organizedkaos

Admitedly currently I'm seeing less adverts and Elon Musk is publicly proving his idea of "free speech" is just as biased and flawed as he claims original flavour twitter's idea of "free speech" is.

I mostly only follow specific people who say things I find interesting and tend not to have huge follower counts so I can't really say I've seen much of increased hate speech etc (i'm sure it is increasing but I guess mostly visible at points you have large numbers of users interacting)

I guess things are likely to get worse, but for the moment I'm not that fussed about trying to migrate out to anywhere else. Although given how many people are threatening/going to do so the lack of content may become an issue (and i'm not subscribing to 400 substacks thanks, definitely want this sort of stuff in one place and not in my e-mail inbox)

A bit torn on that one. Plot looks about as by the numbers as you can get. However Malignant was very very fun with James Wan (who's generally made fairly entertaining stuff) embracing the being ridiculous.

Plus there are a few moments in the trailer that look somewhat inventive, so hoping it's not quite as cut (har) and dry as the trailer makes it look

To be fair this Friday 13th prequel is being done by Bryan Fuller. Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham solve crimes together also felt like a very unnecessary TV series but he managed to make it something p good.

Although with him in charge there's a fair change it gets cancelled after one season or he gets booted off. However as a writer/showrunner he has a fair pedigree so for that I'm happy to give the show a chance

For all the recent criticism of AEW booking I thought that Kingston segment was p strong (assuming it's going where I think it's going).

Seems like it's setting up Kingson vs. Pac which would be fresh (at least for AEW, dunno if they've feuded elsewhere) both in terms of the actual wrestling and two distinct characters interacting. Plus they're playing off Kingston's existing relationship with Penta/Fenix along with the growing storyline of different alignment within Death Triangle (even if it's a touch similar to Jericho/Santan/Ortiz)

South Park even has a quodlibet at the end of the first half. Trey Parker and Matt Stone love musicals. it's a musical. You like musicals

They've been building to Mox/MJF since the first Dynamite post clusterfuck. I'd really quite like them to do something a little suprising but I just can't see it, everythings been played pretty safe and on course for that Mox/MJF match.  Most likely swerve I can see is MJF winning tonight and facing Mox at next PPV, which means MJF really has to steal the title from Mox. The Cinccinati of it all is a factor though - if you want a big heel MJF moment you have it in Mox's hometown - v unlikely to get cheers that way.

I dunno, would love there to be something exciting to inject some spark to the world title scene but they've stayed pretty strongstyle and stable since the bad thing happened.  I think Hangman gets fed to Mox to make this reign feel significant and not placeholdery. Then we set up the main event for the PPV that's in a month.

I think they could wring out some short feuds with him in full heel mode but yeah it'd be hard to get investment in whatever he's doing

As much as I'd like everyone to appreciate the finer art of wrestling you really need a few "moments" at a show. Those moments don't need to be balcony dives but that's certainly the sort of thing the casual chat about, show clips of on their phones, encourage friends to go next time etc.

If you keep the casuals  coming back and draw them into your storylines then the moments can be story driven or character driven and don't need to be so visually crazy.  Or you can have those big crazy moments be the end of the feud (and so long as you don't do specifically the same crazy spot every show people don't get nearly as desensitised as wrestling fans might - remember this is one live show every few months or whatnot)

If you watch a lot of wrestling then yeah these tropes get overused, if it's a weekly TV show then yeah those tropes can be quickly overused (see AEW and tables). If you're going to a wrestling show to have a few drinks with your friends... it takes a lot longer for things to feel overused

The repeated emphasis on "title shot any time I choose" (which I don't think they've done with previous chips? i've not been watching from the start so do correct me if wrong) along with the golden ticket battle royale having a very specific "if you win you get a title shot at this place and time" feels like they're absolutely building to MJF cashing in in some cheap way.

Although I think everyone expects that cos it's been done before so maybe it's a feint. But yeah, they're making sure you're thinking about it either way

2 hours ago, Nick James said:

Feels to me like the final shouldn't be FOR the title, but the winner goes on to face MJF for the title. Think its a given that MJF will be winning his shot and doesnt feel right holding off on that shot for too long (never mind storyline sense), so whomever wins the title, is pretty much guaranteed to have a short reign. Mox could do without ANOTHER short reign, but Mox is the man to beat.

I think it's cos working with MJF works best working a programme with someone, if they hotshot his big title match they're basically losing 80% of his value (he's a real good wrestler obv but 3 months of entertainment > 30 minutes of entertaiment)
Either you put of crowning a champion til the next show but do the tournament in the first 2 weeks or you crown a champion in 2 weeks then have 3 months to build with MJF which means you get multiple segments/promos/bits out of the whole thing and thus lots of hopefully quality TV time

I'd quite like to see them give Danielson a 6 month run. Reestablish the worth of the belt, have people used to seeing Danielson with it before losing it.  Have some dream matchy main event at the next PPV (if it turns out that a certain end of the greek alphabet wrestler shouldn't be fired or punished severly that's a money match that'll redraw interest) with MJF crowing about how his time is coming in the background then build towards Danielson/MJF at the next show.

(Then start sowing seeds for Kingson getting back in the title scene)

EDIT: oh i see, when you click post after doing a quote it does post it but also doesn't really change anything on screen as to give the impression nothing has happened. Strong.

55 minutes ago, WeeAl said:

The Acclaimed demanding a re-match, FTR doing something, anything, important - away from Jay Lethal.

I really hope they can somehow do FTR taking the belts from Swerve/Lee, a subsequent Swerve/Lee feud that elevates both of them as a upper/top level heel & face and have Acclaimed finally take the titles from FTR (after a decent run) in a massive moment (including props from FTR at the end) without losing the Acclaimed's momentum.

Oh yeah seeing that she could is definitely a testament to his talent and eye for what makes a good film. I just think the story behind it is interesting, shows a bit of insight into how someone like PTA might fold their life into their work (given the story of the film and the fact the mother was a crush he had around the age of the lead character)

On 8/22/2022 at 9:58 AM, Factotum said:

Yeah it was a sensational debut performance in a film. She massively should have got an Oscar nomination for it. PTA being able to see her and think 'she'll be my lead' shows how that guys just on a different level

It's possible it's because when PTA was in school the HAIM mother was his art teacher, looked exactly like Alana and he had a massive crush on her (he did then direct at least one HAIM music video)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/movies/paul-thomas-anderson-licorice-pizza.html

13 hours ago, Mr_Danger said:

Would love to see him return to his X Files roots with something supernatural.

"Word is that the new show harkens back to Gilligan’s tenure on The X-Files. But don’t expect a sci-fi drama — when he was a writer-producer on The X-Files, Gilligan was known for focusing more on the human condition in his episodes, which is something he is said to also be doing in his new series, exploring similar themes of bending reality while holding a mirror to humanity.

Described as a blended, grounded genre drama, the new series also is being compared to The Twilight Zone. It is said to be set in our world while putting a tweak on it, focusing on people and exploring the human condition in an unexpected, surprising way."

Source: https://deadline.com/2022/08/vince-gilligan-new-drama-series-genre-better-call-saul-followup-x-files-1235089196/

20 hours ago, RedRooster said:

I know they’re a tag team, and there’s a tag team of the year category and all that, but it feels faintly wrong to me that FTR aren’t eligible for this. I don’t think there’s an act, singles or otherwise, who has come close to the level of matches they’ve been having. They’re incredible.

Whilst it's not soo much the booking as much an encourage natural progression their face turn has been one of my favourite stories of the year. Whilst there were a few moments as they distanced themselves form MJF that added to it the story mostly came from the fans realising just how good they are (myself included, I started AEW at the obvious point last year after not watching wrestling for yonks and I went from seeing them as solid hands to top tier entertainers) and supporting them more to then it feeling like FTR responded to that increasing their connection to the fans (and them wanting to be better people) and it's felt like a natural progression - it still seems like Dax looks a little shocked during their entrance at the response they get.

Dunno if I quite worded that right but it's been a great example of those wrestling is real and scripted (and script informs reality and reality informs scrip) dualism things that's such a beautiful part of what it is.

5 hours ago, Nick James said:

Eddie is another who gets body shamed, but the difference with Eddie, is his gimmick plays into his body type. Cole goes out in trunks with his small body type and looks like a child in his pants getting dressed for a day at school. Some people do take it to the extreme with the shaming and its also a far cry from anyone shouting to 'get on the gear', but a bit of effort wouldn't go amiss. Orange Cassidy is around the same size as Cole, and no one mentions his size or build. 

Also, the argument online that people are only saying this about Cole now because he isn't in WWE is laughable. I remember Cole's debut for NXT taking out Big Drew and how many people took the piss out of his size. People were always mentioning how small he was, the difference in NXT though, was he was in there with smaller guys like Gargano and O'Reilly, so it didn't look as bad. 

Yeah Cole's style seems to be this sort of big tough guy striking thing and it just doesn't work with his shape (I've only seen him in AEW and genuinely can't figure out what he's supposed to be really, his matches always seem pretty non descript).

If he was more technically orientated or flippy or whatever his size wouldn't really be talked about. Instead I'm repeatedly told this person is an arse kicking big deal and yet what I see doesn't match what i'm being told.  It's jarring.

Eddie on the other had; you're told he'll kick the shit out his opponent, he looks like he'll kick the shit out of his opponent and his wrestling looks like he's kicking the shit out of his opponent. Also, cos he's a great seller, it looks like he gets pretty beat up - which makes sense for a person who doesn't look in shape.  I see Adam Cole taking all this punishment and shaking it off but that doesn't fit with the normal looking person I see, which is jarriing.

1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said:

What was Joe Lycett's joke? Aside from being presumably not funny

Spoiler tags just to be on  safe side

"A better booker" might have been a bit glib and i'm probably misusing my wrestling terms here.

"A better writer"? My point very much was the cards are booked well, the storylines that lead to the cards often aren't. It's the same complaint you see multiple times. I think he's really good at booking good matches, I just think the way we get to those matches tends to reduce excitement for them.

Death Triangle vs House of Black will be an banger.  The storyline to get to it has not

And yeah, these actual matches booked appeal to the loyal fanbase (and others, again - they're good matches) - they appeal to me, I like good matches. I just kinda think the TV program being a bit better written might make those matches appeal more to other people than the loyal fanbase (doesn't even have to be casuals, the reactions here for double or nothing - which, is a killer card - aren't super)

Dunno who exactly would make for a better writer but I can't imagine no-one in the world is better at writing wrestling TV than a singular hardcore wrestling fan with tonnes of money

A better booker.

I think it's in the Double or Nothing thread where people note there's a few matches where they're less excited than they would be because of the booking.

I think Tony Kahn as a promoter / wrestling nerd has a pretty decent idea of matchups that'll interest the fans. I just don't think he knows how to get to those matchups. It's the difference between fantasy booking a good card and running a regular TV show.

For example JAS vs. BCC + Kingson/Santana/Ortiz - it's a great idea for a matchup, - it's intruiging, makes sense has great wrestlers in combinations that'll likely put on an excellent show. You've got interesting connections, ideas and histories within the teams - the different relationships between Mox, Danielson and Kingston for example.

But the way we got to it was rubbish. There was some good moments but it felt like we focussed on JAS vs Kingson/Santana/Ortiz for too long then everyone else was shoved in.  I'm sure there would've been a much more engrossing build where the idea of Mox helping out Kingston was teased, then bringing in the rest of the BCC, then Jericho escalating with too close to home comments etc etc (and maybe no arse brushes?)

4 hours ago, Factotum said:

Surely MJF has to beat Punk for the title?

Yeah during his promo post last PPV he said something along the lines of "next time we fight I'll deliver your most embarassing loss ever". Given how Kahn and MJF love forshadowing / long term stuff (see MJF starting to refer to the 2024 bidding war storyline now) I'm assuming that's referring to Punk losing title to MJF.  Also given the wrestling nerdery of AEW I could see them wanting to do "Summer of Punk III" (whatever form that takes, obviously it's not a repeat of the story of the last two) which starts May and ends with MJF winning the title

Alternatively MJF is the one to retire Punk sometime down the line, depends if he's in for the long haul or not.

21 minutes ago, neil said:

TBH I don't have a major issue with landlords in general, I feel like they are a very easy target and while there are many shit ones there are decent landlords too. Just a very convenient target to say "if it weren't for you I'd have my own place" which is a bit of a leap I think.

I suspect the UK may not have the same problem as the US, but over here there are two distinct issues - corporations moving in on the housing market combined with a shortage of homes being built due to NIMBYs and absurd zoning laws. This has just led to a limited inventory and an overwhelming demand that rents have naturally trended way up because people are willing to spend more just to get a place. Same exact thing is happening with home ownership too - which is why I don't think you can purely blame landlords.

I think the decent are outnumbered by the shit. I know two couples who have been landlords, from what I understand both couples attemtped to be fair as possible especially with the younger couple being very aware of their own experiences with landlords and partially wanting to let a property as to provide a place that wasn't run by cnuts.

Alas I think the combination of the promise of money and maybe somewhat the generation gap (landlords often being in the same generation who seem to think the youth's prediliction for avocado toast is the reason for their financial woes) leads to a large number of landlords being not great.

The city I'm in is a very popular one with two universities. There's always a fair amount of property development going on (although some does get blocked due to the reasons you mentioned). However the temptations for landlords are great; do student lets where you have to worry less about the quality of the place and can keep bumping up rent every couple years or go for people from London who're migrating this way and have larger budgets due to their salaries. Alas as with a lot "free market" stuff this make things much harder for everyone who isn't rich or has rich parents. 

Average rent went up 8.4% last year (well Sept 2020 - Sept 2021).  That sort of pattern means it's possible to be somewhat general about this sort of thing - at least here. I understand other cities have had a similar issue, I'm less sure about other places

Also the big money landlords are part of the homeownership market problem too as they're buying properties to rent (and because they can make so much money of it they're willing to over bid etc)

Was wondering if they'd maybe have Dax win this, feels like he's someone who winning would be pretty meaningful plus with FTR recently face and Dax's family being often brought up it'd make for a pretty good ending moment with him putting over wrestling and family.  Have him upset Adam Cole in semis (i guess you could do some Redragon/FTR nonsense if Cole needs protecting) then have him and Samoa Joe in the finals

But it'll probably be Adam Cole or something cos somehow he's the new Owen or something, people love him yet he's a sneaky heel with his crazy antics like doing a low blow and also other things..  Eugh.

14 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

 

Amber Heard was arrested for domestic assault against one of her girlfriends a year or so before she met Johnny Depp which again doesn’t mean she abused him, but she has history.

If we're chatting about convictions and whatnot it's probably worth pointing out that this arrest was pretty much immediately dropped and it seems possible the whole thing was due to homophobia (based on what her girlfriend said about the situation)

On 4/14/2022 at 4:37 PM, Keith Houchen said:

That’s fascinating. I wonder if we are heading towards something resembling Algorithm Elite Wrestling? I think it makes sense, do what you can to get the best numbers. Maybe it’s because I’m well out of the loop but could this be the start of a new era in terms of how wrestling is produced? From kayfabe, to the WWE universe, to sabremetrics?

Given Netflix is known for a heavy use of algorithm information to inform creative notes I think this is going to be a general thing within entertainment.   If you consider the direction the commodification of media has taken over the last few decades along with the tech making this information accessible it makes sense you'd start getting high up people wanting to focus on this way of developing stuff.

It's not entirely a bad thing within certain entertainment types.  From what I understand in WWE you've got Vince McMahon pushing what he thinks is a good product even if that's not necessarily reflective of what the people consuming the product want? It happened a bit in music as well when failed musicians got "corporate" positions and pushed their taste over what actually might be culturally relevant now. Obviously you don't want everything homoginised to death, which algorithms have a risk of doing (or getting non sensical) but it attaches a quantifiable metric to what the public actually like.