The Iron Claw’s energy in the ring can’t overcome its weaknesses outside the ring
Your mileage may vary on how much you care about wrestling. Wrestling only became major sports entertainment in the late 1980s with the growing popularity of the WWF (World Wrestling Federation). But in the early 1980s, the Von Erich family sought fame on wrestling’s biggest stages, but tragedy continued to get in the way. The Iron Claw, a new sports drama named after the family’s trademark wrestling move, hastily captures this incredibly sad, hard-to-believe true story, but lacks emotional thoroughness in between its wrestling matches.
The floor and stage of Great American Music Hall is not really large enough to turn into a wrestling ring and arena, so lucky for those in attendance this Mother’s Day, former WWF and current AEW professional wrestler Chris Jericho was fronting his metal band Fozzy here tonight and not jumping off the top rope!
The 37th Mill Valley Film Festival wrapped up last night. The Festival screened some of this fall’s most hotly anticipated pictures: Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler and Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, and many more. We gave you a look at some of the festival’s lesser known independent films, now here’s a quick look at a few of the hot titles (and Oscar bait) coming out this fall. For full festival photos and information, visit: http://mvff.com.
The Imitation Game (US/UK 2014, 113 min; English)
Cumberbatch cracks the code.
The Imitation Game is a return to the traditional period bio-dramas of yesteryear (you know, like A Beautiful Mind). It tells the story of Alan Turing, the British mathematician who cracked the German Enigma c0de during World War II, thus introducing the world to computer science while having a large impact on helping the Allied forces win the war, and who was also subsequently arrested after the war for being a homosexual. Everything about the film is rock solid, from the stalwart acting, led by a fantastic Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing, to the film’s music and set design. While many movies, dramas in particular, flounder under the weight of forced contrivances, The Imitation Game embraces and utilizes them to an entertaining degree. We’re right there cracking the code alongside Turing in this old-fashioned period drama.
Lucha, VaVoom or both? Depends on your perspective.
A music blog reviewing a wrestling show? I thought the same thing moments after I agreed to review Lucha VaVOOM at The Fillmore on Halloween. But I had seen this event on the calendar multiple times, always thought about going, and figured there’s certainly going to be enough musical content to warrant a review. While apart from the theme music of Los Pollos Locos there wasn’t much music to talk about, I did find a whole lot of fun. Continue reading “Show Review: Lucha VaVOOM at The Fillmore, 10/31/2010”
