"Second Wind" for an Underemployed Pro-Wrestler & The Current REAL World Champions

 *This blog post was started on July 26, 2022.

I hate my obsessive compulsive nature. Not because it seems ridiculous to place things in order (How else are you suppose to look good?), it is because it makes me do things when I do not have the energy to. My next shift starts at 7:30 am, after a day off of course.

That is the start of the nine-day work week. Between work, "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast", a goth night on Thursday, and prepping for C2E2, writing does not feel like it should be a priority. But, discipline is something I can claim to have.

I have the second season of "The Boys" on in my peripheral in hopes of concluding the third season by the time of the next convention. That is not the discipline that I speak of. "Disgruntled's Real Championship Wrestling" has been used as my template for the podcast blogs since I am trying to balance the total number of posts on that blog and MainEventOfTheDead.com. Since DRCW is formatted to have three posts on the homepage at one time, there needs to be a wrestling-related blog amongst them.

As I have said previously in blogs (I have ended up writing four posts in the last three days.), wrestling has not had much for me to write about. Everyone has an opinion of Vince McMahon leaving the business. Mine is, you are suppose to get out once they give you the 40 years of service ring. It will be interesting with Triple H taking over creative, but he only gets the toys that Nick Khan wants him to play with. Thus, for a website about arbitrary rankings, I have little to write about.

But, we just had a company (Ring of Honor) change two championships this past weekend. Since my last Real Championship Wrestling blog, the AEW tag team championships have changed twice. Do these change the Real World and Tag Team Championships? No, but it does mean there maybe new Men's Doubles Real World Champions.

The Disgruntled's Current Real World Champions of Professional Wrestling
(As of July 26, 2022).

But before I get to that, it is nuts how I watch television. It has been easy to watch the "Star Wars" series(s) and "The Boys". These are two things that Ally of Ally's Accessories Shop on Etsy did not get into. "Star Wars" was not for her since Grogu was not as lovable the old school Yoda. "The Boys" because, despite she does not mind (and maybe encourages) my use of CUNT, the outrageous and hilarious, paradoxical violence is too much.

It is just a coincidence that the show came on near our break up. I guess trying to say maybe there were too many c-words flying in my household. This is why she needs to take Skimble in when she and her fiancé get that condominium. There is a chance that I am a bad influence on the little guy.

Sorry for the tangent. My therapy session got cancelled. I did get to use the time to converge my PS4 into my PS5.

To sum it all up, the break between "Westworld" and "Stranger Things" is probably a year longer than the time I have been broken up from Ally. This is my excuse for not being up to date on their fourth seasons. I will give Netflix credit. "Stranger Things 4" was the talk of FanExpo Chicago 2022 (and the workplace).

As for HBO, there has been little chatter about the new adventures of Dolores. Thus, I feel like a shitty fan. If I am not watching "Westworld", who is? It does not sound like a bad thing to martyr myself for. The things I have let happen to me in the wrestling business means I have had dumber ideas.

The 98th Disgruntled's Real Men's World Champion:
AEW World Champion
CM Punk (His third reign began on May 29, 2022)

All seems right with the wrestling world right now. The best guy gets to claim that he is and the booker who says otherwise is no longer in the business.

Obviously, Punk has not defended the championship, but how often has Roman Reign's defended his double championship since Punk's injury? The same can be said of Switchblade Jay White, but that is due to the G1 Climax Tournament. If anything, we have learned the importance of tournaments when you do not have a champion who performs.

The 49th Disgruntled's Real Women's World Champion:
AEW World Champion
Thunder Rosa (Her reign began on March 16, 2022)

When AEW has women's matches, they are better wrestling matches. The problem with AEW is that they do not create a lot of drama around this championship. It does not seem that important. But, Thunder Rosa can definitely out wrestle all other women's champions at this time.

The 151st Disgruntled's Real Tag Team World Champions:
WWE Unified Tag Team Champions
Jimmy & Jey Uso (Their second reign began on Jan. 5, 2022)

Was getting over Jungle Boy worth this slip up in DRCW? I guess with success of Omega and Page, why not roll the dice. The tag division is kind of in flux right now. Swerve in our Glory is a great team, but they are still teasing a break up despite the title win. And to do that over the Young Bucks? Just because WWE is not doing anything with tag team wrestling does not mean you should turn your belt into a prop. If FTR does not outlast the Bloodline's reign, all is lost with the division.

The 2nd Interim Disgruntled's Men's Champion:
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion
Switchblade Jay White (His reign began on June 12, 2022)

Roman Reigns already has a DRCW championship. Okada was a superior fighting champion than Reigns when an interim champion was needed. Jay White is probably suited to be the best heel in New Japan, and that means he is either the top champion or contender. If you want drama, he is the best champion who is not Will Osprey.

The OCHO: The Real Secondary Champion:
ROH World Television Champion
Samoa Joe (His third reign began on April 25, 2022)

WWE is completely ignoring their United States and Intercontinental Championships. IWGP is putting a lot of undo drama on their United States Championship. Joe might be too old and too big to hold the championship, but when he performs, it can be a main event attraction. You cannot say that for any other champion who is not THE Champion.

The Modern Poser Champion:
WWE Unified Universal Champion
Roman Reigns (His second reign began on August 20, 2020)

If you are not defending against AEW or IWGP wrestlers, how can you be the REAL champion?

The 160th Unified Gnarly Men's Doubles World Champions:
NWA World Tag Team Champions
Doug Williams & Harry Smith (Their reign began on 6/15/22)

The AEW Trios Championship better be worth a stunt title reign from the Young Bucks. Shane "Swerve" Strickland and "Limitless" Keith Lee are where their supporters want them, but because of the two weeks of Jackson reign, they cannot carry on any DRCW title lineage.

I know Williams and Smith have a tag team name (Commonwealth Connection), but Williams was semi-retired and Smith is an excellent utility player. They are a doubles set instead of a team.

I hope you enjoyed this exercise in futility. This leads me to think that I may need to investigate tertiary championships as my next task. 40 years of champions should mean I can stretch that out till the fall. If only I have the energy...or a chance to blog at work. Rest assured, I like everyone at my employer...but the customers.

NinetyForChill: The #Podcast - ”Mad God” = Expletives & Nutty Podcasters with Gregory Gathmann

 

NinetyForChill.com: The #Podcast

Episode 75: ”Mad God” = Expletives & Nutty Podcasters with Gregory Gathmann (The Case of Cinema Versus Art).

”Mad God” = Expletives & Nutty Podcasters with Gregory Gathmann

July 5, 2022

NinetyForChill.com's Guide to Shudder, "The Mudshow's" Gregory Gathmann needed five beers and someone to chat about Phil Tippett's magnum opus "Mad God", so he came to Cool Movies Darth. The two were impressed with this dialogue-free, stop-motion, animated feature that took 30 years to make, but what does it mean? Is it good cinema or merely superb visual art? These two podcasters try to make sense of this feature and perhaps even their lives.

Allow me to get out of third-person. Happy Prof. Shurtleff of Illinois Central College? I (CM Darth) will try not to make so much light of violent death in this summation. This is my declaration of changing perspective. 

So...the scheduling of how I am handling my podcast blogs is changing. This may only be temporary. Last weekend, I had ended up drinking three of four nights.

Night one was the monthly Bat Factory Goth Night by The Darkness Underground at the Rose Bowl in Urbana, IL. My therapist wants me to take on any social interaction I can get regardless of the 10-hour retail shift to follow. Night 2 was made up of trying to stay conscious enough to watch this film. Night 3 was for drinking and recording this podcast's episode. I also had to try and stay up after the recording (and 7-hour shift) to watch 1967's "The Producers" in preparation for another recording. Night 4 had me finishing off the $2 frozen July 4th cocktails (with added vodka) and recording that episode with Michael Dubois (this after an 8-hour shift).

Of course, I had to work the July 4th holiday. My exhaustion had not been this bad since I was starting my weekends on Thursday nights to exploit VIP room discounts at Big Al's, drudging through a copywriting shift and two hotel concierge shifts only to end up drinking on Saturday nights. At least that was a time where I would never allow myself to work seven days in a row. Remember the Sabbath I suppose.

The first week of July was going to conclude with my trip to all four days of Fan Expo Chicago. This meant at least two more long nights. I may have been sober for them, but I am really backed up when it comes to nerd culture. I have yet to start up season three of "The Boys" or season four of "Westworld". With Kevin Smith being my primary draw to the convention, it seemed necessary to complete his filmography with "Jay & Silent Bob Reboot". One thing for certain, binging "Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi" was a must. Thus, two more nights of little rest.

In the end, I knew I was not going to have the energy to edit this episode of the podcast or write up this blog post last week. Recovering from Fan Expo meant that I did not have the energy to write a blog post for my experiences at the con (which will be the subject of next week's episode). My plans are to leave Podbean once my contract ends because they only seem to promote hate speech on their network (Glenn Beck, Steve Bannon, Ben Shapiro, Joe Rogen, Right Side Patriots), but their distribution is great when it comes to Twitter updates about the pod. Hence, the blogs for these episodes will come the week after I exploit that system while I can.

As for this podcast, "Mad God" is a stunning piece of work that demands multiple viewings to understand. I first heard of this feature from listening to the "Screen Drafts: Adult Animation Draft". The drafters reason for not including this in the top seven was that it took 31 years to make. It was seen as much as an experiment as it was a feature. With no dialogue and nightmarish imagery from Oscar-Winning stop motion effects legend Phil Tippett, I can see why it would be tough for people to strongly suggest this feature to friends.

But I must have the right kind friends. Gregory Carl is fascinated my almost everything on Shudder. He once suggested "The Baby" which I kind of thought was too creepy. Of course, I had not had a guest for the show in weeks and this sounded cool, so who was I to deny him or the "Mad God". It is a violent nightmare with a sense of humor.

For some, that may sound like hell, but does the actual Lucifer have a sense of humor. "Mad God" is like a Rube Goldberg device of mayhem, so if you love Warner Bros. cartoons, you owe it to yourself to check this out. You may want to do that first and then let me and Greg try to make sense of it all.

Follow me on Twitter @catbusruss. If you want to be on the show, contact me on Twitter or send an email to russthebus07@gmail.com. All we need is a theme, movie, director, or actor and a focus on sub 100-minute material. As long as the credits start before the 1:39:59 mark on the runtime bar, the movie qualifies.

The Wrestler: My lost @ICCHarbinger Movie Review

*Blog post was started on July 24, 2022. The file this blog is based on was last modified on April 23, 2009.

Mentally, I am thoroughly exhausted. It was stated in the last blog, "Imagine We Had VHS: Ultraviolet: Code 044", that two-day weekends were not a foreseeable luxury. As it turns out, after my therapy-dedicated July 26, my schedule consists of nine straight days featuring three 10-hour days (two of which are back-to-back). With a podcast to record before C2E2, needless to say, my depression seems warranted for a change. There is some Ally drama, but that will be saved for my therapist.

To make matters worse creatively, wrestling's championships sure feel static. I know we have a new AEW Interim World Champion (so no better than the current Disgruntled's Real World Championship) and the most dangerous champion in women's wrestling lost her title (but I do not display much respect for Money in the Bank cash ins), but it does not change the top REAL WORLD champions. I want to alternate between anime and wrestling when it comes to topics for "MainEventOfTheDead.com", so I seem stuck.

And with seemingly no immediate call for "NinetyForChill: The #Podcast" guests (emphasis on seemingly), I have yet to catch up on a lot of movies. This lead me trying to rearrange and straighten up my apartment. There was a TV to recycle and a PlayStation 4 to sell (just in case I am on the verge of bankruptcy two: electric boogaloo), needing a third entertainment center in a one-bedroom domicile seemed excessive. Thus, the old hard drive from my Vista PC that I was using to rip Redbox DVDs (the good olde days) was moved over to this slow Lenovo. Serendipitously, my first ICC Harbinger movie review was found.

Lets see if the proofreading this copy and pasted post will inspire me to overcome this story being way too personal to me and finally give the home media release (which I have bought twice) a complete viewing. That is a tough task because I think I can manage to binge two season of "The Boys" before C2E2. Priorities.

The Wrestler: A Film that Demands Recognition

alternativemovieposters.com: "The Wrestler" by Ignacio

Last February, the Academy Awards chose to overlook the motion picture of 2008 that had the most heart.  This film was Darren Aronofsky’s Mickey Rourke vehicle "The Wrestler".

It was a tough year to gain the Oscars that would unquestionably secure the place of a film in motion picture history.  "Slumdog Millionaire" was virtually a perfect film. David Fincher finally released a film that would be adored my the mainstream thus allowing the Academy to final recognize his talents.  Gus Van Sant now fills the void left by Martin Scorsese of lovable loser.  Ron Howard’s offering being a toned down drama secured the fourth spot in the Best Picture chase, and The Weinstein Company gets a spot whether Hollywood likes it or not.

Aronofsky’s lack of recognition was not surprising, but it was criminal to overlook Rourke’s efforts that made "The Wrestler" more than a director’s project.  Fortunately, not far removed from the date in which the Academy determined that "Girl Interrupted" was a far more important film (Angelina Jolie’s performance gave the film an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress), Fox has released "The Wrestler" on DVD to give those who missed it a chance to bask in its glory while it is still fresh in their minds.

Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Rourke) wrestling career seemed to have culminated 20 years-ago when he faced the Ayatollah at Madison Square Garden, but he still travels the northeastern sea board putting his body on the line.  His life is not a comfortable one since the wrestling business has never been known for taking care of its own, and even as a draw, the grand pay day is never a guarantee.  This leaves our protagonist struggling to pay his rent at the trailer park, unable to reconcile with his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) who has disowned him, working at a supermarket for a manager who loves to demean him for what he was, and his only true friend being a stripper, Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), who does her best to distance herself from him to ensure a better future for her and her son.

For the fans that still pay to see him, The Ram has been willing to pay any price to do what he loves, until he suffers a heart attack after an “ultra violent” match.  Now he must determine how to get his life in order since it is more than likely he will never wrestle again.

Because the film is named after a character in it, many of the elements that make up the film are indeed overshadowed by the focus on Mickey Rourke’s performance. And rightfully so.  This is the role Hollywood has wanted the actor to play since his reemergence to the scene in "Sin City".  Rourke has had his own demons of living a normal life, and that is what the film is about.  He had to pour his heart and soul into The Ram to make the character believable, and despite not doing all of his own stunts, those that he has to put himself through involve pain rarely, if ever, asked of an actor to endure.  After this performance, it is very difficult to imagine watching a documentary about him.  Randy Robinson is everything that is Mickey Rourke, so it has already been filmed.

This is why Aronofsky deserves vast amounts of praise.  His fictitious film takes place in the most realistic world caught on film since "Borat".  A side from the characters mentioned in the synopsis, everyone else is playing themselves, and unlike the comedy mentioned, this film is able to keep the reality from becoming part of the fiction.  To further enhance the environment, Aronofsky has overachieved on the techniques pioneered by Lars von Trier, the director of "Europa" a.k.a. "Zentropa".  He does not try to make any visually artistic statements with the use of constant close ups, but they give the film the feel of a documentary, and Robert D. Siegel’s screenplay allows the audience to feel like they are an active part of the film.  A long with the billed actors’ performances, the writing and directing allow "The Wrestler" to genuinely feel alive.

Like in The Wrestler, politics seems to determine everything.  The Academy Awards only gave two nominations to "The Wrestler", and they were only for Rourke’s lead and Tomei’s supporting performance.  Tomei had already won a Supporting Actress Oscar for "My Cousin Vinny", so the nomination can be considered a victory since there was controversy over her first win.  Never mind the fact that Penelope Cruz was nominated for Supporting Actress for her role in a WoodyAllen film which is almost always a lock.

Mickey Rourke was considered by many to be a lock for Best Actor after his Golden Globes win, but not being popular among his peers may have cost him the SAG and the Oscar to "Sean Penn’s performance in Milk".  When it comes to the science of acting, it cannot be said that either role was better acted than the other, but what it took to play Rourke’s role cannot be compared.  Sean Penn could not have been The Ram while anyone could have been Harvey Milk.

Randy “The Ram” Robinson should be one of the most memorable characters of this decade in cinema, but with a lack of tangible recognition, Hollywood does not seem to care whether the efforts of the writer, director, and actor who created him are remembered.  If one is a fan of fine films, it is imperative that they view "The Wrestler".

Imagine We Still Had VHS: Ultraviolet: Code 044

*This blog post was started on July 15, 2022.

I think that I am nearly recovered from Fan Expo Chicago 2022. The cats were kind enough to let me literally sleep through half of my day off. There was also a degree of relief to realize that my current work week is only five consecutive days. That makes the lack of a two-day weekend for the foreseeable future an easier thing to swallow. The finances are great despite a trip to an entertainment convention.

Poshmark: $20 too much mstone4200.

Can you believe that I made it out of Rosemont with only purchasing two Funko Pop! bobbleheads? Only one was purchased at the con on top of that.

Still, the exhaustion has lead to bit of a lack of content creation motivation. With two podcasts already recorded and an easy to binge third podcast to compose, I have not watched a movie since "The Producers" on Sunday the third. Because there is a lack of stress to binge sub 100-minute films, my intention for the next couple of weeks is to catch up on features with runtimes that are greater than 100 minutes (Thanks Starz [And ThePoeticCritic for requiring me to subscribe to watch "The Cable Guy" for NinetyForChill: The #Podcast's Jim Carrey Episode.] for throwing up "Spider-Man: No Way Home" on your platform.) and binge the series(s) that I meant to for Fan Expo. There is also a lot of video game stuff for me to clear up to get to "Pokémon Legends: Arceus". Where is the time to come up with blogs?

Time is still something that I have difficulty managing. Thus, wanting to get to bed at a reasonable hour means more than a hundred minutes is difficult to obtain. It is tough to find 90 minutes. Thankfully, television determines 22 minutes equals 30 minutes. This lead to a dive into my unwatched anime vault. 

66 minutes is easy enough to manage. When one of these anime's is inspired by a worse ("Equilibrium" is bad.) Kurt Wimmer movie, the thought of 28 minutes less of "Ultraviolet" is one that can be stomached easily.

Ultraviolet: Code 044 (Eps 1-3).

It has been 60 years since the hemophage virus had divided the human race. The Central Government has declared that those infected are no longer human and must be annihilated, not just from the Earth, but all corners of the galaxy. Their efforts on their home world have been very successful. Off world, the wise phage named King has been able the rally the outcasts to a position of strength with aspirations of creating their own government in the asteroid belt.

The Central Government's primary weapons are clones who have been infected with the hemophage virus, so they can utilize the superhuman, vampiric abilities of their target while being docile to their masters. These clones maybe stronger than humans, but the virus will kill them eventually. Five years of service is all that is expected. This applies to even the government's best agent, 44.

44 is the most efficient disposal agent. Her youth leads many of her targets lowering their guard. Her determination to make the most of her short life makes her seemingly invincible. But, she was infected at 14. She has just turned 19. With little time to fulfill her purpose, she is off to the colony of Neo-Tokio to stop King.

This is the furthest away from government supervision that she has been. With this freedom and yearning to truly understand her existence, will she have the focus to succeed in her task? Or, will the new conditions allow her to reconsider her purpose? One government will fall, but it may not be the one she intended to take down.

I will give creative director Osamu Dezaki (Director of "Golgo 13: The Professional" and "Golgo 13: Queen Bee") for understanding the film he was tasked with expanding upon. The shoddy construction of the first scene of "Ultraviolet: Code 44" feels like a copy and paste from the 2006 Milla Jovovich film. If that does not deter you from watching the rest of the first episode, it does get better action and story wise. Too bad the style of Madhouse leaves it looking dull.

This series did get a brief run on G4, probably as a result of the success of the "Marvel Anime" series. I did go back and look through the features the studio worked on, and what I stated about the style maybe an over statement. Then again, when one of their projects pops out at you, the direction comes from legends like Mamoru Hosoda ("The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", "Belle", "Wolf Children") or Satoshi Kon ("Perfect Blue", "Paprika", "Tokyo Godfathers"). The art style is beautiful on the whole, but the color always seems to be lacking.

If your are adapting a manga, that seems appropriate. When you are adapting a live action feature that was dependent on bright colors to distract you from the lack of coherent direction or story, the mark has been missed. This is something that the "Marvel Anime" I had watched ("X-Men" and "Blade") was hurt by. The series needed to at least look as bright as Fox's "X-Men" from 1994.

To Madhouse's credit, there are some series that look fully flushed out from an aesthetic standpoint. If I had all the time in the world, I would have rather continued on with "Black Lagoon".

It is rare for me to be caught up on color since my experience was ravaging through the shelves of Suncoast in the late 1990's. There is a generational divide between me and millennials who got anime series sold to them on American TV and in full season box sets. Perhaps I just find it tricky to sample new (brighter) things. But, I know what the standards are now, and "Code 44" is not what the kids are expecting.

I will get beyond the bland palette because there are things to like about this sample size. The soundtrack is solid with great opening and end themes by BECCA (produced by Meredith "Bitch" Brooks), and once the drama picks up, so does the presentation of the action. Wimmer would be envious.

Unlike the Wimmer movie, the series takes the time to explain everything that happens in this world. It has a nice "Blade Runner" vibe and you can understand the existential crisis our protagonist is going through. She is neither human or phage and has never been given direction beyond her orders. I am currently trying to find suggestions for my own personal direction. In short, it tells the story of needing to grow up in a moment, not a lifetime. Who (has not sampled anti-depressants) cannot relate to that?

If this was released 10 years prior (1998), I would probably have been engaged with this series instead of moving on to something else for my blog. This series is what Wimmer sold us in the opening credits of his feature. Too bad he just wanted to poorly shoot action sequences instead of providing us with a sensical narrative.

Sony probably greenlit "Ultraviolet" because it had Jovovich as the star. People seemed to dig the first "Resident Evil" franchise. They failed to realize that it was not the star that kept us invested. It was that we had an idea of the world RE existed in because we played the video games. A colorful trailer does not make up for four video games of inspiration.

There is a lot to like about "Ultraviolet: Code 44" if you are willing to look past the inspiration and have strong vision to separate the gray visuals. It does not offer anything new to sci-fi action, but it does not do anything wrong outside of lacking paint between the ink. If it had a little humor or more intense violence, this would be worth sampling at full-price.

Too bad what you get is a barely acceptable DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment. There are no captions and it is a dub. But, you get this entire series with two other Madhouse franchises for $15. 39-episodes of TV is tough to resist.