Oscar Film Journal: The Last Picture Show (1971)

Welcome to another entry in the Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com!  Still over here chippin' away at the list....

Today I'm reviewing Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 adaptation of Larry McMurtry's semi-autobiographical novel, The Last Picture Show.  Boasting a cast of future stars, the film is a coming-of-age story set in a dying rural Texas town in the early 1950s.  Timothy Bottoms and Jeff Bridges play Sonny and Duane, two high school seniors and football players who spend their free time at the local pool hall (where Sonny works), the all-night diner and the one movie theater in town, all owned by their middle-aged friend Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson).  Duane is dating the town's only well-to-do student Jacy (Cybil Shepherd), who professes her love for Duane but is always looking for a better deal and a way out of town.  There's so little to do in this shambles of a burg it seems that everyone is sleeping with someone on the side.  Sonny breaks up with his girlfriend and begins a tender affair with the wife of the school coach, Jacy goes off to a naked pool party at the home of a rich kid in the next town, Jacy's mother is sleeping with her husband's construction foreman, and so on.  A line from the Oliver Stone film U-Turn sprang to mind as I watched this: "Is everybody fucking everybody in this crazy fucked up town??"

WWE WrestleMania 41 Review: A Story of Highs and Lows

Well I'm a few days late, but here's my review of WWE WrestleMania 41.  

The sixth two-night edition of the Showcase of the Immortals was a very mixed bag, with a couple strong standouts, some really disappointing outings, and a whole lot of middling filler.  As usual the actual wrestling content took up less than half of each show's running time and the gaps in between each match were longer than the respective match that followed.  I really don't understand why WWE fans are okay with this; do you need a 15-20 minute piss break in between every bout?

A few words about the venue - Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is a great place to host a WrestleMania show.  The translucent roof harkens back to the unique presentation of WrestleMania III.  I always like when these shows start out during daylight and end at night.  Creates a special atmosphere.

Anyway, night 1 started off with a match by which I was pleasantly surprised.  Gunther and Jey Uso delivered a solid opener (It's still hilarious to me that we're back to the Royal Rumble winner OPENING WrestleMania instead of headlining it) that proved if nothing else that Jey is capable of good singles in-ring work with the right opponent.  Jey's hit-and-move strategy frustrated the Austrian grappler and after some finisher kickouts, Jey hit three top-rope splashes and put Gunther away with his own choke, to which the champion tapped almost immediately.  The decisiveness of that finish certainly surprised me.  Good start to the show.  ***3/4

WWE WrestleMania 41 Preview & Predictions

This weekend is WWE WrestleMania 41, their annual "buy one, get one extravaganza," as someone put it a few years ago.  More on that later.  Whatever you think of WWE's booking during this hot period, and I've personally been less than impressed with much of it, the general consensus for this year's build seems to be that Uncle Paul is running thin on ideas.  Even social media accounts that praise everything the guy does are expressing dissatisfaction with this slate of matches and stories.  I'll get into more detail as we go along, but there's a lot of wonkiness and general flatness to this WrestleMania lineup, and ticket sales are reflecting that (This will be the lowest per-night attendance for a non-COVID 'Mania show since 2006).  "In the mud," amirite?

Night 1

WWE Tag Team Championship: War Raiders vs. New Day

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are the only two black male wrestlers on either night.  AEW Dynasty had six on the main Dynasty card, including one in the main event.  Just putting that out there.  By way of a past WrestleMania for-instance, WrestleMania 13's seven matches featured three black male wrestlers - Rocky Maivia, Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq - plus the pre-show match included Flash Funk.  Between shit like this and WWE inviting Trump's favorite racist comedian on RAW and the WrestleMania roast event, Paul's never beating those allegations.  Ever.  Anyway this match should be solid.  War Raiders have had the titles since December so I could see New Day winning them here. 

Pick: New Day

AEW Dynasty 2025 Review: We're Still Stuck with Moxley

Christ, we're really gonna be stuck with Jon Moxley as AEW Champion until July, aren't we?  Just....why?  It's rare that an AEW PPV leaves me feeling like Tony made the wrong call, but this was one of those times.  Why TK won't move on from this Death Riders thing that's been pretty universally considered a misfire, I'm sure I don't know.  If the plan is for Will Ospreay to win the title at All In, fine, but why does it have to be against Mox, with whom so many of us are just bored?  Why couldn't Swerve-Ospreay be the All In match, or better yet, the Forbidden Door match, since FD is taking place in London?

So yeah, AEW Dynasty wasn't the homerun Revolution was, nor the homerun Dynasty 2024 was, but that's not to say it wasn't a really good show overall.  My dissatisfaction with the main event finish notwithstanding, this show had a ton of fine wrestling on it, and every other result was the right one.  It was missing a five-star classic, but a few bouts came close.

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2025 Preview & Predictions

I totally forgot there was also a NJPW show this weekend, Sakura Genesis!

Haven't kept up that well with New Japan since January/February, but this lineup looks pretty decent.  Most of the new guard are represented on this card, although I can't for the life of me figure out why Gabe Kidd is stuck going after the Trios titles instead of being featured in a major singles match.

Anyway let's look at the lineup....

Yuya Uemura vs. Sanada

Like several of the singles matches, this one has a future vs. present/past kinda vibe.  Uemura is on the cusp of being one of the company's new Big Four or Five and a win over the compromised Sanada would help.  The match should be ok, but Sanada really needs to get surgery for that arm.

Pick: Uemura

AEW Dynasty 2025 Preview & Predictions

Well it's not the stacked-to-the-gills show that was AEW Revolution 2025, and this lineup feels decidedly B-PPV in comparison, but AEW Dynasty is this weekend and should still be a very fun show (with almost certainly a better main event than last month).

Sooo yeah, it's the beginning of a new cycle of storylines, whereas Revolution was the climax of several of the previous ones.  You're not going to follow up the greatest women's feud ever for example with something that tops it, only four weeks later.  Will Ospreay is probably not overshadowing the greatest cage match in history with a first-round Owen Cup match against a last-minute substitution.  But Dynasty will have some pretty great matches and hopefully, mercifully, if things go the way they should, we'll have a brand new AEW Champion who will finally get to continue the reign that never should have ended the way it did.  

Let's take a look at the nine-match main show card.....

Women's Owen Cup: Mercedes Moné vs. Julia Hart

The brackets of both Owen tourneys have been announced, and Mercedes is gunning for a fifth strap to add to her collection (I guess sixth if you include the Owen belt and the AEW Women's Title she's aiming for at All In).  Looking at this field she's obviously a favorite to win the whole thing, especially since Toni Storm vs. Mercedes Moné is the biggest possible women's match they could do in Arlington.  But it's possible they have Athena beat her in the semifinals to set up a TBS Title match between them.  What's not in doubt is that Mercedes is beating Julia here.  The match should be very good; Julia can deliver with the right opponent, and Mercedes is one of the best in the game.

Pick: Mercedes