ILLINIWrestlingBlog

Thanks, folks! I enjoyed reading all of your choices and comments! Y'all have reminded me that Caddyshack, Talladega Nights and Austin Powers should be on my Honorable Mention list. Maybe Caddyshack is top-ten worthy? Also, I need to very seriously reconsider The Deer Hunter.

At the old ILLINOISMatmen.com, we used to have a thread about movies. Only movies. Top ten lists, reviews, re-reviews, trivia. Good times. I hope we can do that here. Cheers!

Below is my top ten list. What do you have in yours? These should be movies that you have or would watch multiple times, and not movies you’d bring up at a dinner party to impress the boss. In other words, the movies that you actually like the best.

1.     TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

I became a lawyer because of this movie. It was based on the Great American Novel written by Harper Lee, and it is a very rare bird: A movie that lived up to the book. Extraordinary events, and also mundane events that later turn out to be extraordinary events, happen to ordinary people who end up doing extraordinary things while getting judged based on the content of their character. Gregory Peck, man.

2.     THE GODFATHER

I blame The Godfather and Marvel Comics for turning America into a country that lionizes anti-heroes. There is nothing good about the Mafia, and we shouldn’t be rooting for Michael and Don Corleone by the end of the film, but the movie is so **** good that we do. Curse you, Francis Ford Coppola! Also, the movie insists upon itself.

3.     MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL

The best comedy ever made. My favorite movie scene from the best comedy ever made involves this genius bit:

Roger the Shrubber:   “Yes, shrubberies are my trade. I am a shrubber. My name is Roger the Shrubber. I arrange, design, and sell shrubberies.”

I was a fan of the tv series as well. There has been nothing better on tv except the Moon landing. The movie is a 92-minute rendition of the Fish-Slapping Dance in armor.

4.     THE WIZARD OF OZ

That’s right, I like me some fairy tales. And this is the best of the lot. Judy Garland treated this like a stage performance, and what a stage performance! Her perfect voice tears a hole in me. She was only 16 at the time, which doesn’t mean I’m a perv. She was way older than me when I first saw the movie, and anyway, her ID card said she was 18. The Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Munchkins. What’s not to love? As for it only being a dream, that seemed original at the time and not a cinematic rug pull.

5.     RAISING ARIZONA

Another fairy tale or fable but done up in “modern” America. I always like to make fun of Southern accents, and the Coen Brothers put big words in the mouths of their Southern actors for comedic effect. Nearly every scene is perfect, the cast is perfectly suited for their roles (Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter are deadpan dynamite), and the dialogue is the best in any comedy ever produced besides Holy Grail.

6.     WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCLATE FACTORY (1971)

Still another fairy tale with munchkins that sing. Gene Wilder was perfect as Willy Wonka, and I don’t want to hear about any remakes because you don’t paint over the Mona Lisa. The world-building was incredible, the songs ingenious and again we have what amounts to a fable with some hard lessons that had to be learned but were learned in a most delightful way.

7.     STAR WARS (1977)

An interstellar fairy tale. When I saw this in the theater back in 1977, I was blown away. Original characters doing original things. Yes, I know, it was a space western, but, hey, they were in space! Excellent world-building, and then George Lucas made the same movie six times in a row. Ugh!

8.     THE MATRIX

Again, blown away in the movie theater. Original ideas and original characters in a spectacular movie with big ideas that somehow survived Keanu Reeves’ acting chops, which entail the following: (1) Look at the person talking to you; (2) Then, look down at your feet.

Watch for it! It happens all the time in that movie.

 9.     THE EXORCIST

I saw this movie as a little kid on tv while my parents were asleep. It scared the jammies offa me. By far the best horror movie ever made. No other horror movie is in my top one hundred, although Silence of the Lambs might be close. Is it really that good of a movie? I can’t say because my personal viewing experience was so visceral. I’ll hazard to say it is, though, as I’ve read the book, and it too scared the jammies offa me. Completely outrageous at times, and then, in turn, incredibly subtle. 

10.  INTERSTELLAR

Another fairy tale/fable that has a message built compactly inside a fantastic movie. In my opinion, the scene with the tidal wave on the possibly habitable planet is one of the best in an action movie. I absolutely hate cutesy robot sidekicks, but this movie and the original Star Wars made the list despite me holding this grudge. Maybe because the bots were earnest? This may be a recency bias pick, as Goodfellas may return one day to this slot. 

Honorable Mention: Goodfellas (next on the list), Vision Quest (next after that with the rest in random order), Tenet, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, Part II, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (animated), Raiders of the Lost Ark, Casino, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Roots, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Is there a pool yet? If not, I got January 22, 2025. That's the first day of classes after their winter break. DYR, suckers! 

I kind of feel like we are the caddies in Caddyshack:

50 bucks the Smails kid picks his nose.

Ok, you got it.

Come on, buddy. Here he comes. Alright kid, take your time now. Come on, come on!!! Yeah!!!!!!

50 bucks more says he eats it.

You're on.

Don't do it kid, don't don't don't!

Come on!! You want it! There he goes!! He's going for it! Yeah!!!!!

What a PIG!!!! Man, that kid'll eat anything.

He . . . He was hungry.

On 9/2/2024 at 10:18 PM, Hammerlock3 said:

otto black sounds like dickens character

******* HILARIOUS! Hat's off. 

The comic above is Issue #1 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Hoosiers. Someday it will be worth a fortune in mint condition. That's because this is the first appearance of Edmond Ruth's leg in the JOMBO™ Comic Universe! 

Why do you have to fight in front of us children?

Back to the topic at hand: Just watched a bunch of matches involving ILLINI transfer Ramazan Attasauov. I'm doing an article and need input from Cyclone or Big 12 fans.

He seems big, wrestled 133 his whole career, but the ILLINI expect him at 125. How effective will he be at that weight?

I saw he was injured and didn't get to go to NCAAs. What was the injury, and has he recovered?

Super talented kid. Won U23 Nationals at 57kg in 2020, beating Rayvon Foley and Patrick Glory, but no Worlds because of Covid. How did he do on bottom for the Cyclones? Note: I saw the Daton Fix match, and almost everybody gets ridden like that by Fix.

Finally, what's your favorite color?

15 hours ago, 1032004 said:

What’s wrong with Dockers?

They're just funny. 

I'm usually unwilling to deal with this many large pop-up ads in order to see p o r n. 

According to one Vegas expert who goes by the alias Belson Nadds, it looks like PSU will be a tough night for the Hawks. Here's your smart money:

7 hours ago, WildTurk said:

Post some wrestling cartoons for us..

Surely you've heard of JOMBO™ and the JOMBO™ Comic Universe? The premiere comic in all of amateur wrestling? If you haven't, be sure to tune in Sunday morning, as there'll be another episode of The Brando and Brando Show. 

Back to the topic of this thread: I don't think "bias" is strong enough to describe me. Maybe prejudiced? "Bigoted and intolerant," if used together might suffice.

Anyway, this is JOMBO™:

I am a fan.

I hate every other college in the country that has a wrestling team. I also hate every other college in the country that doesn't have a wrestling team. I hate people who want to talk numbers, outcomes and projections that have nothing to do with wrestling. I like to talk and write about wrestling and create wrestling videos and cartoons, and I'm biased against people who aren't equally interested. 

In that respect, I'm like the serial killer at Thanksgiving dinner who is burning up inside to say, "Guess what I did yesterday?"

2 hours ago, Scouts Honor said:

i thought you were going to say this photo... you almost described it as well

Excellent! Love the backstory as well. Cheers! 

Classic JOMBO™

Classic JOMBO™

9 hours ago, ionel said:

Is it true Jombo has picked up pickleball?  I expect to see something in the Sunday Comics soon else gonna call IWB for STALLING!  

That's actually a pretty good idea. Let me think about it. 

2 hours ago, ionel said:

Little known fact: Abe never accepted a point for a pushout.  This is I'm sure disappointing news for @flyingcement but if our greatest President didn't approve of the pushout rule ...  He also never wrestled on horse hair, Resilite or astro turf.

I wanted to stick up for Greco and the ever-exciting Kamal Bey here, ionel, and I also wanted to add a little entertainment value, but I did not have as a sub-motivation any attempt to inject the fear of ILLINI and ILLINOIS high school kids' Greco abilities into the minds of their opponents.

That was not part of the plan. 

In fact, that psychological ship has sailed. Everybody knows by now that if you are wrestling an ILLINI or a kid from ILLINOIS there is the chance that he will throw you, and there is a chance that it will be so spectacular that the newspaper headlines in Champaign the next day will read: "VIOLENT ASSAULT UP 50% IN ILLINOIS LAST NIGHT." 

But, I don't need to beat that dead horse. 

When you look at the kinds of early folk wrestling from around the world, you don't find leglaces anywhere. Leglaces look like two fish flopping on the deck of a trawler. Where did that come from? 

In other countries, there was a lot of upper body, with some regions also allowing tripping, but leg attacks are not common. Take Sumo or Mongolian Bökh wrestling as examples. You can do a leg attack in Sumo now, but you are likely to be crushed to the ground.

Some countries like Turkie developed belt wrestling, and others, like the Swiss had special pants. No leg attacks, grab the belt or special pants to throw your opponent or throw him off balance. 

Leg attacks are mostly an American thing. I blame Dan Gable, mostly. Abraham Lincoln was old school using throws. Abe was the OG. 

The most famous image of wrestling in the history of history, at least in the Western Hemisphere, which is the greatest Hemisphere in the history of history, is Hercules holding Antaeus off the ground so his strength couldn't be replenished by touching his mother: Earth. There are more statues and etchings and paintings of this single wrestling hold--a Greco hold--than there are pictures of Kim Kardashian on the internet. 

Okay. That's probably not true. But in the spirit of this thread, I refuse to do my own research! Screw it! 

As Genghis Khan used to say, but in an entirely different language, and usually with a goat leg in his mouth: "Are you the Greco guy, or are you afraid of the Greco guy?" 

30 minutes ago, Truzzcat said:

This u17 team could feature a lot of future Illinois boys I think with the Raneys and Munaretto.

Yes and Yes! Fantastic wrestlers, and they are interesting people. True stars in the making. 

Add them to a team that already has three or more years left of Kannon Webster, Braeden Scoles, Logan Swaw, Will Baysingar, Peter Marinopoulos and Colin Kelly, and the ILLINI will win some wrestling matches. 

On 8/20/2024 at 1:17 PM, BAC said:

The Raney brothers are a blast to watch.  Always going for the big move, always fearless.  Each now has a Cadet world title in this style, right?  I hope they stick with Greco, as they're a pleasure to watch.  Their style is to high-risk to win consistently in freestyle against the top guys, but it's just so hard to beat in Greco.  

I hope the Raneys stick to Greco at the ILLINI RTC while getting a world class education from the University of ILLINOIS and winning NCAA Championships.

They'll get lots of Greco practice and instruction in that room.