cabbageboy

It depends. The script is fine for advancing the action and pacing, etc. I think too many people confuse script with the actual words spoken (although that is a good deal too). The only really clunker scenes were maybe a couple with Anakin/Padme, stuff like "You are so beautiful," "It's because I'm so in love," "No it's because I'm so in love with you." In terms of internal consistency and pace it works fine though.

Well, if you watch the original the racial slurs fly fast and furious from the guards to inmates. In fact I watched it last night to get hyped for the new version. I tried to see it on Friday but it was sold out, which blew my mind since Star Wars wasn't even sold out the previous week. Maybe it was in more theaters? Anyway there are some things if they redo them in this film that I am uneasy about: In the original film Caretaker is killed by a psycho inmate via a rigged lightbulb. I think Chris Rock is Caretaker in this and the movie is promoted as a silly comedy....I dunno if he dies how well that will go over. The original is not really a goofy slapstick comedy. There are funny moments but it's more of a protest film against abuse of power, racial tension, and of course sticking it to the man. Reynolds in that film was no choir boy, having shaved points and all that. I do have one question...is the famed "I think I broke his fucking neck!" line in this? I know it's PG-13 but I figure that might be the one use of fuck in the film.

The cynic in me thinks that they will likely have the current WWE guys go over the reg. ECW guys. As in Jericho in theory SHOULD beat Lance Storm since Storm is retiring and Jericho will be active. Ditto Dudleys over Dreamer/Sandman....they have to get up and work in WWE again soon, whereas Dreamer and Sandman really don't. It's funny but I call Smackdown SMDN instead of something like SD because I thought it was clearer, haha.

I think that was my problem, I didn't cancel right after the initial 8 CDs for a penny thing. I think they just called me saying "Hey, you staying with BMG?" and I was in a rush to get rid of them and said "Sure whatever." There was no mention of me having to pay 20.00 or so for a CD every month, so frankly they completely misrepresented themselves and I won't forget that.

Of course they have to have piledrivers. I repeat: It's friggin ECW! It has to be wild, out of control mayhem. If they really let these guys do their thing it'll make WWE look bad though, since WWE now uses a bland headlock filled style. It's funny but the last SMDN PPV had a real ECW feel to it in some ways, from the Eddie/Rey matchup accentuating one area of ECW and then a wild, bloody brawl in the main event.

That's what makes Aaron's record so intriguing. He never really had that many jaw dropping seasons, he was just steady and consistent. Bear in mind with Ruth though that he spent his early career as a pitcher, though back in the old days maybe guys could pitch and also played a field position between starts.

I'm actually shocked that Dio has as much support as he does. The guy was on maybe 2 studio albums. I listened to Heaven and Hell and was basically bored with it after the title song, the 2nd half is nothing really critical to track down. And who the hell voted for the OTHER category? Haha! I guess someone must love the ill fated Ian Gillan era, complete with the Stonehenge live set that was parodied mercilessly in Spinal Tap.

Thrashist, I beg of you not to join. I actually belonged to BMG for a while and what they did was this: I got the initial 8 or 12 CDs, whatever it was for a penny. Then they started sending me a CD once a month, regardless of whether I wanted it or not. I never agreed to this that I recall, maybe it was a thing I had to do but wasn't properly informed of. Further, I then quit BMG finally once they started sending me Bon Jovi CDs and shit....and then they kept pestering me, saying I hadn't paid for a Live CD (the one with Dolphin's Cry I think) and kept billing me. I finally just sent them the damn CD back and told them to NEVER bother me again. MJ Styles, tell me..how's the quality compared to past releases? I always thought the first two albums sounded the best, Master of Reality is a bit muddy but I think it was meant to be. Vol. 4 has drowned out vocals at times and sounds muddy as hell. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is infinitely better on the Castle version (the Warner Bros. version sounds like a bad bootleg), though it still has a couple of sound breakups. Sabotage is pretty solid sounding on either Warner or the Castle. Last two Ozzys I never heard on Warner Bros., but sound good on Castle.

Amen to that. I've wondered why they don't give RVD a guy like Fonzie again to give him someone to play off of. Hell that RVD/Sabu/Fonzie stuff on ECW was flat out gold. I think the point of this show is that it HAS to be something different. As in a Storm/Jericho match on Raw....who honestly would give a shit? But on the ECW PPV, it made my eyebrows raise a bit. And yes, it seems to me as though ECW has to stick around in some form...why revive it and get fans in arenas to chant for it otherwise? Plus this could also play into established storylines with Bischoff screwing over the Raw roster guys who participate in matches on the PPV (rather than be his goons). I think what you could see is a Bischoff/Heyman full scale war for Raw supremacy. Aside from Angle I don't see where SMDN really fits since Teddy Long could care less. In fact Angle really should be traded to Raw before the PPV so he could lead this bunch of jobbers to the slaughter.

Ah well I went ahead and got that Sabbath box set off ebay. Got it for about 70 bucks which is better than the 85-90 it costs retail. I'm hoping it has a definitive Vol. 4, which is an album that has never been quite right to me soundwise on ANY version. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is another one that with a superior remaster could be hailed as a brilliant album, but the original Warner CD of it sounds shitty.

I'm fairly sure this show will be a different sort of PPV, true more in style to ECW than WWE. And yes I do hope we get Malenko involved somewhere in there. My jaw would drop if they had actual continuity from the last ever ECW PPV with stuff like the new Impact Players of Steve Corino/Justin Credible and RVD gunning for Rhino for the title. That sort of awesome attention to detail won't be expected.

Yeah it was the awkward way Han moves in the new version that makes the scene so goofy. I mean Greedo has him point blank and would MISS? By the way, I thought that might be Greedo or one of his relatives in Ep. 1. Glad someone clarified that.

I do agree, let's add Deano Machino to that Eddie/Benoit match and watch the awesomeness fly. We all know he'd be the first eliminated though. I take it these are the first 5 matches and there is more to follow with people like Sabu?

I'm also thinking that somehow Sharmell will beat Angle next week, and it won't really matter since Angle will go to Raw the next week anyway. The only way this will end is in SOME kind of humiliation for Kurt, we all know this. The main problem with the lottery stuff is that it by definition kills feuds and developments. Everything is in placeholder mode until everyone switches shows. That said SMDN this week was an easy pick over that putrid Raw, which seemingly had no wrestling aside from the main event during the last hour.

Question for you guys. I am considering getting the Rhino remastered boxed set of Sabbath (Ozzy Era). Thing is I already have the 1996 Castle reissues and I am wondering if it'd even be a serious upgrade. Does anyone have the Rhino set and know how it compares?

Exactly and in this case wouldn't it be kind of a just desserts anyway? I do think that Vince is getting off easy here, since in my opinion he hurt ECW more at critical moments than Bischoff. Bischoff took guys from ECW yes, but he actually is correct in saying that some ECW guys were dissatisfied with their pay and/or wanted to be seen on national TV. I don't think there is anything wrong with recruiting talent from what was a glorified indy fed...it's when you have Bischoff getting Tod Gordon to be his mole that he went over the line. But to me the single biggest dicking ECW ever got was in roughly Sept. 1999 when they first got on TNN. What does Vince do? He snaps up the Dudleys and Taz like it was nothing. That to me sent ECW reeling and led to Heyman panicking and putting the belt on Mike Awesome (who then defected to WCW while still champ) and the promotion was screwed.

I don't actually think SMDN will really send any guys to the ECW PPV. Why would Teddy Long care? I'm figuring Angle will get traded to Raw anyway so he can just be part of that group. Look, this whole group is going to just be a bunch of jobbers that is led by Bischoff and maybe Angle. In other words no one's heat will be destroyed that actually MATTERS. Hell, Angle has been a would be rapist lately, I doubt getting his ass kicked by the whole ECW crew would kill him.

I see I stirred some shit with the last post about campy, cheesy stuff. I was merely citing Run For the Hills as an example of an over the top Maiden song. Over the top due to its content and Dickenson's theatrical delivery. This isn't to say I hate the song or anything (actually I like it). In regards to Sabbath's debut, Warning is definitely a cool song but the overlong comments are certainly justified. It's far and away Sabbath's most unsettling album to listen to, hell NIB still has the power to creep people out. Anyone else like Wicked World off that album? That's an underrated song. Here are some other underrated Sabbath songs from the Ozzy era, or maybe not underrated as much as not played on the radio like Iron Man, Paranoid, etc.: Hand of Doom, Into the Void, After Forever, Wheels of Confusion, Cornucopia, A National Acrobat, Killing Yourself to Live, Hole in the Sky, Megalomania, The Writ. I've already mentioned the last 2 Ozzy albums, which aren't as strong but have their moments.

Lawler has a history of attacking ECW guys. That said, Bischoff and his guys absolutely have to get their asses kicked at the ECW PPV. Nothing else will be tolerated.

Anyone ever think that Angle is more entertaining as a goof? I personally loved his out there stuff with Austin, it was hilarious. That is what causes Angle problems with being taken seriously: He's too good at being a dumbass. The problem with a dorky heel is that no one really pays to see a dork get beat down. Thus, he turns face. However as a face I've always found Angle's promos to have a smarmy, insincere quality to them. Angle being a legit face hero goes against the very point of his character anyway, since he's supposed to be a cocky Olympian who constantly rubs his medals in everyone's face.

Well Vince was in fact more truthful on the DVD than Bischoff. Bisch beat around the bush, denied everything, etc. Vince basically said "Yeah some guys from ECW wanted to come here, so I offered them a contract." I don't think SMDN will have a group at the ECW PPV since Angle is really the only guy talking about it. I think he'll get traded to Raw soon and then join Bischoff's Brigade. Dear God, more JBL vs. Cena? It seems like when a guy says "I quit" that should be, I dunno, the END of the feud. I mean where can it go at this point? Forget this feud, let Eddie destroy Rey in a gimmick match, and give us Eddie vs. Cena.

Jesus, it's just 1 game gone for each series..way too early to write anyone off. I'd take the Spurs to beat the Pistons in such a series though. The D is about the same and the Spurs are a lot better offensively (i.e. they can actually score 100). How about a Pistons/Sun series though? What a car wreck mismatch of styles that would be. I think we can all agree that Spurs/Heat has NO zing to it though. I for one am bored to tears with Shaq vs. Duncan EVERY year.

Yeah, think of it this way. Anakin's main motive in the film to join the Emperor is the potential security for his wife (keeping Padme alive) and his unborn kid(s). Basically at the end of ROTJ Anakin/Vader realizes that the Emperor really doesn't give a shit about his family when he tries to kill Luke, so he finally turns on the Emperor and I'd assume his eyes were opened to a lot of other things too.

I dunno, the whole scenario has this disturbing WM 9 vibe to it that can't be ignored. At least this time it'd be a heel doing the screwing of someone that is supposed to be popular. Besides, is the Money in the Bank contract really something that can literally be cashed in at any moment? I thought of it more as a Bischoff saying "You have the contract, give me advance notice and I'll book the match" kind of thing.

Regardless of Batista's anger at HHH, don't they realize you can't main event three PPVs in a row with the same match? I remember in Foley's book he was scheduled to face Austin at KOTR 98 in the HIAC match for the title, but then Vince or someone thought "Gee, we just had 2 PPVs with these guys maining so maybe we should do something else." Hell at least last year they had Benoit/HHH/Shawn twice and eventually did HHH/Benoit later. What is the point of this HIAC match anyway? It won't be any good, there won't be a huge fall or something jaw dropping. The only possible idea is for HHH to mention he is undefeated in HIAC and thus have Batista beat him.