About Me 0128: Whos Making Money

It doesn’t feel right.

Ted Dibiase had a good little match on WWE SmackDown this past Friday night against Tyson Kidd. Teddy looked good in the ring and had the crowd behind him. He’s got a great smile and a good look.

He seems to have it all.

And, yet it just does not feel right.

The smile seems forced. His entrance theme, proclaiming “I come from money,” is more suited for a heel than a baby face and so far there’s not been much going for Ted besides his short-lived heat with former tag team partner Cody Rhodes.

Let’s face it. Ted is not a face. It‘s not him.

One razor sharp glare from Ted, along with that emotionless scowl that we are so accustomed to seeing on his face, that is what I expect from him. That’s what suits him.

Instead, we’re getting this watered down Alex Riley push that so far has done a whole lot of nothing for Dibiase.

Actually, when I think of Ted, he does remind me of Riley, in terms of his overall push and what he brings to the ring. Although Ted seems more fundamentally sound than Alex in his skill set, the truth is they’re both young with generic gimmicks and have become nothing more than cookie cutter WWE Superstars.

Ted’s initial face turn from Cody was indeed very reminiscent of Riley’s turn on The Miz, but with one huge difference.

Riley’s was well timed and very well done, while Ted’s was just convoluted and weak in the execution. Despite that, Ted’s star has not exactly fallen on SmackDown.

Of course, it hasn't risen much either.

While Ted is much better as a heel, another problem exists for him on the Friday night program.
Ted’s heel gimmick is that of the arrogant, cocky heel who’s better than everyone else and is supremely confident in his ability. That’s good, it does work for him and he plays the role nicely. The problem is, that character is already being portrayed in a sense by Cody Rhodes, who is currently getting a main event push against Randy Orton.

It’s basically one of those “this town ain’t big enough for the two of us” situations.

If WWE creative—arguably two words that do not always belong together—insist on making Ted a baby face then something needs to change.

First off, the music needs to go. Again, it does not fit now, as WWE is attempting to move Dibiase past the spoiled rich kid gimmick that made him so hated in the first place. So, how do you separate him from the shadow of his old man’s gimmick?

Perhaps the most obvious way is the best way. If Junior is now face, maybe Senior should now turn heel.

Ted Sr. could be disappointed in his son’s progress, especially when comparing him to Cody Rhodes, the man he turned on in the first place. Disgusted at Junior for not achieving his full potential, he could even threaten to cut the young Superstar out of the will.

How would a newly minted baby face respond to a threat such as this? “You know what? Keep your money. You’ve been holding that over my head my whole life. I’m making my own way now, and I’m going to do it without you, and without your bank account.”

Ted Jr. emerges squeaky clean, and lays to rest all of the negative aspects of his character. A clean slate means a fresh start, and perhaps that would elevate him a little more in the minds of the fans.
If that doesn’t work, there’s always the Tony Stark gimmick.

Tony Stark, for all you non fan boys out there, is Iron Man, played perfectly by one Robert Downey Jr. Stark, the son of a billionaire, inherited his riches and his father’s head for business. He’s a ladies’ man and bad boy, shrewd, but very likable, and deep down is a good guy just trying to do the right thing.

This would fit Ted Dibiase Jr. more than any other edge his character has ever had.

It’s not the end of the world for this kid. Just because he’s not doing much right now does not mean that he can’t do something in the future. So, there is no need to dismiss him as unimportant or believe that he is just going to fade away.

However, I do believe that he is capable of more than what he’s being allowed to do right now, and with the proper storyline and approach to his character, Ted could wind up having a potentially great WWE career.

Bank on it.

Is HBO’s ‘The Pacific’ An Underrated Masterpiece?

After the brilliant “Band of Brothers,” I was excited about this HBO mini-series and then Tom Hanks had to get goddamned stupid and partisan and anti-American and ruin the whole thing. I knew he was a lib but that didn’t matter. I loved Tom Hanks and then he had to go and declare that our WWII veterans were waging a war of “terror and racism.”

It would be great to be able to go back to enjoying his work, but now — I just can’t get over this.

I’ve never seen “The Pacific.” I do know Hanks probably hurt the ratings and that the reviews weren’t very good. I also know that Hanks so toxified the atmosphere around the release that the thought of watching it still makes me ill.

35mm Projection Could Be gone by 2015

This is actually one way in which Hollywood can save a ton of money, which of course is what they’re desperate to do in order to avoid the hard work of making better movies that will make more money.

People often confuse me as some kind of purist when that’s really not true. I could care less if the projection is digital or 35MM. I love story. Tell a good story and how you project it won’t make a bit of difference.

Woody Woodpecker Movie in Development

Gee, I hope he learns stop wounding Gaia’s trees with all that awful woodpecking.

Innovations of Zelda Franchise

Back in the mid-80’s when Nintendo first came out it was the 1986 release of “The Legend of Zelda” that became my crack-cocaine. I became so addicted that once I finally won the game I gave up video games forever.

11 Great Films You’ve Never Heard Of

“Purgatory,” a shockingly Christian Western (in a good way), is a great choice, as is “Citizen X,” a superb HBO film based on the true story of the hunt for a brutal child predator in the Soviet Union before, during, and after the fall of the Wall.

I’ve seen three others: “Shattered,” “Split Second,” and “City of God.” Meh. Certainly worth a look.

Can’t comment on the others.

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Last Night’s Screening

Carlito’s Way (1993) — It’s been years and years since I’ve seen Brian DePalma’s near-great, urban gangster tale of a former heroin kingpin (Al Pacino as Carlito) attempting to go straight. I had remembered none of it and enjoyed every minute. There are two amazing set-pieces and two things that just didn’t work for me. One of the set-pieces takes place in the back room of a barber shop where a very tense drug deal goes bad and the other during the climax at Grand Central Station where our desperate protagonist makes every move he’s learned over his long, sordid life to dodge five mob assassins driven by a blood feud. These sequences represent DePalma at his best where every camera move and cut serves the moment in a way most directors can only dream of.

What bothered me, though, was the silly notion that we’re supposed to believe that Carlito, a man nudging fifty, feels completely out of place returning to his old neighborhood after a five-year prison stint. When you’re that age (and I’m close enough to it), five years just isn’t that long. If he had been locked up for ten or fifteen years it would make more sense. Nothing involving the theme of feeling out of step with the time and place he used to call home rang true.

No one’s ever accused me of being PC, but I was also troubled by the casting of Penelope Ann Miller as Carlito’s love interest. In 1993, Hollywood was still doing something they would never consider today, casting the Italian Pacino as a Puerto Rican. But for whatever reason, casting this very blonde, ivory-skinned woman as our protagonist’s savior and angel felt wrong and like an overt choice meant to symbolize hope, salvation, and redemption through her Caucasian looks. As someone who’s in an interracial marriage, it’s certainly not that, and normally I don’t even notice such things.

But at some point during the story I asked myself, “Why couldn’t this girl be Puerto Rican?” Rachel Ticotin sure looks like an angel to me and she would’ve only been 34 when “Carlito” was shot. Oh, and she’s one of the most underused and under-appreciated actresses of our time.

As Carlito’s best friend and attorney, it’s Sean Penn who really steals the movie. Why the Good Lord would give a jerk like that so much talent is beyond me. Viggo Mortensen also kills in his only scene.

Pacino’s performance is typical post-Oscar Pacino — a flamboyant scenery-chewer with an over-the top accent. But reunited with his “Scarface” director, that performance is pretty perfect.

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FYI

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CLASSIC PICK FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18

TCM:

10:00 PM EST: Man Called Peter, A (1955) – A Scottish boy follows his faith to a bright career preaching in Washington, DC. Dir: Henry Koster Cast: Richard Todd, Jean Peters, Marjorie Rambeau. C-119 mins

Imperfect but still interesting and respectful biopic about Peter Marshall, a man “called by God” to become a minister; a calling that eventually earns him national recognition. Well worth your time, though, especially for a superb scene where Jean Peters speaks to a group of young woman about what feminism and being a woman really means. You wouldn’t hear that message in our popular culture today.

It starts here at right about the 2:00 mark.

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