So, the week started out with me finally getting to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Not only did I enjoy it immensely, but I have no fanboy quibbles with it whatsoever. I can’t, however, say the same for my comic shop guy. He pointed out that the Howling Commandos exhibit shouldn’t have been in the Air & Space Museum, seeing as how Cap had nothing to do with air and/or space. Touche. Anyway, we’ve all seen the movie, so I’m not gonna dedicate too much time to that here.
I burned through as much premium cable as I could before Watchathon Week ended. I checked out True Detective solely because @OAFE made a Twitter reference about Alexandra Daddario’s breasts that I didn’t understand. Well, I’d also heard the show was good, yadda yadda yadda. As much as I enjoyed the characters and their struggles, I couldn’t follow the Yellow King case to save my life. Am I dumb? Did anyone else have this problem? I could watch another entire season of Marty and Rust, but I couldn’t give two shits about the case they’re working on.
It turns out that House of Lies was, in fact, a part of Watchathon Week; they must’ve added it after I was already watching Girls. I finally finished the second season, and got about 4 episodes into season 3 before I passed out and Watchathon Week ended. I have a strange relationship with House of Lies. When the show premiered, I watched the pilot on Showtime’s website. At the time, I thought “Nobody’s as diabolical as Marty Kaan.” Then, I met someone who was. And he tried to take me down. I’m not even being dramatic. It was at my last job, and this guy just didn’t care who he hurt. He was out for himself. So, he threw me under the bus. My only solace is that I took him down with me. So, now when I watch House of Lies, I’ve gone from disbelieving Marty to loathing him. Still can’t fight the fact that he’s so damn entertaining, though.
Speaking of Don Cheadle, I’m not trying to constantly promote Arsenio, but I thought this was a funny clip:
I caught HBO’s Silicon Valley on YouTube, mainly because it was a Mike Judge show. Now, I read Fast Company, and I like startup culture, but that show did absolutely nothing for me. Maybe I’m just not into the tech world enough to care. Guy creates music site with hidden potential, which sparks a bidding war amongst industry giants. I get that much, but it just wasn’t funny enough, especially considering it had TJ Miller and Kumail Nanjiani. I’d say I’ll give it another shot, but I don’t have HBO, so I guess it’ll have to wait until the next Watchathon Week.
Wrestlemania 30 was this week, and the day that I’ve dreaded finally happened: The Undertaker’s streak ended. If you’re not a wrestling fan, The Undertaker is a relic of a bygone age – when wrestlers had gimmicks and stage names. He dresses like an undertaker/goth priest/redneck biker, doesn’t say much, and has been an institution for almost 25 years. He’s my favorite wrestler because he’s the only one who harkens back to the old days. If he debuted today, his name would simply be Mark Calaway, and he’d have nothing special about him. Anyway, he had never lost at Wrestlemania, and his streak was 21-0. Now, before I get the people on here with the whole “wrestling isn’t real” argument, I know that. I’m not a moron. Still, within the confines of a storyline, you have to admit that a 21-year gimmick is kinda impressive. In recent years, Taker really only came out for Wrestlemania, and then spent the rest of the year in physical therapy. I mean, he’s a 49 year old man who’s been taking abuse for 30 years. That’s got to take a toll on a body. Folks have been expecting his retirement for years now, but I don’t think anyone actually believed he’d lose Sunday night. All eyes are on what his next move might be, as Sunday may have been The Dead Man’s last match. If that’s the truth, I know I’ll be sad, as he was a big part of my childhood. This guy took it harder than most:
Sadly, I have to make a correction from last week. It turns out that the NERF Nuke was, in fact, an April Fools joke. So, there will be no thermonuclear foam warfare in the near future. Sad face emoticon.
Links I Loved
Captain America is a Traitor, and Other Narrative Problems in the Winter Soldier – Reappropriate
Top 15 80′s and 90′s Board Games – Crooked Ninja Turtle Gang
11 Essential Ultimate Warrior Items Every Fan Should Have – UnderScoopFire!
That’s It, I’m Done with NECA – The Robot’s Pajamas
It’s the Mall Showdown: Old Malls vs. New Malls – Retroist
In just a week since the announcement of David Letterman’s retirement, Stephen Colbert has been announced as the next host of The Late Show. As I said last week, I was always Team Leno, so I’m not quite sure how this announcement affects me. I’ve reached a point where I don’t really watch any late night talk shows anymore because the best stuff will be online the next morning anyway. So, it’s a bit of an antiquated model. Still, this is a big move for Colbert, whom I’ve always enjoyed when I caught his show (as opposed to Stewart, who I find smug and insufferable). I’ll definitely check out his first night and, who knows, this might be the show to make me tune into late night talk again. The Late Show doesn’t have the same legacy as The Tonight Show, but it’s still a big deal to be following in Letterman’s footsteps. There were very few people on my shortlist, and Colbert was right up there, so I’m not disappointed. I look forward to seeing what he brings to late night, and for that, Stephen Colbert had the West Week Ever.
Undertaker losing the streak was a big thing for any wrestling fan. I have truly never seen an audience reaction like that in my life, it was like people were watching an execution. As you said he was and is a product of an era long past, characters rarely last long these days which is unfortunate.
The biggest problem with the streak ending was that it was never promoted like this would be The End. It just seemed like a run of the mill Wrestlemania match, and he’d probably end it next year. It’s always “next year”. So, the buildup didn’t really match the payoff, and that’s what took us all by surprise. That said, if that’s what WWE wanted, they sure got it, because NO ONE was expecting that loss.
No Nerf Nuke?!?! Someone will make it now. Again, another fine West Week ever, sir!
One of your best yet!
I’m curious if Colbert will stay “in character” on the new show.
I guess WWE planned to shock people because as you said there was almost no (well no different than any other year when someone else contended for it) build up to it. No one was thinking he was going to lose to a hired hand on top of that.
When that three count hit I was like, ok that’s weird … wait what? HOLY SHIT! Honestly probably one of the biggest surprises ever in wrestling, that shock is going to be hard to beat.
Quick thoughts…
1. I still need to do a True Detective marathon. Maybe next week.
2. Didn’t realize Silicon Valley started up. Gotta give that a watch on HBO Go too.
@Lamar – I really hope they make that Nuke. It doesn’t seem like it’d be THAT hard to make, and I’m dying to test one out!
@Ponderiss – aww, thanks for the compliment. To be honest, this was one that I almost didn’t have it in me to write, so I’m glad it came out OK.
@Dex – I’m hearing he’s gonna be himself, which might be odd. We don’t know what “real” Stephen is like, but I’m curious
@Jon – I hate that I missed the match. I watched last year because I thought he had an actual shot at losing, but when he didn’t, I figured they’d let him get up to 25 if he wanted to. I need to find that match online somewhere. I don’t even know how it works now that there’s the WWE Network.
@Timdogg – it’s a great show, for the characters, but the case is convoluted. You can also watch Silicon Valley on Youtube. HBO’s been doing that for a lot of their premieres lately.