Monthly Archives: April 2011

SPORTS

WWE Monday Night Raw Review – April 19th 2011

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Raw takes place in the good old UK tonight. Those WWE fans in London sure can make some noise. We start out with R Truth coming down to gloat that he has a title shot at Extreme Rules. And I would like to point out that the Brits certainly have it together since they collectively booed at the mention of his name.

Yeah, Sheamus no longer has that belt.

Anyways, R Truth talks about how happy he is and that he’ll take on anyone at anytime. He’d probably threaten to beat an opponent in a tennis match or in playing poker games online if someone were to challenge him, such is his overwhelming amount of confidence. Almost in response to that sentiment, John Morrison’s pretty boy face comes strolling to the ring. Over the course of a round of jokes about R Truth being out of shape, lucky and a smoker, Morrison convinces R Truth to face him in a match where the winner gets his spot at the match at Extreme Rules. The big controversy about R Truth’s fitness stems from him drinking some water between fights during last week’s gauntlet match.

The match itself wasn’t too bad, its everything we’ve seen with Morrison and Truth before. It was kind of annoying for a few minutes hearing the King and Cole feud storyline still carrying on during the match. I wish it was just JR and Lawler commentating, because Cole is past the point of being likeable. In the end Morrison wins the match, for once actually landing his Starship Pain move off the ropes. So now it will be Miz, Morrison and Cena at the pay per view. But not so fast: as Morrison is celebrating in the ring, R Truth attacks from behind and carries out an assault on Morrison that last for a long five minutes. Truth must not have taken the water bottle teasing very well because he smashes a plastic bottle full across Morrison’s face. Then to add insult to injury he lights up a cigarette in the arena and blows smoke in his face.

WASS UP!?

I wasn’t too shocked that Truth lost the match because neither him or Morrison will win the belt at Extreme Rules. However, when Truth turned heel on us I was pretty amazed. I had no problem with it because it adds a bit of change to the WWE which is desperately needed, but I need to know what you the reader thinks, so make sure to comment below so I can know!

The next match we are treated to is the stupidly smiling Evan Bourne vs the new and improved Dolph Ziggler. New and improved meaning short brown hair and a “new attitude”. Hopefully new attitude means he won’t lose as much, which he accomplished by beating Bourne. The match was short but sweet, with Ziggler narrowly missing an Airbourne attack and retaliating with a Zig Zag to pin Evan.

When we return from commercial there is a music video tribute to Edge who retired due to a spinal injury last week. Make sure to tune into Smackdown this Friday when Alberto Del Rio holds a retirement party for Edge. I’m sure it will be hilarious and I hope Edge shows up and gives Del Rio one last ass whooping.

Unfortunately when we return Alex Riley and The Miz are making their way ringside. It was supposed to be a Alex Riley and Sin Cara fighting but instead we have to hear Cole go on about Miz like he wants to have sex with him and the Miz complain about how he now has to fight both Cena and Morrison. I actually feel for the Brits at the arena live because as we get back from commercial, the Miz is still talking! I still can’t decide whether he looks more like a piranha or a monkey. I’m leaning towards monkey after watching him tonight.

Finally Sin Cara interrupts by coming, followed surprisingly by John Cena, much to the chagrin of about half of the arena. The general manager then announces that it will indeed be a tag team match between Sin Cara/Cena and The Miz/Alex Riley. The match is another excuse to showcase the talents of Sin Cara, but it’s still a decent match even though I think we’ve seen almost all of Cara’s arsenal. Him and Cena win the match after Riley proves how much ass he sucks.

Sin Cara ring entrance. What the shit?!

Now I’m not trying to be sexist or anything but the diva’s match that happens next isn’t very worthy of mentioning. It’s basically a rematch except it’s Eve Torres vs the other Bella twin. Key word here – twin. It’s basically the same match. Long story short, Eve wins and then is rudely cut off by Michael Cole who wants to carry on with his supposed knighting for the night. (See what I did there?)

Oh boy….

During this ridiculous farce and waste of our time, Michael Cole is knighted by a bogus Queen who he disgracefully smooches with. I’m not sure how much further this guy can fall into the ocean of garbage juice. After the knighting (should have been a beheading!) “ceremony” Michael proceeds to call everyone in the arena peasants and demands that JR and Lawler get in the ring to kiss his fungus covered foot. Lawler and Ross oblige getting in the ring with full intent to kick his ass instead of kiss his feet. Swagger of course takes out Lawler before getting JR in the ankle lock submission to force him to kiss Cole’s fungal foot. Once again we get to hear Cole threepeat everything he says. For example – “Kiss it JR, Kiss it! Kiss my foot JR! Come on JR, Come on! Come on JR!” Friggin’ weak sauce Cole!

Im sure everyone in the U.K. appreciated this one Cole…

I don’t know how everyone else feels but I’m sooooooooo sick of the whole Cole storyline. It ran its course months ago and we can only hope he is drafted to Smackdown next week so we don’t have to hear him on this show anymore. He might even be cool again on Smackdown if he is away from Lawler.

The next match comes as a payback of sorts. Santino is already in the ring until Sheamus enters and explains how Santino embarrassed him last time the WWE came to England and now it was his turn. I was expecting something ridiculous from the United States champion but he beat Santino the old-fashioned way, which was no surprise. I’m actually liking that they are having Santino actually put up a fight in his matches instead of just being a huge joke.

Look, FELLA!

Our next match is one that we have seen all too often. Not just at Wrestlemania but weeks after and weeks preceding it. Yes I speak of Randy Orton v.s. CM Punk. Now even though it is a match we’ve seen numerous times it was a pretty decent one. Just straight up, two guys competing for the win, and when Randy did win it was a clean one. The Viper managed to get out of a GTS and wrap Punk up into a small package pin for the three count. Then of course the New Nexus comes out to stomp Orton into oblivion. *Yawn* When will this shit end? After stopping a seemingly roid raging Mason Ryan from finishing Orton off with a punt to the head as payback, Punk decides to take a shot. But Orton snaps up real quick to RKO him and escape the ring. Still a win and a final F*** You to Punk and the Nexus. A decent end to an okay night of wrasslin’. And a big shout out to the fans over in England because they were fantastically energetic all night!

Now next week is a RAW that no fan will want to miss, because you know what is coming…. THE DRAFT! Hopefully this will shake things up for the better in the WWE and stamp out some stagnant storylines and they can entertain us anew for another year. Everyone please comment below, because we love your feedback! And I’m real anxious to hear what people’s predictions are for the draft which takes place next Monday at 9pm on USA! Join us here at the Grizzly Bomb for coverage on the draft right after!

Missed any other reviews? Here ya go!

RAW Review April 11th

RAW Review April 4th

Wrestlemania 27 – 2011

TV

Friday Night Lights: Series Recap…or, Why I Love FNL and You Should Too

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Victory laps are usually reserved for the revered, the celebrated or the most popular. We are just going to have to settle for the best in this case. As Friday Night Lights made its final season debut on April 15th to tie for last place in the ratings, we must think whether they deserved such an awful way to end its run. DirecTV viewers have been done with the season for months, heck , this fifth season is already out on DVD right now. From a television executive standpoint, you have to wonder, why does this show, the little show that could, even bother? Well, it is the same reason why I was asked to do this article: Friday Night Lights was one of the best damn shows on television in the last decade.

I have been an avid watcher of this show when it first launched back in 2006 to mediocre ratings. I had seen the movie and thought it was worthwhile enough to give the show a shot. Obviously no Billy Bob but hey, life is not meant to be perfect. I remember the pre-launch of the show, and that it had garnered the best reviews, some even declaring the pilot to be one of the best ever made. Granted, critics and opinions do not mean much in the world today of bloggers, or just people who troll IMDB message boards (right boss?), but it was something that had to be seen and watched. I figured, if it is a show about football, it has got to be at least watchable right?

I remember the pilot being easily being unforgettable. It had several moments of intensity, sincerity, levity and just pure fun that pulled me into its grasp. Although it had the same principle plot of the movie, (powerhouse team becomes underdog after horrible injury with a twist), the episode was very well constructed and kept the pace original and fresh to make the idea seem less stale.

That and Matt Saracen (Zack Gilford) is my boy.
That and Matt Saracen (Zack Gilford) is my boy.

Now, I admit, I have a soft spot for dramas. Not only stuff  like 24 or Boardwalk Empire or anything dealing with action and HBO, but I love The O.C. I get crapped on about it every once in a while, because let’s face it, it is not something someone would readily admit out loud. The reason I mention this was because for the most part (effin’ Oliver), the first season of the The O.C. was brilliant. They captured the dynamics of friendship, comedy, relationships so well that I wanted to hang with Seth Cohen, crush on Summer Roberts, and have awesome benefactors like Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. The humanity of people was prominent during the season, and the one thing I always noted was the dynamics of the parents relationship. Sandy and Kirsten acted like adults. They had their issues, ups and downs but they got through it because they did not have their heads up their asses. Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) are that couple.

They keep the show, and everyone involved, as grounded as possible. I give the writers a lot of credit. They threw obstacles at them, but there was not an ex, or a ridiculous plot in order drive a wedge in between the two. It was bigger houses, money , jobs…things real couples argue about in life. They were not perfect, they had their flaws. But they were perfect for that show and for each other.

Watching the first season made me come to the conclusion that it was so good, it probably would not last more than two or three seasons. This came out around the same time that Arrested Development was still struggling to find audiences despite the perfection of that show. No one gave any hope to the critical darlings that kept people entertained, or at least those that watched it. They wanted the low-concept projects that the A.D.D generation did not have to think too much about. Which is fine, I am not here to preach about peoples’ television watching habits or their tastes. I am just happy that this show was able to last five seasons after going down to wire like the Dillon Panthers and the end of every game.

Coach yelling at Riggins. Classic.

The characters drove this show, obviously being led by the Taylors (Chandler, Britton, and Aimee Teegarden) but as with any ensemble show, they are only as good as the surrounding parts. You had Jason Street (Scott Porter), Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki), Smash Williams (Gaius Charles), the Lyla and Buddy Garrity (Minka Kelly and Brad Leland), Kronner’s boy Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons – Paul), and even Grandma Saracen (Louanne Stephens) in the first season that clicked together.

Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki, and Amiee Teegarden.

Madison Burge 3As the seasons progressed, they added more characters such as Luke Cafferty (Matt Lauria – The Chicago Code), Vince Howard (Michael B. Jordan), Jess Merriweather (Jurnee Smollett), and Becky Sproles (Madison Burge) for the last two seasons but it was always the Taylors that took center stage.

They responded to situations in the most human way possible, whether to compromising, arguing, and not doing overly stupid things. They were the moral compass of the show and their impact showed through the last five years in the growth of everyone, even themselves.

The second season had its hiccups with a plot to build new viewership that was just unnecessary and stupid, but we still had the same base. They rebounded the next few seasons and still helped build a consistent and entertaining show to watch.  It is interesting to think that people did not watch the show because it was about football. Or maybe, because it was not about football at all. This is a show about courage, compromise, family, and growing up. Football was just the backdrop. This could have been about basketball, baseball, badminton, whatever, it was just there to help get from point A to point B.

I truly believe that if you give this show a chance, you will walk away impressed and wanting more. There may not be explosions, Kiefer, vampires, or a mysterious island – and the concept may be boring to some, but it truly is one of the best shows on television. There is just something about hearing, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose”, that just makes me smile. Give it shot and it may make you smile too.

Images: NBC, Universal, DirecTV

TV

HBO’s ‘A Game of Thrones’ Premiere – Winter is Coming

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If I had any fears that A Game of Thrones on HBO wasn’t going to be faithful to the books, consider them quashed. Tonight’s premiere, Winter is Coming, was masterfully done and as far as I could tell nothing was left out. There were a couple of things that were added in, but they didn’t detract from the flow of the story.

As I said in my review of the preview, the scene with the White Walkers at the beginning was very creepy, something I didn’t even experience during my reading of the book. Everything about the episode was very well done, from wardrobe to the acting to the music and scenery.

Winter is Coming
Sarah Conner as “Queen Cersei Lannister”

The Wall looked ominous as ever, even though you don’t get to see much of it, and ‘Winterfell’ was exactly how it should appear. ‘King’s Landing’ was only shown briefly but from what I saw of it I have no complaints.

Winter is Coming
“Holy crap King Robert is tubby…”

So many scenes were a welcome sight after wondering what they would look like on screen. It actually made me smile seeing Bran Stark climbing the castle walls and jumping across the battlements after always imagining it while reading the books. Seeing Sandor Clegane in his hound armor, and the Dothraki wedding are other scenes that first come to mind when thinking of the books.

One half of the story takes place in ‘Westeros’ at the Northern Kingdom of Winterfell, where Lord Eddard – Ned Stark (Sean Bean) rules with his family. We are first introduced to them all before it is announced that the King – Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) is coming to Winterfell. Ned already knows why, since they have just heard that his good friend and current ‘King’s Hand’ Jon Arryn has died. Robert wants Ned to be the next ‘King’s Hand’ since they are also best friends.

Winter is Coming

Coming with Robert are his Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and her brothers Jaime and Tyrion. Jaime is a member of the King’s Guard, and Tyrion is a bit of a drinker and whoring man. Both are played to perfection by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Peter Dinklage. The Lannisters, like the Starks are a mainstay of the whole story, so don’t expect to not see them throughout the series.

Winter is Coming

The other part of the story takes place across the narrow sea, where the last surviving children of Westeros’s previous ruling family, the Targaryens, plot their return to power. I should say it’s mostly the brother Viserys who is most anxious for the throne, when his sister Daenerys simply wants to return home whether there is a throne or not. Harry Lloyd plays Viserys at his crazy best, who is only out to use anyone and everyone to become the next ruler of Westeros, which he feels he is entitled to. He is even willing to sacrifice his own sister to gain power, and says as much at one point in the episode.

As you may or may not learn in the coming episodes, the last Targaryen King was quite mad, which was one of the main reasons Baratheon, the Lannisters and Ned Stark moved to take him out of power. As the story goes on you will see the same madness ever increasing in Viserys. This is most likely due to the Targaryen habit of inbreeding with their own blood.

Winter is Coming
Emilia Clarke as “Daenerys Targaryen”

So as not to spoil anyone who has yet to watch the first episode, I will say that there is a start to the political machinations that will dominate the series. The Starks are brought word of another possible cause of death for the previous ‘King’s Hand’, and one of the Stark children has quite an “accident”. The next episode will really get things going as mysteries abound and suspicions arise in the little land called Westeros.

Winter is Coming
Walk softly and carry a big ass sword!

I recommend the series very highly for any fans of the books, but especially for those who haven’t read the books. There are so many shocking twists and turns in this series that those who haven’t been spoiled by the books like me, will be affected more profoundly than I could ever hope to be at this point.

The brilliant acting and aesthetics of the whole episode prompted me to give it 5 out 5 Bears. If they keep this up then there is no reason why the series can’t become the best show on HBO, if not television. It was everything I expected an more. I can’t wait to see more Tyrion and more Arya in the coming episodes! (Obviously my two favorite characters after Jon Snow.)

POP CULTURE

Scum of the Week – Nicolas Cage

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This is a new weekly article from Grizzly Bomb, where over the span of the week every week we will be naming someone as our pick for the most scum worthy. Scum can be interpreted in many ways, for example: scumbag, scumbucket, scumsucker. You get the idea.

This weeks scum nominee is of course Nicolas Cage.

In case you hadn’t heard, Mr. Cage was arrested in New Orleans for domestic violence and battery…. against his wife. Cage and his wife were arguing in front of an apartment because the actor was pretty sure that this was a place they were renting, his wife however disagreed.

Cage, super duper intoxicated at this point, thought it would be a good idea to take his wife by the arm and pull her to the house. Cage then struck several cars before the police were called and he was hauled off to central lockup. All I can say is at least he didn’t punch her whilst wearing a bear suit.

If you want the full detailed story, CNN Entertainment seems to have a pretty good rundown of this monstrosity. This may have been an overblown issue because the man is a celebrity, but domestic violence is domestic violence.

Thank you Mr. Cage for being our first Scum of the Week!

MOVIES

Grizzly Review: Scream 4 (aka SCRE4M)

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Anyone who read my Scream Retrospective earlier this week will know I greatly respected the original Scream and was looking forward to this installment. When I arrived at the theater, the teenage girl behind the counter told me that the new one was really awesome, but that she had never watched any of the first three movies, because they looked ‘stupid’ and ‘lame’. For some reason, her ringing endorsement did not instill me with confidence, even though she was clearly an expert on the franchise.

Once inside, I was surprised that a 7:45 show, on opening night wasn’t more full. The theater was probably less than half-capacity, and of the kids there, probably most were still in diapers when the original was released. The movie started in the expected way, a phone call and a discussion about horror movies. This time, however, it didn’t seem so fresh. Now you’re probably thinking: “Of course it’s not fresh, it’s the fourth movie,” but I guess I was expecting something new.

Never have I watched a movie so self-aware of how cool its predecessor was, but it’s a new day. Scream 4 largely revolves around talking about how great the Stab franchise is. Stab being the movie within Scream 2, based on the events of first movie. So here you have a script written by Kevin Williamson (who wrote the first movie) that never stops stroking Kevin Williamson’s ego.

Our three returning Scream Staples – Sidney, Gale, and Dewey – seem to be nothing more than caricatures of themselves. Sidney has written a book about her exploits and is on tour. Her last stop is Woodsboro. Gale has settled down and married Dewey, who is now the sheriff of Woodsboro, and employees a star-studded police force that made me feel more like I was watching Scary Movie 6 than an actual canon chapter of the franchise.

Adam Brody and Anthony Anderson are deputies that define a new level of ineptitude within the genre. Sure, cops regularly wind up dead in horror movies, but they usually at least seem somewhat competent beforehand. There is never a point in the movie where you are made to believe these guys could even remotely protect anyone. The sad part, they are the most believable cops in the movie. Sin City‘s Marley Shelton plays another Deputy that is openly crushing on Sheriff Dewey, and either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care that his wife is in the room. Her character is so strange you wonder how she could ever be allowed to carry a gun. No police force in film history has ever instilled less confidence. That fact is cemented by Dewey’s shooting ability, and later his hand to hand combat scene with the killer. I won’t ruin anything, but Dirty Harry he is not.

The teens in this movie are so irritating (which may be a sign of my age), that I found myself actually rooting for the killer to end them. They are headlined by Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), who is in actuality only 20, but looks about 30 in here, and was at no point believable as a high schooler.

Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and Jill (Emma Roberts)

Then we have the entire ‘Gale’ storyline. Starting with her fall from grace since becoming a cop’s wife, which is so epic that she basically has to beg the High School Cinema Club to hang out with her and help solve the murders! And could you find a couple of less likable film geeks than the kid with the web-cam on his head and Macaulay Culkin’s little brother? I doubt it. Randy is probably rolling in his grave.

The cast though is one thing that the franchise has always counted as a strength. The number of name actors in this movie certainly helped add to the buzz. Aside from those already mentioned, we see a whole plethora of recognizable faces, including local Detroit News 4 anchor – Devin Scillian, Friday Night Lights star Aimee Teegarden and the incredible Allison Brie.

Anyhow, no surprise, this movie was totally style over substance.  To be fair, there were a couple of parts I liked. The Kristen Bell scene was good, and there is a fight where someone gets smashed into a picture on the wall, that was hilarious. But there was no point where they had set up a scare well enough for it to pay off.

In the end the movie came off obnoxiously pretentious and so self-aware that you can’t help but think that between this and Scream 3, the franchise has hurt the genre just as much as helped it.

Overall Score: Scream 4 –  2/5 Bears
– 1 out of respect for the original movie.
– 1 for putting Kristen Bell and Allison Brie in the same movie.

Images: Dimension Films