One of the Best Shows I Went to in 2011 part 1: TNA House Show 12/30/2011

 

I was going to do this last month…but for some reason I didn’t get around to it…odd since I really didn’t do anything the entire month of January…but I digress…  so in no particular order... here is a list of some of the best shows /events that I went to in 2011.  As it was the most recent…

TNA Wrestling House Show in Poughkeepsie, NY on 12/30/31

I haven't been to a TNA event since 2008. There were more people at this show than the last ones I was at. In the past at intermission, you had alot more time to talk with the wrestlers that were signing, but this time they rushed you through it (one item per person…although they didn't have a problem if you then went back in line to get a second item signed)like how WWE does a signing. I miss the intimate feel i got from the early house shows of 2007 and 2008 but I guess this is more professional... As this was the last show on the tour... most of the talent left quickly. I don't know if they would have hung out for a while like they did back in 2007-2008. The crowd was very pumped for the show and there was a lot of chanting.  This time I sat next to a girl who I sometimes wondered if she really wanted to be a strip club instead of a wrestling show.  She spend the majority of the show yelling at the wrestlers to “take it off’  It was kind of funny at 1rst but become less funny as the evening progressed. Still trying to figure out if this was better than my usual “loud fan” experience.  Usually I sit near a “smart mark” who does nothing but loudly complain about how awful the show is and how XX wrestler should quit and wrestle for XX company instead of the show we were attending.   While she could be annoying… at least this woman seemed to be enjoying the show which I guess makes it a better experance than the  so called Smart Mark who does not…  But onto the show itself…

* Vik Dalishus beat. Hale Collins in a tryout match.   If this were a televised show I would call this a dark match.  Didn’t know anyone in the match.  Hale Collins was over with the local crowd though…

* TNA X Division Champion Austin Aries beat Jesse Sorensen & Kid Kash. 

Pretty fun match to “officially” start the show.  Didn’t get any pictures of it. 

* Crimson beat Matt Morgan

* TNA Knockout Women’s Champion Gail Kim vs Mickie James

This was the match that I bought a ticket to see and it was a great match!   For much of 2010 and 2011 I have had disappointing experiences with the WWE as I often went to s show just to see Gail and WWE wouldn’t put her on the card.  So I was thrilled to not only see Gail wrestle but I also get to meet her at the intermission. 

AJ Styles beat Bully Ray
I know Bully is the heel and i am supposed to boo him... but there were several kids that ran up to the front row and wouldn't sit down.  They were kind of annoying me because I spent good money on my seat and couldn't see the show.  Bully Ray yelled at these kids and told them to go back and sit in there assigned seats!  My hero LOL.

* James Storm beat Kurt Angle

Another great match.  Kurt Angle is simply amazing.  Got some heat by tearing up back stage passes.  Before the match started James Storm asked if there were many Beer Drinkers in the crowd and shared a bear with some fans.  the crowd interaction didn't end there as both wrestler fought all over the arena.

*Garrett Bischoff b. Gunner w/Ric Flair

* TNA Champion Bobby Roode vs Jeff Hardy

Another great match.  Roode got a lot of heat on him by announcing that this was not going to be a title match.  If you want to see him defend his title, then cough up $40 and buy the PPV.  So it would be Roode vs Hardy in a Non-Title match.  Lots of good back and forth action.  Bobby slammed Jeff to the match. Rhoode got up on the 2^nd rope and mocked Hardy, doing the Jeff Hardy taunt. He took to much time making fun of Hardy for when he launched himself off the turnbuckle, Jeff was able to kick Roode in the face.  This allowed Jeff to get the pin.

Creepy hide and Seek! A great game to play if you have no friends and don't mind the possibility of being spirited away

Creepy Hide and Seek (Hitori kakurenbo gekijo ban  ひとりかくれんぼ　劇場版 ) is one of those films that I think every low budget horror film maker should see.  Not because it great example of the genre but that it holds together very well even though it is a low budget picture. One of the problems with American Horror cinema is that the movies have no atmosphere.  Mood is just as important to a film as the story.  If filmed the right way this can even make up for a lack of budget.  Many J-Horror films are adept at this and Creepy hide and Seek is no different. Check out the trailer below:

            Back, before I became a man of leisure, I used to work at BlockBuster Video.  At the time, the horror movie was at an all time low.   Most Horror movies seemed to go straight to video and it occurred that BlockBuster criteria when purchasing these movies was how inexpensive they were.  Then when they didn’t rent well, the suits could say that people are not interested in Horror movies or at least take comfort that the company didn’t spend much on them.  As I like Horror movies and must be a glutton for punishment I rented a lot of them.  (at least as an employee, it didn’t cost me anything)  Anyway to get to my point these films had no money, poor production values and often times a weak script.  But if the directors had seen a film like Creepy hide and Seek, then they might have learned that moody music, and lightning can cover up a lot of a films flaws. A good example of this is the scene in the original Japanese Ring ( or ringu) were Sadako crawls out of the TV and kills Ryūji. Compare it to the end US remake and while Hollywood spent a lot more money on makeup, I still think the original Japanese one is scarier.  Sometimes not showing you something is more scary than seeing the entire thing.  Of course sometimes not showing something makes it look like you couldn’t afford to show it…so even if the effect is not within your budget, the director has to make it look like her could have showed the whole monty but chose on purpose to hold back.   And it is that skill that I think more American filmmakers need to learn and Creepy Hide and Seek does this very well. 

            While the movie itself is B movie material and is filled with every Japanese Horror Movie stereotype around (it has troubled angsty teens, creepy long haired ghost girls, concerned teacher and the old occult know it all), I was impressed with the mood of the piece.  The movie is very somber.  The music is somber and creepy, the sound effects deliver the same message, everyone wears washed out and dark clothing, even the buildings are dank and paint chipped like they themselves are depressed.  I will point out that pacing of film is slow. I didn’t mind this, as it seemed to fit hand in hand with the somber oppressiveness of the narrative itself.  I think this may turn some views off though. 

            I also enjoyed the “modern spin” on the concept.  Basically, Creepy Hide and Seek is a game of tag for people who have no friends to play with.  The players perform an occult ritual to summon a ghost and then play hide and seek with the ghost. Bad thing will happen if the ghost tags you it.  In the movie the people who play this game are on the internet. The players only communicate through texting, email and chat rooms.  It is often said that computers are casing people to become more isolated, so it seems fitting that these isolated people would choose to play a game of tag by themselves.

            While I can’t say it is the best of the genre, still I say it is worth a watch. While it doesn’t break any new ground, I think it does accomplish what it sets out to do.  I also think it is a lot better than most of the B horror films that are produced inb the states these days. If you don’t want to sit through the movie but you do want to play tag with a ghost then check out this blog here as it tells toy how play Creepy Hide and Seek http://sayainunderworld.blogspot.com/2008/09/one-man-hide-and-seek.html

Hurricane Irene

I decided to start this blog to get myself writing again. My intention was to publish something every week.  I spent most of August timing subtitles for volume one of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (忍者戦隊カクレンジャー ) For those that do not know this is the show that was used to create third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. I even actually entertained the idea of writing about creating the subbed DVD and posting the ISO on this very blog. Of course that meant I would have to break up the ISO file into several small files and upload off of those to megaupload or something 1rst… I might still do that. Well I also started to write about my feelings of English dubs vs subtitles, which I was planning on posting but then the hurricane came along.
            This isn’t my first hurricane, I had been through Gloria before, back in 1985 but that was quite some time ago. Most of my memories of Gloria were about how long it took the power to be restored in my area and the fact that school was canceled for a while. I also remember seeing a bird attempt to fight the gale force winds and eventually being swept away by the strength of the hurricane. If I had a camcorder back then I would have liked to have recorded that and then use the wicked witch theme from the wizard of oz as the soundtrack. Anyway, I sort of knew what to expect out of Hurricane Irene.

       My father bought some wood and as much as I wanted to do stuff that weekend, I knew my days would be consumed with prepping the house for the storm. I did want to post my blog before that happened and while trying to write about English dubs I got a knock on my door. Chanel 8 News was there and they wanted to interview people about the impending hurricane. I really hope that wasn’t my “15 minutes” because (a) it was barely 15 seconds and (b) they misspelled my name. My family and I rode out Hurricane Gloria at home and I was hoping to do the same for Irene but we were told to evacuate. I really didn’t want to “live” in the local highschool that the town of Saybrook was using as a shelter and I was unhappy that the shelter didn’t allow pets. I didn’t want to board my two cats at the pound. Luckily my family and I didn’t have to go to a shelter and we weathered the storm at my Uncle David’s house. The cats knew something was up and we had the hardest time getting Rory, they little orange cat, into his kitty carrier. He hid in every conceivable place and even a few inconceivable ones as well. For a while I thought we had lost him only to discover he was in my dresser drawer.

We finally got Rory into the cat carrier, were all packed up and ready to leave our boarded up home to be ravaged by the elements. I admit I was worried about the safety of my friends in New Jersey as I saw on the news how bad they were hit, for me most of the really “scary” stuff happened while I was asleep and by the time I woke up the damage was done and the worst had passed us by. I know kind of anticlimactic. But then again so is life most of the time…so what do you expect. I have attached some photos showing the devastation that befell Clinton, Connecticut (where my Aunt and Uncle Live) and Old Saybrook Connecticut.

My back yard shows the aftermath of Irene

And now some artistic visions of devastation :

Is it just me or does this remind you of the aliens in Claws of the Axos

Claws of a Downed Tree or Roots of Evil

History Made in New Jersey! Mercedes Martinez vs Lexxus

I have to say I never expected Lexxus vs Mercedes Martinez to be a Match of the Year but it was.  I always knew Mercedes was MOTY material but I was not sold on Lexxus.  I was surprised that she won the Uncensored Rumble and felt that this match was just something to keep Martinez looking strong until it was Jessicka Havoc finished her feud with Alicia….Was I ever wrong.  Lexxus completely won me over and stood toe to toe with Mercedes and took her to the limit. Lexxus vs Martinez was amazing. This match made world history as the longest woman’s match ever!

                In the beginning, even Mercedes didn’t seem to see Lexxus as a threat.  She was playing with her. But no matter what Mercedes did, Lexxus would not stay down for the three count.   Martinez then got serious.  I was waiting for it.  The triple suplex made famous by Eddie Guerrero.  When Mercedes hit that I thought it was over…but it seemed like nothing would keep Lexxus down.  She either got her shoulder up or was able to grab the rope.  Both Lexxus and Mercedes put each other in several painful submission but neither of them would tap. Lexus even reversed the Fisherman Buster! This match really had it all.  It had technical wrestling, some highflying, and they even fought in the crowd.  And they did it all 83 degree heat!

                Several times the girls either threw water at their opponent or drenched themselves with it.  If this was the WWE or TNA, this would have been an excuse to exploit the women and get ratings with Wet T-shirts, but this is WSU and the women didn’t do it to “be sexy” they did to keep from dehydrating. I am not certain if WSU stocked water from under the ring or they grabbed from thirst fans. They got it from the section closest to the concession stand.

                Both girls were exhausted and on more than one occasion when they were both on the matt, I thought it might end in a double count out but they always managed to get to their feet. And then after 60 minutes the bell rang.  And I was like…after this incredible match…It is going to end in a draw due to a time limit??  TNA pulls that crap all the time but this isn’t TNA, this is WSU.  While the crowd chanted 5 more minutes, the Referee made the call to have the match restarted! We got out wish and Mercedes and Lexxus battled on for another 13 minutes.  Finally after a grueling 73 minutes  Mercedes hit the Fisherman Buster and pinned Lexxus for the one two three!