2008 August

Hong Kong Action Flicks

Hong Kong Action Flicks
Top Hong Kong Action Movies on DVD, from your About Guides Marcy Dermansky and Jurgen Fauth

cisco kid :: Aug.21.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

DREAM.5 could arguably have been the best card of the weekend in terms of action and great battles between top lightweights. While Affliction had some entertaining matchups and the UFC produced an Anderson Silva knockout, DREAM.5 pushed lightweight international stars into the spotlight with the final round of the Grand Prix. The most anticipated matchup of the evening pitted American Eddie Alvarez against T-Blood veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri, arguably a top 3 Lightweight. Undoubtedly, the winner would take on either Shinya Aoki or Caol Uno in the final. We'll break down the action…

Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri

This was one of the best fights I've seen from two lightweights so far this year. It was an absolute barn-burner of a fight with both combatants tagging each other with flurries for most of the fight. Kawajiri's typical controlling style on the ground was nullified by Alvarez's sprawl and brawl tactics for most of the fight, but Kawajiri was still able to land some significant flurries to Alvarez's face.

At one point during the matchup, Alvarez sustained a heavy cut under his eye that required some attention. Alvarez was allowed to continue and pushed the pace as Kawajiri continued to throw huge flurries that barely missed their final destination. As the round progressed, the flurries of punches were reminiscent of a Rocky movie, as Bas Rutten put it. Alvarez finally connected flush with a round of punches, and finished off Kawajiri with a powerful shot to the chin. Alvarez made sure it was over as he pummeled Kawajiri with hammer fists and hooks on the ground to end the fight.

I've always believed Alvarez had the tools to make an impact, but not the kind of impact he is making in the top 10 rankings at this point in his career. He has solid wrestling skills, a good sprawl, and powerful striking that can be technical at times. He possesses the all-around skills to make a run at being a top lightweight in the world, and it showed against the powerful "Crusher" in this bout.

Alvarez's chin should get a trophy for its performance against Kawajiri. Many sites failed to mention during their play-by-plays the amount of damage that Alvarez was sustaining during some of the flurries, but he was being tagged relentlessly during some of the exchanges. Although bloody from his cut and those shots, Alvarez continued forward to launch his own attacks that landed much more cleanly and with more power. Determination and scrappiness have come a long way with Alvarez, and fans should want to see him fight regularly. Welcome to the top 5, Eddie Alvarez.

Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno

The matchup between Aoki and Uno got a lot of steam behind it after Uno's impressive performance against Mitsuhiro Ishida. Uno is a legend in the MMA scene from his stint in the UFC and numerous battles with top talent in Japan, but his legacy can only go so far as he ages. Aoki surprisingly defeated "JZ" Calvancante in a fight that I must admit, I found it impossible for Calvancante losing. We didn't see a dominating Caol Uno in this battle, but more of a defensive Uno trying to keep the monkey off his back for most of the fight.

Aoki showed his grappling prowess for most of the matchup, and Uno defended the submission for nearly the entire battle. Aoki had numerous opportunities to submit Uno, and even worked multiple transitions in which he had a number of choices as to which submission he could pull off. Uno isn't exactly green in the ground game, and he was able to stave off being submitted by the premier grappler. It was a dominating performance by Aoki nonetheless, but it did wear on Aoki's conditioning.

Once the final's matchup had been made between Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki, it became a question as to whether who was more tired or hurt. It was obvious that Alvarez's war with Kawajiri was going to be a factor, but Aoki was visibly tired after his decision over Uno. The decision to stop Alvarez from continuing was made later during the event due to doctors claiming Alvarez's cut was too severe to allow him to continue. Most of us called this a sham, and Alvarez was robbed of an opportunity to show the world that he belongs in the top 3. I imagine DREAM will give him the opportunity though in the future. After all, he did prove he can be an exciting fighter in front of the Japanese fans.

Joachim Hansen vs. Kultar Gill

Kultar Gill is an anomaly in this sport. An Alistair Overeem-like prospect at such a low weight class should be able to destroy much smaller opponents with his standup skills. Gill, however, has the unfortunate problem of having poor ground tactics and horrible submission defense. Hansen took advantage.

For the opening minutes of this bout, Gill used his range and knees to score some solid blows to Hansen. Hansen is known for being one of the scrappiest and grittiest fighters in the weight class, and a few choice shots from Gill didn't deter him from moving inside on Gill. Hansen ate a few more shots, but was able to obtain the clinch and eventually push the fight to the floor. Hansen displayed some slick transitioning from the armbar submission attempt to a triangle attempt and back to the armbar for the win. Although it didn't look good for Hansen early, his gameplan worked perfectly in exposing Gill's obvious weakness.

Gill could actually be a product in the future, but his jiu-jitsu needs to be improved dramatically. Even some work on his submission defense and sprawl would help immensely in helping him keep the fight on the feet where he is much more dangerous.

Hansen showed why he's still in contention for a top spot in the lightweight rankings. He has a well-rounded base in both the standup and ground game, and he's always active in trying to end the fight. Solid performance from Hansen.

Lightweight Grand Prix Final: Joachim Hansen vs. Shinya Aoki

As mentioned earlier, Hansen moved onto the final after Alvarez was not cleared to fight due the cut he sustained during the Kawajiri fight. I won't dwell on how unfair this was to Alvarez. We've learned over the years that things like this happen in nearly every promotion on the face of the Earth, so there really isn't any reason to argue over how ridiculous it was to stop Alvarez from fighting.

Aoki was the obvious favorite going into the final, but he had a much longer fight that Hansen while Hansen didn't have to work extremely hard to pull off the win in the reserve match. As expected, the battle hit the floor quickly with Hansen trying to work a strong top control game and punish Aoki.

I'll spare all the minor details and finish our analysis with this: Aoki is still susceptible to ground and pound, just like everyone else in mixed martial arts who tries to work a jiu-jitsu ground game. While Aoki has one of the most dynamic skillsets on the ground, Hansen was able to slip a huge right hand through his defense and knock him out. It wasn't the most exciting knockout we've seen, but it got the job done in handing Hansen the Lightweight Grand Prix belt.

Aoki isn't indestructible on the floor, and Hansen showed that this is mixed martial arts. Anything can happen. Hansen had a solid two fights during the event and remained fresh for the final after his first fight. I would have rather seen an Alvarez vs. Aoki matchup in the final, but I'm sure we'll see that pairing down the road in a future DREAM event.

Other action…

Daisuke Nakamura easily submitted Japanese comedian and K-1 fighter Andy Ologun in the first round. Very lopsided matchup with Ologun not even being a very good K-1 fighter let alone MMA fighter. Nakamura traded for a bit, but simply took the fight to the floor for the submission.

Yoshihiro Akiyama sported the gi for his fight, and easily picked his punches against pro-wrestling personality Katsuyori Shibata. Akiyama spent much of the round waiting for the right time to pounce. He eventually submitted Shibata on the floor with a gi choke at 6:34 of the first round. Uneventful battle for the most part, but Shibata might eventually be able to win some fights if DREAM actually wants to make some stars out of these guys who pull in wrestling fans.

Alistair Overeem made Mark Hunt look terrible by submitting him easily in only 1:11 of the first round. Both men came out striking with Hunt pushing Overeem to the floor quickly into the fight. Hunt went in for the kill, but Overeem was able to reverse the position and get a keylock sunk in on Hunt. Disappointing performance for Hunt. He needs to get back into shape after such a long layoff from the sport, and he needs to work on the ground a bit more if he wants to avoid being "clowned" in such a quick fight.

Overall Analysis

I wasn't able to check out the production of the event as I had hoped, but the fights were very entertaining. Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri is worth watching the event by itself. It was the perfect mixture of back and forth battling and sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for one man to falter.

The other matchups on the card definitely peaked my interest over the preceding week. Hansen being a reserve is always a nice addition, and even though Eddie Alvarez was robbed of his chance to solidify his mark on a top three ranking, Hansen was a nice fill-in. It obviously paid off huge for him, and it likely helped him redeem himself on some of his past losses.

Even with Aoki's loss in the final, his grappling is still some of the slickest we've seen from a lightweight. His ability to put an opponent in danger constantly on the ground is a valuable asset to have in avoiding damage, and he unfortunately wasn't able to control Hansen's wrists enough to stop the incoming barrage that ended the fight. It was controversial during his battle with Uno earlier because Aoki seems to be in love with grabbing his opponent's gloves instead of gaining wrist control. I'd love to see how the rules state that in the DREAM promotion.

Overall, I thought the event was a success and the most entertaining of the weekend action. Most of that is attributed to the lightweights being involved in the event, but as we all know, the faster action always prevails in the excitement factor. I look forward to the future events in DREAM.

cisco kid :: Aug.19.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Firehouse Dog (2007)

Firehouse Dog (2007)
Firehouse Dog (2007) - Movie trailer, synopsis and information about the Fox movie Firehouse Dog. Celebrity canine becomes a firehouse pet in this live action film.

Amy Winehouse James Bond “Quantum Of Solace” Theme Song To Be Released
The British talented jazz singer Amy Winehouse is planning to release the song James Bond bosses rejected as a potential theme-song for the new 007 action-thriller Quantum of Solace. Although Alicia Keys and White Stripes star Jack White were chosen to record the theme the film, the Grammy-winning Amy Winehouse …

cisco kid :: Aug.17.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Robert Downey Jr Talks About Tropic Thunder

Robert Downey Jr Talks About Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr stars as a five-time Oscar-winner who goes to extreme lengths in order to star in an epic war movie in Tropic Thunder, an action comedy co-written and…

Downey on Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr discusses Tropic Thunder, an action comedy movie directed by Ben Stiller. Robert Downey Jr on Tropic Thunder and walking a fine comedy line playing an African-American character.

Action Boys
Film Reviews: A quirky combination of docu and homemovie, “Action Boys” follows a group of Korean stuntmen wannabes from training auditions to eventual careers, some of them even in movies.

cisco kid :: Aug.16.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Robert Downey Jr Talks About Tropic Thunder

Robert Downey Jr Talks About Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr stars as a five-time Oscar-winner who goes to extreme lengths in order to star in an epic war movie in Tropic Thunder, an action comedy co-written and…

cisco kid :: Aug.15.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

UFC 86 Quinton Rampage Jackson vs Forrest Griffin quick picks

This is going to be a great event with an excellent main event in Rampage vs Forrest and some great undercard fights. Quick picks is all I have time for these days so here they are.

Corey Hill Vs. Justin Buchholz - picking Corey Hill to win by height and ferocity.

Melvin Guillard Vs. Dennis Siver - Guillard is like a mini Randleman in a sense that he has better physical tools than most fighters but lack other important qualities like hard work and mental aspects of the fight game. On talent alone and lots of trashtalk mixed in with some substance abuse in the last year he only managed two very embarassing losses to Stevenson and Clementi. It seems to me he's on his last chance to stay in UFC and this fight with Siver is make it or break it. Siver has good striking credentials and has decent ground game, at least defensively. Siver's loss to Gray Maynard only showed his toughness and ability to stay in the fight when the going gets tough. Picking Siver because he is a serious fighter unlike the underachiving Guilldard.

Jorge Gurgel Vs. Cole Miller - hmm.. I could be entertaining for a little bit, but neither are impressive fighters. Miller should be able to land a tonn on Gurgel's face early on given his reach advantage and hopefully finish it there. There is a chance that Gurgel could smarten up for this fight and try doing the ground game as soon as can, but I think Cole's been training with Marcus Aurelius for this fight at American Top Team and his ground game should be as tight as ever. Picking Cole by Gurgel's inability to do anything serious.

Gabriel Gonzaga Vs. Justin McCully - Gonzaga was on top of the world after KOing Mirco CroCop and should not have had much shame inlosing to Randy Couture. But then fell apart in his cowardly loss to Fabricio Werdum. He definitely took a giant step back as a fighter that night. So hopefully he got some type of help with the mental aspects of the game which nowadays is becoming a necessity for many top fighters, see Chuck Liddell's use of Tony Robinson. Zuffa is throwing Gonzaga a bone here and having him face a scrub really, Tito "The embarrased" Ortiz's training parner Justin McCully. Should be an easy win for Gonzaga by whatever he wants, picking him by a head kick probably.

Tyson Griffin Vs. Marcus Aurelio - Clay Guida vs Marcus Aurelio should have been a barn burner too, but Marcus supposedly got the "UFC debut jitters" and Clay shaked his long hair enough for a split decision. I believe in Tyson Griffin to not be too scared of Aurelio and really push the action. But I think Aurelio got past the jitters and being more comfortable being in UFC should be able to at least decision Griffin, if not submit him. Picking Aurelio

Josh Koscheck Vs. Chris Lytle - this one is a tough one for me to pick because Lytle has fought some tough competition and even responded to recent critisims of being to timid with being more agressive. Koscheck will be definitely stronger of the two and I hope he'll not be smart and stand with Lytle. Picking Lytle by TKO of some type

Joe Stevenson Vs. Gleison Tibau - Stevenson will most likely come back strong from his bloody affair with BJ Penn and show off his great ground game coupled with constantly pushing the action. Picking Stevenson by decision

Patrick Cote Vs. Ricardo Almeida - I really like Cote and glad he has a 3 fight winning streak with some cool knockouts in his last two fights, but he has very little chance against Almeida. Many years ago, Renzo Gracie's top dog Almeida had a rough run in UFC, then he went to beat up a bunch of tough guys in the longest running Japanese promotion, Pancrase, including Nathan Marquardt and then decided to take an unexpected break to concentrate on the art of jiu-jitsu and teaching. Well, not that UFC is out in the open and is very popular I guess he got another itch to fight and make some serious money this time. His comeback fight in UFC was quick and impressive. Picking Almeida to make a statement and get a title shot at Anderson Silva, though I don't he's ready for that one just yet.

Quinton Jackson Vs. Forrest Griffin - I have lots of emotions about this one. I've been following Rampage since his days in KOTC and Pride, UFC should man up and release Rampage's greatest Prefight Interviews DVD cause there is some funny stuff there. He did pretty good for himself since his entrance to UFC and if Chuck's KO could be argued as a fluke, he did beat Dan Henderson handily. Forrest beat Mauricio Shogun in his last fight which was awesome. I think everyone was rooting for him and he pulled it off smashingly. That night he certainly could hold his own and push for a decisive win. So Forest beat Shogun, Shogun beat Rampage, so….blah blah blah. In reality Rampage wasn't well when he fought Shogun, Shogun wasn't well when he fought Forrest. Rampage has loads more experience of facing top notch competition than Forrest and it will show tonight. I have a feeling this will be some what similar to Wanderlei Silva showing everyone Keith Jardine isn't quite there yet and Rampage will do the same with Forrest. Picking Rampage

Now go order it ……it starts in 30 mins!

Firehouse Dog (2007)
Firehouse Dog (2007) - Movie trailer, synopsis and information about the Fox movie Firehouse Dog. Celebrity canine becomes a firehouse pet in this live action film.

cisco kid :: Aug.14.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Shiny Doctor Who R/C Dalek - Limited Edition

Shiny Doctor Who R/C Dalek - Limited Edition
Fans of the British 60s sci-fi TV series “Doctor Who” will soon be able to get their hands on this silver chrome Dalek, based on the “Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD” movie. The 12-inch tall radio-controlled Skaro habitant features a pullback motor with realistic Dalek action, and has a built-in speaker to be able to […]

autismthemusical
Director Tricia Regan tells the story of Elaine Hall who, having adopted a son who developed autism, creates the Miracle Project, a workshop in which autistic kids (and their parents) join together to create, produce and perform a musical. We see some of the performance, but the film really focuses on the interaction of the kids with each other and with Elaine, whose patience and commitment are extraordinary.

2008 Action Movies
Action movie fans are going to love 2008. Big action films set to hit theaters in 2008 include Bond 22, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Prince Caspian, Cloverfield, The Dark Knight, Star Trek, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, Wanted, Hancock, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

cisco kid :: Aug.13.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

2008 Action Movies

2008 Action Movies
Action movie fans are going to love 2008. Big action films set to hit theaters in 2008 include Bond 22, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Prince Caspian, Cloverfield, The Dark Knight, Star Trek, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, Wanted, Hancock, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Warner Bros. Interactive Announces Watchmen for Xbox 360, PC, PS3
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has confirmed that they will be publishing a video game version of the upcoming film Watchmen. The game will be an episodic downloadable game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC. The release date is slated for 2009. The game captures the action and intrigue of the “Watchmen” feature […]

cisco kid :: Aug.11.2008 :: General :: No Comments »

Hong Kong Action Flicks

Hong Kong Action Flicks
Top Hong Kong Action Movies on DVD, from your About Guides Marcy Dermansky and Jurgen Fauth

DREAM.5 Recap & Analysis