Geekery As Therapy, Episode 02

I stand corrected – it’s Aronofsky. So be it.

Time for a little more geeking out before I let a night like I had tonight get to me and I start thinking about creative ways to destroy things I really shouldn’t...

+++++


Movies

If you’re the type that still likes to partake in eating ‘shrooms and dropping acid, then have I got a movie for YOU!

I got the chance to see Speed Racer a few days ago. Pretty decent flick, all-in-all. Once you get used to the visuals, anyway. Definitely a hallucinogenic paradise.

Other than that, it played pretty solid. Bonus points for Trixie; she reminded me a lot of my wife (a good thing) – smart, capable, tough, and stands behind her man. What more could you ask for. A few more points for keeping the “triple-swoosh” sound effect whenever the Mach-5 used the jump jacks. A small touch of nostalgia goes a long way.

Also finally got to see 16 Blocks recently. Bruce and Donner can still turn out a good flick when needed, and Mos Def has impressed me as an actor now. It’s not often I find myself actually on the edge of my seat rooting for the good guys (I’m a sucker for a good villain and a better tragedy), but I did here. Solid stuff.

Next up is probably Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow’s first flick, I believe), as well as finally taking in Sweeney Todd. Further bulletins as events warrant.


+++++


A Tale Of Two Matches

...involving the two same competitors.

Back in 1994, Mike Awesome (RIP) faced Kenta Kobashi under the All-Japan banner. Got to see that and their decade-later rematch in NOAH this evening and realized I may have had my eyes opened to the Japanese style a little more than I already did.

See, it’s not that I don’t like the puroresu style at all. I’m normally to absorbed by what the US has to offer (particularly the indie scene as of late) to watch a lot of the Japanese product. I may have to go back for the older stuff, though, after this.

Awesome and Kobashi circa ’94 was, to me, everything that Joe and Kobashi should have been in 2005. Granted, ’94 was Kobashi’s prime and all, but the match between he and Awesome back then was just that. 20 minutes of two powerhouses pounding on each other in a power match clinic. Kobashi took (almost) everything Awesome had and came back for seconds. Great stuff.

Fast forward 10 years to NOAH, where Kobashi defends the GHC Crown against the “Gladiator”. Clocking in at 10 minutes longer, it was very similar to their last match with a lot of the same spots. Differences here were that they played the epic feel with a slower (NOT “methodical”; that sort of thing is reserved for Mark Henry and Great Khali matches) pace top play off of each other more. Awesome hit the top-rope Awesome Bomb this time (~!), as well as another from the apron to the floor through a table. In the end, Kobashi still emerged victorious in a harder-hitting but still slower version of their match a decade earlier.