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Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story Pays Tribute to Wrestling’s Boldest Outlaw

Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story is a fierce, compassionate portrait of a trailblazer who refused to shrink herself for anyone, charting how she carved out space in a hostile business and the cost that defiance carried behind the curtain.

Vancouver, BC Premiere
November 26 at the Rio Theatre
* with director Kate Kroll and guests in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.

The Vachon family’s influence on professional wrestling is legendary, and Lunatic: The Luna Vachon Story narrows that legacy to one of its most compelling figures. Once Gertrude “Trudy” Elizabeth Vachon committed to the ring, she knew she had to stand out. She built the character of Luna—fierce, theatrical, and utterly impossible to ignore—and pushed every button she had to. In an environment that wasn’t built to welcome her, she crafted a persona that looked right at home in a Mad Max wasteland.

The film opens during what many consider wrestling’s most electrifying period: the WWF “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was a time when spectacle often overshadowed sport, and some performers used that fame to pivot into film careers. Luna took a different path. She stayed committed to the craft itself, valuing sportsmanship over the hype.

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With WWE Next Gen, The Struggle is Real

Who’s ready to rumble? Secrets about how WWE will evolve is revealed in this Reality TV Program simply tiutled WWE Next Gen.

Debuting on Roku
April 1st, 2024

Anyone who has followed WWE’s NXT knows it is a platform to test new talents not only on the wrestling ring but also on screen as performers. It started in 2010 as a television program which aired on different networks over the years, and some may wonder how some individuals got here? WWE Next Gen aims to answer that, and show how tough it is to become a celebrity wrestling superstar. It’s really about how to present yourself to others and anyone watching this reality TV program may well learn a thing or two on when it’s okay to be a douche and when it’s not.

Unlike past talents who fought tooth and nail to the top, before the WWE existed, these recruits have the assistance of industry legends like Shawn Michaels, Big E, and Matt Bloom to help mentor them. Morgan Belvedere is not from their world, and she’s a different type of intermediary. They are here to see if Brayden Ray, Breanna Covington, Jonah Niesenbaum, Caleb Kelly, Nicky Rodriguez, Julian Baldi, Christyan Reid, Kevin Feder, Aaron Jenkins, Sara Fiorvento, Kennedy Smith, Lina Ducharme, Taylor Arenz, Keyshawn Leflore, Olena Sadovska, and Darrel Mason have what it takes.

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The Bungle With Paramount Plus’ Rumble And Where to Find It Online

There’s a decent enough story in Rumble to keep me interested, and at the same time, there’s another theme I wished could have been explored.

WWE Studios‘ doesn’t make a lot of animated films, and when they do, viewers recognise why it’s often about selling the parent’s company style of entertainment. Make it kitschy, and they will come.

The last work had their best known wrestlers teaming up with Scooby-Doo and the gang. They were decent enough such that two films (Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery and Curse of the Speed Demon) got made! But with their latest, Rumble, what’s presented isn’t anything I haven’t seen before.

Originally released to Paramount Plus last year, this CGI film wasn’t able receive the attention it so deserves. Now that it’s widely available (it arrived on home video in late October), and is streamable on services like Netflix (arriving in Canada Dec 15, 2022) and Amazon Prime USA, it’s possible to see what the fuss is about. I enjoyed it for the kaiju moments–which was sadly very brief–more so than its nod to the universal monsters of yore. Thankfully there are plenty of Easter eggs to laugh at. But not everyone will spot them all. For example, there’s a blink and you’ll miss “Mini Cthulhu” scrolling past.

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The Retrospective in Biography: WWE Legends

We get a fairly good nostalgia trip about this sports entertainment business, even before it became a crazy arena spectacle. It doesn’t always reveal how much of an influence they are in other media, but as for learning about the history of this sub-genre, it’s fairly comprehensive.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Please check local listings for a repeat schedule.

A&E Network and WWE Studios are partners in Biography: WWE Legends (formerly known as World Wrestling Federation), a new run of biographies about the legends of wrestling. The decision on who to first focus on must’ve been tough. To see true alumni, namely Hulk Hogan, interviewed about their time with the talents from the past two decades, made for a great retrospective.

There are eight specials and the last documentary about Bret Hart aired last weekend. To binge watch these two hour specials isn’t possible, but to watch them over successive days than wait reveals a lot more about the sport turned entertainment spectacle. Although each piece doesn’t get into the most guarded secrets or details that can be read from a Wikipedia styled biography, I found the series to be a terrific primer to get newcomers and the curious up to date on the talents who became Stone Cold Steve Austin, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Mick Foley and Ultimate Warrior.

Not all of these people stood out, but I did find Booker T’s charm a total gem in the spotlight about him. From those who are still living and are looking back, they’re not talking about all the demons they faced or go into huge lengths about their youth which led to them wanting to partake in wrestling as a proper sport (the part of their life I’m really curious about). Randy perhaps had the most problems to deal with. Not even The Undertaker can exorcise them.

We get a fairly good nostalgia trip and history about what this sports entertainment business is about, even before it became a crazy arena spectacle. One nice mention is in how the South East of America operated as fiefdoms, before it eventually became one huge brand. These documentaries doesn’t always reveal how much of an influence WWE is in other media (missing the boat on crossover into comic books and cartoons) and this segment can use an expansion.

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Muppisode “Food Fight!” Extended Cut

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

If you have seen the Muppisode “Food Fight!” on the official Muppet Studios Youtube channel, than watch the extended cut available on the WWE channel. With 3:42 more footage available, we get to see an extended version of the showdown between Chef Gordon Ramsey and the Swedish Chef. Also ring announcer Michael Buffer appears after being left on the editing room floor in the original 3:02 version.