Reed

He's on Total Bellas.

You know, for all the "HHH married Stephanie for power/wealth" talk, any time you see them together you can tell: There is something there. It isn't a sham. As for Cena proposing at Mania. Eh...I really do feel bad for him if he has second thoughts. Because he honestly can't back out now. Nikki will be furious because he's humiliating her. Vince will be furious because he's ruining his WM plans.

You know, Rihanna as Marion Crane on Bates Motel seems like one of those ideas that is just so batshit it could actually work. I like the deliberate nod to the stunt casting of the original film. But hopefully she's learned to act since Battleship.

Vince: "He will learn to love her."

Yeah, she's not Rosa Mendes-levels of bad or anything. She's tolerable But she's certainly not good. She is far better as a manager.

Technically, this would make him the biggest babyface ever to every dude who felt their girlfriend was pressuring them into marriage.

Meltzer basically said this was the plan a few weeks ago on WOR: *Bryan* "But, eh, what if he changes his mind about marrying her?" *Dave* "Well, he can't now." Oddly, I cracked up at that.

He's great because the babyfaces smirk and look down on him as some shallow, stupid Hollywood reality guy. Then, occasionally, he makes certain points to them. "You wrestled a crazy style and can't wrestle anymore? Well, I didn't and I can still wrestle!" And he's probably right about Nikki and Cena being doomed in the long run because they want different things. Oh, right. There was emotional depth in him all along.

Eh, I think Cena is basically a good person, he's just forced himself to be detached. Cena: "I will never, ever have kids!" It's an odd position for a young man to have. (Eh, Nikki would be doing most of the work, dude. You could just be casual and check in on weekends.) And when you realize meeting and connecting with all those dying Make a Wish children might have been why he's firmly decided on this.

Maybe, but I wouldn't put it on the same level as "Forrest Gump beating Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption." I liked Rocky. It had depth. It wasn't just a fun sports movie. When you realize at the end Rocky doesn't give a shit about the result and only wanted to prove something to himself and Adrian. "Where's your hat?" He's just lost the biggest match of his life. And he's more bothered about this woman's Goddamn silly hat. It's so subtle. But you get the point: This wasn't a boxing match; it was about two lonely dysfunctional people who fell in love.

"When you have true love you don't make her sign a contract to be your girlfriend!" A cool thing about The Miz as a heel is that, while he's an annoying arrogant douchebag, he does occasionally make very good, astute points. Shades of when he called out Bryan after Bryan trashed him for not taking more risks in the ring. I saw that episode of Total Divas when Cena pressured her into signing that contract before she moved in. He didn't come off well at all.

They seem to like the film. But they also acknowledge the problems they faced. "If you didn't like the first one, you won't watch the sequel. If you did like the first one, you'll think the sequel is too different."

The weird thing is: They don't actively shit on the movie or the studio. Oh, they acknowledge the flaws, but they admit themselves they are rather proud of it and think everyone did a great job. I think they were enthusiastic. But it's like: "Well, critics and audiences rejected it, so it has to be bad! No matter what we think!" Guys, maybe it wasn't. Again: Time bears these things out. I do personally think the last 20 minutes of that film were excellent. When you realize Lane was likely the one leaving the trinkets for the people in the first film. And maybe even killed Heather. That's a mind fuck.

And every time I re-watch Downfall, it is like: "How did Bruno Ganz not even get nominated?" To quote from someone: "It is like Hitler came back to life." It's a great performance. Because Ganz doesn't humanize him. He compels and pushes you away at the same time. OK, the "Fall of Berlin" is (youtube) famous, and an astonishing piece of acting, but it might be the more subtle moments that are the most terrific. Like, whenever Hitler is nice to the secretary or Eva Braun. In the hands of a lessor actor, this could have served to make the guy, eh, a little sympathetic. But with Ganz, you get it: Hitler is not being nice; he is simply pretending to be. When the monster makes an attempt at politeness.

Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s DVD commentary on Blair Witch is so disheartening to listen to, though. Not kidding, every other line is a remark about how poorly it did at the box office or the critics hating it. Not that I expect them to say: “It did amazingly well and everyone loved it!” but, um, guys, maybe, as artists, you shouldn’t be shitting on your own work? Especially, like, if me, you thought it was quite a good and intriguing film that raises many questions. Hence why I bought the DVD. The sad thing is: They mention they are recording the commentary only two weeks after it came out. How can you judge any film’s long-term impact after two frigging weeks? (And I could be wrong, but it was so low budget I’m fairly sure it will make a good profit when all is said and done.) They were too harsh on themselves, IMO. Also, as they imply: Probably high. Not a good commentary.

The problem with Cena in the segment was: He didn't come off as "upset but acting cool because he is MANLY~! and stoicism" and all that John Wayne stuff. He came off like he simply didn't care. Not getting into the real life situation (not my business). But in kayfabe, he came off as awful. Maybe he was trying to convey "concerned but struggling through the pain" but he failed miserably because he's a terrible actor. It is possible. WWE Films support this theory.

Triple H went mental when Seth Rollins suggested he would perhaps turn up on Triple H's doorstop one day and talk to his kids And the thing is? HHH would have been more a bad guy if he simply hadn't cared or shrugged off that not-so-subtle threat.

But Nikki would still, I assume care. Even if she accepted it was never the end of the world. Again: You repeatedly caught Renee and Bryan trying to coax him into feeling something. Show some sort of emotion. "Oh, how is Nicole? She good?" He said this with about as much emotion as you or I would order a pizza with.

You knew things were bad when you saw Renee trying to get *something* of an emotional reaction out of him. And his face was a complete and utter blank. Christ, man. Triple H, in the storyline, might be a dick. But you never doubt he'd lose his shit if anyone hurt a person he loved.

WrestleMania spoiler: Cena proposes in front of tens of thousands of fans and millions of TV viewers...and Nikki turns his ass down.

Does WWE even realize how much of a sociopath Cena came off in that segment? Bro, the woman you love, a woman you've held in your arms...just got viciously attacked. And you seem only mildly surprised and a bit bemused.

(SPOILERS) I just got back from Rings. It was good…I think. -You could tell they had paid attention to the movies and even the original Japanese ones. -The opening scene was terrific. -I liked the idea that the video itself is now a science experiment for college professors. Ringu 2 had a similar plot. These people are too stupid to even be scared: It’s all intellectual curiosity at this point. Gabriel was crazy. -You see the twist coming in the first 20 minutes but that seems to make the whole thing a lot more more ominous. -The actors were, eh, fine. Not terrible, but, well, sorta there. The lead actress was not Naomi Watts, putting it nicely. -Julia liked exposition way too much. Stop talking to yourself, girl! -”You think you’re the first Good Samaritan to try and help her? No. You’re the twelfth.” The best line of the film because it summed up the whole franchise. Everyone keeps trying to help this girl but, well, they just can’t. Julia ends up with a fate worse than death because she tried to love and understand her. Rachel got it in The Ring Two: She survived and saved her son because she finally understood something about Samara. -Those weird two minutes when you found yourself rooting for Samara for standing up to the creepy rapist priest dude. -More intriguing a film than a scary one, though. Only Julia glimpsing Samara‘s shadow at the door and the cemetery scene creeped me out.

Also: Eurus went from being incredibly smart to being, well, a psychic super wizard with Jedi mind control powers. And while this show was never meant to be realistic, it still existed in the realm of what was humanly possible. "She predicted the exact time and dates of three major terrorist attacks after just five minutes on Twitter." I rolled my eyes at that one.

I think the real problem with Sherlock was they got way too smug after season 2. All this "best TV show ever!" and "Benedict Cumberbatch is a big star!" talk clearly got to Moffat and Gatiss. They never got over it. Then the show was a parody of itself and mostly everyone patting themselves on the back. All the winks, all the jokes, etc. It's funny: The Wire, Breaking Bad and The Sopranos...they didn't get worse as they went along, despite all the awards, acclaim and praise. You could even argue Breaking Bad's last season was the best one. And by that point, Vince Gillian knew he had created an astonishing success. But he never lost sight of the story. The lesson here is: No showrunner should get wrapped up in the hype.