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danwhobrowses · 4 years

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AEW Double of Nothing 2020 - My Thoughts

Well that was a long night, it’s tough watching USA PPVs in the UK. But Double or Nothing is in the books and since I have free time I thought I’d talk about some stuff I liked and disliked I’ll have to note, I’m not a sole AEW fan, I like stuff from WWE, NJPW, Stardom, TJPW and DDT Pro too, dabbling in ROH, Impact and NWA from time to time and reminiscing fondly over the time Lucha Underground was great. But I say this because I don’t want people quickly pointing fingers at me accusing me of being a stan for AEW or WWE just because I like or dislike something they disagree with, I’m not playing bias I am literally working on impulse and sleep deprivation

Spoilers for AEW Double or Nothing 2020 obviously, watch, enjoy, look at some gifs maybe and come back here

The Buy-In:

Private Party vs Best Friends (Winner is No.1 Contender for the AEW World Tag Team Championship) Winner: Best Friends via Pinfall (Strong Zero to Marq Quen)

For a pre-show match it was fine, the Buy-In stream did start way too early and streaming and audio issues would plague both Fite and BR Live streams throughout. As for the match, it was a tad sloppy at times but it is worth reminding people that PP haven’t been wrestling in a while. And they weren’t terrible botches, just a few overexersions, people can’t be as crisp as Rey Fénix every match, especially since there’s more margin of error the more people involved in the spot there is. The match was very back and forth at times, and the highlight has to be the G9, PP (and Big Swole) had been wearing SG armbands in honor of Shad Gaspard, who tragically died in Venice Beach due to a rip current submerging him, I had been a big fan of Cryme Tyme (and PS4′s God of War which he did motion capture of Kratos for) when they were in WWE, so the nice homage of using their finisher was a nice touch. As for the result I didn’t mind either way, I had backed PP due to their ongoing BTE feud with Hangman Page, but the Best Friends have definitely been consistent enough to challenge and possibly even win the titles, it would be sensible for them to win it too since they have lingering feuds with TH2, Death Triangle, The Superbad Death Squad and Butcher and Blade.

Main Card:

Intermission build for Casino Ladder Match

It was mostly people explaining how and why they were gonna win, but I did have to make a separate mention for Jimmy Havoc, dressed to fucking drip. Man looks like a bond villain.

Casino Ladder Match (Winner is No.1 Contender for the AEW World Championship at Fyter Fest) Winner: Brian Cage An early point I wanna make, I think AEW are spying on me because I had much earlier thought up a similar idea of a ‘Bargaining Chip’ to work as a guaranteed contendership boon. If Tony Khan wants to pick my brain all he has to do is call, I still think all non-title ‘Double or Nothing’ matches should be worth 2 wins/losses in the spirit of the PPV name. I also didn’t mind the giant chip, would’ve been silly if it was regular sized. AEW has a winner with this format I think, the battle royale format was good for introducing a group of new faces, but in a more condensed format the Casino rules for a Ladder match work two ways, the early people have less opposition to win while the last people are fresh, the red ladders were a bit much for my tastes though. As for the match, it was still a bit messy but there were 9 people plus interferences to deal with, also since Fénix was pulled from the match we have to give benefit of the doubt in terms of the match narrative changing. It was an odd choice picking both members of SCU to start but we may be setting up Superbad Death Squad vs SCU tensions as well, adding Darby in the halfway mark was a good burst of energy but you really do wince with the stuff Darby ragdolls through. OC was his usual hilarious self, the low-effort reach attempts, the brief pause with Cabana. The frenetic energy of Janela resumed the pace from the comedy segment until the super heavyweights came in; I did find that Luchasaurus did prioritize a fight over the match itself, but it worked for his heavyweight mentality and after being undone by Allin’s sunset bomb, gave us the space for the final entrant. Brian Cage, I love that man he is just nonsense talented, his moveset is unique and malleable and his power is insane. What a way to debut as well, completely ripped apart a ladder, murdered Allin with a ‘F-5000′ (Props to Excalibur as always) and was running roughshot - aside from OC, who almost hilariously piggybacked a win - until most of the competitors basically flattened him under a bunch of miscellaneous objects and a giant poker chip. This gave Luchasaurus some time to have some fun as the ‘Big Man’ too, really did enjoy the Marko mini-ladder and OC channeling the Hurricane with the chokeslam attempt, I do appreciate that Best Friends and Jurassic Express still have that rivalry, also Janela’s running DVD to OC on top of the pile of miscellaneous objects was a great spot, but it was all leading up to Cage bursting out and squaring off with the Dino, more of this! There was a bit of wobbly knees but the powerbomb on the ladder with gnarly, and we are due a hoss match for Luchasaurus since his feuds with Wardlow and the Butcher fell through due to COVID. But this was Cage’s time, I thought Allin was gonna sneak it for a moment but then I remembered that Cage winning was much more story-based. The ladder spot was brutal and a bit too much for the finish but the result I am still quite happy with. Before Fénix was pulled I backed him to win because I felt that the world title picture needed some speed after the methodical match with Hager, but Cage does have the speed and the power to put on a good show, he’s a proven world champion at Impact and he has been on AEW’s radar for a long time, injury keeping him out.As much as one can complain that this was just a gratuitous spot fest there was storyline; the faction conflicts of SCU, Superbad Death Squad, Best Friends and Jurassic Express was apparent but the main story by the end was the story of Allin and Tazz, Tazz was angered by Darby’s hostile response to his offer of managing him after his loss to Cody, so he’s taken Cage under his wing to enact some payback. It’s a solid looking pairing too, using the legends as managers is something AEW does well and using Tazz as Cage’s manager with his promo skills and their physical similarities is an interesting combination.

Jungle Boy vs MJF Winner: MJF via Pinfall (Modified European Clutch) This was one of my favourite wrestling matches on the card. The back and forth between MJF and Jungle Boy had some great athleticism and technical wrestling. This can easily be a top tier feud between the two later down the line, they are like two sides of a coin. The match had great storytelling in the fact that MJF worked Jungle Boy’s arm, which allowed him to escape situations like the crossface and hold on to the final pinfall, MJF was pulling great heel works and trickery while trying to work Jungle Boy into the Salt of the Earth finisher, the knee injury fakeout was great. But Jungle Boy also rallied with the babyface resilience, the explosive anger in the face of MJF’s undermining and proved his strength. I appreciated the finish as well, MJF won clean but Jungle Boy looked excellent, and it avoided Wardlow ex Machina. MJF continues to look more and more like world champion material and I can see him stealing it from Moxley.

TNT Presentation with Mike Tyson

Okay, I don’t like the belt. I’m sorry, I know it’s unfinished due to COVID so there’s room for improvement but it just looks too simple on the main plate. It seems like every other belt AEW releases is a bit lacking. The World and Tag titles are sublime but the Women’s title is far too small and the TNT title just lacks detail, it’s also hard to not think it looks like the WWE Raw Tag Titles mixed with the 24/7 title, I have never been a big fan of plastering the name in BIG DISTRACTING LETTERS in the middle. Granted, I get why silver was used for a midcard belt, and not every title can be Big Gold, Winged Eagle, NXT UK, IWGP or the ROH world title, but it could’ve taken more inspiration from the IC white strap, NXT NA title, AWA Southern Heavyweight or even the NJPW US title if you’re so adamant about the bright red strap. Frankly I was just disappointed that AEW presented such a weak design.

TNT Championship Tournament Final Winner: Cody via Pinfall (2 Consecutive Cross Rhodes) The finals for the match started off impressively, Archer looking like a total monster even bringing in some poor sod to decimate in front of an entertained Tyson before striking early with his finisher on Cody. Cody fought from under Archer’s offence to get some licks into his core. Sadly not all the cuts to Tyson were great, the one that’ll dominate media being the one where he was caught yawning. Before smarks jump at it, people are allowed to yawn, it’s not always a sign of boredom, given that Tyson is 53, has been hitting the gym hard and it was past 10pm, every other time they went to him he looked like he was loving the match, especially Archer’s heel intensity. The match didn’t have enough of Arn and Jake for my liking, given what was hinted at during Dynamite, I didn’t mind them being ejected especially since Arn was playing dirty too. Cody did pull out some storied offence with the Stringer Splash and Dustin’s Final Reckoning, but the ending kinda felt like the wrong result. After Jake was scared away by a Ripped Tyson from bringing his snake to the ring, Archer just became undone by Cody wriggling out of the Black Out and nailing two Cross Rhodes (third of the match) for the W. It was a bit iffy, I mean Cody has used the double Cross Rhodes to win a few matches already, so it felt like for me if Cody was to win then he’d need to pull off something extra. One Cross Rhodes made Archer kick out at one after all. Many people will use this as ‘Cody is an EVP of course he books himself as champion’ trying to liken him to Triple H or Jeff Jarrett, but while I disagreed with the result, I don’t think it’s bad that Cody wins a midcard title. He is never going to win the world title, he’s been a consistently great babyface for the company too and put MJF and Jericho over, as a wrestler you can’t have Cody not win a title ever. But that being said, I think defeat did hurt Archer, he was so in control of the match and just came undone right at the end, there was a heavy contrast to the Archer that started the match and the Archer that finished. It doesn’t mean he’s lost his aura completely, but winning the title would’ve done him more favours than it would have done Cody at this current time.

Intermission: Britt Baker Injury Update To prelude the Ford/Statlander match, there was a small bit explaining the nature of Britt Baker’s injury. It was kinda decent to still sell Britt’s gimmick by the doctor admitting that she’s being a handful, but the 6-8 week time frame is a shame, that’s only competing though, it’ll be interesting what they do with her on next Dynamite, she may get herself an enforcer too (Nyla could work, or Sadie Gibbs since she’s due a re-debut).

Penelope Ford vs Kris Statlander Winner: Kris Statlander via Pinfall (Big Bang Theory) While Penelope only had brief involvement in the Casino Ladder Match (she did have a weird space of just standing there for a bit as OC started to use 0.5% of his full power), hers and Kip’s entrance did put a smile as Kip sold the ladder match hard, as did Kris’ booping to the crowd and the joyous reactions of Nakazawa, Austin Gunn and Suge D/Pineapple Pete from it. The match itself was okay, this stage felt like a palate cleanser if anything. Ford and Kris did work pretty well, there was a nervy suicide dive where Kris’ head almost went into the barricade but we also got some great strikes, a good hurricanrana from Ford and a solid end as Kip tried to break the pin using his crutches. Ford has been lowkey great for the women’s division, her surprise win over Riho is proof of that, but Statlander was due a win. I felt like against Britt she was due a loss but now it feels like we can expand on that feud a bit, it’s good signs from AEW’s weak spot and it just needs a bit more faces - which of course is limited by COVID but I do really miss seeing Bea, Allie, Swole (who almost every heel in the crowd seemed to wanna rile up), Anna Jay, Shanna, Riho, Emi Sakura (who streamed her reactions of the show) and personal favourite Yuka Sakazaki in the ring, as well as hoping for returns from Ivelisse, Jamie Hayter, Sadie Gibbs and Awesome Kong for the Women’s Division, also maybe bring Vickie into the fold as a manager, she was a presence in the crowd.

Dustin Rhodes vs Shawn Spears Winner: Dustin Rhodes via Pinfall (Final Reckoning) Sadly this was the weakest match on the card. Started pretty well though, Spears was heeling it up a la Booker T in KOTR when Angle wasn’t cleared to compete and still demanded that they be counted out. There was also the HBK Montreal music fake-out which was pretty good, but he did wait a bit long to pull off the smile. Brandi halted the count allowing for Dustin to pull a sneak which was made great by the camera movement but from there it started to devolve into a weak spot. Comedy matches are fine, but times and place work for it, and Shawn Spears’ continued pursuit against Cody should not have been a comedy match in my opinion. I never dig the strip bit as well, there’s only so much you can suspend disbelief and Shawn being stripped to his boxers that have Tully Blanchard’s face on them is over that line. If Dustin was to win then I wished it wasn’t this way, sadly Spears has been hit with a revolving door of gimmicks, the Chairman was good but lacked intensity, the needing a partner looked to be going somewhere until COVID limited his options (and sank Brandon’s push) and this new anti-Cody gimmick has suddenly became a joke, it’s not a good spot for him especially when he had a pretty good match with Cody in the TNT tournament. We know through MJF that he can do comedy, but the key to comedy is timing and Shawn’s character should’ve been looking towards him contending for Cody’s newfound TNT title rather than being humiliated ass-cheeks out on TV...at least Peyton has something to giggle about at home though. Pre-Match Tribute to Hana Kimura (1997-2020)

I was glad that AEW took a moment to tribute Hana’s death. After the homage to Shad in the Buy-In I was hoping that they would reference her before the women’s title match and my hopes were realised. Reading the headline of her death yesterday morning put a horrid pit in my stomach, I had always felt that Hana was one of the most talented women in Stardom, as ‘Dark Hana’ in Oedo Tai, ‘Rave Hana’ when feuding with Kagetsu, ‘Death-Hana’ when teaming with Yama and of course as the TCS leader, I easily saw her in a few years time being the face of the company, her faction was on a high, she partook in Stardom’s first ever Tokyo Dome match at Wrestle Kingdom, she had wrestled in guest entires for DDT Pro and ROH, and I also hoped to see her in an AEW ring one day (Brandi had Stardom ties after all). Her dedication to the business was palpable as she even went into a reality show to try and get more eyes on wrestling, and yet cyberbulling drove her to feel so sub-human that she likely took her own life. It was a horrible, horrible thing to read about, and I really wanted to vent this out yesterday but didn’t due to the fact that I didn’t tribute Shad’s death and didn’t want it to appear that I only cared about Hana’s death. Shad’s death was sad of course, he nobly prioritised the rescue of his son and sadly time was not on his side against the elements, it’s obviously terrible that he died and the world is poorer for his loss as well, but Hana’s death hit me harder for different reasons. For one, she was 22, 5 years younger than me, her career was bright and her smile wide, and yet anonymous sadsacks were able to torment her enough for no reason other than so they could bring a young woman down to make themselves feel better, as a person who underwent a lot of bullying at a young age - I was forced to eat dirt once in primary school - this did hit hard for me, because despite both deaths being tragic: Shad died because of the elements nobody can control, Hana died because of people, sad, despicable people and even though I never knew Hana or would’ve even been able to reach her, it sucks feeling that there was nothing we could do to help her. In conclusion, bullying sucks, and Excalibur put it aptly as many others have, it doesn’t cost a thing to be kind and if you’re struggling there’s people who’ll be there for you.

AEW Women’s Championship (No DQ or Count-Out) Nyla Rose (c) vs Hikaru Shida Winner: Hikaru Shida via Pinfall (’Three Count’ Knee Strike) Perhaps one of the best women’s matches AEW have put on, I was very looking forward to this matchup. I am not one of those people who disliked Rose winning the title, she (yes she, grow up) was a good, dominant heel and I bloody love that jumping knee strike. But I also love Shida, she’s been a consistent force in AEW, being a part of most of the Women’s Division’s best matches, also she as a person is very likeable. I have to add a note that while I’m not too familiar with Final Fantasy (Tumblr seems to think I am mind you), I did like the small Tifa Lockhart cosplay in Shida’s attire. In general the fancy entrances and attires were sadly limited by COVID, but when you did see them it did make it a little special because of its rarity. The No DQ stip was a good one, I did worry it would lead to Shida’s downfall but the storytelling revolving around Shida’s tenacity, Nyla’s brutality and the coveting of the kendo stick all really meshed together well. There were some solid spots and some proper brutal strikes. I appreciated the attention to the fact that Nyla’s arm and Shida’s leg were weakened and that came into play as they landed their big moves to a near fall. The finale though was good, following a beautiful sequence of an Avalanche Falcon Arrow and the weak-legged ‘Three Count’ at two, Shida’s resiliency proved too much for the native beast as she laid her out with a Kendo stick to the head and one more ‘Three Count’ for the eventual namesake. While Nyla’s reign was long, COVID did sadly prevent her from defending much and that was a shame, her only real defense being against Statlander, but it was the right call to pull the trigger on Shida. Like Asuka in WWE, she has been a consistent fan favourite with star aura, being No DQ also aided Nyla in saving face; Shida only won due to her Kendo strikes and out-of-ring spots, so it made her strong that it took that stipulation to bring her to her limit. I do welcome the type of storylines they’ll have to build opponents for Shida too, with Britt in recovery it gives her time before they can renew hostilities, which grants a platform for other heels to develop and challenge. Also do appreciate that the top titles were carded back-to-back, speaking of which...

AEW World Heavyweight Championship Jon Moxley (c) vs “The Exalted One” Mr. Brodie Lee Winner: Jon Moxley via KO by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) While the build to Moxley and Brodie started abrupt, one had to appreciate jumping at this matchup sooner rather than later. Both men were lacking a strong feud to go with since the Inner Circle were still involved with The Elite and SCU were being preoccupied with the TNT title. The Dark Order had gained a resurgence with the mystery of the Exalted One, and with some impressive squashes by Brodie and Preston Vance impressing as his new protegee ‘10′, things were looking decent for the faction, but this still remained a risky angle. For Brodie this would be a make or break moment for his character, he had already gotten some disdain as people compared his gimmick to a Vince McMahon caricature and questions rose on whether he was ready for this spot, if he wasn’t then the Dark Order would’ve fell to square one. But that didn’t happen. From the moment Brodie came out with his horde he exuded a brilliant amount of heel smugness, feeling as if being champion was already a certainty (I do also love how previously he had a minion carry the belt for him like a boxing entourage), the mind games already on display before the bell even rang. Moxley also looked raring to go, his usual swaying self with a bit of purpose and a lovely gold sprayed jacket as he strided to the ring, separated by a row of security to sell the animosity between the villain and the antihero. The match was very strong, a really enjoyable world title match that meshed the brawling styles of both men, the advantage going to and fro as Brodie used his power to gain advantage while Moxley used his unconventional assault - even grabbing Lee’s beard for a headbutt - and the outside of the ring with a lovely Paradigm Shift through the ramp that brought some believable (in the context of the spot) colour to Brodie’s face. The finish increased the pace in brilliant fashion as Brodie shockingly kicked out of the Paradigm Shift at one, from there Moxley looked desperately to put Brodie away before he could rally, hammering at the head wound before cleverly bringing Brodie down with a Rear Naked Choke. I was surprised a lot of people didn’t like that finish, it kept Brodie strong that he didn’t tap out and a rear naked choke is a great finish, it has legitimacy since it ends many UFC fights, it was smart as well because Brodie was bleeding, so on top of blood loss making him light-headed Moxley cut off his blood flow to his head to knock him out. You also have to appreciate this incorporation to Moxley’s moveset, adding submission means there’s a new way he can win and it comes from the MMA background of Hager, like the Gotch Piledriver adopted from Minoru Suzuki (and I have to say Kaze ni Nare whenever I see him do it), seeing Moxley adapt his moveset is a nice little tidbit that helps Moxley feel more studied in his experiences. Also side bar, god bless Leva Bates. In the past two matches she kept in-character and rescued a laptop from destruction. Her wrestling does need a bit of fine tuning but her character work is undeniably great. Overall, like Jungle Boy vs MJF, it did help the match not to have interference, it was two people decking each other to see who’s best and Moxley proved himself more ferocious. Brodie showed himself as a main event quality wrestler who looked good with the title on, pushing through assault multiple times to only be eked into defeat (unlike Archer). Hopefully his story furthers in either respecting that even he must strengthen or lashing out because of his weakness.

Stadium Stampede Match Winner: The Elite, ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy & ‘Hangman’ Adam Page via Pinfall (One-Winged Angel on Sammy Guevara) Well, that was surely something. Not to be outdone by MITB, the storied rivalry of The fractured Elite, Hangman and Matt Hardy against the Inner Circle went hilariously wild and creative with the Stadium Stampede and I loved every single second of it. I’ll try to remember everything in the match to praise so here goes; the Inner Circle’s entrance like an NFL team was great fun, would’ve liked them to jump out of a paper symbol of the Inner Circle but it didn’t take away from the entertainment value. The Elite started without Hangman as they charged at the IC to meet in the middle, some fighting in the ring and some out. Hangman won the entrance game though by ominously strolling on horseback as Sammy Guevara quickly read between the lines and bolted, only to have shaken off Hangman to return for a missed shooting star press on Matt and then a very nearly uncaught one out of the ring too. Not to be outdone, Matt Jackson - broken ribs and all - pulled off a crisp moonsault off the goal post of the stadium while the Bucks tussled with ‘Le Sex Gods’, Santana and Ortiz tussled with Omega and Hardy and Hager went to search for Hangman, who had since dismounted after locating the lobby bar. Kenny had a rough double powerbomb table spot which was quickly cut to replay in order to mask either Santana and/or Ortiz losing his footing on the table and fell off it, but the cut allowed that moment to be skipped as the tag team focused on Hardy. Broken Brilliance would ensue as the team would try to drown Matt in a swimming pool(!?) that happened to be a pool of reincarnation, surfacing Team Extreme ‘Classic Matt’ and then ‘V1 Matt’ with graphics of ‘MATTer of Fact’ that Santana and Ortiz hilariously acknowledged with confusion, all the while an underwater cam would film Matt still happily doing his Team Extreme/V1 hand gestures while drowning. Damascus resurfaced from the pool to deal with the duo, sending both through a table, immobilizing Ortiz by ringing a bell with his head inside and taping him to a ‘chair of wheels’ and then getting his own back by locking Santana in an ice box. I will have to say, while this was great fun with Matt, I do worry a little for Santana and Ortiz. The former LAX were one of the best tag teams in the world leaving Impact and I had hoped they’d take the tag titles in this feud, but they’ve been kept from it like the Bucks have, between the Lucha Bros, SCU, Best Friends and rumours of FTR, the pool does have a lot of strong teams and it’s easy to get lost in the fold. But back to the action, Hager finds Hangman enjoying a whiskey, after a brief ceasefire to drink the bar brawl hits the right notes of great western tropes, including cue stick strikes, Hager dragging Hangman across the bar stand and table spots. Hager looked really strong here, taking on Page and the arriving Omega before being sent wobbly by multiple bottles of bubbly to the head, followed by a V-Trigger and a Buckshot Lariat over the bar as Kenny platformed for Page’s flip, a nice resolution as the tag team get on the same page, sharing a whiskey and a milk. Stories returned to the stadium as the Bucks and Jericho had their own mixture of creative spots and comedy; Matt did a ‘100 yard’ chain of Northern Lights Suplexes onto Guevara while Jericho demanded a VAR replay on a 2 count from Aubrey Edwards (I love how involved Aubrey gets as well), Le Champion also sent Nick through a Jaguars jaguar head’s mouth and did a Judas Effect on the team mascot while Matt was penalized after his touchdown dance referencing Alan Wright, leading to the ref being Superkicked. The Bucks then were able to isolate Jericho and lay him out with Nick doing a bonkers splash through a table starting from the steps of the stadium all the way down to the field, added insult to injury following as Hangman drove over Jericho with a chalk liner But the star of the match had to be Guevara. That kid is a literal star, his expressions and delusion is so on point as well, Spanish gods bless him and his 1000+ lives. After recovering from the 100 yard suplex run, he collapsed onto sprinklers which turned on, his mindset loopy as he started celebrating thinking he won, his face slowly dropping perfectly as the return of the Golf Kart gave him flashbacks of a past death of his in the Tag Street Fight on a previous Dynamite. Sammy was a little wiser and faster though, escaping into the seats out of the Kart’s reach, he slowly ended up being cornered by Matt and Kenny as the Bucks and Hangman watched below, Guevara fended off Matt, but was distracted by Vanguard-1′s reincarnation, NEO-1, for Kenny to daze him. The finish coming as Kenny One-Winged Angel’d Sammy off the ramp to a crash mat below at an incredible height, Aubrey needing to climb a ladder to count the win. Afterwards, the Elite celebrated with Matt and Hangman, hinting that Hangman has reconciled with the Elite as graphics appeared again on the stadium, closing out the PPV. Fantastically bonkers match, but once again this match had a great story in the terms of how the Inner Circle lost. For weeks, the IC ended consecutive Dynamites with the advantage due to their masterful use of the numbers game, but in the Stadium Stampede they are defeated because they split ranks, together they were strong but alone they were broken down, it’s only when the likes of Hager, Jericho and Guevara were isolated did the Inner Circle begin to lose the tide. There was also the recurring elements of the Icebox, Matt’s Broken character, Nick’s prior injury by the IC, Kenny bringing the broom and Hangman’s Cowboy Shit and strained relationship with Kenny and the Bucks, not to mention the many deaths and PTSD of Sammy Guevara. Say what you will about the Elite favouring spots, but you cannot deny that even in this Inner Circle feud, they have made stars out of Guevara and Hangman, it isn’t just self-indulgence. I will say though, I was surprised not to see FTR make a jump, we already had the IC and Elite have graphics on the Stadium so I hoped that the final one would be FTR, but maybe they’re saving it, after all, Blood and Guts is still waiting to be used.

Final Thoughts Outside of the matches itself it was unique that foley crowd sounds were added in to add to immersion, if it weren’t the Empty Arena era of course it would be a down but under the circumstances it made the PPV feel bigger having at least some white noise. The roster as a crowd continues to be good as we saw various personnel react but not steal any spotlight. We do have to appreciate that AEW acknowledges some shortcomings such as the TNT title’s unfinished model and the injuries to Fénix and Baker. Production issues should not have persisted as long as they have, and while it may not all be AEW’s fault due to COVID and the alternate streaming services they must be aware that this will continue to be treated as a blemish, unfortunately whatever AEW does will be compared to WWE - like the Women’s and TNT title have or the respective pushes to select wrestlers. While the current wrestlers are doing well and Dark is providing a platform for local talent - some like Jay, Suge D, Vance and Angels capturing the eye of AEW - it’s worth not forgetting the roster still there; Janela, Kiss, Swole, Avalon, Leva, and practically anyone in the crowd of shows should be able to compete right? All of personnel are tested for COVID so I do appreciate the attention to safety but from a fan’s perspective you do hope that talent get proper exposure. I will also say that I think we’re reaching a threshold of ‘Legends managers’ for the singles men’s roster, we’re fine for now but you don’t want to overdo it. But, overall Double or Nothing was a solid and enjoyable show, had some fun moments and strong matches. While I found the Archer finish and the Spears match disagreeable, it wasn’t too much of a down to ruin the show, the highs still outweighed the lows and there was still a good amount of variety, decent pacing due to good card positioning and nothing overstayed its welcome. We’ve got intriguing directions now too as we build to Fyter Fest; a feud between Moxley and Cage, Cody and the TNT title, fallout for Brodie and Archer’s losses, Best Friends in the tag title hunt, Britt Baker on promo and new champion Shida waiting for us in anticipation of the next show.

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sunnytkm23 · 4 years

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I don't know what's worse: Jimmy Havoc partnering with Kip Sabian (non-hardcore version of Joey Janela) or the tag he has with Kip Sabian is called Superbad Death Squad

#aew #jimmy havoc #kip sabian

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dakotazkai-archive · 4 years

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yellow & copper

Yellow: Do you remember the first match you watched?

God, I am not sure. I definitely remember @superkickfiesta first introduced me to Being the Elite before we watched any matches. I think it was either Will Ospreay vs WALTER or Golden Lovers vs Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi.

Copper: Favourite faction?

In NJPW: LIJ, CHAOS

In AEW: death triangle, superbad death squad

Thanks for the ask! <3

send me wrestling colour questions

#answered #will

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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New on Netflix: January 2021 Releases

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The first month of a new year is a good time to make a new impression. And that’s just what Netflix seems set on doing with its list of new releases for January 2021.

The streamer is coming out strong with a third season of Cobra Kai, formerly of YouTube Premium. The next installment in Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence’s story is set to arrive…eventually. Netflix has not unveiled a released date yet but it will be during this month. While Cobra Kai is the highlight among Netflix’ original series, it’s not the only one by a long shot. Last year’s fun Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous returns for a second season on Jan. 22 and it will be accompanied by Fate: The Winx Saga. Also, if you’re a fan of things that will one day be .gif’ed to death, the Nicolas Cage-hosted History of Swear Words drops on Jan. 5.

Netflix is bringing a lot of original movies to the table this month as well, which should help make the wait for the vaccine and movie theaters more bearable. Charming, starring Wilmer Valderama, Demi Lovato, and Sia premiers on Jan. 8. The White Tiger, which is based on an excellent novel of the same name, arrives on Jan. 22. Netflix caps off the month with The Dig on Jan. 29. That has a high-caliber starring cast including Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, and Lily James.

If the theme of 2021 is a “return to normalcy,” this batch of Netflix new releases should have us well on the way.

New on Netflix: January 2021

Coming Soon 50M2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Bonding: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Cobra Kai: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL June & Kopi — NETFLIX FILM The Netflix Afterparty — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 1 Dream Home Makeover: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Headspace Guide to Meditation — NETFLIX ORIGINAL The Minimalists: Less Is Now — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY Monarca: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL What Happened to Mr. Cha? — NETFLIX FILM 17 Again (2009) 30 Minutes or Less (2011) Abby Hatcher: Season 1 Blue Streak (1999) Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Can’t Hardly Wait (1998) Catch Me If You Can (2002) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) Cool Hand Luke (1967) The Creative Brain (2019) The Departed (2006) Enter the Dragon (1973) Gimme Shelter (2013) Good Hair (2010) Goodfellas (1990) Gothika (2003) The Haunted Hathaways: Seasons 1-2 Into the Wild (2007) Julie & Julia (2009) Mud (2012) Mystic Pizza (1988) The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987) Sex and the City: The Movie (2008) Sex and the City 2 (2010) Sherlock Holmes (2009) Striptease (1996) Superbad (2007) What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

January 2 Asphalt Burning (Børning 3) — NETFLIX FILM

January 5 Gabby’s Dollhouse — NETFLIX FAMILY The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) History of Swear Words — NETFLIX ORIGINAL LA’s Finest: Season 1 ¡Nailed It! México: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 6 Ratones Paranoicos: The Band that Rocked Argentina — NETFLIX FILM Surviving Death — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY Tony Parker: The Final Shot — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

January 7 Pieces of a Woman — NETFLIX FILM

January 8 Charming — NETFLIX FILM The Idhun Chronicles: Part 2 — NETFLIX ANIME Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 5 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Lupin — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Mighty Little Bheem: Kite Festival — NETFLIX FAMILY Pretend It’s a City — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY Stuck Apart (Azizler) — NETFLIX FILM

January 10 Spring Breakers (2012)

January 11 CRACK: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY The Intouchables (2011)

January 12 Last Tango in Halifax: Season 4

January 13 An Imperfect Murder Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

January 15 Bling Empire — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Carmen Sandiego: Season 4 — NETFLIX FAMILY Disenchantment: Part 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Double Dad (Pai Em Dobro) — NETFLIX FILM Henry Danger: Seasons 1-3 Hook (1991) Kuroko’s Basketball: Season 1 The Magicians: Season 5 Outside the Wire — NETFLIX FILM Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie (2014) Pinkfong & Baby Shark’s Space Adventure (2019)

January 16 A Monster Calls (2016) Radium Girls (2020)

January 18 Homefront (2013)

January 19 Hello Ninja: Season 4 — NETFLIX FAMILY

January 20 Daughter From Another Mother (Madre solo hay dos) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Sightless (2020) Spycraft — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 21 Call My Agent!: Season 4 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 22 Blown Away: Season 2 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Busted!: Season 3 — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Fate: The Winx Saga — NETFLIX ORIGINAL Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Season 2 — NETFLIX FAMILY So My Grandma’s a Lesbian! (Salir del ropero) — NETFLIX FILM The White Tiger — NETFLIX FILM

January 23 Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce) — NETFLIX ORIGINAL

January 26 Go Dog Go — NETFLIX FAMILY

January 27 Accomplice

Penguin Bloom — NETFLIX FILM

January 29 Below Zero (Bajocero) — NETFLIX FILM The Dig — NETFLIX FILM Finding ‘Ohana — NETFLIX FILM We Are: The Brooklyn Saints — NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY

January 31 Fatima (2020)

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Leaving Netflix: January 2021

January 1 Bloodsport (1988)

January 3 QB1: Beyond the Lights: Season 2

January 4 Mara (2017)

January 5 The Monster (2016)

January 7 The Tudors: Seasons 1-4

January 8 Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

January 14 Haven: Seasons 1-5 The Master (2012)

January 15 A Serious Man (2009) Dallas Buyers Club (2013) Waco: Limited Series (2018)

January 16 Friday Night Tykes: Seasons 1-4

January 20 Fireplace 4K: Classic Crackling Fireplace from Fireplace for Your Home Fireplace 4K: Crackling Birchwood from Fireplace for Your Home Fireplace for Your Home: Season

January 24 When Calls the Heart: Seasons 1-5

January 26 We Are Your Friends (2015)

January 29 Swiss Army Man (2016)

January 30 The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

January 31 A Thin Line Between Love & Hate (1996) Braxton Family Values: Seasons 1-2 Death at a Funeral (2010) Employee of the Month (2006) For Colored Girls (2010) Malicious (2018) Mr. Deeds (2002) Pineapple Express (2008)

The post New on Netflix: January 2021 Releases appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3nd9OWd

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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moonlightxsunlight · 4 years

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Is Jimmy and Kip’s name Superbad Death Squad or Superbad Squad? They keep changing it and I keep getting confused.

#i just wanna kneo what type of tag to use #aew #my brain cant keep up #mq kinda lbs

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allelitewrestlings · 4 years

Photo

The Superbad Death Squad | AEW Dynamite (May 27th, 2020)

#kip sabian #jimmy havoc #penelope ford #aew #superbad death squad #all elite wrestling #aew dynamite #candids #tv: dynamite #*#ours: edits #maker: r #dynamite: s02e22 #faction: superbad death squad #aewedit

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vonschweetz · 4 years

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SUPERBAD DEATH SQUAD?! SIGN ME THE FUCK UP!

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aew-shitposter · 4 years

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As a true brit, kip is extremely upset about his sunglasses. Him being in America is the only sun he got.

#aew #aew wrestling #all elite wrestling #aew dynamite #wednesday night dynamite #being the elite #wrestling #kip sabian #superbad death squad #penelope ford #hikaru shida

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http-whateverilike · 5 years

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Movie Collection/Wishlist P. 1

🎬VHS & Wishlist will be in other posts🎬

♥=faves

The 40 Year-Old Virgin

Almost Famous

The Amityville Horror

The Bat👀

Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic

Blade Runner♥

Breakfast at Tiffany's

The Breakfast Club♥

Bride of Chucky

Bring it On

Carnival of Souls

Chamber of Horrors

Child's Play♥

Clue♥

Contact

Dead Men Walk

Death Becomes Her♥

Death Note Series♥

The Devil's Hand

The Devil Wears Prada

Dirty Dancing

Don't Look in the Basement!

Dracula

Dude Where's My Car?

Ever After

The Exorcist♥

The Fault in Our Stars

Fight Club

Footloose

Freaky Friday

Friday the 13th♥

The Ghost

Goonies

Gremlins♥

Grey Gardens

Hannah Montana: The Movie

Hannibal Rising

Harry Potter 1-4♥

High School Musical 2-3

The House by the Cemetery

House on Haunted Hill

How I Met Your Mother: Season 1♥

Howl's Moving Castle♥

I Bury the Living

I Love Lucy

Indiana Jones 4

Indiana Jones: Bonus Material♥

It (original)♥

Juno♥

The Last Man on Earth

Legally Blonde♥

The Little Shop of Horrors (original)♥

Mannequin 1-2♥(1 only)

Mars Attacks!♥

Mean Girls♥

Mutant

My Friend Dahmer♥

My Girl 1-2♥

My Neighbor Totoro♥

Nightmare on Elm Street 1-4♥

Night of the Living Dead (original)

The Office (UK): First Series

The Office (US): Season 1-2♥

Office Space

Ouran High School Host Club♥

Paranormal Activity

The Perks of Being a Wallflower♥

Poltergeist (new)

Poltergeist (original)♥

Pretty in Pink♥

Ring of Terror

Rise of the Guardians

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion♥

The Rocky Horror Picture Show♥

The Satanic Rites of Dracula

Saw

She's the Man

The Shining♥

The Silence of the Lambs♥

Sleepaway Camp♥

Snake People

So I Married an Axe Murderer♥

The Sphinx

Step Brothers♥

Suicide Squad

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (a few episodes)♥

Superbad♥

Sweeney Todd♥

Taxi Driver♥

The Terror

Wayne's World 1-2♥

Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory

White Zombie

The Wizard Of Oz♥

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cutsliceddiced · 5 years

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New top story from Time: The 50 Most Anticipated Movies Coming Out in Summer 2019

Blockbuster film season has arrived, and its first entry will almost certainly be its biggest. Avengers: Endgame opened last week and shattered all kinds of box office records; its reviews have also been extremely strong.

But the rest of the slate of summer movies is just as intriguing: ambitious live-action Disney adaptations, a star-studded Tarantino return, terrifying original horror stories and soundtracks from rock legends. Here are 50 of the biggest summer movies coming to theaters (and, in some cases, streaming in a living room) near you.

Avengers: Endgame (April 26)

If you’ve stayed with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for 21 films, you’ll probably be happy to sit through the climactic film’s monstrous three-hour runtime. Those of the Avengers extended family who survived Thanos’ devastating final attack in Avengers: Infinity War—including Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, and Black Widow—are joined by newcomer Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) to turn the tables against him.

Knock Down the House (May 1, Netflix)

In 2018, a record 529 women ran for Congress. This documentary, which won the Festival Favorite Award at Sundance this year, follows four of them, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as they attempt to overcome skepticism and long odds on the campaign trial.

Long Shot (May 3)

For some reason, beautiful and impressive women, from characters played by Katherine Heigl to Rose Byrne to Elizabeth Banks, tend to fall in love with Seth Rogen in movies. The latest to do so is Charlize Theron’s Charlotte Field, the poised and intelligent U.S. Secretary of State running for president who hires Rogen’s schlubby journalist to punch up her speechwriting.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (May 3, Netflix)

This controversial film about Ted Bundy has received mixed reviews since its Sundance premiere, but Zac Efron has drawn raves for his shivering portrayal of the serial killer. Lily Collins plays Bundy’s girlfriend, who witnesses his descent into a steadily darkening place.

Wine Country (May 8, May 10 on Netflix)

A group of SNL pals—Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, and Emily Spivey—have been taking real-life vacations together for years. Those uproarious, disastrous trips served as the inspiration for this warm comedy, which is Poehler’s directorial debut.

Detective Pikachu (May 10)

The creatures of Pokémon invaded the real world three years ago thanks to Pokémon Go—but they lacked fur, scales or saliva. This quasi-live-action film, in which Ryan Reynolds voices Pikachu, imbues Pokémon with all of those physical attributes, making them alternately unsettling and adorable.

The Hustle (May 10)

Scam Season never ends. This remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels features one experienced con artist (Anne Hathaway) taking a small-time scammer (Rebel Wilson) under her wing, as they embark on a quest to swindle a tech billionaire. Hathaway slips into her British accent and sillier side.

Poms (May 10)

A group of legendary actresses (Diane Keaton, Pam Grier, Jacki Weaver and Rhea Perlman) play women in a retirement community who shake off rust and bad hips to form a cheerleading squad.

Tolkien (May 10)

The $1 billion Lord of the Rings Amazon series won’t arrive for awhile, but Tolkien fans can bide their time with this biopic starring Nicholas Hoult. The film presumably takes liberties, as many biopics do, with the writer’s life; Tolkien’s family recently issued a statement expressing their disapproval.

The Souvenir (May 17)

Two generations of Swintons appear in critical darling Joanna Hogg’s latest film, which premiered to raves at Sundance. A shy film student (Honor Swinton Byrne) enters into a turbulent and destructive relationship which threatens to throw her off her path. Her real-life mother Tilda Swinton plays her buttoned-up mother in the movie.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (May 17)

The legend of Keanu Reeves has only seemed to deepen over time. He returns to play the title character of this cult-favorite franchise, which features plenty of exquisite hand-to-hand combat and canine love.

The Sun Is Also A Star (May 17)

Grown-ish star Yara Shahidi and Riverdale‘s Reggie Charles Melton play star-crossed lovers in this adaptation of the YA novel by Nicola Yoon.

Aladdin (May 24)

Disney hopes that the live-action reboot of its beloved animated take on the Middle Eastern folktale will be a huge hit. For better or worse, much of the recent discourse surrounding the film has centered on Will Smith’s bewildering body paint. “Will Smith as #Aladdin’s genie makes me want to uninvent CGI,” wrote one user on Twitter. Blue paint aside, the film itself looks like a splashy, effects-heavy take on the original.

Booksmart (May 24)

The trope of the Last High School Party has been told time and time again through the years—from Dazed and Confused to Superbad—but very rarely has it been seen through female eyes. Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut features two goodie-two-shoes seniors (played by Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever) as they attempt to leave high school with a bang.

Always Be My Maybe (May 29, May 31 on Netflix)

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#AlwaysBeMyMaybe comes out May 31st!

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Randall Park and Ali Wong play childhood best friends-turned lovers in this will-they-won’t-they rom-com. Look out for lots of delicious-looking food, a spot-on D’Angelo impression and a hysterical cameo from one of the superstars on this list.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (May 31)

The mythical Japanese monster was given a jolt in 2014, when Gareth Edwards’ film was largely praised (though not in this magazine) for its jaw-dropping visuals and action sequences. The sequel features Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown and an array of leviathans and giant brutes.

Rocketman (May 31)

The latest entry of the classic rock biopic boom traces the life of Elton John, who is imbued with flair and an impressively accurate singing impression by actor Taron Egerton.

Domino (May 31)

The director Brian De Palma celebrates 50 years in cinema with this grisly thriller starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. The Game of Thrones alumnus plays a Copenhagen police officer tracking down the killer of his partner.

Ma (May 31)

Octavia Spencer has often been typecast as sweet or wearied characters, perhaps in part due to what she terms her “nurse face.” She is far more sinister in this new psychological thriller, in which she plays a woman who begins to terrorize a group of teenagers in small-town Ohio.

Deadwood: The Movie (May 31, HBO)

Fans of the HBO Western series have been begging for a reboot since the show was abruptly cancelled after three seasons. The film, which has been in development hell for more than a decade, will finally come to fruition and grapple with death and memory loss—themes that creator David Milch has confronted in his real life after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Dark Phoenix (June 7)

Game of Thrones will be wrapped up by early June, but Sophie Turner’s rise is just getting started. The actor who portrays Sansa Stark on the HBO series will lead the latest X-Men installment; she plays Jean Grey, a telepathic mutant struggling with the power of her alter ego, Phoenix.

Late Night (June 7)

Emma Thompson plays a curmudgeonly late-night talk show host opposite Mindy Kaling—who also wrote the movie—as an idealistic writer and the only woman in the writers room. The unlikely pair attempts to lift the show out of white-male mediocrity and prevent a looming cancellation.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (June 7)

Joe Talbot’s directorial debut won rave festival reviews for its wistful portrayal of a rapidly-gentrifying San Francisco. A black San Franciscan named Jimmie Fails plays himself as he attempts to reclaim his childhood home in the Fillmore District.

Secret Life of Pets 2 (June 7)

Patton Oswalt, Tiffany Haddish and Harrison Ford join an already star-studded cast of voice actors for the second installment of this chipper animated franchise. Oswalt takes over for the disgraced Louis C.K. in voicing the protagonist Jack Russell Terrier.

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (June 12, Netflix)

From The Last Waltz to Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese has proven that few directors can match his ability to capture the intimacy and kinetic energy of a rock concert. Here, he turns his focus to Bob Dylan—whose life he explored in the 2005 documentary No Direction Home—and his legendarily freewheeling 1975-1976 tour, which featured appearances from Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez.

Shaft (June 14)

The third generation of “the black James Bond” arrives in the guise of Jessie Usher. He is joined by the Shafts who came before him: his father (played by Samuel L. Jackson) and grand-uncle (played by Richard Roundtree, the original Shaft). The last Shaft movie, released in 2000, was directed by the late director John Singleton.

Men in Black: International (June 14)

Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson showed off a crackling rapport in Thor: Ragnarok. The duo reconvenes in this latest installment of the alien franchise that leaves Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones on the sidelines. In this one, Hemsworth and Thompson take their carbonizers to London.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (June 14)

Spider-Man: Homecoming served as a welcome reprieve from the weary darkness of much of the rest of the Marvel Universe. In this sequel to that 2017 movie, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) sets off on a European vacation, where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) recruits him in a fight against Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).

The Dead Don’t Die (June 14)

Jim Jarmusch, a titan of independent film, wrote and directed a movie populated by what is being billed “the greatest zombie cast ever disassembled”: Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Chloë Sevigny play police officers who lead the defense against a zombie attack on a small town. They are joined, in living and undead form, by Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Selena Gomez and Iggy Pop, among others.

Wild Rose (June 14)

A brash ex-convict and single mother from Glasgow, played by Jessie Buckley, strives to become a Nashville country star. Buckley has received rave reviews for the role: “As a musician, she’s terrific, but as an actress she’s even better, with ceaselessly mobile features like a changeable Northern sky,” Leslie Felperin wrote in the Hollywood Reporter.

Child’s Play (June 21)

Mark Hamill, who in addition to playing Luke Skywalker is one of the great voice actors in film and television history for his Joker and other roles, lends his pliable vocal cords to another terrifying villain: Chucky. Aubrey Plaza plays a mother who gifts her son that unsettling doll before realizing it has started murdering people.

Toy Story 4 (June 21)

Woody, Buzz and the gang meet a new friend: a plastic spork with googly eyes and an existential crisis. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and the rest of the talented voice cast return for the fourth installment of this beloved series—as does the voice of Mr. Potato Head, the irascible, late Don Rickles, whose parts were assembled through archival recordings.

Annabelle Comes Home (June 28)

The Conjuring universe continues to expand and terrify. This film—the third of the hugely successful Annabelle subfranchise—takes place between The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 and follows the paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) as they bring home a doll that will soon torment their young daughter.

Yesterday (June 28)

A mediocre singer-songwriter (Himesh Patel) is hit by a bus during a global blackout and wakes up to a world in which nobody but him remembers the Beatles. He begins passing their songs off as his own, kickstarting a long and winding road through fame and disillusionment.

Midsommar (July 3)

Director Ari Aster shocked the world last year with his grotesque and exhilarating horror film Hereditary. From the looks of it, his follow-up will be equally unsettling: it follows a summer festival in a small Swedish village that quickly turns into a bloody competition.

Crawl (July 12)

You’ll probably want to stay away from bodies of water after seeing Alexandre Aja’s latest horror flick. The film sees a daughter and father trapped inside a house during a hurricane—along with a teeming horde of alligators from the Florida Everglades.

Stuber (July 12)

Kumail Nanjiani is a nebbish Uber driver; Dave Bautista is a gassed-up cop. They bounce off each other in this 21st-century take on the odd-couple road trip.

The Farewell (July 12)

Courtesy of A24Awkwafina stars in The Farewell, written and directed by Lulu Wang.

Awkwafina is best known for her uproarious, scene-stealing turns in Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians. But she shows off her range in The Farewell, a sensitive family drama in which her character and her family travel to China from New York City to say goodbye to her dying grandmother.

The Lion King (July 19)

The big cats of this computer-generated, photorealistic remake of Disney’s animated classic have some new and famous voices: Donald Glover will voice Simba, while Beyoncé lends her pipes to Nala. But one voice will remain from the original 1994 film: the deep, reassuring tones of James Earl Jones as Mufasa.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (July 26)

Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film—he has said he’s retiring after ten—takes place in 1969 Los Angeles as the city reels from the Manson Family murders. Leonardo DiCaprio took a pay cut to star as a washed-up Western actor; Brad Pitt plays his body double and Margot Robbie is Sharon Tate. Al Pacino, Bruce Dern, Lena Dunham and Luke Perry—in his last credited role—also star.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (July 31)

Dora, the diminutive explorer, charmed a generation of children on Nickelodeon with her whimsical, low-stakes cartoon adventures. Will those fans follow her into this live-action adventure film? Dora, now in high school, plunges into the jungle to confront a familiar foe (Swiper the fox) with a terrifying new voice (Benicio del Toro).

New Mutants (August 2)

Two months after Dark Phoenix, it’s the little Stark sister’s turn to plunge into the X-Men universe. Maisie Williams plays one in a group of young mutants who are held against their will and attempt to break out of their captivity. The movie is being billed, unlike its more action-oriented predecessors, as horror.

The Nightingale (August 2)

Jennifer Kent’s harrowing follow-up to the global horror phenomenon The Babadook had a successful run at film festivals beginning last summer. The movie, which stars Aisling Franciosi and Sam Claflin, follows a young woman seeking revenge for the murder of her family.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (August 2)

The latest Fast and Furious spinoff knows exactly what it is, and so do you: there will be fast cars, flying fists, hair-raising explosions, sweeping waterfront locales, and grandiose paeans to importance of family. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham frontline this mission against a menacing and cyber-genetically enhanced Idris Elba.

Artemis Fowl (August 9)

It’s been 18 years since the twelve-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl hacked his way into the hearts of young readers across the world. Seven novels later, the precocious criminal will finally arrive on the big screen in the hopes of kickstarting the next blockbuster fantasy franchise.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (August 9)

Guillermo del Toro loves his monsters, and especially the ones found in this book by Alvin Schwartz. Del Toro stumbled upon the series at a bookstore in Texas and was compelled to produce this adaptation; it will likely feature a handful of the series’ creepiest and most compelling tales.

The Kitchen (August 9)

Alison Cohen Rosa—Alison Cohen RosaElisabeth Moss, Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish in The Kitchen.

Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss and Melissa McCarthy play mob wives-turned-mobsters in this 1970s period drama. They confront rival gangs, the FBI, and their own criminal husbands with barrage after barrage of gunfire.

Blinded By the Light (August 14)

Nick Wall—Nick Wall(L-r) Nell Williams, Viveik Karla and Aaron Phagura in Blinded by the Light.

Sarfraz Manzoor was born thirty years after Bruce Springsteen and grew up more than three thousand miles away. But as a teenager, he came to realize that the existential dread of Thatcherite Britain closely mirrored the “death trap” of Springsteen’s New Jersey. This film, which Manzoor co-adapted from his memoir, Greetings from Bury Park, dramatizes the story of how he turned to The Boss’ music for escape and uplift.

Good Boys (August 16)

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg specialize in the hijinks of juvenile men. But this film, which they produced, might be their first since Superbad in which the characters’ maturity levels properly match their ages. It centers around three middle-schoolers as they enter the agonies and ecstasies of teeangerdom. Jacob Tremblay, one of the youngest Oscar nominees ever, gets in on their potty-mouthed humor.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette (August 16)

Maria Semple’s 2012 novel about a disappearing mother spent a year on the New York Times‘ bestseller list. Cate Blanchett stars in the titular role; Richard Linklater directs.

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

#Time #top stories #IFTTT #news

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justinmoviereviews · 7 years

Text

The Class of 2016

This will be updated, and reviews are subject to be totally meaningless. Sometimes I just don’t feel like writing about a movie, ya know?

Free State of Jones - Gary Ross

This movie looks amazing. I’ll be honest, I didn’t pay a lot of attention. It’s really long. Matthew McConaughey frees the slaves, or something. It looks and sounds great. It made me want to live in the south. Anyway, with this I’m done obsessively watching movies from 2016. I don’t think there were any masterpieces from last year, but it definitely popped out a couple really solid movies. I'm not so into rankings, but here are my top six, and they are truly in no order at all. These are just the six movies from last year that I would hang on my wall:

The Lobster Manchester By The Sea Everybody Wants Some! Green Room Hell or High Water Moonlight

Hacksaw Ridge - Mel Gibson

You can skip the first hour of this--we probably don’t need another movie where a guy falls in love with a girl and then holds firm to his convictions, especially when it’s done in a way as hackneyed as this one is--but the second half is awesome. The ultra-bloody war movie you’d expect from the guy who made a snuff film about Jesus.

Hidden Figures - Theodore Melfi

Say this for these kinds of movies: they’re getting better. The black characters have more agency, the white characters are less benevolent. At the very least, this movie seems like it was edited by someone with a good handle on why inspirational Hollywood stories about black people so often feel like they’re designed to make white people feel good about themselves. In this movie a black character flips out at her unfair treatment in a room full of white people, the titular figures solve their own problems without the help of benevolent crackers, and Kevin Costner’s colorblindness stems less from some future anachronistic moral code than from his being too obsessed with his project to notice anything else. This is a perfectly adequate crowd pleaser, and it’s not offensive. Take your girlfriend.

Suicide Squad - David Ayer

Comic book origin stories are so stupid. In the real world, government agents don’t pitch presentations on recruiting super heroes, because in the real world there aren’t super heroes. I might like these movies better if they didn’t try to take place in the same planet where people file w-4s. Maybe it’s Christopher Nolan’s fault for doing it semi-plausibly. Whatever. I’m not a comic book guy. At all. An airplane is the only setting in which I will ever watch this movie from beginning to end. But I like Will Smith a lot, and I like Margot Robbie.

The Accountant - Gavin O’Connor

Ignore the haters. This movie rocks.

Ghostbusters - Paul Feig

Ignore Milos Yiannopoulos’s pedophile ass. This movie rocks.

Florence Foster Jenkins - Stephen Frears

Eh, they’ve made worse. Stephen Frears really seems to like old ladies.

The Magnificent Seven - Antoine Fuqua

Any movie that has Chris Pratt avoid death by performing card tricks is not going to be as cool as it wants to be, but this is a fun movie to watch. I’m always gonna go with the half-assed western over the half-assed comic book movie. And Denzel Washington can still do this shit better than anyone even when it’s in between takes of Fences.

Hell or High Water - David Mackenzie

Killing Them Softly is a movie about a bunch of underworld criminals tightening their belts and pumping their auditor to save money in a down economy. It’s soundtracked by political speeches from the 2008 Presidential election. It’s one of my favorite movies in recent memory. I’m a sucker for flicks that foreground the sociopathic nature of the banking industry as a regular feature in American life. I’m also a sucker for westerns, and for manly movies where everyone is an alcoholic. This is so much smarter and more controlled than it needed to be. It’s a minor masterpiece.

The Founder - John Lee Hancock

Nobody is better at playing a regular-ass uncharismatic scrub than Michael Keaton. Not Matt Damon in the Informant! Definitely not George Clooney in the Descendants. This might be the first straight biopic I’ve ever actually liked. A middle class striver opportunes himself into a goldmine, and eventually becomes successful enough that he can start acting like a shithead.

Nocturnal Animals - Tom Ford

This movie starts to fall apart about 20 minutes after you finish watching it--a dark thriller about a guy standing up his ex-wife on a dinner date? But in the world where style trumps substance, this is a masterpiece. Dark, foreboding, atmospheric, with a great cast and a killer score. Was a strong contender for trailer of the year. Michael Shannon should be in every movie.

Everybody Wants Some!! - Richard Linklater

Linklater splits the difference between his love of the pseudo-intellectual conversation and his unparalleled ability to show young adults hanging out. The baseball team’s voluntary summer practice is easily the best scene of the year. His best movie since Dazed and Confused.

The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos

The dialogue--and the movie--is like someone breathed life into stick figures and forced them to fuck or face unspeakable consequences. There’s a lot of “do you like the beach? I like the beach because I like looking at the ocean. I’m glad you also like the beach,” like these characters aren’t human but are desperately trying to fake it. Too weird and too singular to be the movie of the year, but I had a huge grin on my face during every batshit second of this.

Sausage Party - Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan

Let’s be honest, no one gets a freer pass than Seth Rogen. Once upon a time studios considered the big budget comedy a viable genre, and gave careers to people like Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell and Mike Judge, all joke-writers who, at their laziest, were pound-for-pound funnier than Rogen is (except for Sandler, who for the past 20 years has been less funny than the average Geico commercial). For better or worse I spent my teenage years quoting movies like Super Troopers and Detroit Rock City. Does anyone quote Superbad? Or This Is The End? The funny thing about my back is...I guess.

Having Judd Apatow’s affection didn’t used to be enough to monopolize a genre, is what I’m saying. And yet, there’s a pretty huge but coming. Because I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Seth Rogen has a gift for premises that none of those other joke-writers did. At heart he’s a very smart art nerd. He’s not really that funny. He relies way too much on dick jokes and swearing. But he’s figured out how to lean on his funny friends. And with Sausage Party, he’s figured out how to emulate the topsy-turvy cleverness of Pixar, and turn it into something as watchable as any of the movies they make.

The Birth of a Nation - Nate Parker

There are better movies, but it’s never gonna get old to watch slaves murder slave owners in the antebellum south.

20th Century Women - Mike Mills

A movie of tiny moments that point to a specific moment in the lives of five people and the intricacy of their relationships. It identifies the profundity of little moments better than Boyhood, and the characters are as well sketched as any others in any other movie I can think of. So Jesus, why do I feel so cold about it? Is it because there’s a political sourness I can’t shake away? Because it feels kinda like Mike Mills wants points for being a real feminist? When this movie feels like a coming of age story, or a story about five people bouncing off each other in well-meaning but not-entirely-beneficial ways, it’s as good as it gets. When it feels like the next step in men writing deep female characters so the Huffington Post genuflects to them, I’m out. Or maybe I just don’t always give a shit about coming of age stories anymore. It’s one or the other.

Sully - Clint Eastood

Sooner or later, after he’s alienated the last living millennial by campaigning for President Trump in 2020, Clint Eastwood is going to shuffle off this mortal coil into whatever Valhalla awaits his generation of stoic American men, and we’re really going to miss him. He tells unfussy stories about uncomplicated heroes living in a decent world with clear cut moral guidelines. Here he turns a high-stakes true event into a medium-stakes story about a guy doing his job well. This is his best late-period movie.

Love and Friendship - Whit Stillman

Fans of Comedy Central may be familiar with a show called Another Period, where comedian Natasha Legerro plays a comically horrible social climbing society woman from some manored century, in a send up of Jane Austen costume dramas that nonetheless carries a feminist streak because of how put upon the women are. I occasionally have it on while I do other things, and I don’t dislike it. Like many late-night alt-comedy shows, it could be great with a bigger budget and more ambition attached to it. As I was first typing this review up, I accidentally wrote Another Period at the top instead of Love and Friendship.

Cafe Society - Woody Allen

Woody Allen has so mastered the epiphany that life doesn’t exist on a moral plane that even when he is on the autoest of autopilots he still handles the observation with profundity (Hannah and her Sisters is his philosophical masterpiece, and I would say unquestionably his best movie). This movie is very much on the autoest of autopilots, and Allen still is a writer first and a director second, but this is good territory for him. On the acting: Steve Carrell is funny and charming and seems like a great guy, but he’s not always a good actor, and he’s miscast here. Jesse Eisenberg is ehhh as the moderately more handsome young Woody Allen character (he kills the movie’s comic highlight, where he meets a first-time hooker). Kristen Stewart is the best actor here, handling second-rate Woody dialogue not as an Annie Hall or as a Kristen Stewart, but as a character of her own creation.

The Neon Demon - Nicolas Winding Refn

Refn wants to make sound and light shows. He doesn’t want characters, he wants mannequins. He doesn’t want plot, he wants to set up perfect shots. I ultimately came out high on Drive, but made fun of it for being Eurotrash. Now I realize it was more like his version of a studio compromise. This is the kind of movie Refn wants to make--the kind of movie so devoid of external input that Keanu Reeves showing up as a pedophile murderer qualifies as fan service. I can see Refn thinking this is his masterpiece. I can’t imagine a single other person on earth actually riding for it.

The Witch - Robert Eggers

Religion is more fun to ponder than to hate on, which is why Silence is a more interesting movie than the Witch. This movie can and should be weirder and scarier than it is, but it spends too much time showing it’s family devolve into superstitious madness and not enough time bringing home that fucked up bacon. It needs more bleeding goats, is what I’m saying. But stay for that ending, because it’s a good one.

Silence - Martin Scorsese

There are times, during some of Andrew Garfield’s narration, or when the camera flashes to a photo of a suffering Jesus, when this movie starts to veer into Bergman territory--Silence is the most Bergmanish movie title since Shame--but Scorsese doesn’t really make art films in that way. His movies are more literal, more grounded in plot, their darkness is violent and visceral. One could argue that a movie like this is more subtle than anything made by the Swedish depressive. One could also argue that it just has less going on. It’s a tough one, not that it’s hard to watch, but it’s hard to comprehend. As for the easy stuff--it looks great, the acting’s great, the writing is smart as hell (and I can’t emphasize that enough. There’s a character who serves as both a figurative mind-fuck and as goofy comic relief). Still kickin’ around at 74, nobody is better at making these things than Marty is. The question the movie asks, I think, is that it’s easy to die on the cross for God, but letting other people die for him? That’s a whole lot harder. And if he isn’t even there? Well then, you’re a terrorist.

La La Land - Damian Chazelle

If this weren’t the runaway Oscar favorite, I wouldn’t have seen it. The question is, would anyone have? If something is getting raves from smart people I assume it’s good, and if it doesn’t look good than I assume it’s subversive somehow. So what is this? A throwback. Damian Chazelle is the only guy right now making movies inspired by “Singin’ in the Rain.” I mean, see this one a theater and yeah, it’s a good time. But don’t buy it or call it the best movie of the year or anything. That’s crazy.

Moonlight - Barry Jenkins

If we weren’t starved for movies about black people, would this movie be so canonized? And if it wasn’t so canonized, would anyone have seen it? Kind of this year’s boyhood, where seemingly random moments in a person’s childhood may or may not be key life-shaping events. What’s most impressive is how the moments depicted are both good and bad. This isn’t Precious. It isn’t some poverty-life horror show. Here’s a kid burdened by vulnerabilities living a sort-of normal life told in vignettes. Poignant. Kinda boring though.

Fences - Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington reading the phone book would be a good movie, which is good, because this movie is basically him reading a phone book. Just kidding! The first hour is perfect--immaculate acting, phenomenal writing, compelling story-telling. The second hour lost me. This is a movie (or play) where the main character tells his wife that he’s impregnated his mistress and that he plans on staying with her. Okay. Then, after his mistress gives birth she dies on the operating table. The main character is devastated, but truthfully, for both him and the story, what incredible good luck!

Allied - Robert Zemeckis

This is a bad movie for two reasons: the plot and the acting. The plot--what if my wife’s a spy? Oh no! She is!--is surprising, but not in a good way. The acting is a bigger problem. Brad Pitt is the coolest guy in Hollywood, probably one of my five favorite actors, and capable of really good stuff, but when you give him traditional leading man roles and don’t figure out how to make him be interesting in them, he’s incredibly dull. Benjamin Button had this problem. Allied has it even more.

Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan

I don’t think a single person reads this blog but I still don’t want to spoil this movie so I won’t talk about the ending. But holy fuck. The definition of a slow burn, as in you’re gonna fall apart in the car halfway home from the theater. Best Oscar bait movie of the year for sure. Maybe best movie of the year.

Inferno - Ron Howard

I have never read a Dan Brown book, but the Da Vinci Code is my favorite TBS movie, and Angels and Demons is probably my second, so it gives me no pleasure to tell the truth here, which is that this movie sucks.

The Girl on the Train - Tate Taylor

I am still baffled by Gone Girl the movie, mostly because it isn’t good, so give this one credit for being the pulpy garbage Gone Girl pretends it isn’t. But the more I thought about this movie, which I very much enjoyed at the time, the more sour I got. It’s pulpy garbage, redeemed in part by Emily Blunt who pulls a Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler and crushes this role like Steve Smith crushed the Panthers after they cut him.

Arrival - Denis Villeneuve

Oh no, I’m already getting bored of writing these. The New Yorker’s review of this movie is perfect and I wouldn’t disagree with any of it. This is a movie that sets its premise up perfectly and then yada yadas over the entire substance of its plot. I still score it very high though, because the twist is borrowed from my favorite Kurt Vonnegut novel, and because I love the way the aliens look.

Midnight Special - Jeff Nichols

Jeff Nichols hasn’t made his masterpiece yet, but he’s in danger of becoming my favorite director. If he turns Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton--two guys great at exploring the decency of masculinity--into his regular acting troupe the danger gets even greater. I watched this one on a plane, which is the worst setting possible to watch a movie with a substantial portion of its budget devoted to its special effects, and the ending rings a little underwhelming (would be better on a normal-sized TV) but nobody does male characters as well as Nichols. Also, and look for this refrain whenever he shows up in a movie, nobody in Hollywood right now is more interesting or exciting than Adam Driver, even in this role, which kinda short-changes him.

10 Cloverfield Lane - Dan Trachtenberg

Another airplane watch, and another movie I come to praise for its acting and then complain that the special effect ending didn’t work on me. There are questions without answers in this movie which bugs the hell out of me, but I’m glad to see my man from the Newsroom and the girl from Scott Pilgrim getting work. Mostly, I’m glad to see one of our finest actors, John Goodman, play someone other than a dad. Let me explain to you something the Coen brothers already know: It is long, long past time for the Goodmanaissance. He should have five Oscars for his performance in the Gambler alone.

The BFG - Stephen Spielberg

Classic kid’s book becomes movie kids will like.

Our Kind of Traitor - Susanna White

Dud Le Carre novel becomes forgettable, poorly directed movie. High point: Stellan Skarsgard, and you get to see his penis.

The Shallows - Jaume Collet-Serra

Hollywood is as snobby and irrationally biased as anyone, but take away the budget and the spectacle and this movie isn’t that different than the Revenant. I mean that is a compliment, I liked both movies a lot. But while the Revenant won Leo his Oscar--something not even Scorsese could do--this one is never going to escape its proximity to Sharknado and its T&A qualities. Blake Lithely, last seen trying to score Oxy from Jon Hamm, equips herself very well.

Sing Street - John Carney

Irish mise-en-scene is great, music’s even better, the older brother relationship is fun and sweet and might even choke you up. There are plot issues you’re a dick for bringing up, but they’re there. Apologies. Also, if you haven’t, go see the Commitments.

The Nice Guys - Shane Black

Ryan Gosling was the revalation here which is weird to me because he’d already showed off all these tricks in the Big Short. He’s better there, in my opinion, and Russell Crowe as the pudgy decent badass is who really carries the day. Hannibal Burress shows up as a bumblebee in the greatest cameo since whenever the last time Tom Waits showed up in a movie. This one starts with a ton of promise, and gets increasingly rote until by the end the heroes are in the same shoot out Shane Black’s been making for 30 years. Funny though, and if they make a sequel I’ll see it.

The Forest - Jason Zada

I briefly belonged to a gym with a big dark room where a bunch of treadmills pointed towards a giant screen TV, and they’d show movies. Sometimes they’d show real movies like A Force Awakens and Concussion (which I never caught all of so I won’t review here but the parts I saw were surprisingly damn good), and sometimes they’d show cheap direct to video horror movies, like a movie about a house break-in that I’m positive was financed by a home security company, and this one. I actually liked this one, purely because it looks real good and it takes place in the Aokigahara Forest in Japan, which I’d never heard of before but got really interested in.

Green Room - Jeremy Saulnier

A grindhouse flick with Patrick Stewart nicely underplaying a psycho neo-nazi, this isn’t as good as Blue Ruin--one of the best movies of the past five years--but it’s pretty damn good.

The Jungle Book - Jon Favreau

There’s a scene in this movie where Scarlett Johansson plays a snake that alone is worth the price of admission, even at the bumped up 3D price. The movie doesn’t ever get that dark again, but the fact that someone had the idea to Dark Knight up the Jungle Book, and it worked as well as it did, is flabbergasting.

Hail, Caesar! - Joel and Ethan Coen

I don’t know how people who aren’t inclined to like every Coen brothers movie feel about this one--my mom and sister hated it--but I loved it. Weird, goony, centered around a bizarre communist subversion subplot that ultimately means nothing, this is the Coens at their not-giving-a-fuck best. In fact, skip La La Land and watch this subversive throwback to Hollywood’s gilded age instead. It’s way more fun and way more evil, and stars the god Josh Brolin.

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