Top Ten Things: Metallica Albums, RANKED

Welcome to another Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com!  Today I look at the catalog of the biggest metal band in history, the mighty Metallica!

Anyone who knows me at all knows I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Metallica aficionado, and if you've read Enuffa.com for any length of time you've probably gotten that sense as well.  For me the summit of Music Mountain is twofold - there's The Beatles and there's Metallica.  Everyone else is just trying to reach the top.

With the release of the band's eleventh album 72 Seasons, it's time to update the album ranking.  Enough yakkin', let's get to it!

11. St. Anger

Metallica's much-maligned "therapy" record and its accompanying film Some Kind of Monster were essentially a document of a band coming apart at the seams and ultimately stitching themselves back together.  Recording began in 2001 when internal relations within the group were at an all-time low, and departed bassist Jason Newsted had been temporarily replaced by producer Bob Rock.  The album's tone was ugly, messy and raw, reflecting many of the previously unspoken feelings floating around between the remaining band members.  St. Anger was met with much scorn from diehard Metallica fans at the time of its release, and in 2003 I considered it a pretty big disappointment.  But over the years I've come to appreciate it from a visceral, emotional standpoint.  It was the album the band needed to make in order to come back together and trudge forward.  The muddy lack of production, de-tuned guitars, and that awful pinging snare drum helped put to music the state of mind the band was in, illustrating what a bloated monster Metallica had become.  With St. Anger out of their system Metallica would now be free to find themselves again.

Key Tracks: Frantic, My World, Sweet Amber

10. ReLoad

The second half of Metallica's late-90s two-parter, this 76-minute collection featured some of the band's most experimental material.  A continuation of the alt-metal sound established with Load, this album took things a step further, somewhat eschewing Metallica's riff-driven roots for more textural guitar work and unusual instrumentation.  Songs like the country-tinged "Unforgiven II" and the Tom Waits-influenced "Low Man's Lyric" (featuring a hurdy-gurdy) pushed the boundaries of what constituted the Metallica sound.  ReLoad definitely includes some B-material ("Better Than You," "Attitude") and a few songs too reminiscent of those on Load ("Fixxer" is essentially "Outlaw Torn 2"), but it's got a few classics as well, like the driving opener "Fuel," still one of my all-time Metallica favorites.

Key Tracks: Fuel, Carpe Diem Baby, Bad Seed

9. Kill 'Em All

The album that kicked off one of the greatest musical careers of all-time, Kill 'Em All essentially invented the speed/thrash metal genre, boasting razor-sharp twin rhythm guitars and machine-gun drum blasts.  It was the prototype for modern metal records and introduced the world to Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett and Burton.  In my estimation it's still one of the greatest-ever debut albums and certainly one of the most influential.  Despite its efficacy however this record hasn't aged as well for me as some of the others.  It often feels like Speed Metal 101, as it lacks some of the depth and sophistication Metallica would discover only a few years later.  Still there's no denying what a metal milestone Kill 'Em All proved to be.

Key Tracks: Hit the Lights, The Four Horsemen, Jump in the Fire

Music Review: Metallica - 72 Seasons

Welcome to a special album review piece here at Enuffa.com!  Now that the long-awaited 11th Metallica album 72 Seasons has dropped and my esteemed colleague Mike Drinan and I have had ten days to fully digest it, we thought we'd give it the same discussion treatment we gave Hardwired all those years ago!  Get ready for a deep dive...

JB: Michael, before we dig into the individual tracks, what are your high-level thoughts on 72 Seasons?

MD: It's a good, solid Metallica album that should satisfy fans of all eras of the band, whether you prefer their thrash style or the blues based rock of the Load era, it's all on this album. The production is really polished on this, James's vocals sound incredible and his lyrics seem to be more evocative and introspective, which I kind of felt was lacking on Hardwired. Rob's presence on this album is really at the forefront and I love what his playing brings to these songs. 

My biggest issue with this album that kept coming up was how they struggled with transitions and outros. There was a lot of starts and stops when going into a new section of the song, almost as if they didn't have any other ideas on how to bridge the sections together. The ending of the songs were even worse for me, especially on "Shadows Follow" where the song was over and they kept doing the same thing over and over and over until they finally ended the song. Those were my two biggest nitpicks. 

Other than that, I really enjoyed the album overall and felt it was exactly what I expected of the band at this stage of their career.

JB: I think this album is a big step up from Hardwired.  It continues that direction stylistically, bringing together elements from every era (minus St. Anger, though lyrically it harkens back to the early aughts as James worked through a recent bout with his personal demons).  But everything just sounds more confident on this album and it feels much more like a collaboration between all four members.  Kirk thankfully gets some songwriting credits again (the main riff of "72 Seasons" is probably his most front-and-center contribution, and it's a great one), and his soloing is the strongest it's been in probably 30 years.  His lead work is much more surefooted this time around and it's great to hear him playing to his strengths again after years of him just sorta being there.  Also like you said, Rob Trujillo's bass is very present on this one, featured more than anything they've released since Load/Reload and the songs are so much stronger for it.

Lars once again defies his age with laser-precision drumming and machine-gun double-kick parts on the fast stuff, and four-on-the-floor solid grooves on the Black Album-esque tunes.  He sure does love those snare fills.

As always James is the backbone of the band, supplying even more evidence why he's maybe the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time, while also pouring his heart out lyrically and making the songs much more relatable than on Hardwired, where they often felt at arm's length.  There's some really nice vocal production on here too that reminded me of the Bob Rock era.

The transition stuff you mentioned didn't bother me; I actually like some of the stop and start touches they added (the outro of "72 Seasons" for example - Lars' fingerprints are all over those bits I think.

Overall I consider 72 Seasons their strongest work in many years - it could've used maybe a bit more variety but they were obviously going for an exhausting, relentless metal journey and on those terms this is a really successful effort from where I sit.  There's a real maturity on display here, from a group of guys hitting their 60s (that just seems wrong to me), combined with early-era exuberance on some of the tunes.  It's an album that definitely rewards multiple listens, which is generally my favorite type of album.

What are the standout songs for you?

Top Ten Things: Shawn Michaels WrestleMania Matches

Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com!  And welcome to yet another episode of my barely coherent ramblings about the phenomenon known as WrestleMania.  Today I'm talking about the ten greatest 'Mania appearances by my all-time favorite wrestler, The Heartbreak Kid himself, Shawn Michaels.

Many years ago people started referring to Shawn Michaels as "Mr. WrestleMania," and one doesn't need to look very hard to see why.  In terms of consistently delivering show stealing performances on the WWE's biggest stage, Shawn has no equal.  From 1994-1998, and again from 2003-2010, Michaels' WrestleMania match was generally considered either the best or second-best match on the show, and during those same years his 'Mania match won Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Match of the Year a staggering NINE times (plus he had two non-WrestleMania winners).

Look, I don't need to prattle on about what an incredible pro wrestler Michaels was, so let's just get to the list.  Here now are my ten picks for Shawn's greatest WrestleMania matches.

10. Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania XI

What should have been main event of 'Mania 11 was also the only worthy match on the card, as former friends Diesel and Shawn Michaels battled for the WWF Title.  Diesel's abrupt main event push was the WWF's attempt to recreate the success of Hulk Hogan.  Sadly Kevin Nash had nowhere near the overwhelming fan support Hogan did, and the Hartford crowd actually ended up cheering the breathtaking athletic abilities of Shawn Michaels, despite his being the heel.  Even in losing the match, Shawn positioned himself as the next main event babyface and the most popular guy in the company.

9. Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair - WrestleMania XXIV

Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair was one of the most emotional matches I've ever seen.  Michaels obviously deserves a lot of the credit for making this match great, as he bumped around like crazy, per usual.  But Flair's storytelling was also off the charts and he emoted wonderfully, making the audience really care about his career-ending journey.  The final seconds of the match when Flair tearfully begged Shawn to hit the superkick, followed by the sorrow on Shawn's face, made for one of the most memorable of all 'Mania moments.  I given Flair's age at this point I had low expectations going into this, but two of the all-time greats stole the show with this memorable bit of storytelling.

Top Ten Things: Undertaker WrestleMania Matches

Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com!  Today we're talking about The Phenom, The Deadman, The Conscience of WWE, and his greatest bouts at WWE's biggest PPV of the year, WrestleMania!

Probably the greatest streak in fake sports was the one held by The Undertaker, a winning streak at WrestleMania that lasted over two decades and led to one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history when it was broken.  What started as an organic bit of booking happenstance evolved into possibly the biggest perennial feature on The Showcase of the Immortals.  Suddenly there was a built-in long-term storyline for one of the top WrestleMania matches every year, and for quite a while Taker's match either stole the show or came damn close.  Even after The Streak was broken by Brock Lesnar, Taker's match would continue to be one of the top featured attractions.

But which of his 'Mania showings stand atop the others?  Here now are, in my estimation, The Undertaker's greatest WrestleMania bouts....

10. Undertaker vs. Kane - WrestleMania XIV

Taker's first great 'Mania bout didn't occur until he'd already established a six-match winning streak (Yes, his 1996 match with Diesel was solid, but aside from that his 'Mania outings up until this point were forgettable at best).  In 1997 Taker was involved in a long storyline arc wherein his former manager Paul Bearer revealed he had a long-lost half-brother named Kane (Ironically Kane was actually Taker's first name when he debuted).  The company built up Kane's first appearance for several months before he attacked Taker during the first Hell in a Cell match, and from then on he was established as an unstoppable monster.  Also to the company's credit, they held off giving away too much physical interaction between the Brothers of Destruction, so by the time this match finally took place it truly felt like Taker would be facing his ultimate adversary.  The match itself didn't disappoint; the two behemoths delivered a very physical fight that Taker was only able to win via three consecutive Tombstone piledrivers.  Even in a loss, Kane was set up as a major star.

9. Undertaker vs. Ric Flair - WrestleMania X8

The most unexpected hit from the 2002 'Mania was this amazingly brutal Street Fight.  Taker, then a heel, had assaulted Flair's son David and his best friend Arn Anderson, in an effort to goad the aging former Champion into a fight.  In Flair's first truly good match since his WWF return, he bumped and bled all over the place to make Taker look like a sadistic, unstoppable bully.  The highlight of this match for me was a top-rope superplex that looked as punishing as any I've ever seen.  Flair fought valiantly but eventually fell to BikerTaker, giving the latter his tenth WrestleMania win.

8. Undertaker vs. Randy Orton - WrestleMania 21

After a serious in-ring slump in 2003-04, Taker was able to return to form in this underrated match with the Legend Killer.  Orton had just finished a horribly failed babyface run in late 2004 and the company wisely turned him heel again, leading to Orton challenging Taker to a Legend vs. Legend Killer match.  These two worked extremely well together, delivering one of the better matches on the card that ended with Taker reversing an Orton Tombstone into his own for the win.  Taker and Orton would go on to have a series of strong matches throughout 2005, in a feud that helped re-elevate Orton.

7. Undertaker vs. Triple H - WrestleMania XXVII

In 2011 both The Undertaker and Triple H returned from a long hiatus.  Taker's return was teased ahead of time, but just as he was about to cut a promo the familiar strains of Motorhead filled the arena, announcing The Game.  The two veterans stared each other down before Hunter wordlessly made a challenge by turning his gaze to the WrestleMania 27 sign.  The match itself, while full of typical No-DQ frills, was a fairly epic, very dramatic WWE-style main event with some great gasp-inducing nearfalls.  Taker finally won with Hell's Gate but was so exhausted he had to be stretchered to the back on a forklift.  But these two would outdo each other one year later, both in terms of storytelling and action.

Top Ten Things: Women's WrestleMania Matches

Well it's been a while, but welcome to a brand new edition of Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com, where I make a list of ten things and put them in a certain order.  It sounds so arbitrary when I phrase it like that....

Today I'm talking about matches taking place at WrestleMania, specifically women's matches.  Say what you will about WWE's annual spring spectacular or its product in general - the quality is hit-or-miss at best nowadays, and we went from obscenely long five-plus-hour shows to a two-night WrestleMania weekend (which I much prefer over the former).  But one thing we seem to be able to count on in recent years is that at least one offering from the women's division will deliver in the clutch.  Said division has come a very long way from the Divas matches of old, usually sandwiched in between far more important bouts and only allotted 4-6 minutes, or worse, given the eye candy treatment of Bra & Panties matches, Playboy pillow fights, and other stupidity.  For every time Trish Stratus or Lita attempted to transcend back in the day there were upwards of a dozen other instances of the women being presented as either an afterthought or a debasement.  But now the women's division has become one of the featured attractions at the Showcase of the Immortals, sometimes in more than one bout.  Hell, there are times when they end up more or less saving the show.  Here now are the best women's matches in WrestleMania history (and for the purposes of this article I've included one mixed tag match).

HM: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler - WrestleMania 36

2020's WrestleMania was an odd one thanks to COVID restrictions preventing it taking place in front of an audience.  The two nights were taped the week before, with very mixed results.  One of a few mild Night 1 successes was this RAW Women's Title match, pitting the uber-popular Becky Lynch against the winner of that year's women's Elimination Chamber, Shayna Baszler.  Shayna had singlehandedly run through all her Chamber opponents on the way to 'Mania, and it was expected she'd steamroll Lynch on her way to main roster gold.  But odd booking prevailed and Becky countered a Kirafuda Clutch with a Bret Hart-style rollup to retain the title at 8:30.  Not a great match by any means, but a solid showing from both women, and to date Becky Lynch's last WrestleMania appearance, wherein she'd all but guaranteed reaching a full year as the champion.

HM: Bayley vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax - WrestleMania 33

This Fatal 4-Way Elimination match came to be after Charlotte lost the RAW Women's Title to Bayley on an episode of RAW.  She then also lost in her bid to regain the belt at Fastlane (her first-ever loss on a main roster PPV).  Sasha meanwhile had been feuding with Nia, and both of them beat Bayley in non-title matches to earn a spot here.  This match was a step down from the WrestleMania 32 women's Triple Threat match but still featured some fun action.  Charlotte, Sasha and Bayley triple-teamed Nia Jax to get her eliminated first, Charlotte eliminated Banks with the help of an exposed turnbuckle, and Bayley quickly used the same turnbuckle to defeat Charlotte and retain.  This saga could've easily been better planned by having Bayley win the title from Charlotte at WrestleMania 33, thus ending her previously undefeated streak on PPV.  But aside from squandering a bigger moment this match was a pretty good showcase of the burgeoning RAW women's division.

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2023 Preview & Predictions

Welp, now that WWE has chased me away again as a fan, time to talk about more fun things, namely this weekend's NJPW Sakura Genesis show!

The April spectacular is back this year, and it mostly feels like the Sakura/Invasion Attack shows of old, with a slew of title matches and some potential shakeups.  NJPW is pushing a couple of new faces to the top of the card - I say "new" as in, we haven't seen them in this position before.  David Finlay has taken over Bullet Club in the absence of his former fellow Young Lion Jay White (though on this show he's relegated to an undercard six-man).  Meanwhile former LIJ stalwart Sanada has departed Naito's stable and joined the Just Five Guys group (That's a terrible name for a wrestling stable, are they making hamburgers?), on his way to winning the New Japan Cup and becoming the #1 contender.  Okada vs. Sanada isn't a new matchup by any means, but Sanada has a new lease on life and could finally win the big one.  But we'll get to that.  I'm only going to do picks for the five title matches because the first four bouts on this show are multi-man fluff.

IWGP Women's Championship: Mercedes Moné vs. Hazuki vs. AZM

Mercedes has her first IWGP Women's Title defense on this show, and it's tough to know what will happen here.  I think she only signed on to wrestle at Battle in the Valley and Sakura Genesis, so unless she's extended her NJPW time it's possible she loses the belt (likely without being pinned, hence the triple threat).  Considering the state of WWE right now, I can't imagine she'd want to go back at this time.  So if she is indeed done with NJPW let's hope AEW can get her on board; The Outcasts stable is a couple members short of a level playing field.  Then again, maybe this won't be her last NJPW match, who knows?  It does seem counterproductive for her to lose the title in her first go as champion, so I guess I'll pick her to retain and hope she's sticking around for a while.

Pick: Mercedes retains

NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino

This might be the one I'm most excited about.  Umino is absolutely a future star and he's really finding himself.  ZSJ is always great.  This could go either way.  ZSJ becoming the first TV champ was the right move to establish the belt, but since Umino is clearly someone the company wants to push it would make sense for him to capture it here.  I guess I'll go with the new guy.

Pick: Umino

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Bishamon vs. Aussie Open 

Weirdly four of these titles were won by the current champs on the same date.  This is another match that I could see going either way.  With Will Ospreay on the shelf for a bit it's hard to gauge what's in store for the rest of United Empire.  I guess I'll pick the champs to retain?

Pick: Bishamon retains

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Robbie Eagles

Here's one that's an easy pick I think.  Takahashi is the division centerpiece and the only one in a position to be that right now.  Taking the title off him only three months in wouldn't make sense.  Takahashi retains in a banger.

Pick: Takahashi retains

IWGP World Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Sanada

And here's where the company is at a crossroads.  On one hand Okada is their bread and butter, and the company isn't super hot where they can take many risks.  Nor is Sanada the beacon of charisma Okada is.  That said, it might be time for a shakeup, even if it's only for a couple months.  NJPW has often in the past given a new top guy a run with the belt during the spring, just to test the waters.  They did it with Okada in 2012 (February to June), with Naito in 2016 (April to June), with Jay White in 2019 (Febuary to April), and with Evil in 2020 (July to August).  If things don't work out with Sanada on top they can always switch it back to the proven commodity at Dominion.  I think that's probably what will happen; they don't really have a clear Dominion opponent for Okada otherwise.

Pick: Sanada finally wins the big one

This is a pretty solid lineup, albeit not the most exciting one.  New Japan is still working on regaining their mojo.  Some new blood in the championship scenes might help.

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WWE RAW: Cody Is Just Another Loser

Well if Sunday's WrestleMania finish didn't tip you off, last night's RAW sure must have: Vince McMahon is back in charge of WWE.  And WWE is back to sucking.

After months of mostly very compelling, very focused, very engaging television under Triple H's creative leadership (a period that saw WWE become the hottest it's been in many many years) Vince, ever the malignant narcissist, forced his way back in to dump a big rancid bucket of piss on the raging fire Hunter built.  "Yeah I know with Triple H in charge ratings are way up and ticket sales are way up and the crowd is more emotionally invested than they've been in two decades and this WrestleMania drew a metric fuckton of money, but screw all that, I need to be in control."  

I guess Vince doesn't want fans like me to come back.  And man, WWE almost had me this time.  This WrestleMania build, while not perfect across the board, was nonetheless the most promising one in over a decade.  I really, truly cared about seeing these stories culminate at the Show of Shows.  'Mania Night 1 (clearly booked primarily by Paul) turned out to be one of the best 'Mania shows in company history and drew unanimous praise from diehard and casual fans alike.  Night 2 had Vince's greasy fingerprints all over it, and was universally considered inferior.  Imagine being so insecure you can't just let someone else get the big win for the team.  

WWE WrestleMania 39 Review: Cody Rhodes = Lex Luger

Welp, WWE did it again.  And by that I mean two things.  The first "it" is, they presented one of the best WrestleMania shows of all time on Saturday, a lean seven-match lineup capped off by two stellar title bouts.  The second "it" is, they snatched a stupid and unnecessary defeat from the jaws of total victory by porking the ending of the Sunday night show.  And then at the post-show press conference they tried to rationalize it with a bunch of word salad.

It's really a shame this company can't be counted on to just deliver a layup, like ever.  They were handed an all-time great main event story that by all rights should've culminated in a triumphant title win for the returning hero.  Ya know, like they did in 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2014, and 2019?  There's a reason this story gets told a lot - it works.  Basically every single time.  Wrestling has always been about telling logical and usually predictable stories that build to a satisfying payoff.  Know what doesn't work?  Having the hero come up short and look like a cuckhold on the biggest stage of them all.  Who wants to cheer for a guy who can't deliver in the clutch?  Cody Rhodes had a chance to become the next John Cena and instead he left SoFi Stadium looking like the next Lex Luger.  

Triple H proceeded to twist himself into logic pretzels at the media scrum, saying stuff like "This is just a chapter, there's more to the story."  Where?  What more?  WrestleMania is never supposed to be "just a chapter," WrestleMania is supposed to be the climax.  Even if Cody gets another shot, which I'm sure he will, he's already failed once.  The luster's already gone.  Winning the title at SummerSlam or some other secondary PPV doesn't have the same impact as winning it at WrestleMania.  I think Hunter of all people knows this.  Hey, remember that time in 2002 when a top babyface returned from an injury seven months earlier, won the Royal Rumble, and beat the Undisputed Champion at WrestleMania to complete his hero's journey?  Yeah, his name was Triple H.  "RAW the next night continues the story."  You don't expect us to believe you consider having Cody show up on RAW cutting a tearful, mopey "I failed" promo more compelling than his showing up with the belts on his shoulders, giving an impassioned victory speech before a new challenger emerges.  I refuse to believe you believe that.  I also refuse to believe you had a compelling "next chapter" already in the works going into this weekend.  This is just another case of them punting the ball until they come up with something else.  WWE had a golden opportunity to have a new made man, and they once again ignored it, in the most unimaginative way possible.

ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 Preview & Predictions

Not to be overlooked this WrestleMania weekend, this Friday is Ring of Honor's annual mega-show, marking the first anniversary of ROH's resurgence under Tony Khan's ownership.  

This lineup is another stacked one, with a long-brewing ROH Title feud coming to fruition, a couple of NJPW stars joining the party, a wild AAA Mega Title match, and a special ladder match to crown new tag team champions, dedicated to Jay Briscoe.  This should be one spectacular show in front of 4000-plus fans, so let's take a dive....

ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship: The Embassy vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik

Could this be Brian Cage's swan song under the Tony Khan umbrella?  No one's really sure, but if the Embassy drops the straps here that could be our answer.  This will be a lot of nonstop action and would make sense as the opening match to get the crowd revved up.

Pick: I foresee a title change to kick things off with a bang.  Fox/Blake/Metalik 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia

Just announced last night, this one pits the AEW up-and-comer against the NJPW all-time great.  Must be a dream come true for young Daniel.  I assume he'll more than happily do the job for the vaunted legend, but Tanahashi will do everything he can to make him look like a million bucks before it's over.

Pick: Tanahashi

WWE WrestleMania 39 Preview & Predictions

It's that time again, folks.  It's the biggest wrestling show of the whole year, one that's been so watered down in recent years I've had a very tough time getting much excitement out of it.  But this year is different.

Yes, this weekend is the 39th edition of WrestleMania, the PPV WWE's entire calendar year used to build to.  And for the first time in a loooong time the build for this show and its on-paper lineup feel like something special.  I still haven't been watching the weekly programming (there are only so many hours in a day), but I've been keeping up with how most of these matches were put together, and it's been refreshing to see things done in a simple, logical, straightforward manner where the result in most cases will be a good in-ring payoff.  The main event is the culmination of a year-long journey for the WWE Title challenger.  Both women's title matches involve a decorated veteran facing a younger upstart, though in one case the veteran is the champ and in the other she's the challenger.  We have a rare celebrity match that could actually steal the show.  We have a massive Tag Team Title match pitting the dominant, long-reigning champs against two of the company's hottest babyfaces.  We have a Hell in a Cell match that was built up in the traditional fashion instead of just shoehorned in to fit a gimmick PPV.  We have a probable stinker between a finish-spammer and an immobile giant - hey, they can't all be good, it is still WWE after all...

But the point is, this is the most promising lineup for a WrestleMania show in I dunno how long, and it'll be the biggest test of Triple H's still-young tenure as head of main roster Creative.  If he knocks this one out of the park (and financially that's already been the case), regardless who buys WWE, there's little business reason for Vince to try and take back the reins.  But we'll see.  As someone who's been a jaded-at-best WWE fan for most of the last twenty years it feels good to actually care about WrestleMania again.

Let's look at the lineup....

US Championship: Austin Theory vs. John Cena

This old vs. young dream match of sorts is slotted to open Night 1.  Theory has long been touted as having the potential to be the next John Cena, and while I personally don't see it, let's not forget how not-promising Cena was at that age.  Anyway, this should be entertaining, as Theory does have natural charisma and Cena at this point is fun to watch at worst.  Generally speaking it doesn't make sense for the old guy to beat the current guy for whom you have high hopes, and I think Hunter would tend to agree.  Theory should retain unless the plan is for Cena to stick around for a month or more, which I don't think it is.

Pick: Theory retains

Becky Lynch, Lita & Trish Stratus vs. Damage CTRL

Another match featuring stars of old, there's oodles of in-ring ability and charisma in this one.  Unlike the previous bout though, there's no harm here in having the veteran team win, especially since Becky will likely be the one scoring the pinfall.  Should be a short but fun bout.

Pick: Team Becky

Oscar Film Journal: Cries and Whispers (1972)

Time for a weird entry in the Oscar Film Journal....

Today I'll be attempting to dissect Ingmar Bergman's Oscar-nominated period drama Cries and Whispers, released in 1972 but oddly recognized by the Academy as a 1973 film.  What are they, the Grammys??

Anyway, Cries and Whispers centers around three 19th century sisters and their housekeeper.  The eldest(?) Agnes is dying of late-stage cancer and is in crippling pain almost constantly.  Her two sisters Maria and Karin take turns watching over her, along with Anna the housemaid.  Interspersed with this main story thread are Maria and Karin's flashbacks to traumatic episodes involving their respective husbands.  Maria cheated on hers with Agnes's doctor, causing her husband Joakim to attempt suicide by stabbing himself.  Karin is repulsed by her husband and engages in self-mutilation to dissuade him from wanting her sexually.  Both sisters have very strong neuroses in dealing with others - Karin can't bear physical contact of any kind, while Maria seems to interact with everyone erotically, indifferent to the consequences of her actions.  Anna, the most religious of the group, lost her young daughter years earlier and is the most genuinely affectionate toward Agnes in her time of need, cradling her dying friend against her naked skin (Could they have been lovers?  The film doesn't say for sure.).  All four of these women are scarred by trauma of one kind or another, and the film focuses very closely on their various forms of suffering.

Oscar Film Journal: The Queen (2006)

Welcome back to the Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com!  Still plugging away at past nominees, hoping to cross that halfway mark this year....

Today's entry is the 2006 biographical drama The Queen, starring Helen Mirren in a performance that won her the Oscar, plus Michael Sheen and James Cromwell.  Directed by Stephen Frears and written by The Crown creator Peter Morgan, The Queen takes place mostly over a one-week period in 1997, just after Princess Diana's fatal car crash, and covers what was essentially a power struggle between Britain's long-serving Queen Elizabeth II and its newly elected, optimistic young Prime Minister Tony Blair.  As the country grieves intensely for the beloved ex-Princess (whose relationship with the Royal Family was contentious at best), Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip's apparent aloofness toward the tragedy draws public ire, contrasted with Blair's heartfelt, galvanizing speech dubbing Diana "The People's Princess."  The Queen and the Prime Minister find themselves at odds in dealing with the fallout, Elizabeth clinging to the old, traditional mindset of not publicly showing emotion and keeping the grieving process private and "dignified."  Blair however has his finger on the pulse and correctly determines that the country needs its leaders to show empathy and guide them through this difficult time.  Despite having a very different vision for Britain's leadership, Blair also recognizes that he and his Queen need to remain allies for the good of the nation, privately urging her to join him in comforting her people.  As the out-of-touch Elizabeth and Philip further dig their heels in, their public approval nosedives to the point that one in four Brits supports ending the monarchy altogether.

Oscar Film Journal: The Fabelmans (2022)

Welcome back to the Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com!  I'm on a roll, let's keep it goin'....

"Hollywood is so out of ideas Steven Spielberg had to make a movie about Steven Spielberg."  Alright, that was a good one, Jimmy Kimmel.  

Yes, today's subject is the semiautobiographical The Fabelmans, directed and co-written by legendary auteur Steven Spielberg, about his teen years as a budding filmmaker, amid his parents' dissolving marriage.  Starring Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen and relative newcomer Gabriel LaBelle as young Steven (called Sam Fabelman in the film), The Fabelmans begins with a five-year-old Sam and his first moviegoing experience.  His parents take him to see The Greatest Show on Earth, and Sam is captivated/terrified by that film's climactic train crash sequence.  For Hanukkah he receives a toy train set and becomes obsessed with recreating the scene, much to his father's chagrin.  But his free-spirited, piano-playing mom shows him how to film the staged crash with a home movie camera so he can watch it over and over instead of damaging the toy train.  From there little Sam is hooked on making movies, already possessing of an innate cinematic eye.  Fast-forward a decade and teenage Sam is a prodigious young director, creating westerns and war films with his Boy Scout troop.  But his left-brained father Burt thinks he should abandon his "hobby" and focus on starting a real career, while his mother Mitzi becomes visibly unhappy in their marriage and is drawn instead to Burt's best friend Bennie.  Sam finds himself caught in the middle, using filmmaking as a way to avoid dealing with personal conflicts.

Oscar Film Journal: Women Talking (2022)

Still playing catch-up with this year's Best Picture nominees, so here's another Oscar Film Journal entry for ya!

This time it's the true-story-inspired Women Talking, written and directed by Sarah Polley (now an Oscar winner for Best Adapted Screenplay), and starring a host of accomplished actresses including Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, and in what is essentially a cameo, Frances McDormand.  The film is based on a novel by Miriam Toews, which was inspired by a real-life incident that took place in Bolivia.  It seems there was a colony of Mennonites wherein a hundred-or-so women and girls were drugged and raped by several of their male co-habitants, and when the perpetrators were finally caught, a handful of the victims met to decide what their next course of action should be.  The novel (and film) are a fictionalized version of those meetings.

Oscar Film Journal: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Welcome to a special day-after entry in the Oscar Film Journal!

Well the 95th Academy Awards are in the history books, and as expected one film dominated the show, winning seven out of eleven trophies and becoming only the third movie to take home three Oscars for acting (the previous two being A Streetcar Named Desire and Network).  That film is Everything Everywhere All at Once, written and directed by Daniel Kwan (Westborough MA represent!) and Daniel Scheinert, a pair of Emerson College alumni who got their start in music videos and broke into feature films with 2016's Swiss Army Man.  I caught EEAAO in the theater when it came out last spring but inexplicably couldn't formulate a proper review of it.  I enjoyed it on the first viewing but at the same time felt sort of bombarded by it all (I mean it is right there in the title).  It was an unquestionably original and unabashedly creative premise, held together by some pretty great performances, but aside from that I wasn't really sure how to review or rate it.

Well this past weekend in prep for the Oscars I gave it another look (My wife hadn't seen it at all yet and by the end was moved to gushing, sobbing tears), and this time I liked it a lot more and found it profoundly moving.  Like so many films that throw a lot at you "all at once," this one really demands multiple spins to fully process it all.  Yet, almost paradoxically, in the end it's really about very simple, very relatable themes (particularly for those of us who are both someone's child AND someone's parent).

95th Academy Awards Preview & Predictions

This Sunday it's the 95th Annual Academy Awards, and my associate Mike Drinan (@mdrinan380) are back to offer our preview and predictions.  Mike is probably gonna sweep these damn things yet again and I'll just end up getting upset, but we're gonna do this anyway.

I'm in the exact same position I was at this time last year, having seen half of the Best Picture nominees and hoping to bang out a couple more over the weekend before the show.  The five I've seen have ranged from stunningly great to "Why the fuck is this movie even nominated?" (You know which one you are Maverick....)  

This disturbing trend where the Academy is obligated to include at least one or two popcorn movies just to attract a bigger Nielsen rating feels like straight-up pandering to me, not to mention they always give the award to one of the smaller films anyway.  And they didn't even include the one popcorn movie from 2022 that actually deserves to be there (Had The Batman actually crossed the billion-dollar mark you know goddamn well they would have).  Fortunately I don't think any of the three fluff movies have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning Best Picture.  But it just feels wrong to have to refer to the Top Gun remake sequel or the reeeeeally delayed Avatar followup as a Best Picture nominee.  Hollywood's been churning out too many remakes and sequels and reboots and prequels and spinoffs and requels as it is, do they really need to win awards for it?

Ok enough old-man sky-yelling, let's pick some winners!

Best Picture

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Tar

Top Gun: Maverick

Triangle of Sadness

Women Talking

Justin: Alright, I've seen All Quiet which was amazing, Banshees which was pretty great, Elvis which was pedestrian despite a really strong lead performance, EEAAO which was fun and original, and Top Gun which was paint-by-numbers shite despite really impressive flight sequences.  Of those five my favorite was All Quiet; just a beautifully made, harrowing, immersive war film.  But that's all moot, because Everything Everywhere All at Once is a mortal lock to take this award and probably most of the awards it's nominated for.  That movie is on fire right now, and I'm not even mad.  It wasn't my favorite of the field but it was imaginative as hell, and that should be rewarded.  Not to mention one of its directors, Daniel Kwan, is from my hometown of Westborough, MA.  REPRESENT!!!

Pick: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Mike: I’ll forgive the insolence in your tone,  Top Gun: Maverick is really well positioned to get the upset. The action laced with dramatic overtones and a splash of nostalgia, not to mention the outstanding performances that will literally take your breath away while in the danger zone, makes it such a considerable film. How do you go against it?

Pick: Kidding. Everything Everywhere All At Once for sure.

Oscar Film Journal: The Full Monty (1997)

Welcome to another entry in the Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com!

This year's awards are just days away and as always I'm behind on the current nominees (five outta ten in the bag), so naturally I'm wasting time looking at old nominees.  

Case in point, the 1997 dramedy The Full Monty, about a gaggle of unemployed steelworkers in Sheffield, England who get the kooky idea to become male strippers.  In doing so they reckon they'll carve out a cushy living, while also gaining self-confidence and an offbeat sense of respect about town.  The film stars Robert Carlyle as Gaz, the mastermind behind the whole plan, who's desperate to come up with child support back payments so his ex-wife doesn't take away custody of their son Nathan.  Gaz's best friend Dave (Mark Addy, in the film's strongest performance) is rather portly and so down on himself, both in terms of his job prospects and his physical state, that he can hardly bear to be touched by his wife Jean.  The pair pester their old factory foreman Gerald (Tom Wilkinson) - a dance instructor on the side - to help them put together choreography for their burlesque show, and while dismissive at first, Gerald finds solace and self-worth in their budding friendship.  Meanwhile they audition other fellas around town to join the act, becoming a sextet of misfits who generate a buzz by promising to do what the professional Chippendales dancers won't: take it ALL off.

AEW Revolution 2023: Bryan Danielson is the GOAT

Holy jumpin' Jeezus what a show AEW Revolution was....

At a time when the company is struggling to regain the momentum they had in late 2021/early 2022, AEW desperately needed a buzz-generating hit of a PPV, and by god they gave us one.  Revolution 2023 featured not one, but two Match of the Year candidates, plus a few other four-star efforts.  Maybe even more importantly for the long-term, the emphasis was squarely on making the young homegrown talent look like major stars, most of them getting big, decisive wins up and down the card.

After a fun little trios match on the pre-show (I reckon Mark Briscoe and the Lucha Brothers should be in line for an AEW Trios Title match soon), the main card kicked off with Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks.  This very good opening bout saw Jericho go after Starks' injured ribs and stay one step ahead of his young opponent's signature offense.  Jericho countered a spear attempt with a Codebreaker for a nearfall, and foiled an early Rochambeau attempt.  Starks finally hit a spear but Jericho locked him in the Walls of Jericho, which Starks then countered into a single-leg crab.  Despite the JAS being banned from ringside, Sammy Guevara nonetheless attempted to interfere but was tackled immediately by Action Andretti.  Jericho used his baseball bat during the ref distraction and got a close nearfall, but Starks blocked the Judas Effect and hit Rochambeau for the clean win.  A very well-worked opening match with the right result set the tone for the show.  ****

AEW Revolution 2023 Preview & Predictions

It feels like Full Gear 2022 was eons ago, doesn't it?  Welp, the wait for AEW's next PPV is finally over, this Sunday it's time for a Revolution!

As of this writing we have a lean eight-match lineup, due of course to the fact that the main event of this show will go 60 minutes.  Iron Man matches are always a challenge, as the average person usually doesn't have the attention span for a match that's guaranteed to go the full hour.  It's different when you have a regular match that just happens to go that long - there's suspense over how and when it will end - but when the format is inherently designed to go a certain length a lot of people tend to tune out till the final stretch.  That's certainly been the case when Iron Man matches are broadcast on free TV, the ratings always seem to suffer for most of it.  But hopefully the promise of an epic pro wrestling match featuring one of the best pro wrestlers to ever do it will draw people in, not to mention the promo work from both guys has been stellar.  Even aside from Danielson vs. MJF though, there's a pretty loaded undercard with a couple potential show stealers.  Let's take a look....

AEW World Tag Team Championship: The Gunns vs. The Acclaimed vs. Triple J vs. Orange Cassidy & Danhausen

This match is just....odd.  I figured when the Gunns won/stole the tag belts we'd just see a straight-up rematch with The Acclaimed to give them another big title win, but then AEW booked the two battle royals (neither of which was particularly good) to determine two additional challengers.  And oddly teams like Top Flight and Lucha Bros weren't the winners, when this match really could've used teams of that caliber.  I'm really not sure why Jeff Jarrett keeps getting PPV matches; this guy must be the world's greatest self-promoter because he's on the show every week despite never being someone who moves the needle.  Anyway it's nice to see Cassidy getting so much screen time of late as he's super over and a really great worker.  Also, Danhausen is making his AEW PPV debut!  This match should be fine, an enjoyable clusterfuck, and I assume Caster and Bowens will win back their titles, as it was way too soon for them to lose them.  

Pick: The Acclaimed

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks

It's a rematch between the aging superstar and the plucky babyface up-and-comer.  These two had a fine match on Dynamite in January and should be able to top that on this larger stage.  JAS is barred from ringside for this match but I wonder if Jericho has another friend who might run in for the assist.  They did do an angle last night where JAS beat up Ricky ahead of this match, maybe that was Jericho's big swerve after agreeing to the stips here.  Regardless I think Ricky winning is the move unless they have some debut planned to set up a rubber match.

Pick: Ricky

Oscar Film Journal: I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

Time to set the wayback machine for the early 1930s in this installment of Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com!

The Great Depression: one of the darkest periods in American history, when millions were suddenly left in poverty, jobs were scarce, everyday necessities became luxuries, and many were forced to resort to extralegal measures to survive.  And as in Dickensian England, some who weren't lucky enough to escape the consequences would face a Draconian penal system that chewed up and spat out its victims, often leaving them worse off once their debt to society was paid.

Such is the subject of I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, the Mervyn Leroy-directed Best Picture nominee from 1932, starring Paul Muni as just such a poor sap.  Chain Gang was adapted from an autobiographical work by war vet-turned-convict-turned-activist Robert Elliott Burns, who found holding down a job near impossible after serving in World War I thanks to his severe shellshock.  Burns became a drifter and was duped into helping rob a grocery store, for which he was sentenced to ten years on a Georgia chain gang, subjected to cruel labor conditions, malnutrition, and physical and mental torture.  Burns escaped, fled to Chicago, and became a successful magazine editor, only to be apprehended some years later and returned to the chain gang system.  He escaped again but was unable to find steady work due to the Depression, and then found new success telling his story and raising public awareness of the appalling conditions prisoners like him were forced to endure.  Burns was fortunate enough to have built such a high profile he'd finally earn a commuted sentence, and never returned to prison again.

Oscar Film Journal: All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

We're back with another entry in the Oscar Film Journal!  Plugging away at this year's Best Picture nominees (I'm halfway through them), I sat down and endured Edward Berger's German-language remake of the 1930 classic All Quiet on the Western Front...

Time to update my old Top Ten Things article ranking the great war films, as there's a new candidate to add to the list.  Berger's remake, somewhat loosely based on the original film and novel, joins films like Saving Private Ryan and Come and See in taking a brutally honest (and I do mean BRUTAL) look at the experience, and in this case futility, of being on the battlefield.  This film begins by dropping us right in the middle of a gory World War I trench skirmish, as a soldier empties his rifle and proceeds to charge at his enemy using only his shovel.  Cut ahead a few months, and that now-dead soldier's uniform is being repurposed along with thousands of others, for a new batch of German teenage recruits duped by those in power into believing that enlisting and shipping off to the front will make them patriotic heroes.  

We follow a group of four young friends, led by Paul Baumer (newcomer Felix Kammerer in a prodigiously stunning performance) who forges his parental consent papers in order to join, and they quickly learn all the heroism and romance they were fed about the war was a lie.  The film immerses us in the harrowing hellscape that was trench warfare, as men are picked off by the dozens during muddy raids, losing limbs and lives in the fruitless pursuit of a tiny swath of terrain.  One of the film's most gut-wrenching scenes involves a Paul killing a French soldier with a knife and then having to listen to him gasp, gargle and flail as he clings to life; this sequence is upsetting on the same level as the knife fight in SPR.

Oscar Film Journal: From Here to Eternity (1953)

Welcome to another entry in the Oscar Film Journal!  We're headed back to the repressed early 50s once again, for a look at director Fred Zinnemann's second of three Best Picture nominees, From Here to Eternity...

Based on the James Jones novel, From Here to Eternity is considered a romantic war film, centered around a Private named Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) stationed in Hawaii just before the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Prewitt gets transferred to a post on Oahu because the commanding officer Captain Holmes wants to add him to his boxing team, in the hopes that a strong showing will get Holmes noticed for a promotion.  Only problem is Prewitt has vowed never to box again after accidentally blinding a fellow soldier during a sparring session.  Holmes orders a series of cruel hazing rituals over several months, and Prewitt quietly endures it all.  Meanwhile Prewitt becomes close friends with fellow soldier Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra in an award-winning performance) and begins an odd romance with a social club girl (changed from a prostitute in the novel, due to Hays Code restrictions) named Lorene (Donna Reed), and the two try to decide if his military career will ever line up with her ambition to save up money and move back home to Oregon.  In a side plot, the base's Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) has a torrid affair with Captain Holmes's wife Karen (Hence the iconic image of Lancaster and Deborah Kerr making out on the beach).  These numerous melodramatic threads intersect until the Pearl Harbor attack takes place in the film's climax.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Recap, plus NJPW Battle in the Valley

It was a big weekend of wrasslin', between WWE's biggest-ever gate for a B-level PPV and NJPW's sold-out show on US soil.  Lots of stuff happened, most of it good, so let's do a quick recap, shall we?

First Elimination Chamber, which was a good show overall.  The molten Montreal crowd elevated this show beyond its in-ring quality, which was quite solid in its own right.  

The women's Elimination Chamber opened the show and featured very capable action.  Raquel Rodriguez looked like a star in the making, with a powerful performance that only ended after she was double-teamed by Asuka and Carmella.  Nikki Cross got to be her old crazy self again.  Liv Morgan once again played the role of plucky underdog babyface and it took a double submission from Asuka and Natalya to eliminate her.  And of course Asuka was a destroyer, eliminating or co-eliminating three opponents in short order, on her way to becoming Bianca Belair's new #1 contender.  This was 100% the right move and the resulting match at WrestleMania should be another show stealer (for my money Bianca's had the best match of the weekend the last two 'Manias).  Solid work to open the show.  ***1/2

Not so solid was the next match, as Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley once again did a short finisher-spamming sprint with another dumb finish.  I do not understand why anyone likes these Lesnar matches; they're literally all the same.  Brock picks the opponent up, drives him into the corner, hits a few shoulder blocks, hits a few German suplexes, hits an F5, opponent kicks out, opponent hits his two big moves, Brock kicks out, repeat, repeat, repeat.  Stop booking Brock like this!  Would it kill you to have Brock get into a stiff striking battle to start the match, being that Brock and Bobby are both legit MMA guys as well?  Imagine how awesome a G1-style match would be between these two.  This ended after four-and-a-half minutes when Lashley had Brock in the full nelson and Brock kicked him in the groin to draw a disqualification.  So now the plan is Lashley vs. Wyatt, and Brock vs., wait for it.....Omos.  Fuckin' seriously guys?  You're passing up Brock vs. Gunther for this.  Absolute drivel.  *

NJPW Battle in the Valley 2023 Preview & Predictions

This Saturday we'll be treated to not just one, but two big PPV events, the second of which is brought to us by New Japan Pro Wrestling!

That's right, NJPW returns to San Jose with a huge card that will not only feature a legendary bout for the IWGP World Title, but also the New Japan in-ring debut of Mercedes Mone!  The former Sasha Banks hopes to bring NJPW to a whole new audience as she vies for the company's new Women's Championship.  

But first let's look at the undercard.

Máscara Dorada, Josh Alexander, Adrian Quest & Rocky Romero vs. Kushida, Volador Jr., Kevin Knight and The DKC

I'm glad to see Dorada back in New Japan after WWE did absolutely zilch with the guy.  Back in 2015 when I first saw some of his matches I was very impressed, and when he signed with WWE I was hugely disappointed-but-not-surprised Vince didn't see any potential there.  If we added up all the wasted potential of WWE signees over the years we could just about squeeze it all into the Grand fuckin' Canyon.  Anyway I have no idea who wins this, but I'll pick team Dorada just for shits and giggles.

Pick: Dorada/Alexander/Quest/Romero

Strong Openweight Championship: Fred Rosser vs. Kenta

It's former NXT hopeful Darren Young vs. former NXT hopeful Hideo Itami!  Fred is the company's first Strong Openweight Champion and he's held the title since last May, so I could easily see Kenta taking it here to start some kinda US-based feud.

Pick: Kenta