Category Archives: Reviews

TNA gets TENacious with anniversary trading card set

From celebrating its tenth anniversary to transitioning into a live Impact Wrestling format, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling has had one of its most impactful years in 2012. To help commemorate the company’s accomplishments over the past decade, TNA has released the TENacious trading card set through Tristar.

The set includes grapplers from throughout TNA’s history, including James Storm, Hulk Hogan, Jeff Hardy, Sting, AJ Styles, Bobby Roode and Abyss. It also features non-wrestling talent such as Mike Tenay, Taz and Socal Val, as well as special subsets such as the Top 10 moments in a wrestler’s TNA career, Looking Back At… TNA’s Early Years and From the Desk of Dixie Carter, featuring the TNA president’s recollections on important TNA moments. But aside form the base cards, the TENacious set features several limited-edition cards including autographed cards from past and present stars (some with multiple autographs on each card), Celebrity Signature Cards featuring autographs from the likes of Chris Rock, Dennis Rodman, Tom Arnold and others who have appeared in TNA, Jeff Hardy art cards, and cards featuring pieces of ring-worn clothing from Mickie James, Rob Van Dam, Ric Flair and others.

These TENacious cards are not only a collectible way to remember one of TNA’s best years to date, but also to reflect upon the company’s first decade and its accomplishments during that time. Who knows? These things might actually become valuable again someday.

www.impactwrestlingcards.com

Centrifeud brings party gaming full circle

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Centrifeud, developed by Secret Library, is a fun new pick-up-and-play party game for the Apple iPad. The premise is simple; two-to-four players guide primary colored rotating discs around the virtual game board, bouncing off the walls and each other while trying to collect pink pellets. Once a player has obtained 13 pellets, the round is over with the option of starting a new game or calling it quits. Along the way, there are opportunities to collect power-ups such as drunk mode, blind mode and turtle mode that either help you, hinder your opponents or both.

The most important factor about this game (as well as it’s biggest selling point, in my estimation) is the ease of gameplay. Within a minute of playing, I was able to not only get the basic premise of the game, but also figure out strategies for winning. Its simplicity, combined with the beautiful visuals and kickass soundtrack, really make it stand out among other iPad apps.

Centrifeud is colorful, imaginative, universally accessible and basic enough for people of all ages. And with it only costing $1.99 to download, this game comes highly recommended.

For more information, go to www.secret-library.com.

UFC 141 marks Lesnar’s final UFC fight before WWE return

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When UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem got under way on Dec. 30, 2011, it seemed the biggest news that would come in the aftermath of the main event would be who the number one contender to Junior dos Santos‘ UFC Heavyweight Championship would be. But as we all now know, it would end up being Brock Lesnar‘s last fight in an Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon (allowing his recent return to WWE).

As this Ultimate 2-Disc Collection shows, UFC 141 offered a lot of hard-hitting mixed martial arts action well before the heavyweight main event was even close to getting underway. The first disc features the main card, which begins with a featherweight bout between former Ultimate Fighter competitor Nam Phan and the undefeated Jimy “The Kid” Hettes. Though Phan takes it all three rounds, Hettes dominates the entire fight, extending his streak to 10-0 via unanimous decision.

Next is a light heavyweight fight between Belarusian veteran Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko and Sweden’s Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson. Unlike the previous fight, this one ends about halfway into the first round when Matyushenko runs into what would otherwise have been a Gustafsson jab, giving The Mauler an opportunity to pummel his opponent into a TKO victory.

The third bout shows Johny Hendricks making short work of one of UFC’s most celebrated welterweights Jon Fitch with a surprising knockout punch only 12 seconds into the first round. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the co-main event, a lightweight fight between the cocky and aggressive Nate Diaz and bull rider-turned-fighter Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

Nate Diaz (right) earns his victory over Donald Cerrone in UFC 141. Photo by Donald Miralle

Unlike most of the other fights on the card, there seems to be a legitimate dislike between Diaz and Cerrone, which only adds to the excitement. And it’s not often that you see a UFC fight go all three rounds, let alone two on the same card. But Diaz and Cerrone not only take each other to the limit, they also put on a display that earned them both Fight of the Night honors. With Cerrone taking Diaz off his feet several times and Diaz landing numerous hard punches and kicks, this one really could have gone either way. But in the end it’s Diaz who walks away with the win via unanimous decision.

The main event pits the highly decorated Dutch powerhouse Alistair Overeem making his UFC debut against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar. This being Lesnar‘s first fight back since not only losing the title to Cain Velasquez, but also after overcoming his second bout with diverticulitis, it appears as if Lesnar is back in fighting condition. The fight gets off to a solid start, with Lesnar opening up Overeem just over his right eye early on. With the crowd solidly behind him, it soon becomes apparent that Lesnar is not 100 percent when Overeem lands a kick to his gut that sends Lesnar reeling in pain. Overeem takes advantage of this opportunity and lands numerous shots to Lesnar’s body to attain a TKO victory in the first round. After the fight, Lesnar shockingly announces his UFC retirement.

Alistair Overeem lands a kick to Brock Lesnar in his UFC 141 victory

Also included on this two-disc set are the Countdown to UFC 141, which provides some background on all the fighters and fights on the card, and the weigh-in show, which shows a bunch of muscular guys stripping down to their underwear to weigh-in for the fights. The weigh-in offers additional insight into some of the fights, most notably the Diaz/Cerrone encounter since Diaz was forced to work off an extra pound before entering the octagon.

The second disc also features five action-packed preliminary bouts, all of which go all three rounds and come down to very close decisions. It also includes a behind the scenes package and the Ultimate Insider, which provides even more looks at what UFC fighters do leading up to their matches.

For more information, go to www.ufcstore.com.

UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida DVD offers hours of fights and more

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UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida took place on December 10, 2011, main-evented by Jon “Bones” Jones and Lyoto “Karate Kid” Machida for the UFC World Light Heavyweight Championship. Some other highlighted matches include both Minotauro and Rogerio Nogueira, as they face off against Frank Mir and Tito Ortiz, respectively.

This Ultimate 2-Disc Collection features these matches and nine other bouts, as well as bonus material, including the weigh-in show, the countdown video package that aired prior to the pay-per-view and a brief look behind the scenes, offering more than four hours of content.

If there’s one thing that Ultimate Fighting Championship has really succeeded in, particularly over the last five years, it’s branding itself. After watching the video packages, the countdown videos and the weigh-in show, it’s very clear that UFC is constantly trying to attract new fans and crossover even more into the mainstream. From the music selection to the video production to the voiceover work, this DVD is an excellent example of how a company should brand itself. Once you’ve finished experiencing all that this DVD has to offer, you’ll find yourself waiting for the next UFC DVD to come out. This is a fantastic addition to your DVD library, whether you’re a long-time fan of mixed martial arts or just discovering this type of action. Because not only is the production value very high, but there also happen to be 24 pissed off dudes beating the living shit out of each other for almost four hours.

For more information, go to www.ufcstore.com.

“Ruth and the Green Book” is an uplifting reminder of an oppressive time

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By Jonathan Williams

These days most of us have the convenience of Facebook and other such resources that allow us to connect and communicate with people all over the world for pretty much any reason. But for black travelers in 1950s America, The Green Book was the best way to find out where it was safe to go while road tripping across the country.

Based on the book of the same name by Atlanta-based author Calvin Alexander Ramsey, the Center for Puppetry Arts‘ production of Ruth and the Green Book tackles this tough topic in a refreshingly lighthearted fashion that includes live actors, puppetry, imaginative props and choreographed musical numbers. Playing through Feb. 26, the story begins with Ruth (played by Tara Lake) as an adult recalling the eye-opening trip from Chicago to Alabama she took with her family as a child. When she flashes back to her past, the actors become puppeteers and the audience is transported back to a time when Jim Crow laws made segregation a requirement in the South.

Ruth’s family had never had to deal with such things in Chicago, where her dad had a good job that made it possible to live comfortably, eat well and even drive around in a nice new car. But when she and her family head south to visit relatives, they encounter a racist gas station attendant, a motel that turns them away to sleep in their car (which makes for spooky scene fueled by Ruth’s imagination and the sounds she hears in the woods at night) and more and more places with signs that read “Whites Only.” With the innocence of an 8-year-old, Ruth struggles to understand why people can be treated in such a way simply because they are black. But once a black gas station owner introduced them to The Green Book, they are able to finish their journey under more favorable conditions (even if it means going way off route to support more tolerant businesses).

Photo by Clay Walker

Despite the oppression of the times, Ruth and the Green Book never gets oppressive or preachy. Instead, it manages to capture the family’s determination in an uplifting way through the use of humor and music (thanks to composer/actress S. Renee Clark) that even includes a somewhat hokey rap number (probably to help younger audience members connect a little better to the otherwise unfamiliar times).

Like the book it’s based on, Ruth and the Green Book is an example of the triumph of a family (a microcosm of an entire race) overcoming odds that are frustrating, to say the least. The fact that the story is told mostly through the use of puppets just makes it that much more entertaining and a little easier to digest.

For more information, go to www.puppet.org.

Hulk Hogan video game is far from “Main Event” status

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A motion capture game featuring Hulk Hogan from the same publisher that gave us the video game adaptation of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Majesco Entertainment) doesn’t really drum up too much expectation. Expecting a game with those ingredients to be an instant classic would be like expecting a recent Hulk Hogan match to be a classic. However, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event fails to meet even the lowest expectations.

Main Event has the standard features that we have come to expect from wrestling video games; a season/career mode that takes a single character from the bottom rung to the top of the ladder, a create-a-player mode and a one-on-one exhibition mode that pits player against the computer or another player. In the career mode the default character Caliente begins in a back yard wrestling event hosted by Hulk Hogan, with the winner receiving a shot at the big time. This seemingly daunting task requires you to win one match against Atlanta’s own Jim Bob, then you’re off to the “big time” with Hogan as your corner man.

Hogan being your corner man is the bulk of his involvement in the entire gaming experience. This is not only a storyline device, it is also a key component of the game play. Each match is divided into a series of segments known as stunts. In each stunt the goal is to beat the opponent by performing the motions that the Hulkster demonstrates in a small insert box that appears at the bottom right of the screen to pull off predetermined moves. (Yes, there is a leg drop. But the big boot is sadly missing.) These stunts devolve into a boring game of Simon Says with an aging wrestling icon. About 70 percent of the motions work about 70 percent of the time, but everything else is a crap shoot. There is one positive, and that is that in some stunts you do not need to be a carbon copy of digital Hulk and you are allowed to throw hands the way that you see fit. These stunts, however, are too few and too far between.

Graphically, Hulk Hogan’s Main Event is on the lower end the spectrum of what is acceptable for a game on the Kinect platform. The atmospheres are bright and reasonably well rendered, but the character definition is dreadful. Most characters are just pigment swaps of one another with the occasional wacky accessories thrown in for good measure. If a character is black, he is literally black (see Tombstone) and most every character has a look more akin to the bruisers of the 1950s. If not for this game’s complete lack of attention to wrestling, Lou Thesz would have been a perfect addition.

Every aspect of this game is lacking. Even the game’s menus are difficult to navigate. But it is not the randomly responding controls, the lackluster graphics or the repetitive mimicking that is passed off as game play that makes any wrestling fan tap out on Hulk Hogan’s Main Event. What is truly this game’s downfall is a complete disregard for the basic structure of professional wrestling. The matches have to stop and load between stunts, moves occur at inappropriate times and a headbutt does the same amount of damage as a massive Samoan drop (which the commentator calls a suplex). The pinning combination literally takes ten seconds. I will repeat, it takes ten seconds to count to three. The best way to describe this game is “lame.” It is a lame attempt by a video game company to capitalize on what is left of the name of Hulk Hogan by employing strategies like sprinkling in bro speak and Internet lingo to appear to be cutting edge. This game has X-Pac-like heat. At its finest, wrestling is about storytelling and emotion. Hulk Hogan’s Main Event offers none of the first and even less of the other.

Hulk Hogan’s Main Event is available for Xbox 360. Rated T. www.hulkhogansmainevent.com.

Review by Matt Hankins

Wrestling with Pop Culture is giving away a copy of Hulk Hogan’s Main Event. Just comment below with the name of any character Hogan has played in a movie or TV show. We’ll randomly pick from the correct answers and announce the winner on the WPC Facebook page on Jan. 27.

“Gingerbread Man” runs through familar fairy tale adventures

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By Jonathan Williams

The story of the Gingerbread Man that springs to life and runs from his creators is a familiar one to most of us. But in All Hands Productions‘ The New Adventures of the Gingerbread Man, this fairy tale is brought to new life via puppets thanks to creator and performer David Stephens.

An expansion of Stephens’ 2002 production of The Adventures of the Gingerbread Man, these new singalong adventures come about as the Gingerbread Man runs from a hungry dog that has been chasing him since he first emerged from the oven. After encountering Barry, a furry blue fairy who makes the Pinocchio-like promise to turn the Gingerbread Man into a real boy if he carries out three acts of kindness, the Gingerbread Man stumbles into three other familiar folktales: Hansel and Gretel, Androcles and the Lion and The Frog Prince.

While he doesn’t necessarily do so intentionally, the Gingerbread Man finds himself carrying out the required three acts of kindness during his interactions with an old hag who lives in a gingerbread house, a misunderstood monster and other innocent variations on fairy tale victims and villains. With the dog never far behind, the Gingerbread Man’s adventures are motivated not by his desire to become a real boy, but to simply not have the dog chasing him any longer. While his pride in being a cookie is noble, little does the Gingerbread Man realize that by becoming a boy not only will the dog no longer want to eat him, but many of the other obstacles he encounters during his adventures would also be easier to overcome. But thanks to his flawed judgment, it looks like the Gingerbread Man’s adventures might continue.

Through song, humorous dialogue and use of various types of puppets, Stephens (a performer for The Jim Henson Company and Sesame Street) gives his story a definite Henson-like look and feel. And even though his tale is intended for children (who were clearly delighted by the performance I attended), it’s hard to imagine anyone not being amused by this new version of these whimsical childhood favorites.

The New Adventures of the Gingerbread Man will be at the Center for Puppetry Arts through Jan. 22. For more information, go to www.puppet.org.