A Couple of Movies and Wrestling Galore!

So Erin and I rented a few movies the other day to tide us over while eating Blizzards; they included "The Machinist" and "The Seventh Seal." For those of you not in the know, "The Machinist" was the flick that Christian Bale lost 65 pounds for. He looks disgusting, not unlike a concentration camp survivor. His physical transformation was insane and its a pitty that he couldn't have done it for a better movie, because the one he did it in kinda stinks. Not utter crap or anything, but nothing that hasn't been seen before and better. It was your standard protagonist sees things movie.
"The Seventh Seal," on the other hand, had been recommended to me from on high, in the proverbial film cannon, so I was anxious to see what the big deal was. I was expecting more chess between the knight and death and less wandering actors being weepy, but the cinematography was great and hearing Swedish always makes me chuckle. (Which was a little odd considering the movie was about the black plague). I wouldn't say that it was the best movie ever or anything, but it was a decent little meditation on death that you don't really see much of anymore.
Apart from the movie watching, I've been catching up on my old-timey wrestling watching, going through my "Greatest Wrestlers of the 80's" WWE set. The main thing that this has accomplished is to further point out why the wrestling of that era was so much better than today, at least in the way that the matches held the crowds interest and actually got people off their feet going crazy for the face or trying to kill the heel. You just don't see that level of passion at mainstream events anymore. It really adds to the drama on screen and makes even a shitty match seem like something you HAVE to watch. In conclusion, Roddy Piper was the man.

Land of the Dead or New Stuff

So we checked out "Land of the Dead" last night and I must say that all parties were majorly disappointed. Even Jay, the lover of all things zombie, detested it. Bad dialogue, lame characters (except the Samoan guy), and a stupid concept (zombies using guns) were definitely in my "not liking" column. It would appear that, while having some social commentary, the actual bread of the movie was lacking in all respects. I'd steer clear.
The other day I finally cashed in my Future Shop Gift Certificate that I received through RBC reward points and picked up the following: The Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80's 3 Disc set, Donkey Konga 2 for the GC, and Kirby Canvas Curse for the DS. I love 80's wrestling so much, so that was a no-brainer, but I was taking a chance on Kirby, what with never having played it at all. I must say that it rocks hardcore! It's the game Yoshi Touch and Go should have been what with all the touching and go-ing and all. If you own a DS, GET IT NOW!

Weekly Update or What to Do?

This is pretty much becoming a weekly updated blog, as I'm finding that less is going on right now. Apart from working and the various minor things I do, like watch movies, play games, read, attempt to exercise, and use the old PC, I'm not doing a whole hell of a lot.
Erin and I did rent some flicks the other day, which include; Bullitt, Magnificent Seven (I'm on a Steve McQueen kicker), So I Married an Axe Murderer, On the Waterfront, and Monty Python's Meaning of Life, Life of Brian, and And Now for Something Completely Different. I'd seen all of the Monty Python's before, but not in glorious DVD widescreen. While on the topic, Life of Brian is pretty much the most brilliant comedy film ever made. Seeing it again, I noticed just how insanely intelligent it is with its satire. I can't think of anything that holds up as well as long after its release.
On Sunday, Erin and I checked out "Howl's Moving Castle," the new Miyazaki film, which was good stuff. Imagination seems to be a rare thing in Hollywood, so its always nice to see someone make something that ISN'T a remake or genre pic. Leave it to the Japanese to show us the way.

Batman Begins or Pulling a Movie Out of My Ass

Alrighty then, what's been going down the past week you ask? Well, apart from work, a week of highs and lows. To start with the lows, I had a dentist appointment on Thursday and was confronted with a total jerk of a cleaner. Not only did she stab my gums far too many times to count (which is why I left my previous dentist... not enough focus on NOT hurting the patient) but she refused to believe that I floss and made me show her that I knew how. Then she said that I should whiten my teeth, to which I responded that I was born with the teeth I have and see no real need to change them as they don't bother me. He rebuttal was "if it were me, I'd sure want to whiten them." Ouch. She also fucked up the x-rays and had to do them twice... hello cancer! The actual dentist was better (and nicer) but informed me that I might just be grinding my teeth in my sleep and might need a mouth guard... Her reasons included stress, unspent energy, and caffeine. I'd say that #2 is probably the most likely culprit, as I have not been able to maintain a consistent workout schedule lately. That subject I am addressing in the hopes that I avoid paying 300$ for a v.2.0 retainer. The same day, I received a parking ticket for being over the 2 hour limit downtown. I wasn't mad, as I knew that I would be over the limit, but I was taking a gamble that my car was parked on a street that wasn't checked regularly. That gamble cost me 20$.
Now for the highs. First of all, I totally made a kick ass movie out of my scraps, found footage, and some scratch animation. I spent about 8 or so hours compiling and editing together random shit (all by sight) and when I went into the Steinbeck room to watch the thing, was amazed that it turned out at all, let alone that it turned out awesome. That means I can now invite everyone to see it in August instead of having to find some excuse for them NOT to come!
The next high was seeing Batman Begins. It was totally THE Batman movie that everyone has been waiting for. GO SEE IT! So much care was taken to make everything very realistic and to explain the motivation of the characters that it was not only a great summer movie, but a great film in general. I can't wait to see what Nolan and Co. do with the sequel (which everyone is contracted for).
The final high was hanging out with Rob during his brief sojourn back to the 'Peg. It was great to see that the army experience has not changed him.
Hey, this new Paul Anka CD "Rock Swings" (swing covers of popular songs) is pretty sweet.

ECW One Night Stand or Tears to My Eyes

So, rather unexpectidly, I checked out the ECW pay per view "One Night Stand" at Silver City tonight with Lee, Erin, Jay, and his brother Tyler. All I can say is wow. It was quite possibly the perfect event. Maybe it didn't have the greatest wrestling of all time, but it had the most emotion I've ever seen in wrestling. I was damn near tears on several occasions. Each and every guy there put their hearts on their sleeves and showed their love for the company that gave them a chance, for the company that helped make them who they are, and for the company that never really had a proper chance to say goodbye.
The booking was tight and each and every loose end in ECW history was tied up in some way (with the only exceptions being the inability of Shane Douglas, Raven, Jerry Lynn, and Terry Funk to appear). The fans were given everything they had ever dreamed of during ECW's run, including the destruction of Eric Bischoff and ECW guys beating WWE guys. The fans in attendance were super hot, which always makes shows more exciting and the atmosphere oozed through the big screen into the audience (who clapped, cheered, and booed right along with the New York crowd).
Of particular note were the insane Mike Awesome/Masato Tanaka match, the crazy bloody and wild main event of The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer vs. The Dudley Boyz (which saw damn near everyone in ECW history show up) and the emotional Paul Heyman shoot. I will most definitely buy the DVD when released.
Being in the theatre it almost felt like I was there live... the goosebumps from The Sandman's entrance, the "Holy Shit!" chants... I don't know if the same emotion would've been brought up watching it later on tape... The ECW fan connection that I've always had was brought back. It made me think of when I traveled to Minneapolis to see an ECW TV taping live in 2000, of getting multi-generation bootlegs off ebay, of ordering US only action figures, of tracking down the elusive ECW magazine, of finally getting the DVD's, and seeing the excellent WWE DVD "The Rise and Fall of ECW." So many memories and so much of my life for the late 90's... As Jay put it; "ECW is so rock and roll." That is the truth... there will always be a place in my heart for the underdog federation that gave their all each and every night and now I have a new memory to add to the collection... That of a perfect sendoff. Kudos to everyone involved because you really got to me and each and every viewer.

Soooo Much Work or GTA San Andreas

Well, I've been working a whole hell of a lot the past week and will not have another day off until thursday (that makes 14 straight days of work!) Other than that, not too much to report; I did some work on my film (in an attempt to salvage something), played some GTA San Andreas for the Xbox (which is pretty damn fun, although not as thematically cool as Vice City), and went Karaoke-ing with Rob (who is back in town for a week or so.) I sang: Funkadelic "One Nation Under a Groove," which at 7 minutes is FAR too long, Weird Al "A Complicated Song," Crash Test Dummies "Afternoons and Coffespoons," which had horribly out of sinc lyrics, and a duet with Rob on the Travelling Willbury's song "End of the Line," which aptly was the last song of the night! That just about does it for excitement in my life lately...

A Night of Comedy or Funk Albums!

So last night I abused some free passes to Rumor's that Ryan had scored through, most likely, illicit means. There were 4 comics in all, only one of which was really any good. The mc guy was ok, if a little too giddy. The next guy, the winner of funniest winnipegger with a day job, was WAY out of his element. He was telling jokes about hotboxing and sodomy to a crowd of largely seniors (this was the 8 o'clock show after all). No one laughed... He had to explain what hotboxing was, the sign that your material is not going over. The next guy, Kelly Loewen, I've seen at open mic nights before and hated and his material last night did nothing to change my opinion. It was interesting to see him get mad at people talking during his set though... he did a good job of covering it with faux-laughter, but you could tell he was pissed.
The headliner guy, some dude whose name I forgot... was alright, if a little too focused on marriage jokes. All in all, I'm glad the night was free. Come to think of it, I've never actually paid to get into Rumor's before, I've always had free tickets. Not too shabby.
I've grabbed a bunch of funk albums recently, ones that are collections of obscure bands that never hit the big time and tracks that've been long forgotten. There's some super sweet stuff by people like The Detroit Sex Machines, The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, Funkhouse Express, Black Heat, and The Southshore Commission. Yay to the funk of yesteryear!