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junker-town · 5 years ago

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Gus Johnson wants to live in the present

The man whose voice will boom throughout history couldn’t be enjoying the present more.

There are still 40 minutes before kickoff in Ann Arbor, and Gus Johnson is looking for a brush.

“I’m the only broadcaster who can still use a wave brush,” he says to the handful of people in the booth awaiting the start of Army-Michigan on Fox. “I’ve got a hairline at 52!”

Johnson is loose and energetic — the exact way you’d imagine him off the air. The Detroit native is extra comfortable today, as he’s getting ready to call the game of the team he grew up admiring: the Michigan Wolverines.

He’s walking around the broadcast booth, through the press box, and in the home team’s radio booth, sharing smiles and hugs before the game. He dances to French Montana’s “No Stylist”, which is booming throughout the Big House, for Joel Klatt’s Instagram, before egging on Klatt to do his own dancing. “Come on, Joel! You got some boogie in you, baby!”

Johnson then pulls his chair back and gets into a yoga routine right there in the broadcast booth. Unconcerned with what he might look like, Johnson is all over the place. He’s anywhere from a simple toe-touching stretch, to hips in the air, or laying on the floor, executing his routine in his white dress shirt with shades of green and brown checkers, a forest green tie, slacks, and G-Star Raw sneakers.

After about 10 or so minutes, he’s done, exclaiming to Klatt, “Joel, my shoulders are coming back! You’re gonna have trouble, bro! You’re gonna have trouble, bro!” Somehow, his clothes seem not a stitch out of place, despite testing his body’s boundaries.

It’s about time to get the party started, because that’s what it is when Johnson calls a game, be it football or basketball. His call sheet, wave brush, and coffee are placed neatly in front of where he’ll be in the booth for the game. Scottie Dothard, his longtime spotter, arrives in a mustard-colored collared shirt and jeans, binoculars in hand, ready to help Johnson on another successful game called in the booth.

Up until this point, it’s been all preparation with random people coming in and out of the press box getting things from and for Johnson and Klatt. And then, the big television lights go on in the booth. They’re incredibly bright, even at noon on a clear and sunny day. Johnson and Klatt turn to the camera, ready to bring America to Michigan Stadium on the second weekend of the 2019 college football season.

Fox’s music begins playing, and it’s showtime. “Welcome to the Big House here in Ann Arbor,” Johnson says. “Over 100,000 fans ready to watch the red hot Army Black Knights taking on the seventh-ranked Michigan Wolverines.

“Hi, everybody. I’m Gus Johnson, along with my partner Joel Klatt, and welcome to Ann Arbor.”

It’s the day before the game, and there are more than four hours until the production meeting, but Johnson is in the conference room of the Ypsilanti Marriott where he’s staying, ready to work. He’s looking slick with a fresh Nike zip-up jacket, black T-shirt, joggers, and a fitted Detroit Tigers cap with the top of his ears tucked in.

On the end of the conference room table sit two big white sheets of construction paper, two remotes to work the DVD player and TV (which has Army’s game from the week before vs. Rice on it), a folder with “GUS” written small in the top left corner, one set of 12 skinny Sharpies, one set of 24 regular-sized Sharpies, three highlighters, and a water glass turned upside down over a napkin with a peppermint on top. There’s also a yoga mat in his seat because he needs it for stretching.

He removes the yoga mat, still in its original wrapping, from the seat, settles in by taking his hat off and placing it to the side, and gets to work. “Everybody does this on computer, right?” he says. “But I’m old school.”

He won’t use all of the colors, just black for the Black Knights, and blue for the Wolverines.

After conducting a quick assessment of where I’m from, what I do, and Johnson proudly declaring, “I got shoes older than you,” Johnson starts recalling his upbringing, which included many days spent at the Boys & Girls Club in Detroit.

When Johnson was around 9 years old, the Boys & Girls Club had an oratorical contest that Johnson’s mother Btroy found out about from a bulletin board. She was good at checking bulletin boards to find out about events and opportunities, and he has proudly developed the same habit.

”In my mind, I was like, ‘Wow, that could be interesting. Seems like something cool.’”

He made up a speech and put on a suit with a tie, a nice shirt, and some hard-bottomed shoes. “Roach stompas, as we called them back then,” he says. “I had them Stacy Adams.”

Johnson went in and won the contest. He didn’t think much of it, and when the time came around next year, he didn’t mention it to his mother because he had a baseball game and didn’t want to miss it. She was also working that day, so Johnson thought he was in the clear.

“I was pitching — pitching good that day too,” he says. He starts looking off into the room as if he’s seeing it happen all over again right in front of him. “All of a sudden, I see this little lady, walking through the gate, her wig tilted, walking fast.”

Btroy walked through the dugout gate, past the dugout, past the coaches, and onto the field. “She walked straight to the mound where I was,” he recalls. “I said, ‘Mom, what are you doing? I’m pitching.’ She said, ‘Boy, I don’t care what you doing. Here’s a pair of shorts, here’s a Boys Club T-shirt. You see them picnic tables over there?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ She said, ‘You gon’ go over there, here’s a pen, and here’s a pad. And you gon’ write a speech. And you gon’ go up there, today, at 6 o’clock, and you gon’ say that speech.’ I said, ‘Mama, I’m pitchin’!’ She said, ‘Boy!’ — and whenever ya mama say ‘Boy!’ It’s serious.”

Btroy told Johnson, “You always gotta be fast on your feet. You always gotta be able to think quickly. Put something together. Scramble, if you have to. Now get over there and write that speech.”

Contest organizers called Btroy beforehand to tell her they wanted her son back because of his talent for speaking. Johnson went over to the table, mad, 10 years old, and cursing under his breath. He wrote the speech, went to the contest, gave the speech, and won.

”From that point on,” he says, “I always realized I was good on my feet. I could talk.”

That talent wasn’t prioritized for a while. He didn’t grow up thinking that he wanted to be the next great sportscaster. “I envisioned myself replacing Lou Whittaker as the second baseman of the Detroit Tigers,” he says. He later thought he’d become a doctor or lawyer, and you don’t need to be some sort of oratorical artist in either of those fields.

His baseball career did take him to college, though, where he played at Howard. While there, former player Glenn Harris was the sports director at the local radio station, WHUR-FM in Washington D.C. Harris would often show up to practice and Johnson got to know him.

Johnson ran into Harris one day and asked him how he liked being a sportscaster. Harris told him that he enjoyed it, and added he thought it was funny he asked him because that particular day was his intern’s last day on the job. Harris told him, “Go down the hill, talk to Mrs. Grimes, and see if you can apply for the job, if you’re interested.”

So he did, and he got the job, which paid $500 a semester. “I was on scholarship at Howard,” he says. “I think that was a violation. But I ain’t going to tell nobody. $500? A semester? Which, you know, 1987, that’s good bread!”

But he wasn’t done. He then walked down the hall and knocked on the door at the student radio station next to the main radio station to get experience on the air. Johnson walked in, introduced himself, and asked to apply for a sportscaster job to get on-air experience. Like the internship, nobody had applied, and Johnson got that job, too.

”Just like that. It was very serendipitous for me to be in that position that early. I just fell in love with it. Just — head over heels.” He stops to make sure that I understand him, and looks me right in my eyes. He says in a very serious tone, “No, really. Head over heels.”

Johnson gets up to get a snack, pats Dothard on the shoulder as he walks to the table and says, “He got the gat in his boot!” Dothard laughs, and says, “I’m not here to protect you. I’m here to protect everybody else from you!” The two have worked with each other for over 15 years, going back to their days at CBS.

Dothard tries to keep Johnson in check to make sure he stays true to himself. “I say, ‘Man, if you study way too much, I’ll kill ya,’” a statement which gets a nice chuckle out of Johnson, who is now back at the table and seated with a plate of cauliflower and celery, dressed in ranch. “Because you won’t be able to pay attention to the game. You paying attention to the game is a gift,” he says. “You gotta be in the moment, that’s what gives you the gift.”

Dothard also says Johnson had a mean jumper on the basketball court.

“As a point guard, he knows how to pass the ball,” Dothard says. “But he would tell any of his partners, ‘Remember, last few seconds of the fourth quarter, I get the last shot!’”

Johnson, dipping a stick of celery into some ranch, laughs and agrees, “That’s why I get paid!”

Dothard reiterates, “Under all circumstances!”

Johnson laughs, “You pass that!”

Marquise Brown’s career would not be the same without Johnson.

That’s not to take away anything from Brown’s talents: he’s a great receiver, and the odds that he learned any of that from Johnson are slim to none (they’re none). However, Brown is more commonly referred to as “Hollywood” nowadays, because Johnson realized he was from Hollywood, Florida, during a 2017 game against Kansas State.

The moment Hollywood Brown became Hollywood Brown is one that Klatt still seems amazed by. It came on a 77-yard touchdown pass from Baker Mayfield to extend Oklahoma’s lead to 55-45 against Oklahoma State.

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”From our seat you can see the defense open up from where we’re at in the booth,” he says. “And right when he spun, and you could see it open up, Gus’ tempo changed, everything changed. It was like watching Steph Curry, and you know he’s open in the corner, you can see the three-pointer being made before he even has the ball in his hands. That’s the way it feels in the booth.”

Because of Johnson’s call, Brown is more memorable, no matter how the rest of his career shakes out.

The big calls are what Johnson is known for, but he’s also an ace in knowing when to shut up. Johnson’s silence during the final moments of Notre Dame-Stanford in 2015 is something that Klatt and lead game producer Chuck McDonald both agree that Johnson is under-appreciated for.

Johnson didn’t go out of character — he still went bonkers in the final minutes of that game. But when Stanford knocked through the game-winning field goal, Johnson switched gears. It’s a moment Klatt says he’ll always keep with him as one of the most important lessons he’s learned in his years as an analyst.

”He sat there,” Klatt says, “and he looked at me and he held his hand up and shook his head like, ‘Don’t say a word.’ And he sat there for what felt like an eternity, because it’s television.”

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McDonald says, “People weren’t expecting that, and it was funny reading Twitter. There were a lot of people like, ‘What the heck was that? Where was the crazy call?’ He and I talked about it, and he told me, ‘What was I going to say that was better than that?’”

Johnson’s ability to read the moment and react accordingly is what has made him a legend. His style is unmatched when it comes to the NCAA tournament. He was made for it, and it helped make him.

Fortunately for Johnson, a lot of his famous calls were made as YouTube was starting to boom. And he’ll tell you, “So many great games,” he says. “Just great games,” and then he starts to get rhythmic, as if somebody had just put a microphone in front of his face. “Florida-Gonzaga, Princeton-UCLA, Vermont-Syracuse, Ohio State-Xavier, Xavier-Kansas State, just to name a few.” He pauses, and accurately adds, “And there are more.”

Steve Scheer, like Dothard, has worked with Johnson at CBS as a basketball producer, and now at Fox in the same capacity. He describes Johnson as a brother, having worked with him since Johnson’s first game at CBS. His favorite moment in working with Johnson came in 1999, when Gonzaga upset Florida in the NCAA tournament. “It was the call that made America wake up to Gus Johnson,” he tells me over the phone.

Johnson’s call was simply, “The slipper still fits!”

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”People to this day, including some people who shall remain nameless at CBS,” Scheer says, “will call and say, ‘Boy, we miss Gus on the NCAA tournament.’”

And yet Johnson isn’t worried about calling another NCAA tournament game.

“That’s my legacy,” he says, “and I don’t want to mess with it. It was the greatest time of my career.” He takes a long pause, “I earned my bones during that period. It was magic.”

A lot of that magic was made with Bill Raftery, where Johnson describes the duo as “Ebony and Ivory.”

“He’s like a second father to me. Straight up. I love him,” Johnson says. “When I’m with him, it feels like I’m with my dad. I’m protected. He’s not going to let anything happen to me.”

Raftery jokes to me on the phone, “I’m upset that he’s calling me a father,” he says, “Because I’ve got more juice than he does!”

One time, Johnson had lost his wallet, and he asked Raftery to borrow some money. Raftery reached into his pocket and pulled out $500 in cash, and handed it over like it was nothing. “He had it on him,” Johnson says laughing, “Just like an old man!”

“I cherish those moments,” he says about calling the NCAA tournament, “But that’s the past.”

”I’m not the pregame show, and I’m not the postgame show. I’m not the past, and I’m not the future. I’m part of the present. I’m present, I’m in the moment, and that’s where I want to keep my life.”

He says a line from the movie Bull Durham sticks out to him with regards to his outlook on life. It’s when Crash Davis hits his home run in Asheville, immediately retires, and goes back to Annie Savoy’s house in Durham.

Johnson says, “I just want to be.”

This is all routine for Johnson now. After all, he’s been in the game for almost 30 years. But like any person with a craft, it took a while to find out who he was as a broadcaster. For most of us, Gus Johnson was somebody who just kind of appeared in our homes and on our televisions while taking in March Madness. His energy made you care about a game or a team that you had no rooting interest in.

For Johnson, the people he tried to mimic were Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Brad Nessler, Al Michaels, and other greats. Reflecting on that time, he says, “A lot goes into that, you know? African-American, all-white industry, predominantly, especially at my position as a play-by-play guy. Even to this day, very few of us, unfortunately.”

“I needed to sound whiter.”

While at CBS, he once had an agent tell him that he “sounded too black.” Johnson says, “I called the agent back, and I said to the agent, ‘Well, I don’t understand, I am black. How can I sound too black? What does that mean?’”

But Johnson will tell you he’s always been in command of how he handles the language. He took acting lessons under Douglas Turner Ward, founder of the Negro Ensemble Company, along with other voice and diction classes over the years.

“It’s why I understand the language and how to use the language — my diphthongs, and my t-h’s, all those kind of things,” he says. “Incorporating that into my natural vernacular, and then just being myself. When I finally started to implement that, everything changed. I was able to relax and not play a character — a sportscaster character — but play the sportscaster character as myself.”

About 15 years ago, Johnson had a moment with his ex-girlfriend, Joy Hooper. She graduated with a degree in fine arts from Howard, and earned a master’s degree in fine arts from Penn State, where she ended up teaching. He describes her as a masterful actress and teacher. He enjoyed how she was able to pick out small things about him, which she was good at, because many actors study human behavior to improve at their craft.

Because she was able to do those things, and do them well, she had an honest discussion with him that he described as the day that he became Gus Johnson, and nobody else.

”You’re doing a good job,” she told him.

“But when you let that little black boy from Detroit out of his cage �� Then you’ll be a superstar.”

McDonald says into Johnson’s earpiece, “The last time Army beat a top-10 team was Penn State in 1963.”

It’s a 14-14 game, Michigan’s ball, fourth-and-two, with just over two and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Michigan is near midfield, and fails to convert for the first down.

As officials are measuring the spot, Johnson repeats what McDonald just funneled into his ear, setting up what could become another signature moment. Army has one time out, and plenty of time to work with against the team that Johnson grew up admiring.

There are no questions when it comes to Johnson’s objectivity. He’s a professional, and he’s proved as much over the years. But there’s no doubt that being in this moment means a little bit more, because it is Michigan.

After his Little League baseball games, his mom would serve up soup and sandwiches while he and his dad watched Bo Schembechler and the Wolverines. “Daddy and I would watch,” he says, “And Mama would always root for the other team for some reason. She just knew how to get on our nerves, and we’d be mad at her, like, ‘Why are you talking good stuff about them!’”

Johnson met Schembechler once at an airport. Schembechler was carrying his own bags, a fact Johnson seemed impressed by. He walked up to the legendary coach and introduced himself.

Schembechler told Johnson he was proud of him, before correcting himself and saying “we” are proud. “That was the only time I met him,” Johnson says, unsuccessfully fighting back tears. “That’s all I needed.”

Army owned a 5-4 record against the Wolverines all-time going into the game. Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson’s turnover woes carried over from the previous week, and there’s an antsy feeling in the Big House. This is supposed to be as good of a year as ever to finally break through, beat Ohio State, and win the Big Ten.

Michigan isn’t looking like it.

Johnson hasn’t sat down since early in the fourth quarter, but remains level. After the failed Michigan fourth down attempt, Army can’t do better than a 50-yard attempt for kicker Cole Talley, whose first-ever field goal attempt as a college athlete is this one.

“Cole Talley. From 50 yards away. Freshman,” Johnson says as the teams line up. The ball is snapped, the kick had distance, “And he pushed it wide,” Johnson says on the call. “We are heading for overtime in Ann Arbor.”

He takes a seat, quite literally on the edge of his stool. After the teams exchange touchdowns in the first overtime, Michigan gets a field goal to make it a 24-21 game. Army once again has a chance to win the game they probably should have had in regulation.

The Black Knights are faced with a third-and-11 on the ensuing possession, and the Michigan defense gets to Army quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr., and the ball pops loose. Johnson captures the moment perfectly.

“Sacked! Loose! Michigan has the football!” Johnson exclaims.

He waits for the referee’s official signal before delivering, “And the Wolverines survive! Kwity Paye! Knocked it loose! And grabbed it!” His hands, in the air as the play was developing, are now resting on his head, and he goes silent.

“The Victors” is booming through the Big House while the Wolverines sprint to the opposite end of the stadium and jump into the stands to celebrate with fans.

The man whose voice made him a legend, once again, lets the moment speak for itself.

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wwerumours-blog · 7 years ago

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WWE Halloween Costumes

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is a highly regarded name. This company deals in skilled wrestling. The sector of WWE is the playground for the world's well-known wrestlers that embody some large heavyweight performers.

WWE is a publicly traded firm. This sports activities firm is engaged in media like TV, Internet and live occasions.

Earlier this company was named WWF (World Wrestling Federation). WWE has its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut and have workplaces in different cities like London, New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto.

Brands - WWE works under three brands - Raw, ECW and Smakdown.

Management - WWE is headed by Vince McMahon, who is the chairman of the company and his spouse Linda McMahon, is the CEO of the company. Their children additionally handle some departments of the corporate.

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An enormous quantity of royalty is given to the WWE as a license charge to manufacture these action figures.

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At this time, he's not solely a profitable wrestler, however his personal WWE action figures are offered in large quantity.

Jeff Hardy was sixteen when he joined the WWE as a jobber. His first battle was against the famous wrestler Razor Ramon. Although, he joined WWE as a jobber, but in the present day, there are such a lot of Jeff Hardy motion figures bought in lots of variations that nobody can say he was a jobber at a time. These statues are based on his numerous fights he fought within the ring.

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Over the years, the WWE has applied women into their story traces. At first, they had been primarily used as managers who would sometimes interfere with matches. Vince McMahon realized that these ladies were turning into increasingly fashionable and began featuring them in matches. Now, there isn't a show that goes on that will not have a Diva current. There have been countless divas in and out of the WWE through the years. There seems to be an excellent debate over who the highest divas have been. A high "diva" is one which will increase scores for the WWE. It is sports entertainment right? These rankings aren't based on the top "feminine wrestlers" however the prime "divas".

10. Christy Hemme had a brief stay within the WWE. She was the primary winner of the diva search in 2004. This purple headed diva got here into the WWE with a variety of spunk and charisma. Her appearance within the april 2005 edition of playboy magazine helped propel her career. Her wrestling highlight was an look on Wrestlemania 21 against then rival Trish Stratus. Christy grew to become the TNA Knockout Of The 12 months in 2006 and is currently still with TNA wrestling.

9. Mickie James is the present WWE Divas Champion. She has additionally been WWE Womens Champion 4 instances. For the reason that departure of trish, mickie might probably be the perfect female wrestler on the WWE roster. She is ranked 1 of fifty in Professional Wrestling Illustrateds record of top feminine wrestlers. Mickie is a fan favorite and is for certain to have a protracted profession within the WWE.

eight. Michelle McCool is possibly probably the most athletic diva in the WWE. She and Mickie James are the only divas to have been each WWE Divas Champion and WWE Womens Champion. Michelle made her debut in 2004 as part of the diva search, and has been rising within the ranks ever since. She is at the moment ranked 8th in Professional Wrestling Illustrated.

7. Candice Michelle has benefited from exposure exterior of the WWE. She was featured within the superbowl 37 godaddy business. She has additionally posed in playboy (april 2006). She has also had success within the ring since her 2004 debut as a part of the diva search. She has change into WWE Womens Champion and was named Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ladies of the 12 months in 2007. If it wasn't for nagging injuries, Candice may have ranked larger on the record.

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5. Sunny, aka Tammy Lynn Sytch was a fixture in wcw as a manager for numerous wrestlers. She was a key part in how the WWE has modified its involvement with Divas. Her beauty made her extremely common with the followers. She was awarded Slammy greatest buns in 1996

and Slammy minds behind the mayhem in 1996. She was additionally Professional Wrestling Illustrated Supervisor of the Yr in 1996.

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2. Torrie Wilson was one other Diva that benefited from an look in playboy journal. She posed twice for the popular mens magazine. Torrie was a former Miss Galaxy(1998) and received the golden thong award in 2002. Torrie enjoyed an extended stick with the WWE as a fan favourite.

Kurt Angle's present contract with TNA expires this August. In recent months, Angle was not really vocal about his former group WWE like he was within the first few months when he left it. In certain events, he even expressed his need to leave TNA. All of these incidents started speculations that the previous WWE famous person may make a return to it. Nonetheless, very lately Kurt Angle addressed all these rumors to be false and hinted that may not ever return to WWE once more.

Why did Kurt Angle go away WWE?

These are two important reasons behind Kurt Angle's exit from WWE:

â€¢ Kurt was not satisfied with the inventive staff of WWE. He was getting good publicity, was being involved in great storylines however he believed WWE was not using him to his fullest. Also, he was not really happy with the way in which wrestling matches were shaping up. He wished to show his athletic excellence to the fullest, but he was not allowed to take action, as he clarified in many of his interviews after leaving WWE.

â€¢ The second purpose was much more important. Angle was not proud of the tight schedule that WWE typically has and he believed it was taking a toll on him. He wished a lighter schedule which WWE was not prepared to present him. Kurt Angle then although of disassociating him with the group.

Why is Kurt Angle not going to rejoin WWE?

Time heals every thing and the identical is a truth in this case as properly. Kurt Angle all the time accepted the fact that it was WWE that brought him to skilled wrestling which led to all these applaud that he at the moment enjoys. Issues went bitter when he left WWE but now he likes to manage his tongue earlier than making any foul comments on WWE. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean he is going to join WWE again. He's extremely proud of the best way his TNA career has formed up. He has hinted that he may stop wrestling altogether nevertheless he will never once more be a part of WWE. He would higher be involved in TNA, not as a wrestler, however he will wish to be part of it and entertain audiences.

The WWE Wrestling is a worldwide sport which has change into a phenomenon these days. Each kid and grownup knows and is aware of the most recent happenings on the planet of WWE Wrestling. It is a very talked-about sport that has been even more popularized by its use in films, music videos and TELEVISION exhibits. Not solely do folks love watching this simply to assist their favourite wrestlers but they also watch it as a result of this is something that provides them an adrenaline rush.

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The WWE Wrestling Company was began by Vince McMahon and is now handled by him and his spouse, Linda McMahon and his son Shane McMahon. It is without doubt one of the greatest organizations in the world and ninety six percent of the voting energy of the corporate lies within the arms of the McMahons. Apart from that 70 percent of the WWE's economic interests are also beneath their control. So nearly all of the company's shares belong to those guys. It is completely as much as them to handle the company the way in which they prefer to and that's exactly what occurs.

The headquarters of the WWE are positioned in Connecticut. It has a number of different offices in lots of different cities of across the world that includes Los Angeles, New York Metropolis, London, Toronto, and Sydney. This just goes to show that WWE Wrestling is not solely restricted to a part of the world however is prevalent in all nations internationally. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, it's often said to be a phenomenon slightly than a single occasion or sport. And it does go away its mark on each one. For those who watch it once you'll be addicted to look at it every time there is a match.

That is what the one con of watching and following WWE is.

The WWE that we follow is mainly professional wrestling. This means it involves not solely pure preventing but additionally slightly bit of theatrics and drama. The drama and the theatrics are only earlier than the game begins. Once the match begins it is pure uncooked motion. There aren't any cuts and no retakes.

The WWE Wrestling in actual fact has the largest video library as compared to the other wrestling federations. So if you are a true fan then you should have all of the videos which have ever been made since WWE Wrestling began. These are usually not solely entertaining to watch however additionally they reveal the unparalled legacy of WWE Wrestling since its inception. It's indeed, that every one of us have watched and experienced at the very least once in our lives.

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weekendwarriorblog · 6 years ago

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND December 7, 2018 - Um....

Are you all ready for one of the worst weekends at the box office in many months? There are no new wide releases this weekend... not a single one. Because of that, we can cut right to the top 10, which should look something like…. Basically, the same as last weekend but everything making even less. Sigh… the only thing of note I should mention is that Universal should take advantage of the slower weekend to expand Green Book further since it’s still in only been in about 1,000 theaters so far.

1. Ralph Breaks the Internet (Disney) - $16 million -38% 2. The Grinch (Universal) - $11.5 million -35% 3. Creed II (MGM) - $9.6 million -43% 4. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Warner Bros.) - $5.6 million -50% 5. Bohemian Rhapsody (20thCentury Fox) - $4.5 million -45% 6. Instant Family (Paramount) - $4.5 million -37% 7. Green Book (Universal) - $3 million -23% 8. The Possession of Hannah Grace (Sony/Screen Gems) - $2.9 million -55% 9.Robin Hood (Lionsgate) - $2.5 million -47% 10. Widows (20thCentury Fox) – $2.4 million -45%

LIMITED RELEASES

While there are no new wide releases in theaters and maybe you’ve already seen most of the movies above, there are a few new limited releases including at least one or two expected to expand wider in December, including two excellent dramas.

Period costume drama enthusiasts should be interested in Working Title’s latest, MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS (Focus Features), which is an absolutely fantastic directorial debut by Josie Rourke, starring Saoirse Ronan as the title character and Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth. The film covers Mary’s return to Scotland to take over the throne as queen, while also trying to get Elizabeth to accept her as a successor since Elizabeth is unable to have children. Along the way, Mary is paired with a number of men including the flamboyant Lord Darnley, played by Jack Lowden from Dunkirk, who gives her an heir even as she great to hate him. These were tough times in Scotland with civil wars and as many conspiracies to take the crown as in Game of Thrones. Also starring Joe Alwyn, David Tennant, Gemma Chan and Martin Compston, this is an amazing film led by another stirring performance by Ronan. Mary’s story is fascinating but also tragic, and it’s about time that someone did more with the character than just as a footnote in Elizabeth’s story. I was hugely impressed with the scope and scale of Rouke’s first feature film and the amount of emotions I felt as I watched it. In any other year, Mary, Queen of Scots would be an Oscar frontrunner, but I feel like the fact this is being seen months after Yorgos Lanthomos’ unique spin on the costume drama genre with The Favourite (which premiered during festival season back in Sept.) might give it a distinct disadvantage among awards voters. Either way, this excellent historical drama opens in select cities, and if you’re interested in British history or royalty, I highly recommend it.

Another great movie coming out Friday is Peter Hedges’ BEN IS BACK (LD Distribution/Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate), starring Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges. You may remember Hedges from his debut Pieces of April or the excellent Dan in Real Life, starring Steve Carell. Oddly, this film deals with a similar subject as Carell’s latest Beautiful Boy i.e. drug addiction, but I much preferred this film. Lucas Hedges plays Ben, a young adult who had been sent to rehab to deal with his debilitating drug addiction, but he shows up back at home on Christmas Eve, much to the concern of his mother (Roberts). She’s very worried that he’ll relapse to his bad habit being away from rehab, but also Ben has left enemies in the drug-dealing world, one of whom kidnaps the family’s beloved dog, sending mother and son on a tense night out into the drug world to find the pooch. I was pretty blown away by this movie which goes from family drama to something akin to a thriller, and the performances by Roberts and Hedges are fantastic, although the film also stars the always-great Courtney B. Vance. This opens in select theaters Friday, and I’ll have an interview with the elder Hedges over at NextBestPicture sometime later this week.

INTERVIEW WITH FILMMAKER PETER HEDGES

One of my favorite movies from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival is actor Alex Pettyfer’s directorial debut BACK ROADS (Samuel Goldwyn), a drama co-written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction). Based on Tawni O’Dell’s best-selling novel, it’s a fantastic study of family trauma as Pettyfer plays Harley Altmyer, a young man trying to care for his three younger sisters in rural Pennsylvania after his mother (Juliette Lewis) is jailed for killing their abusive father. While trying to keep his teen sister Amber (Nicola Peltz) out of trouble, Harley begins a tryst with an older married woman, played by Jennifer Morrison. It’s playing one night only at the Roxy Cinema in New York on Thursday 11pm then opens in select cities and on VOD starting Friday.

Actor Brady Corbet directs his second feature, VOX LUX (Neon), which follows the rise of pop star Celeste, who as aa teenager survives a school shooting incident and sings at the memorial service. With the help of her songwriting sister (Stacy Martin), Celeste (played as a teenager by Raffey Cassidy) becomes hugely successful before become embroiled in scandal. Years later, she returns for her comeback (now played by Natalie Portman) while trying to maintain a relationship with her own teen daughter (also played by Cassidy). Jude Law plays Celeste’s beleaguered manager, and original songs were written for the film by Sia. It opens in select cities, more than likely at many Alamo Drafthouse theaters, and we’ll see where it expands from there. I saw this a few months back and was generally mixed, since I thought Elisabeth Moss’ somewhat similar role in Her Smell (which will play SXSW next year) was much stronger.

TYREL (Magnolia) is the new film from Chilean-born filmmaker Sebastian Silva (The Maid, Crystal Fairy, Nasty Baby), starring Jason Mitchell from Straight Outta Compton as Tyler, who goes for a weekend trip to the Catskills with a group of people he doesn’t know, only to realize he’s the only black person. As the alcohol flows, he becomes the victim of racial stereotyping. This opens in New York at the IFC Center on Wednesday, then will very slowly roll out into other cities, including Columbus and Baltimore on Friday.

Opening in select cities and also at IFC Center is Oliver Parker’s Swimming with Men (IFC Films) starring Rob Brydon (The Trip) as an accountant going through a mid-life crisis who joins a group of all-male synchronized swimmers, and boy, did I want to enjoy this Britcom more than I actually did, which is a shame.

Kate Bosworth co-produces husband Michael Polish’s new drama Nona (North of Two), about a young Honduran woman named Nona (played by Sulem Calderon) who meets handsome traveler Hecho (Jesy McKinney) and takes him up on the offer to go towards the United States, where she can reunite with her mother. They travel across the country via car, bus, boat and eventually by foot through Guatemala and Mexico only for her to discover Hecho’s true intentions.

Opening at the Film Forum is the Danish film The Charmer (Film Movement) from Milad Alami, which follows Esmail, a good-looking Iran immigrant who is constantly picking up Danish women in bars and bedding them before dumping them. When he meets a fellow Iranian woman (played by stunning pop star Soho Rezanejad), she immediately has figured out his game, but it’s one he’s ready to set aside after he falls madly in love with her. This is a fairly slow-build character piece that goes off on a few odd tangents and never really delivers on the thriller aspects promised, but still is fairly worthwhile.

The Italian drama On My Skin from filmmaker Alessio Cremonini looks at the case of Stefano Cucchi (Alessandro Borghi) who was arrested for a minor crime and then found dead while held in detention. It also will open at the IFC Center Friday, but only receives a single showing each day.

Onto this week’s docs. If you’re in New York, you won’t want to miss Amazing Grace, also at Film Forum. If you hadn’t heard about it, this is a 1972 concert film showing Aretha Franklin performing gospel tunes with full band and choir, and it’s an amazing document of the Queen of Soul while at her peak, singing the hymns that she would sing in her father’s church. It plays for one week only at the Film Forum to qualify it for Oscars, but doesn’t have distribution yet.

Alexis Bloom’s doc Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes (Magnolia,A&E IndieFilms), exec. produced by Alex Gibney, will open in select cities and On Demand Friday. It’s a comprehensive look at the life and career of the late Fox News CEO, who died less than a year after being fired for sexual harassment. I though this was an excellent doc with a lot of people talking about Ailes you might not expect (like Glenn Beck) but watching this movie made me feel very slimy since Ailes was such a low-life in high places. You can watch it On Demand or in select cities starting Friday, though I’m not sure who might be interested in this, especially since so many liberals I know didn’t want to watch Errol Morris’ Steve Bannon doc when it played the festival circuit.

Onto the VOD specials i.e. movies getting limited theatrical releases that you’re more likely to see on demand and on digital outlets:

Frequent Guillermo del Toro collaborator Ron Perlman stars in Michael Caton-Jones’ new film Asher (Momentum Pictures) as a former Mossad agent, now a gun-for-hire living in Brooklyn, who breaks his oath when he falls in love with Famke Janssen’s Sophie.

Matthew Hope’s action-thriller All the Devil’s Men (Lionsgate Premiere) stars Milo Gibson, Wililam Fichtner and Sylvia Hoeks. It involves a manhunt through the streets of London for a CIA operative who might be involved in terrorism.

Karen Gillen’s directorial debut The Party’s Just Beginning (The Orchard) is released in theaters Friday and on VOD on Tuesday, Dec. 11, following its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Also on Thursday begins Russian Film Week, taking place at the SVA Theater between Dec. 8 and 14, showcasing the best of Russian cinema, both old and new, including Russia’s submission for the Oscars, Sobibor, and Timur Bekmambetov��s Yolki Posledniye, which never received a U.S. release.

STREAMING (VOD)

I haven’t had a chance to see the Dolly Parton-produced Netflix comedy DUMPLIN’, but it stars Patti Cake$ breakout Danielle Macdonald as the plus-size daughter of a Texas beauty queen (played by Jennifer Aniton) who decides to shake things up by entering a local pageant. It features a new song by Parton, and it will play in a few theaters for awards eligibility. From Italy comes Marco Risi’s 5 Star Christmas(akaNatale A 5 Stelle), a wacky comedy about the Italian Prime Minister visiting Hungary and while spending time with his secret lover, they discover a corpse in their hotel suite. (I’m loving that these international hits that would never get distribution in the U.S. are finding a home.) Also, from director Bert Marcus comes The American Meme, which follows the journey of four “social media disruptors” including Paris Hilton, Josh Ostrovsky (aka Fat Jew) and two others as they build their online empires. I missed this at Tribeca, so glad it found a home. Last week’s Andy Serkis-directed Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle will also be streaming on the network this weekend, and I recommend it but not for kids under 8.

Also premiering on VOD Thursday (before its DVD/Blu-ray release next Tuesday) is Christina Kallas’ mystery drama The Rainbow Experiment (Gravitas Ventures), which premiered at Slamdance earlier this year. It’s a whodunnit set in a NYC high school where a student is permanently injured during a science experiment.

Also, my good friend Ned Ehrbar (who I haven’t seen since he moved to New York!) has his directorial debut California No available on digital platforms starting today. It’s about a “rudderless junketeer” (something I know about from experience) played by Noah Segan (Looper, Brick) whose wife (something I don’t know about from lack of experience) confesses that they’re in an open marriage, something he did not realize. This sends him into a tailspin as he falls for another woman and moves in with a former A-lister.

REPERTORY

On top of the usual repertory offerings in New York and L.A., old movie lovers across the country can catch the 25thAnniversary screening of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning Schindler’s List, which will play at select theaters across the nation starting on Thursday night.

METROGRAPH (NYC):

I know absolutely nothing about photographer/writer Mario Ruspoli, but restorations of his short films and Florence Dauman’s 2011 documentary Mario Ruspoli, Prince of the Whales (finally translated into English) will screen starting Thursday and through the weekend with Dauman doing intros and QnAs throughout the weekend. Those who want to learn more about the French New Wave will have two more opportunities this weekend as the Metrograph screens two 35mm prints of Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) and Jean Renoir’s French Cancan (1955), the latter both Saturday and Sunday. Also, on Friday, the Metrograph will start screening a new restoration of Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (MGM/Park Circus), the Oscar-winning 1960 comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine that I only discovered for the first time last year when the Metrograph screened a 35mm print. The 1938 Japanese horror film Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen from Kiyohiko Ushihara will screen on Thursday and Friday nights.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

In its second weekend since returning post-renovation, the New Bev is offering double features of The Untouchablesand Capone on Weds and Thursday, Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Machine Gun McCain on Friday, as well as Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs at midnight Friday, afternoon screenings of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas on Friday and Saturday, as well as Death Race2000 at midnight on Saturday to commemorate David Carradine’s birthday. Sunday and Monday sees a Western double feature of The Magnificent Seven and Guns of the Magnificent Seven. This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matineeis Charles Lane’s Sidewalk Stories (1989), a silent movie about homelessness in New York that takes cues from Chaplin’s The Kid.

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

Christian Pentzold: The State We Are In continues this weekend with more screenings of the German filmmaker’s work including The State I Am In*, The Young Lieutenant and one of my personal favorites, Phoenix, on Sunday night. (*I saw Pentzold’s first theatrically-distributed feature this past weekend, and it was fantastic, following a young woman (Julia Hummer) living in hiding with her parents. Definitely can recommend that and Phoenix.)

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Ingmar Bergman’s classic masterpiece The Seventh Seal (1957), starring Max von Sydow, will screen from a new 4k restoration from Janus Films, playing for two weeks beginning Friday. This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is the classic Oscar-winning movie musical West Side Story (1961), currently being remade by Steven Spielberg.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Continuing the repertory love for Orson Welles with his latest film, the long-lost The Other Side of the Wind, the Quad is launching Actor For Hire: The Other Side of Orson Welles, which as explained, is a series featuring Orson Welles as actor including The Black Rose, Butterfly,Compulsion, The Third Man, A Man for All Seasons and many, many more.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Beginning a month-long screening of the Frank Capra classic It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) with scattered appearances by Donna Reed’s daughter Mary Owen between Dec. 11 and 24. Sure, it will be on TV a lot but when was the last time you saw it on the big screen? Late Night Favorites features midnight screenings of David Fincher’s Fight Club on Friday and Saturday, Weekend Classics continues its Coen Brothers retrospective with the Oscar-winning Best Picture No Country for Old Men, while Shaw Brothers Spectaculars continues with the classic Five Deadly Venoms.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

To celebrate its 20thanniversary, the renovated Grauman’s Theater will screen a digital restoration of Ernst Lubitsch’s Rosita (1923), starring Mary Pickford on Friday night. Spike Lee will continue his repertory run (after appearing at Metrograph this past weekend) by showing his new film BlacKkKlansman and introducing his 1992 biopic Malcolm X, starring John David Washington’s father Saturday night. Then on Sunday, there will be a double feature of Do the Right Thing (1989) and Crooklyn (1994) with a discussion with Lee in between.

AERO (LA):

Following a special screening of Tamara Jenkins’ latest Private Life on Thursday night, the Aero will do a FREE two-film tribute to Jenkins on Friday, showing The Slums of Beverly Hills (1998) and The Savages (2007). Kids of all ages will want to check out the Aero’s Looney Tunes Winter Wonderland on Saturday night and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) on Sunday afternoon. Plus they’re showing the Coens’ The Big Lebowski just because they can… oh, and it’s the movie’s 20th anniversary.

BAM CINEMATEK(NYC):

Apparently, BAM is trying to compete with Film Forum by presenting An Evening with Liv Ullman with the actress/director celebrating her 80thbirthday with the theater on Thursday night with a screening of Jan Troell’s 1971 film The Emigrants, starring Ullman and Max von Sydow (from The Seventh Seal).

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. presents A Woman of Affairs (1928) on Wednesday, 1938’s The Young in Heart on Thursday, and That Lady in Ermine (1948) on Friday, so you can see how Fairbanks changed across three decades.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

A new era begins with new chief curator Eric Hynes taking over for from founder David Schwartz, although this weekend only sees Family Matinee showings for Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas on Saturday and Sunday. This series continues through the end of the year.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Still showing the Italian drama Senso through Thursday and then a midnight screening of Nicolas Cage’s Mandy on Friday with producer Daniel Noah doing a QnA with director Joe Lynch moderating.

That’s it for this week. Next week… NEW MOVIES!!!! Spider-Man: Into the Spider-versewill take on the Peter Jackson production of Mortal Engines, while Clint Eastwood returns with The Mule.

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