Author Archives: Jonathan Williams

“Enigma” highlights the charisma and chaos of TNA’s Jeff Hardy

Prior to his recent return to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Jeff Hardy‘s last appearance in a TNA ring was in the main event of Victory Road last March. Considering that he didn’t come anywhere close to defeating Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and, instead, was pinned in less than two minutes in what will likely always be considered one of the company’s most embarrassing moments, it might seem unwise for TNA to release a two-disc set celebrating Hardy’s most recent stint with the company.

Enigma: The Best of Jeff Hardy, Volume 2, however, is actually a good reminder of Hardy’s accomplishments prior to Victory Road. From interviews with childhood friends and peers such as Kurt Angle, Sting and brother Matt Hardy to footage of Jeff at home with his artwork, dirt bike and baby daughter, Enigma shows the seemingly down-to-earth guy behind the makeup and mishaps. More importantly, the DVD set features some of Hardy’s best matches in TNA, as well as footage of his 2004 debut at the Asylum against AJ Styles, his return on the Jan. 4, 2010 and his first match back with the company last March (again against Styles in an impressive non-title victory over the then-TNA Champion).

Enigma chronicles Hardy’s climb to the top of TNA’s ladder (literally, in some instances) as he teams, then feuds, with Mr. Anderson, has a great series with Angle that includes some incredible matches with awful endings, reunites with Matt and becomes the TNA Champion after his ultimate heel turn at last year’s Bound for Glory. Though his inclusion in Immortal (like so many other things about that faction) seems a bit nonsensical, the fact that he was actually able to achieve his greatest success since returning to TNA despite the egos of Immortal’s other members (and that horrendous custom title belt) says a lot about Hardy’s charisma in and out of the ring.

The DVD concludes with two of his best TNA matches to date; a ladder match against Anderson at Against All Odds where Hardy regained the TNA title and the March 3 Impact! match against the returning Sting, in which Sting defeated Hardy for the title. Both of these matches happened just weeks before that other match against Sting at Victory Road, which makes Hardy’s inevitable fall from grace that much harder to accept. Of course, this being a “Best of” DVD, that match is not included. And as evidenced by what is included in this collection, including an amusing episode of his Internet-based The Hardy Show (as well as the positive fan reaction Hardy has received since his return to TNA in recent weeks), Hardy clearly has plenty more to offer as long as his self-destructive risks are limited to athletic displays rather than reckless ones. Let’s just hope his current run results in a third volume rather than another public spectacle.

“The Thing” is the thing that happens before “The Thing”

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A helicopter flies over the stark white Arctic landscape and, in the distance, a lone object cuts a path through the snow. I’m expecting a dog since that’s how John Carpenter‘s 1982 version of The Thing begins. But it’s not a dog and this isn’t a remake. In fact, it was the ’82 version that was a remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World, widely regarded as a commentary on the Cold War. Likewise, Carpenter’s version is often credited with being a reflection of the AIDS epidemic, the major source of fear in the early ‘80s. So, one would expect this new version of The Thing to reflect current societal fears (terrorism, perhaps?). But this film doesn’t seem to take its legacy of social commentary very seriously and lacks the element of tapping into prevailing societal fear that the previous versions did so well.

Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sander (Ulrich Thomsen) dissect their finding in "The Thing"

However, this doesn’t mean that the film isn’t scary. It has its share of startling moments, and certainly capitalizes on the gross-out factor that modern special effects technology allows. The “thing” itself is a morphing mass of heads and limbs that attacks and kills in the most disturbing ways. It’s this ability to morph that is at the heart of The Thing. It’s the old Trojan Horse, sneaking into a base camp and attacking from the inside. Only this time, instead of Trojans, it’s aliens who crashed into Earth thousands of years ago only to be frozen in the Antarctic until a group of Norwegian researchers uncover the crash, along with a survivor frozen in a block of ice nearby.

The Norwegians recruit a team of scientists, including paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), to unearth the alien being. The casting of a woman in the leading role is quite a departure from Carpenter’s version, which noticeably lacks women, which in itself is a departure from classic horror which has a habit of depending on women to be the helpless victims that need to be saved. Thankfully, Kate doesn’t need a man to save her and takes on a

leadership role in the group of men. The other woman in the cast doesn’t fare so well, but Kate manages to hold her own while still being realistically feminine, rather than have the mannish qualities of her predecessor in female sci-fi horror heroines, Ripley from the Alien films.

Shortly after Kate and the team dig up the “thing,” it disappears and preliminary research of its tissue reveals that it’s a replicator, allowing it to transform into identical versions of its victims, setting the scene of suspicion and distrust. The scientists realize that they’ve been infiltrated, but they don’t know who has been infected and everyone is a suspect, kind of like at the security checkpoint at the airport, but not really.

Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) fights for survival in "The Thing"

It is this element, along with the inherent isolation found in an Antarctic research station, that creates the underlying tension of the entire film. But the large cast diminishes the feeling of isolation and the quick succession of deaths fails to allow the audience to develop empathy for most of the characters, whose only purpose seems to be brutal onscreen deaths. I can’t remember the names of the characters or anything about them, but am left with several gruesome images in my memory.

Overall, the fun of the movie is recognizing the setup for the Carpenter version – an axe stuck in a wall, a charred two-headed corpse in the snow, and the bridge to the ’82 version, a lone dog running in the snow.

The Thing. Directed by Matthijs van Heijnengen. Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton and Ulrich Thomsen. Rated R. www.thethingmovie.net.

Review by Jennifer Waller Sibley

Bobby Roode seems Bound for Glory in his main event match against Kurt Angle

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By Jonathan Williams

Best known for his multiple Total Nonstop Action World Tag Team Title reigns with “The Cowboy” James Storm as Beer Money, Bobby Roode has proven himself as a capable singles wrestler after winning the Bound for Glory Series last month at No Surrender. As a result, he now finds himself just days away from the biggest singles match of his career as he challenges Kurt Angle for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship this Sunday at Bound for Glory. Having overcome Angle’s gauntlet on Impact Wrestling (pitting Roode against his Fortune stablemates in singles matches over the past few weeks), Roode appears to be in his prime heading into his first world title match. As he prepares for the main event at TNA’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, Roode talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about how ready he is for the match.

With all that’s going on in TNA with Hulk Hogan, Immortal and older wrestlers, including Kurt Angle, how do you plan on helping usher in a new era for TNA if you become the new World Heavyweight Champion?

If I become the champion, obviously just having a new face in the main event is something that a TNA original like myself, who has been with the company from day one and has never left and has been very loyal to the company, it gives a TNA original a chance to be a main eventer, to carry the company and to defend the title on a regular basis. It just opens new doors for new competitors to put on some fresh matches. So I think it’s just the beginning.

Your match is one of a few that could potentially have bigger consequences for the future of TNA. Where do you think it would leave Fortune and the other younger TNA talent if you aren’t able to defeat Kurt Angle for the title at Bound for Glory?

The way I look at it, failure really isn’t an option for me this Sunday. I honestly haven’t thought about the consequences if I didn’t win. This match is huge for me and it’s something I’ve been waiting for my entire life. If I don’t win the match, it just means the younger guys are going to have to pull up their socks and work that much harder. I think it’s going to be in the hands of myself, James [Storm], AJ Styles, even guys like Samoa Joe, the TNA originals, the guys that have built the company from scratch and have been here through thick and thin, the good times and the bad, to really step up and steal the show. Regardless of who’s going to be in the main event, they just have to prove to the world and to wrestling fans that really we’re the ones that are carrying the company.

You’ve obviously been a very accomplished tag team wrestler throughout your TNA career. This being your first singles title opportunity, how would you say your background as a tag team wrestler and being part of factions like Fortune and Team Canada may have prepared you for a match like this one?

Obviously people identify me as a tag team wrestler and the success I’ve had as a tag team wrestler has been documented with Team Canada and with James and Beer Money. But I got in this business 13-plus years ago to be a world champion and the only way to be world champion is to go out on your own and prove yourself. After almost nine years with this company, being in tag team situations pretty much my whole career, it’s time for me to step out and really prove to everyone what I’m about. Not just for me, but for James as well. I think our match last Thursday was just the tip of the iceberg of what we can do as singles guys. I think it’s just going to be a new start for this company, giving us an opportunity to step outside tag wrestling and improve ourselves. As far as preparing myself, I’ve been prepared for this my entire career. This title is something that I’ve dreamed about and aspired to for as long as I can remember.

I don’t recall you ever having a singles match against Kurt Angle. Will this be your first one-on-one encounter with him?

I actually faced Kurt a couple of years ago on Impact. It was a Thanksgiving day tournament with me and Kurt. It was a TV match, but this is probably the most important match I’ve ever had with anyone, let alone Kurt.

His tactics over the past few weeks, pitting you against your Fortune teammates each week, seems to have kind of backfired on him. Instead of causing dissension, it seems to have solidified Fortune as a unit. How do you think that will effect things going into your match on Sunday?

The matches I’ve had, I’ve obviously been successful in. Obviously my confidence level has risen being able to step in the ring against my friends and beat them at their best. The matches I’ve had with Kazarain, AJ and last week with James were some of my favorite matches to date. To be able to go out there and have great matches and be victorious in these matches has really boosted my confidence. By booking these matches over the last month, I think Kurt thought it would go in his favor. Obviously it hasn’t, so if anybody is worried about the outcome this Sunday, I think it might be Kurt, the way things are going.

Bound for Glory. $12-$153. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16. (also on pay-per-view and in movie theaters at 8 p.m.). The Liacouras Center, 1776 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Penn. 800-298-4200, www.impactwrestling.com.

“Rocky” meets Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots in “Real Steel”

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Bruno Sammartino wrestled an orangutan, “Superstar” Billy Graham and Tracy Smothers wrestled bears and Ambush fights an enormous bull at a carnival sideshow. Unlike Sammartino and Graham, however, Ambush does not live to fight another day after the bull victoriously dismantles the giant robot in the opening scene of Real Steel.

Max (Dakota Goyo, left) and Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman, right) prepare Noisy Boy for battle in "Real Steel."

Set in a not-so-distant future where cell phones are a bit flashier, freight trucks are slightly sleeker and robots provide the combat carnage that fight fans were never truly able to find in flesh-and-blood boxing, wrestling and MMA matches, Real Steel takes the Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots concept and gives it a cheer-for-the-underdog Rocky treatment. Only the underdog in this movie is Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman, aka Wolverine from the X-Men movies, aka the guy who helped Zack Ryder defeat WWE United States Champion Dolph Ziggler on Raw a few weeks ago), a former fighter-turned-con artist who will hustle anyone for a quick buck. That includes his son Max (Dakota Goyo, aka young Thor from Thor), who becomes barter material after unexpectedly entering Charlie’s life after 11 years of estrangement.

What Charlie lacks in character (he’s not only a conman, but not a very good one as he continues to rack up more and more debt with sleazy promoters), he makes up for in his in-ring accomplishments. But in a world where robots have taken the place of humans in the ring, that no longer means very much. That is until he and his son find a decrepit older robot that, much like Charlie in his prime, proves to have enough heart (albeit mechanical) to hold his own against bigger bots.

Despite Charlie’s absence, the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree as Max proves to have a stubborn, all-or-nothing mentality similar to his father’s. Together, the father, son and robot (a somewhat WALL-E-like warrior named Atom) work their way from seedy underground fight clubs all the way up to the colossal World Robot Boxing league. But not without some additional struggles as Charlie’s deceitful past keeps catching up with him in the form of vindictive debt collectors, custody-seeking relatives and the like.

Atom (left), takes it to undefeated WRP Champion Zeus in "Real Steel."

While the story is predictable and sappy (especially when Max tells his father, “I want you to fight for me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted” towards the film’s end), and the idea of having robots that are advanced enough to fight like humans in a world where the same advanced technology doesn’t appear to be used in more productive ways, Real Steel is successful at providing the type of violent escapist fun typically reserved for the summer movie season. Plus, there are giant robots with names like Zeus and Noisy Boy that beat the fluids out of each other.

Real Steel. Directed by Shawn Levy. Starring Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo and Evangeline Lilly. Rated PG-13. www.steelgetsreal.com.

“50/50” proves that even cancer can be more than halfway funny

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Cancer is funny! Just ask Will Reiser, Seth Rogen’s writing partner who was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. Cancer is obviously not a humorous subject, but, of course, if you’re friends with Seth Rogen you can probably find the humor in pretty much anything.

Written by Reiser, 50/50 is the story of his battle with cancer and the oddly comical events

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen in "50/50." Photo by Chris Helcermanas-Benge

that helped him overcome his struggle. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception) as Adam and Rogen as his best friend Kyle, 50/50 is a touching tale of Adam’s shocking diagnosis and the reactions of those closest to him. As is often the case in times of personal crisis, Adam quickly learns who his true friends are as his flaky artist girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), mother (Anjelica Houston), rookie therapist (Twilight‘s Anna Kendrick) and Kyle all find different ways to deal with his condition, as well as their own personal struggles.

Channeling bits of Edward Norton and Edward Furlong, Gordon-Levitt effectively portrays the isolating journey of a clean-living, healthy man striken with a seemingly fatal disease that amplifies other everyday stresses. While his world seems to be falling apart, Adam (with the help of his somewhat schlubby stoner friend) is able to stand strong and overcome such obstacles as his increasingly distant girlfriend, nagging mother and even some of Kyle’s own shortcomings (such as taking advantage of the medicinal marijuana prescription meant to ease Adam’s pain).

Anna Kendrick, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen in "50/50." Photo by Ed Araquel

Rogen, playing a role very similar to the one he played in real life when Reiser went through the same ordeal, is able to make otherwise depressing moments, such as shaving Adam’s head when he begins chemotherapy and discovering exactly why Adam’s girlfriend hasn’t been around as much as she used to be, awkwardly amusing. Eventually, as circumstances start to ease up, Adam is able to gradually take on a more positive outlook, allowing his relationships with the people around him (at least the ones who’ve proven they actually care) to become stronger and more meaningful.

Thankfully, Adam (like his real-life counterpart) is able to defy his 50/50 odds of surviving, overcoming not only his illness, but also some of the other shortcomings that had previously seemed very minor. And even though 50/50 is a heartwarming, sometimes sad, struggle, it seems that one of the best therapies was simply seeing the absurdity in the situation.

50/50. Directed by Jonathan Levine. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard and Anjelica Houston. Rated R. www.50-50themovie.com.

Review by Jonathan Williams

“Machine Gun Preacher” unloads on real-life badass Sam Childers

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When I heard the name Machine Gun Preacher, I expected some sort of ’70s-style exploitation throwback along the lines of Machete and Hobo with a Shotgun. And with a plot aimed directly at an ex-con, former heroin addict and reformed biker badass who finds Jesus (thanks to his ex-stripper wife) after a drug-induced episode that ends with him dumping a bludgeoned hitchhiker on the side of the road.

While it still sounds a lot like the sensationalized stuff Rob Zombie or Quentin Tarantino might come up with, Machine Gun Preacher is actually based on the true story of Sam Childers, who combined his violent tendencies with his newfound faith and took it to the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group that has been terrorizing Ugandan and Sudanese villages for years. After befriending a member of the peace-keeping Sudan People’s Liberation Army (Souléymane Sy Savané) and seeing the horrors that the LRA inflicts on innocent Sudanese people each day, Childers begins systematically fighting back against the LRA, going so far as to launch attacks on them rather than sit back and wait for them to attack during the night.

Childers, passionately played by 300‘s Gerard Butler, makes it his mission to free the children that have been enslaved by the LRA (most of which are either forced to fight on the side of the LRA or go into the sex trade). Then he decides to take the ultimate first step in regentrifying a neighborhood when he purchases a piece of land right in the middle of the war-torn area and builds an orphanage there.

While his actions seem noble, especially in comparison to his unscrupulous past, we soon see that Childers has, in many ways, traded his drug addiction for a new obsession, finding a more productive outlet for his unstable, violent tendencies along the way. Who’s to argue when he’s liberating dozens of Sudanese children and giving people who have done far more gruesome things than he’s ever done a taste of their own malevolent medicine, all in the name of God? Well, his wife (Source Code‘s Michelle Monaghan), daughter (Madeline Carroll) and best friend (Revolutionary Road‘s Michael Shannon), who become more and more neglected as Childers’ obsession and anger continue to grow.

Though the film attempts to convey an uplifting message, it’s hard for Childers to ever become a completely likable person due to his selfish and unstable temperament. But that grittiness lends a sense of realism to Machine Gun Preacher, clearly illustrating that Childers’ intentions are often misguided ways for him to unleash his aggression. But with Childers continuing to fight his fight to this day, we can all be thankful that he’s turned his machine guns towards more deserving targets than the previous recipients of his ire.

Machine Gun Preacher. Directed by Marc Forster. Starring Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon and Souléymane Sy Savané. Rated R. www.machinegunpreacher.org/movie.

Review by Jonathan Williams

Stefanie Brown fills some big slippers as Nessarose in “Wicked”

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By Jonathan Williams

As you’ve probably heard by now, there’s a lot more to The Wizard of Oz than we’ve been led to believe. At least that’s what the hit musical Wicked, which gives an alternative perspective and additional background to characters such as Glinda the Good Witch Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, tells us. Currently playing at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, one of Wicked‘s newest stars is Stefanie Brown, who plays Nessarose, the Wicked Witch of the East whose ruby slippers are taken by Dorothy after Dorothy’s house falls on her. As she prepares for Our Wicked, Wicked Ways, a charity cabaret featuring members of the Wicked cast tonight, Brown talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about her career in Oz and elsewhere.

Justin Brill as Boq and Stefanie Brown as Nessarose. Photo by Joan Marcus

Your first stage role was as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when you were eight. You have since played Glinda in Wicked as an understudy and now you’re playing Nessarose. Seems like you’re destined to spend your stage career in the wonderful world of Oz.

It’s true. It’s all come full circle, which is kinda fun. When I first joined the tour, I was an understudy for a year and a half. I went on almost 70 times. I was originally in the ensemble, then the understudy, then I left the company and came back as the principal Nessarose. Now that’s solely what I do.

It’s crazy because I was one of those weird children that just knew what I wanted to do since I was eight. I wanted to be an actress and it’s just crazy that I’m actually living my dream and getting paid to do so. Not everyone gets that opportunity, so I feel very lucky.

How does this production of Wicked compare to the version that came to Atlanta a few years ago?

There have been no revisions to the actual show at all. However, the cast is pretty much completely different as far as the principals go. So every person brings something new to each character and the portrayals of the characters kind of changes a little bit. Besides that, I’d say nothing is different with this run of the show. It’s still a spectacle.

Stefanie Brown as Nessarose. Photo by Joan Marcus

You’ve played two of the major characters, which are two of the characters we see a very different side of in Wicked. Those two characters are also very opposite from one another. What’s it like for you as an actress to play these very extreme roles and having to portray these characters in such different ways?

It’s exactly what every actor dreams of, to span the range of emotions and take two completely different journeys. It’s great. One of my favorite days on tour – and this was when I was an understudy, about a year and a half ago – but I remember going on for Glinda in the matinee and going on as Nessarose at night. That was really fun to have to completely switch gears in the middle of the day. And it was definitely one of my most memorable experiences on tour.

It’s also really exciting because there’s such a turn of events and when The Wizard of Oz characters come out you can here the audience’s response of, “Oh!” With Nessarose, when the Tin Man appears you can always hear an audible response, which is really fun.

Tonight you get to have a slight change of pace with Our Wicked, Wicked Ways cabaret show. What will be happening there?

It’s really exciting. We do these on occasion to benefit certain charities and it’s such a fun event. It’s a cabaret performance, so it’s us singing different material from the show. It’s a fun event where people can hear us do different material, see us in a different venue and it’s fun for them and us because it’s something different to do.

Will you be in costume?

We just dress up in casual-formal attire and the audience can come as you will. We just want them to have a good time.

Is this an event where the audience has a chance to meet some of the cast?

Yes, definitely. There’s a silent auction that’s run by some of the cast members. After we perform, there’s a reception where there will be food and drinks and we can mingle with the audience members. We also offer VIP admission where, before the show starts, those who purchased VIP tickets get an intimate introduction to the girls who play Elphaba and Glinda.

You’ve done several other roles regionally, ranging from similarly fantastical stories like Beauty and the Beast to more realistic shows like Hair. Do you prefer one over the other?

As a girl, I grew up watching the Disney movies saying, “I want to play that.” So that’s always exciting. And some of those shows are written so beautifully that it’s a great opportunity to play those roles. But I also love the realistic side of characters. I would love to do more plays like Shakespeare, and there are a lot of things I haven’t done that I’d like to accomplish. I do like the real juicy stuff, I guess.

Our Wicked, Wicked Ways. $35-$75. 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26. 14th Street Playhouse, 173 14th St. NE, Atlanta, Ga. 404-733-5000. www.thebestarts.com/wickedbenefit, www.14thstplayhouse.org.

Wicked. $36-$150.65. 8 p.m. Sept. 27- Oct. 1, Oct. 4-9; 2 p.m. Oct. 8; 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2, 9. The Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, Ga. 404-881-2100. www.wickedthemusical.com, www.foxtheatre.org.