Danny Franks

I finally watched this today. I'd been putting it off because I already knew the story and knew how depressing the movie would be. There's something about the Territory days of wrestling that's so fascinating - all these local promotions that were simultaneously big time in their area but full of carnies and seedy as anything. WCCW is one of those that's really interesting, because of the amount of talent there, and the mystique and tragedy of the Von Erich boys. The Sportatorium always seems like an iconic venue of those Territory days. The journey from the glory days to Kevin on his own was incredibly sad. Fritz was an abusive asshole, and far worse than this movie showed - he used the deaths of his sons to sell tickets for shows, for crying out loud. Some great casting in this movie - Fritz and David seemed incredibly well cast, Kerry and Kevin less so. I get why Efron wanted to play Kevin, the sole surviving brother, but he's so much more like Kerry (especially in this jacked form). Meanwhile Jeremy Allen White just didn't seem right at all. Kerry was a complete himbo - great looking, strong as an ox, but absolutely nothing going on between the ears. Honestly though, it was a little disappointing. The pacing was not good, and the other brothers weren't given enough time for their deaths to really resonate. I think the focus should have been less tightly on Kevin so we could see more of the other brothers, and the circumstances that led to their deaths. The quote from Kevin, "I used to have five brothers, now I'm not even a brother," hits harder than the version they used in the movie. I still don't know how I feel about them combining Chris and Mike into one character. They both had very different lives, and were tragic in their own ways - Mike was a very promising wrestler who suffered brain damage due to toxic shock syndrome, but was wheeled right back out there by his dad, and Chris as the youngest who wanted to be a wrestler but he was asthmatic and had brittle bones, so just couldn't do it.

I think it was just built around Tarantino's violent fantasies about what he'd like to have done to the Manson Family to stop them from "destroying the innocence of Hollywood." I watched this movie a while ago, and couldn't believe it when I realised that was the point of the movie - all that build up, just for some slapstick and incredibly violent nonsense from a bunch of vicious idiots who are humiliated and dismantled by cool guy Brad Pitt. Funnily enough, a lot of the dark, gritty movies that people believe were made as reactions to the Manson Family murders are exactly the sort of movies I imagine Tarantino being a big fan of, growing up. Because the violence of Dirty Harry, Deathwish and Assault on Precinct 13 seem like they could have been big influences on Tarantino's moviemaking ethos.

I half watched Jurassic World: Dominion last night. It's a terrible movie, and it's a shame that the original cast all came back for it just to do half-baked rehashes of iconic moments from the first movie. But the most interesting thing is that the special effects seem worse than even the original Jurassic Park. I don't know if it's just because I have such affection for the first movie, and the impact those effects had on me, but even the clear CGI shots in the original seem more detailed and with more attention to detail. How is that possible after thirty years of development in CGI?

My girlfriend is watching Rivals, the adaptation of a crappy, 80s smut novel. And... ew. It seems the main romance is between a woman in her early 20s and a slimy womaniser who is older than her dad, and one of their first "tender" moments is him tucking her into bed like a child, after apparently proving he's a good man by not groping her while they danced together. It's the worst kind of "I can fix him" fantasising about bad boy "cads" who secretly have hearts of gold. Also, he's a Thatcherite politician who tells another woman "good girl" for saying she voted for Reagan. And there's a theme of lefties in the media needing to be put in their place by him. Of course, it was written in the 80s by a woman who grew up rich. Who else could be the hero?

I've not been excited by Superman since I was about nine years old - I loved the Christopher Reeve movies (at least the first couple) as a kid, but as I got older I found the character boring and DC's approach to making movies was terrible (Zack Snyder is a hack). But all it took was that John Williams score kicking in to make me feel like a kid again. And this teaser really worked. It set the tone of the movie (I hope) as dramatic without being dark, fun without being a comedy. Yeah, I can see why people worry about the glimpses of so many other DC characters in a Superman movie, but it's just a case of getting the balance right. Except for Krypto, we can have as much Krypto as possible (I think James Gunn must have loved CGI Cosmo in Guardians, and wanted to develop it more). I like the casting - Brosnahan seems perfect for Lois, Corenswet certainly looks the part as both Clark and Superman, Nicholas Hoult should make a dastardly lex (Huzzah!).

The definitive version of the prequel trilogy concluded with Mustafar Takes Los Angeles, at Dynasty Typerwriter: The best Obi-Wan and Anakin performances you'll ever see, across the trilogy, with a host of great names around them.

Watching Jurassic Park for the millionth time, and I think it often goes unmentioned how good the kids' performances are in that movie. They could easily be a distracting, obnoxious presence (like the kids in the new Jurassic World movies), but they just behave like kids. Arianna Richards, in particular, has a couple of really great moments - the sheer panic and terror in her voice when she's telling Grant that "he left us! He left us!" and the look in her eyes when she sees the Raptor's silhouette as the kids are tucking into all the food.

Finally it happened. Karate manslaughter. How did it take six seasons? If Kwon didn't stab himself, I guess Kreese would have killed someone at some point. Because "this is war." This karate tournament for teenagers, full of silly gimmick matches, is war. I guess maybe it war, is if teenagers are being encouraged to knock each other out to get higher scores. I'm really not sure about CGI Pat Morita, as I'm never sure about any CGI used to recreate deceased actors. I guess this show can argue that the entire premise has been about honouring his most famous character. But Daniel absolutely needs to get the fuck over the fact that his heroic father figure wasn't perfect. Robby finally rising above the bait and not trying to fight Kwon? Well, that only took six seasons too. Of course, Tory then immediately does take the bait. The Russians were doping? Finally, some realism in this show that doesn't involve Amanda despairing of all the lunacy. The brawl was ridiculous. Why were the Russian team even still there, if they'd been disqualified? Why does a random "Oirish" girl hate Sam? Why is a giant, robot Ivan Drago allowed to be in the tournament at all (and why does go all Lennie Small when it comes to Sam)? Why does the Iron Dragon sensei hate Johnny so much? Just because they argued at the buffet? Also, Martin Kove is too old to be doing action scenes. They look really bad. But now that a kid died on live television, apparently broadcast around the world, the tournament will be cancelled, right? Right? Honestly, this show was a comedy in the early seasons, and still had some laughs littered in the melodrama in later seasons. But this episode was fucking hilarious, completely unintentionally. I was genuinely pissing myself with laughter for the whole last ten or twenty minutes.

The meta lines from Silver's lawyer about him wasting money on dojos and needing to think about his life outside karate wars were fun. The guy has completely lost it. Really feeling Kim Da-Eun in this one. "I am tired of all this off-the-mat nonsense." Too fucking right. Unfortunately, the on-the-mat stuff in season six has been even more nonsensical. More dumb karate gimmick matches, in this prestigious tournament. But some of the fighters on other teams are so clearly stunt people in their thirties. Also, hey, Tory can just completely stop in the middle of a fight to stare at her ex, too. And Robby and Kenny can both stop to have flashback memories. There definitely needs to be some consideration of the amount of brain trauma all these kids have experienced. Oh dear, Sam being nice to the tall, awkward guy means he now hates Miguel? Of course it does. The scene of everyone making up was nice, and it felt like one of those scenes where a lot of the emotion for the actors was very real. They've been doing this for years, a lot longer in real life than the time that's passed on the show. Also, "Mr. Miyagi's match ended in death?" What the fuck is this utter nonsense?

Amanda is honestly the only sane person in this show. Her reaction to Anthony and Kenny fighting is one of the few rational reactions anyone had in this episode. She's also practically the only person I liked in this entire episode. Well, except for Chozen, but he's just comic relief now so I guess he doesn't count. Robby and Tory refusing to communicate is exhausting, and Robby getting drunk so he could be taken advantage of by that other girl? Okay, sure. That's a cool storyline. Lack of consent is always fun, right? Also, Sam making the point that Robby doesn't drink was confirmation of a theory that the fandom has had all along. But the reason he doesn't drink is surely due to a lifetime of watching his mother abuse alcohol and knowing his dad did the same. Having him just get drunk because he's sad is a bit of a crappy writing move. Demetri is an arsehole, and now apparently one willing to entertain cheating on his girlfriend. That kind of figures, actually. Glad that Yasmine dumped him, because her being with him in the first place never made sense. Hawk telling him "if you don't like facing consequences, maybe don't do shitty things," was absolutely spot on. Kwon being endlessly belligerent is really annoying. Just go and have a good time somewhere, you dipshit. He's paper thin as a character, but I guess this is what happens when you take all the developed Cobra Kai characters and put them in Miyagi-Do. Okay, I also liked Johnny finally telling Miguel a few truths - that he loves him like a son, and he loves Carmen, and that Robby doesn't have anything else to look forward to, unlike Miguel. Do the writers of this show know how laxatives work? Like, at all? Also, Terry Silver back already? Sure.

"It's Barcelona, dipshit." Heh, Johnny being reliably ignorant is always fun. But they do speak Spanish in Barcelona, as well as Catalan. Why is the most prestigious karate tournament in the world full of silly gimmick events that look like they'd be at home in Gladiators? Knock your opponent off a bench? Knock your opponent off a platform? It's so silly. And the scripting and choreography of the second event was absolute dogshit tier. None of it made sense, other than as a vehicle for Miguel to be super cool and badass. Someone on Reddit said that Martin Kove now needs a stunt double just to walk, and that might be harsh but it's not far from the truth. He looks really aged and limited in these episodes. William Zabka's acting in the locker room talk was really good. You could feel his frustration and his internalised regrets. Shame no one listened. He was really good in this whole episode, and had to be, because the writing of much of it was really poor and focused on forced conflicts between the kids. How many times has Robby just stopped fighting to stare at someone? I think he needs to be checked for brain trauma. What did I say about Daniel? That he'd lose interest in his kids and this tournament as soon as he had a Mr. Miyagi thing to do? Had to laugh at the idea that "tourists never come" to the cathedral in the middle of the Gothic Quarter, just streets away from Las Rambla. It's only one of the most popular tourist spots in the entire city. Also, did Daniel lock a man into a room to be mauled to death by dogs?

This is honestly the dumbest show I've watched since Scorpion (though it is better written and acted). It's just so absurd, and season six is really leaning into it, recovering some of the comedy that season five lacked, but still keeping up the melodrama. This episode brought that melodrama in spades, with Robbie sad faced and following Tory around, while she's only able to be cryptic and vague, because god forbid anyone actually communicates. Meanwhile, the other Miyagi-Do kids immediately suspect Robby of duplicity because god forbid anyone actually communicates. And of course Robby loses because he stops fighting to stare at Tory. Of course he makes a series of bad decisions that will fuel discontent in Miguel. There is a guaranteed "I should have been captain!" argument coming up within the next couple of episodes. Daniel, of course, is instantly distracted by Mr Miyagi stuff and will surely stop paying any attention to the kids he's in charge of. The Sekai Taikai is supposed to be the pinnacle of karate competition, but it's just a clusterfuck mob fight, without points scoring? And the winners of one match immediately have to fight fresh opponents, using only their uneliminated fighters? I feel like the show hired some ex-WWE writers. And man, what I wouldn't give for at least one kid to just shrug off all the macho, belligerent posturing with a "whatever, dude." I was almost delighted when Robby ignored the Cobra Kai goading at the aquarium... but then he fell for it. As everyone in this show always does.

I think I've talked about my dislike for Xander several times in this thread, and in others, and I'm happy to say I agree with everything in that video. In fact, here's what I said about him four years ago in this thread: "I'm just watching an old episode, and Giles wants to kill Angelus because of what happened to Jenny. Xander, all self-righteous and gross says it's great and "don't forget, I've hated Angel long before you guys got on board, so I think I deserve some credit for being right." Fuck you, you creep. The only reason he hated Angel was because Angel was with Buffy, and now he's using the tragedy of Angel losing his soul, breaking Buffy's heart and killing someone they care about as an "I told you so" opportunity. Fucking Nice Guy weasel." And: "More absolute dickishness from him a couple of episodes later, when they find the curse and Xander says "the way I see it, you want to forget all about Ms. Calendar's murder so you can get your boyfriend back." Accidentally highlighting again his true reasons for hating Angel - "boyfriend". That, right there, should be a friendship ender. Sadly, I'm not too surprised that Joss Whedon thinks this is an acceptable and forgiveable way to act." Finally: "Next episode of Xander Harris is a Colossal Dick: him being "done with all that guilt" over cheating on Cordelia, in the episode right after he was caught. Then he gets pissy with Willow because she tells him he can't be casually touching her while she wants to make things up to Oz." He was just the absolute worst. His level of entitlement regarding Buffy (and later Willow) was completely awful. He acted as though having the hots for her meant she owed him something, which is just Nice Guy 101. Also, for anyone who was blissfully unaware - in the comic book adaptation that was a continuation of the show, he ends up getting together with Dawn. You know, the teen girl that he had a quasi-parental relationship to, who was fourteen when he was planning his wedding to Anya, who is the younger sister of his best friend who he used to be creepily obsessed with.

Unfortunately, the dregs of the fandom managed to find themselves in the ascendance when the sequels that followed TFA disappointed. Their very agenda-driven complaints have been adopted by lots of other fans too. I've seen far too many people saying Rey is a character without worth, who doesn't deserve another movie. I still think she was a great character, with bags of potential, but Disney mangled her in the last movie by diminishing her so they could boost Kylo Ren as the secondary protagonist (and completely diminishing Finn and Poe in the process). I still think Rian Johnson set up a great status quo at the end of The Last Jedi - Rey as the figurehead of the Rebellion, Kylo Ren as the new leader of The First Order, embittered and enraged by her rejection of him. But no, Disney had to listen to fans who wanted a white boy hero, and the 'shippers who see abuse as romance.

The intention with the tapes was they they would only be released after the deaths of the interviewees, so they would speak with honesty knowing they could never be held to account for what they said and did. But Boston College were mistaken or misleading, because the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) sued to gain access to some of them as part of criminal investigations. I don't think they were all published, and the remaining tapes were given to the interviewees to do with as they wished. A very small part, in the grand scheme of things. There were only 17 disappeared, in the over 3,500 people killed during the Troubles. I think most of those 17 were considered to have betrayed the IRA - like Joe Lynskey, Seamus and Kevin - so it was always a very sore spot because it was one side killing their own in such a secretive way. I don't think most people in the Republic think much about the north at all, unless they live near the border. Sinn Fein say they'll demand a referendum on a unified Ireland if they're ever elected to power in the south, and I'm sure there would be some nationalist pride if that ever came about, but the economics don't really make sense for the Republic. The north would cost them more money than it would bring in, and there are still Protestants in the north who feel more British than the British. I don't think the Republic would want to have to deal with them. In the north, in my experience (and I spend quite a bit of time in Northern Ireland), most people don't really care that much anymore. One of the big issues that sparked the Troubles was the inequality and lack of civil rights that Catholics had: Voting rights were tied to home ownership, and Catholics predominantly rented their houses while many more Protestants owned theirs. Protestants had access to better jobs, lived in better parts of the towns and cities and were dominant in local government and law enforcement (the Royal Ulster Constabulary was packed with men who were also involved with loyalist paramilitaries, similar to how police forces in the southern states of the US were full of Klan members). That's all gone now. The disparity between Catholics and Protestants is far smaller, and barely noticeable in most places, although rural areas that are less well off are still predominantly Catholic. Many schools are now integrated, so Catholic and Protestant kids have grown up alongside one another. And religious fervour in general has declined. The politics of the country is still quite polarised - with Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party being the dominant forces - but most people just get on with their lives and don't think too much about whether they're ruled from London or from Dublin. About half of the deaths were civilians, the rest divided between military, police and terrorists on either side. But it wasn't just nationalist paramilitaries that carried out bombings, there were plenty of unionist paramilitaries too. I would also recommend the five-part BBC documentary, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, for a more complete picture. It's a fantastic series that interviews a whole range of people about their experiences, from paramilitary members on each side, to partisan civilians to people who refused to side with anyone, and British soldiers as well. Michael McConville, Jean's young son who loved pigeons, is one of the people interviewed.