cabbageboy

Here's the problem with the Matrix sequels. They don't give you what you put your money down to see. You go in expecting this WW2 type epic showdown of good and evil, with our heroes finally prevailing, Neo defeating Smith, and the Matrix being destroyed. When I heard about the sequels this is immediately what came to mind. I figured "Hey, they didn't actually DESTROY the Matrix in the first one, they can do it now." Instead we got this bullshit Korean War uneasy peace treaty, a cease fire between man and machine. There's still some stuff I don't really quite get in Reloaded (How does the Architect fit in the hierarchy of the machines? Is he a product of the machines, does he control them as well as the Matrix? Why exactly is the Merovingian holding the Keymaker? Was that his main function in life...just kidnapping the Keymaker so every one of the ONES has to go through him? If not, what did he hope to gain by holding the Keymaker?).

I've heard others say how much they enjoyed this movie, and in a way I can see it. But I have always hated the lame crap where a main character isn't real, or is dead, etc. Thus it wouldn't remotely be near the top of my all time list.

Well, the sequels both had their moments of fun action scenes but overall the story being told was pretty dire. In fact it was a complete mess. It has taken me about 5 viewings to piece together the plot of Reloaded and once I did I disliked it all the more. I dunno if I've read this criticism but in the sequels it seemed to me like the Wachowskis just forgot how to direct basic scenes. Look at the amount of boring, stagy scenes in Reloaded and Revolutions. Just actors sitting down, and another standing, no movement onscreen, no action, just rambling and incoherent dialogue. Compare it to the original, which either doesn't have this sort of stuff or in the stagy boring scenes at least has Hugo Weaving's awesomeness to carry it. It seemed like Smith was in far less of the sequels and they are all the worse for it.

"Lita continues to be brutal in the ring (and not in the good way). At least her craptacular performance tonight will squash any chances of her taking the Women's title off Victoria." Actually I disagree with this. Not so much Lita being crappy in the ring right now but that Victoria will easily retain. If there is one thing I realized tonight it is that Lita is basically going to win and be a transition champ to Trish. Hell Victoria wasn't even on the show tonight....what does that say about her chances of retaining?

Heh I heard Godsmack's new song and seriously thought it was something that Alice in Chains had done 10 years ago.

Actually the house show tickets to the show I just went to here in Louisville were 20, 30, and 40 dollars. That is actually about the same as a TV taping really. I think if they lowered those prices a bit they might draw more people to the house shows.

Jack Black is just playing the Carl Denham role, which hardly requires a huge amount of serious acting. Nor is he the romance lead. That would be Adrien Brody....which I have to admit sounds a lot goofier than Jack Black.

Booker will get a bigger push vs. Eddie in the future, since the SMDN match was left kinda open ended. I would say RVD makes a better match for Eddie, but with his contract issues I wouldn't expect him to get a big push until AFTER he signs a new deal....if he signs a new deal.

Worst ending to a classic is Woman in the Window I think. One of those "guy wakes up and it's all a dream" kind of endings. Another would be Night of the Hunter. I love Mitchum in that movie, love most of the movie, but the ending with Lillian Gish rambling at the camera always struck me really lame.

It's interesting that no one seems to give UK any shot of winning it all, despite being the overall 1 seed. I have: UK, OK St., Duke, UConn With UK over Duke in the final (an admitted dream final). I'm also a bit mystified by the Xavier support. They got on a good run in the A 10 tourney but it seems like mediocre teams who get hot for a week tend to flame out in the tourney itself. I have U of L over them, although I'm a bit biased since I went to U of L. Though I don't have it on my bracket I think the winner there has a real shot at beating Miss St.

I think this show was missing a crazy out of control hardcore brawl. Something to show another style. I'd definitely put it behind WM 17 since that show had a wild TLC match and a silly hardcore match as well.

I said it before, all this ACC crap reminds me of the mid 90s when they used to put 6 or 7 from the Big 10 in the tourney....and they'd all job by the 2nd round. While I don't think the ACC will match that futility, you have to wonder about how big and bad it really is when NC St. is in 2nd place. NC St. lost non conf. games to South Carolina, BC, and Michigan.

Do NOT put FL in the category with U of L. Florida is a team that plays with no guts or passion whatsoever against a quality team. U of L has tried hard in every game this season aside from that TCU debacle. 7 of U of L's 8 losses have been very close, hard fought games.

I actually think that Stanford vs. St. Joes would be a big money draw, but let's get real here.....it ain't happening. Basketball is WWE like in its refusal to push new talent. UK and Duke baby, the continual push.

Kane has almost zero chance of winning this match. Look, you cannot possibly job out UT on his return to being the dead man. I do agree that Kane should eventually pick up a win over UT but this is not the time.

I think Stanford might lose at Washington to close the season, then lose again in the Pac 10 tourney since they don't care about it. Seriously, that was almost U of L like in its utter choking. I've seen U of L do stupid shit like that before (last year vs. St. Louis, 1998 vs. Marquette) but it boggles my mind when you foul a 3 pt. shooter and then also fail to get the ball inbounds. Stanford is like the Ohio St. of basketball, just lucky bastards who keep finding miraculous ways to win. Thing is, you can't keep doing that over a 35 game basketball season, whereas you might in a 13 game football season.

Here's news for you guys: Gonzaga in no way will get a 1 or even a 2 seed. Their RPI is only 16th or so, which actually places them behind U of L if you can imagine it. I think they'll get a 3 seed and play in Seattle, and should cruise through the first 2 rounds. Holy shit, Washington St. is about ready to upset Stanford!!! 60-56 with 25 seconds left.

I enjoyed that ending to the show tonight. Eddie does a lot of awesome stuff, great range in terms of acting for a wrestler. In that final segment he went from stunned to see Kurt, to quite honestly afraid due to being handcuffed (can you see Austin doing this stuff?), and finally just flat out "I don't give a shit, hit me" anger.

You have to remember back to the mid 90s when they'd put half the Big 10 in the tourney and all of them would be GONE after 2 rounds. While I don't think the ACC will match that futility I think virtually any conf. maxes out its quality teams after 4 or 5. For instance, the SEC is one of the toughest leagues in the country but after UK and Miss St. what do they really have? Florida has tanked, LSU is tanking without Lloreda, Vandy is just Vandy but slightly better. I can't see how even the SEC would get 6. Here's the thing about CUSA....can anyone here really imagine someone from the conf. going anywhere in the tourney? Unless U of L gets their act together it's not likely. Cincy always tanks in the tourney, they'll be gone after 2 rounds. Memphis hasn't done anything of note since about 1986 and is injury plagued to boot. Charlotte is a nice 2nd round team but not much more. UAB might not even make the 2nd round. DePaul...1 and done. Despite their recent troubles U of L is really the only CUSA team that has any potential to do great things, but I'm just being hopeful.

Mitchum was ultra cool in Night of the Hunter but there's something about the way that movie concludes that I just didn't like. The one character who has ever made me really hate his guts and want him to die is Tim Roth in Rob Roy. The guy molests boys, knocks up his maid and kicks her to the curb, burns Rob Roy's house, rapes his wife (and maybe knocks her up, it's a bit vague), kills Rob's best friend, chases Rob all over Scotland, and for the most part dominates him in the final fight. That my friends is a heel. Tavington in The Patriot is also a total scumbag, but he's so ludicrously hard to kill that it becomes a bit much after a certain point.

I think the ACC might be hurting itself in some ways. Let's face it, we can't go back to the days where they'd take half the friggin Big 10. The ACC should get Duke, UNC, NC St., Wake, Ga Tech, and maybe FL St. (though they are iffy since they can't win on the road). They can't take EVERYONE. The Big 12 is having a bit of a down year. OK St. and Texas are both solid, but Oklahoma is weak this year, Kansas weak as well, Texas Tech fading down the stretch. Not really a whole lot there outside of a couple of teams.

Manhunter might be somewhat of a stronger film, but it is a very unflinching look at tracking down a serial killer (even moreso than Silence in some ways, which has been parodied endlessly). I think TL&D in LA is a more entertaining film however, certainly easier to enjoy on repeat viewings.

Since William Petersen is hot right now with CSI I decided to get the DVD of one of his early movies, To Live and Die in L.A. I remembered seeing some of it on cable back in the 80s and it struck me even as a kid that our "heroes" were scumbags who broke the law as much as the villain! I'm kinda shocked that Maltin only rates it *1/2, mainly due to the film having no one to cheer for (then again he gives Blade Runner *1/2 and Taxi Driver **). To everyone who has seen it, post comments. What was up with the ending scene? What do you think of the car chase? Performances? Etc.

It's funny but I was talking to my dad about this whole CUSA 6 team thing. He said "SIX out of CUSA?? Hell no!" I asked him to name who should go and he said "U of L, Memphis St. (he still refers to them as Memphis St.), Charlotte, Cincinnati.....and that's it." I said "How about UAB and DePaul? Both are 10-4 in conference and ahead of U of L if you can believe it." Know what he said? "Yeah but those teams are whaleshit."

The Razzie stuff is silly. Bear in mind at the 1991 Razzies Ford Fairlane swept the boards and that is actually quite a badass movie with a cult following nowdays.