WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2011 Review

WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2009 Review

2004 in Games

2003 in Games

WWE Survivor Series 2011 Review

Game Review - 'Comix Zone' (Released January 1 1995, GEN/PC)

Game Review - 'Rayman Origins' (Released November 15 2011, PS3/360/WII/3DS/PSV)

Game Review - 'Batman: Arkham City' (Released October 18 2011, PS3/360/PC)

WWE Vengeance 2011 Review

TNA Bound for Glory 2011 Review

1992-1993 PPV/Supercard Season

1992-1993

WCW

(Beach Blast 1992)

WrestleWar 1992: ? Stars
Beach Blast 1992: 4 Stars
Clash of the Champions XIX 1992: ? Stars
The Great American Bash 1992: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions XX: 20th Anniversary 1992: ? Stars
Halloween Havoc 1992: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions XXI 1992: ? Stars
Starrcade 1992: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions XXII 1993: ? Stars
SuperBrawl III 1993: ? Stars
WCW/New Japan Supershow III 1993: ? Stars

WCW Beach Blast 1992 Review

WWF WrestleMania V 1989 Review

2009-2010 PPV Season

2009-2010

WWE

(Rey Mysterio Vs Chris Jericho, Judgment Day 2009, Intercontinental Championship)

Backlash 2009: ? Stars
Judgment Day 2009: 3.5 Stars
Extreme Rules 2009: ? Stars
The Bash 2009: ? Stars
Night of Champions 2009: ? Stars
SummerSlam 2009: ? Stars
Breaking Point 2009: ? Stars
Hell in a Cell 2009: ? Stars
Bragging Rights 2009: ? Stars
Survivor Series 2009: ? Stars
Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2009: 3 Stars
Royal Rumble 2010: ? Stars
Elimination Chamber 2010: ? Stars
WrestleMania XXVI 2010: ? Stars

WWE Judgment Day 2009 Review

WWE Hell in a Cell 2011 Review

The Language of Scripted Conflict 1#: The Burial of The Cybermen

Ever since I became interested in the production side of the pro-wrestling industry, I've been fascinated by its private language. As an industry whose primary concern is staged conflict, it's easy to see how their world would come to understand many of the complex and ancient analytical underpinnings behind dramatic confrontations. Their lexicon is a remarkably elegant tool and can be employed to engage with any conflict-centred narrative more critically. These are words and concepts that ought to be used more often by a much wider group of people. I would like to try to introduce the language of wrestling into other kinds of dramatic analysis, hopefully enabling people unfamiliar with the terms to discuss conflict in fiction in a more succinct and clear way.

WWE Night of Champions 2011 Review

TNA No Surrender 2011 Review

2004-2005 PPV Season

2004-2005

WWE

(Kurt Angle Vs Shawn Michaels, WrestleMania 21 2005)

Backlash 2004: ? Stars

Judgement Day 2004: ? Stars

Bad Blood 2004: ? Stars

The Great American Bash 2004: ? Stars

Vengeance 2004: ? Stars

SummerSlam 2004: ? Stars

Unforgiven 2004: ? Stars

No Mercy 2004: ? Stars

Taboo Tuesday 2004: ? Stars

Survivor Series 2004: ? Stars

Armageddon 2004: ? Stars

New Year's Revolution 2005: ? Stars

Royal Rumble 2005: ? Stars

No Way Out 2005: ? Stars

WrestleMania 21 2005: 3.5 Stars

TNA

(Victory Road 2004)

Victory Road 2004: 1.5 Stars
Turning Point 2004: ? Stars
Final Resolution 2005: ? Stars
Against All Odds 2005: ? Stars
Destination X 2005: ? Stars

TNA Victory Road 2004 Review

NWA/WCW Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knock Out 1989 Review

1988-1989 PPV/Supercard Season

1988-1989

WWF

(Hulk Hogan Vs Randy Savage, WrestleMania V 1989, WWF Championship)

Saturday Night's Main Event XVI 1988: ? Stars
SummerSlam 1988: ? Stars
Saturday Night's Main Event XVII 1988: ? Stars
Survivor Series 1988: ? Stars
Saturday Night's Main Event XVIII 1988: ? Stars
Saturday Night's Main Event XIX 1989: ? Stars
Royal Rumble 1989: ? Stars
The Main Event II 1989: ? Stars
Saturday Night's Main Event XX 1989: ? Stars
WrestleMania V 1989: 2 Stars

NWA/WCW

(Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun 1989)

Clash of the Champions II 1988: ? Stars
The Great American Bash 1988: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions III 1988: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions IV 1988: ? Stars
Starrcade 1988: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions V 1989: ? Stars
Chi-Town Rumble 1989: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun 1989: 2.5 Stars

NWA/WCW Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun 1989 Review

NWA/WCW 1989-1990 PPV/Supercard Season

1989-1990

(The Great American Bash 1989)

WrestleWar 1989: ? Stars
Clash of the Champions VII 1989: ? Stars

The Great American Bash 1989: 4 Stars

Clash of the Champions VIII: Fall Brawl 1989: ? Stars

Halloween Havoc 1989: ? Stars

Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knock Out 1989: 2 Stars

Starrcade 1989: ? Stars

Clash of the Champions X 1990: ? Stars

WrestleWar 1990: ? Stars

NWA/WCW The Great American Bash 1989 Review

2002 in Film

2004 in Film

The Spark

Welcome to 'The Culture Cannon', the all-new name for 'The Big Picture'! For now this is just a name change, but it represents a new philosophy for this blog going forwards. For the last year I've been unhappy with the name 'The Big Picture', as it was chosen back when this was intended to be exclusively a film blog. I wanted not just to review films, but to post film news, share trailers & posters with commentary, discuss wider issues in cinema and look back at film history. However I found this task difficult to maintain, I'm just one person and films are not the only cultural hobby I enjoy. Not to mention there are many sites that already offer this, and on a much more consistent and regular basis.

My problem is I'm interested and excited by all sorts of art and culture, not just films, and I want my blog to be a platform for expressing that. Films are still a major part of my life, but this year you've seen me write much more on Video Games and Pro Wrestling, other parts of pop-culture that I love. In the future I'd like to write about music, television, dance, theatre... whatever happens to inspire me to write at the time. In short – this has not been a film blog in a long time, it's concerned with all sorts of culture and I think it's name should communicate that.

The inspirations for 'The Big Picture' were primarily '/Film' and 'The End of Cinema'. '/Film' is just about the best film blog in the world, balancing news & opinion very well. 'The End of Cinema' meanwhile taps into my love of lists, not to mention well organised and structured discourse about the history of cinema. I've leaned more and more towards an 'End of Cinema' style from my initial attempt to borrow from '/Film', as can be seen by my 'Years in' lists on the sidebar. However this past year I've watched a fraction of the films I used to, and now have no local cinema to keep up to date with the new releases. As such, more of my time is spent enjoying video games and wrestling and naturally I find myself writing about these instead.

I am going to continue what I've started with my lists, only expanded to include other interests besides film. These lists - and the reviews they link to – are in a way my personal canon. These are the pieces of culture that have mattered in my life and form my understanding of various art forms. While they will always be incomplete, they will surely grow and change as I do. That said, I also want my blog to be able to adapt to accommodate whatever I'm keen to write about in the moment. Hence I'm looking to write more philosophically or politically than I have before, discuss topics in-depth and just expand the content of my writing online.

I'm also in the early stages of working on various video content, and I think 'The Culture Cannon' is a good name by which to establish that. It has the right tone I'm looking for – it's loud, animated and direct, yet also flexible and bold. I'll have to see how it all goes, but for now I'm quite confident about the name.

But I want to know what you think – Do you like 'The Culture Cannon' as the name not only for this blog, but for a web video series? Also; what kinds of content are you most interested in seeing from me in the future?

2009 in Games

2008 in Film

2007 in Film

WWE SummerSlam 2011 Review

WWE WrestleMania XIX 2003 Review

WWE 2002-2003 PPV Season

2002-2003

Brock Lesnar Vs Kurt Angle (WrestleMania XIX 2003, WWE Championship)

Backlash 2002: ? Stars
Judgement Day 2002: ? Stars
King of the Ring 2002: 3 Stars
Vengeance 2002: ? Stars
SummerSlam 2002: ? Stars
Unforgiven 2002: ? Stars
No Mercy 2002: ? Stars
Survivor Series 2002: ? Stars
Armageddon 2002: ? Stars
Royal Rumble 2003: ? Stars
No Way Out 2003: ? Stars
WrestleMania XIX 2003: 5 Stars

2011-2012 PPV Season

WWE

CM Punk Vs John Cena (Money in the Bank 2011, WWE Championship)

Extreme Rules 2011: 3 Stars
Over the Limit 2011: ? Stars
Capitol Punishment 2011: 3 Stars
Money in the Bank 2011: 4 Stars
SummerSlam 2011: 3.5 Stars
Night of Champions 2011: 3 Stars
Hell in a Cell 2011: 4.5 Stars
Vengeance 2011: 3.5 Stars
Survivor Series 2011: 3 Stars
Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2011: 3.5 Stars
Royal Rumble 2012: 3 Stars
Elimination Chamber 2012: 2 Stars
WrestleMania XXVIII 2012: ? Stars

TNA

Austin Aries Vs Brian Kendrick (No Surrender 2011, X-Division Championship)

Lockdown 2011: ? Stars
Sacrifice 2011: ? Stars
Slammiversary IX 2011: ? Stars
Destination X 2011: ? Stars
Hardcore Justice 2011: ? Stars
No Surrender 2011: 2 Stars
Bound for Glory 2011: 3 Stars
Turning Point 2011: ? Stars

WWE Money in the Bank 2011 Review

Game Review - 'Super Mario Sunshine' (Released July 19 2002, NGC)

"Data analysis verifies that the island's inhabitants are indeed troubled by pollution." 

Game Review - 'L.A. Noire' (Released May 17 2011, 360/PS3/PC)

"I don't know the names of the women I've killed but I've killed many of them."

WWE King of the Ring 2002 Review

WWE Capitol Punishment 2011 Review

Game Review - 'Portal 2' (Released April 19 2011, PC/PS3/360)

"You must really love to test."