No Holds Barred (1989, directed by Thomas J. Wright)

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

In No Holds Barred, Hulk Hogan plays a professional wrestler who is best-known for his mustache, his thinning blonde hair, and for ripping his shirt in half when he climbs in the ring. Hulk Hogan is playing himself except that everyone in the movie calls him Rip Thomas. Why is Hogan renamed Rip Thomas? It seems strange because No Holds Barred features “Mean Gene” Okerlund and Jesse “The Body” Ventura as themselves and there’s nothing about Rip that’s any different from Hulk Hogan’s own wrestling persona.

Rip is the World Wrestling Federation Champion and is loved by fans across the globe. Rip may be fierce in the ring but outside of the ring, he loves children and is devoted to looking after his younger brother, Randy (Mark Pellegrino). Tom Brell (Kurt Fuller), the evil owner of World Television Network, wants to harness the star power of Rip but, when Rip refuses to sign with WTN, Brell goes his own way and hires ex-convict Zeus (Tiny Lister) to star in The Battle Of The Tough Guys.

Rip still wants nothing to do with Brell, not even when Brell sends Samantha Moore (Joan Severance) to seduce him. In fact, Rip is such a beacon of goodness that he brings Samantha over to his side. But when Zeus puts Randy in the hospital, Rip has no choice but to seek revenge in the ring.

No Holds Barred is a movie with an identity crisis. It’s a pro wrestling movie that was made to capitalize on Hulkamania and a lot of the humor was meant to appeal to the kids who were a huge part of Hogan’s fanbase but it’s also a movie in which people die, Samantha is nearly raped, and Randy is crippled by Zeus. The movie lacks the sense of fun that has made professional wrestling a worldwide phenomena. The most surprising thing about No Holds Barred is that Hulk Hogan has very little screen presence. I don’t think anyone would expect him to be a great actor but he also shows little of the charisma that made him a phenomena back in the day. Especially when compared to the ferocious Tiny Lister, Hogan is just boring. Maybe that’s the difference between Rip Thomas and Hulk Hogan.

David Paymer has a small role in No Holds Barred, playing a nervous television executive. Out of the cast, Paymer was the only one who later went on to be nominated for an Oscar and Jesse Ventura was the only one to later be elected governor of a state, at least so far. Hulk Hogan’s only 71. He’s still got time.

Counterpunch (2013, directed by Kenneth Castillo)

Posted on January 9, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Emilio Manrique (Alvaro Orlando) was born in the part of Miami that is never featured in any tourism commercials. With an absentee father (Steven Bauer) and an addict mother (Yennifer Behrens), Emilio struggled while growing up, getting in trouble and spending time in a mental hospital before he was given a good home by his uncle (Oscar Torre) and grandmother (Ivonne Coll). Boxing provides an escape for Enrique, a chance to make something out of himself. But few promoters are willing to take a chance on him, not with his criminal background and rumored mental health woes. Only Talia Portillo (Camila Banus), who is eager to prove herself as Miami’s first female boxing promoter, is willing to support Emilio but can even she get him a fight against the champion (Jilon VanOver).

From what I understand, Counterpunch was inspired by Alvaro Orlando’s actual life story. (Along with director Kenneth Castillo, he’s credited with writing the film’s screenplay.) Almost every boxing cliche is present in Counterpunch but I appreciated that the film took a look at not just how Emilio’s childhood set him on the path to becoming a boxer but also at what it did to him mentally. As fearsome as Emilio’s opponents are in the ring, the greatest threat to his success of a boxer comes from his own inner demons. Alvaro Orlando is believable as Emilio, which makes sense since it’s his story! Danny Trejo and Steven Bauer both show up in small roles. Trejo plays Emilio’s counselor and he gives a heartfelt performance, playing a character who doesn’t seem like he’s too far off from who Trejo actually is.

Counterpunch is a good boxing movie, even if it doesn’t exactly rewrite the rules of the genre.

Great Moments In Comic Book History #38: The Cover of Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

“You always have all the answers, Green Arrow … well, what’s your answer to that!?”

Green Lantern and Green Arrow were always mismatched as friends. Green Lantern was an upstanding citizen of the universe while Green Arrow was the former millionaire who now fighting for the working man. In Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (August, 1971), they discovered that the Green Arrow’s arrows were being used by junkies to commit crimes so that they could pay for their habit. They were buying the arrows from Speedy, who was the Green Arrow’s own sidekick! Speedy had gotten hooked on heroin.

Along with a three-issue arc of The Amazing Spider-Man in which Harry Osborne developed a pill addiction, Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 was one of the first comic books to deal with drug addiction and it featured one of its own heroes getting hooked on a very real drug. Both artist Neal Adams and writer Denny O’Neil wanted to deal with the issue realistically. Neal Adams’s cover, featuring not just paraphernalia but Speedy in the act of shooting up, was considered to be very risky in 1971. Today, it’s the moment that DC finally made the move into exploring more mature storylines.

Previous Great Moments In Comic Book History:

Glass Jaw (2018, directed by Jeff Celentano)

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

When the daughter of his trainer dies of a drug overdose at his house, world light heavyweight champion Travis Austin (Lee Kholafai) takes the blame and goes to prison, even though the drugs were brought into his house by his sparring partner, Joe (Brandon Sklenar).

After four years of being incarcerated, Travis is released into a brand new world. His wife (Korrina Rico), who waited for his release and only cheated on him once in a moment of weakness, now works as a waitress and lives in a small apartment. Joe is now not only the light heavyweight champion but also refuses to help Travis get back on his feet. Travis finally ends up working at a gym, owned by the cantankerous Frank Maloney (Mark Rolston). It’s a tough life but an unexpected opportunity gives Travis a chance to win back his title.

Glass Jaw pretty much lost me as soon as Travis decided to take the rap and go to prison for something that Joe was responsible for. Being loyal is one thing but being stupid is something else and, by taking the fall, Travis put his wife in a terrible position. The film had all of the usual boxing cliches but the Big Fight at the end was strangely anti-climatic, even if both Kholafai and Sklenar looked credible while they were throwing punches at each other.

The best performance in the film was delivered by Jon Gries, who had a small role as Travis’s alcoholic father. I would have liked for the entire movie to have been about his character.

It’s Elvis Presley’s Birthday!

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Since today is Elvis Presley’s birthday, I’m going to share this photograph that my grandfather took in 1958, of Elvis reporting for his induction into the army. As far as I know, this picture has never been published anywhere other than on this site and my own personal blog.

Game Review: Get There On Time! (2024, Leticia Fox)

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

You’re awake! Your day has just begun! Can you get there on time!?

Get There On Time! is a game that I think everyone can relate to. Each day, you wake up. You are determined to get there on time. Where is there? It doesn’t matter. You just have to get there on time. Can you do it?

Get There On Time! is short and simple. It’s a game in that you are given a selection of options but, just as in real life, some times it doesn’t matter how many options you are given. This really is more of an existential joke than a traditional game, with each choice leading to the inevitable punchline. But it’s a joke that everyone can relate to.

Click here to play Get There On Time!

The Challenger (2015, directed by Kent Moran)

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Jaden Miller (Kent Moran, who also directed) is a former honor student who threw away his scholarship to a private school when he got into a fight while defending another student. Having dropped out of high school, Jaden now works as an auto mechanic in the Bronx. When he and his mother (S. Epatha Merkerson) are evicted from their crummy townhouse, Jaden tries to make extra money by becoming a professional boxer. As the “Bronx Boy,” he becomes a local hero and eventually, he wins the chance to challenge the light heavyweight champion of the world (Justin Hartley).

A by-the-numbers boxing movie, The Challenger was the final film of Michael Clarke Duncan and he’s the best thing about the movie. Duncan plays Duane Taylor, the former boxing trainer who dropped out of the spotlight after one of his boxer threw a fight. Duane agrees to train Jaden because he has a secret connection to both Jaden and his adoptive mother. Clarke, with his powerful voice and his infectious laugh, is close-to-perfect in the role and he keeps things interesting, even when the movie sinks into an ocean of cliches. The Challenger was released thee years after Duncan’s tragic death and the end credits feature behind-the-scenes footage of a friendly Duncan smiling and laughing with the film’s crew. The movie may be imperfect but it serves as a tribute to a talented actor who passed away too young.

The Great White Hope (1970, directed by Martin Ritt)

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

The year is 1910 and the sports world is in a panic. For the first time, a black man has won the title of the heavyweight champion of the world. Jack Jefferson (James Earl Jones) had to go to Australia because no American city would agree to host the fight but he came out of it victorious. The proud and outspoken Jefferson finds himself targeted by both the white establishment and black activists who claim that Jefferson has not done enough for his community.

It’s not just Jefferson’s success as a boxer that people find scandalous. It’s also that the married Jefferson has a white mistress, a socialite named Eleanor Brachman (Jane Alexander, in her film debut). While boxing promoters search for a “great white hope” who can take the title from Jefferson, the legal authorities attempt to arrest Jefferson for violating the Mann Act by supposedly taking Eleanor across state lines for “immoral purposes.” Jefferson and Eleanor end up fleeing abroad but even then, their relationship is as doomed as Jefferson’s reign as the heavyweight champ.

Based on a Pulitzer-winning stage play by Howard Sackler, The Great White Hope features Jones and Alexander recreating the roles for which they both won Tonys. Both Jones and Alexander would go on to receive Oscar nominations for their work in the film version. It was the first nomination for Alexander and, amazingly, it was the only nomination that Jones would receive over the course of his career. (It surprises me that he wasn’t even nominated for his work in Field Of Dreams.) Both Jones and Alexander give powerful performances, with Jones dominating every scene as the proud, defiant, and often very funny Jack Jefferson. Jones may not have had a boxer’s physique but he captured the attitude of a man who knew he was the best and who mistakenly believed that would be enough to overcome a racist culture. (Speaking of racist, legendary recluse Howard Hughes reportedly caught the film on television and was so offended by the sight of Jones kissing Alexander that he thought about buying NBC to make sure that the movie would never be aired again.) Hal Holbrook, Chester Morris, Moses Gunn, Marcel Dalio, and R.G. Armstrong all do good work in small roles.

Unfortunately, The Great White Hope still feels like a filmed stage play, despite the attempts made to open up the action. Martin Ritt was a good director of actors but the boxing scenes are never feel authentic and the middle section of the film drags. Jones and Alexander keep the film watchable but The Great White Hope is never packs as strong of a punch as its main character.

Game Review: Re-Election Campaign (2024, by Orange)

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Re-Election Campaign is a Choose Your Own Adventure-style work of Interactive Fiction. You are Jesse Jordan, the mayor of Cougar Valley, Washington. You have been mayor for the last four years and you’re planning on being mayor for the next four and for a long time after that.

But first, can you win reelection? Getting more votes than your friend Bob shouldn’t be a problem. But what about Marie Eckles, the wealthy reform candidate who keeps highlighting what a terrible mayor you’ve been? Do you do what you have to do to raise the money to out-advertise her? Or do you just challenge her to a duel? Or do you do something that is potentially even worse to secure your victory?

I don’t want to spoil the game but Re-Election Campaign has so many options and so many different outcomes that its one that you really do have to play over and over again to get the full story. You can either play this quickly for fun (and I enjoyed seeing what would happen whenever I made an obviously bad decision) or you can do a deep dive and discover just how crazy things can get when politics and power are concerned. I really enjoyed discovering a new aspect of the story every time that I played. It takes more than a few run-throughs to really discover who Jesse Jordan really is. Nothing is what it initially seems and I actually was taken by surprise when the truth was eventually revealed. Well-written and frequently very funny, Re-Election Campaign is one of the best IF games that I’ve played in a while.

Click here to play Re-Election Campaign.

Chip of the Flying U (1939, directed by Ralph Staub)

Posted on January 5, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

In this B-western, Johnny Mack Brown plays Chip Bennett, the foreman of the Flying U Ranch. The ranch is owned by J.G. Whitmore (Forrest Taylor) and his daughter (Doris Weston), who has just returned from college and who has eyes for Dusty (Bob Baker), a singing ranchhand.

Ed Duncan (Anthony Warde) and his gang are in the arms smuggling business. To make their business a success, they need access to the ranch, which sits on the shore of a lake. Knowing that Chip would never let them take over, Duncan tries to frame Chip for a bank robbery and murder. Chip responds by kidnapping two of Duncan’s men, leading to a final and explosive shootout.

Chip of the Flying U is a western that doesn’t seem to know what era it’s supposed to be taking place in. Chip, Duncan, and all of the other ranch hands dress like they’re in the late 1800s. Doris Weston dresses like she’s just stepped out of a 1930s photoshoot. Duncan is trying to smuggle hand grenades, which were invented in 1908 but not commonly used until World War I. The movie’s time period is all over the place but that was frequently the case with the B-westerns of the 30s. Shot on studio backlots and for a very low budget, these films were not concerned with historical accuracy. Instead, they were about shootouts and a few songs. Chip of the Flying U offers up both, along with Fuzzy Knight as the comedic sidekick who turns out to be very good with a rifle.

With lots of horse chases and bloodless shoot-outs and not too much romance, this movie may seem creaky by today’s standards but probably thrilled the kids who caught while spending an afternoon at the movies in 1939. Today, the appeal of movies like this is that the good guys are unquestionably good and the bad guys are unquestionably bad. They remind us of a simpler time that may have never existed but we all hope it did.