Guilty Pleasures Part I - Movies

What is a guilty pleasure?  Wikipedia (is there another unverified news source in the world I should be using?) says A guilty pleasure is something one enjoys and considers pleasurable despite feeling guilt for enjoying it. The "guilt" involved is sometimes simply fear of others discovering one's lowbrow or otherwise embarrassing tastes.  So when it comes to movies, there are plenty that I enjoy, yet don’t necessarily tell others about.  When people come over, I may remove these DVD’s from the visible shelf and make sure to replace them with Casablanca, To Kill a Mockingbird, & the Shawshank Redemption.  OK – while I may not actually do that, I do have a couple of guilty pleasure movies that I enjoy watching and re-watching without necessarily advertising the fact.

Sydney White:  I might as well say all Amanda Bynes movies although Sydney White is my favorite.  Well at least her old movies. I don’t know, there is something about the very easy to follow and innocent stories that Amanda Bynes movies seem to tell.  Who wouldn’t like a Snow White story set in college with the eventual outcast uprising of the “geeks”.  Yes its formula driven (OK unless you’re Inception or the Matrix, what isn’t…wait, don’t answer that).  I know she can’t stay the young idealist character (or age for that matter) forever – I just hope she doesn’t become another Lindsay Lohan whose early movies I also used to like as guilty pleasures (think Parent Trap and Herbie not post bat-sh*t crazy Lindsay).

Galaxy Quest:  I am a fan of Science Fiction movies and shows.  However, Galaxy Quest, which had a ridiculous Rock Monster and turned the volume up on classic science fiction stereotypes, really had the potential to be too campy and “silly”.  However, I found myself not just laughing (or more like chuckling) but really enjoying this movie.  The movie is about the cast of a space TV show who have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help.  It was almost nostalgic how they over-emphasized the stereotypes from the “red-shirted security guards who die in every episode to the fans of the show at a convention who ask questions of the actors like the show was real.  Although in this case, the fans were right.  As a side note, if you never seen William Shatner’s Get a Life skit on Saturday Night Live, go find it on YouTube.

Ready to Rumble: David Arquette & Scott Caan star as wrestling fans who follow around Jimmy King (Oliver Platt) and try to get him to resurrect his career and get his revenge on the wrestlers who did him wrong.  Ready to Rumble is NOT the Wrestler, which is a real movie about fake wrestling (see how I did that).  So, while the Wrestler is a much better film and a pleasure (not a guilty pleasure), Ready to Rumble is campy, poorly acted, immature jokes YET one that doesn’t make me think too hard and still comes away with the predictable and happy conclusion (I was going to write ending but…)

Midnight Madness: The movie featured an event called the “Great All-nighter” with college kids and it did not refer to any lust filled drink fest! OK I may have lost a whole generation brought up on American Pie & Superbad but hey, I was also brought up on Animal House and Porky’s and yet, I still enjoyed this movie.  It has the standard cliques (Nerds, Jocks, Sororities, etc) competing against each other in a cross-town scavenger hunt.  It also had Michael J. Fox in his movie debut (actually listed as Michael Fox in opening credits – but don’t worry he picked up the J. by the end credits.  The movie was cheesy but again, I am drawn back to the innocent fun (see the theme in my guilty pleasures).  The only thing that could have made it better is if Amanda Bynes was alive at the time to star in it.

Private Eyes: What, you never heard of this masterpiece?  Maybe not a popular movie and yes, it does star Mr. Furley (Don Knotts from Three’s Company) as a somewhat dimwitted Sherlock Holmes type character with his sidekick Tim Conway trying to solve a murder.  One of the re-occurring events of the movie are clues in the form of poems – that are supposed to rhyme by they don’t.  For example: Now you will see, I can do something right. I'm going to show you, a killer tonight. I want Phyllis to come to my chamber, and see. Who was the one, who murdered myself

So, as I look through this list, I notice that a common theme is simplistic, innocent movies that are just fun.  Maybe I don’t feel so guilty after all.

Honorable Mentions:  Big Trouble in Little China.  The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh

5 Greatest Pro-Wrestling Feuds of All Time

I am, and have always been, a pro-wrestling fan. Not many of my friends get it. They don’t understand when I say that it’s another form of a soap opera. These are the same people who ask me how I could like wrestling because it’s “fake”. Yet they don't seem to have any trouble liking movies or TV shows even though Wookies, ET and Superman are also “fake” (As well as the storyline for every Romantic comedy ever written). So it’s just become “one of those things”. When I see wrestling feuds today everything seems so rushed to me as compared to “the good old days” (did I just say that) when feuds built up and played out over time. With that said, I have listed my top 5 feuds of all time in the pro-Wrestling.

#5 Tommy "Wildfire" Rich vs. "Maddog" Buzz Sawyer

Many new fans may not recognize these names or possibly only know Tommy Rich as the guy from the Full Blooded Italians from ECW. But this was THE feud that got me into wrestling. I lived in NJ and got the superstation WTBS so I was able to watch Georgia Championship wrestling. These guys had a feud that lasted years and was as brutal and vicious as anything today in my opinion. This was also the time I thought that wrestling was “real”. I still remember seeing Sawyer hang Rich from the ropes with a rope and thinking OMG someone has to stop this. Yes, some of this may be nostalgic on my part, but from then on I was hooked on wrestling.

#4 The VonErichs vs. the Fabulous Freebirds

Before Michael Hayes became one of the creative guys behind Smackdown, he was a member of the Fabulous Freebirds. Hayes was part of a tag team which also included Buddy Roberts and Terry Gordy and was one of the first wrestlers to use entrance music on their way to the ring. Yes, wrestlers used to come to the ring with no music & no pyro. The Freebirds came into the Dallas area and were a much needed opponent for the popular Von Erich brothers (which is a tragic story that I won’t get into here – but Google it if you don’t know). The Von Erichs were so popular in Texas - think of John Cena (well if you’re a 15 year old girl) and then multiply it by 100. In Dallas it was the Von Erichs and then everyone else. Long story short, Hayes/Gordy turned on Kerry during a match with Ric Flair – and the next thing you know they were headlining and selling out arena after arena. It was an intense feud that finally introduced a worthy and believable opponent for the Von Erichs.

#3 The Four Horsemen vs. Dusty Rhodes

The Four Horsemen were IT! Without the Horsemen there would be no ‘nWo’, no “DX” no Fortune, no “Main Event Mafia” (OK I may be the only person who liked the Mafia). It was a band of stars (all champions) that came together to form the greatest stable in pro wrestling history. There were many iterations of the Horsemen (although I try to forget the Paul Roma era). My favorite is Flair, Arn, Tully & Luger (sorry Barry Windham you came a close second). Anyway, the horsemen feuded with all the good guys at the time - Sting, Nikita Koloff & most importantly a “pre polka dot” American Dream Dusty Rhodes. It was the common man vs. the jet flying, limousine riding…well you probably know the rest. My favorite matches were the “War Games” – although I always hated that the horsemen manager JJ Dillon was involved because you always knew he would be the guy who would submit.

#2 Austin vs. McMahon

You have to remember the context. The WWF was coming off cartoony characterizations and moving into the Attitude era. It lost two of its biggest stars to rival WCW (Hall & Nash) and was in desperate need of stars (and stars that wouldn’t leave). Enter the Ringmaster. Yes, Steve Austin, who was fired from WCW, entered the WWF as the Ringmaster managed by Ted Dibiase. Not only that, he was losing to Savio Vega - - -let me say that again, losing to Savio Vega. Coming off Austin’s King of the Ring win (and famous Austin 3:16 just kicked you’re a$$ speech) he started his climb to main event. It didn’t happen overnight, but once Austin got there, he needed a foil. Enter the evil Mr. McMahon. After the whole Brett Hart incident (Brett screwed Brett) McMahon embraced the villain within and was the perfect bad to Austin’s new version of good. What every day Joe didn’t want to flip off their boss? It was anti-authority and it was great. Austin vs. McMahon in my opinion (with a little bit of DX sprinkled in) was one of the main reasons that WWF finally overtook the sinking ship that was WCW.

#1 WWF vs. WCW (vs. NWA vs. AWA vs. WCCW vs...)

Newer viewers to wrestling may not understand how intense the “wars” between federations were. I am not talking about “fake” invasions or even the nWo vs. WCW intra company battles. The most talked about & publicized was the WCW vs. the WWF Monday night war. Eric Bischoff was giving away the results for Raw’s taped events on Nitro in advance. At one point, Tony Shiovanne told the audience that Mick Foley was going to win the WWF world title before it happened on TV (which ended up having the opposite than desired effect). Most importantly, this feud brought about the “pillaging of talent” where wrestlers would go the highest bidder and also brought about the guaranteed contracts and dreaded creative control. What amuses me is how much Vince McMahon complained about Ted Turner raiding his talent pool and how Vince (and WWF fans) forgot that they did the exact same thing during his national expansion (Hogan, Piper, JYD, basically everyone not named Tito Santana). However, what I miss is not only the Monday night War (I got tired of the constant bickering and don’t get me started on the “Nacho Man and Huckster) but really the existence of the territories. Multiple companies around the country offered fresh starts for talent and a way to re-invent themselves and not get stale within one company. It also provided the ability to learn different styles of wrestling and avoid “cookie cutter” looks and moves. I fear without this competition the biggest loser is the fans.

Honorable Mention:

Brett vs. Shawn (Montreal Screw Job), Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (Ripping the cross off during Pipers pit) & Sgt Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik