All posts by Kage

Writing

The Rise and Fall of Vince McMahon, a review of Netflix’s Mr. McMahon.

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INTRODUCTIONS: Let’s get two things out of the way before I begin this review. First, I had a micro investment in WWE in 2014, having bought stock. About 25 shares total. I sold those stocks in November the same year, due to ineptitude of the industry. Second, My entire family, going even back to my late grandfather, all loathe McMahon with a passion, so we’re highly biased. I have no doubt that all the allegations were true and hopefully him and everyone involved get what they deserve in court. That said, this documentary isn’t without flaws from the beginning.

WRITING: Fine

VISUALS: Fine. It’s a documentary, not much to deal with.

EDITING: Swamy and misleading.

CONTENT: Worthless. It’s billed as being about Vince, but is an an unstructured mess that deals more with wrestling in general than the subject matter.

CONCLUSION: This thing is plagued with Swamy Micheal Moore style editing from the beginning. This automatically brings into question its journalistic integrity. They quote-mine and edit things out of context to make certain people or peoples look worse than it is. Bill Simmons is no better than McMahon is with the way he edited this documentary to favor his anti McMahon bias. Which, while I share his bias, still think it’s a disingenuous thing to do. Mind you, this is the problems with this “series” from episode one and I’m only 20 mins in and it’s insufferable.

This doesn’t really know what it wants to be. It wants to be journalism, but fails. it wants to be about its subject matter, but fails. it wants to be about wrestling, but fails. It stacks the doc with ass kissing McMahon sell outs, whilst being a hit piece at the same time. Billy Simmons is proven incompetent as a director and we’re no better off for see this documentary. Maybe in the future, someone could do a legit piece and have it make sense. Perhaps Netflix would have been smarter to have sold this to McMahon and let him destroy it.

2 out of 5 stars

Writing

Ghostbusters 4 1/2: Frozen Empire movie review.

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INTRODUCTION: So I waited a bit to see this movie until the BS died down, much like with the 2016 Ghostbusters. I think it’s helpful, especially when approaching a movie you loved for decades.

PLOT: The New Busters move back to NYC and fight a new big bad.

CHARACTERS :Very good and very well developed. Even the introduction of new characters is interesting. Pecks characters change is intriguing and interesting.

ACTING: excellent! Everyone brought their a game here.

DIALOGUE: Very well done.

STYLE: Excellent!

FX: Awesome. The mix of CGI and Practical work so well.

SUBTEXT: None. Regardless of what some people seem to say on the internet about an interpersonal relationship between one of the characters and a ghost be more than friendly ain’t there either.

CONCLUSION: Very slow burn of a movie that sets up a lot of interesting characters and equipment for a third installment. Gil Kenen did an amazing job with this movie and it made it Al the better. I very much look forward to a third installment.

4 out of 5 stars.

Writing

Football Season and the Bets

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So Football is upon us! Rejoice for those of us into sports betting. So if you read my post Draft Kings: A Primer then you know I have tried my hand at sports gambling. I was always pretty good at picking winners with no investment on Twitter, but that doesn’t mean I could make money on it. Whilst I have not made a sizable amount yet, I still can wager that I know a thing or two. That said, like in the premier guide

Warning: There is no such thing as in “expert” in sports betting. I write these to relay my thoughts and experience on sports. I do not recommend ever taking advice on gambling from anyone, including myself. Should you risk any money, you do so at your own risk and assume all responsibility on the outcome. I, nor anyone else, bear any responsibility in your bad decisions.

With that out of the way, I also pointed out that The Cleveland Garudians are looking like they will at least make the World Cup Series in 2024 as I predicted. I first made this prediction back in June of 2013, kinda as a joke with my best friend. 10 years later I posted it online and well, slap my ass and call me Nostradamus. Still, we shall see! I also think Cleveland will win the series again in 2027.

I bring this up, because my next pick came to me before Superbowl 58, which is that I think 2024-2025 is going to be the Chargers year. So we shall see.

I’m also hoping The Orlando Magic Win in 2025. NHL is a bit too evenly matched to really call it, but I think the Kings might put on an amazing showing, maybe even getting the Stanley Cup.

EDIT: October 1 2024, I foresee a Columbus Blue Jackets as season winners.

I already won my first NFL bet of the season, kinda, by picking the bears to win the Hall of Fame game and thanks to inclement weather, well, they kinda won. so I’ll take it.

Still not a big fan of parley picks, but I’m kinda getting my bearings on them. I still favor money line bets as well.

So let’s look at the games and see what I think

Week One

Source: ESPN for the screenshot. Red marks my own.

I’ll be the first to admit in this roster, my Cleveland and Carolina Panthers picks are wishful thinking. Ohio has made me some decent money in recent memory, barring 11/24/23, a day that will live in infamy, when all but one Ohio team lost. I don’t know what games I am going to pick to bet on, but this is my starting list and like with pro wrestling my card is subject to change.

Week Two

I’m going to admit that my pick on Cin and Detroit seem weak and will probably be wrong. I can also admit that the Seahawks have a good chance in their game as well. Washington is also a weak choice, but not going to stop me from calling it how I see it.

Week Three

I think most of these will be strong choices in this week.

Week Four

So this we’ll be the last week I’ll be predicting, for now. By this time we should all have a good understanding of where the season is going and what to expect.

I’m fairly confident in most of these picks and think I’ll come out the other side on them, should I choose to bet any money. One thing is for sure, it seems this season will be interesting.

-Kage

“The Pauxatwany Phil of Sports Gambling”

Writing

Fireball Wiskey BBQ

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Remember this in The 40 Year Old Virgin?

Well, apparently the good people over at Fireball decided it needed to be a bbq sauce flavor. It taste smoky, cinnamon flavored with a hint of booze and pepper. While I can discern all three, it’s hard not to notice that the real discripton should read

“Warning, taste like that “girl” your frat brothers introduced you to, your freshman year of college and all you could remember the next day was thinking your mouth tasted of Virginia Slims, booze and big red chewing gum.”

To be fair, if you don’t use it as a dipping sauce, like I did and you put it on the food that you cook, it’s almost tolerable, given most the flavor burns off.

This video sums up how one should feel about it, not just the bad sex you had that night but the taste of this fuckin bullshit!

1 out of 5 stars

Writing

That 90’s Show

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INTRODUCTION: My like the predecessors, I wasn’t and still am not the core audience for this show. Both shows lean heavily on nostalgia for a decade that you were born into or grew up in. Being born in 1986 undoubtedly meant that I would end up having to watch That 70s Show at some point, as my parents grew up in the 1970s. Still, in spite of the weird 70s motif, it had a certain charm and was just pretty good. Red Forman and Hyde being the two best of the original cast. It gave that 80s show a tall order to live up to and it failed. Would this show be equally as weak?

CHARACTERS: Well you have a new cast and they obviously have the onus of living up to yesteryears characters. The original characters returns help make up for it. That said, these kids are not millennials. They lack everything that the reality of these people are. I mean, they have a “cool” kid hanging out with dorks. That’s not how that worked. Still, they keep the basic law breaking aspects of their boomer predecessors that’s the closest to a reality for being a millennial for these characters.

ACTING: Not bad. better that 80s show, not as strong as the original show.

SET: The original sets are spot on to the originals. too bad the attention to detail ends there as the brands are wrong.

FX: Still kinda dated to 90s tv sitcoms, but that’s kinda the point.

CONCLUSION: I’m not going to be shocked if this show meets the same fate as that 80s show. Ironically, this would have worked better as a show if they had turned it into a revamp of That 80s Show and ditched the 90s bullshit. For the right audience and by that I mean the everyday overly nostalgic millennials that miss that peice of shit decade. For those that never experienced the 90s, you’ll walk away with appreciation for being born long after that decade. for me, well the only reason to keep watching this is Red Forman.

3 stars out of 5

Writing

Beverly Hills Cop IV: Axel F

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INTRODUCTION: So I’ve been waiting on this movie since the 90s. I was born two years after the first came out and my late grandmother was, uh, nieve enough to let me watch an R rated movie. You have to remember she grew up when there was no movie ratings as she was born in 1944. Anyways, she knew Ione of the many jobs I would have loved to grown up to have had was being a detective and that’s why she let me watch it. This would lead to me seeing two and three. While I may not have become a detective, I will have found memories of my grandmother getting mad at me and never forgiving herself, for letting me watch this, as I hooped into her car and said “let’s get the hell out of here.” In reference to Beverly Hills Cop one.

PLOT: Axel fucks up his way back to Beverly Hills seems about right.

CHARACTERS: excellent. Love the rookies and the verterns

ACTING: fantastic! Eddie doesn’t miss a beat!

DIALOGUE:fine. Nothing wrong.

STYLE: love it

FX: excellent. Mix of cg and practical

SUBTEXT:none

CONCLUSION: I’ve been waiting 30 years for this movie and it didn’t disappoint. Everything from the Easter eggs to the original actors. It’s perfect.

5 out of 5 stars