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daleisgreat · 4 years

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Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper

A few months ago I covered the DVD set WWE released chronicling the ‘unseen’ matches of “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Today I continue that trend covering those lines of DVD collections with 2019’s Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper (trailer). Like with WWE’s other ‘unreleased’ line of home videos, all the matches and segments featured in here have never been released on video before. With WWE already releasing a comprehensive three-disc DVD set to Piper with 2006’s Born to Controversy, that means we are getting a collection full of deep cuts here. This two disc DVD is compiled similarly to the Randy Savage set where we get original, newly recorded interviews intersperse with the archival content. The interviews are from Piper mega-fan, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey which are mixed in with archived home video interviews with Piper for added context. There are six sets of Rousey interviews, and they are sporadically inserted throughout the collection which also features 19 matches, nine promos and 12 editions of Piper’s legendary interview show, Piper’s Pit. WWE has established that Rousey is essentially the endorsed successor to carry on the Piper legacy, with Ronda paying homage to “The Hot Rod” by rocking her version of Piper’s entrance attire and carrying on his nickname. With that in mind, having Ronda being the featured new set of interviews to draw from seems like a fitting choice to commemorate Piper’s career here and are nice ways to mix up this collection.

Ronda’s interviews are insightful on how she drew on Roddy for inspiration on MMA needing an antagonist, and how excited she was to finally meet him. I presumed she maintained a close relationship with Piper, and was surprised to learn in Rousey’s interviews here that she only met him once early in her MMA career when she got the blessing from Roddy to use his nickname and then a second time when she appeared on Pipers podcast, which was just a month shy of his death in July of 2015. Rousey went on to say one of her biggest regrets is not having a close relationship with him. There is a nice variety of the nine Piper interviews/promos included. There is a handful of the vintage Rock ‘n Wrestling era promos where Piper bellows out promos in front of a blue screen backdrop. A nice nostalgic bonus is a few vintage commercials where Piper maniacally shouts at you to purchase the latest WWE action figures. There are a few standout go-home PPV interviews here where Piper is on fire and by the end of them he got me just as fired up as Virgil for his upcoming WrestleMania match against Ted Dibiase, and on top of that is an especially intense promo with Bret Hart leading up to their WrestleMania VIII battle. There are three Roddy promos from his late 90’s WCW days, with a bewildering rant from a cell in Alcatrez and Hulk Hogan provoking Piper to cut loose on him and Bishoff in front of his son, Colt, standing out the most. These WCW promos have boisterous crowds capturing the high times WCW was riding at that time in the ‘Monday Night Wars.’

It is no surprise that Piper’s rougher, brawling style will not warrant many five star classics, but a fair amount of his 19 matches here have crowds eating up the chaos Piper is delivering. I have only seen a handful of Piper’s early NWA work before, so seeing a few more of his NWA matches unearthed for this set was a treat, and his match against Jay Youngblood is a smashmouth brawl that goes to a time limit draw, and I loved seeing Piper tag with Ole Anderson against Mike Davis and Buddy Landell. There are a lot of the big arena house show matches here that were previously televised only in local markets, and like a lot of those matches in other sets, usually feature good action until a hokey finish. That is the case here with a killer clash against Paul Orndorff in 1985 fresh into their rivalry, with the crowd going bokers for them until a double countout finish. Just as riveting is Piper’s match in this set against Rick Rude where the crowd is losing it throughout, but a lot of tomfoolery I will not even begin to explain transpires and is the catalyst for one of the strangest DQ finishes I have seen.

Piper teaming with Eddie and Blue-tista, looking like gold! Piper feuding with the nWo had the crowd on its feet! There are two matches on here against Mr. Perfect worth going out of your way to see. I know Mr. Fuji was an accomplished wrestler in the 70s, but never seen him in a match until this set where he is pummeled for a couple minutes against Piper until his fellow managers run in for the save. A lot of the latter matches in the back half of Getting Rowdy are quick TV matches with wonky finishes unfortunately, but for what it is worth, still draw rabid crowd reactions. There are two Nitro bouts included against Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in 1998, but both bouts have several nWo run-ins that result in both matches being thrown out. I forgot about Piper’s brief 2003 run with Sean ‘O Haire, so it was nice to see those two again when Piper had a short encounter with Rikishi. The last match is an awesome impromptu bout against The Miz for $5000 of The Miz’s money, with Alex Reilly (remember him!?) as guest referee in 2011. I have zero recollection of this match, and even at a couple minutes long it was an absolute delight!

Getting Rowdy was jacked with 24 installments of Piper’s Pit, but WWE had quite a few more to draw upon from the vault with 12 more here. Some of the early ones in this collection that were a riot were where both Jimmy Hart and the Brooklyn Brawler ruthlessly provoke Roddy to giving them a a well-earned beatdown. There are a bunch in the second half of this set when Piper would periodically show up on RAW and SmackDown for a special Piper’s Pit. Two that really got me were one with John Cena where Piper does a tremendous job at needling Cena into living up to his then-current t-shirt slogan, ‘Rise Above Hate’ and another where Roddy moderates AJ Lee attempting to get back into Daniel Bryan’s good graces after costing him his WrestleMania match against Sheamus. I enjoyed this collection more than I anticipated. As I mentioned earlier, Piper was not known for his epic wrestling abilities, so I was not letdown from the wide range of match quality from the 19 matches in the set. There are a few matches that are hidden gems in here for what it is worth, but the real reason everyone should check out Getting Rowdy: The Unreleased Matches of Roddy Piper, is for the many unreleased promos and Piper’s Pit interviews. While he may not have been a five star wrestler, Piper was easily a five star entertainer, and that is readily apparent from beginning to end in this collection.

Those Piper action figure commercials are iconic, and this set is full of iconic promos I have never seen before where the Hot Rod made Virgil look like a million bucks! Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story For All Mankind Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Hulk Hogans Unreleased Collectors Series Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT: From Secret to Sensation NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold Randy Savage Unreleased: The Unseen Matches of the Macho Man RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Shawn Michaels: My Journey Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania III: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

#Wrestling #Rowdy Roddy Piper #ronda rousey #hulk hogan #paul orndorff #bob orton #mr. perfect #Rick Rude #the miz #daniel bryan #aj lee #Randy Savage #WWE #wcw #nwa #nwo

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ambivalentman · 3 years

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DIGGING UP THE MARROW (2014)

Butt-Numb-a-Thon, at least until 2017, was an Austin institution. The 24-hour movie marathon, held at the Alamo Drafthouse, was established in 1999 by Ain’t-It-Cool News creator and noted sexual miscreant, Harry Knowles, for the most narcissistic of purposes: as a birthday party. Despite this, the invite-only film festival had hosted a number of highly-coveted world premiere screenings, including: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Magnolia, Knocked Up, V for Vendetta, 300, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Chicago, Dreamgirls, and The Passion of the Christ.

Adam Green, the horror filmmaker best known for the slasher series Hatchet, premiered his thriller Frozen at BNAT before it wowed Sundance. By 2013, Green was an established filmmaker, and he had a film he was just dying to audience test—a strange genre hybrid called Digging Up the Marrow. After running the rough cut by some of his more critical friends in the filmmaking community, Green sent the film to Knowles for consideration.

Knowles jumped on the film after watching the cut, which was little more than edited dailies that only included temporary sound and score, and zero visual effects work. Green was stoked. The audience at BNAT was not a typical one; it was a cross-section of the film critic community. Some were genre junkies, others not so much. If he was to finish this film, he wanted their blessing. And Knowles gave him the best opportunity, slotting Digging Up the Marrow at 6am. If the film played well, Green would know it wasn’t hype—that feeling would be in short supply by 6am after a night including the world premieres of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Any filmmaker would have been amped and nervous to have their film play for the first time at BNAT. However, Green was especially nervous. Digging Up the Marrow wasn’t any film to him; it was a personal project, one in which he had more than money and time and sweat invested.

The origin of Marrow dates back to 2010, shortly after Frozen’s premiere at Sundance. The film’s reception had his team ready to start a new project. They wanted to do something low-budget and very indie. The idea that eventually turned into Marrow arrived as a curious package from a die-hard fan. In it, this fan had curated a bunch of documents, photos, and maps to prove to Green that Victor Crowley, the slasher killer of Hatchet, was a real person, and that Hatchet had gotten his story all wrong. The maps and photos of swamps detailed all sorts of errors within the movie. Normal filmmakers might be terrified by this level of obsession, but not Green. He was inspired by the level of commitment and suggested heading to the swamplands with a skeleton crew to document this fan taking them on a tour to prove the “truth” about Crowley. As cool as the idea sounded, Green’s partners changed his mind by pointing out that with Hatchet II on the way in seven months, it might not be a good idea putting additional content on the market. Besides, who the hell knew if this fan was only trolling them or was a bona fide looney who might leave their bodies in a swamp, Crowley-style.

So, Green abandoned the idea. It would resurface about a week later as he flipped through a pamphlet given to him by a fan during a long day of signing autographs at a Los Angeles Fangoria convention. The fan hadn’t shared his name, but as Green looked over the pamphlet, the fan’s identity dawned on him. The pamphlet was for an art exhibit called lDigging Up the Marrow,” by acclaimed horror artist Alex Pardee. Fireworks went off once he realized the fan who gave it to him was Pardee himself! Pardee had built a reputation for creating horrific storytelling art exhibits. In “Marrow,” Pardee is commissioned by a Boston police detective named William Dekker to paint the real monsters he claimed to see while on the job. Green wanted to adapt this idea, but with a twist that in addition to Pardee, he would also be asked to capture the monsters on film. After meeting with Pardee, Green wrote the script within 3 months, and the film was ready to begin production.

Green told the expectant horror press that he was making an “art documentary” which made them immediately seek other stories for clickbait. He cast all the actors to feature as themselves, except for veteran character actor, Ray Wise. Wise had reached out to him on the strength of Green’s segment in a film anthology called Chillerama, wanting to work with him. After showing Wise the script, the actor signed up to play Dekker. The film was shot in Green’s offices, his editor’s basement, and on the property of a family in Santa Clarita who almost didn’t agree to let the production use their land for a cemetery set until the owner learned Green had directed Frozen. The decision was made early to create all of the monsters as practical effects, sculpting directly from Pardee’s art. Not exactly an easy process, namely because of the nature of Pardee’s art, which doesn’t adhere to the conventions of basic anatomy. Pardee put it like this: “I like imagining things I haven’t seen. If it’s a shape, if it’s a color, if it’s a tooth, if it’s a type of hand, if it’s a monster, if it’s a car . . . I like the way things shouldn’t be. I think that’s where the inspiration draws from. How can I make this . . . not.”

The production of Digging Up the Marrow went as well as anyone could have hoped. But things took a turn for the worst as post-production ramped up. Three months into the finishing process of the movie, one of the actors—and one of Green’s best friends—Dave Brockie, died of a heroin overdose. Brockie was best known as Oderus Urungus, the insane lead singer of heavy metal band GWAR. Devastated, Green had to be talked out of removing the footage of Brockie, which showed the singer in full GWAR costume, shouting “I am a monster, I’ve always been a monster, and after I’m dead I’ll be a dead monster!” Perfect for the movie, but not for Green’s heart. The thought of leaving the moment in wrecked him, but eventually he left it, if only for the sake of Brockie’s fanbase, whom he thought deserved to see Brockie’s final screen performance.

However, Brockie’s death was only the opening salvo. Three weeks after his death, Green’s wife filed for divorce and the couple separated. Like Brockie, she was also in the film, sharing a bed with Green and even sharing an on-screen kiss. Removing her was also the first thing on Green’s mind, but his team again had to stop him because of what losing her four minutes of screen time would do to their budget and story.

So Green suffered the heartache of editing and directing post-production by watching images of his dead friend and ex-wife over and over as his team constructed a rough cut of the film. He believed in the movie, though, and wanted to finish it. His filmmaking friends thought he was on to something with this one, too, and BNAT was the final hurdle.

Digging Up the Marrow was well-received by the BNAT audience, despite its 6am showtime. After the screening, Green knew he had something once he overheard people theorizing about his movie during the intermission. They were tossing out ideas about the Marrow, and speculating about Dekker’s life. This was the green light he needed.

Green finished Digging Up the Marrow and in late 2014 decided to circumvent the problems with film distributors—namely that they seldom turn a profit on indie features—by taking the movie on the road. Similar to Kevin Smith’s tour of Red State in 2011, Green and Pardee took the movie and Pardee’s art exhibit to five cities—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and Austin. Press coverage was strong and audience reception overwhelmingly positive. The film turned a profit, and eventually Green put it to rest and moved on with his life.

Digging Up the Marrow is the best kind of indie film—it comes from something real, takes the energies of a ragtag crew of obsessives, and ultimately finds its audience among similar obsessives. Even if your take on the film is negative, Adam Green’s work is inspiring, if only for how he got it from script to a 6am screening for a bunch of numb butts.

#digging up the marrow #Adam Green #Alex Pardee #Horror Art #Horror Film #Indie Horror #Ray Wise #BNAT

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a-nerds-ponderings-blog · 7 years

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SuperHero Low-Down

March 19 – April 16

SUPERGIRL

Season 2: Episode 16 – Star-Crossed (Part 1)

A new villain comes to National City, putting Supergirl on high alert. Meanwhile, Winn's girlfriend, Lyra, gets Winn in trouble with the law. Maggie attempts to help Winn but old loyalties get in the way. The Music Meister attacks Supergirl.

What is the rule that is always broken in television? Do not keep secrets, do not lie… they always come out in the end. This episode is based around Kara’s discovery of who Mon-El really is, and her reaction to it all. Of course she is upset about his true identity and finds she cannot handle the truth. In his defense though, would she have given him half a chance to prove himself or change had he told her who he was in the beginning? It is somewhat a catch 22 in this situation. If he had told her in the beginning, her hatred for his planet and his race would have influenced her decision. But now that she knows of his identity and that he lied, she is even angrier. He was doomed from the start no matter his decision. The ending scene was very interesting and made the audience excited for the musical crossover with The Flash. That was certainly a treat.

Season 2: Episode 17 – Distant Sun

A large bounty is put out on Supergirl and aliens from far and near attack National City intent on taking out the woman of steel. Alex and Maggie run into Maggie’s ex-girlfriend, Emily, who is in town for a week. Hank gets an interesting order from President Marsdin.

First of all, the sub-plot with Alex and Maggie and Maggie’s ex, did not have to be in this episode. Yes t is good to ad personal plots to a story, but there was so much going on this episode, that it did not need to be put in. But having said that, it was interesting how Alex shrugged off Maggie’s past and said that she loved that Maggie wasn’t so perfect after all. That shows signs of a really lasting relationship. Having said that… this was a great episode. We see Mon-El actually making a decision regarding Kara, and we also see that she believes in him more than she thought she did. This brings them closer together and we see just how different Mon-El is from his parents after all. It will be interesting to see just what the consequences Hank will face for defying the President’s orders, and it was also interesting to see the final reveal of the episode. This should lead up to a really great season ending when the show comes back. All in all, this was a good episode, it touched on personal feelings, personal relationships, and for the most part had happy endings. But it also gave us some foreshadow for the future.

NEXT WEEK (2 week Break)

Season 2: Episode 18 – Ace Reporter

Lena’s ex-boyfriend, Jack Spheer, comes to National City to unveil his big breakthrough in nano-technology, which has the potential to eradicate all diseases. Lena asks Kara to attend Jack’s conference with her for support. When Kara sees Snapper in attendance she’s inspired to tap back into her reporter skills and questions Jack on his discovery, which ultimately leads to a bigger investigation that puts everyone in danger.

THE FLASH

Season 3: Episode 17 – Duet (Part 2)

Barry and team are surprised when Mon-El and Hank Henshaw arrive on their Earth carrying a comatose Supergirl who was whammied by the Music Meister. Unable to wake her up, they turn to Team Flash to save her. However, the Music Meister surprises The Flash and puts him in a similar coma, one that Team Flash can't cure. Kara and Barry wake up without their powers in an alternate reality where life is like a musical and the only way to escape is by following the script, complete with singing and dancing, to the end. This episode began in Supergirl S02E16.

What a cute crossover. This episode really fit well with Barry and Kara. It would not have worked for the Legends or for Oliver. Though we got some musical cameos from Malcolm Merlin and from Professor Stein. It really was just a fun way to cross over the two shows, but it gave us some depth. It helped to fix relationship problems in both shows that needed a quick fix as opposed to drawing things out completely. And as they said a few times in the episode “things are much easier in a musical” The troubles they had in the musical were compelling and interesting to see Iris and Mon-El as a couple. There was also an odd call back to early seasons of Arrow, as Mon-El was Merlin’s son, and his name was Tommy. It was an interesting wink to the past, and could it also be a hint for the future? That could be interesting. And as much as all the songs were catchy, who else was humming “I’m your Super friend” for a few hours after the episode was over. This was a really fun episode, and we got to see a lot of the cast from both shows exercise their musical talents… who knew Cisco could sing like that. It is odd to look at this week’s episode of Supergirl and the Flash, and then the heavy episode of Arrow. It would be interesting to see if this was done purposely, so the entire week was not heavy.

Season 3: Episode 18 – Abra Kadabra

The Flash battles Abra Kadabra, a villain from Earth-19, who makes him a tempting offer – release him and Abra Kadara will reveal Savitar’s true identity. Desperate to save Iris, Barry considers taking the deal but Gypsy breaches in to capture the villain for her own reasons and during the melee, Abra Kadabra manages to escape. Barry is furious that Gypsy interfered but Gypsy refuses to back down, forcing Cisco to take sides. Julian is still a bit cold towards Caitlin but when she is severely injured in a battle with Gypsy, he rushes to her side.

Talk about heartless. Abra Kadabra not only gives Barry an offer that he could not take without suffering heavy guilt, but the speech about “now I get to kill her too” at the end was horrible. It really made you nod when Gypsy took him away for his execution. Poor Cisco, he can never catch a break when it comes to women. He was really into Gypsy, but we know his loyalties must lie with his friends, and the way she reacted, that was too much for him. The way that Julian and Caitlin were cold towards each other, we knew something was going to happen. And then when they started to rekindle their relationship, we knew the reveal was just waiting around the corner. The minute she said “I would rather die than take off my necklace” we all knew that Julian would not let her die, and that things would get a little “frosty” by the end of the episode. So now we have the impending doom of Iris on our hands, and Killer Frost’s return. It will be interesting to see what will come of all of this in the weeks to come.

NEXT WEEK (2 week break)

Season 3: Episode 19 – The Once and Future Flash

Barry travels to the future to find out Savitar’s still unknown identity in the hopes of saving Iris. Upon his arrival in 2024, Barry encounters future versions of his Team Flash friends, who, following the death of Iris, have become very different people, profoundly impacted by their showdown with Savitar. It will be up to Barry to infuse a sense of hope back into the team, as he proves to be hero his future friends have been waiting for. Meanwhile, back in 2017, the hunt for Killer Frost continues.

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

Season 2: Episode 15 – Fellowship of the Spear

The Legends must devise a plan to retrieve the last remaining fragments of the Spear of Destiny from the Legion of Doom. They find themselves in France at the height of World War I faced with the knowledge that they must destroy the mystical object. They enlist the help of a soldier by the name of John Ronald Reuel Tolkin and find that the Spear is leading them into the heart of the war. Meanwhile, the team must all resist the temptation of the Spear, and the return of a former teammate.

Is this show trying to say that J.R.R. Tolkin got the idea for Lord of the Rings from the Legends? That was completely brilliant. The Ring Easter eggs were far too many to remember. One being that Rory’s heat blast was able to reveal writing on the spear, or that it had a lure to everyone to use it. It would have been perfect if someone like Ray called the spear “my precious” but it would have been too on the nose. This episode was not only entertaining for the Tolkin moments, but we also see that the Legends are not heroes, as they let the spear of destiny slip into the hands of the Legion of Doom. As the credits roll the audience gets a bad feeling for the following week’s episode, and we wonder how the Legends will come out of this situation.

Season 2: Episode 16 – Doomworld

After obtaining the Spear of Destiny, the Legion of Doom rewrites reality, leaving the Legends changed, perhaps forever. Frightfully, the Legends’ and the world’s hopes rest with Rory, but being the “hero” is not easy for him. Meanwhile, there is tension within the Legion of Doom and the reason why the Spear of Destiny needs to be destroyed is revealed.

And everything has gone to hell. It was interesting to see how the Legion of Doom had changed things. Luckily hey were not that different from the ‘normal’ world, except for no one knowing who they were. It was a little nerve wracking that it was up to Rory to save everyone. It made things difficult though, as he was the one who betrayed them in the first place. It makes things challenging, such as trusting Rory, considering he was the reason the Legion got the spear in the first place. It was ironic that out of all the Legends, Stein was the one who put up the most resistance to the memory retrieval. Though it was entertaining to see him as a lackie for the Legion, we were almost heartbroken to see him trying to thwart the Legends. This seems like the first half of the 2-part season finale, and you start to wonder how they are going to get out of this. Also, Rip making cakes was very entertaining, but really what do you do when you’ve given up hope? Luckily Gideon was there to slap him across the face.

Season 2: Episode 17 – Aruba

As the Legends are about to take off for their next destination, a massive timequake rocks the ship. In order to try and fix what has happened, they are forced to break the one cardinal rule of time travel. But if they are able to destroy the spear, they will face the ultimate consequence.

Every time travel show talks about the cardinal rule… do not go back in your own timeline. Each mythology has its own consequences and reasons why, but the main point is… don’t do it. In Legends of Tomorrow, we have something called a time quake, and they cause some major damage. In this season finale we see the Legends go back to World War 1 and try to intervene with their other selves and destroy the spear before the Legion gets it. But they are trying to do it without interacting with their other selves. But… in true Legends fashion, they fail miserably. Although technically they are aboritions, it was heartbreaking when tragedy struck part of the team. And all Rory wanted to do was go to Aruba for some drinks. It was interesting that when the two teams of Legends meet up, the former version assumed that the current versions were the Legion in disguise. Sara’s line of “ok, who’s wearing me” was certainly chuckle-worthy. This season finale was really well-done, well-paced, and well-written. It makes you beg for the next season to come back very soon.

ARROW

Season 5: Episode 17 – Kapiushon

Prometheus goes to great lengths to break Oliver. Meanwhile, in the flashbacks, Anatoly becomes worried about Oliver’s increasingly violent tendencies, which come to a head in a brutal confrontation.

This episode did a great job tying together the past and the present, with one final message to Oliver. It is the confession we waited the whole episode for him to give to Chase, and to admit to himself. How heartbreaking was it when he came back to the team and just looked completely defeated. It is difficult to see a hero fall, but one as strong as Oliver, defeated by his own truth… that was very difficult to see. It was also interesting to see that this episode was solely surrounded around Oliver, not the Green Arrow, not the team, but Oliver himself. It was a way to show who and what he really is. Or at least according to Chase. It was so heart-wrenching to see him broken and defeated. It really was a change of pace from the Supergirl / Flash crossover this week. It almost balanced out the silliness of the other shows with the seriousness and tragedy of this episode.

Season 5: Episode 18 – Disbanded

Diggle and Felicity are shocked by Oliver’s decision to call on the Bratva to help take down Prometheus. Concerned the Bratva may overstep, Diggle has a hard conversation with Oliver about what happens if things go south. Meanwhile, Felicity learns something shocking at Helix.

Could you imagine staring at your enemy in the eye and having to be polite to him, even though he just finished torturing you for six days? It showed strength, but also defeat in Oliver to have to do this with Chase. We have seen him beaten before, we have seen him injured and mutilated before. But this was the first time we saw Oliver mentally defeated. He wanted to end everything, disband the team and let Chase get away with his torture, all because he took the burden of it all on himself. Luckily for Oliver, Diggle is not ready to step aside, and neither is Felicity. This episode was really well-done, tying the past and the present together, also showing the more human side of Oliver… showing that he can have flaws too. It also reminded us that Diggle has been there with Oliver right from the start, he’s been around since Oliver started the crusade, and is not willing to give up without a fight. In the end Oliver sees reason. Though, it is thanks to Felicity who “discovers” the video footage of Chase as Prometheus. It looks as though we have a happy ending coming, but we all know this is Arrow, and we’re not happy unless something is going wrong. Only time will tell.

NEXT WEEK (2 week break)

Season 5: Episode 19 – Dangerous Liaisons

Oliver, Team Arrow, ARGUS and the SCPD kick off a citywide manhunt for Adrian Chase. Helix tells Felicity they have a way to find Chase but they will need something big, and illegal, from her in return.

Until Next time...

Thanks for watching

#supergirl #the flash #legends of tomorrow #arrow #dc comics #weekly review

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theseventhhex · 7 years

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The Courtneys Interview

The Courtneys

Photo by Alex Volk

The Courtneys drift back to the sound of the early '90s, drawing from strong influences including Teenage Fanclub, Pavement, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, and The Clean. Courtney Loove's dreamy guitar riffs add a timeless powerpop element to the punk backbone formed by Sydney Koke's driving basslines, while drummer/lead singer Jen Twynn Payne delivers heartfelt lyrics with a powerful vocal style. These components come together through a passionate collaborative songwriting process to deliver a special blend of fuzzy "artisanal grunge". On their latest release, the trio share refreshing shared experiences accompanied by flourishing arrangements that resonate with beguiling appeal… We talk to the trio about not planning too far ahead, taking in their surroundings and ramen…

TSH: How do you feel the band’s latest album ties in with the evolution of The Courtneys sound?

Courtney: I think it’s a pretty natural evolution! We didn't force any particular mandate on it.

TSH: Do you feel you were able to channel specific experiences into this album?

Jen: Definitely! Lyrically most of the songs on this album cover different moments in my life over the span of when the album was written.

TSH: How liberating is it to have a band outlook of doing everything with no expectations?

Sydney: I think you can only make good art if you stop worrying what people will think about your creation. It's the only way to express an honest idea or emotion.

Courtney: I think this outlook can apply to life in general. I try to do things I enjoy doing each day, and not plan too far ahead.

TSH: Is it also valuable to not overthink things?

Sydney: I don't believe in overthinking. We will work on the arrangement of a song for years until it feels done. However, it's useful to remember that imperfections give personality, so we try to limit how much time we can spend on certain things, like mixing.

Courtney: Sometimes you have to labour intensely over something to achieve the unlaboured feel. It's very difficult!

TSH: What does it mean to you to be so immersed within music?

Sydney: I will always be in bands, even when my hair is silver like J Mascis. It's a constant in my life and I would feel totally weird without it.

TSH: Whilst forming ‘Minnesota’, which part of the song would you say required most focus?

Sydney: It came together really smoothly, it was an easy one. It kind of wrote itself through jamming as I recall.

Courtney: Singing the chorus together.

TSH: What sort of motivations do you draw on to pen a track like ‘25’?

Sydney: That song was inspired by both Sinead O Connor and War on Drugs.

Courtney: With this one we wanted to resist the urge to overly structure the initial jam it was based on, and have the final instrumentation stay loose and free. This allowed room for the vocals to really drive the song. The bass and guitar appear to be overlapping each other at random but it was all very carefully decided. We've taken this approach in other songs we've written, like Nu Sundae, so we were probably motivated by that.

TSH: Furthermore, what are the origins of ‘Iron Deficiency’?

Sydney: I forget how we got the idea for the music, but as I understand the lyrics are about a bunch of the things that were going on in Jen's life at the time.

TSH: What were the most challenging features in bringing together this record?

Sydney: Mixing it was really hard. We wanted to find someone who would add something that was beyond what we could imagine, and that meant some uncomfortable moments where we really resisted the vision of the engineer we were working with. Ultimately it was a collaboration, and we are so glad we trusted Vince to do his thing! We love how it sounds.

TSH: Does meeting new people and hearing new perspectives and opinions seep into your music much?

Sydney: We get negative and positive feedback. Most of the negative comes from people who don't understand about punk or grunge or types of music where you don't have to play perfectly to be good. I just feel bad for those people.

Courtney: It's hard to say about the music itself, but the lyrics are often inspired by people we've met or experiences on tour. I think we generally just take in our surroundings and then do our own thing because that's all we really can do.

Jen: I think meeting new people who I admire is one of the most motivating factors behind my lyric writing.

TSH: Do you feel touring is all about the little pleasures, bearing in mind the limited time you have to sight-see and take in of various landscapes, cultures etc.?

Sydney: Slurpees! Endless gas stations! A nice couch in the green room! For me the best little moment of tour is a lucky night when we get a hotel and it has a pool, or when we stay at someone's house and they are growing cool things in their backyard, like avocados. Can't grow avocados in Canada.

Courtney: Meeting new people and seeing new places is what it's all about. It can be a bit of a blur which is why I like to take pictures and write journal entries.

TSH: As you guys are constantly trying to push your own limits, do you feel the only pressure you put yourselves is purely personal?

Sydney: We definitely want to improve our skills, but more than that we just want to have fun. I took singing lessons for a while because singing in key is more fun than feeling embarrassed because you are off.

Courtney: We try to push ourselves a bit when we are writing songs, because it's boring if you don't. But we also just like to keep our vibe pretty casual.

TSH: What’s your favourite type of ramen?

Sydney: Kara Miso.

Courtney: Cheese.

Jen: Cheese.

TSH: What can you tell us about your experiences working on a true crime documentary about serial killers?

Jen: I loved that job a lot. That being said, I sometimes felt like we were exploiting people's tragedy for entertainment and couldn't understand what motivated the victims' families to partake in the show. It made me really interested in pursuing some sort of justice related job - maybe one day!

TSH: What gets played most on your YouTube binges?

Sydney: Jen and I have a thing for videos about humanoid robots.

TSH: As you look ahead, what is your biggest drive?

Sydney: Touring cool places and meeting cool people!

The Courtneys - “Silver Velvet”

The Courtneys II

#Interview #The Courtneys

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