ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 48!!

In one day Scott & I watched two movies, had an encounter with the police, picked up our special guest and went to a music show. Somewhere in all of that we managed to record a new episode.

Enjoy...

THE SCHOOL OF TARKOVSKY PART 15: MOVING IMAGERY PART 3

Here's some more forced examples and highly speculative comparisons to the work of the great Andrei Tarkovsky. Make sure to let me know how much I'm reaching on these. Enjoy...


Jordan Peele has been quite open about the influences on his film Get Out (Stanley Kubrick, George Romero, Bernard Rose, etc). Andrei Tarkovsky is not one of them. I know this. But the importance of the tea cup (both Solaris & Get Out feature hypnotic scenes involving tea cups) and various other scenes/shots in Get Out remind me of specific moments in Tarkovsky's Solaris.

(It should also be noted that both stories are rooted in science fiction as well)

Solaris / Get Out

The crashed spaceship in Alien always reminded me of the crashed plane in Ivan's Childhood. Fog and all...

Ivan's Childhood / Alien

Notice the similar positions of the onlookers in both The Mirror & Do The Right Thing as they watch the house & store burn in their respective films...

The Mirror / DO The Right Thing

Similarly, these isolated moments in both The Mirror & There Will Be Blood are strangely identical from the way the characters are calmly seated one minute, then frantically run from the table to see fire close by...

The Mirror / There Will Be Blood

Wim Wenders is no stranger to tipping his hat to filmmakers before him. Now...I highly doubt he had Nostalghia in mind when he made Wings Of Desire but these images/scenes are very similar...

Nostalghia / Wings Of Desire

Sandrine Bonnaire's suicide in Maurice Pialat's Under The Sun Of Satan always reminded me of the suicide in Solaris...

Solaris / Under The Sun Of Satan

Haneke has mentioned Tarkovsky as a filmmaker that is responsible for some of his favorite films so it isn't out of line to assume he drew influence from Andrei Rublev...

Andrei Rublev / The White Ribbon

Another possible Tarkovsky nod in The Tree Of Life...

Solaris / Tree Of Life

Lynne Ramsay is no stranger to referencing older films (her feature film debut Ratcatcher uses music from Badlands and specific lines of dialogue from Ken Loach's Poor Cow), so this could be a possible reference...

Andrei Rublev / We Need To Talk About Kevin

Andrei Rublev / The Assassination Of Jesse James...

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 47

On this episode we delve in to modern Scandinavian cinema and recommend some great rap battles to our most loyal listeners.

Enjoy...

KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT WOMEN'S WRESTLING (MY PRESENTATION ON FEMALE MANAGERS IN PRO WRESTLING)

I know some of my readers are wondering why I've been writing about wrestling so much these days and what it has to do with movies/film. Well...professional wrestling is technically episodic television and television is a first cousin/distant sibling to cinema, so in my mind that counts.

What you're about to read is the written version of my presentation on female managers for the Kevin Geeks Out show on Women's Wrestling.

Enjoy...

I'm not here to try and debunk the fact that the basic/skeletal idea behind female managers & "valets" are rooted in misogyny & eye candy. I get it. It's professional wrestling. This is a boys club we're talking about. And with boys comes T&A. This goes deeper than just professional wrestling. The idea of placing a traditionally attractive woman next to a product (or wrestler in this case) to get sales is one of the pillars of capitalism.

Now...if you're a casual wrestling fan (or not even a fan at all), you're more than likely familiar with the late great Miss Elizabeth. She's famous for managing legends like Macho Man Randy Savage (her real life husband at one point), Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and a few others. But I never looked at Miss Elizabeth as a manager by definition. She never really managed. She was the epitome of "eye candy" or an accessory (I mean that with respect).


.man·ag·er
ˈmanijər/

noun

-a person responsible for controlling or administering all or part of a company or similar organization.

-a person who controls the activities, business dealings, and other aspects of the career of an 

-a person in charge of the activities, tactics, and training of a sports team.


Miss Elizabeth didn't really do any of the things listed above. Sure she stepped outside of her comfort zone every blue moon but for the most part she was the typical damsel in distress who was always getting hurt or always having to be rescued. She barely even spoke.

What I'd like to get in to are the few examples (of many) that kind of defied the prototypical manager role. Women who weren't concerned with their looks or being princesses. Or...if they were about their looks & being a princess, they were going to do so on their own terms...

"Sensational Sherri butting the boots...uh...heels to Superfly Jimmy Snuka

It was the basic idea of capitalism that got me to look at female managers from a different angle at a very young age. They were more like investors or businesswomen, and the (male) wrestlers they managed were their investments. The women were the ones in charge. In my mind, the men were the pieces of meat instead of the women.

Take Sensational Sherri for example. She was kind of like the "anti-miss Elizabeth". She got dirty, didn't care about her looks in a traditional way, and she stood up to men twice her size.

In this video below you see her attacking Rowdy Roddy Piper to protect her "investment" (Jake Roberts) who was losing...

It should be noted that Sensational Sherri was a professional wrestler before gaining notoriety as a legendary manager. She was tough...

I think it helps for women to have experience in the ring before becoming a manager. It builds character & toughness. It also helps when it's time to protect your investment.


"Jackie" is another example of a tough/non-traditional looking female manager who wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty and beat up men when she had to...

Jackie (Left)

Watch how proud she is of Kevin Sullivan after his match with this nameless jobber. She even proceeds to beat him up after the match is over. That, to me, is a true example of a good manager/investor.

Zelina Vega is a super recent example of a true manager that is more of an investor/extra muscle than an accessory.

Here she is with her investment Cien Almas

Zelina Vega (Right)

And here she is with her signature "hurricanrana" that she always does on the unsuspecting opponents to her investment when the referee isn't looking...

And we cant mention tough female managers without mentioning Chyna...

Chyna

Not all female managers had the muscle or strength like the aforementioned managers so they made up for it by using foreign objects, which, depending on how you look at it, is more grimey than fighting with your bare hands.

Nancy Benoit aka "Woman"

Nancy Benoit/"Woman" took to using a cane to make up for her lack of muscles & fighting ability...

Missy Hyatt was another female manager that didn't have muscles or much fighting ability so she used weapons as well.

Missy Hyatt

In the video below you can see her using a whip to beat Sting...

And when a weapon wasn't available, managers had to use their brains to distract the referees to get another male "investment" to do the dirty work for them.

Deborah McMichael

In the video below we see Deborah McMichael distracting the ref in an effort to secure a win for her "investments"

There are many more examples of legendary female managers who broke the mold and defied the conventional qualities. But instead of showing examples of every single one, perhaps this piece will get some of you to go to YouTube to do some research on your own.

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 46 (W/ SPECIAL GUEST ROB COTTO)

On this episode, Scott & I were joined by PINNLAND EMPIRE contributor, Scorsese aficionado & personal friend; Rob Cotto

Listen as we discuss everything from slightly deep(er) cut Scorsese to the film career of Vincent Gallo.

Enjoy...

(make sure to check Rob out on Wrong Reel and don't forget to follow the Zebras on twitter at @ZebrasPod)

  

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 45

On the latest episode of Zebras, Scott & I talk Dogtooth, Annihilation, battle rap and joke about diabetes. There's also a special appearance from a Zebras regular.

Enjoy..

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 44

On episode 44 Scott & I are joined by friend & fellow podcaster Warren Wade Anderson to talk about everything from Steven Soderbergh & Paul Thomas Anderson to Belly & Freddie Got Fingered.

Enjoy...