#IF YOU CAN PROFIT OFF HIM YOU CAN PUT HIM ON TV TONY YOU PIECE OF SHIT

[homoeroticgrappling]

Spite Tour 2024 merch is finally here and it's so good (designed by Kyle Crawford)

Okay AEW you'll make merch about it, now put him and the related promo on TV you fucking cowards

[xxseekritsxx]

MCU references in the Marvel Netflix shows! Yes, they are canon.

(Disclaimer: I tried to edit the original version of this post to add a new reference to the “Multiple Sources” section since I did not feel like reblogging and wasting an extra part of the post for this. But for whatever stupid reason, mobile Tumblr apparently no longer keeps the original text when you try to edit a post, and I accidentally reposted the original without any text. So I deleted the original post and am doing this again. -_-)

Yes, despite what some ignorant people would say, the Marvel Netflix shows are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They’re self-contained enough to be their own thing, but they are still part of something greater. IF they were completely separate like some people idiotically assume, then nothing from those shows would have pages on the MCU Wiki or be part of the MCU page for TV Tropes, nor would they be allowed to make references to the larger MCU if they weren’t in it at all.

So I have put together a list of references from the TV shows to the greater MCU. I have broken down my list by each show where a reference was made, as well as making a category of references that run across multiple sources at once. Everything is under the cut.

1. Daredevil:

In the episode “Kingpin”, upon learning how the Anatoly brothers and their fellow Russian mobster mooks failed to stop Daredevil so far, Wilson Fisk’s right-hand man James Wesley derisively mocks the mobsters over their failure with this remark: “If he had an iron suit or a magic hammer, maybe that would explain why you keep getting your asses handed to you.”

Among the headlines in Ben Urich’s office (which later becomes Karen’s office after Urich’s death) in season 1, there are articles written by Urich referencing the “Harlem Horror” (the final battle between Hulk and Abomination in “The Incredible Hulk”, which was also referenced during the first Avengers film and comes up again later in this list) and the Avengers saving the day during the Battle of New York.

Adding to the last part of the previous point, the devastation brought to Hell’s Kitchen from the fallout of the Battle of New York is what allowed Wilson Fisk to grow his influence in the underworld and make a profit off of the reconstruction that took place after all the fighting was done.

2. Luke Cage:

When Pops tries to encourage Luke to use his enhanced strength for good instead of hiding his powers, he gives Luke this advice with the following remark: “You should be out there helping people, like them other fellas downtown.” First heard in the Luke Cage season 1 trailer and in the very first episode, this quote is a clear reference to the Avengers (one of multiple made by this series).

A running gag with the young character Dave “D.W.” Griffith in season 1 revolved around him going into the streets selling bootleg footage of the Avengers in action during the Battle of New York.

Misty Knight’s former (crooked) partner Rafael Scarfe made an interesting statement about the redundancy of the police in New York with the following remark referencing Thor: “Unless this sidearm that I’m wearing suddenly turns into some kind of magic hammer, this whole job is irrelevant.”

Cottonmouth mockingly refers to Luke Cage (to the main character’s face) as “Harlem’s Captain America” when questioning Luke on whether the latter truly thinks of himself as a hero.

Remember when I said earlier that the final battle between Hulk and Abomination was going to be referenced again on this list? Since the “Luke Cage” series is set in Harlem, this is where it unsurprisingly comes up again. Locals in Harlem still remember the battle between the super strong monsters years later. I mean, how could you forget something like that easily?

Multiple references to Hammer Industries technology. Despite its founder still being behind bars (covered later), the company still continues to operate. Like SHIELD and others (such as HYDRA, Vulture���s crew, and a criminal couple who ended up working for SHIELD under an agent who would later go rogue-after Sitwell decided to go against his orders from said rogue agent to kill them for possessing a Chitauri gun), Hammer Industries salvaged leftover Chitauri technology from the Battle of New York to make new weapons out of it. In the show, these weapons include the Judas bullets (which are those rounds fired by Diamondback that were able to actually pierce Luke Cage’s skin). The other notable piece of Hammer tech in the show is Diamondback’s battlesuit, which he wore for the final battle in season 1 when he and Luke fought.

3. Jessica Jones:

In the episode “AKA 99 Friends”, Jessica is contacted by a woman who allegedly wants Jessica to use her investigative skills to follow her cheating husband around. However, this turns out to be a ruse. The woman who called Jessica lured her into a trap and attempted to kill her, the reason being that the woman’s mother died during the Battle of New York. Despite Jessica having no involvement in these events at all, the woman who laid the trap views all superpowered people as freaks-basically a much smaller-scale version of the attitudes shared in “Captain America: Civil War” who see superheroes as people that need to be brought to heel and put on a tight leash.

Shortly after learning about both of them having the power of super strength in common, Luke asks Jessica during their dinner if she knows about any other enhanced people besides themselves and the Avengers. Jessica reveals the existence of Kilgrave to Luke in response.

In the first episode of season 3, Jessica is asked to bring a young girl back to her mother following the divorce of the girl’s parents. As she is getting dragged by Jessica back to her mother, the girl asks the title heroine “Would Captain America do this?” when questioning Jessica’s actions.

4. Iron Fist:

When Danny is initially not believed by his friends Joy and Ward Meachum to be who he says he is after Danny and the Rand family were declared missing long ago, Danny is sent to a psychiatric ward. When Danny explains his title and powers to the doctor assigned to treat him, the doctor responds with a scoffing remark about the frequency of crazy people emerging with claims of possessing superpowers having increased since the emergence of Iron Man.

In season 2, we learn that Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary was held captive in Sokovia for nearly two years prior to her being discharged from the Army following her escape.

5. The Punisher:

Believe it or not, there is a connection between the Punisher series and “Agents of SHIELD”. Many of you may not remember this, but back in season 1 of the latter series, Daisy name-drops one of her old contacts from the Rising Tide hacktivist group she used to be part of: Micro. While the Punisher series itself does not return this reference at all, it is still worth mentioning. Micro was part of the Rising Tide group prior to his eventual recruitment by the NSA, who picked him up after learning of his skills.

6. Multiple sources:

Roxxon has been referenced as an Easter egg multiple times within the MCU canon, such as being featured in “Iron Man 3″ when Trevor Slattery murdered a Roxxon executive on live TV while posing as the Mandarin, and being featured in the first season of “Agents of SHIELD”. The company has also been integral to the plots of the TV series “Agent Carter” and in “Cloak and Dagger”. In the latter series, there are some references to the greater MCU:

Peter Scarborough, CEO of Roxxon in the present day, justifies the company’s attempted extraction of Darkforce and Lightforce energy with this remark while being held captive by Tandy/Dagger: “In this day and age, you need to keep up with the Joneses. As well as the Starks and the Rands.” A clear nod to Tony Stark and Danny Rand.

Detective Brigid O’Reilly reveals that she is originally from Harlem and was part of the local police force there prior to moving to New Orleans. In addition, she mentions a friend named Misty-a clear reference to Misty Knight. What makes this nod even better is when Luke Cage season 2 returns the reference when Misty mentions O’Reilly having moved out of town.

In season 2, Tyrone has a discussion with a friend about Luke Cage when the former finds out his friend cannot read what’s on the newspaper about Cage. The article in question is a “Harlem Rumble” piece about Luke, which is also explicitly mentioned to be written by Karen Page.

Carl “Crusher” Creel AKA Absorbing Man has been referenced in the Daredevil episode “Cut Man” as the young boxer Matt’s father Jack Murdock fought in the ring on the same night the latter was eventually murdered for not throwing the fight. The poster advertising their fight can be seen in the background of Fogwell’s Gym where Jack and, later, Matt, would spend time training. Creel himself appeared as a recurring character in seasons 2, 3, and 5 of “Agents of SHIELD”. In the latter series, Creel’s boxer past was referenced as part of his introduction in the second season.

Seagate Prison has appeared in multiple sources. In “Luke Cage” we know the prison as the one where the title character was sent for a crime he didn’t commit and where he received his powers from Dr. Noah Burstein’s experiments. In the Marvel One-Shot “All Hail the King”, it was revealed that Seagate is also the home to Justin Hammer and Trevor Slattery, following their respective arrests in “Iron Man 2″ and “Iron Man 3″. During the One-Shot, Slattery was interviewed by a documentary filmmaker named Jackson Norris. However, the filmmaker revealed that he was actually an agent of the Ten Rings (whom we all know as the terrorist organization who captured Tony Stark in the first “Iron Man” movie). Norris captured Slattery and extracted him from Seagate with the intent of taking the washed-up actor to meet the former’s master: the real Mandarin, who was not exactly pleased with Slattery’s portrayal of him. Slattery’s final fate after this is unknown.

So the next time someone says the Marvel Netflix shows are “not canon” or “completely separate”, show them this list.

[lightrivals]

so . endgame . this is gonna be a spoiler filled review so pls skip this if u haven’t watched it!! forewarning: this is a relatively positive review and I’m a tony stan so if you disliked the movie / tony stark and want to find more ppl like you, you are not gonna find it here but I am gonna critique a few things too bc there were issues to be addressed. also, while this is a Hot Také™️ opinion piece that doesn’t mean I lack the ability to understand or even agree with the opposing opinions; this is just what I came out the theater with and still think about after discussion with others.

Anyway let’s begin!

Personally, Endgame gave me great closure for one of my favorite characters. I’m extremely Tony biased like, to a very extreme degree but he’s a character I connect with who has personally helped me through the years with his story so I think my attachment and bias can be excused a little. Even with that bias, I believe I can also understand other characters without the “I Love Tony Stark So Much” goggles shaping what I see. This is also gonna focus on the main six because this movie is dedicated to them, but all the other characters were awesome and I enjoyed their cameos/presence.

I’m gonna talk about Tony first because he’s my main focus for being so invested in the MCU. I’ve been watching the MCU since it started and 11 years later, seeing my favorite character, a character I connected with so much especially because of IM3 where he had anxiety and panic attacks like I was having at the time / still have (to a lesser degree though), die hurts so much. I could not stop crying in about the last hour when I knew he was gonna die. I’ve said it before on this site that the logical conclusion for his story is death. The only way Tony is gonna leave the armor as he’s been trying to since Avengers 1 is to die. He IS Iron Man, Iron Man is HIM, there is no difference. The only way Iron Man is over is if his life ends, too. So with that I figured this would be the end for him. I’ve been thinking he’s gonna die since Infinity War so, his death was not too much of a surprise. It still hurt like hell to see it happen, to know he’s truly gone. What hurts the most is that Morgan Stark will never truly know her father personally. She’s too young to remember much but at least she has his legacy surrounding her and loving her, knowing her father exchanged his life for her and everyone else on Earth to live freely. I did like that Tony got to see his dad one last time while he was a father himself. He got to come to terms with his dad in a way he never could before. RDJ’s acting was on point in this movie and I love him for what he’s done with Tony Stark.

I also want to point out the talk between Tony and Steve when Tony returns. I found this conversation to be very vital in addressing the issues between the two and why they possibly lost in Infinity War. I’ve said this before but the obvious thing is that the Avengers probably stood a chance against Thanos if they weren’t all split up thanks to the events of Civil War. Steve said they would fight together and lose together but as Tony points out, they didn’t lose together. They lost separately and Tony was stranded from Earth in space miles away for a month starving and dying. He had foreseen what was gonna happen and tried his best to achieve protection—his armor around the world plan—but the others merely chided him for it and then fought each other because of the consequences of not wanting that particular armor. And then they lost in the end, separated and Tony is torn. He is damaged and weak and sick and tired, he was nearly murdered and he lost the kid in turn. It is a sad moment and I was very happy it wasn’t immediate apologies when Tony arrived. The others had a month to reconcile but Tony was still dealing with what he faced alone with only Nebula and the ashes of Peter in his mind. I really enjoyed that conversation and found it to be a really good prelude to how the rest of the movie would pan out. When he took off the arc reactor and shoved it at Steve and told Steve to run and hide, gave Steve the armor and told him to do something about it…powerful stuff right there.

Now about Tony’s death: I think it was really important for him to do the final snap of ending Thanos’ war. He and Thanos have been the two at odds with each other this entire time. We know it’s going to eventually end up being him against Thanos like it was in Infinity War. But when he took the stones from Thanos and said “I am Iron Man” in retaliation to Thanos claiming he was inevitable!! Thanos is always gonna come but as long as Tony is Iron man, he will be defeated. Tony is the one who can save the universe and I think it’s also super important that he uses the most dangerous weapon ever. Tony protects the world with weapons, he started off profiting from it, but grows throughout the movies to eventually be trusted to use the most powerful weapon in the universe to save it. The Avengers trust him to use it for good and he trusts them to deal with the stones afterwards. It’s beautiful, it so beautiful. He dies with two families: his biological/iron fam and his superhero family. He dies trusting them to carry on not only his legacy but the legacy of Earth, of the Avengers, of avenging the universe in full. He is Iron Man and he finally gets to rest. He gets to put down the armor and save the universe like he’s been trying for years with the Avengers’ trust backing him up. Personally, I believe this is the hero death Tony deserved. He used to be a man who was feared for the destruction he caused and he went through a deep and thorough redemption and self-realizations to then be trusted to use the most destructive weapon for the greater good.

Now on to Thor and Bruce, two characters who I have an issue with in terms of their characterization. Thor’s dealing with a lot of shit. Understandable as hell; his story is probably the most dark given he has no living family anymore. Tony got lucky and his loved ones, Peter aside, survived. Thor lost everyone. He killed Thanos, he went for the head, but still didn’t win. His depression, anxiety, and PTSD is so valid. What I hate is that he didn’t get the same treatment in Endgame Tony got in IM3. Yes, Thor’s is a lot darker of a situation but he didn’t need to be the brunt of jokes. I understand that he is over 1000 years old and in the grand scheme of things, this moment in time is a blink and a bit of a sick joke. I understand that he falls back into his old Viking ways of alcoholism and whatnot. It’s totally understandable but I will always be disappointed in how it was approached. They still could have been humor and jokes without resorting to petty insults. I am glad though that his weight gain did not suddenly disappear. The way the Russo’s went about presenting it was insulting and demeaning but I feel it’s important as well to show that his weight gain wasn’t gonna suddenly disappear now that he’s back to being the mighty Thor.

Bruce was…okay I like Professor Hulk. I think it’s important that Bruce come to terms with his Hulk nature but the point of Hulk is that he’s angry and he unleashes it with smashing and I was just. Expecting more Hulk smash and still that dichotomy even if Bruce has come to terms with being Hulk. The thing I like is that Bruce, who was always scared of his persona as Hulk killing people got to bring back billions of lives as Hulk instead of taking those lives away. Anyway, I had that small beef with Hulk but it wasn’t as much as say against Thor. Bruce’s humor was lighter and not as insulting, it was a refreshing continuation of his Ragnarok/Infinity War characterization.

Speaking of Ragnarok, let’s talk Loki. Loki is my second favorite character and let’s be real, all Loki stans were basically expecting more out of Endgame when it came to this character. I figured he would be in flashbacks but I was hoping still maybe it would be more?? I said before that perhaps Tony breaks Loki out to get the tesseract and I mean, that did kinda happen. But at least we know we have a divergent 2012 timeline and this is probably where the Loki TV show is gonna be set. I’m definitely interested in seeing what happens in that alternate universe but we won’t see that for another two years so, just a big sigh. And also I’ve seen on twitter at least people upset that Thor didn’t talk to Loki when he went back to Asgard. Loki and Thor were at odds and not friends during The Dark World. I don’t think Thor talking to Loki would have done anything important, it wouldn’t have changed anything and it certainly wouldn’t have helped him with his task of getting the Aether from Jane. While it would have been nice to see more Loki when Thor went back to 2013, I think what we did see was the most that could have happened while Thor was also dealing with seeing his mother again.

On the topic of Loki, he seems to like go about as Steve, huh? I thought it was a cute nod to the scene from TDW (I cant remember if it was deleted or not I haven’t seen that movie in years lol) when he shape shifted into Steve to taunt the Avengers. Cheeky Loki is great and so is cheeky Steve. “I could do this all day” and “Yeah, I know, I know.” The Steve vs Steve fight was also really cool. I was surprise he used the mind stone to stop himself though? And I thought it was funny when he said “hail hydra” to get by with the scepter. Now onto Steve’s whole time loop. I am disgruntled but also weirdly okay with how that all ended. I am not anti-Steve in any manner but his MCU characterization is not on my personal top list of Cap storylines. I’ve seen someone say this before and I found I kinda agreed with it. Steve’s progression is becoming more and more selfish when it comes to keeping his family safe while in parallel Tony’s progression is becoming more and more selfless when it comes to keeping his own family safe. Very different takes on how to protect family, but I think it would be wrong to ignore that part of Steve’s story. He will do any and everything to keep Bucky alive at his side, to keep Sam safe, to keep the integrity of the Avengers alive even at the cost of his personal freedom. He wants, no needs, to have his family with him. He will risk damaging relations with everyone else to keep them save. That’s admirable.

That being said, Steve going back in time to be with Peggy is a pathetic conclusion even if I can come to terms with it. In my opinion, Steve is the only Avenger righteous enough to be able to go back to the past to fulfill his own timeline and not do anything about what is coming next. He takes a huge risk in staying back in time to be with Peggy; letting Hydra infiltrate SHIELD is one thing he could not change. No matter what, Thanos is coming. He is inevitable. But Tony is Iron Man, and Tony can only be Iron Man in the first place if he gets kidnapped in Afghanistan. This only happens because of Obadiah’s jealousy and greed, which comes out of Tony becoming CEO of Stark Industries after his parent’s premature deaths. Their premature deaths only happen because Bucky became the Winter Soldier and was brainwashed to kill them. These things have to happen in order for Thanos to be defeated so Steve has to keep these things alive. This also means he has to marry Peggy after he crashed in the ice so there are two Steve’s in the universe, one who is Peggy’s husband and another who is Captain America. He gets the future he always wanted and the superhero story he was born to be a part of. The biggest pieces of bullshit about this storyline is 1) Peggy being used as nothing but someone for Steve to lust over 2) Steve coming back somehow in the end as an old guy. You could sort of explain point 2 by saying old Steve always existed so it’s not actually disrupting the timeline, things are always supposed to be this. You know how in some time travel movies the present/future happens bc someone went back into the past and their actions caused it? Maybe Steve is something like that. I know they explained that it creates a split timeline but if old Steve is always there then it’s not a split timeline it’s just the regular timeline. It still doesn’t explain why old Steve was right there with the Avengers after they sent 2023 Steve to the past. Major plot hole. Also I don’t think him leaving Bucky in 2023 is a plot hole; Bucky has to live his life post being Hydra’s Winter Soldier and without Steve’s shadow over him. It’s gonna be great to see Bucky working with a new Captain America and forming a friendship with Sam.

Side note: I am so pleased about Falcon!Cap that is what I’ve wanted for years in mcu now and it’s here! That is definitely something I am grateful for in all of this. Another thing I liked is Valkyrie becoming the Queen of Asgard and Thor exploring the galaxy with the Guardians. Also Pepper in the Rescue suit, that made me super excited! Seeing all the ladies team up was very fun.

Anyway, on to the last two of the main six Avengers: Clint and Natasha. I think I saw some people upset about Natasha’s death…she was in a very dark place mentally but her sacrifice for her family to live on is just as important as Tony’s. They both exchanged their lives to save the universe and so her death was not pointless at all. It also is a great show of how much Clint loved her, how much he risked to save her and indict her into SHIELD after he was sent to off her all those years ago. As she said in Avengers, they all have blood on their hands, some more than others. This was her way of returning the lives she took just as Tony has done the same by snapping away Thanos’ army at the cost of his life. She was the soul they needed for these three Avengers—Natasha, Bruce, and Tony—who have taken many lives with their own hands if not just obscene amounts of violence, to reverse the Snap and save the universe. Clint can be included actually but since he was Ronin when he was slaying people for revenge I put that separate from when he returned to the Avengers.

MCU Clint isn’t my fave Avenger, both because of Renner and because of his characterization. But Endgame made me like him more, especially in the first five minutes or so as he taught his daughter archery and connected with his family. That was a beautiful opening scene and it wrenched my heart to see his family get dusted away. His dark turn was kinda corny imo I mean, the whole badass punk hipster vibe was funny but I really liked seeing him and Natasha interacting and being friends again. I’m glad he had a sword because while bow and arrow comes in handy, the battle requires close combat and he definitely was gonna get killed if he didn’t have something more than arrows.

Also the quantum realm suits grew on me…they are still ugly but it’s a tolerable ugly now.

AH! important point: Nebula’s storyline! I really liked how she had to literally kill her past self in order to keep herself and her sister alive. That side plot of Nebula battling herself was great and allowed for nice growth of her character and how her past self tried to sabotage her future.

Final point is that I enjoyed the movie for what it is: a beautiful close to the story of the Infinity Saga. It is meant to be a homage to the fans who have seen all the movies, who have followed the MCU for as long as they could. I don’t think this is meant to be for casual viewers, not that you can’t watch casually, but you definitely have to watch knowing what happened before. They don’t introduce Captain Marvel or Antman’s Quantum realm stuff much. It’s probably confusing if you haven’t seen Captain Marvel or the Antman movies. You’re expected to know what came before and I mean, it makes sense. Money making franchise or not, there’s a lot going on in this movie and taking the time to introduce new things over and over is not worth it.

tl;dr: Endgame is the story about end of the two who started the MCU, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. I think you could even say that Steve stuck by Tony’s side until the end of the line. The two leaders of the Avengers, side by side and trusting each other again to get the job done. That is the Endgame because part of the journey is the end and doing whatever it takes to get there. My final thought (before rewatch because lbr, I will most likely watch again) is that I am very grateful for the chance to love Tony Stark as I have, to love him 3000 and 3000 times more and more. I love you, Tony Stark. You can rest now, my love. The universe is indeed safe in your hands~

[theonceoverthinker]

SpongeBob SquarePants - The Musical: A Small Memorial

Last night, as often happens, a Broadway show closed. While I wasn’t able to see it’s final performance (Though I was filled in for the details thanks to the incredible @crazy-noonoohead​), I did get to see it once, and it absolutely charmed the entire way through. I’m honestly going to miss it.

That show was SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.

I know. The jokes have all been said and done. It’s a Nickelodeon show that got a stage adaptation and it doesn’t offer even the pretense of pretending its not for kids. It’s essentially most of what makes up animated movie trailers today. But beyond the jokes, SpongeBob is one of the most aesthetically pleasing, unique, and fun shows out there and I want to give it the respect and honor it deserves here, because believe it or not, it has quite a few elements worthy of said respect and honor.

Now for reference before we begin, I have seen SpongeBob on Broadway live one time, I’ve listened to the cast recording well over twenty times at this point, and I have engaged in my fair share of bootlegs via YouTube.

SET DESIGN

To start, let’s talk about SpongeBob’s greatest accomplishment: Its set design. The set design is effectively delivered on in three ways, and let’s just say that the Tony it got for Set Design could not have been more deserved. 

First, on either side of the stage of the show were two intricate mechanisms. If you’ve ever played the board game Mouse Trap, then just think about that in orange and you’ve got an idea of what they were like. One of the mechanisms went off during each act, and what it did was provide more than just a regular set piece: It provided a mystery and an adventure. Not only was it so much fun seeing the mechanisms go off, but the anticipation for them had me so excited. They were unique and gave off this feeling of both peril and comedy. 

Second, the set design of the climax of the show (Spoiler alert if you wanted to either read about this somewhere else or hit up a bootleg). Ethan Slater (SpongeBob’s actor) is such a badass. In the climax of the show, he is put in a harness and while singing a powerful song (A character-defining reprise, at that!), needs to basically climb up, through, and around this big and intricate orange spider web. It’s some of the coolest staging I’ve ever seen and while I never saw Spiderman, I also never heard of a single instance of danger with this action so I feel comfortable saying that this is Spiderman done right!

Finally, I want to talk about something pretty simple: The houses. I’m going to lump these things together because the how of what they do here is pretty similar, but incredibly impressive. The houses and establishments like The Krusty Krab here are the only thing done via CGI and the pragmatic effects help to enhance it by never allowing the audience to feel confused about where they are or overcrowded by the larger than life characters. 

If you want to continue and read my thoughts on the costume design, music, story, and cultural impact (However personal), please join me below the cut.

COSTUME DESIGN

There are a LOT of characters to talk about in this adaptation and I think they were all designed fabulously. However, for the purposes of keeping this a little brief, let’s talk about the most impressive one to me: Plankton.

Assuming you’ve watched SpongeBob on TV, you know that Plankton is a really small character, and that presents a problem when adapting the TV show to Broadway. How do you adapt Plankton? His size (Or lack thereof) is such an important quality to his character and to not acknowledge that would dilute who he is. While one could simply make him a puppet, none of the other characters are puppets and to make him one would take away all of his menace, something that he would need, even as a primarily comedy-focused antagonist. Additionally, it would severely limit the capabilities of Plankton to perform in musical numbers, especially in his rap number. But the creators did something really smart. In the opening number of the show, while all of the main characters were scaled against their oceanic counterparts, Plankton had a physical puppet counterpart shown in addition to his human actor, a puppet that was abandoned shortly after his introductory scene. That did the job of showing Plankton’s size in a way that the audience would burn into their memory while also allowing the actor to use his entire range of motion. It’s honestly such a smart move.

MUSIC

SpongeBob on Broadway is a collaborative musical. Most every song is original to the show AND was made a different artist. This list includes The Plain White Tees, Panic! at the Disco, David Bowie, John Legend, They Might Be Giants, and Sara Bareilles (But boy is it longer than just that). And here’s what impresses me so much: It’s so cohesive. That’s not to say there aren’t different genres. There are a couple of ballads, a rap, a few ensemble pieces, a rock and roll number, a sea shanty, and a tap number (With multiple legs thanks to Gavin Lee’s incredible talent!!!!). But it retains a flow to it that carries through the entire show. At no point does the SpongeBob musical feel disjointed and given all of that talent working on it, I can’t help but be surprised, even now. Like, how does that work? The music here has no right being this solid and cohesive! Well, I can only assume that the above talents really talked to one another to make sure that no work felt out of place, and honestly, I can’t help but adore that respect for how seriously this was taken from all of them to make sure that there was consistency throughout each and every one of the pieces in regards to the world of SpongeBob and in terms of a full musical.

My favorite piece is “Bikini Bottom Day.” In addition to being visually great, it has this nice buildup as the pieces of Bikini Bottom come together. It starts off with this very faithful-to-the-source-material ukulele and builds to encompass the orchestra, building up the beauty of Bikini Bottom and all of its people as it relates to SpongeBob itself. Everyone’s characterizations are perfectly on display here and the first beats of the characters’ arcs come into play. The motif which is revisited in the Act 1 finale and the finale of the show itself is just nice and optimistic, inviting everyone to think more like SpongeBob, and damnit, when I hear it, I feel like SpongeBob!

STORY

I think the story here is so important, and more important than most might give it credit for. While not overly serious, it does deliver a story that’s deviously more than it seems and in a way that is palatable by its target demographic: children.

SpongeBob on Broadway is about the SpongeBob characters facing the possibility of the end of the world in the face of an erupting volcano, and their various reactions to that. SpongeBob works on combatting the eruption, many of the townspeople try to run, those less committed to running focus on blaming someone for the issue (Sandy, as Plankton puts the value of being the sole land animal in an underwater town), a subset of fish seek wisdom from Patrick, Pearl and Squidward focus on completing their Bucket Lists, and Mr. Krabs and Plankton focus their efforts on profiting off of the panicking masses (Granted for Plankton, it’s in a much more evil way that involves mass manipulation and attempted murder). And throughout this story, there are various ticking countdowns, the aforementioned mechanisms throwing big balls of magma onto the stage, and even the intermission says that it will be the “last intermission...ever.” And that’s all before talking about the two numbers about the possibility of facing the end: “No Control” and “Best Day Ever,” the former of which is one of the most panicked and hopeless numbers I’ve ever heard.

Now, that’s a pretty really-real baseline story with some harsh elements, and honestly, it could’ve gotten pretty dark. But what I like is that it never really did. While not afraid to handle these storylines and aspects and tackle them fully, the show never lost sight of the fact that it’s a SpongeBob musical and being that requires a consistency of a comedic tone as well as an understanding that it’s a musical for children. There are at least five jokes per scene and the show itself ends with a parade of bubbles, a zany band performance, and strings of party paper that falls from the sky! It’s fucking bonkers! And that tonal balance is what makes it so good -- not all time classic-great, but certainly more than enough to merit its own existence. 

And that brings us to...

CULTURE

Whenever I see someone picking on SpongeBob on Broadway, even from its inception, I’ve always hated it. I get that SpongeBob on Broadways was somewhat of an absurd notion, but then again, so was The Lion King or Avenue Q, an adult-themed show about puppets, and both of those offered something unique visually as well as through elements like staging, storytelling, and costumes. And in terms of animated adaptations, we’ve had again all but two of the Disney Broadway adaptations. So why did SpongeBob get mocked?

And I’m sure some edgelord reading this is groaning about that the fact that SpongeBob on Broadway is a musical for kids and that I’m unapologetically defending its right to be exactly that, but honestly, fuck that noise. Being for kids does not mean that a musical cannot be great or even tough upon hard subject matter. I mean, look at how some of the more recent Disney animated movies have taken upon harsher subject matter if you need proof of that. What it means is that there needs to be an understanding in the delivery of a message so that one can understand it from an early age without needing to sacrifice storytelling to deliver it. It’s not dumbing down theatre, it’s opening up the door for new people to come in. And there’s no reason why that’s a bad thing. Broadway, like every other medium, thrives off of variety. Just like how there are deep movies like “Citizen Kane,” comedies like “Crazy Rich Asians,” silly films like “Despicable Me,” and superhero movies like “The Avengers” (And blendings of the different genres like “The Dark Knight”), so can there be such a tonal diversity among the shows on Broadway. Hamilton and Phantom are great musicals, but they aren’t and shouldn’t be the only types out there and I like that there’s more out there for kids. 

Broadway in its current state, while making changes to foster grander availability, is still a very overpriced and hard to access medium. It’s based on location and even for someone like me who lives in New York, it’s an endeavor that costs at least $50-$60 (That’s assuming I (1) win a digital lottery or have a friend do rush (thanks again @crazy-noonoohead​), (2) don’t take a subway or cab, and (3) don’t eat on the trip, and very rarely do those things all happen simultaneously). To be willing to do that, you need to have some serious love or interest in the show, and because of that high bar that people already have to meet in order to just get in the door, it’s not especially approachable to new people. And that’s where shows like SpongeBob come in. Little kids and families go to see the show and come out with so much more. Shows like SpongeBob open doors for lifelong interests in the mastery of theatre and I hope that in the future, when a non-Disney show like this is announced, we remain more optimistic about its potential rather than turning it into a punchline.

While I can’t say it’s for certain intentional, I can’t help but related the song “Not a Simple Sponge” to the public’s outcry towards the show. The chorus invites Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and (by extension) the audience to give SpongeBob a chance to “give me [him] adventure, be a contender, and more” after earlier calling him “just a simple sponge.” I can’t help but see the similarities between SpongeBob’s doubters and the public itself for dismissing the idea of SpongeBob going on a grand staged adventure, as if to say “No, you can’t tell us this story.” But by the end, through the careful delivery of themes (”Everything gets better if you keep on trying”), SpongeBob proves that indeed his is more than a simple sponge and worthy of his claim to The Great White Way.

LET’S WRAP THIS UP

SpongeBob was something that crept up on me. I figured I’d like it well enough, but that it would be something that would follow me, take up about half of my Spotify history, and be something that moved me to make a fairly long post about it? Well, that caught me as a surprise! Hell, I still have a piece of the tissue paper that fell on me during the end of the show and it’s still something I’m going to try to hold on for my remaining days. I probably would’ve attempted for the finale performance alongside my friend had it not been for a car accident that currently leaves me unable to walk. Even still, I’m grateful for the chance to experience this show.

What I’m saying is, SpongeBob on Broadway is “not a simple sponge” and I sincerely wish that it had run longer (With all due respect, I was bored with the Mean Girls bootleg I found in roughly twenty minutes and I was hoping my big yellow friend would stick it out at least until after that closed). For something that was odds are less than half a risk to Viacom, it tried so much harder than anyone expected to and created a memorable show. While I don’t expect a revival anytime soon, it’s going to join some of my mid-tier favorites that Broadway has to offer, along the lines of Legally Blonde and Young Frankenstein. And maybe one day, it will get the respect and love that it truly deserves.

If you’ve never checked out SpongeBob, and by some miracle you’re able to track down a working bootleg or even if you just rock out to the cast recording and a Wikipedia article on the plot, I suggest downing an hour or two and letting the wonders of a “Bikini Bottom Day” consume you.

[tisfan]

Pollen Season

Name of Piece Pollen Season  Square Filled S1: Outsider POV Rating General Warnings: none Summary: no pairing

It was sunny, hot as hell, and the middle of pollen season, which meant the Wash an’ Glo was hopping with customers

Created For : @tonystarkbingo

“Wash an’ Glo, this is Madelaine, how can I help you?” Maddy barely managed to get her customer voice on when she picked up the phone.

It was sunny, hot as hell, and the middle of pollen season, which meant the Wash an’ Glo was hopping with customers; the main vacuum was full again, and she had one customer who’d forgotten to roll up her rear window before driving through the Kwik-E and was threatening to sue.

“Hi Mad Max,” a male voice said. “Excuse me, do you happen to know what your net profits are on a day like today?”

“Excuse me? I just work here,” Maddy said. She jutted her chin at the customer who was crying about her car’s interior, like it wasn’t her own damn fault. Like Maddy was even allowed to talk to anyone after the word lawsuit left their lips. That was for the owner and his legal counsel. That was company policy, and it was written on a big poster on the wall, but since the woman couldn’t read ROLL UP ALL WINDOWS and SECURE YOUR VEHICLE, Maddy was pretty sure she couldn’t read legal policies either.

Not, Maddy thought, there was anything wrong with not being able to read. The few people Maddy’d met through this job who were actually functionally illiterate (or had dyslexia or something) were pretty sweet about asking for assistance, and didn’t usually chew Maddy’s head off.

“Okay, what’s the most expensive service you offer?”

“Hundred and sixty-three dollars plus tax for a hand wash and wax, detailing, and interiors,” Maddy said, by rote. Most people didn’t get that service, unless they had a really nice car. Or they were showing off. The guy on the phone sounded like both.

“All right,” he said. “Do me a favor, ring that up for… how many we got, Friday? Right, okay, ring me up for three hundred and seventy-nine car washes. Oh, and I need you to clean everyone else out right now. I don’t want to see a car in that lot inside… ten minutes? Can you do that for me, Maddy?”

“Is this a joke?”

“Not even a little. You got a tv there?”

“Yeah, it’s on the Home Improvement channel,” Maddy said. That was a great channel; no one usually had a screaming fit about the Home Improvement network. Unlike, say Fox News, which the owner’s mother preferred.

“Not anymore,” the man said. “Take a gander at what’s coming your way, Mads Mikkelson.”

“What are--” the television clicked itself over to what appeared to be a closed caption tv, with a lot of headsup display. The camera was moving really fast, and the scenery zoomed by.  “What is that?”

“That, dear, is me,” the man said. A little popup in the corner of the screen showed one of Tony Stark’s press pictures. “And this, is what I need to take through your drive through.” The picture spun dizzyingly and she was looking backward and upside down at… a line of dozens and dozens… three hundred and seventy-nine?... Iron Legionnaires.

“What the hell?”

“It’s pollen season, and apparently someone was dicking around with the natural order of shit,” Tony Stark -- actualfacts Tony Stark, oh my god! -- said. “ and it’s given them allergies. Clear the lot. We’re coming in hot.”

Maddy smashed the general alarm. (Every single facility in New York City had one of those these days. Helpful when aliens attacked, or super villains went on the warpath. No one ignored a general alarm, even the most hard-headed Brooklynite knew to take fucking cover.)

Even Ms. I’m going to Sue You because I’m an Idiot fled the scene as soon as the alarm sounded.

“Even me, sir?” Maddy asked.

“Who’s going to ring me up, if you’re not there, honey?” Tony asked her. “Just stay down. They mostly want to shoot me. Get the drive thru cranked up full blast, I’m going to take them through just like a train.”

“I’ll just… wait for you on the floor, then. Behind the counter.”

“Good girl.”

Maddy wasn’t stupid. She got on the floor, behind the counter. She also set up the cc tv in the Kwik-E and hit record. Because she wasn’t stupid. There was a fortune to be made with videos of the Avengers.

The noise was incredible.

Maddy clapped her hands over her ears. The sounds of her screaming were lost in the general cacophony.

It didn’t last long.

She was proud that she wasn’t even shaking that much when she got to her feet.

“That’ll be,” Maddy said, “sixty seven thousand, two hundred and sixty one dollars and… uh, thirteen cents, Mr. Stark.”

Tony Stark popped up the faceplate of the Iron Man suit and put on a pair of blue sunglasses. Maddy wasn’t sure where he’d been storing them. Then he offered her a black credit card.

Probably the charge would go through. It was Tony Stark, after all.

Maddy rang him up.

“Thank you,” Tony said. “What’s the standard tip for a -- oh, thank you, Friday.” He jotted something down on the receipt and then signed his name with a flourish. “I’ll recommend your services, if anyone should ask.” He winked at her over the lenses of his sunglasses, grabbed a complimentary cup of coffee and a doughnut on the way out, and waved cheerfully as he used his butt to push the door open.

Maddy wondered if it would be rude to steal the door.

She waved and went to the door to watch him fly away, three hundred and seventy-nine sparkingling clean Legionnaires behind him.

She about choked when she picked up the receipt to put it in the cash register.

Tip:  $12,107.00 

[lamptracker]

FAQ

Some questions that I get asked a lot, or could come up.

Q. Who do you write for?

A. I write for:

Tom Holland

Harrison Osterfield

Harry Holland

Jacob Batalon

Tony Revolori

Zendaya

Laura Harrier

Peter Parker

Ned Leeds

Stray Kids

Q. Do you write smut?

A. Yep. It’s encouraged, actually.

Q. What/who won’t you write for/about?

A. Okay:

Paddy Holland (not that anyone’s asked but people on other blogs have so I’m nipping that in the bud)

Smut involving Peter Parker, at least until he’s 18 in the MCU

Anything involving child abuse (including just striking them out of anger)

Rape

Eating disorders

Uh, I got an ask about rimming once and I’m not going to write that either because it’s icky

Male!Reader. I love to read it. I’m terrible at writing it. Plus the last one I tried got, like, three notes so that kind of helped turn me off to the whole idea.

I am also not super comfortable with writing Yang Jeongin smut. I don’t know why. He’s an adult. But don’t ask me to do it because I WILL tell you no.

Q. Do you have a master list?

A. Yes!

Q. What can I put in your inbox?

A. Anything you want. You can request something, you can submit a blurb. You can ask for advice (although, not unlike Chandler Bing, I’m not so great with the advice; can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?). You can quote your favorite TV show or Vine (I LOVE Vines). You can just rant about whatever. I’m always here to talk to!

Q. So why haven’t you answered my question/written my thing yet?

A. The short answer: Hi, thanks for checking in, I’m ♫still a piece of garbage♫

The longer answer: I have ADHD that I do not take meds for. Although I probably should. Thus, I have the attention span of a fruit fly. Also: while I don’t work currently (my choice), I do have a dog and a teenage daughter who also has ADHD to take care of. So.

I do this for fun and zero profit. So I’m very grateful for all of my followers and don’t want you to think for a moment I don’t care about you. It just may take me some time to get to you, and it’s not because I don’t love you.

Also, Tumblr eats asks sometimes. Instead of eating asks, it can eat my ass

Q. My family sucks, will you be my mom?

A. Honestly, I’m old enough to probably actually be your mom, so: You bet, kiddo. I’m your mom now. You are my favorite and your bedtime is never (but try to be home or at least shoot me a text by midnight, Mom worries)

Q. So when is that Harry/Haz/Reader threesome fic going to be done?

A. I ACTUALLY WROTE IT, IT’S RIGHT HERE

We’re leaving out the part where Dove threatened to take away my daily Tom Felton post until I wrote it. And then they stopped doing it. Yes, I am complaining about it in public so what

Q. You loved Vine??

A. I LOVED Vine.

Q. Who were your favorite Viners?

A. Just the ones off the top of my head: Thomas Sanders, J. Cyrus, Brendon McNerney, Brandon Calvillo, Sara Hopkins. My favorite Vine of all-time is that one with Kermit the Frog singing “I Don’t Mind.” Oh, and Sara Hopkins’ “Hype Man Duties.”

Q. What are you favorite AU’s/tropes?

A.

Roommates (oh my God, they were roommates)

Fake dating

Mob

Baseball player

CEO

Single Dad

I also thought up but probably can’t take credit for inventing Skateboarder!Haz.

I have several ideas for frat boy!Changbin taking up valuable real estate in my brain

You also can’t go wrong with the classic “There was only one bed” trope

Q. Favorite sports teams?

A. Just one: I love baseball and am a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan. They have an outfielder named Harrison Bader who I am in love with. He’s the other Harrison in my life.

Q. Favorite TV shows?

A. Friends forever and always, even though Ross is the absolute worst. Also: How I Met Your Mother, Psych, Burn Notice, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Good Place (I adore Jason Mendoza, he is my sweet dumb baby and I love him).

I think that was it. If you have any other questions, feel free to message me!

[brobi-wanwrites]

Out-Dated Review: Iron Man

A decade ago life was a bit more simple. I was turning 15 and besides finding time to play GTA IV and high school I didn't have a care in the world. My birthday was never a big deal but earlier that year I got my first PS3 and was desperate to start a Blu Ray collection. I told my mother the one thing I wanted for a gift that year was Iron Man. She delivered. That night after reading the case over a dozen times me and my best friend would sit down and watch the movie that jump started the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

At the time I knew as little as you could about Ironman. I spent most of my time reading Spider-Man, X-men and Batman comics so the only things I really knew about Tony Stark was that he was a rich alcoholic and was really prevalent in 2006s Civil War which was in my backlog of comics. Going into this movie I really had nothing to go on besides the great reviews it was getting and that I was always excited to see a comic book character get their chance on the big screen. After credits rolled like many people my expectations were blown away. I watched it again and again enjoying every minute of it. I then dove into my comic backlog and read Civil War and any other Ironman story I could find. It’s safe to say that the first Ironman reinvigorated my and many others love for comics, all while starting a universe that would have as deep of lore as the comics they adapted from. 

So ten years later, does Ironman hold up?

(SPOILERS)

Lets start things off with the story. 

We’re introduced to Playboy Billionaire Weapons Designer/Manufacturer Tony Stark and he’s just as much as cocky jerk as you would think he’d be. Skipping out on an award presented to him so he could gamble, sleeping with a reporter who’s writing a hit piece on his company and giving little care to the crew of his private plane as he arrives late for its departure. Couple this with how he almost gloats at the amount of death and destruction his weapons bring you would be safe to assume that Tony is unremarkable cliche villain, except he’s not. 

I don’t know if it’s his charm alone, his acting chops or how relatable he is to the character but Robert Downy Jr. makes Tony Stark probably one of the most believable and entertaining personality in the MCU. He brings so much life and fun to Tony even before his good guy turn in this movie. Easily stealing every scene he’s in, RDJ was undoubtedly destined to play Tony Stark.

Speaking of good guy turns.

Things go astray for Tony after a weapon presentation in Afghanistan as he’s fatally injured and kidnapped by a terrorist group known as The Ten Rings (more on them later). He awakes in a cave with a car battery attached to his chest, powering an electromagnet that’s keeping the shrapnel away from his heart and other vital organs. Parties amirite? He’s made aware that The Ten Rings are his “loyal customers” and have been using all his weaponry and is then forced to build them his latest weapon. Tony reluctantly agrees and uses the supplies and resources to build something a bit more powerful, a miniaturized Arch Reactor. An invention of his fathers that’s used to power a factory, Tony designed his to be a little more compact. It has enough power to keep the magnet [in his chest] charged for a thousand lifetimes or something big for ten minutes. 

Thus Ironman is born.

Even for ten years old at this point, the CGI still holds up. The suits in this movie, whether it’s the Mk I, II or III all look fantastic and just completely seamless. I never once even questioned if they built an actual prop suit or not, it looked so good i assumed they did. Coincidentally the first Ironman is the only movie they actually built the full suit, every subsequent movie they used mo-cap primarily. 

After 3 months using only weapon parts and presumably some scrap metal Tony builds the Mk I and kicks some serious ass in his escape. He’s quickly reunited with his friends and coworkers back in the States and damn does he want a burger. Also he announces very publicly he’s done with making and selling weapons. This is Tony’s big turn, he realizes the real cost of him profitting off war with his weapons and decides he is alone responsible for making things right. His business partner and his deceased fathers long time friend Obadiah Stane advises him to lay low for awhile after crashing his companies stock with his big announcement.

The Stark Employee Roster.

RDJ may steal the whole show but Ironman boasts a pretty big and talented cast. Gwenneth Paltrow as the remarkable and composed assistant to Stark Pepper Potts, she’s a joy to have on screen and perfectly bounces dialogue off RDJ. Terrence Howard plays Stark's best friend and military liaison Colonel James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Howard plays this character really cool and I have a hard time seeing Rhodey as much as I see Terrence Howard. His chemistry with RDJ is phenomenal off the bat though, something that takes Cheadle & RDJ about another movie or so to get right. Paul Bettany lends his soothing voice to articulate Siri knock-off known as JARVIS. While his role obviously becomes more expanded upon in later films, Bettany brings a simple yet appealing approached to the A.I. here that pairs well with Tony’s persona. Rounding it out you have the rugged Jeff Bridges playing Tony’s mentor and eventual madman Obadiah Stane. Bridges brings something to this role that I can’t quite put my finger on, he just fully leans into this character and I can feel his presence on screen. He does however have a very sudden change of character entering the third act, he goes from conniving business man to super villain so abruptly I may have whiplash (wink) now. 

Bored and nothing to do.

Stark finds himself in isolation and does the only thing his obsessive brain lets him do, work. He begins designing and testing an updated version of the suit he escaped imprisonment with. The Mk II is a thinner, shinier and more airborne suit than its predecessor. It just isn't up to snuff for Tony though, so after a quick flight test with some icing issues, he completely redesigns the suit. After seeing on TV that someone is throwing a party without him, Tony decides laying low just isn’t for him and crashes the party. Thankfully the party is hosted by Stark Industries so Tony can just walk in with no real problem. It’s here that Tony learns that his mentor and friend Obadiah Stane filed an injunction against him and is trying to force him out of the company and may be dealing weapons under the table. 

Tony decides take the moral high ground and hops in his new suit the MkIII which must be the coolest getting dressed montage I’ve ever seen, then flies for 6 hours back to Afghanistan. He proceeds to just ruin the Ten Rings day by destroying their weapon caches, which include plenty of Tony's own weapons. After surely making the locals think he’s some sort of alien or metal angel he flies back home, only to be intercepted by two fighter jets. What ensues is an entertaining little game of cat and mouse for a minute until Rhodey, whose job is seemingly just to be convenient to Tony shows up and Tony informs him he is in the suit that the fighters are chasing. Rhodes clears everything up as a trainig exorcise and Tony makes it home.

It’s here our big reveal happens, Obadiah is a bad guy and he hired the Ten Rings to kill Tony but they didn’t like the deal, so they altered it like Vader. Now they want to alter it even further and have Obadiah build them Metal Soldiers like the one Tony escaped with.  Obidiah smiles and politely kills this faction of the Ten Rings and figures he might as well build his own suit with his own arch reactor.

Back at the factory while speaking to his team of scientists about their inability to replicate Tony’s miniaturized Arch Reactor, Jeff Bridges delivers the best line in the movie. 

“TONY STARK WAS ABLE TO BUILD THIS IN A CAAAVE, WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS”

After this everything starts to happen real fast. Pepper finds a video that directly incriminates Obadiah, he panics and politely tries to kill tony, Rhodes shows up to try and save a dying Tony but he already saved him self. Once he catches his breath Tony hops in his suit to go find Obadiah. Terrence Howard takes a look at the MkII and decides it’s better that Don Cheadle gets to use it. Pepper while accompanied by some agents finds Obadiah's lab only then to be ambushed by Obadiah in a what can only be described as the offspring on the hulk-buster armour and war machine, Iron Monger. 

Tony flies in with no time to spare and saves Pepper. A street fight ensues between Iron Man and Iron Monger with them chucking cars at one another. This fight seems oddly small scale now, having been spoiled by the massive fights we’ve seen in recent MCU movies. The smaller scale and one on one fight does feel more personal though and given that this is Iron Mans first outing it makes sense.

The fight goes airborne after Tony realizes he’s no match for the strength of the Iron Monger suit. Much to Tony’s surprise Obadiah has upgraded his suit as well and its now able sustain flight but as a call back to earlier in the film, the Iron Monger suit has an icing problem in higher atmosphere. Tony's suit begins to lose power as they fall back to the roof of the Stark factory. Tony sabotages Obadiah's suit so he cant shoot straight and Obadiah squishes Tony's helmet. Rude. The two men begin to fight with there wits and the bare minimum of their suits. Tony tells pepper to overload the Arch Reactor beneath him and Obadiah and after Tony begs she pushes the bug red button. Boom. Obadiah's suit short circuits and he falls to his death into the Arch Reactor causing it to explode.

I am Iron Man

I gotta give credit to this movies ending. Setting itself up like Tony is going to become your average secret identity super hero but in perfect Tony Stark fashion it subverts that by Tony declaring to the world he is Iron Man. It’s easily one the most memorable moments in all of the MCU. We also get our first name drop of SHIELD here, which at the time blew my mind because up until then super hero movies were so self contained. Credits roll and a Marvel tradition is born as the credits finish and we’re given another scene as Tony walks into his house to see a someone standing in his living room. NICK MF FURY.

“Think you’re the only super hero in the world? Mr.Stark you’ve become part of a bigger universe, you just don’t know it yet.” 

One of the single most important lines in all of the MCU. When I saw this my 15 year old brain melted and while at the time I was ignorant to who owned what in regards to film rights my mouth foamed over the idea of all marvel characters existing together in a shared movie universe. It only took ten years and a couple billion dollars but all the marvel are finally gonna share a universe together.

Does it work?   

With full retrospective Iron Man is your cut and paste Phase 1 MCU origin movie where the bad guy is basically just a different color pallet than the good guy, which is totally fine. There’s a reason they use that formula, it establishes characters perspective and personality along with their skill set to the audience. It could be because it was the first or just the combination of Favreau and RDJ and all the other cogs in the machine but no movie uses that formula better than Iron Man. I’m in awe of how much fun I had with this movie, I highly recommend going back and watching it again if you haven't recently. It holds up as it’s own movie but with the added benefit that you can clearly see how the whole MCU evolved from the style of Iron Man.

VERDICT  

You should already own this, go make some pop corn and watch this./10

[aion-rsa]

The Many Saints of Newark: Undercover Cop Talks About Infiltrating The Real Sopranos

https://ift.tt/3D7KVn1

The Many Saints of Newark has once again brought the crime family at the center of The Sopranos into the spotlight. But Giovanni Rocco had eyes on them for years. Under the alias of “Giovanni Gatto,” the New Jersey police officer was at the center of Operation Charlie Horse, a federal undercover task force that busted a boss and nine crewmembers of New Jersey’s DeCavalcante family, which The Sopranos’ DiMeo family is based on. Giovanni’s Ring: My Life Inside the Real Sopranos, co-written with Douglas Schofield, tells the inside story.

The DeCavalcante family is much more historically embedded in the mob than most people know, going back to the earliest days of the Black Hand and Mafia in America. Giovanni spent nearly three years undercover working his way into the hierarchy. The assignment ended when he was ordered by capo Charlie “the Hat” Stango to hit Luigi “the Dog” Oliveri, a made man, in March 2015.

Giovani turned his house into a fortress for months after the mob takedown. He still lives under the assumed name “Giovanni Rocco” for fear of reprisals against him or his family. Giovanni surfaced to speak with Den of Geek about the crimes, misdemeanors, and the latter-day saints of Newark.

Den of Geek: What years were you in Operation Charlie Horse?

Giovanni Rocco: That was 2012 to 2015.

What was the mob climate like at the time?

Active, it was as active as it’s ever been in New Jersey, and especially with the DeCavalcante, they were as active as they’ve ever been.

On The Sopranos, Carmine Lupertazzi says “Dons don’t wear shorts.” But you have capos having meetings at a pool in Vegas. What’s happening with this thing?

Charlie [Stango, a DeCavalcante family caporegime] had left me a message early on, when I first was introduced to him, and he decided he was going to start talking to me. And abruptly that ended. He had a nightmare, and that nightmare sparked him to turn around and leave me a voicemail saying, “Hey, don’t ever call me back, whatever you’re doing, if it’s illegal, if you’re doing something with my nephew, I want nothing to do with it.”

Knowing Charlie’s criminal history, he was a murderer, he was on parole for murder at the time, he was a gangster’s gangster. That was a very clear message he sent. So, maybe a month, I didn’t have any conversations with him, and I just maintained my criminal activity in the street. He kept his finger on my pulse by asking the Gambinos and people within the DeCavs to check on me, see what I was still doing.

Once he found out that I was still making money in the street, and everybody else was profiting from my actions and our actions together, he wanted back in, because a gangster’s thing is greed, right? Greed drives the underworld. So, he called me out to Vegas, and he wanted me to fly out to his house in Nevada, and he lived right outside the Strip, maybe 20 minutes. That’s why we were in the pool, because he was so suspicious of me at the time. We took off our shirts, we went swimming in the pool, and then once he saw, I guess he was comfortable thinking, “Okay, he can’t possibly be wearing a wire.”

You brought up the nightmare, is there a lot of superstition in the families?

It’s more intuition than superstition, I think. Superstition doesn’t play too many parts, but a guy has his intuition and he usually trusts his gut. And in that world, in the mafia world, that can get you killed in a minute. If I meet you, Tony, and we go out, things are great, then all of a sudden I get this bad feeling about you, now I got this gut feeling you’re not kosher, I can’t shake it. I’ve convinced myself that I don’t like you. And then that really drives the train.

Old school gangsters like Charlie, if they decide that you’re no good to them anymore, you know what I mean, “I’d rather cut my investment, I don’t feel right about this, just get rid of them.” Later on in the book, when I tell the story about the murder, originally it was two people that they wanted me to kill, Luigi at the end. I grew up in this life, I didn’t grow up in a gangster’s life but I was around gangsters enough in my neighborhood that I knew how it worked, and I knew how these guys were a hair trigger. I realized once they gave me the deed to kill Louie, if I didn’t do it fast enough, maybe they’ll look at me as weak, and maybe they’d decide not to do it.

Now, if they changed their mind and they pull the hit, well, what would you do? You’d get rid of me. The administration doesn’t want it getting out there that they’re trying to walk their guys. Because Louie was a made guy in the family at that time. And you get rid of all the evidence. And I was part of that evidence.

If you had done Louie, would that have been your button?

That would have been my button. It was explained to me later on. I even called Charlie out, a few times, I had said to Charlie, for evidentiary purposes, “Well, listen, if I do this, I kill this guy, yeah, that’s a good thing for the family, you all want this, this is what you want, but how does that leave me? I’m a nobody.” At that point in our relationship, he became offended, “What do you mean you’re a nobody? Don’t talk about yourself like that.” “Well, I don’t mean that, Charlie, where does this leave me with everybody? They’re going to come gunning for me, I’m killing a made guy in this family. I’m not a made guy.”

Read more

TV

The Sopranos Didn’t Terminate Robert Patrick, They Busted Him Out

By Tony Sokol

Movies

How The Many Saints of Newark Almost Brought Carmela Soprano Back

By Alec Bojalad and 1 other

And he would get mad, he’d start yelling, “What the fuck are you talking about? You’re with me. You be the man you were born to be, you do what I tell you to do, and don’t worry about it. There’s going to be 50 guys waiting in line to pin medals on your chest.” 

Eventually, he explained to me that the administration was changing hands, a new boss was coming in. It was most likely going to be Charlie “Big Ears” Majuri, who was a longtime member of the family, and he was going to take the seat from John Riggi, who was an elder gentleman, he was a longtime boss for the DeCavs. In November of that year, Charlie was going to get up from capo, possibly, to underboss, and that’s when he explained to me, he pointed to me in his house and said, “You’ll get up and you’ll get made as well” in November, when he was off parole.

I would have been the first to do that, wear that hat. So many came before me, Joe Pistone and Jack Garcia, we all tried to get that. But you can’t let your emotions get into it.

Getting to that point, almost being made, is there a temptation to go to the other side?

For me? No, there was never a temptation for me to go to the other side, because I knew how I lived, I lived a good life. My mother and father worked very hard to provide for us as kids, and they provided me with great morals, and that’s why I went as far as I did in my law enforcement career, that’s why I picked to be a good guy, I didn’t want to be a bad guy.

But it’s tough, when these guys are telling you that they love you, in the Italian culture, which was very familiar to me, and the bond of family is what they portray themselves to be, the gangsters. I identified with that side of it, I identified with their family, that’s why I clicked with their family so much, that’s why they found me, because I was just like one of them. But at this point in my career, I was a mature undercover. So, I was never drawn to their life or their money.

Where do you get 3,000 pills of ecstasy?

You can get them anywhere. I mean, in my career, who have I bought them from as an undercover? We’ve gotten them from Mexico, we’ve gotten them from China, we’ve gotten them from Hasidic Jews in New York. I mean, back in the day, in the 90s, they controlled a lot of the ecstasy coming in. Like any other narcotics industry, it’s out there, you just got to find it.

What are some of the scams that are working today?

Well, the scam changes, but the way they do it doesn’t change. In my neighborhood, everybody, today, it’s still the joke, “Oh, it fell off the back of a truck.” Well, those things still happen. Right? You look at it, and again, we’re talking union sites or construction sites. Now, Louie, I was giving him Timberland boots, and he might’ve been selling those Timberlands and North Face jackets, or whatever it is, materials that I’ve given him, he might be bringing them to a construction site, selling them, and he’s making his piece on it.

You look at everything. Even Bitcoin, they’ll always have a way to make money. Cell phones, technology, technology changes. Back in the day it was penny stock investments. Now it’s Bitcoin. They’ll figure out a way. They’ll massage it and they’ll figure out a way to make money on it, somehow, some way, that never dies.

When I was coming home from The Many Saints of Newark screening, there was a guy selling swag between subway cars.

That doesn’t change. And that guy gets a piece, and the next guy gets a piece, whoever he got it from. You’re dealing with the guy on the street level, where his piece is so small, but he’s just trying to survive, right? But the guys like me who brought it in by the truckload, or if we hijack something, if I brought a container of something in, or they brought a container, you make a bigger piece. If I get it right out of the container, I’m making a little bit more money on the guy that’s on a subway trying to sell it, you know?

You headed a street crew, is doing something like that easier because you had the police and bureau information coming at you?

No, I think it was a little bit harder. We never intended it to go that far into the family. Charlie put me in a specific construction company in New Jersey, because the guy needed help. Charlie put me there as protection. That’s how Charlie tested me. And then as word got back that I was doing a good job representing him, he got to the point where one day he called me up, and he was like, “Well, my son, Anthony could use a job, so get him driving a dump truck for the construction company.” And I did. And then eventually Charlie was like, “You know what? I’m going to put Anthony under you.” And I was taken aback by it. “Well, what do you mean? Number one, what do you mean by putting him under me?” You know?

And I made him explain those things. Because I never came into this saying that I was an expert on organized crime or I knew that life. I might’ve been familiar with some things from watching TV and what I heard as a kid, but I always made it known, I grew up in an outlaw biker culture. I didn’t grow up in an Italian culture like these guys did. So, there were a lot of questions I had from Charlie along the way. What do you mean you’re putting him under me? “Well, what do you think I’m doing here, Giovanni, I’m building a crew with you. I’m building a crew for you. You’re going to lead these guys. You’re driving this ship. You’re steering the ship.”

When I was young, I was a laborer and some jobs were mobbed up. Do you think those jobs were on the radar, could there be one of you sitting outside the carpenters’ shanty?

Could there have been somebody in my family?

No, a cop.

Sure. I mean, yeah. I worked construction on the side as a young cop when I was working narcotics in the beginning of my career. I would work job sites, if I wanted to infiltrate as an undercover, if anybody thought to infiltrate a union. But I don’t think they want to infiltrate the union. They want to infiltrate the crimes that are being committed in the unions. Yeah, that could have been easily done. If we had the cooperation of, let’s say your job site, if I knew there was a guy, we were looking for him, he might ask your job site, “Hey, can I put an undercover in there to look for this guy who’s wanted?” Not in your crew, but in the general area. You could easily infiltrate them. What goes on in the unions still goes on today. The docks in New Jersey and New York, and the ports, anywhere there’s a port job, there’s so much money involved there that the Mafia still has a stronghold on those places.

The Colombo family just got taken down on unions, two weeks ago, I think.

Yeah. And it’s funny, right? They say that the mob has died. The mob’s a dying breed, the mob is this, the mob is that. The mob has never gone away. The mob will never go away, because where there’s moments of social discord like there is today, that’s what the Mafia and the underworld in general feed on. That’s when they become their strongest.

Do you still look over your shoulder, and what precautions do you have to take?

I always look over my shoulder. I’ve always been hypervigilant from the minute I came on the job anyway. I was taught to do that. I take every precaution, even calling you and contacting you, all we had to go through to do that. Yeah. I’m always hypervigilant. My head is always on a swivel. I’m always aware of my surroundings. Things that I did operationally, situational awareness. I try to stay three steps ahead. Because you never know.

What did The Sopranos get right, and what does Donnie Brasco get wrong?

What I wish people would see is, now that I’m in the field of helping first responders and mental health, the message behind The Sopranos was: if you really look at what Tony does every episode, he went and saw his therapist, right? It was so about mental health and him growing up in organized crime. But at the same time, what did organized crime mean to him? How was he dealing with it? His background and how he was forced to grow up. And if you look at it from the mental health point, the two mirror each other, really.

You’re looking at law enforcement, you look at the underworld, all these guys have that persona of a man’s man. “I don’t ask for help, only weak people ask for help,” which is not the case. The Sopranos got that right. I think more people, after watching The Sopranos, if they were struggling with mental health, Tony brought that to the surface, with the Dr. Melfi episodes, the battles of delusion he had and all those things.

I know David Chase says that, and I’ll speak to what he says, The Sopranos is not based on the DeCavalcante family, but there’s so many similarities. Even the day I went on record, as I’m meeting the underboss in the meat market that we were in, it was just like Satriale’s in The Sopranos. And I couldn’t help but think, “I feel like I’m in a Sopranos episode, I feel like I’m going to get dragged into the basement.” I didn’t like the way The Sopranos portrayed Italian culture. They’re not that aggressive.

Joe Pistone, I can’t say there’s much he got wrong. I think in the end, Joe and I, and all of us undercovers, the one thing they got wrong was we didn’t get the thanks and the praise that we needed to get from our FBI counterparts. Joe got a check. I don’t know what Jack Garcia got. And then I got relocated. I’m grateful for the protection that they give me and provide to me.

But in the end, it’s almost as if you feel you did something wrong, because you got unplugged and you had to retire. A lot of people think there’s a lot of glory in it, but there’s not.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Giovanni’s Ring: My Life Inside the Real Sopranos is available now. The Many Saints of Newark premieres in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, Oct. 1.

The post The Many Saints of Newark: Undercover Cop Talks About Infiltrating The Real Sopranos appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[rain-drop-sky]

As a prompt could Sid and Geno do a reality show

It’s a brand new reality/celebrity/travel/game show mashup where contestants are assigned into random pairs and are forced to learn and work together as a team over the course of 3 weeks while completing various tasks around the world, all while being filmed 24/7. All the contestants are celebrities of some sort and they’re each competing for a 3 million dollar prize to go to a charity of their choice.

Geno is the beloved captain of the two time Stanley Cup Champions Pittsburgh Penguins. He has smashed hockey records left and right and together with his close friend Alexander Ovechkin, led Russia to gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Sid first started out as a self-taught cooking channel on Youtube and endeared himself to the public with his earnest instructions and series on cooking with a tight budget and limited equipment. His dream was to go to culinary school and when his fans found out, they donated money to help with his tuition costs. Combined with his ad revenue and sponsorship deals, he’s able to attend and graduates at the top of his class from the International Culinary Centre. He now owns and runs a Michelin Star farm-to-table restaurant located in NYC

As a teaser, the show releases snippets of each celebrity’s audition tape to join the show. Some are the standard polite “Hi, my name is ___ and I’m signing up to raise money for ____.” staged puff pieces with stylish clothing, bright natural light, and minimalist sets. Some, usually younger indie celebrities, film their audition tapes while doing something extreme. One teenaged singer filmed himself shrieking his audition lines while bungee jumping.

But there are two that go viral. The first is of Evgeni Malkin laughing as he squirms on a barstool wearing a bright Pens jersey. “Why I need do this, you already bought me dinner yesterday and I say yes Ilya,” Geno says to someone off-camera. A muffled voice tells Geno exasperatedly to just do the intro, they need it for the show. Geno sighs dramatically and looks to the camera. “Hi, my name is Geno Malkin. I play a little hockey. My friend run this show and is very sad–” “Hey!” an outraged voice cuts in while sounds of laughter can be heard off-camera. “–very sad, so he beg and promise me fancy dinner if I join the team. This isn’t an audition Ilya if I’m guaranteed a spot! Fake!” Geno shouts, sticking his tongue out cheekily. He’s still laughing as he’s pelted with wadded up paper and the camera cuts off as a short dark haired man walks into the frame, “screw you Zhenya, this is my show and you will stop being a pest–” The second looks like a real tv show trailer - there are elegant shots of of New York City and the interior of a rustic restaurant along sharp crisp shots of cooking and food prep. Interspersed are candid clips of a smiling man. “My name is Sidney Crosby.” “I’m the owner-chef of Alexandre here in New York City.” “Supporting youth outreach programs and homeless youth shelters is very important to me.” The official audition tape ends with a shot of Sidney’s hand sliding a beautiful entree into frame but a clip is attached to end where a much more rumpled looking Sidney Crosby is in the kitchen and frowning at the camera as he wipes his hands with a dish towel. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember signing up for a reality tv show. Are you sure you have the right person?” A hand holds out an ipad and he watches the tape shown earlier. “Wait, I remember this shot. And this one. Wait, where’s Tanger?” He twists around. “Tanger? TANGER. DID YOU SIGN ME UP FOR REALITY TV YOU *BEEP*” He looks over his shoulder apologetically. “Sorry, kitchens don’t really have clean language. KRISTOPHER.” The camera cuts to a new scene where a pretty man in chef whites and long shiny hair gives a very Gallic shrug. “I have a talent for editing along with cooking I suppose.” He smiles slyly. “You’re dying to get him on though aren’t you?”

Geno and Sid are paired up and awkwardly introduce themselves to each other. Sid hasn’t really followed any sports aside from his sister’s gymnastic meets since he quit hockey as a kid after having his leg broken twice by other vengeful kids in the local leagues. Geno doesn’t care or have much opinion on food aside that Russian food is best and steak is mandatory before games. He’s confused and wonders how on earth Sid runs a farm with a fully functioning restaurant in the middle of Manhattan until Sid explains what farm-to-table means. “I’m no clotheshorse like you but even I know Eurotrash is never in style and Jesus, he was wearing a shirt made up of 3 different shirts poorly stitched together,” Sid hisses into the phone to Tanger. “Does it make him or me look more like an ass when he can’t keep up with me during physical activities?” Geno muses to Sasha. “He’s a chef, I highly doubt he walks more than a couple kilometres a day.”

All the show pairings are a bit lopsided to be fair. Some pairs start off being overly polite and not wanting to step on any toes while some are instantaneously comfortable and ooze charisma. Some fail at everything spectacularly, aiming for comedic relief, and even a few agree to be the (comparatively mild) villains that all reality shows need for ratings. Sid and Geno start off as one of the polite teams until Geno forgets himself and screams “DRIVE FASTER SID, WHAT ARE YOU, BLIND GRANDPA? DON’T LET *BEEP* TONY AND ELEANOR BEAT US *BEEP*” while Sid first drives a Zamboni in the relay race. “WHO’S A SLOW *BEEP* NOW, YOU’RE PAID TO BE FAST. SOME *BEEP BEEP* HOME ADVANTAGE YOU’RE PROVING TO BE” Sid yells back when Geno tries to gun it on his turn. “I’m so happy you competitive too,” Geno says as afterwards when they’re the first and only team to make it onto a flight to Alaska. “I’m a chef, we’re all hypercompetitive control freaks.” Sid replies. The ice is broken from then on. “I’m impress with how much swear,” Geno comments as they’re setting up a tent in Costa Rica. “Have you never seen a cooking show?” Sid snorts. “We’re not PG at all. There’s a reason why studios don’t do live shows in real kitchens.” He looks directly into the camera and grins sunnily. “*Beep beep beep* and *beep beeeep* you *beeeeeeeep*” Geno looks at him with admiration. “Need to use that on team,” he declares.

Sid and Geno quickly become fan favourites. The show has some pacing issues and a few pairs never end up with any appealing chemistry but Sid and Geno make the show rocket to the top of viewership ratings and become meme lords on their own. “No Geno, don’t pet!” “But it’s cute!” becomes one of the show’s taglines. The internet delights in making memes and gifs of Geno cradling any kind of animal declaring “It’s cute so I pet!” while Sid facepalms to the side. Viewers comment online how much chemistry the two have and how adorable they are together. Fans lose their mind when Geno cries on camera when they get to meet real emperor penguins. “I’m sorry Ilya for make fun of you,” he sniffles as he carefully pets a patient penguin. “You best friend. Best.”

They unfortunately don’t win and exit the show as the third to last team. They lost their original 4 hour lead due to a freak storm that grounded all flights from their terminal. Fans are devastated and the producers try to cushion the blow by including an extra clip of Geno and Sid parting ways before returning to their regular lives. “Keep in touch, okay Sid? Have to come watch and cheer on Pens when we come crush Rangers at Madison Square Gardens.” Geno says seriously as he holds onto Sid’s shoulders. “I’ll feed you steak before your games,” Sid promises. They hug tightly and the episode ends there before they step apart.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Ask various prominent news outlets. Accounts are set up to track where Sid and Geno are spotted and whether or not they’re still in touch. Nothing seems to go on between the two of them although Geno puts out a press release after pledging 3 million dollars to support research at Children’s Hospital of UPMC and assisting families of sick children. When asked, he shrugs and answers “joined show to raise money for hospital. Didn’t win but I’m still hockey player. Pittsburgh always support me so I’m want to give back.” Sid is featured in New York Times when he does a feature on a new week-long limited menu that will be featured at Alexandre’s come November. “All profits will be donated and split between Big Brothers Big Sisters and local homeless youth shelters,” Sid states. “Although I didn’t win, I still want to donate and support youth in our city.” Fans are disappointed when it appears the “It’s Cute!” ship has sunk until a picture appears on Geno’s instagram account. Best Friends )))) is the caption under a shadowed picture of Geno and Sid grinning in Moscow. An investigative frenzy launches but it turns out that Geno did a late post and Sid is long gone from Russia. There’s a buzz night of the first Rangers/Pens game in New York and dedicated fans capture Evgeni Malkin stepping into Alexandre’s and getting the pre-game steak he was promised. He leads the Pens to a 5-1 victory while Sid watches by the glass, netting himself a natural hat trick along the way.

Two years later, Sid announces he’ll be opening a new restaurant, Sophia, in Pittsburgh. When asked, he responds that his restaurants are named after his sous-chef and business partner Kris Letang’s children. When further pressed, he smiles and says he has friends in Pittsburgh who made a convincing case for opening his new restaurant here. No official comments are made though Geno and the rest of the Pens are seen often frequenting Sophia and Sid can always be spotted at home games and Pens events. Nine months later, an eagle-eyed fan spots and tweets a picture of a silver band topped with a sizeable diamond glittering on Sid’s left hand as he cheers at Geno’s game winning overtime goal.

Send me an anonymous (or not) summary of the fic you wish I would write starting off with ‘I wish you would write a fic where…’. (maybe I will write a tidbit)

[placetobenation]

Whither the WWE Draft. A double-edged sword it has always been for the WWE, especially this year.

On one hand, it’s an awesome way to generate a two-night event on both RAW and SmackDown and an even better way to reset the roster. After all, we can all agree that RAW could use a breath of fresh air after the past month or two of SmackDown kicking its ass week after week.

Yet, on the other hand, this year’s draft comes in the midst of the build-up to the Hell in a Cell PPV in two weeks. Moving superstars around before the PPV might signal a way for feuds to end or for storylines to just disappear. It looks like that even though draft choices are announced, they don’t go into full effect until after the PPV. So there, it’s good news and bad news in some cases. We’ll break down night one below in our SmackDown recap. Still, we’ll get more over social media over the weekend and then on night two on Monday Night RAW.

Overall, for night one, here’s how it went down as The Draft takes our Star of the Week spot this week.

Round 1:

Round 1 of the 2020 #WWEDraft is in the books!

#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/AzFPo5TAoS

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

Round 2:

Some BIG MOVES just went down in Round 2 of the 2020 #WWEDraft!

#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/HMfdmRhYvH

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

Round 3:

Round 3⃣ of the 2020 #WWEDraft

#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/aeBMwrUekX

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

Round 4:

Round 4 of the #WWEDraft is a SHOCKER.

#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/ARVkJ5n1oH

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

RAW

RESULTS

Asuka, Mandy Rose & Dana Brooke defeated Natalya, Lana & Zelina Vega

Seth Rollins & Murphy defeated Dominik Mysterio & Humberto Carrillo

Exhibition Match: Braun Strowman vs. Keith Lee ended in double count-out

24/7 Championship: Drew Gulak defeated R-Truth / R-Truth defeated Drew Gulak

Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin defeated Ricochet & Apollo Crews

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax defeated The Riott Squad

Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler defeated Drew McIntyre & The Street Profits

Overall:

Is that a smile on @RandyOrton's face? You better believe it, because #TheViper just PINNED #WWEChampion @DMcIntyreWWE! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/CgBOnN0t6a

— WWE (@WWE) October 6, 2020

There were some bright spots, but for what seems like every Monday night for a month, RAW is disjointed and not clicking on all cylinders like its NXT and SmackDown counterparts. The main event was very good, as it should be with the talent in it. But, most did not. The two women’s tag team matches did little to impress. A good idea with Lee vs. Strowman was poorly executed. And, do we really need more 24/7 title changes between the same three guys? At least, Mustafa Ali got a spotlight!

Finally:

Disciple no more?! The budding tension between @WWE_Murphy and @WWERollins has finally come to a head! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/Akv8ozTayY

— WWE (@WWE) October 6, 2020

Disciple, I am not – Thankfully, we’ve finally gotten to the stage of the Seth Rollins and Murphy relationship where Murphy has decided to not take The Monday Night Messiah’s message any longer. Now, with Aalyah Mysterio by his side, he’s ready to take Rollins down. Got to wonder who Seth will get now to replace him. After all, the Messiah needs his minions. BTW: What is the WWE’s fascination with kendo sticks?

Interesting:

Some dreams die so others can live. pic.twitter.com/lxlpms4vX7

— Mustafa Ali / Adeel Alam (@AliWWE) October 6, 2020

Ali, the leader – RETRIBUTION has a leader now and his name is Mustafa Ali. A curious decision by WWE to have Ali, who’s been blowing in the wind the past few months with no real direction, but this one puts him squarely out front of one of their bigger angles. We know he has the skills in the ring, does he have them on the mic as the leader? I’m interested enough to find out and that’s a good thing considering RETRIBUTION was a laughing stock just two weeks ago.

Huh:

Rematch, please.#WWERaw @RealKeithLee @BraunStrowman pic.twitter.com/NwaCpr6eS8

— WWE (@WWE) October 6, 2020

Lee vs. Strowman – An exhibition match? WTF is that?! What a waste of our time. Especially with the draft starting this Friday on SmackDown, it makes no sense to do things like this and worse yet, end them in double count-outs. This only solidifies that Lee or Strowman are moving to move this feud along. Now, having said all that, the spot off the ramp was pretty cool.

NXT

RESULTS

Tommaso Ciampa defeated KUSHIDA by DQ

Drake Maverick & Killian Dain defeated Ever-Rise

Austin Theory defeated Leon Ruff

Dexter Lumis defeated Austin Theory

Ridge Holland defeated Danny Burch

Shotzi Blackheart defeated Xia Li

Ember Moon & Rhea Ripley defeated Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez

LOVED IT:

Capitol Wrestling Center – Triple H was right, this is a game changer! Getting NXT out of Full Sail and into the revamped Performance Center complete with a combination of live fans and the Thunderdome experience is an absolutely home run. Looks amazing. Sounds real, loud and LIVE. Well done!

Three’s a crowd:

RAGE. #WWENXT @NXTCiampa @KUSHIDA_0904 pic.twitter.com/8EA5ivz8UV

— WWE (@WWE) October 8, 2020

KUSHIDA vs. Ciampa – Loved the opening match between KUSHIDA and Tommaso Ciampa! That is up until the point where The Velveteen Dream needlessly interfered. I get it, their feuding, but let’s not bow down to the lowest common denominator. Have him attach AFTER the match. DQ finishes are lazy, especially in this day and age. The new attitude of KUSHIDA is really awesome to watch and I’m looking forward to a rematch between these two or if they want a triple threat with a clean finish. Even the new look works for KUSHIDA with the jeans. Gives him an EDGE.

Ready to Fight:

NOW HOLD ON A MINUTE!@RealKingRegal has made the following tag team match official for TONIGHT on #WWENXT: @RheaRipley_WWE & @WWEEmberMoon vs. @DakotaKai_WWE & @RaquelWWE TONIGHT! pic.twitter.com/1ZK2OJYWHc

— WWE (@WWE) October 8, 2020

E

C

L

I

P

S

E To say we "missed" this move is an UNDERSTATEMENT. @WWEEmberMoon secures the victory for herself & @RheaRipley_WWE on #WWENXT! @DakotaKai_WWE @RaquelWWE pic.twitter.com/dp90sHCLeW

— WWE (@WWE) October 8, 2020

Ember vs. Io: What’s better than Io Shirai getting ready to take on the returning Ember Moon? Well, how about adding Rhea Ripley and Dakota Kai to the mix! And speaking of additions. That was a pretty sweet video re-introduction of Toni Storm to the NXT American audience. Things are looking up for the women’s division in NXT, a division that was already one of the best going in the biz! A welcome sight to see Moon getting over in the main event too after battling all the back, missing over a year, from that Achilles injury. There’s a good moon a rising folks!

Bad asses:

Wishing you a speedy recovery, @RidgeWWE. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/FqFwtSCsbA

— WWE (@WWE) October 8, 2020

Dexter & Ridge – It seems like we got a pair of NXT bad asses, one good, one bad. Dexter Lumis and Ridge Holland are taking no prisoners these days. Holland has his sights set a bit higher after his attack on Adam Cole at NXT:TakeOver 31. Or should we say HAD his sights set on Adam Cole. After trying to catch Danny Burch from his over the top rope leap after their match, Holland got stretchered out with ankle, knee and tendon injuries. Tough break there for a guy who was about to get a big break. It would’ve been nice to see Holland and Lumis team up at Halloween Havoc in a spin the wheel, make the deal match. 

Hated it:

Short stuff – What’s up all the short matches? Austin Theory with a pair of them, plus Holland, Lumis and Shotzi Blackheart all went less than four minutes. Seems like a bit of forced stuff trying to get everyone in there instead of quantity.

Planting seeds:

.@JohnnyGargano & @CandiceLeRae are really starting to like @indi_hartwell. Bright future… 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/4DT14PwsIT

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) October 8, 2020

Indi & Xia – Nice piece of work by Indi Hartwell, sending the Garganos a big screen tv so they can watch her helping out Candice LeRae during the #1 Contenders Battle Royale. Looks like Candice may have a new pet. As for Xia, what was in that letter from Boa? Hmmmmmm….. sure seemed upset.

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Big E defeated Sheamus

Jeff Hardy & Matt Riddle defeated The Miz & John Morrison

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Sasha Banks defeated Bayley by DQ; Bayley retains title

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day defeated Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura to win the titles

The Fiend defeated Kevin Owens

LOVED IT:

No disqualifications, no count-outs, 𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚! It’s #FallsCountAnywhere rules in this heated battle between @WWEBigE and @WWESheamus! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/duv4lFoKKy

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

DAMN – That Falls Count Anywhere match between Big E and Sheamus was everything I wanted it to be. Physical as hell. Fun and messy. Weapons-filled with kendo sticks (of course), duct tape, cars, flour & eggs and cars (of course). Plus, the right guy went over! And how about the welts and the marks and the blood left all over Sheamus’ pale white body. Felt that even through the TV!

“It didn’t have to be like this.”@WWERomanReigns has officially challenged Jey @WWEUsos to an #IQuit Match inside Hell in a Cell! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/KaHqROpqTa

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

Roman ups the stakes – Not only do we get Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso, part 2 in a Hell in a Cell match, but this time, for the first time ever, it’ll be an I Quit match too! Roman is making sure that if he beats up his cousin again, he’ll have to say it to the Tribal Leader’s face.

…#SmackDown #TheFiend @AlexaBliss_WWE @WWEBrayWyatt pic.twitter.com/xz5GqgRJih

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

Fiendish Friday Night Fight – Kevin Owens against The Fiend in his first match on SmackDown was exactly what we expected. Two guys that don’t exactly look like they should be able to do what they do, but they do and giving us our money’s worth in a main event while they do it. Have to hope that these two, along with Alexa Bliss, end up on the same show after night 2 of the WWE Draft so we can see it again!  

The Draft, Night 1:

What they got right:

Seth Rollins moving to SmackDown – The Monday Night Messiah gig was getting old. Will it get new life on Friday night’s? Or will Rollins join up or take on old friend Roman Reigns and the Universal Championship?

The Miz & John Morrison to RAW – The Miz on USA Network makes perfect sense considering his two shows there including Miz & Mrs. that returns next month. Plus, the two were getting stale and becoming pushovers on Friday night.

Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston to RAW – This will bring some new energy to Monday nights, along with some fun. They should’ve brought all 3 members of The New Day to RAW though.

What they got wrong:

AJ Styles – He must really not like Paul Heyman, right? Why trade him to SmackDown a few months ago only to draft him back? Makes little sense.

Rey & Dominik Mysterio to SmackDown – Once Seth Rollins said he was glad to not have to see the Mysterios again, you knew they were getting drafted to Friday nights. Too bad, the paternity storyline is tired! Murphy joins them too after a Saturday morning draft announcement.

BREAKING NEWS: The New Day has been split up due to the #WWEDraft! pic.twitter.com/gCsnWM93SR

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) October 10, 2020

Breaking up The New Day – Hated it. For obvious reasons, the trio of Big E, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston should stay together on the same show. Sometimes, you just don’t have to change things. And oh yeah, what about those new titles that Woods & Kingston just won? They said titles go with the superstars, so….??? Makes me think The Street Profits are headed to Friday night and a switch of champions could be in the offing.

Broetry in motion:

@LarsSWWE is HERE!! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/NNJCryF7YC

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

Jeff & Matt together again – No, it’s not a Hardy Boys reunion, but Riddle & Hardy looking good with a win over The Miz & Morrison before a returning Lars Sullivan beat up both teams. The Friday night Freak is back to terrorize the WWE. Here’s hoping he stays for a bit longer this time. We’ll have to wait until Monday night to see where he gets drafted to on night two of the WWE Draft.

Champion’s advantage:

Bayley – Brilliant move by Bayley, getting herself disqualified in order to keep her title against Sasha Banks. The aftermath was better than the match as the two former besties tried to get the best of each other with that vaunted chair. Up next, Hell in a Cell for these BFFs.

Welcome back, it’s a New Day!

#AndNEW!!!!! #SmackDown @TrueKofi @AustinCreedWins @WWEBigE pic.twitter.com/l6y8Lq7nF7

— WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2020

Woods & Kofi return – Xavier Woods missed almost a year with an Achilles tendon injury. Kofi Kingston missed almost three months with undisclosed injuries at Extreme Rules: Horror Show. Both are back to take over the tag team division and it was oh so good to see the Dynamic Duo back together while Big E takes out Sheamus. Kinda cool to see them get right back at it with a title victory over the SmackDown Champs, Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura. Can you say 9-time Champs!

Parting Shots:

I love having Halloween Havoc to return on NXT the Wednesday before Halloween. I love even more that it will be hosted by Shotzi Blackheart. Now, just give me a night of Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal and I’ll be ecstatic!

Hell in a Cell PPV – Updated Card:

WWE Championship Hell in a Cell Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton

Universal Championship Hell in a Cell I Quit Match: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso

SmackDown Women’s Championship Hell in a Cell Match: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks

Coming up this week:

RAW: WWE Superstar Draft – Night 2

NXT: TBD

SMACKDOWN: Season premiere Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman The New Day’s Farewell Match: The New Day vs. Sheamus, Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

[therummesoccupied]

A Swing and a Hit - A Review of Spider-Man: Homecoming

           Many say that the superhero movie genre is getting tired, that the market’s oversaturated and that we’ve been flooded with too many context-dependant “cinematic universes.” To a degree, this is true. It’s astounding how much you needed to know about the universes and lore behind DC Comics before seeing Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice in order to even begin to understand the movie, let alone the information provided by the context set up in Man of Steel. Legendary Pictures is now gearing up for the third installment of their “MonsterVerse,” all leading up to a climactic standoff between monster film icons Godzilla and King Kong, and Universal Studios has been trying for years to re-establish its own movie monster universe, most recently with the apparent blunder that was The Mummy. However, one cannot have the conversation about the cinematic universe craze without discussing Marvel’s own “Marvel Cinematic Universe,” or as we have all come to know it, the MCU. The MCU is set apart from its competitors however, by a number of factors. One of which is history – the fact that the MCU was built from a single superhero movie, and has been introducing new characters and elements piece-by-piece organically since 2008. Another factor is the varying “flavors” of the movies. While each story certainly feels like it shares a world with the rest, the vast majority of the films are noticeably different from the others, making each stand out well enough to make watching any one of them on its own an enjoyable experience without feeling the need to marathon them all. The last characteristic factor of the MCU is organization, with Marvel splitting its stories up into “Phases,” or groups that all build up to climactic crossovers like The Avengers, sort of like seasons of a television show; this, I have found, is the most enjoyable way to look at these films. No one gets upset about needing the context from past episodes to fully understand the season finale of their favorite prime-time sitcom, and I honestly think to continue to apply that formula in the world of film is a daring and profitable move on Marvel’s part.

           Now, the latest installment in Marvel’s “cinematic television series” is Spider-Man: Homecoming, a solo flick centering around Marvel’s main posterboy, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Many fans feel this piece has been a long time coming, with Spidey’s movie rights being held on lockdown for several years by Fox. After working out a deal on the rights, however, the web-slinger was able to join the party, first appearing in Captain America: Civil War. While Civil War’s context plays directly into Homecoming, the movie is not strictly required reading in order to get the general jist of the film’s plot. Peter Parker is given a new and improved spider-suit by Tony Stark and shipped back to New York City to continue his street-level super-heroics, but feels the need to prove himself capable of being a fully fledged Avenger. Tom Holland returns as Parker, bringing with him an energy that is a breath of truly fresh air to the MCU. Up until now, every hero we’ve seen has been unswervingly mature or noble or cocky or smart or something. Whatever a hero in the MCU is, they’re supremely confident and grounded in their character, making them seem always sure of whatever they’re saying or doing. Holland’s Spider-Man is able to bring a believable uncertainty to his character, always questioning his next move or the words that leave his mouth. Peter Parker is a teenager, and he’s going through a turbulent time in his life. On top of his typical puberty-ridden crises, he’s also got superheroing to worry about. Honestly, neither Toby MacGuire nor Andrew Garfield were able to bring this youthful conflict to the character, and when they did, it came off as the moans of a worker who simply didn’t like their job, because, simply put, Toby was too old and Andrew was too cool. Tom Holland has an astoundingly pretty face for 21, and has no trouble passing for a 15 year old, and he’s simply too adorable to be the cool guy. Sorry, Tom. Whatever the case, “conflicted geek kid” seemed to fit Holland like a glove. Holland’s performance was supplemented by the rest of Parker’s high-school crew, namely Jacob Batalon and Zendaya, who portray characters Ned and Michelle respectively. Neither of them are quite present enough to overtake the film, but both are able to contribute to Parker’s youthful energy enough to remind us that Peter is, in fact, a real high schooler. Part of the problem with past Spider-Man films is the lack of many school elements in Parker’s life. His relationship with others is usually limited to Aunt May and an obligatory love interest. We were never shown that Peter had a real boy’s life away from the red tights, and the simple act of giving him some friends was more than enough to ground this film in the hormone ridden halls of late childhood.

           Peter is also helped along by his mentor figure, Tony Stark, continuing to be played by acclaimed actor and MCU icon, Robert Downey Jr. Before the film was released, I heard a lot of talk about from folks worrying that RDJ might steal the show. Rest assured, fellow viewers, the Armored Avenger hardly occupies the screen for ten minutes of this entire movie. I’d thank the people upstairs, too, as there is something… off… about RDJ’s performance. He comes off as a bit more calm and mature than usual, almost dad-like, which I suppose might be the angle they were going for, but it doesn’t seem to suit Stark well. In the past, Stark takes every opportunity he can to be snide and mean-spirited unless an issue is serious enough to truly upset him. Giving Peter his “son, I’m disappointed in you” talk while neither making an inappropriate joke nor raising his voice just seems very out of character for him. It seemed like Downey was given a choice to be either too hard or too soft on Peter, but chose to fall somewhere in the middle, which, while a suitable choice, didn’t seem to be quite the right one.

           Speaking of old superheroes, Michael Keaton, popular within the genre for Tim Burton’s Batman and the odd commentary, Birdman, takes another center-stage role as the film’s main antagonist, Adrian Toomes, who fans will recognize as classic Spider-Man villain: The Vulture. Keaton manages to bring one of the first genuinely intimidating auras to the MCU I’ve seen. The character’s motivations are ones I’m sure we’ve all seen before, aging labor worker gets ripped off by rich folks and takes matters into his own hands by undergoing criminal activity to support his family, truly and dangerously believing he’s in the right the whole time. The difference comes once the plot twist concerning the character is shown, which I won’t spoil, but I’ll say it makes him seem all the more real as a person, somehow making him much, much scarier.

           Visually, the film is largely standard MCU fare. Vibrant, bright colors, over-the-top action scenes, and interesting spins on the more mundane scenes so they never get to be boring. I suppose that there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. One of the things that sets this movie apart from other MCU flicks is the way it does motion. Being a Spider-Man film, a great emphasis is placed on the way Spider-Man moves – fluid, not-quite erratic flips, and clever use of momentum give this film’s action scenes a very unique visual flavor. Unfortunately, not much of this is ground that hasn’t been covered in Spider-Man films made in the past. What this one does that the others did not, however, is give us a view of New York City we don’t see in a whole lot of movies. The joke is often made among comic enthusiasts, “how would Spider-Man get around if there weren’t tall buildings for him to swing around on?” Honestly, neither TV Show, comic book, nor movie have really addressed this query up till now. This film seems to make a point of showing Spider-Man in places that are not Times Square. We see Spider Man in the back alleys, and in the suburbs where we are welcomed by the familiar sights of grass, trees, and even the occasional wooden fence. Getting to see Spidey operate somewhere other than the crowded city streets was a welcome surprise.

           In addition to settings, I adored the look of the outfits, especially the spider-suit. When it was first announced that Spider-Man would be joining the MCU, I was skeptical – I had been disillusioned with Spider-Man for years (which just goes to show how well Tom Holland did to bring me back). As soon as I saw the spider-suit, though, my doubts almost completely washed away. The classic look, the bright colors, the expressive eyes, everything about it was quintessentially the great Spider-Man I remembered from my childhood – with a few touches of modern flair that only helped to make the suit look even better. We also got a much better look at Peter’s old spider-suit from when he was introduced in Civil War, and I’m just as in love with it - a clever visual reference to the Scarlet Spider design from the comics that manages to be both fun to look at and functional. A third spider-suit shortly appears in the film - an ugly, armored contraption reminiscent of DC’s mislead New 52 designs that I’m so, so glad doesn’t get used. As I said before, don’t fix what isn’t broken.

           The movie’s story and themes, while easy to follow, lead to a couple confusing conclusions. There is not a single reference to Uncle Ben or the line “With great power comes great responsibility” in the entire film, and while I’m glad I didn’t have to sit through Spider-Man’s origin story again, I’m a little disappointed that the very core of Spider-Man’s character was never brought up in Spidey’s first solo step into the MCU. Still, the concept of responsibility is one of the central themes of the movie… I think. The movie spends a lot of time emphasizing that Peter isn’t ready to become an Avenger because he steps outside of his boundaries and tries to solve problems that aren’t his to handle, and at the end of the film, he redeems himself by… beating the bad guy he’s been told several times not to take on? I suppose one could interpret the movie’s core message as “to achieve greatness, one must be great.” Spidey must grow as a hero to accomplish the task before him and save the day, and by acting recklessly before he was ready, he screws up pretty bad. It’s only once he’s accepted the risk and responsibility that comes with being a hero that he can show how great he truly is. It’s a simple enough conclusion to understand, I guess, but it takes some effort to get there that the movie could have easily lessened with a bit of dialogue change or shift in focus.

           Still, the movie manages to tell a strong and effective story with the most relatable Spider-Man to date. I couldn’t tell you whether Spider-Man: Homecoming is the best Spider-Man film out there, but its performers certainly bring a unique and youthful presence to it and its visuals manage to meld old and new together to create an impressively fitting and engaging look at the world of everyone’s favorite webhead. With effective characters and a compelling setting, the challenge and fun of the story fall right into place – giving the movie a fantastic tone that falls somewhere between the excitement and adventure of The Avengers and the endearingly comedic romp that is Guardians of the Galaxy. Spider-Man has found himself fitting right in with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I’m glad to see my friendly neighborhood hero come home.

[newyorktheater]

Cast members Taylor Swift and Jennifer Hudson at CATS NYCmovie premiere

A new NYC marketing gimmick for the movie CATS is putting cats ears on cabs

Cast member Rebel Wilson and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber at CATS movie premiere

The cast of the movie ‘Cats’ attends The World Premiere of Cats, presented by Universal Pictures on December 16, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)

The NYC premiere of CATS the movie caps a week in which Broadway, with no more openings this year, seems to have migrated to the screen.

The first trailer for the “In the Heights” movie

Jason Alexander as a blacklisted playwright talking to Mrs. Maisel’s father in “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”

What The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel gets wrong about Broadway

Why is Stephen Sondheim Karoake in All Our Movies Now?

YouTube clip of Jennifer Hudson singing Memory from the movie

  The Improbable Insanity of Cats:

Andrew Lloyd Webber first had the idea for “Cats” in the l:ate seventies. He grew bored one day during the technical rehearsals for “Evita” and got to thinking about writing music for existing lyrics, something he’d never done. Maybe he could use a book of poems—say, that old T. S. Eliot book his mom used to read to him….

The idea proved anything but irresistible. No one wanted to finance the project: the show’s producer, Cameron Mackintosh, had to solicit small-fry investors through newspaper ads; Lloyd Webber took out a second mortgage to make up the ultimate shortfall. He had composed an epic, genre-spanning score, using a Moog synthesizer to imitate meowing, but, when he played it for Twyla Tharp, hoping that she would choreograph what would have to be a very dance-heavy musical…Tharp said no. A director candidate fell asleep while Lloyd Webber was pitching him. A Warner Brothers executive reminded him that half the world favored dogs.

“You make a living with movies and TV and it’s alright; it’s better than heavy lifting. But theater is fun.” – actor Orson Bean, 91, who’s playing a cardinal in a local California production of Bad Habits. “My secret to longevity is gratitude. The longer I live, the more grateful I become.”

The Best of  2019

Favorite New York Stage Performances of 2019

Top 10 Lists of Top 10 New York Theater

  The Week in New York Theater Previews and Reviews

Radio City Musical Hall Christmas Spectacular

Holiday Shows

This holiday season in New York means at least ten Christmas Carols, including one this year on Broadway, and 15 Nutcracker Suites.  Holiday shows in the city range from family fare to offbeat satires and even off-color burlesque,  many of which return year after year.

Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven

Wanda Wheels bristles when Mateo calls her “kind” in this sprawling, funny, foul-mouthed, messy, moving ensemble piece, Stephen Adly Guirgis’s first new play in New York since his Pulitzer Prize winning Between Riverside and Crazy five years ago. “Don’t pin a ‘kindness’ target on me,” Wanda says. “There’s a place for kindness. It’s not here.”

Here is Hope House, a government-funded temporary residence in New York City for women who have been cruelly treated in life and now are junkies, drunks, ex-cons, former hookers, or mentally ill, or just New Yorkers who have nowhere else to go. Over the course of the three hour play, we come to learn more about their complicated lives, and wind up sharing the affection the playwright feels for them, even as they curse each other, confront one another, furtively drink or take drugs, get physically violent. But there is kindness too; it’s just in disguise….

Greater Clements

There’s a joke Maggie and her son Joe like to tell on their tours of the local mine in Samuel D. Hunter’s latest play: “Guy falls down into the mine. His boss yells at him, ‘did you break anything?’ Guy shouts back, “only rocks down here, sir, not much to break.”

But as Greater Clements makes movingly clear, even when there’s nothing left, there’s always enough to break…It’s surely no accident that even Maggie and Joe’s family name enforces their sense of isolation, and of doom – Bunker. The play is rich with such symbolism

Randy Danson as Linda, a medium and Emily Cass McDonnell as her friend Hilda

  The Thin Place

“The Thin Place” is a thin play by Lucas Hnath about a woman named Hilda whose grandmother had believed in being able to communicate with the dead, which sets Hilda on her own psychic journey.

The Week in New York Theater News

  Ticketing innovations:

Broadway Plus One

What began as “Slave Play” playwright Jeremy O. Harris to corral his rich friends to subsidize tickets for his artist friends who couldn’t afford Broadway tickets has become a formal program: At checkout people can now add $25+ to their order for “Slave Play” to buy tickets for others who can’t afford them. The tickets are then distributed through a number of non profit partners including Broadway For All.

Amazon Alexa can now do more than just turn on your lights by voice command, or play a song from Cats. You can now order tickets to Phantom of the Opera on it as well.

For just $2 more, theatergoers to “Jagged Little Pill” can purchase a digital copy of the cast album when they buy tickets to weekday performances through July 2, 2020 before December 31, 2019

Eden Espinosa, Alex Newell, and Jessica Vosk will share the role of “Narrator” in the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center on February 17, 2020

  The Wooster Group’s Endless Work in Progress

A novelist hangs out with the Wooster Group in its 44th year “to grasp the inner workings of genius” in Harpers Magazine

Here was the theater I’d been waiting for. The actors spoke directly into microphones, facing front, like singers. The technicians running the show were visible, with their equipment, though they were often in costume themselves, and even spoke lines. Video, music, lighting, dance, speech, and action went off with amazing precision, while still feeling as though it was all being freshly improvised. Seeing them was like seeing a favorite band, and over the years I went to every performance I could. I became convinced that Liz LeCompte was one of our greatest living artists.

  Rest in Peace

Danny Aiello, 86, an Oscar-nominated actor for Do the Right Thing, was a veteran of seven Broadway productions in 11 years. His roles included the macho South Philadelphia father in the hit comedy “Gemini” (1977), for which he had already won an Obie Award for the play’s Off Broadway run; a violent tough guy in “Hurlyburly,” in which he replaced Harvey Keitel in 1985; and a Hollywood director clinging to his past in “The House of Blue Leaves” (1986). Describing his preparation as an actor, he said: “One minute before I go on, I look up at heaven and say, ‘Mama, don’t let me make a fool of myself.’

Richard Easton, 86, 24-time veteran of Broadway, Tony winning actor for Tom Stoppard’s ” Invention of Love”

  Dancer and Actor Jack Burns, 14 

    CATS Crazy. The Best of 2019. Ticketing Innovations. #Stageworthy News of the Week The NYC premiere of CATS the movie caps a week in which Broadway, with no more openings this year, seems to have migrated to the screen.

[ultrasfcb-blog]

World Cup 2018: Germany strolling a tightrope - Cesc Fabregas column

World Cup 2018: Germany strolling a tightrope - Cesc Fabregas column

World Cup 2018: Germany strolling a tightrope – Cesc Fabregas column

It’s a completely different feeling upon getting misplaced your first recreation on the World Cup – Germany’s gamers will know that now.

Right away the stress is on the holders after their surprise defeat by Mexico, as a result of they need to win their second recreation in Group F towards Sweden on Saturday. Even when they beat South Korea of their closing recreation too, they might nonetheless be out relying on different outcomes.

Germany are strolling a tightrope now and it’s all the way down to how they deal with that stress, figuring out they can’t afford any extra errors.

Will probably be through the hours earlier than the sport when they may really feel it essentially the most. I’ve been there, after I was a part of the Spain staff that misplaced our opening recreation of the 2010 World Cup, towards Switzerland.

We’re the one aspect to have carried out that and gone on to win the match, however that defeat left us in a very tough state of affairs. Though we beat Honduras in our subsequent recreation, we knew we needed to overcome Chile in our final group match or we have been out.

World Cup 2018: Germany 0-1 Mexico highlights

‘The silence on the bus was near scary’

As I mentioned on BBC 5 live’s World Cup Daily podcast, that Chile recreation in South Africa is without doubt one of the most disturbing video games I’ve performed as knowledgeable, and I bear in mind very nicely what occurred earlier than the match.

Our coach, Vicente del Bosque, held a staff assembly at our resort two hours earlier than the sport after which we took the bus to the stadium.

I’ve by no means identified something just like the silence on that bus journey – it was near scary. For half an hour, you can not hear something as a result of everybody was so targeted and, in a approach, a bit frightened.

We had simply come from profitable Euro 2008 and we have been favourites for the World Cup and, if we drew or misplaced, we’d be gone.

We couldn’t let that occur, and it was undoubtedly extra disturbing than the build-up to the ultimate. I’m positive the Germany gamers who have been additionally a part of the staff that gained it 4 years in the past are considering the identical approach.

World Cup 2010 closing highlights – Netherlands 0-1 Spain

Going out within the group stage would have been an enormous disappointment – we have been afraid we’d let the entire nation down.

However within the closing, towards the Netherlands, we have been taking part in with the motivation to be world champions. And you can’t say you let the entire nation down if you find yourself taking part in in a World Cup closing.

‘Typically it’s good to panic a bit’

When the Chile recreation began, it was very tense – I used to be on the bench and will see all the gamers have been nervous, however we additionally stayed calm, possibly due to our expertise.

The stress I’ve been speaking about was not an excessive amount of for us as soon as the sport had began, even in conditions like that one. It occurred naturally for us and I may simply let go and suppose, ‘I’ve to play how I do know’.

Highlights – Chile 1-2 Spain

Germany need to do the identical towards Sweden, and in some methods it is necessary for them to not panic.

However additionally it is vital to not simply suppose, ‘Don’t fret, we’ll win this one’, as a result of in the event that they suppose that approach they won’t be prepared, and they’re going to in all probability lose that one too.

It’s good generally to panic a bit of bit, particularly for the highest groups like Germany, Spain, Argentina and Brazil, who all did not win their opening video games.

It may be a constructive to really feel that stress, so that you realise that should you do not do nicely subsequent time, you’re going residence.

Spain did win their second match – towards Iran on Wednesday – however they didn’t create many possibilities and it was not one of the best recreation.

All these groups are superior to the opposition they’ve confronted, however none of them has proven their finest kind in Russia, which is why they’ve discovered it tough.

It is a World Cup and, as we now have seen, if you’re not at your finest stage then each staff could be very nicely ready and may make issues tough for you.

‘A greater World Cup defensively than offensively to date’

One factor I’ve observed from the massive groups is that there was a scarcity of imaginative and prescient and creativity within the closing third of the pitch and, individually, most of their star gamers have did not shine too.

Whether or not it’s man-marking the opposition’s finest participant or defending with at the very least six gamers on a regular basis, everybody tries to discover a approach. It has been working, however the World Cup has been higher defensively than offensively to date.

Mexico had Carlos Vela following Toni Kroos round for 60 minutes as a result of they knew he was the engine of the Germany staff, the one which makes them tick. Switzerland did one thing comparable with Valon Behrami on Neymar after they performed Brazil.

World Cup 2018 highlights: Argentina 1-1 Iceland

Iceland didn’t put one participant on Lionel Messi after they performed Argentina, however they’d so many gamers again, he had no area.

Seeing Messi stopped doesn’t occur usually, so it’s a must to give Iceland credit score that they did it so nicely. I may see that Leo, as the sport went on, was dropping again to attempt to make issues occur.

When he does that, he’s now not on the ball in harmful areas and, if I have been him, I might be getting a bit of bit pissed off.

You need him increased up the pitch, so you’ll be able to cross the ball to him within the closing third and let him make issues occur there.

But when he feels that he’s not getting the required service, he drops deeper and deeper and, for Argentina, that’s not an excellent factor.

It was the same story for Messi towards Croatia, but it surely was not all his fault. As I mentioned in my TV evaluation after Argentina’s defeat, they appear to be a damaged staff.

So it’s has been actually tough for him. He doesn’t have the standard in behind him, when he wants somebody who may also help him construct up the play.

‘Ronaldo’s targets have come from set-pieces, penalties or errors’

World Cup 2018: Portugal 3-Three Spain highlights

Nowadays, Cristiano Ronaldo has a really completely different position for Portugal – he primarily stays up entrance and also you now not see him operating all around the pitch.

He is without doubt one of the massive names in Russia who has made a robust begin to this World Cup, when it comes to targets, with 4 to date.

Sure, he’s taking part in nicely, however should you actually take a look at what he has carried out, he has scored one penalty, one free-kick, one purpose from a nook and one with a shot that David de Gea ought to have saved.

You can not say that he and Portugal have proven nice combos or tiki-taka soccer to attain nice targets.

You must give him credit score, in fact, however his targets have come from set-pieces, penalties or errors.

When it comes to the person gamers who’ve impressed me essentially the most, Vela deserves a point out for what he did towards Kroos.

Vela left Actual Sociedad to affix Los Angeles FC initially of the 12 months and other people appear to suppose that once you go to the MLS, or that kind of league, your stage drops.

That was not the case when he performed towards Germany, as a result of Kroos couldn’t shake him off. He tried however he couldn’t affect the sport.

Germany nonetheless had possession, but it surely was possession with out concepts and creativity.

Of each staff I’ve watched to date in Russia, Germany are those from whom I anticipated extra and so they gave me much less. Mexico have been utterly the other.

Cesc Fabregas was talking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan in Moscow.

2018 Fifa World Cup on the BBC Host: Russia Dates: 14 June – 15 July Stay: Protection throughout BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport web site with additional protection on Pink Button, Related TVs and cellular app.

BBC Sport – Football ultras_FC_Barcelona

ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/football/6656/

#Barcelona

[hackxxd-blog]

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Batman #27

One man finds himself caught between the forces of the War of the Jokes and Riddles like a kite in a hurricane, being pushed and pulled between Joker, Riddler, and Batman; and his family’s safety hanging in the balance.

There’s been one character that’s popped up randomly but reliably since King started his run on Batman, and he finally gets an issue (at least one issue) all to himself. Ironically, King is using his focus on this character to give us a ground level perspective on the war, what it’s like to be a small time criminal with some notable skills in the middle of one of the most tumultuous times in Gotham’s history. It’s not only the opportunity to give pathos to someone who’s been a joke up until now, but in that pathos, we better understand the toll this war pays on even the D-listers of the city. And, of course, King handles it with the same poetry he’s handled the rest of the series, showing us the seeds of a flower that’s already bloomed.

  Superman #27

It’s time for a Kent family vacation, and for the Independence Day (this comic is a wee bit late), they’re going on a tour of American memorials, with Clark and Lois teaching Jon about the history that makes them worth the trip.

I’m a fan of hokey and schmaltzy, but patriotic schmaltz is where I draw the line. After all, there’s history and there’s hierography, and it’s hard for me to tolerate any account of, for example, the founders, without bringing up their hypocrisies of slave ownership and genocide. Plus, there’s the general glorification of war that happens whenever you do this type of thing that sours even sweet scenes like the Kents treating a hopeless vet to dinner and standing up for his right to dine somewhere even if he may “disturb other customers.”

Superman is meant, in part, to represent the best of American ideals, and unfortunately, this comic doesn’t really touch those.

  Green Arrow #27

Here, however, is a comic that discusses America in a way I can get behind.

Green Arrow’s search for the Ninth Circle takes him to Washington DC, where he runs into Wonder Woman, and the two foil a plot to increase America’s support of war, and thus military spending.

Green Arrow doesn’t even try for subtlety here, at times reading like a polemic against America’s hawkishness – which is incredible. Oliver waxes on about how the Ninth Circle uses fear to motivate people to their side by convincing the public that the only way to feel safe is to buy more and more weapons to protect them from an increasingly dangerous threat – a threat they engineer, of course. He even lectures about himself and his own ignorance of his privilege when he first began as the Green Arrow.

But what’s so effective is that, despite how over the top things get in this comic, the results are all too familiar. A formally pro-peace senator being scared into supporting increased “defense.” Despite saving the day, Oliver and the comic believe that, regardless of political affiliation, all politicians are motivated by fear and eventually learn to support endless war for the sake of feeling secure. It’s all lies acted on for the sake of profit.

  The Wild Storm #6

We’re 25% through this story, which, in Ellis time, means that it’s finally appropriate time for an infodump.

After an expertly scripted and executed fight scene, that reads like John Wick fighting Jaws from 007, between Cray and the two-person kill-squad sent to kill him ends with Cray accepting Christine Trelane’s job offer – Adrianna brings Spica to Jake Marlowe’s base in Brooklyn so she (and we) can get some questions answered about IO, Skywatch, and how this world is run.

The way the comic is put together, the fight in the beginning feels like having your dessert before your dinner; quenching our action-tooth before giving us some nourishing exposition. But I don’t want to give the impression that this is dry exposition. Ellis still writes some of the sharpest dialogue in comics (and TV and film), and Davis-Hunt still finds ways to make two people talking at a table graphically disturbing when certain reveals make it appropriate. Between this and Clean Room, he’s become my favorite comic artist for scenes of the grotesque and Giger-esque.

  Secret Empire #6

While lost-Steve continues to be tortured by the Red Skull, and the heroes trapped in the Darkforce dimension do their best to keep Tandy’s light; Hydra unleashes a full-on assault on the resistance base. And inside their crumbling base, the resistance tears themselves apart trying to find their mole.

This issue is all over the place, not giving any of its developments any time to breathe. I’m not sure if this issue is supposed to end on a high-point or low-point, and I doubt that’s intentional. Through the issue is a narration that starts with Steve talking about how all heroes are hypocrites who fight only for their own pride and reputation, then goes to Hawkeye during the attack on the Mount where he seems to admit defeat before being reminded of why heroes really fight. And there’s a dramatic showdown between Steve and Tony that intentionally echoes the first Civil War. Hydra unleashes the Hulk on the resistance in what feels like it’s supposed to be the story’s lowest point, but this is right about the point in the story where Hawkeye’s narration tells us that this is where all the heroes regain their nerve…and then there’s a nuke and we’re supposed to believe everyone died even though we saw them all escape…?

Again, nothing has room to actually land and breathe before the issue hits us over the head with the next dramatic moment. While I’m normally against extending these events at all – and this one is already set to be 10 issues – this issue could’ve easily been split into two that allow for a better dramatic arc to unfold over the course of this one battle.

  Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #2

After a brief misunderstanding with Ironheart, who eventually agrees to help Peter with the hacked Stark phone, Pete heads back to New York to summarize Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business to a confused Johnny Storm, and then go on his date with Rebecca…in full costume.

Like Zdarksy’s other books with Marvel, this one slows down and takes us more towards the ground-level with its characters, putting more focus on their day-to-day rather than whatever big criminal plot they’re gonna have to face. We spend a lot more time with Peter in his apartment chatting with Teresa and Johnny, or out on his date than we do following up on the hacked phone.

And Zdarksy writes the most natural sounding Peter dialogue in any Spider-Man comic today. Where Bendis’ writing can often feel like the characters are reading from a script, and many of Slott’s quips feel (appropriately) forced; Zdarsky’s Peter reads like someone legitimately saying the first funny thing that pops into his head, and is appropriately hit-and-miss. That feeling is also aided by the more normal situations that Peter’s found himself in this issue; as he’s quipping during a date, not while fighting supervillains.

I think, more than not mentioning his current status quo as a billionaire, the reason that this series feels like a return to form is because it’s focusing a lot more on Peter than Spider-Man.

  Ms. Marvel #20

In this issue’s opening pages, Ms. Marvel establishes itself as the ideal of “the world outside your window” that all Marvel comics that choose to attempt that should strive towards. Aamir, who was arrested for no reason last issue, pleads his case explaining his innocence, and even explains who the authorities should look for if they want to find terrorists that look like him. It’s an eloquent and grounded explanation of who gets radicalized and why, delivered by a character in a situation that reflects our unfortunate reality. It’s a clear-headed and powerful scene, and more comics should strive for such relevancy.

Then, Ms. Marvel wakes up from being knocked-out last issue, and jumping back into action, finds herself in the middle of a Chuck Worthy rally. Worthy’s speech is reflective of the sort of conservative rhetoric of law and order and nostalgia that unfortunately wins elections; but presents it in a way that doesn’t necessarily hit you over the head with it, like a comic like Green Arrow would.

This arc – and this series overall – successfully puts it’s hero against clear analogues for real world issues, and makes them approachable and resonant. Yeah, you’re getting a story about a stretchy girl that punches bad robots, but Ms. Marvel has also told stories about gentrification, online-harassment, and islamophobia that confront each issue with the same tenacity that Kamala confronts her villains.

  Bitch Planet: Triple Feature #2

And where Ms. Marvel tackles real world issues with a degree of allegory, Bitch Planet has always come at it from the angle of parody – ramping up the real world effects of white patriarchy to what are supposed to be ridiculous extremities. Like the last triple feature, this issue takes us off the prison planet and to Earth itself, where life isn’t that much better for women.

The first story, Bits and Pieces, shows us a child’s beauty pageant in Bitch Planet, where tween girls are judged on the beauty of a single body part, and has one heck of a final page. The second, This is Good for You, shows us a propaganda film. And the third and longest story, What’s Love Got to do With it?, tells the story of one woman’s quest to get married before her family is forced to pay an “Old Maid tax,” and explores how dating is done on Bitch Planet.

All of these stories are generally funnier than the main series, each acting as a short parody of a single aspect of what living in an uber-patriarchy would be that rather than telling the sort of wide-ranging story of the main title. This means that each story is also sharper, with single page conclusions finding inventive ways to twist the knife like the best episodes of The Twilight Zone.

Comic Reviews for 7/19/17 Batman #27 One man finds himself caught between the forces of the War of the Jokes and Riddles like a kite in a hurricane, being pushed and pulled between Joker, Riddler, and Batman; and his family's safety hanging in the balance.

[placetobenation]

As King Corbin aptly said on Friday Night Smackdown, NXT is all anyone can talk about! It’s true, it’s damn true to quote the man that Corbin retired, Kurt Angle.

Who’s going to attack who. Who’s going to show up where. Who’s going to face each other at Survivor Series. There are plenty of storylines to answer those questions. And the interest is growing! Just look at NXT’s ratings for Wednesday night as they pulled almost even (822,000 to 813,000 according to Nielsen) in viewers for the Wednesday Night War with AEW. My question is will it only be NXT taking shots at RAW and Smackdown or will over the next two weeks, will we also get RAW taking shots at Smackdown as well in traditional blue vs. red rivalry.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!?!?!?@AJStylesOrg @FinnBalor #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/HY6x5hgBt9

— WWE (@WWE) November 7, 2019

This week, we get a nod to the Bullet Club with an AJ Styles – Finn Balor stare down at Full Sail University. We also get more into what could be the end to Seth Rollins’ babyface days. Days that have seen Seth fighting for, yet failing it seems to capture any and all the major titles in the WWE. At what point will Rollins just lose it? I’m looking forward to it.

This means war.@NXTCiampa, @SuperKingofBros, @RealKeithLee, and ??? will battle #UndisputedERA in #WarGames at #NXTTakeOver! #WWENXT https://t.co/5NnDh0SZKS

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 7, 2019

One spot left. Who's ready to go to war? #WarGames #WWENXThttps://t.co/DoNCsRZ7L4

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 7, 2019

What we’re also looking forward to is War Games! Are we headed towards a War Games between the brands? We already know we have two NXT War Games to look forward to and after all of this week’s excitement and tryouts, 14 of the 16 contestants have been announced. On the women’s side, we’ve got Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and TBD. For the men, it’s the Undisputed ERA vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee and TBD.

Finally, we have a pair of matches set for the upcoming Survivor Series with the RAW vs. Smackdown vs. NXT having a championship theme.

Women’s Champions: NXT’s Shayna Baszler vs. Smackdown’s Bayley vs. RAW’s Becky Lynch

Tag Team Champions; NXT’s Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Smackdown’s The New Day vs. RAW’s The Viking Raiders

Plus, the WWE Championship is on the line with champion Brock Lesnar facing Rey Mysterio, Jr.

What’s next for The Fiend and the Universal Championship? We may get a clue from across the pond!

Color me a traditionalist, but I’d love to see Survivor Series come back to Thanksgiving Day Night, but I know that will never happen.  

MONDAY NIGHT RAW

RESULTS

Non-Title Match: Charlotte & Natalya defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (submission Natalya over Asuka)

Buddy Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander

Andrade & Zelina Vega defeated Sin Cara & Carolina

Rusev defeated Drew McIntyre (DQ when Bobby Lashley interferes)

The OC defeated The Street Profits & Humberto Carrillo

Non-Title Match: RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders defeated the East Hampton Polo Boys

NXT Title Match: Seth Rollins defeated NXT Champion Adam Cole (DQ when Undisputed ERA interferes)

What we loved:

.@QosBaszler and @BeckyLynchWWE have an INTENSE meeting on #RAW ahead of #SurvivorSeries.@WWENXT continues to make their presence felt! pic.twitter.com/1Fe4OVvWG9

— WWE (@WWE) November 5, 2019

Becky vs. Baszler – If you missed it, go back and watch it! In what could be one of the best pieces of business this week, the RAW Women’s Champ goes face-to-face with the NXT Women’s Champ in a verbal spat not to be missed.

Natalya & Charlotte – As we’ve said in the past, the pairing of these two veterans is a great thing for the Women’s Division. Putting them over in a non-title match over the tag champions means that soon we’ll get a tag team title match between them and The Kabuki Warriors. My question is will we see Paige come back to exact revenge on her former tag team.

Adam Cole – What’s not to like about the NXT Champion? Who else could main event back-to-back shows that aren’t his brand? First, taking out Daniel Bryan on Smackdown and then going toe-to-toe with Seth Rollins on RAW. Well done, BAY BAY!

Rey Mysterio, Jr. – Viva la little man! Mysterio strikes back with his trusty partner, a lead pipe, to exact revenge on WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. And to boot, he should get a title match at Survivor Series.

Dio Maddin – Sticking up for the King, Jerry Lawler is never a bad thing! Unfortunately, Maddin paid the price courtesy of the WWE Champion.

The BRAWL continues between #RAW and @WWENXT! pic.twitter.com/PdqIe03tfL

— WWE (@WWE) November 5, 2019

BASK IN HIS GLORY. @RealKeithLee#SurvivorSeries is for the taking. #RAW #WeAreNXT pic.twitter.com/p45PxGZYxR

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 5, 2019

High flyers – Keith Lee flying high replicating Ricochet in a post-main event melee! Love it!

What we didn’t love:

Another loss for Humberto Carrillo – At some point, Carrillo has to win a match on TV, right? It’s great to face Seth Rollins, AJ Styles and now the OC. But if you lose every match, what does it get you? You have to start building him up with some victories or else it becomes a losing streak like Curt Hawkins.

Another loss for Sin Cara & Carolina – See above. For a feud to be successful, it can’t be one-sided. Yet, this one is.

NXT

RESULTS

Pete Dunne defeated Damian Priest (submission)

Taynara defeated Santana Garrett

Non-Title Match: Champion Shayna Baszler defeated Dakota Kai (submission)

#1 Contender’s Match For The Cruiserweight Title: Angel Garza defeated Tony Nese

Dominik Dijakovic defeated Isaiah Scott

Keith Lee, Matt Riddle, and Tommaso Ciampa vs. The OC (no contest)

What we loved:

Absolute respect to #TheOC who came to “our house,” walked through the front door and tore the place down. The #USChamp and Best Tag Team in the World can hang with @WWENXT. Anyone else who wants to walk through our door better be ready to go. #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/HZDkpWJ52I

— Triple H (@TripleH) November 7, 2019

Welcome to Full Sail, The OC – Way to start the show! AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson delivering a beatdown to the NXT roster reminiscent of The Outsiders using Rey Mysterio, Jr. as a pinata into a production truck. Then, to lay down the challenge to NXT after a week of NXT taking charge of RAW and Smackdown was needed and well played. And remember, The OC completely got to skip going to NXT before joining the main roster.

Tommaso Ciampa – To the OC: “Welcome to the main roster.” Well done Goldie!

The NXT response – Keith Lee and Matt Riddle are easily making themselves into main event talent every week on NXT. Throw in former champ Tommaso Ciampa and you’ve got a dramatic six-man main event against The OC that ends in a wild melee to a returning Finn Balor.

Welcome to Survivor Series Finn Balor – After a week of wondering where Finn Balor stands on the whole NXT vs. RAW vs. Smackdown rivalry, we now have a slight glimpse into that picture. Balor seemingly came out to help his NXT mates in the main event only to deliver a knockout pele kick to Ciampa, a kick that AJ Styles acknowledges with a “two-sweet” gesture, a nod to their Bullet Club days in Japan. And yes, I love that Mauro Ranollo referenced that on the broadcast, something not usually done since it was pre-WWE days. Could Balor be strattling both sides of the battle?

War Games Build – A heavy concentration on who Shayna Baszler & Rhea Ripley would pick for their team in War Games, including a match between Baszler herself and Dakota Kai – a quality non-title match that made Kai look good and established her into the War Game mix. That match leads to a full out brawl with Ripley’s team and a Mia Yim’s kendo stick save of Team Ripley. With Yim getting the final spot instead of Kai, could we see a turn in Kai’s future after being shunned? Also, how come Baszler doesn’t have her sidekicks, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir on her team? Right now, we’ve got Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, Candice LeRae vs. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair and TBD.

Angel Garza – A win over Tony Nese nets him an NXT Cruiserweight Championship match next week against Lio Rush. Way to get some heel heat too after the match by slapping Rush instead of shaking his hand. It gives us more than just a match thrown together. Emotion and storyline added to athleticism is always a productive method!

What we didn’t love:

Santana Garrett vs. Taynara – A bit clunky at times, I expected a bit more considering what else we’ve gotten from what is red-hot, stacked women’s division in NXT week after week. Call it an average, albeit short – just four minutes – match and possibly just an off-night.

No update on Johnny Gargano – He is the emotional soul of NXT. Don’t let a week go by without updating his situation after being put out by Finn Balor. Maybe, we’ll just see him as the fourth member of War Games and they’re just waiting for that surprise in a week or two.

FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: The New Day defeated The Revival to win titles

Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Ali and Shorty G

Sasha Banks defeated Nikki Cross

Carmella and Dana Brooke defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville to gain spot on Women’s Survivor Series team

King Corbin defeated Roman Reigns

What we loved:

THEY DID IT FOR WOODS!@WWEBigE & @TrueKofi have made #TheNewDay 7️⃣-TIME #TagTeamChampions! #SmackDown @XavierWoodsPhD pic.twitter.com/b3o5AWnBbm

— WWE (@WWE) November 9, 2019

It’s a New Day, New Champs – Kofi Kingston is a champ again as Kofi and Big E reign supreme as Smackdown champions once more. Of course, this will only fuel the IWC rumors that The Revival are headed out in 2020 to AEW or elsewhere.

King Corbin’s heat – Easily the top heel heat on Smackdown. Corbin draws it and the crowd loves to dish it. Having Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode help him out could point towards a Survivor Series team grouping in a few weeks.

Walter and The Imperium – As you know, we’re big fans of WALTER from NXT UK and NXT. It makes sense to unleash them at a Smackdown in Manchester, England to further the NXT vs. Smackdown vs. RAW feud. Getting them some TV time with new tag team champs, The New Day and Heavy Machinery makes a lot of sense for the NXT UK Champion WALTER,  Fabian Archer, Marcel Barthel and Alexander Wolfe

Will he stay or will he join – Sami Zayn’s continued pursuit of Daniel Bryan has some legs and some intrigue to it, especially with all of the chaos and uncertainty headed towards Survivor Series. Plus, add in The Fiend attacking Bryan backstage and we could find out our next feud for the new Universal Champion. A Global Faction of Cesar, Nakamura and Bryan led by Zayn mixing with the Firefly Fun House could very well be worth watching.

Different week, same result – NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler attacks Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley. After a confrontation on RAW with Becky Lynch, Baszler is becoming must-see TV on every show to see who she’s going to take out next.

What we didn’t love:

Fire and Desire Fail – Since when did Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville become jobbers? It seems like they lose every week in some form or fashion. Yes, I realize that’s an exaggeration, but I think they are better than what they are being portrayed. Maybe Sonya Deville would work well as a member of Shayna Baszler’s War Games team? Hmmm…..

Fury and Strowman – So, now we’re supposed to just accept them as a team? We know that Tyson Fury isn’t going to be around much due to his boxing commitments. But after hating each other for a month-plus, they just team up to beat up The B Team of Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. We’ll chalk it up to a taping in Manchester, England for a fan pop and see where it goes from here.  

LOOKING AHEAD:

Since RAW was taped Friday in Manchester, England after the Smackdown taping, we know there are some things set to unveil Monday night on Veteran’s Day. All we can say, as to not spoil things, is that it could be a K-O of a night.

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear you comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots and Red Sox fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND!