioning. Black. He can’t stop saying black. Black….black.

The mighty soon falls as a tragic figure skating accident leaves Ron blind and living in a lighthouse alone. Even the team can not bring him out of his self-pity. Only Veronica and his son can do that as he learns to live with his lack of vision and raises a baby shark, called Doby, to adulthood. Those previous sentences should not surprise you in anyway knowing this is Anchorman.

The sheer number of co-stars and cameos is staggering in Anchorman 2. Brick finds love in a like soul played by Kristen Wiig and Ron’s idol is a certain Dr. Jones. Like the first Anchorman we are also treated to a giant news battle featuring Kanye West, Liam Neeson and the son of Dorothy Mantooth (she is a saint!).Those names are the tip of the iceberg in the fight for news supremacy. This was one recycled part of the first film that worked better than others. I could guess that the main cast ad-libbed a lot of the script because of director Adam McKay wanting to release a completely separate cut of the film with all-new jokes. I am all for that.

As for the movie as a whole, Anchorman 2 had me chuckling and laughing plenty but lacked the true tear-inducing humor that made the first a classic. I found Ron Burgundy’s return funny…yet something was still not there. Some of the jokes are laughable but nowhere near as quotable as the 2004 original. There is normally no way to catch lightning in a bottle twice, but even with that said, Anchorman 2 is funnier than most of the comedies I have seen in the past year. Just be sure to go in with tempered expectations, because while Anchorman 2 is funny, it can not equal your love of lamp.

NERD RATING- 8/10

January 13, 2014
Weekend Box Office- January 10-12, 2014

We are only a few weeks into 2014 and already we have our first surprise at the cinemas. Lone Survivor, which is based on a true story and whose title should tell you what to expect, blew away everything else with a huge $38.5 million almost doubling its studio estimates. Marky Mark, Speed Racer, Angel and Gambit star as a SEAL team sent into Afghanistan to assassinate a Taliban leader when things go awry. I can speak from experience when I say I was at the theater this weekend and it looked like a summer movie opening with the line for Lone Survivor.

It appears that The Rock has no reason to be worried about his version of Hercules opening this summer. The Legend of Hercules only managed $8.6 million dollars which gives me a bit of hope yet for the American movie goer and their choices.

More good news for American Hustle after last night’s Golden Globes, where both Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence won their respective categories, the film passed $100 million domestically. This is director David O. Russell’s third film in a row to do so after 2010’s The Fighter and 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook.

1. Lone Survivor- $38.5 million/ $38.8 million

2. Frozen- $15.0/ $317.6

3. The Wolf of Wall Street- $9.0/ $78.5

4. The Legend of Hercules- $8.6/ $8.6

5. American Hustle- $8.6/ $101.5

6. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug- $8.0/ $242.2

7. August: Osage County- $7.3/ $7.8

8. Saving Mr. Banks- $6.5/ $68.9

9. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones- $6.3/ $28.4

10. Anchorman 2- $6.1/ $118.5

January 13, 2014
Game Of Thrones Season 4 Premiere Date Set

The picture says it all I suppose.

Are you still reeling from the events of Season 3? Well get ready because that was only half the fun from the third novel, A Storm of Swords. There is way more sex, death, sex, death, betrayal, death and sex to come. Including big deaths for a couple of main characters.

Why would I say something like that? Because every year when Game of Thrones fever comes back I relish making people who have only watched the show squirm. Sorry. If you want to change that, read a book…or go to Wikipedia.

January 10, 2014
Jessica Chastain As Merida From Brave. Why Disney?

So here is the always insanely beautiful Jessica Chastain dressed as Merida from Brave for the Disney Dream Portrait which advertises for all the Disney parks worldwide.

To say that this gives me mixed feelings would be an understatement. Dammit Disney, I love Brave but now I am going to think of smoking hot Jessica Chastain whenever I watch it and I DON’T NEED TO DO THAT!

Thanks a lot.

January 9, 2014
WWE Network Launches February 24th. Take A Look At The Best Deal In Sports Entertainment

Yesterday at CES the WWE brought out their big guns to announce that the WWE Network would officially launch on Monday, February 24th. Vince McMahon, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, HHH, John Cena and more were on hand to celebrate the moment that the WWE has promised since 2011.

The WWE Network will be a 24/7 streaming service that costs $9.99 a month and can be watched on PC’s, laptops, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Apple and Android phones and tablets as well as Roku streaming devices. Smart TV and Xbox One support will be available this summer. You must give a six month commitment to the WWE Network right off the bat but the $60 investment is more than worth it.

What will you get for your 10 bucks a month? Quite simply, all of the wrestling content you could possibly dream of. I almost said “break it down” but resisted. Let’s get the rundown:

-All 12 monthly PPV’s beginning with WrestleMania 30 (which itself is $75)

-Every past WWE PPV

-Every past WCW PPV (DDP vs. Macho Man!)

-Every past ECW PPV (RVD vs. Jerry Lynn!)

-Previous episodes of RAW and Smackdown

-Weekly episodes of NXT

-Pre- and Post- shows for RAW and Smackdown

-Original programming including Legends House (like Big Brother with Roddy Piper, how is that not fun?), WrestleMania Rewind (looks back at WM matches with interviews from the wrestlers), The Monday Night War (regular series focusing on the battle between WWE and WCW) and WWE Countdown (interactive series where fans vote on a variety of “best of” categories).

Legends House also has me intrigued in a “boy this is going to be one, big, racist trainwreck” sort of way. I can say that WrestleMania Rewind and The Monday Night War will already be regular viewing for me as well. WWE has also promised that more original content is on the way in the future. There is no word if new episodes of RAW and Smackdown will be available but I would assume not with the WWE about to sign their new TV deals soon.

Let’s face it, that is a stupid amount of content for only $9.99. Even a cynical fan like me that has lost a lot of interest in wrestling over the past few years can’t help but get excited about this. The fact that I can cull through all of the old WCW and ECW PPV’s as I wish is worth the price alone. Add in the fact that you get all 12 PPV’s WWE produces, which is almost $700 a year, and there is no way any wrestling fan, no matter how disenchanted, can pass this up.

All content will not be altered for today’s PG-era either. All of the programming that is rated TV-14 or TV-MA will carry a warning before viewing. Does this mean I can hear Joel Gertner in his filthy glory? I sure hope so.

I have been a wrestling fan my entire life, and even if you (like me) are not pleased with the current product, the WWE Network will be a good way to go back and see why we fell in love with it to begin with.

January 9, 2014
Check Out The First 15 Minutes Of Helix

http://youtu.be/CviEeDRBr6w

One of my most looked forward to shows in 2014 is Helix. Ronald D. Moore returns with a new sci-fi show on SyFy (I still hate typing that) which sees a team of CDC scientists traveling to the Arctic to investigate a possible outbreak only to get caught up in something bigger.

SyFy has made the first 15 minutes available to watch before the show’s premiere on January 10th. Take a look and see if it piques your interest.

January 6, 2014