Annette (3 Stars)

Despite only giving this film a three star rating when I watched it in 2021, I decided to buy it on Blu-ray. I can't really explain why. Something about it fascinated me. Adam Driver is the wrong choice for a musical. He's excellent in the spoken scenes as the offensive stand-up comedian Henry McHenry, but when he sings I have to cringe. Marion Cotillard is a better singer.

The songs aren't particularly well written. "We love each other so much" is an important song for the plot – no spoilers! – but it's so trite that I can't enjoy it.

I still find the film average after second viewing, but I can't help feeling I'm missing something. I'm sure that I'll watch it again. Preferably I want to watch it with a friend so that we can exchange thoughts.

Success Rate:  - 5.0

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Tetris (5 Stars)

This is a film that I thought I wasn't going to see. Trailers were shown in my cinema last year, but then the release date came and the film itself wasn't shown. I did a little research, and I found out that it was being shown exclusively on the Apple TV streaming service. Oh no! That means at best a long delay before it'll be released on Blu-ray, at worst it'll never be released at all. After waiting ten months I've been getting impatient. Then today I found it listed on a dodgy website. I shan't tell you the site's address, because I don't support illegal downloads, except in the case of an emergency. Believe me, this was an emergency. I found it by googling, so you can probably find it too, if you must. I was happy to find that the picture is in perfect 1080p quality. What more could I wish for?

The film stars Taron Egerton, practically unrecognisable with a moustache, as the Dutch businessman Henk Rogers. He was the owner of Bullet-Proof Software, a computer game company based in Tokyo. In 1988 he discovered Tetris at the stand of a rival software company at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. He was so enthusiastic about the game that he fought to acquire the rights to sell it himself.

That's the story behind the film. Tetris was a game written in Russia after hours by an employee in a government-owned company called ELORG. Technically, the game belonged to ELORG. That's where it gets complicated. The American businessman Robert Stein claimed to have bought the rights for Tetris from ELORG, and he had sold them to Mirrorsoft, an English company owned by Robert Maxwell and his family. Henk found out that Robert Stein only had the rights for the PC version and had sold the rights to other versions illegally. I need to make notes the next time I watch the film. It's difficult to keep up with who actually owned what.

Henk has to travel around the world to get what he wants. His efforts are blocked by Russia's KGB, who object to Russian software being sold to a foreigner. Many other factors tie in, such as the bankruptcy of Robert Maxwell and the first release of Nintendo's Game Boy. It's an exciting film, with car chases, missiles and tanks. Taron Egerton admits that some parts have been over-dramatized, but overall it's a true story. And it's a great story! The film isn't a comedy, but I had to laugh at several scenes. Russian bureaucracy was so stupid in the 1980's. Is it any better today?

Before I watched the film I played an online version of Tetris. It's been years since I last played, and I'd forgotten how addictive it is. After an hour I was bleary eyed and needed to make an effort to watch the film.

Tetris (the film) is at the top of my to-buy list, if it ever gets a Blu-ray release. I don't know if I can wait that long, so I might return to the dodgy site or even take a seven day free trial of Apple TV, but there's no way I'll subscribe. Apple TV only has a small selection of films, compared with Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney Plus.

Die Chaosschwestern und Pinguin Paul (3½ Stars)

It's Saturday, it's children's film time with Oliver again. I prefer to take him to the cinema on Sunday, but there's a rail strike this week and the buses don't run very often on Sunday.

The film's title means "The Chaos Sisters and Paul the Penguin". There's a series of books, ten so far, about the four girls Tessa (15), Livi (13), Malea (11) and Kenny (7). It's not stated where they live, but the clues in the film suggest it's somewhere in the north of Germany.

One day a penguin wanders into their house. They've already seen him on television. His name is Paul, and he's gained fame as a dancing penguin who lives in the local zoo. He was stolen from the zoo by two magicians, Marc and Mary, who want to use him in their show. They might be good magicians, but they're inept thieves. They lock Paul in a small cage, but he breaks out and runs away.

The girls see it as their duty to return Paul to the zoo, but they hand him over to the same crooked employee who sold Paul to the magicians in the first place. The girls pursue the magicians to rescue Paul again.

It's a pleasant little girly film. It's supposed to be a comedy, but it's not very funny. Oliver didn't laugh, and neither did I. The oldest sister, Tessa, acts as the film's narrator and frequently breaks the fourth wall by addressing the camera. I made an effort to like the film, but it didn't really speak to me.

London Road (4 Stars)

Sometimes I watch a film which I have trouble rating. Usually it's a film which is different, and this is a very different film. It's a musical that's based on the serial killer Steve Wright, who killed five prostitutes in Ipswich in 2006. It's not completely original to make a musical about a true story, but this musical is unique because the songs weren't written. The screenwriter took the texts of original interviews with people in Ipswich, and these texts were sung in parlando. During the final credits the interview tapes are played, and we can recognise the words from the film's songs.

Another thing that's unusual is that we never see Steve Wright, neither before nor after he's arrested. All we see are the residents of London Road and the surrounding area.

And it's a Christmas movie!

The film begins in the quiet cul-de-sac, London Road. It's becoming a popular street for working girls, as they're euphemistically called. The local residents don't like them, and they shout abuse at them, but their attitude changes when they start to die. Their naked bodies are found nearby.

The early scenes show the road in a state of paranoia. Everyone suspects everyone else. If a man looks in any way creepy, he's a suspect. Everyone is scared, but my naive reaction is "Why?" The killer is only targeting prostitutes, so nobody else is in danger. The police give advice on what to do to stay safe, such as not going out alone or late at night. One of the residents puts my thoughts into words. The advice the police should be giving is "Don't be a prostitute and get into cars with strange men".

Steve Wright is arrested on 19th December 2006. He lives at 79 London Road. The residents are gripped by a lynch mob mentality. They don't care about the trial, he's already guilty in their eyes. As the trial drags on they're scared that he'll be found innocent. That's a twisted attitude. If a person is found innocent of murder, the reason is that he really is innocent. The residents of London Road had the attitude that they already knew he was guilty, so if the jury pronounced him innocent they would have failed.

The film doesn't really have a lead actor or actress. The scenes switch rapidly from one person to another. Olivia Colman has slightly more screen time than anyone else. Tom Hardy is prominent on the posters, but that was only to lure people into the cinemas. He appears in the film for less than five minutes as a taxi driver who was interviewed as a potential suspect. "London Road" was released in 2015, the same year that "Mad Max Fury Road" and "The Revenant" were in the cinemas. The hype didn't work. The film was a box office flop, despite positive reviews by the critics.

I wanted to buy the film on Blu-ray, but I waited in vain for a Blu-ray release. After all this time it's only been released on DVD. I don't understand the studios. I've finally given up and bought it on DVD. I'm sure I'll watch it again soon, to decide whether I really like it or not.

Success Rate:  - 13.9

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Audition (4 Stars)

"Audition" is a film that I like, but it's not a film that I can watch often. Today is the fourth time I've watched it, so it fits my definition of a good film: "A good film is a film I want to watch at least three times". I was excited when I found out it was being shown in the cinema this week. I had to go!

Aoyama has been raising his son as a single parent since the death of his wife seven years ago. He thinks it's time to move on. He wants to find a new wife, but he doesn't know how to go about it. The film was made in 1999, before there were dating apps. Together with a friend, he devises a trick. They interview women for the leading role in a film. They don't intend to make the film. They're just using it as a strategy to find a suitable woman for Aoyama.

He finds a woman. Or does she find him? They go on a romantic weekend and have sex, but when Aoyama wakes up she's gone. He searches for her in vain. He finds people who know her, but none of them know where she lives. But she knows where Aoyama lives, and when the time is right she breaks into his house.

The film is a slow burner. For the first hour very little happens. This builds up the suspense towards the horrific conclusion. I wanted to look away, but I gripped my seat and gazed at the screen. It's a film that nobody can forget.

The Royal Hotel (4½ Stars)

Last week I wanted to see this film, but I changed my mind at the last moment because it was too cold. Have I toughened up now? Not really. Last week the weather was -5C, and today it's +9C. Would I have gone to the cinema if it had still been as cold? I'd like to say Yes, but I'd rather be honest and say that I don't know.

What I can say with certainty is that I'm glad I went today. The film is amazing. Don't believe people who say that Australian films suck. "The Royal Hotel" is a film worth seeing in any weather.

Two young girls, Hanna and Liv, are on holiday in Australia. They're Americans, but they pretend to be Canadian because Canadians are more popular. Is that true? When they arrive they're in a mess, because Hanna's credit card doesn't work and Liv has only brought a small amount of cash. Rather than cut their holiday short, they look for a job to pay their way. They're sent to a bar in a remote mining town in the Australian outback. The bar's name, "Royal Hotel", is bizarrely ironic. The men in the town are uncouth and sexist. The girls have to fight off unwanted advances every day.

The film doesn't have much of a plot. It just meanders from one mishap to the next. Normally that would be bad, but in this case it suits the film. The girls wake up every day, not knowing what will happen next. Hanna manages to keep the men out of her bed, but Liv is different. Liv discovers that if she's drunk enough the men are pleasant. Liv thinks the men are harmless idiots, whereas Hanna thinks that some of them are dangerous. Which one is right?

Wikipedia states that the film is inspired by true events, but the page's author fails to say what events he's talking about. Not every Wikipedia page lives up to the same standard. True or not, the film is staggering. Very few people went to see it. Including myself, only eight of the 220 seats were occupied. Someone should drag people away from Netflix and into the cinema. It wasn't too cold today, so they have no excuse.

Morbius (4½ Stars)

Netflix Thursday #36

The cover above was the first appearance of Morbius in Amazing Spider-Man #101, dated October 1971. Don't be put off by Spider-Man having six arms. It was a silly idea that Marvel had which only lasted a few issues.

Today I'm visiting my son Benjamin in Obersontheim. The weather is freezing! It's -8C up here on the hill, three degrees colder than where I live in Münchingen. He's more of a gamer than a film fan, so he relies on streaming services. I picked "Morbius" on Netflix as a film he hasn't watched before.

"Morbius" didn't do as well as expected at the box office, but at least it made a slight profit. It's a dark film, which is probably the reason not as many fans went to see it. How big is the overlap between Marvel fans and horror movie fans? I can't judge by myself, because I'll watch anything.

The post credit scenes tie in with the multiverse. As far as I know, Morbius lives in the same universe as Venom, Earth-TRN688. In the mid-credits scenes – there are two of them – the Vulture jumps from Earth-199999 and proposes teaming up with Morbius to fight with Spider-Man. Does that make sense? We've never seen Earth-TRN688's version of Spider-Man. It would make more sense for Morbius to jump into Earth-199999. I have the impression that Marvel Studios doesn't know what it's doing. Apart from that, it currently seems unlikely that "Morbius" will have a sequel, so we can safely ignore the mid-credits scenes. They never happened.

Overall, Marvel is in a state of turmoil. "The Marvels" was a big flop, due to a few factors.

1. There's a general slump in cinema visitors.

2. There's a super-hero fatigue after too many Marvel films.

3. Disney, which now owns Marvel Studios, is being mismanaged by Bob Iger.

What's the future of Marvel in the movies? Nobody knows. If "Deadpool 3" isn't a success this year, there's no hope for Marvel.

Success Rate:  + 0.2

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The Full Monty (5 Stars)

Didn't I watch "The Full Monty" two days ago? Yes, but I returned to it today on an impulse. When I watch a film that I don't like, I feel unclean. Maybe that's not the right word, but it's the way I felt after watching "Poor Things" today. If I'd come home late I would just have gone to bed with a glass of wine. Since it was early, i deemed it better to watch a good film to clean my mind. Something to cheer me up. And what better film than "The Full Monty", which was still lying on the desk next to my Blu-ray player?

It's too late for me to write much, so I'll just say a few words about the final scene. 200 women were gathered as extras. Money was saved by using women already involved in the film as crew members, plus the wives and friends of male crew members.

Not everyone in the audience is an unpaid extra. There are a few women that we've seen earlier in the film. One of them is Beryl, played by the beautiful Fiona Watts. She's shown in several camera shots.

When the strippers throw their belts into the audience, Fiona catches one of them. That's a souvenir she'll keep for the rest of her life. It'll remind her of her only film role.

I only found out yesterday that a Full Monty television series was made last year, featuring the same cast. It's only received lukewarm reviews. The general consensus is that it doesn't live up to the film. Nevertheless, I'm curious to see what the men look like 25 years later. It's on Disney Plus, so I'll probably check it out next week. One episode at least.

Success Rate:  + 71.7

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Poor Things (2 Stars)

This is a film that's been nominated for many awards, including eleven awards for the upcoming Baftas. So it has to be good. Right? Wrong. To sum it up, the film starts badly, it gets worse in the middle, and towards the end it becomes only slightly better.

The film begins with a Frankenstein-ish character in Victorian London. A disfigured surgeon, also a university lecturer, has discovered how to bring people back to life. He witnesses a pregnant woman committing suicide by jumping off a bridge. He retrieves her body and revives her, but because of her head trauma he removes her brain and replaces it with the brain of her unborn baby. The result is a fully grown woman with childlike intelligence and naivety.

So far it sounds good, but I can't explain the film's problems without giving spoilers. So if you don't want spoilers, stop reading now.

Are you still with me? You were warned.

As the woman, named Bella by the surgeon, grows older she becomes more intelligent, but she remains naive. I forgot to mention that the surgeon's name is Godwin Baxter, but he lets everyone call him God. One of God's students falls in love with the childlike woman and proposes to marry her. She agrees, but a short time later she decides to have an affair with God's lawyer, a last fling before her marriage. They go to Lisbon, where they spend their days having wild sex.

On the way home Bella sees poor children and is so moved that she gives all of their money to them. Bella is broke when she arrives in Paris, so she becomes a prostitute. She does this for a while –  Months? Years? – but eventually returns to London to marry the student.

I'll stop there. I've already given more spoilers than I usually do.

As far as the film's message goes, it's a mess. It shows a woman trying to stand on her own two feet, resisting the men who try to keep her prisoner. That's admirable, but can a woman really find freedom by becoming a prostitute? Her naivety, which she retains throughout the film, is her greatest weakness. She's not a feminist role model, far from it. There are other random things I need to criticise:

Why is the surgeon disfigured? It adds nothing to the plot.

And why does he call himself God? That's rather plump.

There are alternating sequences in colour and black and white. I couldn't detect a logical reason for the differences.

Bella sees blimps flying overhead in Lisbon. I thought it was an anachronism, but after googling I found that the first blimps were invented in 1852. It still looks strange.

The film is just a random mess. Some reviews call "Poor Things" a comedy, I don't see anything funny about it. It's just ridiculous. How could anyone like it, let alone nominate it for awards?

Everything everywhere all at once (5 Stars)

I must be getting old. I was planning to go to the cinema today to see "The Royal Hotel", but I changed my mind because it was too cold. That's the first time the weather has ever kept me away from a film. I don't want to make a habit of it. It's going to be shown again on Monday, so I have a second chance to prove I'm not a wimp. Actually it's being shown every day, but most days it's being shown dubbed into German. I have to wait until Monday to get another chance to see it with the original English dialogue.

So I used my evening at home to watch "Everything everywhere all at once", which I haven't watched for 18 months. It's an incredible film, one of my top films of 2022. I put it in third place. Maybe it should have been first. If I get a chance I'll watch all of the top three films to make up my mind. I shan't change the list now, what's done is done. The only changes I ever make to old posts is to correct spelling mistakes. But I'll tell you in a new post if I change my mind.

One thing I can tell you is that it won the Oscar for Best Film last year, along with six other Oscars. This amazed me, not because it's a great film, but because the highbrow film critics agree that it's a great film. It's a rarity for one of my favourite films to be showered with Oscars. It's also unusual for a science fiction film to be picked as Best Film at the Academy Awards. Has it ever happened before? Let me check. *long pause* Yes, "The Shape of Water" won the Best Film Oscar in 2017, but I think that it was the only other science fiction film until now. Please leave a comment and let me know if I've missed anything.

I like "Everything everywhere all at once", but do I really understand it? What I mean is, I can sit and describe the plot, but I don't know the underlying meaning of the film. I don't know what the director is trying to say. I need to look for a review by one of the highbrow critics that I'm always criticising. One of them might have something valid to say. If I find something that I agree with, I'll let you know in my next review. Until then, I'll leave you with a few photos of the laundromat owner Evelyn Wang.

Success Rate:  + 8.0

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The Full Monty (5 Stars)

I admit that my sole reason for watching "The Full Monty" this evening was to commemorate Tom Wilkinson's death on 30th December, but wow! I'd forgotten what a great film it is! I have it on DVD, but the last time I watched it was before I started my blog in September 2010. What's wrong with me?

The first time I saw it was when it was on television. Probably 1998. I bought it soon after buying my first DVD player in 2003. How often did I watch it? I don't remember, but I know I watched films repeatedly when I didn't have many. And then I forgot all about it.

It's not just the humour that I like. I can relate to the poverty after the decline of the steel industry. I've never visited Sheffield, it's 75 miles north of Birmingham where I lived, but the town scenes look familiar. It's not so different to towns like Stoke-on-Trent and Nottingham; rolling hills with houses overlooking a valley.

Tom is best known for his role in "The Full Monty". The film was nominated for four Academy Awards in 1997, but only won the award for Best Original Score. On the other hand, it was voted the best film at the Baftas, despite fierce competition from "Titanic". I personally think that the Baftas are the most impartial awards ceremony. The Academy Awards have a pro-American bias, in general, even though there can be exceptions like "Parasite" and "Slumdog Millionaire".

"The Full Monty" is a biddy movie. Six outcasts band up to become strippers.

I can understand why Tom Wilkinson is best known for "The Full Monty". He's not the main character – in the group picture above he's hiding at the back – but he's the most tragic character in the gang. He was the factory foreman, a step above the others, but he's been made unemployed just like the men working for him. He lives in a pleasant middle class home, but he's more vulnerable to poverty than the others. He's afraid to tell his wife that he lost his job, so he puts on a suit and walks to the Job Centre every day, knowing that his wife goes out shopping with her credit cards every day.

Robert Carlyle and Tom Wilkinson are the best known actors in the film, but the other four actors (Mark Addy, Steve Huison, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer) are all well known actors in British film and television. Allow me to point out one actress, Fiona Watts, who's never achieved success. She has a non-speaking role as Beryl, a woman attending the gang's (un-)dress rehearsal. This was her only ever film role, which is a shame for a woman of her beauty.

Success Rate:  + 71.7

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Next Goal Wins (4 Stars)

I don't often watch sports films, especially not in the cinema. "Next Goal Wins" is an exception for one reason: it was directed by Taika Waititi. I can trust his films to be first class comedies. His films are even funny when they shouldn't be funny, such as "Thor Love and Thunder". Marvel films would be better without humour, but hiring Taika as director made it obvious the film would be a comedy.

Can a true story be a comedy? Yes, as "Next Goal Wins" proves. After losing 31:0 to Australia, the national team of American Samoa was considered to be the world's worst football team. A standing joke in the film is that the Football Federation of American Samoa is abbreviated to FFAS, which is pronounced "farce". They're determined to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, so they hire an American football coach, a Dutchman who's been fired from his previous coaching jobs for constantly losing his temper. They soon have to lower their aims, and they say that they'll be happy if they score at least one goal in the qualifying rounds.

A lot of the film's humour concerns the coach's arrival on a small island. Everyone knows him. The population is only 47,000. There's no reception for his mobile phone, so he's forced to use a landline. Another comic element is the fact that the team's captain is transgender. He/she is technically still classed as male, but he's undergoing hormone treatment to become fully female. The trouble is that when he becomes too female, he'll no longer be eligible to play in a men's team.

The film has had mixed reception from critics, but I like it. It starts slowly, but it becomes funnier and funnier as it continues.

Aquaman (4 Stars)

"Redheads! You've just gotta love em!"

I'm sorry. I couldn't resist heading this review with this photo of Amber Heard. She looks much better with her hair dyed red than with her natural blonde hair. But wouldn't the dye be washed out if she spends all her time underwater?

When I watched "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" last month I realised that I could hardly remember the first film. All I remembered was the excessive use of computer graphics. That's usually a sign that it was an average film, because I best remember good films and bad films. I made up for it by logging onto Amazon to order "Aquaman".

Is it an average film? It has its ups and downs. It's uneven. So much is packed into it. Maybe too much. It runs for 143 minutes, but it could have been shortened to 110 or even 90 minutes without weakening the story. There's an exciting fight in Sicily, the best part of the film, followed by a totally unnecessary attack by monsters at sea. Then there's a subterranean world full of flying reptiles that comes straight from the pages of a Jules Verne novel. It looks good, but the mood switches from one scene to the next are exhausting.

To be honest, "Aquaman" can be enjoyed better after seeing "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom". The same characters return, particularly Black Manta and Aquaman's brother Orm. Seeing how they develop makes their first appearance easier to understand. The second film develops the characters that we already knew.

One strange thing about the Blu-ray I watched today is the way the picture height varies. Was is this way in the cinema? I don't remember. It's possible that the pictures were resized for home cinema. I'd be interested in finding out the reason.

Here are two examples. In this screenshot of Aquaman and Mera the picture is full screen.

In this screenshot of Black Manta the picture is widescreen.

I've never been a fan of widescreen films, neither in the cinema nor at home. It's claimed that the widescreen format makes the picture bigger. That's a lie. It actually makes the picture smaller, because it has to be flattened to show all of it on a cinema screen. It's most obvious at home. The black bars at the top and bottom of the television screen are ugly.

"Aquaman" might not be a great film, but Jason Momoa is a great actor. The first time he won me over was his performance in "Fast & Furious 10", but after returning to "Aquaman" I can fully appreciate his acting skill. I look forward to seeing him return in the next two Fast & Furious films.

Success Rate:  + 5.2

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WWF 1997.07.06 - In Your House: Canadian Stampede

This is one of the rare Pay-Per-View events that the WWF performed outside of America. It's just over the border in Canada, but there's a completely different atmosphere. In the USA Bret Hart is unpopular with the fans, but in Canada he's a big hero. Davey Boy Smith, aka British Bulldog, is married to the reigning Mrs. Calgary, Bret's sister Diana. This photo was taken at an outdoor event earlier in the day.

Location: The Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canda

Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler. Jim Ross

Normally Jim Ross is the only one who wears a cowboy hat, but today it's also Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Can Jerry see anything from under that hat?

Match 1. Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Mankind

Triple H comes into the ring expecting an easy victory against Mankind after defeating him at the 1997 King of the Ring.

But all eyes are on Chyna. Does this fan called Serge have a chance? He might do better if he knew how to spell her name properly-

Chyna follows Triple H to the ring without even giving Serge a glance. It looks like the weather in Canada is colder than she's used to.

The match starts with a clear advantage for Mankind. He tosses Triple H around the ring like a rag doll. The fans are all cheering for Mankind. Jerry Lawler says it's because they can relate to him, since most Canadian women look like him. Come on, Jerry, take another look at the photo of Mrs. Calgary. She's a beauty, even though I prefer Chyna.

When Triple H is thrown out of the ring, he falls in front of the Hart family, who are occupying the front row seats. It's more of a dynasty than a family. Stu Hart, Bret's father, has 12 children, most of whom are connected with the wrestling business.

Mankind applies his finishing move, the mandible claw, to Triple H. Chyna punches him behind the referee's back, or rather over the referee's head. This gives Triple H a temporary advantage, but Mankind fights back. While they're outside the ring, Chyna throws Mankind against the steel steps. This is the real turning point. Triple H fights brutally, concentrating on Mankind's leg.

Outside the ring again, Chyna knocks Mankind down behind referee's back. They brawl outside, until the referee counts them both out.

The fight continues. Mankind runs into the audience, followed by Triple H and Chyna. The referees, assisted by Jerry Brisco, do their best to separate them.

Match 2. Great Sasuke vs Taka Michinoku

The WWF does something unusual. Two unknown wrestlers are pitted against one another in a PPV. Both are Japanese light heavyweights, but Taka Michinoku is currently wrestling in Mexico. The Great Sasuke was already praised by Jim Ross at the beginning of the show as the world's greatest light heavyweight wrestler. Obviously, today's PPV is a try-out for Sasuke. Taka is a jobber who's supposed to lose quickly.

But guess what? Even though he loses the match, the audience likes Taka Michinoku more. They side with the underdog. I'm sure that Vince McMahon at ringside was taking note of this. Wrestling ability is less important than being able to win over the audience.

The match's start was delayed because Mankind, Triple H and Chyna were still fighting at the back of the arena. When it finally started, it was an exciting high-flying match between the two Japanese wrestlers. Sasuke used impressive martial arts kicks. Taka fought valiantly, but he lost.

Mankind and Triple H are still fighting in the parking lot, while the referees are doing their best to hold Chyna back.

Triple H is bleeding badly, but he doesn't want to stop.

Match 3. WWF Championship, Undertaker vs Vader

Undertaker was due to defend his title against Ahmed Johnson today, but his knee was injured in a backstage brawl at Raw two weeks ago.

Before the match Paul Bearer repeats his accusations that the Undertaker murdered his whole family. Dok Hendrix doesn't believe it.

The Undertaker is the crowd favourite, in Canada as in America.  Despite his huge size, the Undertaker is fast and agile. Vader isn't fast, but he makes up for it by having more muscle mass. For the first few minutes the Undertaker has a clear advantage, making several near pins. All the time Paul Bearer is standing outside the ring taunting the Undertaker, calling him a murderer. Then Vader fights back, and the two wrestlers are equally matched. Finally the Undertaker wins the match with a tombstone and retains the WWF Championship title.

The Canadian country music group Farmer's Daughter comes out to sing the Canadian national anthem. The crowd is clearly moved by the performance, but the singing didn't impress me. Is that the best Canada has to offer?

Howard Finkel (also wearing a cowboy hat) introduces Stu and Helen Hart as the patriarch and matriarch of the Hart family. On the right is Ralph Klein, the premier of the province of Alberta.

Match 4. 10-man tag team match, the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, Brian Pillman) vs the unnamed American team (Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, Hawk, Animal)

Before the match begins, Dok Hendrix interviews the American team. It's noticeable that Steve Austin refuses to talk and storms off. He's obviously not happy at having to share the ring with partners.

One of the problems of having so many wrestlers in a match is that it takes ages to get them all to the ring. I timed it: 8 minutes 58 seconds from the first entrance till the start of the match. I've never seen Steve Austin be booed so much as today. The Canadians love Bret Hart, so they automatically hate his nemesis Steve Austin.

Only one of the Hart Foundation, British Bulldog, isn't Canadian, so he wins over the crowd by being accompanied by his beautiful wife Diana.

Before the match starts there's a showdown between Steve Austin and Bret Hart. I can't read his lips, but I know what he's saying. He's not interested in the tag team match, he just wants to fight with Bret.

Incidentally, there are cameras at ringside filming a documentary about Bret Hart.

These two wrestlers begin with a brutal brawl. The crowd cheers whenever Bret hits Steve, and they boo whenever Steve hits back. 

It's difficult for my review to do justice to the following 24-minute battle. It wasn't wrestling, it was brawling. Both sides were cheating, entering the ring without tags or attacking each other outside the ring. At one point Bret Hart hit Steve Austin with a fire extinguisher. The referee Earl Hebner had no control over the match. He should have taken the day off. Here are a few pictures to capture the atmosphere:

Steve Austin pulls Brian Pillman's pants down so that Hawk can hit him.

Bret Hart is confused by Ken Shamrock's unorthodox style.

 Steve Austin pulls 82-year-old Stu Hart off his seat to attack him. Stu's other sons who're sitting behind the railing leap to his defence.

Eventually Owen Hart pins Steve Austin.

The brawling continues with Stu Hart's other sons in the ring.

The fight calms down, but then Steve Austin returns and attacks everyone in sight. He's led out of the arena in handcuffs.

Bret Hart celebrates in the middle of his family. Stu Hart is obviously very weak. He can't even raise his arm without assistance.

And this is my favourite photo of the evening. Owen Hart celebrates the Canadian victory with his son.

This was a very good PPV, even though the America vs Canada rivalry was exaggerated.