#tom lawlor imagines

[elitehunter]

Tom Lawlor: I just like to smile. Smiling's my favorite.

Title: I just like to smile. Smiling's my favorite. Theme: Day 2 - Santa Hat for @12daysofchristmas Fandom/Character(s): NJPW/Tom Lawlor x OFC Warnings: a mention of seasonal depression? Word Count: 940

Whenever she's down, she can count on the guys from Team Filthy to make her smile. But seasonal depression can be a pain and when her spirits are down, Tom takes it upon himself to lift them. In his own unique way.

Read it on AO3

[orange-catsidy]

[wrestlingisfake]

G1 Climax night 6 preview

Juice Robinson (1-0, 2pts) vs. David Finlay (0-1, 0pts) - This is for 2 points in D Block. Robinson still has the IWGP United States title belt and he will probably continue to claim to be the real champion until Will Ospreay gets his hands on him. Actually, I'm curious what happens if somebody beats Juice before he faces Ospreay. If Finlay wins here, would he just take the belt? Would he issue a challenge to Ospreay? Who knows.

Finaly and Robinson came up together through the New Japan dojo and usually ended up teaming together as FinJuice. The duo had been doing pretty well as of late, until Juice suddenly gave a bit of a farewell address back in April 16. Then on May 1, he unexpectedly returned as a heel and member of Bullet Club. So although FinJuice was implicitly broken up, there was no betrayal per se with Finlay. Nevertheless, this is Finlay's big chance to settle his differences with his former friend.

The fact this match is closing the show is surprising. Granted, the other block matches aren't all that hot, but Juice is just starting to be taken seriously as a rising star, and Finlay has always been treated like a prelim guy. If Juice just beats Finlay, then I don't see the point of ending the show with this. If Finlay beats Juice, then that makes more sense. But it's hard to imagine Finlay getting a win like that right now, so this one is tough to call.

Lance Archer (0-1, 0pts) vs. Tom Lawlor (0-0, 0pts) - Lawlor is the very last guy in A Block who hasn't wrestled a block match yet. Both men are looking for their first two points. I'm assuming this is their first one-on-one match, given that Lawlor started with New Japan's STRONG brand shortly after Archer left New Japan to work for AEW.

I'm not sure where Lawlor fits on the pecking order with the domestic NJPW roster. In the US, he spent over a year as the STRONG champion, dominating the US-based roster, but the only main roster didn't really challenge him except for old-timers like Yuji Nagata and Satoshi Kojima. If Lawlor beats Archer, then that demonstrates NJPW takes him seriously among the midcard. If Archer wins, I don't think that cuts Lawlor off at the knees, but he'll need a big win to prove he belongs at this level.

I feel like Archer should win, although Lawlor could steal a victory with some cheap heel tactics. An 0-2 start for Archer would be rough, but then again I never expected him to win the block.

KENTA (0-1, 0pts) vs. EVIL (0-0, 0pts) - This is a C Block match for 2 points. Everyone else in the block has already wrestled at least once, but Evil is just starting. On paper these two are teammates in Bullet Club, but Evil's House of Torture has become rather isolated from Kenta and the rest of the group.

This match comes down to which guy can cheat to win first, and in a battle of fuck finishes my money is on Evil. A loss here would put Kenta at 0-2, and he's almost certain to take a third loss, in that I can't believe he'll beat both Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito.

Great-O-Khan (0-0, 0pts) vs. Chase Owens (0-1, 0pts) - Khan is the last wrestler to make his debut in B Block. As usual, 2 points are on the line. Chase debuted in last year's tournament and scored a big win over Tanahashi, but I still can't take him seriously at this level. Khan should utterly dismantle this dude.

Jay White & Bad Luck Fale & El Phantasmo & Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & SANADA & BUSHI - I guess this match previews Takagi vs. Phantasmo on August 12, but that's a ways off. The big story here is that Phantasmo stole Yujiro Takahashi's girl PIETER on the July 24 show. Knowing ELP, he'll dress her up in baggy coveralls or a barrel or something. Gedo is probably here to lose the match, but I suppose Bushi could lose too.

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi & TAKA Michinoku - Tanahashi vs. Sabre is set for July 30. Okada and Tanahashi are something of a dream team, although I don't know that they ever really accomplished anything as a duo. Sabre and Taichi have had a good run as team in recent years. I can't recall ever seeing Tana-Okada vs. Dangerous Tekkers before, so that could be something worth exploring here. Taka will presumably lose the fall, though.

Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare vs. Hirooki Goto & Tama Tonga & Jado - This is a preivew of Goto vs. Henare on July 27. Seeing Goto with Tama and Jado is kind of weird. It shouldn't be, because Goto is in CHAOS, which is friendly with the "home team." I just still can't get used to Tama and Jado being aligned with Hontai, because I keep thinking they're still Bullet Club. The United Empire team will probably pin Jado to win.

Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. JONAH & Bad Dude Tito - We already saw Yano vs. Jonah a while back, but this is a good excuse to see Ishii and Jonah in the ring together. Ishii and Yano would appear to be an unlikely duo, but once you've seen them team together a few times you just go with it. Tito is here to eat the pin.

Yujiro Takahashi & SHO vs. Yuto Nakashima & Kosei Fujita - Yujiro's next block match is July 27 against Will Ospreay. I'm really curious to assess Yuj's state of mind after Phantasmo stole Pieter away from him. Will he go on like nothing happened, or will he be too distracted to fight? Not that it affects the outcome of this match. Nakashima and Fujita are Young Lions, so Sho could win this match all by himself if he had to.

[gdwessel]

Wrestle Grand Slam STARDOM Matches Announced; NJPW Strong Moving to Saturdays 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT on 9/18/2021; More Autumn Attack Matches Announced; Minoru Suzuki v. Dominic Garrini in Timebomb Pro on 10/21/2021

NJPW has announced the two opening STARDOM exhibition matches for both nights of Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome. The Queen’s Quest tandem of Momo Watanabe & Saya Kamitani will be working both nights it appears. Tomorrow, they will face off against Donna del Mundo’s Maika, who will be teaming with the currently unaffiliated Lady C. Then on Sunday, the QQ pair will go against the current Artist of Stardom tag team champions, Donna del Mundo’s Giulia & Syuri, in what appears to be a non-title match. NJPW is taking great pains to point out Giulia will be less than 24 hours removed from a 5-Star Grand Prix tournament match against current World Of Stardom champion Utami Hayashishita, so they expect that to play a factor in the match in Saitama on Sunday morning.

Again, for the first time since Bushiroad purchased the company from Rossy Ogawa, STARDOM matches will be shown on NJPWWorld, having been prevented from doing so previously due to STARDOM’s existing contracts with NTV, a direct competitor to NJPW minority partner TV Asahi, who facilitates NJPWWorld. Again, I don’t know the ins and outs of how this was made possible, but it’s good STARDOM is now getting to be shown to an even wider potential audience that will hopefully be receptive to the womens promotion.

Tonight, NJPWWorld will show the “BBQ Brawl” episode of NJPW Strong. This is hands down one of the all-time worst titles they have ever come up with for an NJPW event of any kind. That said, the first match tonight looks to be very good, as Impact Wrestling’s X Division champion Josh Alexander returns, this time to face Daniel Garcia, who once again will be wrestling on two TV shows in one night as he is also due to take on Darby Allin on tonight’s live AEW Rampage from my home base in Hoffman Estates, IL. (I was never due to be at this show, but if you still need a ticket for GCW/BLP 3 Cups Stuffed or tomorrow’s BLP show, hit me up.)

The real point of this entry, is that NJoA have announced that in two weeks’ time, starting 9/18/2021, the show will be moving to Saturday nights from Friday nights, at 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT on both NJPWWorld or FITE TV (for a fee). One wonders if this is in fact due to AEW Rampage taking place at the same time now, and their continued partnership. With AEW being a much hotter product than NJPW at the moment, I can’t imagine there are too many people skipping Rampage to see Strong on Fridays, but I can see a lot of people skipping Strong for Rampage. I am guessing with the big move happening, that the Fighting Spirit Unleashed set of matches will start airing with this show.

NJPW Strong started life last summer as Lion’s Break Collision, an experimental empty-arena TV show during the peak of lockdown, and has run ever since. There have been some memorable moments on the show, it has to be said, but lost a lot of its luster once NJPW proper started running again. Now that shows are starting to happen outside of Thunder Studios, maybe interest will start picking back up.

On that note, NJPW have announced four more matches for the September NJPW Strong taping shows Autumn Attack, 9/25 & 9/26/2021 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, TX, have been announced.

One that looks to be a highlight of Night 1 is “Filthy” Tom Lawlor v. Ren Narita. Curiously, the NJPW hype piece for this does not mention Lawlor being the current NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, so one wonders if that’s an accidental spoiler. Also added to Night 1 is an 8-man tag match, as Juice Robinson, Lio Rush (possibly the Strong champion now?), Clark Connors & TJP will take on a Bullet Club tandem of Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, Hikuleo & Impact’s Chris Bey. This would be Bey’s first NJPW event since joining the Bullet Club in Impact.

On Night 2, the indie flavor of the month Daniel Garcia is booked against Switchblade, Jay White, in a non-title match against the NEVER Openweight Champion. Then, a tag match has been booked, where Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors will face off against the United Empire’s Will Ospreay and a mystery opponent. This could be Jeff Cobb, this could be Great O-Khan, this could be Aaron Henare... or this could be a new member of the Empire (most likely). We’ll see at the end of the month.

The announcements for Minoru Suzuki’s tour of the US indies continue. Now announced for Thursday 10/21/2021 in Dilwroth, MN, is Suzuki going into Timebomb Pro, a promotion based in Fargo, ND. No, it’s not just a movie/TV show, it turns out. At this show, Suzuki will have a first-time dream opponent in Dominic Garrini, an amateur wrestler/shooter type who’s been big on the indies the last few years, often teaming with Kevin Ku as Violence Is Forever, which is the name this show is taking on. Tickets for that event at TimeBombPro.com if you feel so inclined and are in that neck of the woods.

I actually am starting to keep track of all of Suzuki’s bookings now, so once we get closer in another week or so, I’ll post the entire list.

[pendesvoyage]

Movies to Look Forward to in March!

March is going to be a good month for movies. Not only is the first female-led feature film from Marvel finally here, but March offers laughs, scares, and edge-of-your-seat action. Here are the movies I’m looking forward to this month.

The Hole in the Ground

Sarah and young son Chris move to the fringes of a backwood rural town, but a terrifying encounter with a neighbor uncovers disturbing changes in her little boy. Is this connected to an ominous sinkhole buried deep in the forest that borders their home?

Release Date: March 1st

Genre: Horror

Starring: Seána Kerslake, James Quinn Markey, Simone Kirby 

Director: Lee Cronin

Apollo 11

A look at the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon led by commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin. 

Release Date: March 1st

Genre: Documentary

Stars:  Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins

Director: Todd Douglas Miller

Greta

A young woman befriends a lonely widow who's harboring a dark and deadly agenda towards her.

Release Date: March 1st

Genre: Drama/Horror

Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe

Director: Neil Jordan

The Wedding Guest

A story centered on a mysterious British Muslim man on his journey across Pakistan and India to kidnap a guest from a wedding. 

Release Date: March 1st

Genre: Thriller

Stars:  Dev Patel, Radhika Apte, Jim Sarbh

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Climax

French dancers gather in a remote, empty school building to rehearse on a wintry night. The all-night celebration morphs into a hallucinatory nightmare when they learn their sangria is laced with LSD.

Release Date: March 1st

Genre: Thriller

Stars: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub 

Director: Gaspar Noé

Captain Marvel

Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

Release Date: March 8th

Genre: Action/Adventure

Stars: Brie Larson, Gemma Chan, Ben Mendelsohn 

Director: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Gloria Bell

A free-spirited woman in her 50s seeks out love at L.A. dance clubs.

Release Date: March 8th

Genre: Drama/Romance

Stars: Julianne Moore, Sean Astin, Michael Cera

Director: Sebastián Lelio

Triple Frontier

Five former Special Forces operatives reunite to plan a heist in a sparsely populated multi-border zone of South America.

Release Date: March 13th

Genre: Action/Adventure

Stars: Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Adria Arjona 

Director: J.C. Chandor

Captive State

Set in a Chicago neighborhood nearly a decade after an occupation by an extra-terrestrial force, Captive State explores the lives on both sides of the conflict - the collaborators and dissidents.

Release Date: March 15th

Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller

Stars: Machine Gun Kelly, Vera Farmiga, John Goodman

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Five Feet Apart

A pair of teenagers with life-threatening illnesses meet in a hospital and fall in love.

Release Date: March 15th

Genre: Drama/Romance

Stars:  Haley Lu Richardson, Cole Sprouse, Claire Forlani

Director: Justin Baldoni

Wonder Park

Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive.

Release Date: March 15th

Genre: Family/Animation

Stars: Brianna Denski, Jennifer Garner, Ken Hudson Campbell 

Director: David Feiss

The Aftermath

Post World War II, a British colonel and his wife are assigned to live in Hamburg during the post-war reconstruction, but tensions arise with the German who previously owned the house.

Release Date: March 15th

Genre: Drama/War

Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Keira Knightley, Jason Clarke 

Director: James Kent

Superpower Dogs

Join an immersive IMAX adventure to experience the life-saving superpowers and extraordinary bravery of some of the world's most amazing dogs. (Narrated by my- not mine, I don’t own him- man, Chris Evans.)

Release Date: March 15th

Genre: Documentary

Stars: Chris Evans, Dayna Hilton, Matt Abrams 

Director: Daniel Ferguson

Hotel Mumbai

The true story of the Taj Hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai. Hotel staff risk their lives to keep everyone safe as people make unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and their families.

Release Date: March 22nd

Genre: Drama/Historical

Stars: Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi 

Director: Anthony Moras

Us

A family's serenity turns to chaos when a group of doppelgängers begin to terrorize them.

Release Date: March 22nd

Genre: Horror

Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Lupita Nyong'o, Anna Diop

Director: Jordan Peele

The Dirt

The story of how Mötley Crüe came to be one of the most notorious rock 'n roll groups in history.

Release Date: March 22nd

Genre: Biopic

Stars: Machine Gun Kelly, Iwan Rheon, Douglas Booth

Director: Jeff Tremaine

Maze

Inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP, which was to become the biggest prison escape in Europe since World War II.

Release Date: March 22nd

Genre: Drama/Historical

Stars: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Barry Ward, Martin McCann 

Director: Stephen Burke

Dumbo

A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.

Release Date: March 29th

Genre: Family/Musical

Stars: Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton 

Director: Tim Burton

Unplanned

One of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors, Abby Johnson used her passion to help women to become a spokesperson for PP, until the day she saw something that changed everything.

Released Date: March 29th

Genre: Drama

Stars: Ashley Bratcher, Brooks Ryan, Robia Scott

Director: Chuck Konzelman, Cary Solomon

The Highwaymen

A pair of police officers come out of retirement to catch the infamous outlaws Bonnie & Clyde.

Release Date: March 29th

Genre: Drama/Historical

Stars: Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kim Dickens

Director: John Lee Hancock

A Vigilante

A vigilante helps victims escape their domestic abusers.

Release Date: March 29th

Genre: Drama/Crime

Stars: Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector, Betsy Aidem

Director: Sarah Daggar-Nickson

These are just the ones that caught my eye. March has a near endless offering of movie to pick one. There is something for everyone on this list so take some time and enjoy a flick! 

Lost in dictation,

Jess

[comicsbeat]

Continuing with our wide-ranging survey of creators from every end of the business on what happened and what’s coming. A lot of people who responded e this year talked about the development of a new distribution system or channel for comics as being a big story for 2019. It seem there is a lot of dissatisfaction with how comics are sold these days, no duh. What do you think?  Is there a savior on the horizon? You can check out the other parts of the survey here.

Kwanza Osajyefo, writer

2019 Projects: H1 Comics from Humanoids and WHITE, the sequel to BLACK

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The growth of the graphic novels among titles that don’t perform as well in the direct market.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Comic distribution becoming more multi-channel along with the direct market

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Figuring out what is going on in Paper Girls

Who inspired you in 2018? Everyone, I think so many of our peers have been operating on ten this year. I think the flood of comics content into the mainstream has really gotten us fired up, not to get our work into other mediums but to imagine on a larger scale.

  Tony Shenton. Sales rep and consultant

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The death of Stan Lee

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? The ongoing legal battle Cody Pikrodt has started vs. small presses and creators

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Not a guilty pleasure at all: RUN from Abrams.

Gary Tyrrell, Blogger

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Spike Trotman. She’s tearing up the industry with Iron Circus, and she’ll be launching a YA imprint — she’s making it so a lot of future superstars have a place to start their careers.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Raina Telgemeier’s next book will have an initial print run of one million. That’s mindbending.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Perp walks of high federal officials and Trump family members. So many perp walks.

Who inspired you in 2018? Pat Race — he and his team have put together something extraordinarily special in the Alaska Robotics Comics Camp, and it’s creating new relationships and creative networks among comics creators at all stages of their careers. The future will remember it as equivalent to the Algonquin Round Table.

Mariah McCourt, Creator

2019 Projects: STITCHED #3 and a new series for AHOY! comics

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That comics are for everyone, stories matter, and so does representation.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Hopefully more focus on amazing creators, the diversity of content, and the continuing impact and relevancy of the medium.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? No guilty pleasures here, I’m looking forward to seeing all the new books in the works!

Joe Field, Retailer

2019 Projects: A new space to expand Flying Colors for events and sales

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? There was no one biggest story in comics. It was a thousand shards of glass rather than just one big picture window.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Cruise to the Edge, a prog rock themed cruise in February. No cell phones, no worries, just some great people having a peace party at sea.

Who inspired you in 2018? My wife Libby continues to be my inspiration. We celebrate our 40th anniversary in late February (so good then, even better now). The non-profit work she does in helping women with crisis pregnancies while also managing Flying Colors’ back office and reveling in her role as a grandmother is so inspiring to me.

Amy Chu, writer

2019 Projects: Summit (Lion Forge), Sea Sirens with Janet Lee (Viking Press), Pros & Cons (Dark Horse)

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Kid’s graphic novels are $$$ – Dave Pilkey 3 million print run for his fifth Dog Man book; Raina Telgemeier 1 million for Guts

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Kid’s graphic novels

Glenn Hauman, publisher at ComicMix, designated victim of “They Keep Killing Glenn”

2019 Projects: What 2019 projects am I working on that I can talk about? More omnibus editions for GrimJack, Soulsearchers & Company, and Deadbeats, and new… oh, dammit, I can’t talk about that yet. Arrgh.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The passing of Stan Lee. We all knew it was going to happen someday, and yet… we all thought we might get a pass on this one, you know?

And speaking of Marvel greats leaving: Bendis at DC.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? The All-New, All-Different Stan Lee 2.0!

And the bankruptcy of projects intended to get money from C*****gate people.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? The resolution of certain legal proceedings.

Thomas Ragon, Publisher

2019 Projects:

Roman Muradov’s next book “The Adventures of Munich in Marcel Duchamp”.

Thierry Smolderen & Alexandre Clérisse’s (whose “Atom Empire” & “Diabolik Summer” are translated or about to be by IDW) next graphic Novel : “Une année sans Cthulhu” (A year without Cthulhu).

After Glenn Gould, Sandrine Revel’s book about Canadian painter Tom Thomson Two major sets of exhibitions, in chronological order : Blutch has several exhibitions throughout 2019 in Strasbourg, and we’re working on a monograph to be released early March. Joann Sfar will be exhibited at the Basel Cartoon Museum and Lucerne festival “Fumetto”.

Ron Wimberly’s “Prince of Cats” French edition.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Ron Wimberly’s LAAB #0 ; The French authors collective movement to obtain better social and economic conditions from both publishers and government.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Borja Gonzalez having a worldwide success with his THE BLACK HOLES.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Discovering new excellent restaurants thanks to my job. Discovering new great bookstores thanks to my job.

Who inspired you in 2018? Blutch and Joann Sfar are always inspiring me, in many ways.

Nat Gertler, writer/publisher

2019 Projects: While my 2019 writing projects are for other people to announce, my first publishing project of the new year reflects on the 90th anniversary of the Great Depression by reprinting a book of cartoons by the great Otto Soglow, done during the depression.

Preview pages below.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The triumph of diversity against anti-diversity forces.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Good comics. It’s always good comics, and there are always good comics for the story to be about. All the industry games mean nothing without that.

Christian Beranek, Writer

2019 projects: Kelci Crawford and I will be wrapping up Validation and then moving forward with Tiny Unicorn. (See below) Also writing loads of prose stories.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Black Panther. I wish its box office success translated into more sales, however. We have to find a way to turn film audiences onto the source material.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? A massive wave of quality comics bringing in new readers.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Any time taken away from writing. I want to work as much as possible but know you need breaks. I plan on reading more books in the Foundation series. Looking forward to that show.

Who inspired you in 2018? Tony DiGerolamo. The guy is a writing machine and really understands the mechanics of storytelling. More companies should consider hiring him.

Sanika Phawde, Cartoonist

2019 Projects: My biggest project scheduled to be completed in 2019 is my newest graphic novel. The project is still untitled but it presents an autofiction story about the journey of learning to love myself, and learning to accept my body and sexuality, as a freshly adult immigrant in New York city .

The story communicates through mix-media drawings on location, memoir comics, sketchbook pages, illustrated poetry, and even a few instances of fold-out paper architecture.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? I am really looking forward to going back home to Mumbai after a year, and eating a Nescafe flavoured ice cream sandwich in the winter heat with my best friend, while sitting on the wall that keeps the Arabian sea out of the city.

Who inspired you in 2018? Julian Glander, Jaron Braxton, Veronica Lawlor, Nora Krug, Robert Sikoryak, Brian Rea, Alex Norris, Lizzo, Melissa Guerrero (practices activism through food), Janelle Monae

Christopher Butcher, TCAF Artistic Director & VIZ Media Editorial Consultant

2019 Projects: TCAF 2019 is gearing up and it’s going to have one of the strongest and most diverse guest lists in our history. It’s going to be a pretty amazing year to be there, whether you love kids comics, YA comics, Adult comics, North American or International Comics. We’re pretty hyped!

On the VIZ side of things, though there’s a ton still to be announced, several of the series I’ve had a hand in are starting or continuing into 2019. Look out for the YA LGBTQ series “That Blue Sky Feeling” to get its 2nd and 3rd and final volume next year, the amazing/disturbing BEASTARS will start next year (like if Zootopia were a little more food-chain accurate?), and the recently-debuted gorgeous SF title Ran and The Grey World will start to turn some heads.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That’s tough. The industry is so fragmented at this point, that stories that were huge in one area barely made a ripple in others. Straddling graphic novel publishing, manga publishing, and with a toe still in superhero publishing, it’s amazing the times people would pull me aside and ask “So what was that about, exactly? All I saw was the hashtag…”

So… yeah I dunno. I think the biggest ‘story’ probably wasn’t written, but it was about the continued evolution of this industry as it happened. The house-cleaning and secret-revealing that needed to happen, some of the editorial attitudes around projects looking pretty terrible when exposed to the light of day, the continued vertical integration in licensed properties, all of it points to a maturing industry, which is both good and bad. More professionalism, but less room for the sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stuff that made comics very, very exciting about 10 years ago.

I think most folks involved will take ‘professionalism’ any day of the week though!

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Pogs, baby! POGS!

No but seriously, I have no idea. There’s so much up in the air right now, 2019 is going to be bumpy for sure.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? If it’s not hurting anyone, then there’s no point in feeling guilty about pleasure. Enjoy yourselves, it’s tough out there. 🙂

Who inspired you in 2018? My husband, Andrew Woodrow-Butcher, who was enormously patient and supportive while I took risks and traveled around the world, all while working 60 hours a week making sure Canadian schools and libraries have the best comic collections in the world, re-opening the world’s first kids comic book store (Little Island Comics!), sending Canadians to comic festivals around the world, and of course, programming a big part of TCAF. He’s a constant inspiration to me, I’m lucky to have him.

Ben Towle, Cartoonist

2019 Projects: The main project I’ve been working on in 2018 is a non-fiction graphic novel for the new imprint Dead Reckoning, which specializes in comics about things historical and/or military-related.

The book’s called Four Fisted Tales and it’s a collection of real-life stories about animals used in combat.

Here’s a sample page:

And here’s an in-progress rough:

I’m also continuing to work on–albeit a lot more slowly–my book In the Weeds about cooking and playing rock music in the 1990’s. It’s my first foray into the great comics tradition of “funny animals” characters. Here’s an in-progress rough from that:

It probably seems like I’ve disappeared since Oyster War came out a few years back, but I’ve been hard at work on TWO books, I promise!

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That’s gotta be the announcement of not one, but TWO, forthcoming books from Raina Telgemeier. When the most highly-read and most popular cartoonist in North America announces a book, it’s a big flippin’ deal. TWO books in the same year is bonkers news.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? OK…Well, it’s only a big story for ME, but I’m really excited about the upcoming D&Q Little Lulu reprint series. These are some of the best comics ever made and it’s going to be great to see them get the D&Q treatment starting in 2019.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? I’m a huge Star Trek nerd and so I’m super-excited about whatever’s brewing with this new Picard show. Supposedly starting in 2019!

The Beat's Annual Creator Survey Part 4: with art from new projects by Amy Chu, Janet Lee, Roman Muradov, Otto Soglow, Ben Towle and more Continuing with our wide-ranging survey of creators from every end of the business on what happened and what's coming.

[closetofanxiety]

Beyond Wrestling all-dayer recap

This is not really a show review, more just a collection of disjointed musings from two shows I went to on Sunday, September 16, 2018: A free show in the parking lot of Feast, a hip sandwichery in East Greenwich, R.I., and “Somebody’s Farewell, Probably,” a straightforward Beyond show down the street at the Varnum Memorial Armory.

My God it was hot. Eighty six degrees, feeling like 91 with the heat index. Feast has no air conditioning, a common state of affairs for businesses in New England shore towns. This is probably bad enough on a normal day, but add in 250 or so wrestling fans all queuing up to order food, and the inside of the place felt like an oven. A moist, damp oven. Outside was no respite: the few tables had been taken long before we arrived. 

Luckily, a sort of Dunkirk spirit prevailed, and everyone was in good spirits.DJ Weed Pizza graciously offered the table space he had claimed to people who wanted to set down their food and drinks. A shirtless Swoggle hung out in the bar area outdoors. Jordynne Grace and Penelope Ford sought shelter from the sun underneath DJ Weed Pizza’s table. There was a man in a hot dog costume wandering around. Rich Palladino wore a tuxedo and didn’t appear to sweat. 

A free show on a downtown street corner is an odd beast, because, along with the wrestling fans, you get all kinds of curious people stopping by to gawk for a few minutes. This show drew a lot of kids, who were excited for the opportunity to stand at the ring. It was mostly kid-friendly comedy match stuff until Joey Ryan and the Pull-It Club (Massage Force and Johnny Cockstrong) came out for a match with Cheeseburger. Let me tell you: they did not tone down the act one bit! That made for some uncomfortable moments, at least for anyone who isn’t a total degenerate. “Oh, sorry, I’m just really excited about his penis,” said a guy with a replica to a horrified mother of two or three kids, after she glared at him for chanting “Touch his cock! Touch his cock!” at Cheeseburger. 

Cheeseburger won, by the way. He is now the Feast Wrestling World Champion; they had a belt that was better than the belts in many indie promotions. The owner is apparently a huge wrestling fan; he was wearing a Hangman Page shirt and interfered in the match on Cheeseburger’s behalf. 

All of this would be enough to hospitalize Jim Cornette, and that was before the main event: A Four Corners Donut Death Match. The competitors were Dick Justice and Puf. I wasn’t familiar with the latter, but he is a hugely overweight man (billed at 425 lbs.) in a brightly colored, donut-themed bodysuit who is currently ranked #500 on the PWI 500. 

The stipulation worked like this: there were boxes of donuts at each ring post (”These are shoot donuts, people!” Bryce Remsburg yelled, after the ring announcer called them “genuine donuts from Dunkin Donuts”). In order to win, you had to eat one donut at each corner. Along with the referee, the judge of this was the #25 ranked competitive eater in the world, who is sponsored by Nathan’s Hot Dogs. I am a college graduate.

I mean, it was what you’re thinking: two very overweight men in punishing heat, sweating and groaning through a comedy death match where, instead of tacks and tables, there were donut holes and a big inflatable donut. Lots of gross spots. Eventually, the Colony - Fire Ant, Green Ant, and Thief Ant - charged in for some reason and started beating up the two big boys, and it turned into a three-on-two match. Then Officer Magnum, Solo Darling’s dog, intervened on behalf of Justice and Puf, and got the pin. The dog, that is. The dog pinned, I think, Fire Ant. Eat your heart out, Lou Thesz! 

After the show we wandered around downtown and eventually went to a pizza place for dinner. There was a specialty pizza on the menu called a “Buffique,” with no description. “Excuse me, what’s a buff-eek pizza?” Mike T asked the waitress.

“It’s ‘buffacue,’“ she said. “Buffalo sauce and barbecue sauce.” For some reason, our fancy, city-boy pronunciation of “buffique” as “buff-eek” has made me laugh for roughly 16 consecutive hours. It’s the little things.

The Beyond show was a blast. Hard to pick a favorite match, because there were so many good ones. EYFBO are absurdly popular, and it’s only because of the sorry state of tag team wrestling in the US that they aren’t bigger names around the country. Only a matter of time, surely. Some highlights:

* Tom Lawlor vs. Tracy Williams was a nasty, nasty dogfight. People who complain about the lack of ring psychology and selling in contemporary indie wrestling (often valid complaints!) should watch this match: the whole story was about Tracy’s injured arm, which Lawlor worked over mercilessly. Really great stuff.

* For MJF’s match against Nick Gage, the Dream Team brought out a “cop” - a wrestler in what looked to be a stripper costume (it said “COP” over the breast pocket, which is not something you often find in standard police uniforms). The idea was that if Nick Gage used a foreign object, he’d be violating his parole and would be taken back to prison. You can imagine what happened! After a closely contested match (one of the Secrets of Nick Gage is that he is honestly a very talented wrestler), Stokely Hathaway interfered, which sent Gage into a blind fury. “Nick, it wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! I was over here, reading the Bible!” Stokely protested, but to no avail: Nick grabbed a chair and laid out Stoke, Thomas Sharp, MJeff, and the “cop.” There was a real cop on duty at the show, and he seemed like a good sport.

* I’m glad that Beyond crowds are now willing to actually boo heels. Along with MJF and the Dream Team, the crowd legitimately loathes the Beaver Boys and the team of Cam Zagami and Brian Milonas. It makes the match endlessly more fun when you can root against someone.

* Viper was an announced surprise, in a match against LuFisto. Nice!

* The main event was Jordynne Grace vs. Brian Cage, and it was just about the right length and just about the right level of plausibility. A nice way to build on their encounter at All In, which was referenced before the match. 

Lowlights:

* Mike Verna took a dive off the top turnbuckle onto the floor and Milonas and Zagami just totally failed to catch him. Mistakes happen, but you could see the expression of genuine pain on Verna’s face when he landed. Catch people on dives!

* Brandon Watts legitimately broke his neck at a Beyond Wrestling show in 2016. Since he’s been back, his high-flying style has been cause for more than one sharp intake of anxious breath from the crowd. In his match against Anthony Green, it looked like everyone’s worst fear had come true: after a spot in the corner, Watts was on the canvas, not moving. The referee threw up the X and called out to the promoter, “Drew, I need help here.” Other referees came over, along with wrestlers. Green sat in the far corner, looking like he was in shock. The crowd was totally silent. The on duty cop came over, talking into his radio. And then Watts sprang up and rolled up Green for the win. That’s honestly a shitty thing to do, although I realize fake injury angles are common in wrestling; this did not come across as fake, though. Later in the show, Jaka caught his leg on the middle rope during a suicide dive and landed on his face, prompting a pause in the match while people ran over to check on him. The crowd didn’t know if this was real or fake (it was real); that’s why you don’t fuck around with that kind of thing. A sour note in an otherwise terrific show.

[smokeybrand]

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Everything

I have a lot of complicated feelings about Avengers: Infinity War. I want to say i enjoyed it, but watching an entire universe i’ve been invested with for an entire decade, die, isn’t really cause for celebration or acclaim. I want to say this is a good film but, while technically sound, it comes across as little more than a ridiculously high quality, Michael Bay Effects extravaganza. It’s literally the climax to an 18-part epic, spanning years. And it’s a damn good climax. More than once, i found myself slack jawed and in awe of what was happening onscreen. It was ludicrous. It was fantastical. It was epic. It was Marvel at it’s finest. We aren’t done, of course. There’s still Ant-Man 2, Captain Marvel, and the actual curtain call for everything MCU up until now, Avengers 4. But this has been one helluva cliffhanger. It’s all stop, man. Sh*t got real and i was left shook so let’s get into it!

The Best

But that snap of the fingers, tho.

Thanos. Thanos was epic. He was complicated, ruthless, and real. Dude was an entirely fleshed out character and Josh Brolin did a fantastic job bringing him to life. Dude was entirely CG but he felt like he was there, in the shot, corporeal. Great performance. Great effects. Spectacular antagonist. His motivation was a little light on intrigue but i don’t think loving Death translates too well onscreen, you know? The workaround they came up with was pretty smart, i admit that. Still, it was a little flaccid overall. Seriously, if the MCU had a villain problem, Thanos solved it.

F*ck, Thanos just took everyone apart, man, damn near single-handedly. It was a lot. It felt like a lot. This was worth the wait. He was worth the wait.

Speaking of effects, they are f*cking beautiful. This movie is a spectacle. Imagine seeing Star Wars for the first time or your first Harry Potter flick This feels like that, which says a lot considering this is movie 19 in a decade long journey.

Coming off of Ragnarok and Homecoming, and Panther to a lesser extent, the overall tone of this film hits like a ton of bricks. Let me be clear, there is no happy ending to be had here.

The little character interactions were outstanding. I loved out “Fish-Out-Of-Water” Banner was. You forget that he’s been MIA for two years. Watching Strange and Quill bebop all over stark, essentially giving him his comeuppance as the resident douche, was hilarious. All of the reunions. All of quips. All of the fan service. This was a celebration of relationships crafted over a decade and i loved watching everyone do their thing.

But that Soul Stone Guardian cameo, tho.

The Russo brothers pulled out all the stops, man They crafted one helluva a tale. Seriously, they took something as “comic book” as The Infinity Gauntlet event, and crafted a legitimate, realistic, story of emotion and pain. I still think, overall, that Winter Soldier is better but Infinity shows their growth as creators and artists. I can’t wait to see what they do in Avengers 4.

But that end credit stinger, tho!

There’s a scene in the trailer that takes place in an area, that wasn’t in the film. I think this particular glimpse is actually from Avengers 4. Could be a cutting room floor bit but it doesn’t feel like it. If it is what i think it is, good job, Russos. Good f*cking job.

The Better

This movie is a technical masterpiece. the way it’s cup, the chosen shots, the way the scenes unfold, the use of CG and effects, character juggling, the pacing overall; this movie a goddamn marvel. No pun intended.

Seriously the pacing is brisk as f*ck. True enough, thee  are a lot of jum cuts, but when you need to juggle so many characters, that stands to reason. I would have loved a vbit more Wanda but no one could have guessed how dope Black Panther would be. Working from the outline they had, Infinity War hits all of the necessary notes at a brisk stride. Seriously, this movie is2 and half hours long but it felt like i was watching an episode mini-marathon of 2 Broke Girls, in terms of pacing.

I loved the Black Order. They all put forth decent performances for what they were, particularly Proxima Midnight. That goes without saying as she’s portrayed by Carrie Coon. I love Carrie Coon. She real good at her job.

Someone else real good at their job? Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. His Ebony Maw was absolutely sinister. You could tell why he was the leader of the Black Order. You understood immediately he was cruel, that he was everything Thanos was suppose to be. I addressed this earlier but Thanos came across as distinctly human. Maw does not. Maw is a sociopath who loves killing and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor brings that violent energy every time he has a scene.

The Good

The tone of this movie is all over the place. One minute, it feels like an epic, Indiana Jones film, the next it’s definitely Empire Strikes Back. One second it feels like The Goonies, the next, Shawshank Redemption. And, as it wraps up, it just feels bleak. All of which is necessary, i think. We are talking about 19 films, all of which are directed by different people, for the most part. Trying to mesh all of those styles, visions, and feels, into one, coherent narrative is a goddamn feat. One Marvel Studios pulled off pretty well, in all honesty.

But that score, tho!

Also, that sound design, tho!

Everyone but a few characters show up in this flick and that’s a real triumph. We have a decade of heroes to address and the Russos did an admirable job of giving them all screen time. While i would have liked to see more of some and less of others, the fact that everyone necessary to the plot had at least one moment to shine was just great. This feels like an Avengers movie, even more than Civil War or Ultron ever did. This feels like a proper Avengers 2.

The Gamora/Quill resolution was pretty okay. I’m not saying it was fantastic but it was nice seeing them get the closure they both always wanted.

The Meh

I understand fodder is necessary to build tension but all of the Black Order went out like straight chumps. They were eliminated, systematically, in overwhelmingly pedestrian ways, starting with Ebony Maw. The way he went out was just disrespectful, particularly because he had such a presence in the movie. The other members got to punch-out with real fervor but Maw? Not so much.

Peter Dinklage was crazy underused. He’s an outstanding actor and, while i understand his part was suppose to be small yet integral, having him in this film seems like a waste. Particularly because we got a Stormbreaker but no goddamn Beta Ray Bill! Whee the f*ck is my goddamn

Seriously, where the f*ck is my goddamn Korbinite champion, man??

I didn’t give two sh*t’s about that whole Wanda/Vision romance situation. There were hints or whatever in Civil War and Ultron, but to see it playing out like this, all of a sudden, feels unearned. That being said, watching Vision get ‘Fridged was kind of funny.

Speaking of getting ‘Fridged, MUH GAMORA! While i loved that Thanos/Little One interaction, seeing the way it ended was absolutely unfortunate. I hope they fix this in Avengers 4 but we’ll see.

The characters chosen for perma-death were necessary to the plot and their passing will hit fans hard, a particularly the first two, but it still feels a little sadistic. Watching such favorites fall, one after the other, was a goddamn wound and that ending? F*ck you, Marvel!

The Verdict

I loved this film. I did. For something like a popcorn flick to illicit such a response from, not just me, but an entire theater audience, is profound. When those credits began to roll, you could hear a pin drop. When our heroes finally caught their breath, we all held ours. When Thanos snapped his fingers, we all cringed. This is not a good movie, by any means. It’s a goddamn event and a great one at that. If you go into this looking to get something as profound as Black Panther or as brilliant as Winter Soldier, you’er going to be disappointed. This ain’t that film. Avengers 4 will probably be. But if you go into this understanding this is the third act, the big climax scene, of the MCU, you’ll understand why everything is so bleak, so finite. If you’re a fan of these films, of this universe, of these characters, of the work Marvel has constructed over the last decade, you will over this goddamn movie as much as i do, even if it f*cking hurts.

[doomonfilm]

Review : Avengers - Infinity War (2018)

After 10 years and nearly 20 films, it’s all come down to this... the culmination of so many story threads, easter eggs, setups, payoffs, crossovers and team-ups that were all groundbreaking in their own right.  Movies that have shattered box office records and Hollywood expectations, eventually becoming powerful enough to become their own studio entity.  After all of this time, the fabled MCU comes together in Avengers : Infinity War.

Thanos (Josh Brolin) has finally decided to take action.  His goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, fulfilling his prophecy of exterminating half the population of the universe and restoring balance.  With the Children of Thanos in tow, he sets about his mission, forcing the Earth’s mightiest heroes (and then some) to fight the battle of a lifetime with costs much greater than any of them could have ever imagined.

This movie is truly special.  With so many movies dedicated to building rich backstories for Iron Man (Tony Starks), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson), Vision (Paul Betany), and recent attention given to the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spiderman (Tom Holland), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), the revolving door of protagonists was in full swing, with key background information and emotional connections to each character fully in tow.  We all had our ideas of how these characters would either get along or butt heads, and we were dying to see certain characters team up with others in hopes of key comic panels being brought to life, or conjecture of who had superior powers.  On this front, Marvel Studios and The Russo Brothers truly delivered.

Where they exceeded any and all expectations, however, was the amazing portrayal of Thanos as the tragic anti-hero.  Think Walter White, except his fixation on crystals holds the fate of the universe hostage.  Josh Brolin brings so much heart to this role that it is truly painful at times to watch him complete his quest.  His forceful but composed presence, his amazing sense of restraint with the powers he possesses, and his undying focus on his goal make him strangely admirable in ways.  The Children of Thanos were certainly serviceable in their role as the muscle, with Ebony Maw (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) especially standing out in his performance.

This film looked like a million bucks and then some.  With arguably the best Marvel film under their belt with Captain America : The Winter Soldier, the Russo Brothers went all out to make the reality live up to the spectacle and gravity of the task at hand.  The humor is wonderfully on point, pleasantly unforced, with most of it coming naturally from the interactions of either wildly different or strikingly similar personalities coming to a head.  I didn’t even know I wanted to see Bucky Barnes and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) together until it happened, and now I’m dying to see them fight side by side again.

Everyone is great in this film.  I will put them into tiers rather than focus on individual performances for this review.  The all-stars of this film were Josh Brolin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Evans, Elizabeth Olsen, Don Cheadle, Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth.  The people who hit the heartstrings included Zoe Saldana, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr. and Vin Diesel.  Bradley Cooper, Paul Bettany, Chadwick Boseman and Scarlett Johansson could’ve used a hair more screen time, but the bus was definitely crowded already.  Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista definitely worked, especially their humor, but something was slightly off about their involvement... maybe it was James Gunn handling the writing for them, which may have slightly altered the tone (though not perceptible to a damaging degree).  Honestly, I cannot complain about anyone’s involvement in this film... especially the people I did not see coming.

It’s hard to review a film like this without cheapening or lessening the experience for a first-time viewer, but Avengers : Infinity War has the stature to possibly still fulfill with base knowledge.  It may be a moot point for anyone who has read this far, but seeing this movie as blind to the events as possible is truly the best way to go, and there will certainly be multiple follow-up viewing sessions.  Brilliant work.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Everything

I have a lot of complicated feelings about Avengers: Infinity War. I want to say i enjoyed it, but watching an entire universe i’ve been invested with for an entire decade, die, isn’t really cause for celebration or acclaim. I want to say this is a good film but, while technically sound, it comes across as little more than a ridiculously high quality, Michael Bay Effects extravaganza. It’s literally the climax to an 18-part epic, spanning years. And it’s a damn good climax. More than once, i found myself slack jawed and in awe of what was happening onscreen. It was ludicrous. It was fantastical. It was epic. It was Marvel at it’s finest. We aren’t done, of course. There’s still Ant-Man 2, Captain Marvel, and the actual curtain call for everything MCU up until now, Avengers 4. But this has been one helluva cliffhanger. It’s all stop, man. Sh*t got real and i was left shook so let’s get into it!

The Best

But that snap of the fingers, tho.

Thanos. Thanos was epic. He was complicated, ruthless, and real. Dude was an entirely fleshed out character and Josh Brolin did a fantastic job bringing him to life. Dude was entirely CG but he felt like he was there, in the shot, corporeal. Great performance. Great effects. Spectacular antagonist. His motivation was a little light on intrigue but i don’t think loving Death translates too well onscreen, you know? The workaround they came up with was pretty smart, i admit that. Still, it was a little flaccid overall. Seriously, if the MCU had a villain problem, Thanos solved it.

F*ck, Thanos just took everyone apart, man, damn near single-handedly. It was a lot. It felt like a lot. This was worth the wait. He was worth the wait.

Speaking of effects, they are f*cking beautiful. This movie is a spectacle. Imagine seeing Star Wars for the first time or your first Harry Potter flick This feels like that, which says a lot considering this is movie 19 in a decade long journey.

I want to take make particular note about how great Thanos and The Black Order looked onscreen. They were all CG, the entire lot of them, and you couldn’t tell. There were some bits that looked phoned in, not going to lie, but those character models were f*cking outstanding. the DCEU needs to take note. Thanos is how you create a fully CG, Mo-capped villain. Dude was just the best! It hurts to think, if Justice League was handled better, we cold have had a Steppenwolf just as dope as Thanos. That would have been something to see.

Coming off of Ragnarok and Homecoming, and Panther to a lesser extent, the overall tone of this film hits like a ton of bricks. Let me be clear, there is no happy ending to be had here.

The little character interactions were outstanding. I loved out “Fish-Out-Of-Water” Banner was. You forget that he’s been MIA for two years. Watching Strange and Quill bebop all over stark, essentially giving him his comeuppance as the resident douche, was hilarious. All of the reunions. All of quips. All of the fan service. This was a celebration of relationships crafted over a decade and i loved watching everyone do their thing.

But that Soul Stone Guardian cameo, tho.

The Russo brothers pulled out all the stops, man They crafted one helluva a tale. Seriously, they took something as “comic book” as The Infinity Gauntlet event, and crafted a legitimate, realistic, story of emotion and pain. I still think, overall, that Winter Soldier is better but Infinity shows their growth as creators and artists. I can’t wait to see what they do in Avengers 4.

But that end credit stinger, tho!

There’s a scene in the trailer that takes place in an area, that wasn’t in the film. I think this particular glimpse is actually from Avengers 4. Could be a cutting room floor bit from this movie but it doesn’t feel like it. If it is what i think it is, good job, Russos. Good f*cking job. 

The Better

This movie is a technical masterpiece. the way it’s cut, the chosen shots, the way the scenes unfold, the use of CG and effects, character juggling, the pacing overall; This movie a goddamn marvel. No pun intended.

Seriously the pacing is brisk as f*ck. True enough, there are a lot of jump cuts, and they tend to take you all over the place, but when you need to juggle so many characters, that stands to reason. I would have loved a bit more Wakanda but no one could have guessed how dope Black Panther’s film would be. Working from the outline they had, Infinity War hits all of the necessary notes at a decent stride. Seriously, this movie is two and half hours long but it felt like i was watching a mini-marathon of Brooklyn 99, in terms of pacing.

I loved the Black Order. They all put forth great performances for what they were, particularly Proxima Midnight. That goes without saying as she’s portrayed by Carrie Coon. I love Carrie Coon. She real good at her job.

Someone else real good at their job? Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. His Ebony Maw was absolutely sinister. You could tell why he was the leader of the Black Order by his overwhelming presence. You understood immediately that he was cruel, that he was everything Thanos was suppose to be. I addressed this earlier but Thanos came across as distinctly human. Maw does not. Maw is a sociopath who loves killing and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor brings that violent energy every time he has a scene.

The Good

The tone of this movie is all over the place. One minute, it feels like an epic, Indiana Jones film, the next it’s definitely Empire Strikes Back. One second it feels like The Goonies, the next, Shawshank Redemption. As it wraps up, it just feels bleak, man. All of which is necessary, i think. We are talking about 19 films, all of which are directed by different people, for the most part, trying to mesh into a singular, coherent narrative. The fact that it was pulled off so wonderfully is a goddamn feat; One that Marvel Studios pulled off while making it look damn near effortless.

But that score, tho!

Also, that sound design, tho!

Everyone but a few characters show up in this flick and that’s a real triumph. We have a decade of heroes to address and the Russos did an admirable job of giving them all screen time. While i would have liked to see more of some and less of others, the fact that everyone necessary to the plot had at least one moment to shine was just great. This feels like an Avengers movie, much more than Civil War or Ultron. This feels like a proper Avengers 2.

The Gamora/Quill resolution was pretty okay. I’m not saying it was fantastic but it was nice seeing them get the closure they both always wanted.

The Meh

I understand fodder is necessary to build tension but all of the Black Order went out like straight chumps. They were eliminated, systematically, in overwhelmingly pedestrian ways, starting with Ebony Maw. The way he went out was just disrespectful, particularly because he had such a presence in the movie. The other members got to punch-out with real fervor but Maw? Not so much.

Peter Dinklage was crazy underused. He’s an outstanding actor and, while i understand his part was suppose to be small yet integral, having him in this film seems like a waste. Particularly because we got a Stormbreaker but no goddamn Beta Ray Bill!

Seriously, where the f*ck is my goddamn Korbinite champion, man??

I didn’t give two sh*t’s about that whole Wanda/Vision romance situation. There were hints or whatever in Civil War and Ultron, but to see it playing out like this, all of a sudden, feels unearned. That being said, watching Vision get ‘Fridged was kind of funny.

Speaking of getting ‘Fridged, MUH GAMORA! While i loved that Thanos/Little One interaction, seeing the way it ended was absolutely unfortunate. I hope they fix this in Avengers 4 but we’ll see.

The characters chosen for perma-death were necessary to the plot and their passing will hit fans hard, particularly the first two, but it still feels a little sadistic. Watching such favorites fall, one after the other, was a goddamn wound and that ending? F*ck you, Marvel! Iove you but f*ck you, Marvel!

The Verdict

I loved this film. I did. For something like a popcorn flick to illicit such a response from, not just me, but an entire theater audience, is profound. When those credits began to roll, you could hear a pin drop. When our heroes finally caught their breath, we all held ours. When Thanos snapped his fingers, we all cringed. This is not a good movie, by any means. It’s a goddamn event and a great one at that. If you go into this looking to get something as profound as Black Panther or as brilliant as Winter Soldier, you’re going to be disappointed. This ain’t that film. Avengers 4 will probably be. But if you go into this understanding this is the third act, the big climax scene, of the MCU, you’ll understand why everything is so bleak, so finite. If you’re a fan of these films, of this universe, of these characters, of the work Marvel has constructed over the last decade, you will love this goddamn movie as much as i do, even if it f*cking hurts.

[orange-catsidy]

tom lawlor being a werewolf just makes sense, and I'd be lying if I said that thought DIDN'T make me fall in love with him???

it's so good like imagine you're being hunted down by a werewolf and as you're about to get mauled you notice it's wearing a pair of daisy dukes. best death ever

[closetofanxiety]

Intergender wrestling

Jordynne Grace beat Filthy Tom Lawlor for the Black Label Pro championship last night, and this morning The Takes have been hot and heavy: the_intergender_wrestling_dislikers have most definitely logged on.

Generally, criticism of intergender wrestling falls under one of two main ideas:

1. It is not realistic.

2. It is too realistic.

People who hold the first view tend to get the most shit online, typically being accused of sexism. While that’s undoubtedly true for some of them, I don’t necessarily think it’s a fair criticism for everyone. Many of those people also dislike comedy wrestling for the same reason, and high-flying spotfests, etc. They have a particular view of wrestling, and it doesn’t involve women fighting men, because that doesn’t let them suspend their disbelief. 

I obviously don’t share this view, and would point out that any match that includes an Irish whip is, in fact, unrealistic, it’s just that some conventions have been repeated so often we don’t notice them as contrivances. But I don’t think “It is not realistic” is necessarily sexist; it’s just blinkered and uninsightful about wrestling generally.

The second line of criticism bothers me more, because it always comes wrapped in garments of self-righteous woke-itude, being spouted by people eager to establish their progressive credentials with anonymous weirdos on Twitter. 

In reality, like virtually all performatively woke people, the “It is too realistic” people are concealing retrograde ideas and attitudes beneath a cloak of superficially right-on sentiments.

Think about the “it reminds me of domestic violence” line of argument. What about a wrestling ring suggests domesticity? How many homes consist of an 18 x 18 canvas-covered square staffed by a uniformed official ostensibly dedicated to enforcing a set of rules governing an athletic performance?

A wrestling match suggests a domestic space only if the performers are a man and a woman, and your idea of domesticity is limited to opposite-sex couples in which the woman is weak, vulnerable, and dependent on the man.

In this view, men are strong, active subjects, while women are invariably weak, passive objects: the woman has no social reality beyond her relation, as a woman, to a man. She is never the actor, but only the acted-upon. Women, in this view, are never individuals capable of agency, but only representatives of an abstract group: while men each have distinctive characteristics, personalities, failings, and goals, each woman is finally and irrevocably Woman, not a person but a function. 

Why don’t wrestling matches between men or between women remind these people of domestic violence? Do they imagine domestic violence is not a problem for gay men or lesbians? 

No, the answer is that they don’t conceive of a domestic space that includes gay men or women: it is solely a sphere in which Woman becomes real to the extent that she is acted upon by Man, whether as wife, mother, or victim. 

This is a profoundly retrograde attitude, but it’s constantly paraded under the guise of woke allyship, making it all the more insidious. What is true outside the world of wrestling fans is true within it: beware the Sensitive Man eager to show you exactly how evolved he is. 

[gdwessel]

Minoru Suzuki Becomes Meme, Challenges Mox/Kingston With Archer for Big AEW Show Wednesday, Up To Date Suzuki US Tour Itinerary; Mox Off, Ospreay On Battle In The Valley; Taiji Ishimori v. Tony Deppen in GCW 10/24/2021

This will most likely be the most Suzuki-centric post I’ve ever made, and every bit of this post ties together. SYNERGY! 

The lead-in for last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite was a little wild, in that Minoru Suzuki’s theme music getting cut off last week in Cincinnati has become a meme called “The Suzuki Incident,” which even had guest commentator CM Punk comment about it on the air. To be fair, it was a pretty amusing meme, and I am a little surprised but also amused that AEW acknowledged it on the air. Now a production snafu has become an angle whilst Suzuki is in the USA.

The end result of this was Suzuki and Lance Archer, reunited as Suzuki-gun by name on AEW programming (I guess Jake “The Snake” Roberts has been quietly written out of AEW), ran in on Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston post-main event, getting the FULL “Kaze ni Nare” entrance, and now we will have Mox & Kingston v. Suzuki & Archer next week. This is already a huge show for AEW, debuting in NYC, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens (where the US Open was just held) for the “Dynamite: Grand Slam” edition of their show, which already sees AEW World Champion Kenny Omega v. Bryan Danielson in a non-title match for Danielson’s in-ring debut for the company, Dr. Britt Baker, DMD v. Ruby Soho for the Womens World Title, and a lot more. Should be a fun show.

With that in mind, Suzuki’s tour of the indies begins tomorrow night, with GCW’s Highest In The Room from LA, where he takes on ROH’s Johnathan Gresham. That show will be shown live on FITE TV for a fee. There are other matches on that show, including Chris Dickinson v. Jacob Fatu, 2 Cold Scorpio v. Effy, and Tony Deppen v. comedian Ron Funches.  More on Deppen below. In the meantime, here’s the most complete itinerary I’ve been able to gather for what Minoru Suzuki is up to here on these shores. There’s even some newly added matches here, including an NJPW Strong taping, and what he is up to in GCW on 10/10/2021. 

- 9/17/2021, Game Changer Wrestling, Highest In The Room, Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA (FITE)

Minoru Suzuki v. Jonathan Gresham

- 9/22/2021, All Elite Wrestling, Dynamite: Grand Slam, Arthur Ashe Arena, Queens, NYC, NY (Live on TNT or FITE)

Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston v. Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki

- 9/24/2021, Game Changer Wrestling, Get Lost A Lot, Melrose Ballroom, NYC, NY (FITE)

Minoru Suzuki v. Homicide

- 9/25/2021, New Japan of America, Autumn Attack Night 1 (NJPW Strong taping), Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, TX

Fred Rosser v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

- 9/26/2021, New Japan of America, Autumn Attack Night 2 (NJPW Strong taping), Curtis Culwell Center, Garland TX

Minoru Suzuki [SZKG] & Lance Archer [AEW] v. "Filthy" Tom Lawlor & Royce Isaacs [Team Filthy]

- 10/1/2021, WrestleMax, Episode VI, Affton Elks Lodge, St. Louis, MO

Minoru Suzuki v. Calvin Tankman

- 10/2/2021, Premiere Wrestling Xperience, All Hail The King, Cabarrus Arena, Concord, NC

Minoru Suzuki v. Anthony Henry

- 10/3/2021, Glory Pro, Little Ring of Horrors, South Broadway Athletic Club, St. Louis, MO

Minoru Suzuki v. Davey Richards

- 10/5/2021, NJPW Toukon Shop Online Meet & Greet

- 10/8/2021, West Coast Pro Wrestling, No Leaf Clover (3rd Anniversary Show), The State Room, San Francisco, CA (IWTV)

Minoru Suzuki v. Daniel Garcia

- 10/10/2021, Game Changer Wrestling, The Aftermath, The Showboat, Atlantic City, NJ (FITE)

Minoru Suzuki v. Joey Janela

- 10/17/2021, New Japan of America, New Japan Showdown 2021 Night 1 (NJPW Strong taping), 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA

Chris Dickinson [ROH] v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]

- 10/18/2021, New Japan of America, New Japan Showdown 2021 Night 2 (NJPW Strong taping), 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, PA

TBA

- 10/21/2021, TimeBomb Pro, Violence is Forever, Tak Music Venue, Dilworth, MN

Minoru Suzuki v. Dominic Garrini

- 10/24/2021, Game Changer Wrestling, TBA, Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA (FITE)

Minoru Suzuki v. TBA

More dates and deets will be added as I get them. He may end up doing more in AEW than we can imagine. Some of these I don’t know any sort of streaming details, and obviously, the NJPW Strong tapings will air whenever they get made into episodes. If you have any information please feel free to share it.

Meanwhile, I mentioned Tony Deppen earlier. On the same show as Suzuki v. Homicide next week in GCW, “Bone Soldier” Taiji Ishimori will be making an appearance to face said Mr. Deppen. This should be a very interesting match of two cheaty heels against one another. We’ll see who cheats to win the best!

Earlier this week, NJoA announced that due to a scheduling conflict, Jon Moxley will no longer be appearing at the Battle In The Valley supercard in San Jose, CA, on 11/13/2021. The scheduling conflict, of course, is that AEW’s Full Gear PPV is scheduled on that date from St. Louis, MO. This caused a lot of criticism to be lobbed at NJPW from Wrestling Twitter over this obvious bout of incompetence.

In complete fairness to NJoA, when Battle In The Valley was announced, AEW Full Gear was slated to be the week before, on 11/6/2021. AEW reportedly decided to move the PPV up a week, in order not to compete for PPV buys with UFC 268, also on 11/6/2021 from Madison Square Garden. So NJoA had a reasonable expectation that Mox would be available on that date. However, AEW is Mox’s home contracted promotion, and NJoA should always keep that in the back of their minds when booking dates for Moxley, especially now in light of their new Rampage show, which is sometimes, but not always, live on Friday nights. Either way, Will Ospreay is now booked on Battle In The Valley instead, and I think I’ll be watching Full Gear live that night regardless.