Ladder match let down

By: Justin Hopkins 

 Going into WWE Money in the bank, the match that garnered most excitement, at least to me, had to have been the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match, between Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Tamina, Natalya, and Carmella with James Ellsworth, in her corner. 

 The women on both shows have been phenomenal over the past year or so. When they haven’t stolen the show, their matches are right there for match of the night. They’ve competed in Last Man Standing, Iron Man, and not only preformed in Hell in the cell, but main evented that card. So seeing five going to be the first women to competed in Money In The Bank was enough to get you to want to watch. 

 The match itself was stellar.  Allot of high impact, death- defying falls, and constant momentum changes. On their way to setting the bar for the match that much higher.  When the ending occurred, that sucked all the energy and excitement from it. When Ellsworth climbed the ladder, and dropped the case into Carmella lap.

 Going to start by saying, know these matches are scripted and winners chosen ahead of time, and as much of a fan of Becky Lynch that I am, and wanted to see her win. Knew Carmella was going to win, and would have been in some sort of heel (Villain) fashion, but this ending was awful to see.

 Have seen or read over and over, that the ladder match is No Disqualification and there being no rules.  Which would be fine, had I not listened throughout every other ladder match, it’s the first competitor to climb the ladder and retrieve the title, or in the Money in the bank matches, Briefcase. Have seen outside assistance before, and had Ellsworth done something to aide Carmella to climb it herself. Would have gone over and not felt like a huge step back. 

 That’s the problem. This was suppose to be historic, and was a truly great match to see. The women absolutely put their best into creating an amazing edge of your seat, couldn’t take your eyes off of match, and seeing him take the case down, instead of even having Carmella do it herself, just seemed to taint the match itself. 

 They announced a rematch on Smackdown for next week. A second money in the bank ladder match for the woman’s briefcase. Once again I’m sure the match itself will be fantastic as they always do, but it’ll be difficult going into this as excited cause I’m already wondering how the heel ending will come into play this time around.

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The Cosby Saga

By Paul Anthony

As fast as the charges came about, the trial was just as fast, we witness a once beloved figure in the entertainment world fall from the graces. If you don’t know who we are talking about, I will tell you who, that person is none other than Bill Cosby himself. He was once beloved by us until the women have come forward and accuse him of Rape, drug facilitated sexual assault, sexual battery, child sexual abuse and sexual abuse. More than sixty women have accused him of these crimes, which have dated back to the 1960s, however sadly most of these cases were passed the statute of limitations and the state can’t charge him on those but the ones that they could they brought him to trial on the ones that they could.

The trial started on the June 5^th and just ended on the 17^th in a mistrial, the jurors were in a deadlock for days and couldn’t come to terms with each forcing the judge to make this a mistrial. The prosecution has already stated that they do plan to take him back to court and seeking justice. Now here is where we run into issues, for starters because these cases happen years ago, it stands at he said, she said, with very little evidence. I am not saying he is innocent or guilty but the taxpayers will have to get stuck with the bill if the state doesn’t win the case, I must assume the state has something up their sleeve to prove he did these crimes besides straight testimony which I am guessing all they had or else the jurors would have found him guilty.

The trial might be over but the battle is far from over because even if they go through with a second trial and the loss, there are ongoing lawsuits, his victims will be seeking money for the damage they are accusing him of doing.

If he comes out a winner in any of this, there a good chance his life will never be the same, his public image has already changed, he isn’t loved as he once was. Sure, he has his supporters behind him but as many supporters he has, he has just as many people that no longer like him and studios won’t hire him for any projects because of the bad press that goes with it.

He’s career is now over regardless, I don’t think there is anything he can do to repair the damage that he did. In time, we will see how this story plays out

 

The Big 4 will return!

By Paul Anthony

Today’s blog will make all the X-men fans happy, news broke today that the entire cast of the X-men first class trilogy would be returning to do a forth film. This to me was somewhat shocking that the entire cast would be returning and I am going to explain why in just a second.

First, we knew that the core group of stars which consist of James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult had a three-film deal which was X-Men: First Class, X-men Days of Future Past and finally X-Men: Apocalypse. Now each film had made a profit however Apocalypse didn’t receive the best reviews.

When I heard about the entire cast returning I was stunned when I saw Jennifer Lawrence returning. Lawrence has been in the spotlight for some time now and her stock keeps getting higher and higher. She has done many things since signing her three-picture deal and has been on record with stating how much of a pain it has been to wear the make-up to play Mystique, she did so much complaining that she did more scenes out of make-up then in make-up. Mind you during the original trilogy Rebecca Romijn was hardly seen without the make-up on. With all I didn’t expect her to sign on and do another comic book film. Though I am glad she is sticking around because casting another person would suck especially casting two people to do 3 films each in 14 years, which is the same time Hugh Jackman played Wolverine.

Fassbender and McAvoy returning doesn’t shock me at all. Both have stated they would be willing to extend their contracts to keep playing their characters and seem to be enjoying it as much as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen did.

I don’t want to leave Nicholas Hoult out of this conversation but the truth be told. His career has been up and down, not saying I would like to see someone cast as Beast, I am just saying this could have gone either way.

The announcement couldn’t have come at a better time because if they want to stick with their goal date of being released which is November 2018, they needed to get everyone together and figure out what they were going to do because if they couldn’t get the four of them back then that could have posed a big problem with their plans going forward.

The fourth film will now take place in 1991, takes place 8 years after the previous film and will once again focus on Jean’s Grey alter ego the Dark Phoenix. So Now I ask you how do you feel about the big four returning to do a fourth film?

The Legend of Adam West

By Paul Anthony

Recently we lost another legend in the entertainment world, the beloved Adam West, a name that several generations have come to know. Today’s generation may know him from family guy where he played a fictional version of himself, playing Mayor Adam West, older generations and even Batman fans know him from the hit show Batman from the 1960s, either way you know Adam West even if you never realized it. Sadly, we lost him on June 9^th, he lost his battle with leukemia, he was 88 years young, when he passed away, he was survived by his wife and four children and two step-children. In this blog, we will look at his career that started back in the 1950’s.

Many of us may know him from Batman that started in 1966 and ended in 1968 but the truth is he had established career before batman, He’s first role was back in 1957 on a kid’s show, which by 1959 he became the lead star in. In 1957, he was in his first feature film in an uncredited role in Voodoo Island. From that point, he would in feature films consistently from that point on. In 1966, he landed the gig that would change his career. He got cast as Bruce Wayne/ Batman in the Batman Tv series, it ran for only two years but in that two years it had more episodes then shows that run for ten years. He became as big as the role which after the show ended, he tries to put it behind, which he never could, after years of trying to shake it off and avoid it, he just couldn’t and finally he accepted the fact the biggest role he had was being Batman.

After the show ended he continued to work year after year and year and in the 90’s, he began to do more vocals and even returned to doing Batman roles though he never actually voiced Batman only the side characters. He became a pop icon which led him to doing appearances for other TV shows then in 1999 he got a recurring role on the hit show Family Guy, which he continued to do until he’s death.

After years of hard work in 2012 he was finally awarded a star on the Hollywood walk of fame as the 2,468^th star. He will be missed from family and friends and fans also. People will miss him Family Guy and even his cameos appearances on The Big Bang Theory. These shows that he has recurring roles in will never be the same with him passing away and nod towards the talent that he was and forever will be, to his family, our prayers are you and know your husband and father will be missed by many.

Changing of the guard for Miles Morales

By: Justin Hopkins 

I remember quite a few years back,  when Sony was rebooting Spider-Man. Came across a movement for one Miles Morales to be Spider-Man, instead of Peter Parker, and I had no idea who they were talking about.  Had been awhile since I read a comic,  and had no idea there had been a change. To be honest,  I was against this.  Spider-Man being my favorite superhero.  Was not ready for someone else to take his place. I didn’t have to worry,  because Sony went with Peter,  but the push didn’t go away,  but grew. 

 For those who may not know.  Miles took the place of Peter Parker, after his death in the Ultimate Universe.  While he was met with controversy, he was poplar enough, that when The Ultimate Arc ended in 2015,  he was carried over to the regular run.  With a stop over in Disney’s Ultimate Spider-Man Cartoon. Where I first saw him,  and became a fan. His emotional weight and differences from Peter made him a great character. 2015 was also the year he nearly got the lead in the Disney reboot.  

Bringing us to today.  Miles is on fire. In the last six months,  outside of his own comic run,  he’ll be crossing into Spider Gwens comic, an Animated Movie coming to theaters on December 21, 2018, and yesterday the fans cheered in joy,  as he was shown in the new Spider-Man Video Game. Leaving the question, why wait to bring him into the MCU.

 The Thanos story is nearing to a close, and Spider-Man, being a massive earner, that comes with a multiverse dilemma storyline. Allowing them to bring in three likes of Spider Gwen, Noir, and headlined by Miles Morales, and done early to use the emotional impact that comes with Miles meeting Peter. Skipping around origin,  and start him on the fly. 

 At this point, it’s a forgone conclusion that Miles Morales still take the reigns from Peter in the movie theaters.  It brings in fresh faces and new stories.  The time is right and the board is almost set perfectly for a smooth transition from one to another.  

The Mummy Review w

By Paul Anthony

Did you see the new Mummy film? If you haven’t and don’t want to see any spoilers please look away but if you want to see it but need an idea then you came to right place. First let’s talk about the numbers, The Mummy will be advertised as the number one America movie in the world and that won’t be a lie, however in the domestic box office it will be a much different story, currently coming in second place by a long shot. Wonder Woman made 57 million, while the mummy came in second with 32 million, which is what many predicted, however 32 million on your opening weekend isn’t something a blockbuster film should brag about. The total worldwide gross sits at 174 million, a 141 million coming at the foreign box office which is 81 percent of its profit. Tom Cruise has always been a big draw at the foreign box office which I am sure Universal studios knew that and they needed to rely on that, especially with a 125-million-dollar budget, now why weren’t the numbers all that good, let’s review the film.

If you were to place this film with the 1999 hit The Mummy you will see some similarities, Brendan Frasier like Tom Cruise played the same character almost, they provided the action and had that same selfish smartass personality which brings the comedy. The sidekicks had the same personality and the love interest were the same. That’s where the similarities end. For starters, the CGI wasn’t that impressive and at times seem so cheesy for the budget it was given. Next The mummy wasn’t a part of the movie as it was in the previous film which made no sense, the focus seemed to be more on building Tom Cruise’ s character to be the face of the franchise which is their Dark Universe.

The film had some bright spots, the action was there and Russel Crowe no don’t, shine in his scenes and will be a bright spot in future films. In the end, I believe the CGI and the Mummy be such a small part in the film hurt the film overall. It lacked the Magic the previous Mummy had, I will say the foreign box office saved the film and the Dark universe.

In the end, I give it three stars out of five, Universal will need to figure out how to make their Dark films better to up their box office draw at the domestic box office because I doubt Tome Cruise will be in every film. If I would be asked if I would see it as just a fan the answer would be yes, it had it’s moments but understand it is what it is.

Significance of Wonder Woman

By: Justin Hopkins 

 With Wonder Woman all set to blow past three hundred million in the box office; just six days after its release. Strong word of mouth,  and 93% rotten tomato score. Calling it a smashing success would just be a foregone conclusion.  A wildly entertaining turnaround film the dull and rather boring DCEU. However, it could be more significant, being the first successful female driven superhero movies to date. 

 For starters,  it’s a great sign moving forward and raising the confidences for Batgirl and Gotham City Sirens. Headlined by fan favorites such as Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. Wonder Woman set the bar high,  and everyone involved will try that much harder to hit higher, and that is always great news for us fans.

 Why stop there though.  D.C. has tremendous pool of characters,  both A and B listers. From Powergirl, Huntress, or even Katherine Kane’s Batwoman, or many others.  Can be introduced through any of the upcoming movies,  or even just get their own solo adventure, since D.C. has not shyed away from the idea of not having everything tied together.

 While Marvel has had great success with Jessica Jones, she seems solely dedicated to Netflix, and our hopes for a Black Widow movie, stuck as rumors. They opened not only a very successful door, but a mostly untapped one to boot. With plenty of choices, they can venture out into new territory,  and set the stage themselves. 

The Failure of Baywatch and Chips

By

Sometimes a hit T.V show many years ago doesn’t mean it going to be a box office hit. Sadly, some studios thought otherwise and this year they learned the hard way. We recently saw two films in a span of three months that were based on a show, back in March, Chips were released and just recently Baywatch was released. As a fan, I didn’t have high hopes for neither of them but thought Baywatch would have done better than it did. CHiPs on the other hand I gave no chance to even succeed and sure enough it didn’t, so let’s see what happen to both and figure out what happen, starting with Chips.

When a film has a fan base attach to it, even before the film is released that should be a good thing, but when fans realize the film is more of a spoof then actually being based on the show, the fans begin to leave, Chips did exactly that. Many who watched the show which ran from 1977-1983 saw nothing from the show in the film. The film took the rated R approach which mean Storyline was thin in exchange for crude, sexual jokes for a quick laugh and sadly it did not work out. The film had bad reviews which also hurt its cause and the timing was bad, March is usually a dead period, however we had two big releases with Beauty and the Beast which went on to be the highest grossing film of 2017 and Power Rangers which brought a good bit of cash to. Chips had a budget of 25 million and it has grossed worldwide the total of 25 million just covering the budget.

Baywatch did slightly better with what it was trying to do but still didn’t live up the show. It too took the R rated approach and failed. Sure, The Rock and Zac Efron carried the film and did what they could, they took the source material and brought it to new levels however it lacked the charm that show had which ran from 1990 to 2001 and had a total of 242 episodes. Like Chips it ran into tough competition with Guardians of the Galaxy and Pirates 5, and with the big films coming out soon enough, it will soon enough fall out of the top 10. They had a budget of 69 million and as of right now has made only 69 million. There is chance in time it will go over its budget but only time will tell if it does.

Hollywood did get it right with a few films based off the passed with T.V shows, we did have Starsky and Hutch and 21 Jump Street film series to prove you can take show from the past and make it a hit. It’s just in this case they got it wrong. Before Baywatch was released, the producers said that they would do a sequel but at this point, they might have spoken too soon but we just got to wait see.

 

 

Wonder Woman Review

By Paul Anthony

It has been documented now that the DCEU hasn’t been doing all that well, films seem to do just enough to stick around but to this date there haven’t been any sequels yet, sure it’s still small compared to the MCU, but the light seemed to be fading for them, we had the Man of Steel, then Batman V Super-Man then lastly Suicide Squad, which was good but the damage from Batman V Super-Man but still that film alone set them back and forced to rethink their plan. They needed a good film to be Great if they truly wanted this to stick around. It’s safe to say they got their savior in Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman may not go down in the history books as the greatest Comic book film of all time but it leaves a great impact to give DC hope, they so desperately needed. Let’s start the storyline, it’s an Origin for starters we see a young Diana getting the urge to train and finally gets her wish to train, we learn she is Zeus’s daughter and half-sister to film’s villain who is Aries God of War, the film explains that Aries is the Master Mind behind the great war or commonly known as World War One. She meets her love interest played by Chris Pine’s character. Together they fight Aries and win but sadly Chris Pine charter dies in the end.

The action was good, the fights not bad and honestly, I believe has more action scenes then Batman V Superman. Which tells you had truly bad that film was. The combination of using slow motion and Fast motion was done well, sure it could have been better but was still very good, however the CGI effects for the film wasn’t that impressive, the goal to make it seem real however you can clearly tell the CGI was being used but for as film with a 169-million-dollar budget, you expected better from that budget.

Gal Gabot wasn’t very popular among fans when she was cast as Wonder Woman but she portrayed the character beautifully, she added that the character was beautiful but wasn’t just pretty face, if that was her mission than consider her mission was successful. She didn’t need a body to be perfect. The emotions were great not too many comic book films can give you tear jerker scenes and sure enough they did it well enough to be consider that.

Wonder Woman doing well also, it manage to bring in 11 Million on Thursday night, and give or take should pass the 100 million mark for the film, we also have to see what it does during it’s second weekend when comic book films has the worse luck with drawing more people in .I would recommend this film going to see this film and let you decide  if this good film was truly that good.

Dc finally has winner but they need to keep this up and sure enough Justice League is next. Overall I give this film a four out five Stars.

Wonder Woman

By:Justin Hopkins 

 Coming off a less then stellar year, D.C. really needed a success, with Wonder Woman. Not just financially, but one with the crowd.  A movie people enjoy, and not regret sitting through.  Being directed by Patty Jenkins and Gal Gabot reprising her role as Wonder Woman. I did not go into this movie with much in the way of excitement, due to how low of a track record they have with movies, and I’m so glad to be wrong,  since it turned out to be a tremendously entertaining movie.

 The story was deep and emotional, taking place in a flashback to her time on Themyscira. Learning to become their greatest warrior, helping a plane wrecked Steve Trevor,  and setting off with him, to defeat the God of War Ares. The settings and fight sequences were all too notch. At times the pacing seemed a little sluggish,  but it all played out nicely and built up more and more emotions and gave it much needed heart.

 The shining and best part of the movie was its amazing performances from all of its actresses and actors.  Gal Gabot leading the way, as the Amazon Princess. Taking the audience on an emotional thrill ride. From excitement and desire to train and willingness to stand for what she believed. To venturing out into the human civilization fascination and confusion over seeing how things worked to how horrified she felt seeing injured soldiers and desperate in need of help. Emotions coming to a head to in surprise ending, and great boss fight. Learning the secret hinted at at the start of the film. Behind her was Chris Pine’s role of Steve Trevor. Playing excellently off her, showing chemistry and just fluid acting between the two main stars. Backed by Connie Nielsen and Said Taghmoui, and everyone else involved,  brought their A- Game in bringing the movie to life. 

 Wonder Woman really highlighted just how good D.C. can be. Using just her story, and no involvement from the other heroes.   They turned out a great movie.  This could be a real turning point for D.C. to learn from going forward. If you haven’t seen it, or on the ropes,  rest assure Wonder Woman is a true delight.