“Dead Man Down” is an intriguing love story wrapped in violence

Victor (Colin Farrell) and Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) develop a twisted and tender romance in "Dead Man Down". Photo by John Baer.

With its recent slate of releases, WWE Studios clearly wants to be taken just as seriously in the film world as it is in the realm of sports entertainment. And with the stylish gangland romance Dead Man Down, WWE is pulling out all the stops to prove that it can be associated with films that have more depth than your average action or horror thriller.

With his American theatrical debut, Danish director Niels Arden Oplev (best known for directing the original Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) creates a dark and twisted love story centered on the vengeful motives of two scarred souls. Colin Farrell plays Victor, one of the top members of a gang led by Alphonse (Terrence Howard). Unbeknownst to Victor, the alluring Beatrice (Noomi Rapace, who starred in Oplev’s Dragon Tattoo), who lives in the skyscraper across from his, has not only been watching him, but caught one of his violent acts on camera. Rather than turn him in, however, she uses this footage to blackmail Victor into helping her seek revenge on the drunk driver who received minimal legal punishment after causing the accident that left half of her face (and much of her psyche) horribly scarred.

Alphonse (Terrence Howard) is a gang leader receiving cryptic messages in "Dead Man Down". Photo by John Baer.

But Victor’s already has a plot of his own in the works as he pits rival gangs against each other as he picks off the guys who killed his family and unwittingly left him alive. As Victor and Beatrice’s emotionally-driven desires to kill become more entwined, they develop a morbid (yet tender) attraction for one another that looks as if it will climax just as they carry out their dirty deeds. It’s not the best recipe for love, but it seems to work until Victor’s plan begins to fall apart and Alphonse gets closer to figuring out how close his would-be assassin is.

The entire cast puts in commendable performances, including Dominic Cooper, who plays the overzealous rookie who unknowingly causes Victor’s plot to unravel, and current WWE Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, whose presence as Alphonse’s lead henchmen is quite imposing. The film culminates with a spectacular shootout that, despite a glaring continuity error, is both captivating and poetic. If Dead Man Down is the type of film we can expect from WWE Studios in the future, it could become a championship contender in Hollywood before long.

www.deadmandownmovie.com

Bret “Hit Man” Hart picks the best of his lesser-known moments in “The Dungeon Collection”

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The illustrious career of Bret “Hit Man” Hart has been well documented with previous WWE DVD releases, most notably 2005’s Bret “Hit Man” Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be. If that release was the equivalent of Bret Hart‘s greatest hits collection, the new release Bret “Hit Man” Hart: The Dungeon Collection is like his B-sides and obscurities compilation.

With interview footage where Hart recalls his earliest days in the wrestling business, training in the famed Hart Family Dungeon by his father Stu, The Dungeon Collection truly spans Hart’s entire career from its inception in Stampede Wrestling through his final days in World Championship Wrestling. Don’t let the title fool you, however. Though it does include a 1978 Stampede match between Hart and Dynamite Kid (and a 1985 match against Kid from the Capital Centre), as well as Hart’s recollection of the Wild West feel that his father’s promotion maintained, this DVD set does not include any footage from Hart’s actual training from the Dungeon. Instead, it features matches picked by the Hit Man, some from his personal tapes and many of which have been largely overlooked due to higher-profile matches featured on previous DVD collections.

Unlike most of WWE’s retrospectives, which feature a documentary about the featured superstar, followed by a collection of matches, The Dungeon Collection intersperses Hart’s insightful recollections with the matches themselves. As a result, you get a more thorough examination of what makes each match special to Hart and why he has chosen these particular matches that might otherwise seem somewhat insignificant in the grand scheme of his career. But once you see some of these matches and realize how important they were to his growth as a performer, it’s kind of hard to believe they haven’t been discussed and acknowledged previously.

Prior to becoming one of the most decorated and respected stars in WWE history, Hart had to pay his dues wrestling for territories throughout the United States and around the world. And considering the controversy surrounding his departure from WWE to WCW following the infamous Montreal Screwjob, it’s a shocking revelation to see that Hart wrestled for Georgia Championship Wrestling (the precursor to WCW) in the late ’70s, as illustrated by the rather grainy footage of a match between Hart and Buzz Sawyer from 1979. From there, Hart recalls how his brief stint down South helped him realize his potential in the wrestling business before returning to Stampede for a grueling match against Leo Burke for the North American Heavyweight Championship.

From opponents who might otherwise have faded from the memories of wrestling fans such as the Islanders, Jean-Pierre Lafitte and The Patriot to main event challengers such as Mr. Perfect, Ric Flair, the Undertaker and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Dungeon Collection highlights some outstanding moments that have long been overshadowed by Hart’s numerous title reigns and other career-making moments. And with Hart introducing each match with respectful anecdotes about the circumstances surrounding each bout, it’s easy to see why these moments are so meaningful to Hart. Hart also recalls more rare encounters on foreign soil such as his first match against Andre the Giant in Milan, a stellar contest with Tiger Mask II in the Tokyo Dome and highly-athletic bout with Bam Bam Bigelow in Milan.

The Dungeon Collection serves as a great companion to previous Hart DVD releases in that the match-ups featured here help illustrate exactly why rivalries with Perfect, Austin, Diesel, Sting and brother Owen were so integral to establishing Hart as one of wrestling’s all-time greats. And as Hart himself attests at the DVD’s conclusion, it’s definitely a unique trip down memory lane that needed to be documented.

www.wweshop.com

Georgia Wrestling Now welcomes The UkuLady and Francisco Ciatso

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Georgia Wrestling Now has been known to get a bit weird at times, but this week may be the weirdest one yet. Our first guest is wacky children’s show host The UkuLady, who recently had an interesting encounter with WWE Hall of Famer Abdullah the Butcher at his House of Ribs & Chinese Food that can be viewed below. After she gives her own colorful review of his food and persona, Wrestling with Pop Culture and Team All You Can Eat’s Matt Hankins talk to the “King of Florida” Francisco Ciatso about his time as a WWE developmental wrestler, being a member of Rampage Pro Wrestling‘s Rampage Nation and his upcoming matches for Ring Warriors, Full Impact Pro, Vintage Wrestling and more. Listen live every Monday at 7 p.m. and call 347-324-5735 for questions or comments.

The "King of Florida" Francisco Ciatso and Drew Adler challenge Blackout (Murder 1 and Kory Chavis) for the RPW Tag Team Championship on March 10.

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“Jack the Giant Slayer” rises much higher than you might expect

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Elmont (Ewan McGregor), Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Jack (Nicholas Hoult) plot to escape the giants in "Jack the Giant Slayer". Photo by Daniel Smith.

Jack the Giant Slayer looks like a terrible movie. The fact that it’s based more on the Jack and the Beanstalk folk tale than he 1962 film Jack the Giant Killer was a bit of a letdown from the get-go. Not because there’s anything wrong with Jack and the Beanstalk, but just because I was really hoping to see a remake of a film that includes a leprechaun in a bottle and Ray Harryhausen-like stop motion effects. Despite my reservations, however, it turns out that Jack the Giant Slayer is a really fun adventure movie that blossoms from the moment it begins thanks to clever dialogue, amazing costumes, better-than-expected computer effects and commanding performances by an understatedly all-star cast.

Recently seen as a lovable living dead guy in Warm Bodies, Nicholas Hoult (read my recent interview here) stars as the farm boy simpleton Jack, whose head is full of adventure that his real life doesn’t normally live up to. Though it is forbidden for a commoner like Jack to associate with the princess, it turns out he and Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson) are both very imaginative people looking for ways out of their current predicaments. When Jack stumbles into the type adventure he has previously only read about in the form of worthless bag of beans, and when the princess flees the castle to avoid an arranged marriage to Lord Roderick (Stanley Tucci), the two unexpectedly end up in Jack’s shack one night. With all the ingredients for adventure now in one place, just add water for instant fairy tale excitement.

Elmont (Ewan McGregor) is about to be a snack for the giants!. Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

Good thing it’s a rainy night, which makes it easy for one of Jack’s mysterious beans to come in contact with water after falling through a crack in the floor. The beanstalk that erupts, carrying his house (and the princess) to the land of the giants in the clouds, is just the type of adventure starter they’ve both been awaiting. The king (the always delightful Ian McShane) sends Elmont (Ewan McGregor in a dashing suit of armor) and his men up the beanstalk to rescue the princess. During this treacherous climb, Roderick’s intentions to usurp the throne become evident (especially to Jack, once Roderick realizes he has the magical beans). And once they reach the top of the beanstalk, they soon realize that those legends about battles between humans and giants have been real all along.

After Roderick assumes power over the giants (thanks to a crown that has powers similar to The Hobbit‘s ring), Jack becomes the unlikely hero tasked with rescuing the princess and warning the king of Roderick’s plot. The king, in the meantime, has reluctantly ordered his people to chop down the beanstalk (after Jack and Elmont send an afroed giant plummeting to his demise), potentially sacrificing his own daughter in order to save his kingdom from a giant invasion.

Fallon, leader of the giants, is voiced by Bill Nighy and John Kassir in "Jack the Giant Slayer". Photo courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

The race to save the princess before the beanstalk falls is like a cross between Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Wizard of Oz, with the surviving adventurers traversing gigantic terrain and avoiding becoming dinner for their slovenly superiors. But the head giant (a two-headed monstrosity voiced by Bill Nighy and John Kassir) isn’t as dumb as he looks and figures out a way to take his battle back down to his diminutive enemies. The scenes where giants dispose of humans can be pretty brutal, but Jack ends up with the best kill as his inventiveness makes for the best use of a bean you’re likely to ever see in a film. The fairy tale ending is suitably unpredictable (something director Bryan Singer has done well with previous films such as X-Men and Superman Returns) and even though there is no leprechaun in a bottle, there is a brief appearance one of fantasy filmdom’s most famous little people, Warwick Davis.

www.jackthegiantslayer.com

“West of Memphis” reveals chilling new details in the case of the West Memphis Three

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Damien Echols looks on from behind prison glass in 'West of Memphis". Photo by Jeff Dailey, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

To say that the case of the West Memphis Three is an example of a corrupted justice system failing us would be the understatement of, well, the past 20 years. Following the murders of three 8-year-old boys in the small Arkansas town of West Memphis in 1993, teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. were convicted of the crime the following year, mostly because of their love of heavy metal, aversion to Southern societal norms and collectively rebellious demeanor. If only they’d known that listening to Metallica and wearing black clothes would have resulted in them spending almost 20 years in prison for a crime they almost certainly did not commit.

This story has been well documented previously, namely in the HBO trilogy of Paradise Lost documentaries. But the findings presented in West of Memphis make it clear that Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin were innocent of these horrendous crimes. The most unsettling evidence, however, is the more recent discoveries making it almost undeniable that Terry Hobbs, stepfather of one of the young murder victims, seems like the most likely suspect. And with no indication that he will ever be tried for these crimes, the fact that the West Memphis Three spent the better part of their young adult lives behind bars becomes more unforgivable than ever.

Lorri Davis met and married Damien Echols while he was still in prison, as seen in "West of Memphis". Photo by Olivia Fougeirol, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Ever since the West Memphis Three were first arrested in ’93 they’ve garnered a good deal of support from the entertainment community, and West of Memphis is yet another attempt by musicians and filmmakers to let the rest of the world know why these guys should be set free (and should never have been convicted to begin with). Produced by The Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson (as well as Echols and his wife, Lorri Davis) and directed by Deliver Us from Evil director Amy Berg, the film features appearances by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins, Johnny Depp and Patti Smith (with a soundtrack by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis). But West of Memphis isn’t about movie stars and rock stars with some sort of political agenda. All of these people have volunteered their time and talents over the years to help justice be served. Oddly, while this film was being made, the closest thing to justice that could have happened did happen as the three men were finally released from prison (though that didn’t come without compromise as the plea that got them out basically forced them to admit some level of guilt).

West Memphis Three supporter Henry Rollins talks to "West of Memphis" director Amy Berg. Photo by Olivia Fougeirol, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Aside from evidence that Hobbs may have likely been the actual murderer (including his confession of this “family secret” to his own nephew), West of Memphis provides more than a reasonable doubt of the West Memphis Three’s guilt. So where were the three teens during the time of the murders? According to many townspeople, they were “at wrasslin'” that night. And if satanic rituals weren’t the cause of the genital mutilation and other abuse to the bodies of the young victims, then what was? Well, it turns out that the various scrapes and cuts were clearly done after the boys were already dead since there is no evidence of bleeding. And since their bodies were in a creek, turtles most likely nibbled on their softer parts (lips, ears, genitals) after their bodies were dumped in the ditch. That’s not even touching on the flawed investigation tactics of the local police, Hobbs’ abusive past and the on-camera regrets of a few people who now admit to having lied in their testimonies against the West Memphis Three.

As grim as all these details are, West of Memphis offers hope for the three men now that they have been released. It’s a moving story that just happened to have a somewhat happy ending, though there was no way the filmmakers could have known that when they started filming. And even though the fight still isn’t (and probably never will be) completely over, at least these guys have an opportunity to experience something akin to a normal life that doesn’t involve shackles and jumpsuits.

www.westofmemphisfilm.com

Georgia Wrestling Now welcomes Fred Yehi and Jacob Ashworth

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Georgia Wrestling Now has had a lot of big guests over the past few weeks, but it’s always nice to talk to some of the guys on the verge of taking things to the next level in their careers. This week Wrestling with Pop Culture and Team All You Can Eat’s Matt Hankins talk to two of those wrestlers. Our first guest is Fred Yehi, who not only the Universal Independent Wrestling Internet Champion and the Battle Action Championship Wrestling Champion, but is also part of tournaments to crown the first Monstrosity Championship Wrestling Champion and the Platinum Championship Wrestling/EMPIRE Wrestling Champion this weekend. Then we talk to Jacob Ashworth, who made an impressive return to the ring last Friday at Alternative Pro Wrestling’s 6th Anniversary Show and recently assisted WWE World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio in his feud with the Big Show on SmackDown. Listen live every Monday at 7 p.m. and call 347-324-5735 for questions or comments.

UIW Internet Champion/BACW Champion Fred Yehi is one of this week’s Georgia Wrestling Now guests.

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The Rock is a working class hero trapped in a superhero’s body in “Snitch”

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John Matthews (The Rock) urges U.S. Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Susan Sarandon) to let him do whatever it takes to free his son. Photo by Steve Dietl.

For The Rock, the Road to WrestleMania 29 entails more than just fending off challengers to his WWE Championship. With Snitch, the first of four new films over the next few months for the man otherwise known as Dwayne Johnson, The Rock goes toe-to-toe with the likes of Susan Sarandon, The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal and Boardwalk Empire‘s Michael Kenneth Williams. But even though he holds his own in a more dramatic role than we’re used to seeing from his WWE and action movie career, Snitch still leaves a few things to be desired.

Though it’s marketed as an action movie, Snitch is more of a drama about John Matthews (The Rock), a construction business owner determined to free his teenage son (Rafi Gavron), who is wrongfully arrested when he reluctantly receives a package containing drugs from a friend. The Rock’s performance is convincing, as he decides to put his own business and life at risk by using his company’s new semis to infiltrate the local drug underworld, offering to transport illegal substances in order to keep his struggling business afloat. But the biggest problem is that he’s a working class hero trapped in a superhero’s body, making it somewhat hard to believe his trepidation considering he could easily crush the thugs he is now encountering. I suppose anyone would be afraid of suddenly entering a world populated by a bunch of gun-toting gangsters, even if you’re carrying The Rock’s muscular guns. But it’s still a bit unconvincing to see a man as imposing as The Rock flinching at his much punier aggressors.

Malik (Michael Kenneth Williams) and John (The Rock) make arrangements in "Snitch". Photo by Steve Dietl.

After enduring some decidedly cheesy dialogue (I’d like to think it is intentionally bad, but that doesn’t really fit with the otherwise serious tone of the film) from the menacing drug dealer Malik (Williams), The Rock proves that he has what it takes to help bring down some of the biggest criminals around. So he makes a deal with U.S. Attorney Joanne Keeghan (Sarandon) to help bring in Malik in exchange for his son’s release from prison. Thus begins his Smokey and the Bandit-like adventure, only the load he’s carrying is a lot more valuable (and dangerous) than Coors.

Once he realizes he is being taken advantage of by Malik and Keeghan alike, Matthews is forced to improvise in order to save himself and to protect those he has inadvertently dragged into his plot. And the resulting chase scene, in which The Rock finally fires back at his aggressors while steering his truck at full speed, is reminiscent of a similar scene from The Road Warrior, resulting in a climactic crash that leaves The Rock upside down on the side of a highway.

John (The Rock) gets banged up in his heroic adventure. Photo by Steve Dietl.

The Rock clearly has plenty of charisma, which definitely helps carry Snitch to something more than just another fast-paced action film. Considering that the point of the film is to illustrate the harsh (and sometimes unfair) laws against first-time drug offenders in comparison to crimes such as rape and murder, Snitch doesn’t really need to be an over-the-top adventure. Aside from being way too physically intimidating to adequately portray the everyman he is meant to be, The Rock clearly knows his role here. And rather than shut his mouth (to continue borrowing from one of The Rock’s own catchphrases), he puts the muscle flexing aside and lets his charisma shine in new ways.

www.snitch-movie.com