The Insane Antics of Adam West

C'mon, couldn't you so see Adam West doing this routine on an episode of Family Guy?

Read more!

LIVE Raw thoughts

11:06 - So we're proud of Cena for running to check up on a family after R-Truth stood there for about 3 minutes before he did anything? A bit of a lackluster Raw.....just didn't feel like much happened.

10:50 - This Zack Ryder stuff baffles me. He clearly has some very influential people supporting him -- every week he's getting the rub from Cena, plus his "Basics" t-shirt is shilled more than any other shirt they're selling, but it doesn't seem like they're doing anything with him. I mean, people are able to get his merchandise sold and getting him to appear on camera, each week, with your biggest star....but they won't let him cut a promo or something? Or even a substantial backstage segment? Hey, remember how the Dirt Sheet MADE Miz and Morrison? Any reason why they can't put Ryder's hit YouTube show on WWE.com to do the same?

10:38 - So, what did everybody think of the Kharma promo? In my view, they made lemons into lemonade. They handled it honestly, which is good, but as a result their monster heel -- the person who could have made the Divas division REALLY interesting -- is now a face. A face who wants to beat the piss out of the Bella twins. That's great, except the fact that the same can be said about any of the current face Divas -- and each of them look like they could wipe the floor with the Bellas anyway (Kelly Kelly beat them an hour ago).

Since Kharma was only a few weeks into her debut, I can't help but wonder if it would have been better to just abruptly end the storyline with no explanation, and then pick it up again in a year. What I hope they would have done, had this pregnancy not happened, was dismantle the popular and lovable Kelly Kelly. Then move onto the technically sound Gail Kim, before disposing of her. Then the first person that can challenge her strength wise is Natalya, who Kharma will beat. And then she finally moves onto Beth Phoenix, who for the first time ever would be the underdog.

That's far more interesting than beating up the mean Bella twins.

10:30 - Geez, if only Punk was in a contract dispute when he feuded with Mysterio a few years ago on Smackdown. Maybe he would've won more than one match.

10:12 - I definitely need to change the color settings on my TV. Punk's Macho Man trunks were purple on my TV. They were pink in real life.

10:05 - You know, for a guy who looks like he spends a lot of money on clothing, Miz's shirts tear really easily.

9:59 - Hold on a second, I thought they were trying to turn Cole face again? Now he's back in full blown heel mode.

9:53 - So, where do you think they go with the Kharma storyline later tonight?

9:35 - I forget who it was, but the person made a great point by bringing up that WWE Films are churning out movies with such frequency that once they stop shilling their latest film (ad nauseum, mind you), their new film is out. There's no break in between.

9:30 - Nobody's impressed, Dolph. Everybody has beat Kofi Kingston. I pinned him on the way to the grocery store last Thursday.

9:10 - That was a distracting first 10 minutes.

9:04 - Yikes, did Jerry Lawler just blame a black guy for the show's technical difficulties? What is going on here?

8:40 - After a multi-week hiatus, my LIVE Raw thoughts will return tonight! I hope everybody had a fun and safe Memorial Day Weekend. Check back at 9:00 for my live thoughts!

Read more!

Top Ten Cases: CM Punk’s Attires of Awesomeness

Last Friday the wrestling world was shocked and saddened to hear that the legendary Randy Savage had passed away. Three nights later, following Raw, most fans were talking about the two tributes from that night’s show: WWE’s great video and CM Punk’s wrestling attire.

Frequent visitors of this blog know that I’m a bit of an attire fiend. I reminisce about the days when wrestlers would debut a new outfit at each major PPV, and I chastise the Superstars who don’t break out something new or special at WrestleMania. And don’t even get me started with Kane, who’s had, like, two different pairs of tights over the past ten years. So simply because he’s got a wide variety of trunks that he switches up on a regular basis, CM Punk is cool with me. When he sported the crazy beard, I was sold.

Truth be told, he’s more than cool with me. With Edge gone, CM Punk has cemented his status as my favorite active competitor in wrestling today. While I take great pride in saying that I was a big fan of Edge before I had any right to be (I could tell he was something special from when his debut vignettes were playing), I take quite the opposite route with CM Punk. I knew absolutely nothing about him before he appeared on ECW, and it took a few weeks before I genuinely warmed up to him. His wrestling style was cool and I liked his theme music, but it’s not as if I was won over immediately. Now, I can’t possibly fathom why WWE isn’t emptying their bank accounts to hold onto this extremely special talent.

So, in this special edition of Top Ten Cases – special because it lists five things and not ten – I will countdown CM Punk’s most awesome attire (during his WWE run, anyway).

5. Star Colt
Confession time! I could only find four uniquely special wrestling attires, so I picked this moment from Punk’s Raw commentary days as I felt it perfectly exemplified the Straight Edge Superstar’s personality. By wearing a Colt Cabana t-shirt, Punk showed that he does what he wants (damned the consequences), is loyal to his friends, and appreciates the talented wrestlers plying their craft and attempting to make a name for themselves on the Indie circuit. That, or he just likes powder blue shirts.

4. The North Sider
I’m not a big baseball fan, and even when I do watch I’m loyal to my local Yankees, but I do have to admit that the first variation of Punk’s Chicago-inspired wrestling attire was when he whipped out this pair, which features the color scheme and logo of the Chicago Cubs. And this particular pair of trunks accentuated another facet of Punk’s character – his fierce devotion to his Chicago Made roots.

Plus the red, white, and blue against the black background reminds me of when Kurt Angle first incorporated black into his patriotic singlet designs.

3. Wardrobe Change
Many people may not realize this, but this past Monday’s Raw wasn’t the first time CM Punk honored Macho Man during his WWE run. However, the other homage is a bit more subtle and was a throwback to Savage’s various wardrobe changes at WrestleMania IV. In his first match of the WWE Championship tournament, Savage wore pink trunks, yellow boots, and yellow knee pads. The following round, he wore red trunks, yellow boots, and yellow knee pads. And for the finals, he wore orange trunks, yellow boots, and yellow knee pads. In addition to that, he wore a different sequined robe for each entrance, and Elizabeth wore a different dress for each match as well.

Well, Punk did the same thing at Raw’s 2008 King of the Ring tournament. In his first round match against Matt Hardy, Punk wore black trunks with white accents. In match number two against Chris Jericho, he wore black trunks with blue accents. And in the finals against William Regal, he wore blue trunks with black accents. In one night CM Punk did two things to make me a big fan: He showed off that he has a variety of ring attires, and he displayed his appreciation for the industry’s history.

2. Go Joe
To my recollection, this was the first time CM Punk departed from his traditional style to give us something really special. Debuted at WrestleMania XXVI and not seen since, Punk unveiled this camouflaged design, which had “CM Punk” written in across the front (stylized to look like the G.I. Joe logo). Hell, the guy appreciates old cartoons (although he’s probably more a fan of the comic) – another reason to be a fan!

1. Macho Sadness

Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be!

What made this particular outfit so special was that it was a pure dedication to Macho Man Randy Savage, as it was a complete departure from his usual style. It wasn’t the standard Chicago flag-inspired design, just with three stars instead of four. Nope, it was the classic, large, three Macho Man stars. And like Savage, the colors were bright and flamboyant, unlike the typically bold selection of colors Punk styles. Aside from the rear of the trunks saying “CM Punk” instead of “Macho Man,” Punk’s outfit was virtually identical to what Savage wore throughout the 80’s. Even as a heel, Punk was able to pull off this touching tribute. Not many in his position would have.

Read more!

WWE's Macho Man Randy Savage Tribute

I'll update the blog over the next couple of days, but until then please take a moment to enjoy the great Randy Savage tribute video that appeared on Raw this past Monday. Truly touching stuff.



My question to you is: Do you think Macho Man and Liz should be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a unit, or individually?

Read more!

RIP to one of the greatest of all time....

Hard to believe that Macho Man, Liz, and Sherri are all gone now. So sad.

Read more!

A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-22

I initially read that the season finale of The Vampire Diaries would deal with the fall out of the episode before, and while it wasn’t quite as much of a bloodbath as the prior week, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of excitement and development that had occurred.

I was pleased that somebody, even though it was Damon, brought up the fact that Damon was at least indirectly responsible for Jenna’s death. Thankfully for Damon, Alaric revealed that he doesn’t blame him. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I sorta love the strange friendship that has developed between these two. Believe it or not, just a season ago, they were trying to kill each other (and Damon DID successfully kill Alaric, if I remember correctly).

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-22"....

Speaking of Alaric, I’m also a little disappointed that something wasn’t brought up. Namely, what becomes of Elena and Jeremy now that everybody in their family is dead. Parents? Dead. Aunt? Dead. Biological father/adoptive uncle? Dead. For that matter, Elena’s vampire mother is dead as well. As far as we know, that’s their entire bloodline. Elena might be 18, but Jeremy isn’t. Who gets custody of these two? I’m glad Alaric had the sense, even in his drunken stupor, to realize they need some companionship and stability, and opted to stay the night. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing him become their guardian. It wouldn’t be too out of the realm of possibility (he did have a relationship with their prior guardian, and like I said, everyone else is dead) and he’s a fun character.

One thing that did surprise me, though, was the lack of development/resolution to the Caroline/Matt/Tyler love triangle. This is one story where the finale seemed to take a step back to let the more significant arcs tell their tale. I did like the way things played out with Caroline and her mother, though. Caroline was able to get through to her mother by allowing her to see how far her blind hatred towards vampires had taken her. For all intents and purposes, she murdered Jeremy – an innocent teenager, in an ill fated attempt to bring down Damon. Her actions were rash and tragic were the repercussions. Had she behaved more rationally, this entire thing would have been avoided. That’s why I appreciated the fact that Caroline corrected her when she said that she almost killed Jeremy. She DID kill Jeremy – supernatural forces just brought him back.

For that matter, I really enjoyed Jeremy’s “death” because, at this point, I honestly believed there was a possibility that he could die. When the show kills off a main character, the ones without supernatural abilities are usually the first to go. And if you’re somebody Elena cares about, then there’s an extra big target on your back. My inclination was that they’d bring him back somehow, but it certainly wasn’t a given. I also like the idea of Jeremy seeing some of the loved ones he’s lost over the past couple of years – and he’s lost A LOT. What are they? Are they ghosts? Visions? And is he only going to see people that died by supernatural means? If not, perhaps we’ll see his parents. If so, will he only see people he’s been in love with? If not, perhaps we’ll see Jenna and John pop up as well. There are a lot of options here. Plus, there’s finally a reason to bring back Vickie. I always found it strange that she died within the first few episodes, yet the actress continued appearing at events well into the second season.

While Katherine didn’t do anything monstrously selfless like I had originally predicted, I was pleased that she showed some compassion and loyalty by giving Damon the cure to his deadly werewolf bite when she didn’t have to. For much of this season, we’ve been forced to wonder whether or not Katherine ever truly cared for Damon. At several points it seemed like she just strung him along for her own enjoyment. After all, she repeatedly and explicitly stated her preference for Stefan. Yet other times, you were forced to wonder if her abusive treatment of him was actually just her manner of toying with him. She cared about him, she just wasn’t particularly nice. As we approached the finale, I got the sense that Damon held a place in Katherine’s heart. She seemed to respond to his presence, and there were a few occasions that she seemed to come to her aid. In the final moments of the episode, after giving Damon Klaus’ blood, she finally confessed to Elena that she does love Damon (and Stefan as well).

It’s odd, I’ve always been pro Stefan/Elena, yet I really wanted to see Damon and Katherine – in their current incarnations – happen. Maybe next season.

Speaking of which, that’s it for me this season. Have a great summer, see you in September!

Read more!

Dive Bar Shirt Club: Gravity Pub

Continuing the trend of dive bars not having websites necessitating me having to type out the information on the bulletin, here's a little something on Gravity Pub in Atlanta, which by the way has a really cool looking logo (I'm a fan of this shirt):

A dramatic ceiling of exposed beams and naked wiring and ductwork sets a stage for blood red and biker black. Wall decor is the predator's art. The Gravity's deadly vibe had such appeal that "Zombie Juice" was filmed in here. The small space used to be an old barber shop, the kind with straight razors and hot lather. Now the neighborhood comes for cold suds and deep-fried favorites like corn pups and crunchy tots smothered in cheesy lava. This fuels the competitive energy for nocturnal amusements like beer bingo, poker, trivia and darts. The action heats up in the back of the bar because two teams of the Atlanta Decatur Dart Association call this place home. There's always something to do in this "black hole of fun," as they call it. Or you can just sit there with a cold one and be bad.

Gravity Pub (on Facebook): http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gravity-Pub/109583179078309

Dive Bar Shirt Club: http://www.divebarshirtclub.com/Default.asp

Dive Bar Shirt Club T-Shirt Gallery

Read more!

A Case of the.... Smallville - Episodes 10-21 & 10-22

“I don’t think Clark Kent can save the entire world”
“He can’t. But I think we both know who can.”
- Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, “Finale”

Every season finale I look forward to the incredible “Previously on Smallville” montages at the beginning of the episode. Ever since season four, I believe, these things have been the best produced videos I’ve seen for any television show. They just perfectly tied together everything that has happened thus far and it really makes the finale seem like a big deal. I could only imagine what they would put together for the end of the series. And it did not disappoint!

Continue reading "A Case of the.... Smallville - Episodes 10-21 & 10-22"....

Last week I discussed how I was hoping that the wedding cancelation was a fake out, and that we’d still see the big event happen. Thankfully, that was the case, and it kicked off on just the right note with Clark outright refusing to accept Lois’ decision – in his own charming, understanding way. But what I really loved was Chloe’s speech to Lois, as she perfectly expressed what I had been saying. Yes, Clark has some very important and life saving responsibilities, but he’s also a man who deserves to love, be loved, and to just have a break. Is it fair to deprive him of that because of his mission to protect those in need? I’m glad Lois saw the err of her ways.

I also thought the wedding scene, while brief, was pretty brilliant and flawless. I loved Lois’ reaction to walking down the aisle. She went into the moment so confident, but when it all sunk in you can sense her uncontrollable feeling of utter loneliness. I don’t mean “lonely” in the “I don’t have anybody” sense. Only that, at that given moment, she was literally all alone. And just as I expected her to do an about face and bolt out of the church, Clark grabbed her hand and, unconventionally, they walked down the aisle together – both now feeling a fullness where there was once emptiness.

Another scene I loved was when Clark visited Jonathan’s grave. I love how he looked up, right at where Jonathan was kneeling, at the very last moment. Was he acknowledging that Jonathan was there with him? Or was he just responding to Oliver’s arrival? I prefer to think the former, but I loved the ambiguity of the scene.

In fact, I loved everything that had to do with Clark and his parents. Actually, I was a little thrown off by Clark’s first scene with Martha, where she chastised him for selling the farm. At first I thought she was some sort of apparition – a means to damage Clark’s psyche and feeling of hope – but it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t the case. And it still struck me as odd – we’ve never seen Martha speak to Clark in that way. And for that matter, we’ve never seen her question his judgment. Further, we’ve never seen Clark act so cold in response, the way he blew off his past in order to move forward into his future.

All of these scenes gave way to a great theme for Clark Kent’s journey to become Superman, and it was all encompassing. For Clark, we understood that Clark needed to appreciate his past in order to take hold of his future. And the answer wasn’t to reject his Kryptonian or human side, as he had done in the past. He had to embrace both sides of his being in order to achieve his full powers and capabilities. But this theme of acceptance extended far beyond Clark. It was Jonathan who urged Clark to reach out to Jor-El, because despite all his human parents had done for him, he would never reach his full abilities without Jor-El. This is completely at odds with what we had seen over the past ten years, where – even as Jor-El’s personality had lightened – Clark’s earth and alien fathers were completely at odds with each other. And once Clark did take hold of his destiny, it was Jor-El who confessed that his power might be from his blood, but Clark is the great, heroic person he is because of the hard work of Jonathan and Martha Kent. And it was rather poetic and beautiful seeing Jor-El and Jonathan cohesively giving Clark his Superman outfit.

Perhaps my favorite scene of the entire episode though, was Clark taking Jonathan’s advice that he has to let Jor-El guide him now, leading Clark to spiritually transport to the Fortress where Jor-El tells him, “You have always had the power, my son.” From there, we see a wonderful montage – set beautifully to the Superman music – chronicling Clark’s heroics over the past ten years. From Clark saving Lex in the Pilot to rescuing Lana in the tornado to protecting an innocent child from a meteor shower, we come to realize that Jor-El’s trials and Clark’s training had nothing to do with uploading Kryptonian information into Clark’s mind. It was about putting Clark into real life challenging situations and seeing how he reacts. And it wasn’t always about strength – it was about actions and character. He didn’t quite understand his abilities when he rescued Lex from drowning. And he didn’t have his abilities at all when he saved Perry White. Yet he still faced and overcame the challenge. In the end, Jor-El’s trials weren’t about Clark having to show up at the Fortress before sunset. It was about the moments over the past decade. And after Jor-El assures him that he’s now “ready” and that he should embrace his destiny, we return to the barn where we see Clark floating in the air. And then, in true Superman fashion, he extends his fists out and flies at the Ghost of Jacob Marley (oh wait, you mean that was Darkseid?) I enjoyed the scene so much that I even relented and admitted that it was probably the right choice to wait for the finale to have Clark fly. And that’s saying a lot.

Of course, how could I gush without talking about the return of the supremely talented Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. His scenes were somewhat fleeting – he only had two extended scenes, if I recall correctly – but they were quite awesome. Like I said, there were only two real scenes that he appeared, but they were shared with the right people. The first was with Clark, of course, and man was it great seeing these two verbally spar one last time. Everything was out in the open, no more secrets, but unlike their last encounter in the Fortress, these two really did seem like enemies. The pitch was perfect as well. Lex was envious, but not to the extent that he looked pathetic. Clark was remorseful, but not so much so that you felt compassion or Lex. Their scene, while brief, reminded us of the descent of their friendship, and paved the way for their future relationship as two opposite sides of the coin. There was a logical, character-consistent reason laid out for why Lex doesn’t just up and kill Clark right then or there (or reveal his identity, for that matter). It was really great and definitely worth the wait.

Lex’s second scene, appropriately enough, was with Tess. It’s odd, Tess has only been on the show a few years, at no point in which Lex was on, yet these two characters are so intimately attached to each other that it would have been disappointing had they not shared a scene with one another. And, again, the tone was just right. Tess was jilted, having felt used and abused for idolizing (and if you want to get all creepy, loving) Lex, all while Lex knew the truth about their relationship. And Lex’s unwavering belief that the ends justify the means was great. From his using of her to his ultimately killing her, everything he did was right and was even for her own good. In the past, Tess would have bought right into that. But now, we learned that Tess was a changed person and that she would get that redemption she had so longed for.

Now, I’m not going to spend this entire column gushing, because there were a few things that I found disappointing. Remember how, all season, I’ve been saying that I hope they don’t go the Davis Bloom/Doomsday route regarding how they handle Darkseid? Well, seeing this supposed God occupying the body of a decrepit, zombified Lionel Luthor was probably even worse. After all the build up and clouds of smoke, we deserved to see a bad ass, imposing monster.

Going along with this complaint, I was a little disappointed with how easily these threats were vanquished. We were led to believe that this was the greatest threat we could have possibly imagined, yet regular human Oliver Queen is able to eliminate the three powerful disciples at once with three arrows? And Clark’s battle with Darkseid, which should have been absolutely epic, was limited to five minutes and two punches? The gladiator fights a few weeks ago were more exciting.

And finally, I understand the reasoning behind delaying the big reveal of Clark in the Superman outfit, but the manner in which they did it prevented us from actually seeing anything. We sorta saw him save Air Force One, and that was acceptable, but I was just baffled by the whole Apokolips thing. As in, what exactly did Clark do? Did the mere sight of him give everybody so much hope that the gravitational pull of the Omega sign propelled the planet away? I find that hard to believe, because they hadn’t yet seen Lois’ story of what happened on Air Force One, and Clark was moving way too fast for them to actually comprehend what he was doing. Did he physically push the planet back into outer space? How would that even work? What ended up happening is a season long story arc that was supposed to lead to the official creation of Superman was essentially resolved off screen.

There are two scenes I’m not completely decided on – the first being Lex’s memory getting wiped out. Quite frankly, Smallville created their own little universe and are at the point that they shouldn’t necessarily feel restricted to the Superman mythos. As such, I think the “future” could have been written appropriately with Lex knowing that Superman is Clark Kent. Along with that, the development of Lex’s character over the past decade has been phenomenal. His progression from a man determined to not turn into his father to a man driven to the dark side by bitterness and jealousy was believable. In season three, I bought that Clark and Lex were best friends. In season six, I believed their disdain for each other. With all of these memories being wiped, I just don’t know if I buy the motivation that Lex wants to destroy Superman. And honestly, I just sorta hate the idea of the guy losing ALL of his memories. I mean, Tess tells him that he won’t remember a thing before that very moment – yet the guy seemingly has no reaction to the fact that there’s a dead body in his office and the world is ending.

At the same time, I understand why this was done. The writers felt it necessary to wipe Lex’s memories so that he doesn’t know Superman’s secret identity. In their eyes, it was probably a necessary evil. And speaking of “evil,” how could I hate any scene that gives us Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor? I mean, the dude was brilliant in this role. I also appreciated the fact that Lex’s final moments, with his memories intact, had him doing something incredibly evil (murdering his sister), while acting jealous of Clark (accusing him of being the one thing Tess can’t have), only to end up feeling inferior to him (with Tess telling him that Clark already saved her). How wonderfully fitting.

The second scene I’m unsure of was the final one. I thought it was absolutely magnificent, with the Superman theme (the actual theme, not just music used in the movies) as he took off his glasses and tore open his shirt to reveal his Superman outfit. It really felt epic – truly grand. I just felt that it deprived us of the one moment they were holding back from in the climactic battle, namely Clark in the Superman suit.

Overall, was it a satisfying finale? Absolutely. I would go as far as saying it was a great finale. It wasn’t perfect, and some decisions were questionable, but I think that’s expected. The purpose of the series was always supposed to be about Clark Kent’s journey, and in that regard I think it was a massive success. Not to mention a really fun ride. While not technically a prequel, it can be difficult to get fans invested in a story when they know the ending, yet Smallville pulled that off. In the end, I think this great quote from Jor-El sums up the series as a whole:

“I ask you to remember one thing: Your abilities may be of my blood, but it’s your time in Smallville with Jonathan and Martha Kent, and all the people there, that made you a hero, Kal-El.”

Read more!

Smallville Finale

I have to go away for the weekend for my cousin's college graduation, so my Smallville finale review won't be posted until later this weekend. But, until then, enjoy this YouTube clip of my favorite scene from the episode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS4caKg89dw

Read more!

A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-20

So I have to apologize. Until last week, when one of my readers kindly alerted me that my episode numbers were off, I didn’t even realize I had missed an episode this season (Scion, the last episode before the hiatus earlier this year). I checked a brief review of the episode, and it doesn’t seem like anything exceptionally newsworthy came out of it (other than Tess usurping Lionel, apparently, and the “birth” of Connor Kent), but if I can find the episode on the CW website, maybe I’ll try to watch it so that I can review it before the finale. But the CW website sucks (and their full episodes have just as many commercials as the actual television airing, minus the variety), so don’t hold your breath.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-20"....

Anyway, in a rare instance, I actually (inadvertently) checked some viewer thoughts on this episode. As I’ve noted numerous times before, I purposely try to avoid spoilers, so I don’t go to any message boards out of fear that I might accidentally read one. But I wanted to find out which villains were sitting around the Marionette Ventures table, so I did a little searching to find out. To my utter surprise, the reaction to this episode was overwhelmingly negative. And not in that “that darned Lois broke Clark’s heart!” sort of way. More like, “Well this was just a pile of crap.”

Was it a monumental episode that will end up on my top ten list (which likely will be coming up on my blog sometime this summer)? No, probably not. It’ll likely be remembered as the calm before the storm – setting the critical pieces in place before the big finale. But was it terrible? No, I think that’s taking it a bit far.

I think, for many fans, the episode was hampered by the fact that we’ve seen the story where somebody else inherits Clark’s powers, forcing Clark to experience life as a human while “training” the new super powered being, numerous times in the past. And, on top of that, the episode had a pretty somber ending, with Lois calling off the engagement (after I had just written about her being superior to Mary Jane Watson in last week’s review). And that accelerated sunset was a tad on the alarming side. But it was overall inoffensive and, as I said earlier, it did a fine job of setting all of the critical pieces in the right place for the finale.

Having said that, I do understand some of the criticisms. Somebody acquiring Clark’s powers is becoming the new “I found out Clark’s secret but ultimately got amnesia.” And the story almost always ends with the character having a deeper appreciation for the responsibilities that go along with these amazing abilities. However, there was one scene I especially appreciated this episode, which was when Clark and Lois were sitting outside the café and Clark was training her to use her super hearing. It reminded me of Superman Returns, where Superman flies Lois up to the sky and she remarks how quiet it is, but he confesses that he still hears everybody in need (excuse me if I’m misremembering, it’s been years since I’ve seen the movie). Clark’s explanation and justification for making some rescues but not others, showed tremendous maturity. He took multiple dire situations and was able to prioritize based on the urgency and the likelihood of the person finding assistance elsewhere. That’s a far cry from the person who had to be reminded that there are people outside of Smallville that could use his help.

I do have to say, though, that I really didn’t enjoy the Lois and Clark breakup. No spoilers please, but I have a distinct feeling that this was just a fake out to build some tension going into the finale. Was that really necessary, though? There’s already PLENTY to look forward to – Lex returning, the reveal of Darkseid, Clark flying, Clark putting on the Superman costume. People are going to watch – why put a damper on it, especially after they did such a great job of establishing Lois as a no-nonsense girl who is willing to be the wife of the superhero? Like I said, I have a feeling that they will still end up getting married in the finale, so I’m willing to reserve my judgment somewhat. But if they DON’T get married, I will be pretty damn pissed. Smallville’s handling of Lois and Clark over the past two years has been pretty much flawless. Don’t mess it up in the final few hours. I was really glad to hear Terrence Stamp return as Jor-El’s voice, possibly for the last time, and thankfully it was “nice” Jor-El instead of “abusive ass” Jor-El. And we also got a REAL sight of that Superman costume.

Kara’s return ended up being more or less insignificant. I assume they just included her here to explain why she won’t be in the finale (and that Jor-El seriously plays favorites, huh?) I did enjoy seeing Granny Goodness again. I’m disappointed she didn’t play a bigger role this season, hopefully she appears prominently in the finale. By the way, Oliver was sporting a bit of a scruffy face – maybe he will have the Green Arrow goatee by the finale!

And, as I mentioned in the opening, we saw some kickass Legion of Doom villains this episode. I immediately recognized Captain Cold and Black Manta from Super Friends, but also sitting around the table was Roulette, Dark Archer, Solomon Grundy (who I didn’t recognize initially, but now do after seeing a screencapture), and Metallo. My one qualm: Toyman was their leader? Really? Why not hold off one week and reveal that Lex is banding them all together to form the Legion of Doom (even if not explicitly by name)?

So, after ten years, the big finale is coming up next. It’s funny how I mentioned at the beginning of the season that they should space out the big moments. Well, they went the exact opposite route and decided to put I think every single one in the last episode. Oh well, let’s see how they do with it. I do have one wish, though: I hope they don’t end the episode with him flying. I think, after all of this time, we deserve a nice, long flying sequence.

Read more!

A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-21

A few episodes I predicted that Katherine would do something very selfless in the season’s climax. Turns out she’s just a selfish bitch.

Then again, I guess we’ve still got one episode for her to redeem herself.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-21"....

I did really enjoy her scene with Damon, though. Damon’s relationship with Katherine has been very interesting over the latter half of the season. Katherine has made it abundantly clear that she’s always preferred Stefan, yet I can’t help but think that, to an extent, she’s just messing with Damon’s emotions. Despite the fact that Damon acts like he wants nothing to do with her, she still spent a majority of the time she was living at the Salvatore house stalking Damon. In fact, I’d say about 90% of the time Katherine is interacting with Damon, not Stefan. I think she recognizes that both Salvatore brothers favor Elena over her, and I think she’s far more bothered by Damon than Stefan. I don’t think she cares about him more than Stefan, per se, but I do think it upsets her that she doesn’t have him wrapped around her finger. And perhaps because of that, she has a greater appreciation for him. On top of that, she’s really only familiar with nice guy, humanized Damon. She hadn’t really seen the guy with the dark streak until recently. At the end of the scene, when Katherine seemed saddened that Damon was going to die, her feelings seemed legitimate to me. And I appreciated the fact that Damon brought up the fact that Katherine DID have a choice in the Jenna matter, she just opted to choose herself.

And as I noted last week, this week’s episode acted as the season’s climax, even though it’s not the official finale. And with that, we saw a number of key deaths – notably Elena’s aunt Jenna (who was sacrificed during the ritual) and her birth father John (who gave up his life to restore Elena’s soul). I’ve said this before, but I commend the show for killing off main characters. This was particularly true during the first season.

As a side note, I look at the epic battle that concluded the episode and it makes me wonder how a show like Heroes – which surely must have had a higher budget considering the relative star power and the network it was on (I’m pretty sure NBC is still higher up the ladder than CW) – repeatedly skimped on their climatic fight scenes.

In the past I’ve defended Nina Dobrev because I feel like she’s a far more talented actress than she’s given credit for. Much like Kristin Kreuk, she’s almost punished because she’s physically beautiful and she’s on a show that isn’t necessarily taken seriously, and as such people just naturally assume she doesn’t have the chops to be a serious actress. It certainly wasn’t fair with Kristin Kreuk and I don’t think it’s true with Nina Dobrev either (evident by the fact that she so wonderfully portrayed two very different characters this season). Having said that, the past two episodes have required Elena to break down emotionally and to be honest I wasn’t completely sold by Nina Dobrev’s performance. Last week she had to cope with the fact that her life as she knew it would be over and this week she watched her aunt (who had become a mother to her) die. Both times, it just felt like the actress could not “go there.” I still enjoyed the scene for what it was, but I think it could have been THAT much more memorable and powerful if she could find the proper emotional pitch.

I was also going to say that I wish we had seen more out of Elena and Jenna here, as far as a good bye goes, but in retrospect I think they did a fine job. It’s unfortunate that things with Jenna was so rushed – in the span of two or three episodes she found out about vampires, became one, and was killed – but I think that might sort of be the point. Elena and everybody went to such great efforts to hide the truth from her, which may very well have led to her death. Had Jenna been more enlightened, she may have reacted to certain situations with greater precautions. Hell, she may not have even been in town. But because she was bombarded with life changing information in such a short period of time, she wasn’t able to process certain things despite her natural instincts (like sensing that it wasn’t Elena on the phone, but still coming to meet her). In that regard, I can understand why everything seemed so rushed and abrupt.

Sure, I still wish that we saw Jenna receiving the news (this seems like a common trend on the show – they very rarely actually show the difficult conversations. The scene shifts as it’s about to begin) but that’s a relatively minor quibble. And a longer, emotional scene between Jenna and Elena would have been nice as well, but I do think they did a wonderful job with what they had. I enjoyed the way Jenna expressed her initial trepidation about taking custody of Elena and Jeremy, but the two highlights for me were when Elena corrected Jenna and confessed that she had failed Jenna (see the above paragraph) and when Elena realized that there was no saving Jenna, and instructed her to “turn it off” so that she wouldn’t be afraid. What a heartbreaking realization for Elena to come to.

I do have one complaint, though: Nobody seemed all that angered at Damon. His intervention didn’t really help anybody. Yeah, he saved Caroline and Tyler, but at the expense of Jules and Elena’s aunt (and his own well being). And while one could argue that he was only trying to help, the truth is that he knowingly went against Elena’s wishes. Had he listened, their situation could have improved slightly (same amount of sacrifices, minus Damon’s life threatening werewolf bite) or potentially significantly (Caroline has far more experience as a vampire than Jenna did, meaning she could have conceivably found a way to save herself given the opportunity). But now, because of his actions, Elena and Jeremy lost their aunt, Alaric lost his girlfriend, and Stefan could conceivably lose his brother. Yet, the episode seemed to conclude with this idea that Damon is somebody they should band together to save – and this his presence will make everybody’s loss easier.

So, with Jenna and John both gone, what happens with Elena and Jeremy? My best guess is that Alaric becomes their guardian, but I guess we may find out next week. Based on the preview, the main story seems to be Damon and his descent due to the werewolf bite. This is understandable, but I hope that it doesn’t happen at the expense of some necessary emotional scenes. I would really like to see Elena and Jeremy cope with their losses. They did a nice job of this in the final moments of this week’s episode, but I’m hoping it isn’t just brushed off in order to advance the Damon drama.

Read more!

LIVE Raw thoughts

11:19 - Wow, I'm shocked that the Rock birthday celebration didn't turn into something a little more substantial. Rock is a special talent and I'm sure the "WWE organization" is thrilled and grateful to have him back, so I have no doubt that tonight was a genuine "thank you" to him. But, as a viewer, it felt a bit wasteful and dare I say self indulgent. And it lacked a really shocking moment. I may be wrong, but most fans probably don't care about Pitbull, Maya, Regis & Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson, and so on and so forth. If TNA had no problem with Mick Foley appearing, WWE should have just swallowed their pride and allowed him to appear (even if only in a video birthday wish segment).

It was a nice, well deserved moment. But I don't think it really made me feel like I have to watch next week.

11:15 - Geez, between Edge's retirement and Rock's happy birthday "thank you," I'm not sure how many more of these tribute videos I can watch! They're so well produced and emotional.

11:09 - Well we knew somebody big would interrupt.

10:59 - Oh, it's okay if we lose CM Punk. We've got a Mason Ryan push to look forward to!!!

10:57 - I'm confused. They already had the Rock/Cena confrontation.....so what closes out the show? Certainly not this match.

10:55 - Dear WWE: Do whatever in the world it takes to keep CM Punk on your roster. Sincerely, Everybody that has taste

10:50 - Wait, wait, wait. Why did they pick the tag champ that isn't on Raw to do this match? I know the tag champs can appear on both shows, so this isn't technically wrong, but it would be an easy switch that wouldn't immediately dilute the impact of the draft.

10:39 - Well, I'm glad Del Rio and Mysterio were drafted to Raw just to feud with each other.

10:16 - Reversing the decision was a bit much since the ref never actually saw Miz do anything wrong, and even so the circumstantial evidence was pretty weak. If anything, the match should have been continued. Of course, this was just done to extend the feud, but it didn't make Cena look particularly good.

By the way, Cena gets a lot of gruff, but man, the guy has GREAT ring chemistry with virtually everybody. He's able to have really good to great matches with guys who don't consistently have really good to great matches. While people refer to him as "Super Cena" in a derogatory manner, as if to say he doesn't make his opponents look good, I actually think up and comers are FAR better off against Cena as they would be against other top faces like Triple H, Orton, Undertaker, and the like.

10:06 - Come to think of it, how did Alex Riley get drafted? It was pretty well established that Miz hired him, not Raw. In fact, weren't his few Raw matches authorized by Miz?

10:03 - I'm curious if this match means that they're blowing off Miz's rematch clause.

9:52 - Just one week after making a big deal about the Draft, we've got both rosters at Rock's birthday party.

9:51 - What's the over/under on them surprising us with a Mick Foley Happy Birthday wish?

9:45 - Love Kharma's theme music. The booking is intriguing, though. Notice that over the past two nights, she's attacked heels, and not faces. And Kharma definitely needs to be a heel.

9:41 - Methinks we're going to see some Kharma.

9:36 - By the way, I forgive the fact that they're light on wrestling tonight. The Superstars are probably pretty banged up from the night before. Then again, why not use a night such as this to showcase your lesser-used talents?

9:33 - Why don't they just do what they did during the early years of Raw? One announce team for the first hour, and another announce team for the second hour? It just seems awkward how they continue to come up with these scenarios where Cole is removed from the announce table and replaced by JR (or vice versa). Why not do Cole and Matthews (or Regal or Striker or whoever) for hour one, and then JR and King for hour two?

9:28 - I found The Rock's opening promo pretty inoffensive until the Pitbull nonsense. Then it just felt like they wasted a half hour.

9:10 - I enjoyed the patriotic opening, and I wasn't bothered by the fact that they tooted their own horn, but I did find it curious that they didn't mention the conclusion of the story. Namely, that Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed. Sure, that may be a little graphic for a PG rated show, but they could have used delicate wording to work around that.

And is it me, or has the Rock's theme music gotten much, much longer? We're near Undertaker level at this point.

8:53 - Let's get to the LIVE Raw thoughts, shall we? But first, let's talk about Extreme Rules!

How incredibly awesome was it seeing Christian win the World Heavyweight Championship?? I didn't catch the show, but I was anxiously following the results. It was well deserved and I loved it.

I had no problem with Cena winning the WWE Championship. I think they could really build some tension over the next year regarding whether Cena can continue holding the championship going into WrestleMania. They've given Cena a year long reign before, so why not now? It could be interesting.

The booking overall, though, was rather curious. At the end of the night, two babyfaces walked out as champion. Yet all of the heels looked like crap. Punk jobbed. Rhodes jobbed. All four members of The Corre looked like a joke. Sheamus jobbed. Miz jobbed. Del Rio jobbed. I look at both rosters and I wonder who could possibly be the next challenger, especially on Smackdown.

I'd give Christian a one month reign as a face, and then I'd turn him heel. Unite him with Brodus Clay, of all people (filling the Tyson Tomko role) and have him feud with Orton.

Read more!

A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-20

I’ve avoided spoilers, thankfully, but from what I’ve read this season’s finale actually deals with the fallout from the events of the second to last episode, which means, in many ways, this was the penultimate episode that planted the seeds for the season’s climax. As such, I didn’t particularly mind that nothing monumental happened, aside from the closing moments.

Continue reading "A Case of the.... The Vampire Diaries - Episode 2-20"....

Earlier this season I criticized the show for not having the characters react to the fact that Caroline was now a vampire. They treated it as if she was diagnosed with diabetes – it was just an unfortunate ailment that she now had to deal with and work around. They remedied this episode, when Elena responded to her disappointment over inevitably becoming a vampire herself. She wouldn’t be able to have kids or a family. She would never be able to live a normal life. And while I highly doubt Elena does become a vampire by season’s end, her reaction helped the viewer understand Jenna’s plight (provided she survives, and I hope she does). Jenna is now in that same boat – gone is the possibility of getting married, having kids of her own, and growing old. That, in and of itself, is a pretty tragic situation, and I’m glad they finally brought attention to it.

And in many ways, what happened to Jenna (and Caroline earlier this season) is actually even more heartbreaking than Elena’s current turmoil. Elena, while innocent, is at least the target in all of this. Characters like Jenna and Caroline are just a means to get to that end. So in the final moments of the episode, when we discovered that Jenna had been turned into a vampire so that she could be used as a sacrifice during the ritual, I was actually a bit disheartened. After all the time they had spent trying to protect her from the truth, she ends up paying one of the gravest prices possible. Like I said, I really do hope they find a way to save her (and by the way, so far my prediction that Katherine does something selfless is proving to be very, very wrong).

Last week I argued that, since Jenna was the last central character to find out the truth about vampires and the supernatural, we should have seen the scene in its entirety – not just the build up and fall out. In the same vein, I think we should have seen a bit more of Jenna’s reaction. It just felt like she was suddenly part of the group, and now understood Alaric’s behavior. I would have preferred to see her actually discuss the whole Isobel thing with him. One could easily argue that it wouldn’t be worth the time spent on a more-or-less secondary character, but I disagree. Understanding Jenna only would have made her transformation into a vampire all the more tragic.

This episode also saw the return of Tyler, as well as the renewed passion between him and Caroline. For his part, though, Matt was pretty f’n badass. Having said that, I thought it was a bit of a stretch to have him shoot and kill a guy, without knowing anything about him or the situation. Sure, it turned out that the guy he killed WAS a villainous witch holding his girlfriend hostage, but he didn’t know that. Actually, all he knew was that Damon was a nasty vampire. Yet he killed the guy attacking him. Just seemed slightly out of character.

Actually, though, I did enjoy Klaus and his whole backup plan. The emotional investment was in Damon rescuing Caroline and Tyler, and in turn preventing Klaus from sacrificing Elena, but in the end all he did was deprive Elena of her aunt. This episode actually accentuated Damon’s selfish behavior. Much like with Katherine last year, Damon does stubborn, reckless things all in the name of love. Yet he’s not doing it for the person he claims to love, he’s doing it for himself.

Speaking of Damon, for whatever reason, I really enjoy the unusual friendship that has developed between him and Alaric. Hard to believe they were trying to kill each other just a year ago. Then again, we may be there again if Damon’s actions lead to Jenna’s (permanent) death.

Read more!

A Case of the.... Smallville - Episode 10-19

I’m beginning to think that Smallville is just sending Clark to different universes and dimensions because the director likes to use these different lighting effects, what with the lens filter of the Luthor world and the lens flare of the Phantom Zone.

Anyway, this episode saw the return of two familiar characters – Oliver (unfortunately not yet sporting the familiar comic book Green Arrow goatee) and last season’s main villain, Zod (fortunately looking very similar to the Terrance Stamp movie bearded version). This episode also brought attention back to Darkseid, and I can’t help but wonder if they took their approach a bit TOO slowly this season. We’re down to, what, two episodes now? We haven’t seen Granny Goodness, likely the most interesting of the three minions, in what feels like forever. I suppose I expected them to not physically unveil Darkseid until the final couple of episodes, but I do wonder if their “slow burn” was a bit too slow.

As the season progressed, I had suggested that they pace themselves with the “big” moments (much like Lost – they didn’t make every single major reveal in the final episode. Significant moments occurred throughout the season). For the most part, they’ve seemingly gone in the opposite direction, saving almost everything for the final two episodes. Just think, in two episodes we will see Lois and Clark get married, Lex return, Darkseid appear and (presumably) get defeated, Clark don the Superman costume, Clark take the Superman name, and Clark fly. Yet two full episodes were devoted to him putting on glasses and acting clumsy.

Keep in mind that this is not necessarily a criticism, as I think the series has done a phenomenal job of handling virtually every one of the major “Superman” moments. They’ve definitely earned the benefit of the doubt here, but I do wonder if they should have scattered things out throughout the season. This is assuming, of course, that all of the aforementioned events actually happen.

But anyway, this episode did do a nice job of reminding the viewers of Darkseid, closing up the Zod storyline, and progressing Oliver’s descent into the darkness (although Clark was a little more oblivious than usual during his closing discussion with Oliver). But hey, how could you complain when you see some kick ass fighting scenes, and we actually got a glimpse of Clark wearing the iconic red cape (granted, it was a gladiator garb version). The Phantom Zone battles also accentuated Clark’s moral code – even during his darkest Blur-in-Black days, he was never willing to cross that line (the one that allies like Chloe, Oliver, Tess, Lionel and arguably Lana have been willing to cross).

And finally, this episode did a wonderful job of establishing Lois’ role in Clark’s superhero lifestyle. Is it her job to be selfless and share him with the world, even if it means sacrificing her husband, or is she the one person who must always look out for his best interests, when others can’t see the forest for the trees? The Spider-Man movies portrayed Mary Jane as somebody willing to sacrifice Peter for the greater good. This episode did a nice job of showing that Lois IS willing to do that, but that doesn’t mean she’s willing to just sit idly by and everybody blindly listens to his orders. Her faith in Clark’s ability to succeed meant waiting three weeks for him to return, even when it looked hopeless.

Besides which, this gave them a nice excuse to fast forward several weeks so that they could have the wedding next week.

By the way, how incredibly awesome does that Lex Luthor Smallville finale promo look? Gave me chills. Utterly, utterly incredible! I’m psyched!!

Read more!