WWE SummerSlam 2015 promised to be the biggest and best SummerSlam of all time. Almost four hours of action and 10 matches with two main events, including the long-anticipated rematch between Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. The show had Jon Stewart as host, a match with Arrow‘s Stephen Amell, and a guest appearance by Mic Foley. […]
2016 Republican Presidential Debate #1 – Hello, Cleveland!
The first Republican Presidential Debate was held last night. There were two of them if you counted the “Kids’ Table” debate earlier, which included presidential hopefuls polling outside of the top 10. Anyone who tuned in hoping for the Donald Trump show was not disappointed since Trump was the event’s main draw. The first question out […]
[Review] Cop Car
In the opening scene of Cop Car, writer/director Jon Watts establishes the two different worldviews that make his film a compelling thriller. There’s the child world and the adult world. The child world is one of fantasy and games without consequences. Friends Travis (James Freedson-Jackson) and Harrison (Hays Wellford) have run away from home, and […]
“Rowdy” Roddy Piper (1954-2015): The All-Time Great That Wrestling Fans Loved to Hate
At UFC 190 over the weekend, Ronda Rousey dismantled Bethe Correia in just 34 seconds. (Combined length of Rousey’s last three matches: 64 seconds.) Following the match, Rousey gave a shout out to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, the wrestling legend who passed away last week at the age 61. Piper was one of Rousey’s heroes and friends. […]
WWE Battleground 2015: Results and Match Reviews
WWE Battleground 2015 will probably be notable as a SummerSlam set-up rather than its own decent PPV event. The card was pretty solid overall, yet I couldn’t help but feel a strange middling quality to Battleground. Looking at the main event, the John Cena vs. Kevin Owens rematch match, and the debut of NXT women’s […]
[Review] Mr. Holmes
Detective characters are often stand-ins for writers, and sometimes vice versa. The work of solving a mystery, like writing a tricky story, involves putting disparate pieces together into some form that logically holds together and seems true, no matter how improbable. Adapted from the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin, Mr. […]
[Review] Ant-Man
There was a concern that Ant-Man would lack personality. Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) had spent ages developing the Ant-Man screenplay, but he left the project due to creative differences with Marvel Studios. Peyton Reed replaced Wright as director and the screenplay was retooled by Adam McKay (Anchorman) and star Paul Rudd. Ant-Man wrapped principle photography in December 2014 to […]
New 33 1/3 Books on Devo, Dead Kennedys, and Super Mario Bros Are Criticism Done Right
There’s an old, dismissive joke about music criticism: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture–it’s a really stupid thing to want to do.” That’s funny, sure, but good music critics can dance like motherfuckers. Dancing is fun, it’s stimulating, it’s potentially generative. When people can dance as well as they do in the 33 […]