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rottenwoodandwiltedsunflowers · 11 months ago

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#149- Waffle

Very very very very long time no see. I suppose the imminent end is making me revisit this blog and my regret about not documenting more of my time with the show is pushing me to sit down and make the time among my very busy life.

I'm not sure this is going to be as long as some of my older posts but I do want to document some of my shows from yesterday (Jan 14 Early) for my own memory.

149-Jan. 14th Early

We are old and well, old now so we are buying Oz's tickets because when you are out of town and have limited shows left you want to maximize your time. I've never minded queueing up an hour early but the time now is getting ridiculous. Once again, old now. Not lining up 2 hours early in the cold. Walked in to Maderley to find Vivian Fairchild which was comforting. It's is ALWAYS nice to see other long term familiar faces in the building. Also found some old familiar friends in the white masks and it felt all the more like coming home.

Once I hit the inside of the show I quickly decided to follow Bret's boy witch. Objectively, I think Bret is among the strongest dancers in this newest class. I haven't followed a boy witch for a whole loop in years. I like Bret's performance. He is really fun when he gets to play with the audience. His duet with Jeff's porter was fantastic! He commanded the scene and bullied Porter around with ease. His hair is getting a bit longer and I didn't really realize at first that he pinned it up with bobby-pins. I was the only one to follow him up to 4 and I found myself smiling as I watched him pull the pins out 1 by 1 and toss them on the stairs as he ascended. I really enjoyed his pool table solo. He laid on the table almost seizing as his legs repetitively hit the table. You could see him loosing control. He took a nice lunge off the corner of the table at a white mask before Speakeasy stuffed him in the box. I also loved how Micheala sniffed around the corner of the room like an animal as if she could track him down with her nose.

Going into the rave (and it's something I noticed during the first ballroom) I was really appreciating this asian witch trio. Starting my love affair with the show over a decade ago, it was painfully obvious how white this show was in its casting. Back then there were only a handful of POC in the cast and not all at the same time. As the parent of a Korean daughter, I'm so glad that the representation in the cast has gotten more diverse and I think it was the first time I've seen a visibly asian witch trio. It was such a wonderful evolution of the show to witness. When he had the goat head on, Bret climbed/jumped on the pillar and hung there. Loved it! In his post rave scene, he seemed utterly drained. It was a monumental task to even dress himself. I helped him with his shirt at his request and God bless a boy witch who doesn't hand you pants to help with! As he finished up he suddenly took off into a full on sprint to the stairs. I watched the banquet from the mezzanine and noted Kritsen's nurse. Filed that away for later show reference.

I had totally forgotten the dance he does in the light after he moves trees. That was a total surprise. When we made it up to the lobby for witches 1, it was pretty packed. There was an audience member who was standing in the middle of the scene so that was obnoxious to watch. People are absolutely obtuse. You are not going to get something special by making the actors work around you during their scenes. By the time Macbeth arrived the crowd was so dense I couldn't see so I snuck off behind the end of the lobby desk and watched from the corner.

Bret’s lip sync was so spot on. Much like his shower scene, at the end he kind of shy down for a second. It’s like he needed a moment to reset before drifting back to the lobby desk. After retrieving the tissue from Porter, he had me wipe tears before returning the tissue to the Porter and with a final glance at him, we were off to the phone booth. I never follow boy witch so it’s only the second time I’ve had the 1:1. Objectively, it’s easily the most overrated and anticlimactic 1:1 in the show. Bret did great but I do stand by that statement. We headed back down to the ballroom and I watched him pin his hair back up to start the cycle again.

From there I followed Duncan for a bit. At the top of the show I watched Duncan trying to figure out who it was. I was still thoroughly confused up until the end when I left and checked the cast board. They seemed familiar but I couldn’t place them. After looking at the board, I realized it was Gino Grenek! His dances were A+. I love when Duncan is so engaging the even watching him uncover clocks is captivating. So many beautiful moves and backbends. You can see the drugs working their way into his system throughout the whole scene.

Ventured up to the 5th floor eventually (like I do...) to find Jess' Matron. It was one of the most interesting Matron watches I've had in awhile. Sometimes I just enjoy creeping on the Matron through the creeping hole. You know the one. After every 1:1, Jess sat in the chair and had a visible moment where she needed to pull herself back together. Once I watched her wipe her tears. I was wayyyyyyy too delighted by her cutting tiny mazes with tiny sewing scissors. It pleased me to no end. Like tiny, tiny 1"x2" little maze pages. Utterly delighted!!! She put one down on the windowsill and left it there for like 5 minutes. When she went to go do the chalking I absolutely swiped it. Fair game I think. It was only when I got home the next evening that I took a much closer look at it and realized it has the fucking Grandmother's Tale written in tiny, tiny pencil on it. She must have written the tale then cut the maze design and I will NEVER recover from this discovery.

She headed out and did the chalking and when I looked up for the nurse, I saw...Jenna? Where did Kristen go??? Watched their scene and was invited in for tea afterwards. I took a lap around some of my favorite 5th floor spaces. It's something I find myself doing as my shows wind down. I so desperately want to hold onto those spaces after the show is gone forever. Found Jenna's nurse and quickly realized the show must be coming to an end and it was the last mirror dance. Stayed with the nurse and matron until the finale. As we went down to the Macbeth's bedroom, I looked in and saw Kristen as Lady Macbeth. Guess that explains what happened with nurse.

Some honorable mentions from this show include Omri and Steph T tearing through the hotel lobby first loop on their way to the banquet. They created quite the ruckus as usual but Omri went over to the hotel lobby desk as Jeff was hiding in the phone booth and slammed down on the bell several times before yelling out a crazed "HELLO!" I really enjoyed that choice, it made me chuckle. Steph then grabbed his arm and yanked him to the stairwell. Also, perhaps the most important news from this show...RED LICORICE IS BACK!!! This is not a drill! I'm not talking that bigger red licorice that taste like wax or the one they had for awhile that had a white strip and tasted sweet like sugar but like gross sugar. I'm talking circa 2015 red licorice! Remember right after the shutdown. I, like plenty of others, was like- "it's probably good they don't have unwrapped candy anymore. Not super sanitary to be eating candy 400 other people have touched." I at like half that jar between my 2 shows and if I get covid...that's a risk I'm OK with. It was worth it and it tasted like McKittrick 2014. NO REGRETS! That's about it for show one of the day. Go enjoy some licorice if you are there (assuming they restocked it because I ate it all).

#sleep no more #mckittrick #mckittrick hotel #snm #sleepnomore

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bargarraninc · 1 year ago

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a lengthy recap; visit 14, october 18th.

A Few Short Notes: - This is ridiculously long, chalking up to 3000 words. I am by habit a rambler and with so much going on during this show, I let myself just really put pen to infinite paper. All of it is under the 'Keep Reading' - The 1-1s discussed are Malcolm, Boy Witch and then Porter (in that order) in case you would like to avoid spoilers. - I am a very emotional person and this show really gets my feelings going so.... beware. This is not a guide to these 1-1s or a more detached overlook on this visit, it is me telling a story.

TLDR; Will Malcolm, Noah Boy Witch and Evik Porter all make me feel slightly insane in a three hour space. I also burst into tears at one point like a silly goose.

Visit 14 — A Recap of the 18th November, 2023 Matinee show. On the 18th, I was clearly beyond excited to be at the show and turned up incredibly early to the McKittrick (a whole hour and forty before) after severely overestimating the time my commute would take.

Probably in line with this ridiculous arrival time, I bumped very randomly (and unfortunately quite headfirst) into Evik while getting an egg and cheese at the deli nearby (my usual in-line lunch), so quite randomly, I had a head start on possible cast in the building. At the time, this was my last show booked, and I was beyond thrilled that Evik would be in the show as they are one of my favourite residents at the show. When we reached a more socially acceptable time to be in line, I got there and met some lovely people from the server outside, which is always a highlight!

Despite Oz being entirely sold out, I was lucky enough to snag an Ace as first in line, so the visit started smoothly. Tim J in the Manderley and Bret as Taxi solidified in my head that this would be an Evik Malcolm show — which, as the self-proclaimed #1 Malcolm fan, is always a treat. I got let out on the 3rd, saw the very last moments of Brandon in the cemetery (a scene I have never actually adequately watched), and then followed down to the ballroom.

The first ballroom is one of my favourite scenes in the show. It is so inherently joyous — nothing has gone wrong, yet we have just fallen into this beautiful room with happy dancing couples. Took my regular post by Malcolm's trench and was immediately left confused by the lack of Evik's presence as Malcolm or Duncan. Assuming then that they were probably going to be Sixth (like the night before), I quickly and relatively easily became distracted by the Malcolm actually present — Will!

Will Malcolm and Noah Boy form one of my favourite ballroom couples because they are so ridiculously tall — the graceful movement of their long long limbs is always so enchanting. They are also just two of my other favourite residents (though... this list is constantly expanding) so a loop with them is always fun.

On my usual Malcolm 1st loop bullshit, I followed Will straight out of the ballroom and up the familiar insane rumble up the stairs. They really killed this trip upstairs, throwing themselves against the walls and violently retching all the way. We got into the office, and the usual Agnes scene took place. Mio was on as Agnes, and the height difference between them throughout made me chuckle despite the sheer tension in the room. Will is an incredibly intense Malcolm — they portray his deep anxiety in a much sharper manner than other actors I have seen in the role. Unlike than the rather breathlessly anxious Malcolm of Tim Creavin, Will’s Malcolm is like a taut string, holding everything including their sanity together only through maximum effort. It consistently felt like even the smallest of wayward action would lead to a complete, angry collapse.

The audience watching Malcolm seemed very aware of when the 1-1 pull happens, but I was planning a loop with Will at this point, so I didn't necessarily perch myself in the ideal spot. This did NOT deter Will from going straight for me, and I was not going to say no.

MALCOLM 1-1 START

The walk to the room was relatively slow (as compared to the sheer panic of a Tim C pull), but as soon as we were in there, the tension dialled up from 100 to 10000. There was eerily intense eye contact throughout the walk-in and picking of the egg. When it was in my hand, Will rolled it down to the grivet of my arm and then back up (vaguely ticklish) and violently cracked it into my hand. They blew the ash off, there was a silent second with my hand under the light, and then I was rather firmly pinned to the wall with Will's arm right above my chest. The pain was intense enough to hurt a little when I exhaled, but Will's Malcolm is deliriously hard to take your eyes off. The line delivery felt like that taut string from before had snapped entirely; their eyes were wild and wide.

I have always admired how expressive Will's eyes are, but this was another level. The questioning and the retching were both, for lack of another word, violent — it was actually rather scary. The feather came out, and I instinctively murmured "" It will be okay", as Malcolm talked of Duncan and then collapsed into a proper hug as the lights dimmed. There was a moment of Will shaking during this hug, as if Malcolm was overwhelmed by anger and led into tears, and then, like a flash, with the bells, Will was gone.

MALCOLM 1-1 END

It took a minute for me to recuperate and collect myself as I left the interrogation room, and Malcolm was far away. The plan was to catch up to Will and complete their loop, but Noah Boy Witch made for an incredible rave, and I couldn't keep myself from getting distracted as always. Stood by the pillar and, just as always, found myself entranced by the rave. There is something about Brandon Macbeth amid this coven — Noah, Junyla, Sienna — that makes the whole thing feel like a hallucinatory experience. It is well and genuinely out-of-body. As the rave ended, I followed Noah into the shower scene and was soon put to work with the trousers and shirt. There was a brief moment where Noah's Boy Witch looked straight down at me, whispered a very quiet Thank You and then patted the top of my head before shooting downstairs, stumbling and 'breathless' down the stairs. My heart was set on a Noah loop, as I could never escape them while they were in the hotel. I followed them down to the ballroom for the banquet. On the way there, Boy, unsurprisingly, amassed quite a crowd on the stairs, and I decided to take a 'shortcut' to the banquet through the lobby instead.

Rather momentously, this led me into the lobby just as the deranged Macbeths stumbled downstairs, their masses following right behind them. Overtaken by a curiosity about who Porter was tonight and expecting Jeff to emerge from the booth, I stuck around. As Evik emerged instead, my mouth fell straight open. Quite literally think I gasped in their face as they quietly came out.

Just days prior (the 16th, I think!), I had had a whole conversation on the server about Evik Porter being one of the top roles on my wishlist. Ariel had advised quite severely that when one comes across Evik's Porter, you "do not get distracted, do not pass go, do not collect $200". I followed that immediately — mentally apologising to Noah Boy because clearly my allegiances had changed.

Entrenching myself in that lobby for the next hour and a half (in an attempt to catch every scene in the loop) was a beyond stellar if incredibly emotionally disastrous, choice. Evik's Porter is an undeniable sweetheart — silly, endearing and crushingly innocent, a porter you watch lose their light and hope through the loops.

A testament to 'Macduff's Lost Child is the Porter' theory; this Porter, named Sheldon, I am told, represented (to me) a struggling adult looking to escape from the trauma of their current situation in images and activities of a softer past. There is an undeniable, undying hope of receiving acceptance (of somehow this loop of horror breaking this time) in every interaction with the Boy Witch and even with the White Mask pulled into the 1-1. The character's innocence is reflected in moments of joy and deep despair. Sheldon makes shadow puppets during the happy reset and floats their little boats (of which there are many!) along shadow waves. They play around with the chairs during the clean-up, with one becoming a toy horse and constantly fixing their hair with a little comb in their jacket. It is impossible to be on the side of Boy, no matter how deep your affection for him runs, when Sheldon is around, people.

The Noah Boy-Evik Porter combination is absolutely fatal. Noah's Boy is beyond graceful but deeply cruel within the lobby's walls. Every time he made an entrance on the floor, the mood with Evik's Porter became immediately more tense and, god, sad. Sheldon is irreparably in love, and it is very obvious to the Boy and the audience. When Boy stalked over first, and the Vicks were applied, there was a tender moment — this locking of eyes between the two characters was quickly broken by Boy dragging someone away for ITATI. It was the pacing of it, I think, which made it so devastating — there was a silent lull in the tension, a second of peace, before Noah harshly pulled away, this quick recession from sweetness back into the witchy demeanour.

Noah's ITATI is my absolute favourite. When I think of the show, the first image is this cinematic shot of standing by Porter, watching as Noah just twinkles magically. But. In this show, there was no escaping watching Sheldon instead. Vik's Porter, during ITATI, transforms the room into a breathless vacuum, their emotions feeling like we are all looking into an inescapable black hole of despair. The alcohol bottle and the little paper boats (one of which they made of a playing card), these symbols of innocence and glee just moments prior, become props of distraction. Their hands shake and fidget, tears quietly falling down their face as they mouth along to the song in the lover verse and do their utmost to hold it together by trying to distract themselves with shadow-floating little boats in the reflection of the water from the bottle on the desk. To say with no shame, I could feel myself tearing up, my throat closing up as I saw reflections of my own moments in this obviously queer and yearning individual.

Noah's ITATI (like usual) ends with them in tears, and due to their copious commitment to eyeliner in this role, these tears permanently stain their cheeks with dark black — a choice that always moves me. That day, though, I could not stop looking at Vik Porter, who was desperately drying their own tears in the moments before, trying to somehow seem strong. Noah had picked their ITATI pull from the other side, and I nestled into the corner where Porter sat, was confident I was out of their eyeliner entirely. This was NOT the case. Turning straight to me, they picked me to wipe their tears, and I followed their lead out of instinct, even as I kept looking at Vik Porter. My lord, the LOOK in Vik Porter's eyes during this scene is beyond haunting — the sheer betrayal and distress floating within. I could not stop looking at them as Noah took my hand in theirs and thus, rather brattily, got tutted at, a clicking sound from Boy, demanding my attention shift immediately.

BOY WITCH 1-1 START

The tut worked; I looked at Boy, and quickly, they tightened their grip on my hand, and we were off to the phonebooths. Usually, this 1-1 is one of my favourites with Noah — there is this inherent physical comedy to me being stuck in there with them because they are so tall. But I was still stuck in this grey headspace and looked at them quietly as we began the interaction. Noah KILLS this 1-1 as Boy — for they are tall, and I am not; the entire thing feels as if you are enveloped into another world with the Boy Witch, and the line delivery is goosebump-raising. When they pull back after we make eye contact post-delivery, it is always with a startle, their hand on their chest before they are gone, again like a bullet.

BOY WITCH 1-1 END

Stumbling back to Evik's Porter (now amid the Agnes scene), I quietly watched their fun interaction with Mio's Agnes. They raised the money high enough that Mio had to jump up and drag their arm down to get it off them — which did make me smile. The scenes progressed, and I got back in rhythm following the Porter as they slipped back into a pattern of finishing their mundane tasks. BBoy's return again takes that quiet peace and flips it on his head. This second of them both looked into their respective mirrors, spotting the other in the reflections that felt weighty. Then, it was time for the ultimatum of the phonebooths. This dance was beyond gorgeous — Noah's Boy is lithe, clever and knows exactly what he wants, while Vik's Porter is desperate, leaning in close to kiss even as there is a consistent pull away. The throw-down is mean as fuck, and Vik cowers on the floor — Noah Boy looks up at the audience; there is a moment of hustle, and then almost no one who was in the lobby before his arrival leaves with him, a testament to again the emotional hold of Vik Porter.

Vik didn't ask for help, mainly because there were many people Waiting for it, and ran off towards their office. I shot off right behind them, and we made eye contact as we reached our lost luggage. The hand went out, and quickly, we were in the room for the 1-1 I have embarrassingly cried the most during.

PORTER 1-1 START

The Vik Porter 1-1 (which I will not spoil entirely, for it is a genuinely unique experience I hope everyone gets to have) is devastating. I had already shed tears outside in the lobby, but as soon as I sat and the scene began earnestly, the waterworks returned. VVik's Porter is so scared, so wary of any brief notion of acceptance and as a primarily closeted, non-binary, queer person, the reflection of my own story in this just absolutely hit me like a truck. Their hands shook as they put on the wig, and with the lipstick, they looked to be on the verge of tears throughout. And as we made eye contact in the mirror, I quite obviously cried, their face crumpled into a sob. The putting on of the ring, during which I was doing my very best to stifle a loud sob, was so gentle and quickly followed by a kiss on top. They held my hands tightly, and as we hugged, I was reminded of hugging my younger sibling (which is insane because that is NOT the age gap here) by the tightness and the softening of their sniffling along with mine.

There are a special few lines with Vik exchanged at this point of the 1-1, and mine leaned entirely into this kind sibling-like exchange of understanding, this unbelievably absolute desperation on my end to make the Porter understand it was okay to be who they are. There is always distance in immersive theatre for me, but at that moment, I was genuinely left clutching my heart and their hand, entirely emotionally involved. There was another short hug before the mask went on, and I was out again, still crying. In the minute it took me to try and quieten my crying (to not interrupt the scene outside in the lobby), Vik was out as well. In another incredibly kind act, they took my hand and walked me slowly through the hallway, both sniffling.

PORTER 1-1 END

As a professional, they were very good at controlling their sniffles. Still, I was moments away from another sob, so I squeezed their hand in thanks and shot out of the lobby upstairs where I could calm down in peace in the apothecary or something. I stayed majorly on 4th for the rest of the show (which was just the third loop now), watching Ja'Moon Fulton do their thing and skirt around Bret's as-always incredibly frightening Taxi. The loop was much less emotional (which is what I was hoping for), and after watching Gabe Speaks play a card game with a White Mask, I made it to High Street to be pulled in for the Interrogation Room scene with two sweet old ladies.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Will's interrogation room scene and paired with DLP Macduff, it was a powerful showing. I watched it in sheer amazement, as always enchanted by the fluidity of movement, and followed the two straight into the plotting scene. There was no one in the office and no one following them, which was first for me, but it granted me a special moment with Malcolm and Macduff that I don't think I will forget. With the three of us alone, I stood in the middle, staring at the castle, waiting for the trees to be put in. Sensing eyes on me, I looked up to Will, offering me a tree to put in myself, and I nodded, taking up the role of plotter with a hidden glee. Plotting done, Will and DLP shook hands with each other (as usual) and then turned to me, shaking hands with me as well. Macduff saluted Malcolm, so I followed his lead, which led to a pat on the back of both of us. Will Malcolm was out first, then it was me, then DLP Macduff and again, the two of them garnered nearly no attention as we moved downstairs for the final banquet.

A large, undetaching group escaping 3rd soon swarmed around Malcolm and Macduff, so I took the cut into 2nd again, where I finally caught the scene of Danvers/ Porter cleaning up for the first time. Vik Porter made themselves a piece of jam toast as Marija Danvers drank tea, and then we were all instructed to follow down to the banquet. I stood mainly at the back between them during the hanging, beyond amused by Vik Porter quietly nomming down on jam toast as a man hangs. There were no walkouts this visit, which, with all the blessings I had had, showed I was entirely okay with it, and soon enough, I was back in the Manderley. I got to say hello to Will afterwards, and Noah said hello. This beautiful, wondrous show ended with a lovely set from Karen.

Unbelievable magic is in the very veins of this show, man. Every visit leaves me gasping in wonder. Can't wait for the next visit already.

#sleep no more #sleep no more nyc #immersive theatre #the mckittrick hotel #punchdrunk #sleepnomorenyc #theatre recap #visits to the mckittrick

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myramglina · 4 months ago

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vimeo

Lionhearted from Jodeb on Vimeo.

Porter Robinson and Urban Cone - Lionhearted

Written and directed by Jodeb Producer: Courtney Anne Davies Director of photography: Chayse Irvin Executive producer: Geoff Mclean Cast: Porter Robinson, Eugenie Grey, Essy Park, Elleanor Yamaguchi, Jennifer Don and Zoe Flood Stylists: Elleanor Yamaguchi and Elise Velasco Production support: Bret Rea Assistant production support: Alex Keller 1st Assitant director: Allen Scudder Production assistants: Mark Chase, Trevor Hugle and Adam Haas Drivers: Jedi Brunoehler, Trevor Hugle and Steve Bock 1st assistant camera: David Edsall 2nd assistant camera: Diona Mavis Gaffer: Tyler Hart Best boy electric: Tom Peake and Trent Turner Swing: Sean Delahunt Key grip: John Mijares DIT: Steve Doyle Hair and make-up: Joanne Adolfo Editing, Matte Painting and Color Grading: Jodeb Lead VFX: Jodeb VFX and Design: Paul Laberge Additionnal glitch VFX: Workshop Mile-end Rocket Launcher sequence VFX: Coyote Post Production designer: Alex Delgado Art director: Cody Fusina Video comissioner: Targa Sahyoun Management: Aaron Greene and Neal O'Connor

Workshop Mile End 3D & Compositing: Guillaume Charron, Jonathan Fleming-Bock, Benoit Bourgoin Workshop Mile End Art direction: Lucy Rybicka Workshop Mile End VFX Supervision & VFX Artists: Louis Paré, Josh Sherett Workshop Mile End Coordination: Guylaine Lavoie

Coyote Post VFX: Nick Frew Coyote Post VFX Production Supervisor: Julie Hansen Coyote Post Producer: Rik Michul

Shot on location in Taft, CA and Los Angeles, CA

Shot on Arri Alexa with Panavasion C-Series lenses

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qu-film-history-to-1968 · 1 year ago

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Confined Conflict: Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat"

Alfred Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat” examines large themes in a small setting. It places eight British and American passengers and workers of a ship that has just been sunk by a German U-Boat in one small lifeboat, and examines what happens not only when these eight are forced to fight to survive, but also how they react when the German captain of the U-Boat is pulled on board. All the characters are forced to confront their differences and prejudices, whether it be based on economic class, race, or politics, in the confines of a small boat adrift at sea.

Much of the conflict centers around the morality of saving the German U-Boat captain despite his affiliation with the Nazi party. Characters such as Gus Smith, whose real last name is Schmitt, want to throw him overboard, whereas characters like Connie Porter, who is fluent in German, feel it would be wrong to do so. Much of the film is spent with the entire boat fighting over what to do with him. The film seems to portray the German as a sympathetic character at first. He struggles to follow the conversations in a language he does not speak, he helps navigate, he helps with Gus’s amputation, and is a generally pleasant man. But as the film continues, we see how wrong it was for the crew to trust him. He hides the fact that he can speak English, hides his compass and points them in the wrong direction, and eventually even throws Gus overboard for being Jewish. After these transgressions, amongst others, are discovered by the boat, they all forget their differences, band together, and push him overboard.

These plot points serve two purposes. Firstly, it promotes the idea that even though these Germans are human beings like the rest of us, you can never ever trust a Nazi on a basic level. Additionally, it shows that even though the people on the boat, much like the Allied Powers, come from very different backgrounds, they needed to put aside those differences and work together to overcome the evil in front of them.

Alfred Hitchcock goes about executing those themes in decidedly un-Hitchcock ways. This was not the only war film he made, and as Bret Wood writes, while his war films “contain many Hitchcockian touches, they are slightly more somber in tone than the characteristic man-who-knows-too-much thriller.” However, despite these more restrained methods, it’s undeniable that this film would not have been the same if it wasn’t a wartime film due to the Hays Code. From the throwing overboard of the German and Gus, to the suicide of Mrs. Higley due to her infant child’s death, to the sympathetic portrayal of Nazi’s (despite what happens in the end), the MPPDA would have likely had many issues with “Lifeboat.” But with Hitchcock at the helm and the wartime themes, the film was able to swerve those issues.

Haley Ruccio

Wood, Brent. “The Rediscovered War Films of Alfred Hitchcock.” Foreign Correspondence, n.d.

#submission

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thornyrose463 · 2 years ago

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Coming soon: A Tale Of Three Dojos (Cobra Kai story)

Summary: Daniel, Johnny, and Kreese begin preparing their students for the All-Valley Tournament.

Rating: T

Warning: Swearing and violence

I couldn’t find good gifs of the characters in this story, so I had to use pictures. The pictures are not mine. I found them on Google. All credit goes to the rightful owners.

The Instagram posts in this story were made by @fakesocialmediaa. I would like to thank them.

Cast

Gianni DeCenzo as Demetri Alexopoulos

Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso

William Zabka as John “Johnny” Lawrence

Meg Donnelly as Sarah Lawrence

Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz

Jacob Bertrand as Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz

Khalil Everage as Chris

Owen Morgan as Bert

Mary Mouser as Samantha “Sam” LaRusso

Aedin Mincks as Mitch

Nathaniel Oh as Nathaniel

Thomas Ian Griffith as Terrance “Terry” Silver

Martin Kove as John Kreese

Peyton List as Tory Nichols

Joe Seo as Kyler Park

Tanner Buchanan as Robert “Robby” Keene

Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso

Vanessa Rubio as Carmen Diaz

Rose Bianco as Rosa Diaz

Salome Azizi as Cheyenne Hamidi

Dallas Dupree Young as Kenny Payne

Brock Duncan as Zack Thompson

Griffin Santopietro as Anthony LaRusso

Jaden Labady as Marcus

Milena Rivero as Lia Cabrera

Paul B. Johnson as James Payne

Dan Ahdoot as Anoush Norouzi

Okea Eme-Akwari as Shawn Payne

Nick Marini as young Terrance “Terry” Silver

Barrett Carnahan as young John Kreese

Dustin Lewis as Mr. Palmer

Hannah Kepple as Moon

Dale Whibley as Riley Carter

Annalisa Cochrane as Yasmine

Bret Ernst as Louie LaRusso

Rebecca Lines as Kandace Nichols

Selah Austria as Piper Elswith

Jade Pettyjohn as Carly Bennett

Nichole Brown as Aisha Robinson

Oona O'Brien as Devon Lee

Michael Burgess as Principal Fitzpatrick

Paul Walter Hauser as Raymond “Stingray” Porter

P.J. Byrne as Greg Hughes

Randee Heller as Lucille LaRusso

Julia Macchio as Vanessa LaRusso

Diora Baird as Shannon Keene

Keith Arthur Bolden as Daryl

Kurt Yue as George

Cara AnnMarie as Sue

Matt Lewis as Ron

Carrie Underwood as herself

Yuji Okumoto as Chozen Toguchi

Something you need to know before you read this story:

It is the sequel to Johnny’s Daughter.

#fanfiction

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madeofcelluloid · 6 years ago

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'The Standoff at Sparrow Creek', Henry Dunham (2018) Arsonists like to watch their work from a crowd. This isn't much different.

Follow my work on: Instagram | Cargo | Tumblr

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mantaypeli · 3 years ago

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Culpable (The Guilty)

★★☆☆☆ Poco inspirado remake de la cinta homónima de 2018 a cargo del tándem Jake Gyllenhaal-Antoine Fuqua, quienes repiten colaboración tras la irregular Southpaw. Todo lo que en su predecesora danesa funcionaba, aquí o bien ha desaparecido o está dulcificado ad nauseam. Ni rastro de la atmósfera claustrofóbica que envolvía y potenciaba la trama argumental, repleta de vericuetos y tramposos…

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#Antoine Fuqua #Bret Porter #Emil Nygaard Albertsen #Gustav Möller #Marcelo Zarvos #Maz Makhani #Nic Pizzolatto.

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westworldwatchers · 7 years ago

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Westworld Watchers Exclusive: Interview with Bret Eric Porter!

#westworld #Bret Porter #Ed Harris #James Marsden #interviews #s1

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milliondollarbaby87 · 3 years ago

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The Guilty (2021) Review

Joe Baylor was demoted from his role as a police officer to the call dispatch desk and when he receives an emergency phone call from a woman claiming that she has been kidnapped it really pushes him to the edge with that and fighting his own demons. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (more…)

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remuslupinprotectionprogram · 6 years ago

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Okay so I’m watching Criminal Minds and this guy

Reminds me SO much of @asktheboywholived Remus that that was the only way I thought of him as when he was on screen. Just. Remus.

I mean, totally different personalities but damn.

#criminal minds #s10 e10 #Amelia Porter #Remus Lupin #tts remus #tt bret #asktheboywholived #harry potter

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dwellordream · 4 years ago

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“The intuitive and a touch clever method is to take normal human walking speed – around 3mph – multiply it by walking hours per day (maybe 8) and go with that. This makes intuitive sense, but if large army logistics made intuitive sense, they wouldn’t be hard, and as Clausewitz says (drink!) “War is very simple, but the simplest thing is very hard.” Logistics is very hard. So why don’t armies move at c. 25 miles per day?

So let’s think about – in very general terms – what needs to happen and in what order for a large body of infantry to march. Everyone wakes up and starts to get moving (probably around 5am). Breakfast need to happen, which may require making fires. Tents need to be struck and stowed along with all of the gear in the baggage train and individual soldiers need to stow their own equipment. All sorts of small tasks add up to eat away parts of the morning. Then everyone needs to get gathered and ready to march.

And now – because you are a large body of infantry, you wait. Let me explain – let’s take a nominally full strength (c. 3,000 men) American civil war brigade, marching on a road 13ft or so wide. You can get five men (a little cramped) into a single row on that road, meaning that the infantry itself stretches 600 ranks deep. Unlike in the movies (which love ultra-compact marching formations because it looks cool) you need a few feet of seperation between rows for best effect (WW2 US Army guidelines specified 2-5 yards), let’s assume each soldier occupies about 5 feet in the marching order. So the infantry is 3,000ft long (914m; nine football fields). We also need unit separation (between the regiments, it’s important to avoid ‘accordioning’ on the march and facilitate control; WW2 army regs suggested 100 yards between companies, 50 yards between platoons, so these could be quite large), so let’s round up to 4,000 ft (1219m; 13 football fields).

But we also have tents, food supplies, spare ammunition and all sorts of other of what the Romans would have called impedimenta (sidenote: if you are thinking, “well, but a pre-gunpowder army doesn’t need this; 1) arrows take up space and 2) camp entrenching supplies – the Romans marched heavy). How many wagons, pack animals or porters you need varies – the Romans seem to have often moved with a mule for every six-to-eight men, plus the army’s siege train. A good rule-of-thumb I’ve seen for American Civil War estimates is around 20 wagons per thousand, so 60 wagons. Rule of thumb in the ACW is 80 wagons to a mile of road, so our wagon train ought to take up around another 4,000ft.

...So the entire force is probably a bit more than 8,000 ft long – 1.5 miles. In practice, there’s actually a lot more space eaten up in separation (between wagons, between men) so it would be longer, but I don’t want to get lost in the details. And this is for just 3,000 infantry – we have no cavalry with their many spare horses (three per man as a typical minimum) or god forbid a siege train which might involve hundreds of wagons.

Here’s the thing: the last man in the line cannot start marching until that entire formation has marched past him. The more men you are sending down the same road, the worse the problem gets. For our single brigade, the wait is probably close to an hour. For an army of – say – 10,000 men, you’re now talking about the last man waiting in the camp while some five miles of army marches past him (that’s about 2-3 hours of waiting). Moreover, the front of the army has to stop where the last man will stop for the night (since the army camps together, because to do otherwise is dangerous). And remember, that last man may have started marching hours after the first man, putting him miles back down the road. So another two or three hours where now the front of the army isn’t moving even though the back is. And worse yet – the entire army is limited to the speed of its slowest element – either waiting for it to move forward in the morning or waiting for it to catch up in the evening.

Well, getting started ate quite a few hours, but at least we’re going to move at a constant speed all day right? Of course not. These are humans – they need to eat (lunch), drink and relieve themselves. Men will fall out of line because they are sick or because they sprained an ankle or because they’re tired of marching and faking it (many army guidelines put the medics at the back of the marching column for this purpose). To add to this, wagons get stuck in the mud, mules and horses get stubborn or lame (that chance may seem low, but remember we’re dealing with thousands of animals – small percentages add up fast when you have a few thousand of something).

For reference on how much time this can eat up, 1950s US Army marching regulations (this is again FM21-18 “Foot Marches”) suggest that “battle groups or smaller” (800 men or less, generally – so small, fast-moving infantry) can “under favorable conditions” (read: good, modern paved roads in good weather) make 15-20 miles in a continuous eight hour march. A forced march – marching longer than 8 hours and at a higher than normal pace – can cover more ground (c. 35 miles in a day in some cases) but such a pace will wear out an infantry force fast.

At the end of the day, the army needs to arrive at its planned camp site long enough to make camp. Cooking needs to be done. Food that was foraged by flanking units needs to get to the camp, be recorded and stored (or processed and eaten) – speaking of which, note that we haven’t even discussed flankers, scouts and foraging parties. Wages may need to be paid, paperwork needs to be done. In many armies, the camp will need to be fortified – the Romans built a wood-palisade fortified camp every night on the march. And then everyone goes to sleep around 9pm. And that, to be clear, is when everything works like clockwork – which it never does.

For a large army, the breaking camp, waiting to begin marching, waiting for the last man to arrive, dealing with pack animals and wagons slices a few hours off of that eight hour march routine. All of which is why a normal large body of infantry moves something closer 8-12 miles per day than the 24 miles (8 hours x 3.1mph) per day implied by Wikipedia’s Average Human Walking Speed.”

- Bret Devereaux, “How Fast Do Armies Move?”

#warfare #military #history #writing #ancient #medieval #renaissance #bret devereaux

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comparativetarot · 3 years ago

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Queen of Wands. Art by James Pascoe, from the California Tarot.

The Queen of Wands is Jesse Benton Fremont, the driving force behind John C. Frémont’s career. A prolific writer and political activist, she wrote the Expedition in Oregon and California, which helped to create the push for continental expansion in 1846, and was an anti-slavery, anti-secessionist advocate. She was a patroness of art and literature in San Francisco in the 1860s and hosted SF’s first “literary and political salon” at Porter’s Lodge (Ft. Mason) for Bret Harte, Thomas Starr King, Mark Hopkins, Caleb Fry, Edward D. Baker and Edwin Bryan Crocker.

#James Pascoe #California Tarot #Queen of Wands #Queen #Wands #Minor Arcana #Tarot #California #Jesse Benton Fremont #Animals #Cat

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bargarraninc · 1 year ago

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the turn of a year at the mckittrick; visit 15, dec 3rd, 2023

THE INFAMOUS BIRTHDAY DOUBLE; Turning 20 at the McKittrick. PART I: THE MATINEE

QUICK NOTES: - She is yet another long, long recap full of me and all my little thoughts. A lot happened this show, and as always, I have a lot to say about it! - The 1:1s discussed in this post are Malcolm, Hecate and Nurse (in that order, marked clearly) if you would like to avoid spoilers. TLDR; Every actor at this show is hellbent on out-performing themselves every show and I am hellbent on admiring the shit out of that.

Through a massive server effort (which I am always going to be so grateful for), I had managed to make my one evening show for my birthday into my first planned double at the McKittrick, a real birthday treat. Got in line early (though I did have Oz’s) to hang out with my friend in line, got given and chowed down on a fantastic brownie and then we were in!

Yellow ribbon around my neck, we stepped into bar. My hopes for this show were pinned on Malcolm, Hecate and a Banquo loop to finish. Had barely taken a seat at my little table before we were off to the elevators in the first group. Omri! Taxi dropped us off on 3rd, Macbeth was racing downstairs and I followed his lead, excited to reach ballroom and be truly immersed in the magic of the show again. Ballroom confirmed Tim C Malcolm (which I had been hoping for!) and introduced me to the many wonders of Parker! Banquo and Bret! Boy. No Noah bummed me out a little — their Boy is most definitely one of my favourites and something I was hoping to catch.

Knowing I was going to follow Malcolm up first, I decided to get a small headstart because I’d decided to wear a long red skirt in the hotel for the first time and she was a headache immediately. Got up there basically right behind Malcolm with the headstart and we were off like racehorses, booking it to the back room and into the Agnes scene. Junyla was on as Agnes — such a treat always. Agnes walked off, taking the crowd outside with her and then Malcolm was in the backroom again, egg in hand.

There is a thrill being picked for the Malcolm 1-1, that moment of intense eye contact wavering over the egg and then the immediate near-ejection from the room. Tim C was kind enough to start his show with me.

MALCOLM 1-1 STARTS HERE

Despite having crossed off four Malcolms in my hit list, Tim’s rendition of both the character and the 1-1 remains my solid favourite. Perhaps, it is because he was my first Malcolm but being in the room with Tim’s Malcolm always has this additional, mind-blowing aspect to it.

This Malcolm is incredibly anxious to the point where he feels near to tears the entire time, his breathing audible and laboured. Will’s Malcolm is a man on a taut string of sanity, Tim’s is just a boy. The choking up of the feather is horrendously physical but not scary in the way of dangerous. It strangely evokes the same type of reaction in me as watching a kid slip and get hurt, this immediate “Oh no. This poor thing”. This is only aggravated by the hug at the end, this actual shivering break-down as Malcolm talks of hearing a voice, his voice telling him Blood will have blood. He shudders out of my light hug back, lets out an anguished wail at the sound of the bells and is gone. Chilling, always.

MALCOLM 1-1 ENDS HERE

Overwhelmed as always and wanting to check on who the other 4th floor cast were, I gandered out of the investigation room and walked straight into Rep Bar to see none other than Robyne on as Hecate. Immediate pause — Robyne is by far my favourite as the enchanting Head Witch, her energy so much lighter and more playfully charming than other versions I have seen. Minutes in the room and the first 1-1 pull ended up being me. Pulled in softly, I was tasked with the Porter Boat Note and told to return quickly for she would be waiting for me. Ever eager to please (and excited to check on the Porter on!), I rushed off, skirts in hand, at full speed to do as I was told. Always think I must look so insane to the poor first-time white masks who turn to look as I absolute book it past them.

It was Andrew P on (slay!) and he has one of my favourite reactions to the note, holding it close to his heart and closing his eyes as if pained by its existence. Andrew! Porter, few other WMs and I ambled over to lost luggage. Andrew P very amazingly folded most of the note with his eyes closed (which is an accomplishment I CANNOT replicate) and I was on my way again, rushing past the crowds to get back to Hecate. Caught her just as she was on High Street and quietly followed her into Rep Bar, boat note held in hand but awaiting a non-intruding moment. Knife and dinner went to someone else — a clear first-timer who stood by Hecate, incredibly and adorably flustered as the ring was passed to them.

Me and Robyne made eye contact as she got up for ITATI. The individual picked for dinner had quickly returned to their pair as soon as Hecate had looked away so she offered me her hand, and I walked her to the stage. As she got on, she asked for the boat note and I obliged, stepping away a little to allow proper viewage to the army-size audience which had gathered for the scene.

Robyne’s ITATI is one of my favourites — something about it feels strangely haunting. I have had conversations about Gabrielle and bodysnatching in the Hecate character before but I think Robyne embodies the same spirit in her rendition. Her Hecate feels like a supernatural being indulging in acting human — charming and tricking White Masks and Agnes and whoever into trusting her just until she is done with them. This humanistic behaviour is tolerable until it leads her into feeling emotion — during ITATI, Robyne tears up and her body contorts as if physically, something within her rejects this display of emotion. It is amazing to watch the physicality of this movement, the feeling that something else is controlling her in those few seconds. In this performance, she straightened up from said contortion, tears falling down her face, and held my hand for the Lover verse. Using my boat note, she wiped her tears, chucking it (along with the Porter’s hopes) back at me, never thinking of it again. The song ends with her in a quietly amused smile, all sadness displayed only momentary, as if it was nothing but a tableau vivant.

Hecate came off stage and we all followed her lead like moths to a light. It is actually so interesting to watch the audience move in moments like this (which is what I was doing), moving all as one entirely entranced. Not expecting any further interaction from Robyne’s Hecate, I stood by the pillar, two people in front of me, but as Robyne walked past, she paused, our eyes met and with a furtive quickness, I had been grabbed and soon enough I was by the wall, standing at attention. The crowd, which felt keenly full of first timers, watched as Robyne disappeared into the lair and then dispersed. A few stuck around for a while longer but by the time the door came open to take me in, it was just me.

HECATE 1-1 STARTS HERE

There is a certain warmth in the Robyne Hecate experience, especially when you first enter and she takes off your mask, that is rather unshakeably good. I could not stop a smile as she looked down at me, her hand lightly patting my head as she discarded of my mask. Her hands then took mine and I knew I was getting Find My Ring.

The Hecates and I haven’t been as tightly knit as me and the Malcolms in my visits to the McKittrick so this was only my second ever time being in the lair proper. Having had this 1-1 with Gabrielle (who does it bone-chillingly well), I thought I knew what to expect. While the manoeuvring was much the same, Robyne’s delivery of it was absolutely fantastic. I found myself entirely affranchised of the control of my body, stunned to the point of genuine goosebumps and heart-racing at the speed and fervour with which the whole 1-1 took place. By the time I was told to go find her the ring and pushed out into the apothecary, it felt like I had been dunked underwater. Insane out of body experience. Robyne is a hell of an actress — I had been well aware but the 1-1 just beyond confirmed it.

HECATE 1-1 ENDS HERE

Hecate-d the hell out, I weaselled off to go find Banquo and put myself through some emotional torment. I had promised myself a Banquo loop sometime in my next few shows and decided to go try now, especially with Parker on as a treat. Saw Malcolm run past to his office and knew it was primetime for Bird Dance downstairs and booked it, waltzing in just in time to be one of three people watching Parker absolutely KILL it. MY GOD. Stood there, mouth open, mind blown for the whole time. Parker possesses such otherworldly grace in every movement. Followed Parker’s Banquo for Duncan discovery, first crypt time and then bolting upwards to hammertime. Hammertime had quite the lineup for this matinee — Brandon Macduff, Tim C Malcolm and Parker Banquo made for an intense, nervy trio. Was going to stay put and committed for the whole bit but in comes my dear friend to the room, news in hand. She pulls me to the side just as they all begin to switch seats and whispers “Noah Nurse!”. Like the wind, I am gone instantaneously. We could not stop laughing about it later in the bar — the speed with which I roadrolled my way up to Five.

Walking into Noah! Nurse busy at work washing laundry, I spent the rest of this loop being a good follower, running around with good ol’ Nurse fixing baths, getting rocked to all hell and lastly having an absolute hell of a dance in the operating theatre. Noah and Marija have a seemingly unbreakable tie for my favourite Operation Theatre dance — the suddenness of both their movements throughout this sequence being my absolute favourite. When I know either of them is on as Nurse, it is a must see during the show, and I would recommend everyone to trek upstairs and watch it for themselves. Noah, in particular, excels at the section of the dance where the Nurse’s legs seem to grow their own consciousness. The viciousness with which Noah slams down on these ‘misbehaving’ parts and the acting they manage to do while doing these incredibly sharp movements is gloriously good. Time for the Nurse pull comes around and they pick someone else — it is what it is.

Knowing I’d like to continue my Nurse loop to the end, I loiter around on Fifth, looking particularly at the props in the Nurse’s office across the laundry. I had never looked at the files in there particularly and standing there, perusing through pages of amazingly detailed propwork, was once again reminded of how incredible this show truly is. What a labour of love it is to have props so so detailed and beautifully done in every corner of this building, just waiting to be explored by some curious fool like me. The door to the Nurse’s 1-1 room creaked open and I stepped out of the adjoining office, waiting to see Noah step out and continue. We make eye contact through the little creak in the door, or well really they look down at me and I look up confused. They gesture for me to stand by and I listen up. Moments later, the door re-opens, their hand slips out to take mine and I am in the room.

NURSE 1-1 STARTS HERE

JESUS CHRIST. The energy in the Nurse 1-1 room is insane — the intensity of Noah’s suddenly very alive eyes (which is one of their best acting chops!) and the incessant heartbeat sound combine into a feverishly out-of-body environment. They take off my mask, invite me to sit on the sofa with them and stare straight ahead with this fervid conviction of some sort. Every time we make eye contact, their eyes seem to grow shiftier, as if waiting for something to take place. I am burrito-ed into place with the blanket, tucked very well for how much skirt it had to encompass, and the Nurse sits down. For a second everything is quiet and then it is very much not — the quote appears, the nail is ejected and the Nurse is pinned to the wall, in fear and in this frightening anger.

Noah has me up and standing before my brain fully computes being upright again and I kind of lose balance. They catch me before I faceplant onto the floor and the mood lightens because I can’t stop a little giggle. We snap right back into it, I am put against the wall, given the mask and thrown out. I turn back just for a second to see them staring intently at me once again and the door closes and there is silence.

NURSE 1-1 ENDS HERE

It had been a busy busy show and I was eager to catch some all-time favourites to round off third loop after finishing the last bits of second with Noah Nurse and Lady Mac by the baths. I came down to fourth, went to third rave and managed to JUST make it into the final interrogation room. Brandon Macduff Tim C Malcolm — now that is a fucking pair. The fluidity of motion between them was mind-boggling, our little audience of five stood with bated breath the entire scene. Interrogation scene is one of the absolute gems of this show to me, something about it scratches my smooth little brain. The tree comes into view, the cute lady next to me gasps making the connection to Birnam Wood and the boys are OFF! I follow them to watch the plans come into place in truth (another favourite) with a waiting crowd in the office and branch off again when they peel off towards final banquet.

I had never ended the show with Hecate prior to this performance and was eager to catch a few more glimpses of Robyne in the role. As I came into Rep Bar, she was stood with quite the following still (as she deserves) and I joined their array, another righteous member of the #HecateFanclub. She looked at me, smiled mischievously and took my hand once again, granting me the walk down. We were both plagued with long skirts down stairs so it was fun holding her hand in mine (very Pride and Prejudice-esque hold) as we both picked up our respective skirt trains and made it downstairs all in one piece. Having never watched the hanging from Mezzanine, the whole thing was quite the experience and Robyne held my shoulders throughout, strangely a calming presence.

As Jeff’s Macbeth swung, it was walk-out time. Hecate had quite the waiting crowd so we swapped me out for another White Mask for the walkout into Manderley. Falling a little behind, I aligned myself behind Noah Nurse and followed them and their WM into the Manderley, already giddy and excited for my return only an hour or two later. Said hello to both Noah and Tim before they disappeared into the elevators and scurried to debrief my incredible matinee with my dear friend. We talked for a while, trying to take the full advantage of my rare Oz’s table and giggling about our shenanigans. When it was time for her to go, we left the Manderley and I stepped out to Ovest, completely unknowing the evening show would somehow manage to blow even this spectacular beast I had just seen out of the water.

#sleep no more #sleep no more nyc #immersive theatre #the mckittrick hotel #punchdrunk #sleepnomorenyc #theatre recap #visits to the mckittrick

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fromtheringapron · 4 years ago

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WWE WrestleMania XXVI

Date: March 28, 2010.

Location: University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Attendance: 72,219.

Commentary: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Matt Striker.

Results:

1. WWE Unified Tag Team Championship Match: ShoMiz (The Miz and Big Show) (champions) defeated R-Truth and John Morrison

2. Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.

3. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Jack Swagger defeated Christian, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, Kane, Montel Vontavious Porter, Matt Hardy, and Shelton Benjamin.

4. Triple H defeated Sheamus.

5. Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk (with Serena and Luke Gallows).

6. No Holds Barred Lumberjack Match: Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon. Bruce Hart was the special guest referee.

7. WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match: Chris Jericho (champion) defeated Edge.

8. Layla, Alicia Fox, Maryse, Michelle McCool, and Vickie Guerrero defeated Kelly Kelly, Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, Gail Kim, and Eve Torres.

9. WWE Championship Match: John Cena defeated Batista (champion) to win the title.

10. No Disqualification Career vs. Streak Match: The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels. Per stipulation, Michaels retired.

My Review

WreslteMania XXVI is a difficult show to sum up. It’s a pretty good WrestleMania, but also one that happens to be all over the place in tone and focus. Perhaps its reflective of how indeterminate the future of the WWE felt at the start of the 2010s. The roster was such a mishmash of eras that you’d be forgiven of not having a clue where the hell the company was going. John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton were at the top of the card after their rise to superstardom in the 2000s, but the spotlight was still shared guys who rose to stardom in the ‘90s like Triple H and The Undertaker. Then there was a new generation of talent—The Miz, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, etc. — bubbling in the undercard who seemed poised to rocket into the top at any moment. But wait! Time was also given to . . . the 13-year-old feud between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon?!? Suffice to say, with the show splintering off in so many different directions, it’s not surprising it has some misfires.

Let’s start with the good stuff, though. The main event between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels is fantastic and I’m gonna throw it out there that I like it more than their match from the previous year. The stakes feel higher, the suspense level feels higher, and there’s more of a story here than just Shawn needing to beat Taker. He puts his entire career is on the line here, for heaven’s sake! And speaking of his career, like many at the time, I didn’t have a clue this would be Shawn’s last match. Most on-screen wrestling retirements are never legit, so there was plenty of basis to believe this one would be no different. But alas, this one was different, and we get about as good a sendoff as we could’ve gotten for someone who’s been dubbed Mr. WrestleMania.

On another show, the WWE title match between John Cena and Batista would’ve been the main event. Their match here is great fun. It’s actually an end of an era for the two men who were crowned as the leaders of the next generation at WrestleMania five years earlier. Batista would move on to Hollywood shortly after this and, while certainly not his last WWE run, it would mark the end of his career as a full-timer. Interestingly enough, Batista was really coming into his own as a heel at the time of his departure, even winning over fans who previously couldn’t stand him. He would resurrect his heel run in 2014 and 2019, again only for a short spell. A shame we haven’t been able to spend much time with arrogant heel ‘Tista and his impeccable designer fashion, but then I guess that’s what makes it so special.

As for what doesn’t work, I probably don’t need to go into much detail about the Bret/McMahon clash. The basics of the story are solid — Bret gets his long-awaited revenge on McMahon, with his family right by his side. It’s just not super fun to watch in execution, however well-meaning it may be. They match is dragged out much longer than it should and it takes the crowd completely out of it. Another misfire is the Money in the Bank match. This would be the final iteration of the match at WrestleMania before it becomes its own pay-per-view. It’s clear the concept needs some rejuvenation by this point as it’s now a lazy, bloated affair where everyone gets in their allotted number of spots and there are way too many participants. To cap it all off, the ill-advised decision is made to push Jack Swagger into the main event scene, an idea which would run out of gas in a matter of months.

The show seems to have some weird pacing issues as well. In the era of the Network, I’ve grown so accustom to Manias being stretched to the point of exhaustion, so it’s always little odd to go back and watch one that feels like it doesn’t have enough time. It’s almost like it’s struggling to figure out how spread out time across a card so stacked. The tag opener and Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk feel like abridged versions of the matches we would’ve otherwise gotten, while Bret vs. McMahon gets more time than either combined. Even Money in the Bank feels somewhat rushed. I’m definitely not a huge fan of WrestleMania becoming a seven-hour event, and WWE has proven they struggle with time management on longer Manias, but this is one show where it seems an extra hour absolutely would’ve been to its benefit.

At its best, WrestleMania XXVI is a nice sampler plate of eras, even if struggles to give you equal portions for all of them. The multi-generational makeup of the card ensures there’s a little something for everyone and even closes the books on a couple of legendary careers. You’re bound to dislike some it but for better or worse, and this is a cheeseball thing to say, it definitely puts the “showcase” in the Showcase of the Immortals.

My Random Notes

No joke, I really did not think this would be it for HBK and even seriously thought Taker’s streak was in jeopardy. Am I a fool for thinking that? Maybe, but I like that wrestling conned into believing it in a way it hardly ever does anymore.

I feel like the temple entrance set is something that should’ve been more impressive than it is in actuality. They just stacked LED screens on top of each other and just rolled with it. It looks like something from Minecraft.

Ah, this show reinvigorates my fond feelings for Matt Striker. Such a handsome chap! Not surprising at all he would appear on a Bachelor ripoff a whole decade later.

I chuckled at Bruce Hart being the special guest referee for Bret vs. McMahon. You just know he huffed and puffed his way into that one, much to Bret’s annoyance.

I also chuckled at Diana Hart-Smith walking down to the ring with her best “evil, vindictive femme fatale on the cover of a pulp novel” look. God bless her. She needs to write another book.

I know Rey singing Happy Birthday to his daughter is meant to be a heart-warming thing but if I were a kid in the same situation, I would be traumatized. Just think of how uncomfortable it is when a room full of people is signing at you and then think of enduring that in an arena filled with thousands of people. CM Punk did her a huge favor by crashing the moment, as far as I’m concerned.

Not saying anything new here, but the whole Spear thing with Edge is cringe as hell and it’s for the best that it’s been forgotten in the annals of his career.

I know some people like to mock Vickie Guerrero doing Eddie’s frog splash, but I personally thought it was a sweet moment while staying true to comedically heel Vickie.

The official theme song to this Mania is “I Made It” by Kevin Rudolf. A time-period appropriate choice, I must say. I feel like the dawn of the 2010s is the only time a Kevin Rudolf could be a success.

I identify myself as someone who will always be more embarrassed by John Cena haters than Cena himself and I gotta say him posing next to the guys in the front row hating his guts is fucking hilarious. Cena is funny sometimes when he just straight-up trolls.

On the Legacy fallout: The storytelling for this was weird as hell. Am I the only who remembers that one time on Raw where they teased Ted turning face and the crowd was actually kinda into it? Then they completely abandoned it for whatever reason and just had Randy be the breakout face (as if he needed it) and dunk on both Cody and Ted at WrestleMania. I feel like Cody’s AEW origin story more or less began here.

Awwwwe, this show has little baby Drew McIntyre. It’s so interesting watching this with the benefit of hindsight. I remember a lot of people Not Feeling It when he was anointed as the Chose One, and truthfully I wasn’t feeling it at the time either, but watching it back really makes you appreciate how much hard work he put in to get to where he’d be a decade later. A lot of folks were dreading the inevitable Drew world title run in 2010. The title run did happen, but it was much later and much more welcome than anyone back than anyone could’ve imagined.

#wrestlemania #wwe network #the undertaker #john cena

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