Why HHH jobbed, Yanks lose, Underdogs...

Raw was a good show last night for one thing and one thing alone. The HHH/Benjamin match was far and away the best thing they've given away at least in a few months, and it's nice to see HHH put the kid over. However, it's pretty obvious why he did. Shelton Benjamin is no threat to HHH's quest for the belt, and at best could main event in a year or two, with the proper push. Now, I'm not saying this in a bad way, because it was nice to see HHH do the job cleanly, without any runins or ref bumps, and because it was done in such a way that you were hanging on every move right up until the pinfall. This has been noticeably lacking of late on WWE TV, and it was a nice breath of fresh air to finish an otherwise average Raw. Too bad they'll probably give him the belt back at Backlash, now that he's shoehorned himself into the Main Event again.

Notes:
Foley/Orton Falls Count Anywhere, No Holds Barred at Backlash: Good promos by Foley and Flair to kick this off, but this should have been at WMXX and not at Backlash.
Molly's looking very Sinead O'Connorish now, but the wig thing's getting old already. And Nidia needs to spend some time with Fit Finlay. She looked dreadful last night.
Coach taking the green mist was funny as hell, but Tajiri/Kane was pretty dreadful.
So far, not really looking forward to Backlash. None of the matches other then Foley/Orton is looking very good.

Yankees lost to the D-Rays 8-3 in Tokyo this morning. Not much to say here as I didn't see the game, but if they lose tomorrow also, it's not going to bother me. (There's still 160 games left to go in the season.) But it was funny to hear the first caller to Mac and Sid on FAN this morning observe that FAN would be getting plenty of doom and gloom calls after the loss. I imagine it was a whinefest today.

Okay. Underdogs, Part the third.

51. Universal Soldier - Van Damme? Dolph Lundgren? You gotta be kidding me. Next~!
52. In The Line Of Fire - One of Clint's better films the last few years, but this was a critical and commerical success.
53. Liberty Heights - Barry Levinson revisits his Baltimore childhood. AGAIN. Next~!
54. Shadow of The Vampire - Fun, great fun, and it's got Willem Dafoe, Malkovich, and Eddie Izzard all trying to chew the scenery at once. Great film.
55. One False Move - Other then being the film that unleashed Billy Bob Thornton on us, no arguments here. Fine, fine film highlighted by Bill Paxton.
56. The Money Pit - Tom Hanks movies (save Joe Vs. The Volcano) cannot be considered underrated. For Christ's sake, he's our generation's Jimmy freakin' Stewart.
57. Drive - Now, here, here's a movie that defines this list. Originally made as an HBO/DTV movie, barely saw any release at all, and is a blueprint for the Rush Hour films. I cannot say enough good things about this movie. Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison have an easygoing chemistry and there are a number of good fights and action sequences, plus gratuitous Brittany Murphy. Hollywood should make more movies like this.
58. Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead - And here's the other one. Unfortunately, this got shuffled around in the post-Tarantino, pre-Guy Richie crime movie phase, where every director with a hard-boiled script was getting money thrown at them. Treat Williams, Walken, Andy Garcia and Buscemi are all phenomenal. A must see from the director of Kiss The Girls and Runaway Jury.
59. Rounders - Eh. Would probably make more money now with the fad that is televised poker. Not a great movie by any stretch.
60. Birdy - Odd, odd, odd, but still worth your time.
61. City of Hope - With the exception of Eight Men Out and Lone Star, John Sayles is a filmmaker who defines the underdog film. I would quibble that maybe Brother From Another Planet should be here instead, but this is a fine movie also.
62. Stir Of Echoes - Okay, but not The Sixth Sense.
63. Society - Not for the weak of stomach, but very unusual. Too cult to be an underdog.
64. Hollywood Shuffle - no argument here. Without this movie, there would have been no In Living Color.
65. Mosquito Coast - No thanks. I prefer my Harrison Ford movies to be of the action variety.
66. Ed Wood - Phenomenal movie. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Managed to get my hands on the OOP Disney DVD that was pulled before release, and am happy for it.
67. 13 Days - It's not "The Missiles of October." Next~!
68. Big Night - no opinion, other then to say that Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub are fine actors.
69. A Midnight Clear - slow, slow, slow. No thanks.
70. 25th Hour - Great movie, rented a ton. Ed Norton's finest role other then Fight Club.
71 Jackie Brown - not up to the other Tarantino films, chiefly of note for reviving Pam Grier and Robert Forster's careers. Pass.
72. Super Troopers - I love Broken Lizard, and this movie rented like you wouldn't believe. I expect Club Dread to do the same when it comes out. Very much an underdog.
73. Beautiful Girls - Natalie Portman playing sexy smart and very jailbait is the only redeeming quality of this film. Your mileage may vary.
74. Casino - Martin Scorsese movies (save Kundun, maybe) are not underdogs. One of the most rented(and stolen) videos in our store.
75. Clean and Sober - AKA Beetlejuice acts serious. My cousin's ex-girlfriend, who is an addiction counselor, uses this movie with her clients. I've never seen it, so I have no opinion.

Tomorrow, we finish with the sequel that does belong here, the animated movie that also belongs here, and a couple more head-scratchers.