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Excellent week of AEW TV. So many great matches (as per usual), but how they ratcheted up the promos/packages is the real true positive takeaway. It's the kind of thing that if kept consistent could greatly benefit the performers, the matches, the presentation, everything!

if only ECW still existed and some guys could work an "Eagles Security team members" gimmick

Deebo is taking every bicycle in Philadelphia home with him

I vividly remember working a call centre job for a bank in my early 20s, and coming across a guy with this surname and pronouncing it Cockburn, and the tantrum voice-breakingly shrill response of "ITS CO-BURN, YOU FOOL" from the guy in his mid 50s on the end of the line, and choosing to double down on it with a "Oh. My apologies, it's been put on the system here as C-O-C-K-B-U-R-N. I'll change that for you now", and hearing this uncontrollable and escalating "nononoNONONONO NO!" at the end of the phone before a handset being smashed down. I've made it a mandatory mistake to make whenever I come across it from there.

Continental Classic is always delivering the goods in the ring. Excited for a potential Abadon/Julia Hart battle of darkness feud. Loved Skye's promo in response to Toni, that was killer. Also looking forward to Keith Lee vs Shane Taylor finally happening, 1 year since their great tag match at last year's Final Battle. 5 years in the making, surprised they've never faced one on one. Still find Roderick's screaming of first names hilarious. "SAMOA!!!.... joe".

Plaque better have a fucking cigarette in his mouth

You can't make this shit up.

Live footage of James Cockburn: So, wonder how much of a mistake it would be for a non-WWE wrestling company to buy a college football bowl sponsorship.

Kingston is Kawada to Danielson’s Misawa.

As someone who thinks that the Saints would be better off playing Jameis because Carr is so risk-averse, that shit legit made me laugh. Jameis is going to do something, it may be good, it may be bad, but it won't be boring.

Watching some more Florida on YouTube and it looks like JJ Dillon’s mustache was pretty much gone by the time that Jimmy Garvin turned heel by signing with JJ. Which was Garvin going from being a bland babyface Jim Garvin to being somebody important. Also the sequence might have been inspired by baseball free agency as there were multiple references to Reggie Jackson signing with the Angels (or as Gordon put it, Reggie Jackson signed with the Dodgers) So here’s another moment in the adventures of JJ Dillon in Florida:

I think we sleep on how much Shawn Michaels HATED Lex Luger in the mid 90s. Those RAW episodes where he was on commentary while Luger wrestled and just fucking buried him every chance he got were brutal.

This is the third or fourth week in a row that Tony has mistakenly called something a Destroyer/Canadian Destroyer on Collision. At this point I’m starting to wonder if it’s just a gag or bit and one day he’ll actually call it right. Man, it looked like Claudio’s chest was going to burst when he was doing the giant swing on Brody. His chest was just puffed out so much trying to support Brody’s weight. Brody is everything I want in a wrestler. That guy fucking rules.

Love the Continental Classic, definitely seperates AEW from WWE with the shenanigans dialed down to a minimum. I predict Swerve winning the thing, but if this leads to a Brody King push I am all for it.

Yeah, yeah. Blair Witch - Ah yes, nothing like yet another pointless sequel at least 10 years too late. At least it doesn't try to be a more conventional movie and then utterly, totally, completely, horrifically suck the way Book of Shadows did. But this doesn't really have anything going for it that wasn't more or less lifted from the first film. Watch that instead if it still does it for you. This isn't worth the time unless you really like Callie Hernandez, or, like me, you were bugged by Letterboxd telling you you hadn't finished all the Blair Witch movies (OK, OK, maybe the first reason counts a little, too). Fearless - One of Peter Weir's movies you don't hear people talking about, but then again, it isn't quite as visually stunning as Picnic at Hanging Rock, or as epic as Master & Commander, or as bonkers as The Truman Show. And it isn't as good as any of those three, either, so there's that. But it still has a few moments where the visuals are compelling, the sound design and scoring are eerie and unsettling, and the acting is mostly strong, with a few smaller, memorable roles from the likes of Tom Hulce and Benicio del Toro. The ending is a massive cop-out, though, and doesn't work well considering the tone of the rest of the film. That said, the first third or so of the finishing sequence is pretty amazing to watch. And this isn't just a movie about grief or life or death; it's just as much, if not more, about the little deaths we all experience every time we aren't true to ourselves, or when injustice is done, or when we don't give voice to the things we know to be real. Maybe not great, but a thinker. Addicted to Love - Ah yes, Sam and Maggie, the inaugural and founding members of Doctor Pepper's Clinically Insane Hearts Club Band*. Let's celebrate the incredible love affair of two psychotic stalkers who break all sorts of laws, assault people on a routine basis, and squat in an abandoned hovel! Somehow I backed my way into watching yet another Griffin Dunne-directed movie, and yet if there's anything really screwed-up about this, it's that he cast his own father in the movie and then had the old man eat a damn cockroach. Talk about having issues. But at the end of the day, all four of the main characters are either written to be utterly insane or appallingly stupid, so maybe they deserve to just form a...uh, well...it's obviously not a throuple, so I guess a fourple? Whatever kitchen table ENM situationship you want to call it, just so long as they quit bothering anyone else, anywhere else. Buncha creeps. * - All 23 flavors may not be covered by most health insurance plans. Cast a Deadly Spell - The first 3 minutes of this made me cringe extra-hard, and, granted, if you've watched as much noir as I have, the script may still make you do that, since it's straight from Baby's First Cut-and-Paste Noir Screenplay, but it's got its moments where it rises above the B-movie, direct-to-video nature of its beginnings. Mostly it's due to Fred Ward getting in some noteworthy zingers throughout. Plus, his character is named after H.P. Lovecraft, and yet he has to frequently rely upon the kindness of his Black landlord and one of the major plot points involves a cross-dresser, so I'm sure the actual Lovecraft was doing quadruple axles in his grave after this came out. But hey, fuck that guy. Mostly it's just the right sort of cheesy, and it's occasionally wickedly funny, if not scary at any point whatsoever. It's not the worst way to spend 90 minutes if you just want a laugh. Bullet to the Head - This, on the other hand...ugh. Yet another film (much like Die in a Gunfight) where the title references the best practices available to anyone who actually involved themselves in making this turd. Terrible acting, terrible script, racist all day long: the number of things wrong with this could fill the Grand Canyon before the number of things right with it filled a thimble. And somehow Walter Hill directed it, but it seems like it was shot on digital film, because FUUUUUCK it looks ugly. I've never thought Hill's movies were great by any means, but this thing is just visually insulting. It's like a cruddy CBS acronym TV show (or, for brevity's sake, a CBS show). It's got a bunch of try-hard transitions between scenes that look stupid, and these weird "data-dump" moments about the various criminals that are a complete waste of time unless you're, again, trying way too hard to seem modern for evidently no good reason at all. I really wonder if this is Stallone's worst movie. It might be. The axe fight scene's kinda dope, though.

HIS NAME IS JEROME! Also, didn't we have like two back-to-back mirror related gimmicks with early Heartbreak Kid Shawn and Sherri and then the Narcissist? I am guessing they had an overstock of mirrors in Stamford.

YUMIKO HOTTA (AJW) VS. SHINOBU KANDORI (LLPW) This is a fight between the two meanest dogs in the joshi prison yard, so to speak. I've always thought of Kandori as one of the toughest looking and wrestling wrestlers anyway, but Hotta also had that "UFC Rules" match with Lioness where she kicked her so hard in the head she should have been criminally liable. And there's a LOT of that here. Hotta rushes Kandori before she even gets her robe off like "how dare you come into my fed" and Kandori is all "I haven't even got my robe off, bitch!" and they just start soccer-kicking each other, particularly Hotta. In fact about 90% of her offense is kicking Kandori in the face. It's withering, but Kandori is tough as nails and has not only her powerbombs and Tiger Driver but the Fujiwara armbar that everyone freaks out over every time she goes for it. Hotta just treats her like trash and they go back and forth for a bit, Hotta loses a bandage and does a minor blade job (I caught the handing of the blade back to the second but it was sly, so, points). Hotta really lays in some kappo kicks in the corner that are more like brutal rolling leg lariats where the heel catches you right in the face instead of the shin -- that's kinda how it looks, anyway. She even does two off the top! But Kandori finally starts going for the Tiger, which Hotta has the nerve to steal at one point. The finish is a bunch of powerbombs and suplexes and a couple rollups and extremely narrow pinfalls. At one point the ref even hesitates, looking away at someone outside the ring almost as if to confirm "really"? But there's a kickout and you can hear the crowd rumble like something was up. Hotta tries a final desperation pin but Kandori twists it into a full-on MMA heel hook for the ref call. But SHE DOESN'T LET GO, and of course then there's a whole mess with AJW gals kicking her until she lets go then she gets up and slaps the piss out of someone and leaves. Real good stuff, Hotta didn't look like a... lets say, varied wrestler, but certainly a brutal one.

Jennings threw that DB aside like a styrofoam cup. Pants are starting to get loose

That looks GREAT, and I don't believe I have seen it before. The other three names are very familiar, but I don't think I have ever seen Grizzly Iwamoto fight before. I'm assuming it'll be senior member/junior member roles giving structure to the intense violence, but we'll see. Hows about we do a straight up intense violent Joshi match exchange? I suppose this immediately violates my "I won't be giving out great matches" edict, but in my opinion this match also qualifies as unusual because I think it has TOO MUCH hatred. Which should be impossible, but you be the judge:

I’ve mentioned before that I work at a nightclub right. I’ll add that that guy seems like some of the security guards I’ve been around who have some body part size issues.

I don't know which I like more, 1. Them just deciding to flush the toilet first instead of saying anything, anything at all, or 2. Stewart's dad immediately throwing him under the bus. That's a good one. I must not have seen it in what, 25 years? EDIT: If it was '94, then 29

Tennessee/Indianaplolis may be the dumbest game of all time. Both of these teams stink, but neither is completely incompetent, so they are playing like an opening match on an MMA card between two guys who have been around for a while, but are never going to be a contender. Just a slugfest between two guys who know just enough to be dangerous, but have no idea how to put these skills together to string together some wins.

There barely are any pre-84 WWF TV matches that are gems like this. I gave Gordi the Battle of Atlantic City three years ago from weirdo local WWWF TV and it's great but kind of too long. This is a cheat since it's a Philly house show match but I don't think I've given it to anyone and the heat is off the charts. I did post it when Sheik died and wrote about it on SC though: And if these weren't what you were thinking, I'm going to break your rule and just give you Tito vs Windham from 89 or something (Or the late 90s Texas vs Memphis WWF match maybe?) I got nothing right now. We got too many sick kids and adults for me to think through what I'd like. Pick a match that you like a ton (or hate!) and want to see me write about. That's good enough for me.

I'll start. Here ya go Gordi. Somebody brought it up in the joshi thread where we were talking about our top five joshi matches, as an honorable mention or something. I still haven't finished the whole thing because I'm lazy and get wrapped up in other shit, but I've seen about a quarter of it and damn. That's intense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWkzPJdSFK0&ab_channel=Kimurakyoko91

I've seen many, many films in the theater alone. It feels like you're getting away with something almost. As a pretty anti-social person in most circumstances, it's never bothered me to walk into a matinee of something nobody else is gonna be at and being totally comfortable in isolation with that giant screen. I guess that's what still makes it special to me. Hell, I need to go see Thanksgiving now...

God for-fucking-bid we go a season without a blessed SEC school in the playoffs. FSU got fucked. And no, I'm not mad that now Michigan has to go through Bama because SEC.

The pandemic taught us how much better it is to just see a movie at home with your food and your bathroom and the ability to pause and have subtitles, basically. The gains of the social environment and the big screen/sound just don't overweight the convenience. Especially if you have kids. Movies we've seen since: 1.) Encanto with the older girl. 2.) Elemental with both girls. 3.) We divided and conquered with the older girl: wife took her to Spider-Verse; I took her to Indiana Jones. And then we just saw Marvels and Wish on this cruise last Saturday. I could imagine wanting to see Furiosa on the big screen but virtually nothing else right now. The only reason I'd possibly want to otherwise is so I didn't get spoiled on something.

Maaaan, I love the Continental Classic!

https://cdn4.whatculture.com/images//2023/12/b36b494e6c73f2021d76284ae1602201.jpg Dickhead Danielson is my favourite version.

Please prepare your fainting couch for this news, as it is, to put it mildly... Shocking. Ian Rapaport is reporting that it is "unlikely" that Aaron Rodgers will play again this season. Again, I rupaulogize if you were unable to get to a safe place before you saw this. Try to have a good day.

For Dolfan

I'll echo not ever getting what fans saw in Donna. She always annoyed me. She annoyed me in the first episode too, but maybe less so than in the past.

Kingston loses this tournament. Goes mad. Then defends AEW from an evil Samoa Joe champion. Everyone rejoices!

Great show! Great company! Great main event!!!!

Texas pounded OSU. Put the Longhorns in the CFP you cowards

that "security guard" had no business being on the sideline in the first place. like those tripping goons the Jets had a few years back but he did his job well.

Iowa State and Memphis. AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Texas State and Rice. Servpro First Responder Bowl. Northwestern and Utah. SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. Wyoming and Toledo. Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl. Appalachian State and Miami-Ohio. Avocados from Mexico Cure Bowl. South Florida and Syracuse. RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl. UCF and Duke. Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl South Alabama and Eastern Michigan. 68 Ventures Bowl Georgia Tech and Troy. 76 Birmingham Bowl Marshall and UTSA. Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl Bowling Green and Minnesota. Quick Lane Bowl. LSU and Wisconsin. Reliaquest Bowl Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. TaxAct Texas Bowl. Georgia Southern and Ohio. Myrtle Beach Bowl. Boston College and SMU. Wasabi Fenway Bowl. Kansas and UNLV. Guaranteed Rate Bowl

I'm gonna change my rules this year. Give me anything. Just whatever you want to. It's cool. Aw fuck... I forgot about the Network... and other pay services... lets just say that if you can find it on Youtube or Dailymotion or send me a file, it's cool.

Oops, my bad. Honestly, not a very interesting or inspiring short and I'm a bit surprised that it made it as a proof of concept for a feature. I've worked on enough shorts to recognise good production design and lighting/camera work, but nothing else about this suggested that anyone needs to see more than four minutes of it.

So for the first time I now have a catalogue of all my movies that I can search through. This week I discovered Tellico which is a collector's app that pulls metadata from online databases. It can be used for different mediums - books, music, comics and movies. And it's free. Adding movies was so easy and you can generate reports from the metadata you collect from The Movie Database or IMDB. So now I can see a bar graph that tells me what year has produced the most films in collection. My Top 5 Years of Production in my Collection 5. 1967 4. 1986 3. 1974 2. 1972 1. 1989 Which was kind of surprising. According to my bar graph I have a lot of late 60's early 70's, but dip between 75 and 1983. Then I peak again for the mid 80's and early 90's, before dipping again around 1995 until 2003. That's kinda funny that both lulls start in the middle of the decade and last the same amount of time. I don't know what it means, but it's fascinating to look at. Some of the other data is skewed by box sets. For example: My Top 5 Actors are.. 5. Lon Chaney Jr. (11 movies) 4. Sonny Chiba (13) 3. Meiko Kaji (13) 2. Takashi Shimura (14) 1. Shintaro Katsu. (26) Lon Chaney would be a result of the Universal Monsters set. Sonny Chiba and Meiko Kaji are legit favorites of mine and I look for their work. I also try to collect a lot of Japanese cinema in general which is why Takashi Shimura is there. That guy is in so many great films. And Shintaro Katsu is a result of the Zatoichi Criterion Box Set. Anyway, thought I'd share some of this stuff. Having it catalogued let's me really visualize my collection so that's not just a mass on the wall.

It symbolizes you won a grueling tournament with some of the top mat workers in the world. It's like competing in a decathlon or a Tuff Mudder.

As a kid I thought it was fairly bold of Lex Luger to be around mirrors so much considering how Marty Jannetty whacked Sensational Sherri with one, but then I figured Luger would just shove the referee in the way or something.

ABADON vs. Kiera Hogan added to Collision tonight! 2 of my favs, always glad to see both on TV

See, every time I think of Flair’s suits I think, “What can I say about that suit that hasn’t already been said about Afghanistan? It looks bombed out and depleted.”

I know what it means, but there's probably some Blackpool carny slang for something else that goes by that too. Some dude working a ferris wheel with a special stick carved with notches on it.

Fairly good Rampage here. The women's match felt like it was 75% in PnP so that sucked though. This was a collection of multi-persons; first one was fun and Danhausen busting out the hat cracked me up. Wheeler used "The Man in the Mask" on Ex like Regal. Whatever that finisher was that Uno has, it's gnarly. The Mummy AKA Ric Flair came out and flashed the logo of the furniture company to the crowd from inside his jacket! They're gonna be blowing up! Slashing prices for the holidays, buy sofa and love seat for 20% off! Stinger gave a shout out to Bam Bam Bigelow which was class. Love Bammer. They played Wight getting slammed on the car again, and man, he landed practically on the edge of it. Nasty. Callis showed, like Heyman on Smackdown, that a good manager can still get the most heat out of the entire crew. The main was a delirious spotfest with everything being super complicated and pretty well perfectly pulled off. Vikingo screwed up one dive but JD Drake saved it by immediately throwing his ass up against the ropes and lariating him, which was probably a receipt for Vikingo chopping him with his entire arm. I like me some Workhorsemen.

Fact that I saw that is shocking but somehow makes sense... CJ Stroud is 125 yards away from being 5th on Houston's all time passing leaders.

Reds are signing Nick Martinez - 2 years, $26 million but he can opt out after the first year Cincy plans on him being a full time starter His numbers were far better when he worked out of the pen