#also we were so respectful of Dan turning Jack down and completely backed off but i dont think dan turned him down out of disinterest

[larrythefloridaman]

Danjack for bingo?

dan deserves a wish fulfillment cool earnest dork wolfboy bf. hes earned it i think .

[interestarticles]

Best Movies Of The Year 1980 - Top 20 Films Of 1980

What Are The Best Movies Of The Year 1980?

From New York to Los Angeles this is a question that will get a different answer from every person you ask. There were some great films in the 1980s, and 1980 started the decade off with a bang as a year full of innovation in every way throughout all of society, and it was the start of some exciting new techniques, technologies, and ideas in the film industry in particular with many movies from the year 1980 introducing revolutionary and pioneering cinematic visions. Many people think that some of the best 80s movies of the decade came out in 1980. In this article post, we will go through our top picks for the 20 best movies of 1980, you might be surprised to find out which movies made it on the list! 1) Kramer vs. Kramer In 1980, "Kramer vs. Kramer" was released and became a huge success at the box office. The movie starred Meryl Streep as Joanna Kramer, Dustin Hoffman as Ted Kramer, Jane Alexander as Marylin Jaffe-Jenson, and Justin Henry as Billy Kramer. This film won five Academy Awards in 1981 including Best Picture of 1979 or 1980. It also received nominations for best director (Robert Benton), best actor (Dustin Hoffman), and best-adapted screenplay based on another work (Erica Mann). It is now considered one of the most significant Hollywood films ever made about divorce because it provides nuance to both sides of an argument. 2) The Shining This iconic horror classic film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall was released in 1980. It is based on Stephen King's 1977 novel of the same name. The film has been ranked a number of times as one of the best horror movies ever made and is now considered to be one of Kubrick's best films. It was nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Actor in Leading Role--Jack Nicholson) and won none at the time. The Shining also received nominations for Best Director - Stanley Kubrick), Best Adapted Screenplay--Steven Spielberg/Stanley Kubrick). Its reputation grew over time, eventually earning an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. 3) Being There Hal Ashby himself had been nominated for an Academy Award in 1971 with directing The Last Detail. It is a film that could be classified as both comedy and drama, but the emphasis on this 1980 release lies more on its comedic aspects. While it was not one of the most acclaimed films when it came out, many now consider Being There to be a classic film about society's relationship with television at the time. It offers commentary on economic inequality and how people are often reduced to simple archetypes who can easily fit into neat narratives for consumption purposes. 4) Time Bandits Time Bandits, a 1980 British fantasy film about adventure, was co-written by Terry Gilliam. It stars Sean Connery and John Cleese as well as Shelley Duvall and Ralph Richardson. Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm. Peter Vaughan and David Warner are also featured. It is a whimsical kids' movie with the fantasy adventure of time travel that has been ranked as one of the best movies ever made by many critics. Gilliam has referred to time bandits as first in his "Trilogy of Imagination", which includes Brazil (1985), and then The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (88). They all revolve around the "craziness and incoherence of our society, and the desire for escape through every means. These films all focus on the struggles and attempts to escape through imagination. Brazil is seen through the eyes of a young man, Time Bandits through a child's eyes, and Munchausen through an old man's eyes. Time Bandits, in particular, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. 5) Pennies from Heaven Quite a departure from his previous work, this film is much more lighthearted and comedic than the serious dramas of The Miracle Worker or Bonnie and Clyde. The plot revolves around Arthur Parker (Steve Martin), whose life becomes increasingly chaotic as he tries to juggle two jobs, an impending child custody battle for his daughter, and a demanding girlfriend who wants him to give up one job so that they can have some time together. 6) Airplane! This Leslie Nielsen instant comedy classic was one of the highest-grossing movies of 1980. The movie is about an airplane crew that must find a way to land their plane after food poisoning breaks out on board and the pilots become incapacitated, with only two inexperienced passengers who happen to be a doctor (Robert Hays) and a flight attendant (Julie Hagerty) qualified to land the plane. Airplane! was one of the most successful films at theaters in 1980 It had more than $83 million worth of ticket sales by year's end - it became one of Leslie Nielsen's most popular roles ever The film also helped launch Robert Hays' career as a leading man, though he later found greater success playing comedic supporting characters before retiring from acting. 7) The Empire Strikes Back One of the most famous of the 1980s movies, The Empire Strikes Back is remembered for its numerous plot twists and turns as well as introducing fan-favorite Yoda The film features Mark Hamill reprising his role as Luke Skywalker in this second installment of George Lucas' Star Wars series and it was the first star wars to be released on VHS. Featuring a mixture of live-action footage with high-quality animation from Japanese company Toho, it became one of the best critically acclaimed movies ever. In 1997, it won an American Film Institute award for being among the top 100 films since 1941. 8) Raging Bull 1980 was a strong year for movies, and Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull is one of the most acclaimed action films to be released that year. It stars Robert De Niro in an Academy Award-winning performance as new york boxer Jake La Motta, who has a turbulent affair with Kim Basinger's Vickie. The film depicts how new york boxing served as both his escape from domestic abuse but also led him on a self-destruction path. In addition to being nominated for ten Oscars (including best picture), it won two including best actor for Robert de Niro and best director awards respectively. Released by United Artists, the movie has ranked among the top 100 American Films ever made according to AFI rankings. This release is considered one of the best films of the 80s by many critics. 9) Kagemusha One of the most interesting and well-made movies that 1980 has to offer, Kagemusha tells the story of a warlord who is critically injured and after being buried alive. The movie was directed by Akira Kurosawa and stars Tatsuya Nakadai in one of his best performances ever as both warrior leader Katsuyori Shibata and an imposter named Shingen Yashida. Released in Japan on April 20th, 1980, it became the second-highest-grossing film at the Japanese box office just behind The Return of Godzilla (1984). Kagemusha made its international debut at Cannes Film Festival's Directors Fortnight where it won two major awards: Special Jury Prize for Best Direction and Grand Prix du Festival International du Film - Art. 10) The Gods Must Be Crazy Part comedy, part drama, The Gods Must Be Crazy is a timeless classic. Released in 1980, the film follows Xi (N!xau), an out-of-touch bushman who lives happily with his family until he encounters Coca Cola for the first time and it changes their world forever. The premise of this movie makes us laugh because we can relate to how much more comfortable life was before modern society became so intricate that things like Coke began infiltrating every aspect of our lives. We're drawn into Xi's story as he goes from living peacefully with his tribe to being thrust into a completely different reality when they start hunting down any remaining cases of coca-cola at stores all over town! It also touches on some deeper themes such as the cultural modern world where his customs and rituals mean nothing. Xi's journey is our own as we watch the culture clash of modern society, with all its good intentions and never-ending thirst for new things to consume, come into contact with a simpler time that has long since passed by. The humorous film release was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film but lost out to Italy’s Cinema Paradiso (1988). 11) Caddyshack Released in 1980 this classic comedy film by Harold Ramis is widely considered one of the funniest movies ever made by fans and critics alike. It features an amazing comedic all-star ensemble cast, including Chevy Chase as a rich playboy who turns caddie in order to get girls; Ted Knight as Judge Smails, who wants to keep his country club memberships exclusive and prestigious; Rodney Dangerfield as Ty Webb, a millionaire golfer-cum-caddy who has been banned from all other golf courses for being too good. Also featuring Bill Murray as Carl Spackler, the groundskeeper at Bushwood Country Club whose only goal seems to be killing off gophers with any weapon he can devise (including explosives); Michael O'Keefe as Danny Noonan, a young man hired by Judge Smails's daughter (Castle) to caddy for him; and Brian Doyle-Murray as Lou Loomis, the club's ultra-snobby head professional. 12) The Blues Brothers Another instant classic 1980 movie, The Blues Brothers are best known for its 1980 car chases. Starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Joliet Jake & Elwood Blues respectively, the two brothers who perform a blues show before being arrested by police. They break out of jail with their friends to save an orphanage from foreclosure through satanic cult leader sheik Abdul Khadaffi's "Elvis-Is-King" rally in Chicago Illinois on Mothers Day 1980 at noon. The film has been praised by audiences and critics alike for its music, screenplay, and performances but criticized for its lack of character development (most likely due to budget constraints). This was even acknowledged during production when director John Landis told cast members not to act too much because "no one is going to see this movie." The 1980 car chases are iconic and highly regarded by film critics. One of the most memorable moments in 1980 was when Elwood Blues while driving his 1980 Chevy Malibu, spots a cat on the front fender as he's being chased by police officers from Illinois State Troopers who try to arrest him for not wearing seat belts (the law at that time). The chase ends with Jake & Elwood crashing into an old man sitting atop a 1980 Chevy Monte Carlo. After striking them, the cops then swerve quickly around their fallen comrade before continuing after our heroes. 13) 9 To 5 9 to 5 (listed in the opening credits as Nine to Five) is a 1980 American comedy film directed by Colin Higgins, who wrote the screenplay with Patricia Resnick. It stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton as three working women who live out their fantasies of getting even with and overthrowing the company's autocratic, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss, played by Dabney Coleman. The film grossed over $103.9 million and is the 20th-highest-grossing comedy film. As a star vehicle for Parton—already established as a successful singer, musician, and songwriter—it launched her permanently into mainstream popular culture. A television series of the same name based on the film ran for five seasons, and a musical version of the film (also titled 9 to 5), with new songs written by Parton, opened on Broadway on April 30, 2009. 9 to 5 is number 74 on the American Film Institute's "100 Funniest Movies" and has an 83% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. 14) Smokey And The Bandit 2 Smokey and the Bandit 2 Is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason, And Dom DeLuise. This film is a sequel to 1977's film Smokey and the Bandit. The original release of the film was in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. Bo "Bandit", Darville (Burt Reynolds), and Cledus "Snowman," Snow (Jerry Reed) transport an elephant to the GOP National Convention. Sheriff Buford T. Justice, Jackie Gleason (Jackie Gleason), is once more in hot pursuit. 15) Superman 2 Superman II, a 1980 superhero movie directed by Richard Lester, is written by Mario Puzo, David, and Leslie Newman and is based on a story by Puzo about the DC Comics character Superman. It features Gene Hackman and Terence Stamp, Terence Stamp, Ned Beatty, and Sarah Douglas. The film was first released in Australia and Europe on December 4, 1980. It was also released in other countries during 1981. Megasound is a high-impact surround sound system that's similar to Sensurround and was used for select premiere Superman II engagements. The Salkinds decided in 1977 that they would simultaneously film Superman and its sequel. Principal photography began in March 1977 and ended in October 1978. There were tensions between Richard Donner, the original director, and the producers. It was decided to stop filming the sequel (of which 75 percent was already completed) and instead finish the first film. After the December 1978 release of Superman, Donner was fired from his post as director and was replaced by Lester. Many cast members and crew members declined to return following Donner's firing. Lester was officially acknowledged as the director. Principal photography resumed in September 1979 and ended in March 1980. Film critics gave the film positive reviews, praising the performances of Reeve, Stamp, and Hackman as well as the visual effects and humor. The film grossed $190million against a $54 million production budget. 16) Friday The 13th Friday the 13th, 1980 American slasher movie, is directed and produced by Sean S. Cunningham. Written by Victor Miller, it stars Betsy Palmer and Adrienne King. The plot centers on a group of teenager camp counselors, who are each murdered by an unknown killer as they attempt to reopen an abandoned summer camp. Cunningham, inspired by John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) success, put out an advertisement in Variety to sell the film. Miller was still writing the screenplay. Filming began in New York City after casting the film. It was shot in New Jersey during summer 1979 on an estimated budget of $550,000. The finished film was the subject of a bidding war. Paramount Pictures won domestic distribution rights while Warner Bros. Pictures took European rights. Friday the 13th, which was released on May 9, 1980, was a huge box office hit, earning $59.8 million globally. The film received mixed reviews, some praised its cinematography, score, and performances while others criticized it for depicting graphic violence. It was the first independent film of its type to be distributed in the U.S. by major studios. The film's box office success led it to many sequels, a crossover film with A Nightmare on Elm Street, and a reboot of the series in 2009. 17) Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is a 1980 space opera film directed and produced by Mike Hodges. It was based on Alex Raymond's King Features comic strip. The film stars Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson as well as Max von Sydow, Max von Sydow, Max von Sydow, and Topol. Topol is supported by Timothy Dalton and Mariangela Melato. Peter Wyngarde plays the role of Peter Wyngarde. The film features Flash Gordon (Jones), a star quarterback, and his friends Dale Arden and Hans Zarkov (Topol), as they unify the warring factions on the planet Mongo to resist the oppression by Ming the Merciless (von Sydow), a man who wants to destroy Earth. Producer Dino De Laurentiis had been involved in two comic book adaptations: Danger: Diabolik and Barbarella (both 1968). He had also previously worked on Danger. De Laurentiis declined a George Lucas directorial offer, a Star Wars version directed by Federico Fellini was also rejected. De Laurentiis hired Nicolas Roeg as director and Enter the Dragon writer Michael Allin as the lead developer on the film. They were replaced in 1977 by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and Hodges, who had written De Laurentiis’ remake of King Kong, this was due to Roeg's dissatisfaction. Flash Gordon was mostly shot in England, with several soundstages at Elstree Studios and Shepperton Studios. It uses a camp style that is similar to the 1960s TV series Batman, which Semple created. Jones quit the film before principal photography was overdue to a dispute between De Laurentiis and Jones. Much of Jones's dialogue was dubbed by Peter Marinker. The documentary Life After Flash examines the main subjects of Jones' departure and his career after it was released. It is known for its Queen-inspired musical score, which features orchestral sections by Howard Blake. Flash Gordon was a box-office success in Italy and the United Kingdom, but it did poorly in other markets. The film received generally positive reviews upon its initial release and has since developed a large cult following. There have been many attempts at sequels or reboots, but none of them have ever made it to production. 18) Cheech & Chong's Next Movie Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, a 1980 comedy film by Tommy Chong, is the second feature-length Cheech & Chong project, after Up in Smoke. It was released by Universal Pictures. Cheech and Chong go on a mission: siphon gasoline to their neighbor's car. They then continue their day. Cheech works at a movie theater, while Chong looks for something to smoke (a roach). Then Chong revs up his indoor motorcycle and plays loud rock music that disrupts the neighborhood. Cheech is fired and the couple goes to Donna, Cheech's girlfriend, and welfare officer. Cheech seduces Donna over her objections and gets her in trouble with her boss. 19) Coal Miner's Daughter Coal Miner's Daughter, a 1980 American musical biographical film, was directed by Michael Apted and based on a screenplay by Tom Rickman. The film follows Loretta Lynn's rise to stardom as a country singer, starting in her teen years with a poor family. The film is based on Lynn's 1976 biography by George Vecsey. Read the full article

[thecollegefootballguy]

The Real Michigan MAC Trophy

Hello friends, we’re back to round out the hypothetical histories of the real life three-way rivalry trophies. Before we begin, if you’d like to check out my previous posts on the Florida Cup, Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy, or the Beehive Boot, click the links provided.

You probably saw this one coming, today’s the day for the Michigan MAC Trophy. What the name lacks in imagination it makes up for in specificity. The Michigan MAC Trophy is handed out every year to the head-to-head winner between Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Western Michigan.

It’s a relatively new trophy, and has only been given out since 2005. But what if we wind the clock back to the beginning of the three-way rivalry, how would things be different?

The rules of the Michigan MAC Trophy are the same as the ones governing the Service Academies. The winner will retain possession of the trophy until another team claims it. In the event of a three-way tiebreaker, where all teams hold a 1-1 record against each other, the Trophy remains where it is.

So let’s jump in our time machines and head back to the beginning.

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The proper year to begin giving out the Michigan MAC Trophy has to be 1974, the year all three schools began to play each other on an annual basis. There had been a handful of years when this had happened before, in 1907 and in the late 20′s, but for the most part Eastern and Western Michigan had nothing to do with each other.

For the first three-quarters of the 20th Century, WMU and CMU would play on a near-annual basis, as would CMU and EMU, but there was little to no overlap between the Eagles and the Broncos.

This makes more sense when you remember the conference situation. The MAC was founded all the way back in 1946, making it by far the oldest of the G5 conferences, predating the FBS designation by decades in fact. However, Western Michigan was the only school from the state in the conference for decades. The Broncos had middling success in the league, and were mostly overshadowed by higher powered opponents like Miami of Ohio.

Central and Eastern Michigan spent this time in lower divisions. It wasn’t until 1971 that those universities joined the MAC, but it took even longer for their football teams to get all of their ducks in a row to move up to D-I. CMU football officially joined the Mid-American in 1975, and EMU followed the year after.

However, it was in 1974, just before both schools joined the MAC, that EMU and WMU finally began playing yearly to close the loop and begin the three-way rivalry.

CMU Leads the Pack: 1974-1991

It was the perfect time to move up if you were a Central Michigan fan. The Chippewas won the Division II National Championship in the 1974 season. Central Michigan had been led by head coach Roy Kramer since 1967. It was Kramer who built Central Michigan into a D-II powerhouse and perfectly timed their jump. In their first three years in the MAC, CMU went 25-7-1. They didn’t claim any conference titles, but finished 2nd in 1975 and 1977.

Roy Kramer was replaced by longtime replacement Herb Deromedi in 1978. Central Michigan went from strength to strength, as Deromedi proved to be the perfect match. CMU finished ‘78 with a 9-2 record, finishing 2nd in the MAC once again. The next two years, the Chippewas would win the conference. In 1979, Central Michigan went undefeated with a 10-0-1 record. They didn’t play in a bowl or finish in the AP Poll because that’s just how things were back then.

CMU wouldn’t win the MAC again for another decade, but they were a player in the conference race every year and completely dominated their rivals. The Chippewas wouldn’t suffer a losing season through the entirety of Deromedi’s 16 year tenure.

The 1980′s weren’t as successful in Kalamazoo or Ypsilanti, but neither team was a real bottom-feeder.

Western Michigan likely assumed they’d be able to run roughshod over their newcomer brother programs, but were usurped. 1974 was the final year in Bill Doolittle’s decade long tenure, and the largely successful WMU coach faceplanted with a 3-8 record after seven winning seasons in his previous nine years.

Doolittle’s replacement was Elliot Uzelac (who would later coach Navy in the late 80′s). Uzelac did a good job for the most part. After a dreadful 1-10 first season, he coached the Broncos to a 37-29 record from 1976 to 1981. Jack Harbaugh coached Western Michigan from 1982 to 1986, but after a 2nd place finish in his first year WMU got worse each year. 

Al Molde came in to take over from Harbaugh in 1987. Molde had coached his way up from D-III and quickly got the Broncos straightened out. In 1988, Western Michigan went 9-3, winning their first MAC title since 1966 but lost to Fresno State in the California Bowl. WMU remained a contender for the rest of Molde’s decade in Kalamazoo, finishing above .500 for the next six seasons.

Eastern Michigan hadn’t been a very successful D-II program, so hopes weren’t exactly high as they transitioned to the higher level. Ed Chlebek actually managed a surprise 8-3 record in 1977, but then left immediately for Boston College. Replacement Mike Stock was horrible, and he was fired only 3 games into the 1982 season after accruing a 6-38-1 record.

EMU hired Jim Harkema in 1983. Harkema was previously the head man at Grand Valley State in D-II and had led the Lakers to three conference titles in his ten years at the helm. Harkema would spend another ten years in Ypsilanti and would become the Hurons’ best coach since moving up to D-I.

It took some time to get things going, but by year 1986 Eastern Michigan had a winning record. In ‘87, EMU had their best year in modern history, going 10-2, earning their first every (and currently only) MAC Championship and a victory over San Jose State in the California Bowl. The Hurons finished with a winning record in the next two years, finishing 2nd in the MAC both times.

The magic didn’t last, and Harkema resigned midway through the 1992 season after several losing campaigns. The Hurons, now renamed the Eagles, would enter a brutal period of decline after this point.

Michigan MAC Trophy Record Central Michigan: 15 Western Michigan: 2 Eastern Michigan: 1

Despite the relative parity between the programs, the Trophy was nearly always in Mount Pleasant. Central Michigan owned their rivals in the first two decades since they joined the MAC. The Chippewas would have won the Michigan MAC Trophy in the first 15 of 18 seasons since 1974. They never lost it for more than a year and never once kept it via tiebreaker.

It’s curious how dominant this stretch was considering that both Western and Eastern Michigan had periods of success, especially in the late 80′s. CMU still managed to outfox their rivals on almost every occasion. EMU didn’t manage to win the Trophy in 1987, their only 10 win season ever, because one of their two losses was to Central.

The Broncos only managed to win the Trophy twice. The first, in 1976 was during a down year for the Chippewas, and the second was WMU’s first 9 win season in program history.

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Western Michigan Strikes Back: 1992-2004

Jim Harkema and Herb Deromedi retired in 1992 and 1993 respectively. Harkema has been Eastern Michigan’s best coach since moving up to D-I. Deromedi was the MAC’s winningest head coach of all time before Frank Solich passed him last season.

Neither team was able to easily transition away from their best head coaches in recent memory. EMU was hit particularly hard. The Eagles went into a tailspin and would only have one winning season (6-5 in 1995) for the next two decades. CMU won the MAC in Dick Flynn’s first year as head coach in 1994, but then fell off into irrelevance for the next decade.

Western Michigan took charge of the rivalry. WMU remained strong under Al Molde, who stayed on as head coach until his retirement in 1996. Molde’s replacement, Gary Darnell, kept up the momentum at first. The Broncos went 31-15 in Darnell’s first four seasons with two MAC West Division titles.

Western Michigan began to flag around the turn of the decade. The Broncos were a dreadful 15-31 from 2001-2004, a perfectly horrific turnaround compared to the first half of Darnell’s tenure. Darnell was fired after a 1-10 collapse in ‘04.

Michigan MAC Trophy Record Central Michigan: 18 Western Michigan: 11 Eastern Michigan: 2

Western Michigan was easily the strongest of the Michigan MAC programs in the 1990′s. From Al Molde to Gary Darnell, the Broncos routinely bested their rivals, especially Eastern Michigan.

Central Michigan was able to keep up with their rivals in the mid-90′s, but the Chippewas really fell off under Mike DeBord in the early 2000′s. Eastern Michigan was an afterthought for the most part, though they did manage to win one Trophy in 2004 when all three programs were in the toilet.

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The Real Trophy Era: 2005-2019

So now we’re back to the beginning. In 2005 the *real* Michigan MAC Trophy began to pass between the three schools in that state in that conference. It was also somewhat of a turning point once more.

In 2004 Brian Kelly came to Central Michigan, reversing the fortunes of the Chippewas, who had been struggling for most of the previous decade. In 2006, CMU went 10-4 with a MAC Championship, which Kelly relayed into a job at Cincinnati. Central Michigan replaced Kelly with another ace hire in Butch Jones, who kept up the winning ways.

CMU won a second straight MAC title in 2007 and a third in 2009. The ‘09 season was a standout 12-2 campaign that saw the Chippewas finish 23rd in the AP Poll, their only final top 25 ranking. Following this extremely successful year, Jones was also poached by Cincinnati following Kelly’s departure to Notre Dame. Central Michigan became a middling program in the MAC West under first Dan Enos and then John Bonamego. Jim McElwain was hired to coach CMU starting in 2019 and went 8-6 in his first year.

Bill Cubit was hired by Western Michigan in 2005 and did a solid job for most of his 8 years in Kalamazoo. Cubit took the Broncos to three bowls, more than WMU had ever seen in total before that point. However, Cubit never was able to take the next step, and following a disappointing 4-8 season in 2012 Cubit was relieved of duty.

Cubit was replaced by PJ Fleck, who quickly transformed Western Michigan into the top program in the MAC. In 2016, the Broncos screamed out to finish the season 13-0 with a MAC Championship and the conference’s second ever berth in a NY6 Bowl. The dream ended in Dallas as #12 WMU lost to Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl, but it was still the best ever season any Michigan MAC school has ever had. Fleck left following his triumphant ‘16 season. Tim Lester hasn’t done quite as good a job, but has kept Western Michigan relevant in the years since the breakout 2016 season.

Eastern Michigan was a different story. The Eagles were one of the worst teams in FBS football for most of the 2000′s. EMU was a bottom-feeder under Jeff Woodruff, Jeff Genck, and Ron English. They were considered a lost cause when they hired Chris Crieghton.

Creighton was a turnaround veteran, having clawed his way up from NAIA to D-III to non-scholarship FCS. It took a few years, but he even turned around Eastern Michigan. In 2016 the Eagles finished the year 7-6, their first winning season since 1995, and their first bowl since 1987. EMU went bowling in 2018 and 2019 as well.

Michigan MAC Trophy Record Central Michigan: 23 Western Michigan: 17 Eastern Michigan: 6

Since the introduction of the real rivalry trophy, the standings have been much more competitive. Despite mostly being godawful in the 2000′s, Eastern Michigan somehow managed to keep (and retain) the trophy on four occasions.

Despite good seasons, WMU was unable to claim the trophy often during Bill Cubit’s tenure, but have done well for themselves since PJ Fleck came into town. The Broncos have won five of the last six Trophies. CMU remains a constant in the discussion, though they’ve only won five Trophies since the introduction of the real thing.

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Prehistory: 1902-1973

I’m putting the other games on here just in case you were curious to see the full history of all three games.

Michigan MAC Trophy Record Western Michigan: 49 Central Michigan: 42 Eastern Michigan: 19

As you can tell this isn’t quite a fair comparison. There were decades separating EMU-WMU games so for the most part the Michigan MAC Trophy would have been simply decided by the CMU-WMU game.

The Broncos definitely dominated the series before 1974, but this is to be expected when they were the only D-I program of the three for several decades.

Michigan MAC Trophy Record (Without Ties) Central Michigan: 40 Western Michigan: 38 Eastern Michigan: 14

Without ties, Central Michigan regains its lead in the all-time standings. The Chippewas’ complete dominance in the 70′s and 80′s came without a single tie, giving them a slight edge over rival Western Michigan who benefited from 11 ties in the history of the series. The Eagles remain at the bottom. Can’t be helped.

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I think it’s great that these smaller FBS teams have these interesting and unique rivalries and a Trophy series like this. I hope they continue to do it until the sun burns out. The MAC is one of those underfunded and low-resource conferences that soldiers on as the second choice underneath the Big Ten, providing real college football to the Midwest.

I’m cautiously optimistic about the future of the Michigan MAC Trophy. Obviously it’s got a stronger foundation than either the Beehive Boot or the Florida Cup, since every team actually plays each other every season. The only danger I can imagine is that one or more of these schools eventually drops down a level or drops football altogether for budget reasons. Lets hope it doesn’t happen.

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Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little series of mine. Maybe I’ll do a few more exploring other rivalries that don’t have a trophy. Stay tuned!

-cfbguy

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior February 21, 2020 – CALL OF THE WILD, BRAHMS: THE BOY II, THE IMPRACTICAL JOKERS MOVIE, EMMA and more!

After overestimating Birds of Prey… I mean, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey… it looks like I underestimated Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog… I mean Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik… with Sonic. It truly spanked my lowball prediction in the mid-$40 millions, but I wasn’t alone there at least. Hey, it’s a fun movie and my positive review wasn’t off-base with the critical world at large, so there’s that, too.  (Apparently, I liked both Downhill and Fantasy Island more than most people, including CinemaScore voters who gave the movies a “D” and “C-“ respectively… ouch!)

This is likely to be another down week as neither of the two new movies are particularly strong, which gives me a chance to focus instead on this week’s FEATURED MOVIES! And we have four of ‘em this week, no less!

That’s right. I think it’s time I go back to my previous desire to use this column to focus on smaller movies that you may have missed since very few of the bigger outlets bother to cover them, and there’s a few worth pointing out this week. I’m gonna start with the two foreign films, because hopefully, you’ve listened to Bong Joon-ho and his translator and are not as fearful of subtitles…

First up, opening on Wednesday at New York’s Film Forumis Jan Komasa’s CORPUS CHRISTI (Film Movement), Poland’s selection for the Oscar International Feature category, which was actually nominated for an Oscar in the category in which everyone already knew Parasite was always gonna win! It’s a shame, cause this is a really amazing film with Bartosz Bielenia playing Daniel, a troubled youth just out of juvenile hall who steals the trappings and identity of the youth prison’s pastor and is therefore mistaken as an actual priest when he arrives at a small community village that has suffered a tragic loss. It’s an amazing film about faith and forgiveness and redemption, and how the script came to Komasa from screenwriter Mateusz Pacewic is an equally amazing story. Seriously, if you get a chance, definitely check this powerful drama out, since it’s another fantastic film from a country that has continually been delivering the goods in terms of original storytelling.

I was just going to do three featured movies this week, but a really good German thriller is finally hitting the States, opening at the Quad in New York Friday then in L.A. on March 13 before a nationwide rollout. Michael Bully Herbig’s incredibly suspenseful German thriller BALLOON (Distrib Films USA) is about two families from the GDR (aka East Germany) who try to cross over into West Germany in 1979 using a hot air balloon, over a decade before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Based on the actual events, their story previously was adapted into the Disney movie Night Crossing (which oddly, isn’t on Disney+ yet-- I checked­, but it’s on Amazon Prime if you wanna compare the two movies). The movie doesn’t spend nearly as much time in the balloon as something like The Aeronauts, as the family’s first attempt fails miserably, so much of the film involves them working towards a second attempt, while trying not to be caught.

Balloon is a pretty heavy film (irony?), sometimes a little overwrought with drama but it keeps you on the edge of your seat as it cuts between the families trying to figure out their escape plan and the authorities trying to put together the clues to find these defectors. There’s a particularly amusing man in charge of the investigation, played by the always-amazing Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), who is constantly berating his men, something that helps lighten the otherwise heavy tone that permeates the film. This is another fairly low-key foreign film that’s worth seeking out.

Another movie people should make an effort to seek out is Rashaad Ernesto Green’s PREMATURE (IFC Films), an amazing film that follows the relationship between two young people in Harlem over the course of a summer. We first meet Zora Howard’s Ayanna as she’s hanging with her friends kibitzing about boys, as they begin their last summer before Ayanna heads to college. Shortly after, she meets Josh Boone’s Isaiah, and the two hit it off. The rest of the film follows the ups and downs of their relationship including incredibly intimate moments that lead up to Ayanna getting pregnant.

I won’t go through the plot play-by-play style, because it’s interesting to discover the twist and turns in their relationship in a similar way as we do our own relationships. Needless to say Green has a pretty amazing partner and lead in Howard, who co-wrote the screenplay, which is probably why it feels so authentic and real. Sure, there are a few scenes between Howard and Boone, both fantastic actors, that feel a bit too showy dramatically but otherwise, it’s a fantastic second feature from Green who has mainly been directing TV since his earlier film Gun Hill Road. I’ll definitely be very curious to see what Green and Howard get up to next either alone or working together.

Opening in New York and L.A. this Friday but in theaters nationwide on March 6 is the latest incarnation of Jane Austen’s novel EMMA. (Focus Features), this time starring the wonderful Anya Taylor-Joy (from The VVitchand Split/Glass) as the title character, Emma Woodhouse, a 28-year-old matchmaker who prides herself on the relationships she’s put together even while unable to find her own mate.  The film follows as the latter starts coming in the way of the former as she infiltrates herself into things as an “expert on love” who can’t find it herself.

Maybe it’s not surprising that I haven’t read much of Austen’s work and have missed this one altogether, never having seen any of the other iterations, but it’s a fairly wild and witty ride. Much of that is due to the amazing and wonderful cast around the young actor, the most surprising behind Mia Goth, who is in fact three years older than Taylor-Joy, but plays the younger wide-eyed Harriet who looks up to Emma and elicits her advice. Emma basically steers Harriet from the farmer she likes to Josh O’Connor’s Mr. Elton, the wealthy local vicar who is more than a little bit of a dark. This leads to a bit of a revolving door of who is interested in whom, etc especially when Emma’s nemesis Jane Fairfax (Amber Anderson) returns to Hartfield.

Some of the other men in the mix are Johnny Flynn’s dashing George Knightley – the brother-in-law to Emma’s sister – and Callum Turner’s wealthy Frank Churchill, whose attentions lead to more misunderstandings. Both were great but I was more impressed with O’Connor who transforms into a completely other person when Emma spurns his affections and seems like a different person from the way first-time features director (and photographer) Autumn de Wilde shoots him. Of course, Bill Nighy is as great as always as Emma’s father, always feeling a slight draft, but even more impressive is the wonderfully hilarious Miranda Hart (from Spy) as Miss Bates, a woman who gabs at length about how wonderful Jane Fairfax is, much to Emma’s annoyance. As much as Emma. is Anya Taylor-Joy’s show, it’s the ensemble cast around her that makes the movie so infinitely enjoyable, getting better as it goes along.

This is a very good first feature from de Wilde, who has directed quite a number of music videos for Beck, and Emma. seems very different from the movies we normally get from video directors, much of that to do with Austen’s source material and the cast. Either way, how things develop over the course of the film makes it more enjoyable as it goes along. (Although I have never read the book, the film seems fairly faithful to the book’s Wikipedia page, so Austen fans should enjoy it, too.)

I guess we can now get to the wide and semi-wide releases and the rest of the movies – merging my two columns into one means you get more 5,000-word columns, you lucky ducks!

The higher-profile of the two new wide releases is probably CALL OF THE WILD (20thCentury Studios), a PG adaptation of Jack London’s classic novel starring Harrison Ford and the most adorable CG dog (i.e. not real, so back off PETA!) you’ve ever met named Buck! Sure, dog lovers might say, “Why would we want to watch a movie with a CG dog when clearly, a movie with actors in green suits turned into dogs using CG would suffice?” But no, it’s actually a very heavily CG movie directed by Chris Sanders, who directed Lilo & Sitch, the first How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods before giving a go at live action. (Sanders also provided quite a few voices in earlier animated films like Disney’s Mulan and Tarzan.)

A film that already was well into production when Disney bought Fox (now 20thCentury Studios), Call of the Wild also stars Omar Sy (returning for next year’s “Jurassic World” finale), Karen Gillan, Dan Stevens, Bradley Whitford but the real star of the movie is the dog Buck, which is performed by the immensely talented Terry Notary, who you’ll know for his work on the “Apes” movies with Andy Serkis, Kong: Skull Island and some of the characters in the last couple “Avengers” movies.

Of course, opening the weekend after Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog, which has turned out to be a bigger hit than anyone imagined, certainly won’t help The Call of the Wild.

In many ways, this reminds me of the 2002 Disney movie Snow Dogs, which opened with $17.8 million over the 4-day MLK weekend. The combination of Ford (who appears in very few movies) and the adorable dog antics might be enough for the movie to make $15 to 17 million this weekend, maybe a little more, although it only has two weeks to do business before Disney’s next Pixar movie, Onward, takes over, not giving it much time to make bank.

Mini-Review: It’s pretty evident that this exceedingly faithful take on Jack London’s book will not be for everyone. While I personally was mixed, I expect this to be one of the rare positive reviews just ‘cause. Surprisingly, it’s also the most “Disneyfied” movie that could possibly come from the newly-renamed 21stCentury Studios as it’s a movie clearly made for kids and animal lovers even if never the ‘twain shall meet, in some cases.

The story follows a large St. Bernard named Buck (portrayed by Terry Notary – but we’ll get back to that), who begins his life as the spoiled and pampered pet of a wealthy judge in California but is sold to a man who trains Buck with his club sending the dog on a wild journey across the Yukon as part of a dog sled for a pair of Canadian postal workers (played by Omar Sy and Cara Gee from “The Expanse”). Eventually, he’s paired with an alcoholic frontiersman (Harrison Ford) and he finds true love, as the two of them go off looking (and finding) gold.

Some might be surprised that director Chris Sanders (who has an extensive animation background) decided to go for straight-up CG when depicting the animals and some of the environments in Call of the Wild. In fact, it feels almost necessary to make Buck as expressive as he needs to be to carry this film, and that’s where Terry Notary (Andy Serkis’ partner-in-performance-capture from the “Apes” movies) and the CG team comes in handy. Buck is already lovable but being able to make him so expressive doesn’t hurt, and the scenes where he’s interacting with other animals are pretty amazing.

We do have to discuss the negatives, and one of them is the episodic nature of Buck’s story that means that Harrison Ford, other than the narration and a brief appearance, doesn’t play a large part in Buck’s story until about the 45-minute mark. I didn’t think much of the performances by Sy and Gee or Dan Steven and Karen Gillan as the spoiled rich people who buy Buck to drive their dog sled off to find gold. Buck’s experiences as part of the first dog sled is far more positive even though it’s rigorous and it puts him at odd with the dog pack leader. The problem is that most of the human actors don’t come close to delivering what Notary does as Buck, the exception being Ford, but it’s still one of those odd CG-live action amalgations that doesn’t always work.

If you’re fond of Jack London’s Arctic adventures (as I generally am), Call of the Wild offers as much good as it does bad, but it’s worthwhile more for the amazing vistas and terrific use of CG (and Terry Notary’s performance as Buck) than anything else.

Rating: 6.5/10

I won’t have a chance to see the horror sequel BRAHMS: THE BOY II (STXfilms), but I never got around to seeing the first movie either, although this one, starring Katie Holmes, does look kind of fun. 2020 has not been a great year for horror so far with almost a new horror every weekend and few doing particularly well – The Grudge tops the heap with just $21 million and that opened almost two months ago!

I really don’t have a lot to say about this other than the fact that the original The Boy(not to be confused with The Boy, The Boy or The Boy, which are also movies about a different “Boy”), also directed by William Brent Bell, opened in January 2016 to $10.8 million on its way to $35.8 million domestic but it also opened at a time when there were no strong horror films in theaters. Some could argue that there are still no strong horror films in theaters, especially since so many of them quickly lost theaters after bombing. Still, there have been a lot this year already and the most recent one, Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island underperformed this past weekend, so why would anyone want more?

STXfilms’ marketing has been solid even as this moved from its December release to now, but I still think it will be tough for this to make more than $10 million this weekend and probably will end up closer to $8 million or less.

Opening in limited release but also sure to be exciting to the fans of the TruTV hidden camera prank show is IMPRACTICAL JOKERS: THE MOVIE, which brings the hilarious Tenderloins comedy troop – Q, Murr, Sal and Joe -- to the big screen as they go off on a cross-country adventure to attend a party in Florida, playing their usual prank-filled games to see which three get to attend. At this writing, I have no idea how many theaters it’s opening – I’m assuming 150 to 200 maybe? – so no idea how it might do although there are already some sold out showings in my general area (NYC) where the guys are from.

Mini-Review: It feels like there need to be two reviews for this movie – one for those who already know and love the show and find the Tenderloins hysterical (this includes me) —and then one for everyone else.  The former can probably skip the next paragraph.

The Tenderloins are a group of four Staten Island friends (names above) whose antics led to a successful TruTV hidden camera show where they pull pranks and challenge each other to say and do whatever they’re told. The show has run eight seasons, and it’s made the Tenderloins such big stars they regularly sell out enormous venues (like Radio City Music Hall) to perform live for their fans. Considering the success Johnny Knoxville’s “Jackass” show has had in movie theaters where it can take advantage of an R-rating, there’s little reason why the “Impractical Jokers” shouldn’t be able to do the same. (For some context, I watched this movie with a theater full of the group’s friends, crew as well as Q’s firehouse buddies, in other words, 75% of Staten Island.)

The movie, directed by Chris Henchy, long time McKay and Ferrell collaborator – the film is presented by their “Funny or Die” brand –opens with one of a number of scripted/staged scenes to frame the road trip the Tenderloins to attend a party in Miami being held by Paula Abdul. Since they only have three passes, they need to compete in their usual challenges to determine who misses out.

If you are a fan of the show, I’m not going to spoil any of the challenges or pranks they plan on each other, but they generally get better and funnier as the movie goes along, to the point that when it returns to the “story” and the scripted stuff, the movie does falter a little. Although the Tenderloins aren’t the greatest actors, they are great improvisers and you can tell when they’re coming up with lines by the seat of their pants.

The majority of the movie is basically what we see on the show without all of the commercial breaks cutting in just as things start to get outrageous, and as someone who watches more of the show than I probably should admit, I find it hard to believe no one watching the movie will at least get one good snicker out of the movie. There are a few recurring gags throughout the movie as well as a follow-up to a memorable punishment from an earlier season. (Like with the show, you’re likely to feel bad for Murr and Sal, the nicer half of the group who always get the most abuse because of it.)

If you’re already a fan of the Impractical Jokers, you’ll probably like the movie, but if not, you might not get it and there’s just no real use trying. In other words, not a great intro to the “Impractical Jokers” but a fine bit of fun for the already-converted.

Rating: 6.5/10

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Sonic the Hedgehog  (Paramount) - $29 million -50% (up $1.5 million)**

2. Call of the Wild (20th Century) - $17 million N/A (up .3 million)** 3. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey  (Warner Bros) - $9 million -48%

4. Brahms: The Boy II (STXfilms) - $7 million N/A (down .6 million)**

5. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $6 million -48% (down .1 million)**

6. The Photograph (Universal) – $5.5 million -55% (down .6 million)**

7. Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island (Sony) - $5.3 million -57%

8. 1917 (Universal) - $5 million -38%

9. Parasite (NEON) - $3.6 million -35%

10. Jumanji: The Next Level  (Sony) - $3.3 million -42%

-- The Impractical Jokers Movie (TruTV) - $1.8 million*

-- Las Pildoras de mi Novio (Pantelion/Lionsgate) - $1.3 million*

* These last two projections are made without much info on either movie, including theater counts for the former.

**A few minor tweaks as we go into weekends with actual theater counts, although this weekend will still mostly be about Sonic the Hedgehog. I still don’t have any theater counts for Impractical Jokers on Thursday night so I guess we’ll just have to see if the theaters playing it report to Rentrak and it gets some sort of placement, presumably outside the top 10, on Sunday. 

LIMITED RELEASES

There are lots of other new limited releases this weekend beyond the ones I mentioned above.

On Wednesday night, Fathom Events is releasing Masaaki Yuasa’s new movie RIDE YOUR WAVE (GKIDS) across the nation for one night only in some places, although it will get a limited release on Friday at New York’s Village East and maybe other places, as well. If you’ve seen any of Yuasa’s other films like 2017’s The Night is Short, Walk on Girl or Lu Over the Wall or Mind Game, then you can probably expect this to be another wild ride, except this time it’s on a surfboard. It follows the story of a surfer and a firefighter who fall in love. You can learn more about how to get tickets here.

Like Portrait of a Lady on Fire last week, Una director Benedict Andrews’ SEBERG (Amazon) received a one-week release in 2019 but it’s getting a legit limited release this Friday. It stars Kristen Stewart as French New Wave icon Jean Seberg who came to the States in the late ‘60s and began a relationship with civil rights leader Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie), putting her in the sights of the FBI who were hoping to use her to bust the Black Panthers. The film also stars Jack O’Connell, Margaret Qualley, Vince Vaughn, and Stephen Root, and it’s a pretty solid historical drama, although I haven’t seen it so long I’m not sure I can say much more about that.

I was never a huge fan of Bob Dylan or the Band but I found Daniel Roher’s doc ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND (Magnolia) (about the latter) to be quite compelling as the story is told by various people who were there, including the film’s exec. producer Martin Scorsese who directed the band’s legendary concert film The Last Waltz. This is also produced by Ron Howard and Brian SGrazer of Imagine, so you know it’s gonna be a quality music doc, and it certainly is, although I’m not sure it will be of that much interest to people who aren’t already fans of The Band.

Opening in roughly 350 theaters this weekend is LAS PILDORAS DE MI NOVIO (Pantelion), translated as “My Boyfriend’s Meds,” a comedy about a woman (Sandra Echeverria) who falls for a mattress store owner who suffers from multiple personality disorder and when they go on vacation… he forgets to bring along his meds! Humor abounds. As usual, this won’t screen in advance for critics.

Tye Sheridan stars with Knives Out’s Ana De Armas in Michael Cristofer’s thriller The Night Clerk (Saban Films), Sheridan plays a hotel clerk with Asperger’s Syndrome who witnesses a murder in one of the rooms but ends up as the main suspect by the lead detective, played by John Leguizamo. The film also stars Helen Hunt and it will be released in select theaters (including New York’s Cinema Village), on demand and digitally this Friday. Just couldn’t into this one, having at least one good friend with Asperger’s, due to the way Sheridan played this often-debilitating disease. (Think Rain Man without the talent of Dustin Hoffman.)

Opening exclusively at theMetrographFriday with an expansion on March 3 is Portugese filmmaker Bruno de Almeida’s Cabaret Maxime (Giant Pictures), starring Michael Imperioli as Bennie Gaza, the owner and manager of the title nightclub specializing in a mix of burlesque, striptease, music and comedy. Bennie is fairly old-fashioned so when a modern day (translation: trashy and demeaning to women) strip club opens across the way, Bennie finds himself pressure to make changes to stay in line as he starts getting pressure from his mobster financer to change. I was kinda mixed on this movie, which delivers another typically great performance from Imperioli but the way it cuts between various acts and disparate scenes that do very little to move the story forward (including the far-more-interesting subplot about Bennie’s wife Stella, a performer suffering from depression, as played by the amazing Ana Padrão). I think one of the reasons I just couldn’t get into the movie is cause a friend of mine attempted a similar film based out of a nightclub and the film never got much traction. De Almeida should have paid more attention developing the storytelling than showing off his talented musical singing/dancing friends.

A second Portugese filmmaker, Pedro Costa, also releases a new film this week.  Vitalina Varela (Grasshopper Film) will open at New York’s Film at Lincoln Center on Friday. The title of the film is also the name of the non-actor who returns from Costa’s Horse Moneyto play a woman from Cape Verdean who comes to Fontainhas for her estranged husband’s funeral and sets up a new life there.

Also opening at the Quad Friday is the latest from the Dardenne Brothers, Young Ahmed (Kino Lorber) about a 13-year-old (Idir ben Addi) who has come under the grips of radical jihadism in his Belgian town, putting him at odds with various factions. When he carries out an act of violence, he ends up in a juvenile detention facility. The Dardennes won the Best Director award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, where their films have been honored with the Palme d’Or twice. I’ve never been much of a fan but what do I know?

Opening at the IFC Center Wednesday is Nicolas Champeaux, Gilles Porte’s documentary The State Against Mandela and the Others, which is built around recently recovered audio recordings of the 1963-4 Rivona trial in which Nelson Mandela and eight others faced death sentences for challenging Apartheid. The film mixes animation showing the trails with contemporary interviews with the survivors including Winnie Mandela, about their fight against the country’s corrupt system.

Another doc I know little about is Andrew Goldberg’s Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations, which will open at the Village East Friday but it includes the likes of Julianna Margulies, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton as anti-semitism rears its ugly head over 70 years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust.

Also opening at Cinema Village is Matt Ratner’s Standing Up, Falling Down (Shout! Studios) starring Billy Crystal and Ben Schwartz (the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog!), the latter playing a stand-up comic whose L.A. dreams have crashed and burned leaving him with little money, forcing him to return to Long Island. Once there, he pines over his ex (Eloise Mumford) and becomes friends with an eccentric dermatologist (Crystal) as they help each other deal with their respective failures.

Playing at the Roxy for a one-week run starting Friday is Sam De Jong’s Goldie (Film Movement), starring actress/model Slick Woods as the title character, a teenager in a family shelter pursuing her dreams of being a dancer while trying to keep her sisters together. This premiered at the Tribeca Film Festivallast year.

Oscilloscope (the distributor that brought you the cat doc Kedi) is doing something called “Cat Video Fest 2020,” which will take place at the Alamo in Brooklyn (although the Saturday screening is sold out there) and the Village East Cinema. This screening of pre-selected cat videos is also taking place at other cities throughout the country, and you can find out where right here.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This Friday, the Metrograph will debut its newest series “Climate Crisis Parabels,” a series of varied future shock films, this weekend with Robert Bresson’s The Devil, Probably (1977), Steven Spielberg’s 2001 film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1999) (hosted by Naomi Klein Sunday afternoon, but also playing as part of the Playtime Family Matinees”) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner: The Final Cu ton Sunday night. “To Hong Kong with Love” also continues with screenings of Stanley Kwan’s Rouge (1987) and the 2016 film Raise the Umbrellas. The ongoing Welcome To Metrograph: Redux also continues with HarunFarocki’sdocumentary Before Your Eyes: Vietnam (1981).  This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is another Japanese thriller, Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1966 thriller The Face of Another, and the Metrograph’s Japanese love continues as Playtime: Family Matinees will also show Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke from 1999.

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Tonight’s “Weird Wednesday” is Ken Russell’s 1987 film Gothic, and this week’s “Kids Camp” offering is the 2006 animated Curious George with a special “pick your own price.” In preparation for the release of Emma. On Friday, the Alamo is doing a “Champagne Cinema” screening of the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, which unfortunately, is sold out already. (Waugh Waugh) Monday’s “Out of Tune” is the Prince film Under the Cherry Moon from 1986, which is also sold out. (Hey, Jeremy Wein, why don’t you tell me these things are going on sale so I can go!?!) Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is the horror classic Candyman (1992), which is ALSO almost sold out and then we’re back to “Weird Wednesday” with next week’s offering, 1985’s soft-core actioneer Gwendoline.

If you’re one of those poor souls living in L.A., you can also go to see Don Coscarelli’s 2002 film Bubba Ho-Tep, starring Bruce Campbell, on Wednesday night or the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors on Thursday at the grand, new(ish) Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown Los Angeles. Saturday afternoon is a matinee of Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight (1998), starring George Clooney and J-Lo and Saturday night, you can see Cassavetes’ Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), starring Seymour Cassel and Gena Rowlands. Monday night is Juliet Bashore’s 1986 Kamikaze Hearts, which looked into the X-rated SF underground of the ‘80s. The West Coast “Terror Tuesday” is Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula, starring Keanu Reeves, Gary Oldman and Winona Rider!

THE NEW BEVERLY  (L.A.):

Wednesday’s afternoon matinee is the classical musical The Sound of Music (1965) and then Weds and Thurs night’s double feature is Robert Redford’sThe Hot Rock (1972) and Cops and Robber (1973). Friday’s matinee is the late Tony Scott’s The Hunger (1983) and then the Tarantino-pennedTrue Romance (1993, also directed by Scott), will play Friday midnight and Saturday’s midnight movie is the 1967 film Carmen, Baby. This weekend’s Kiddee Mattine is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Monday’s matinee is Terrence Malick’s Badlands (1973) and the Monday night double feature is A Man for All Seasons(1966) and The Mission  (1986). Tuesday’s Grindhouse double feature is 1980’s Super Fuzz and 1977’s Death Promise, both in 35mm, of course.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Weds’ “Black Voices” movie is William Greaves’ 1968 film Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, and then on Friday night in the Spielberg Theater, you can see the 1913 film Traffic in Souls with live music as well as a couple shorts. The Japanese horror film Kwaidan(1965) will play in the normal theater. On Saturday, the Egyptian is presenting “Leigh Whannell’s Thrill-A-thon” a series of four films that helped to inspire Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man, which comes out next week with some great options worth seeing, including 1987’s Fatal Attraction, David Fincher’s 2014 film Gone Girl, Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery(1990) and the classic Aussie thriller Dead Calm(1989) starring Nicole Kidman … all for just 15 bucks!

AERO  (LA):

The AERO’s “Black Voices” film for Weds. is the great Stir Crazy, starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, and then on Thursday afternoon, you can see Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classicDr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb for $8 (free to Cinemateque members!) New restoration of the Russian film Come and See (also opening at the Film Forum in New York) will play on Saturday evening as part of the “Antiwar Cinema” series. Sunday’s double feature in that series is Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957) and the Russian film The Ascent (1977). Tuesday’s “Black Voices” matinee is Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust  (1991) and then Greg Proops will screen the 1996 film Ridicule as part of his Film Club podcast which precedes the film.

MOMA  (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmon continues through the end of the month with Mister Roberts (1955) on Weds., Billly Wilder’s Avanti (1972) and the classic (and one of my all-time faves) Some Like it Hot (1959) on Friday. This weekend also sees movies in the continuing “Theater of Operations” series, which will include Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker (2009) on Saturday afternoon and a bunch of docs including Werner Herzog’s 1992 film Lessons of Darkness on Sunday. Weds also kicks off “Television Movies: Big Pictures on the Small Screen” – pretty self-explanatory, I think – with 1953’s The Trip to Bountiful and 1955’s Tosca on Weds. and Sunday, 1967’s Present Laughter Thursday and Tuesday and more. (Click on the link for full schedule!) Following Film Forum’s focus on black actresses (for February, Black History Month, get it?) MOMA begins a  “It’s All in Me: Black Heroines” series with All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story and Julie Dash’s Illusions, both from 1982, on Thursday and many more running through March 5.

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC):

The Anthology still has a few more films in its “Devil Probably: A Century of Satanic Panic” including Eric Weston’s Evilspeak (1981) tonight in 35mm, but also David Van Taylor will be at tonight’s screening of his 1991 film Dream Deceivers. I’ve never seen either of these, by the way. Robert Eggers’ The VVitch and Alan Parker’s Angel Heart screen one more time on Thursday night, as well. This weekend also begins a new series, “Dream Dance: The Films of Ed Emshwiller” but since I have no idea who that is, I have nothing further to add. (Sorry!)

NITEHAWK CINEMA  (NYC):

Williamsburgis showing David Lynch’s 1990 film Wild at Heart as part of its “Uncaged” series on Friday just after midnight and John Singleton’s Poetic Justice on Saturday morning as part of “California Love.” They’re also showing Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride on Saturday morning for an “All-Ages Brunch Movie.”

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Elem Klimov’s 1985 Russian drama Come and See (Janus) will have a DCP restoration premiere at the Forum and Sunday afternoon will be a screening of the 1953 Mexican film El Corazon y La Espada in 3D. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the 1953 pseudo-doc Little Fugitive.  Monday night is a screening of David Rich’s Madame X  (1966) introduced by actor/playwright Charles Busch.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This weekend’s Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuel is the Mexican film The Exterminating Angel (1962), while Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Mnemonic and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020is taking a surprising weekend off.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Still waiting to see if Pandora and the Flying Dutchman continues through the weekend, as at this time (Monday), there is nothing repertory listed.

BAM CINEMATEK(NYC):

Horace Jenkins’ Cane River continues through Friday. Saturday night’s “Beyond the Canon” is a double feature of Ida Lupino’s The Hitch-Hiker(1953) and Malick’s Badlands (1973).

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

This weekend’s “See It Big! Outer Space” offerings include1974’s Space is the Placeon Friday and 1924’s Aelita, Queen of Mars and the 1980 Flash Gordonscreening on Saturday and Sunday. As usual, 2001: A Space Odysseywill screen on Saturday afternoon as part of the ongoing exhibition.

ROXY CINEMA(NYC)

Weds’ Nicolas Cage movie is Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead (1999) and then Thursday is a 35mm screening of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)!

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):

Friday’s midnight movie is Who Killed Roger Rabbit (1988).

STREAMING AND CABLE

Let’s see what’s going on in the world of streaming this week, shall we?

Netflix is debuting Dee (Mudbound) Rees’ new movie THE LAST THING HE WANTED on the streaming service Friday, even though apparently, it opened in select cities last week, including New York’s Paris Theater, although it got such terrible reviewsout of Sundance, maybe Netflix didn’t want any more bad reviews before it begins streaming. Regardless, it stars Anne Hathaway, Willem Dafoe, Ben Affleck and Rosie Perez, and it’s based on Joan Didion’s novel about a D.C. journalist named Elena (Hathaway) who abandons her work on the 1984 campaign trail to run an errand for her father (Dafoe). I guess I’ll watch it when it’s on Netflix just like everyone else but my expectations have been suitably lowered.

The Jordan Peele-produced series “Hunters,” starring Al Pacino, which is about a group of Nazi hunters will hit Amazon Prime this Friday as well, and a new season of the popular series“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” will debut on Friday on Disney+, adding to the amazing amount of content already available on that network.

Next week, Saw and Insidious co-creator Leigh Whannell revamps The Invisible Man for Universal with Elisabeth Moss, and there’s also (supposedly) a movie call The Ride, which I know nothing about. You can guess which movie I’ll be focusing on.

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or send me a note on Twitter. I love hearing from readers!

[things-we-used-tc-share]

Manifestor // 22

Plot:  Set in a world where Witchcraft is real, and the government hunts down those who practice magic, Thomas must flee to an underground safehouse after being discovered. Now fighting a war against Witches who seek the end of non-magic people, Thomas must learn to control and harvest his powers, as well as the manifestation of his sides to bring about peace and unity in the Human and Witch world. (Nanowrimo 2018)

–

Atticus and Thomas were growing closer by the day and it was not going amiss from the others who observed the two together; except for perhaps Dan, who was most of the time too busy staring at Phil like he was the sun, the earth, the moon and the stars incarnate in one very directionally challenged young man. That and he were oblivious to almost everything and everyone. Everyone else, however, had perfectly good skills in perception and were able to quickly tell the two were enjoying each other’s company in a more romantic way.

They would often work together and the assumption had been that Thomas wished to train Atticus because their skills work well together; however, it’s the little smiles they share and the lingering looks of complete hopeless romance, the subtle hand touches and the fact that they catch them kissing against a wall that really seals the idea planted in their own minds.

It takes the kissing part for Dan to catch on in case you’re wondering and he’s the only one looking absolutely gobsmacked and surprised, hardly able to comprehend the situation. Phil’s half laughing at Dan and half congratulating the two; but much like Jack, there’s a sinking feeling in his chest. Love in a land deep into war was rare and utterly beautiful, but dangerous and heartbreaking. He looks away from the two and stares at Dan instead, whose cheeks are flushed and curls falling into his dark brown eyes whilst muttering “I can’t believe I didn’t notice,” under his breath. It’s not that Phil doesn’t like Dan because he does and he loves him more than life, in a different way to Thomas and Atticus’ newfound blossoming relationship, but it’s that every second he spends with Dan he wonders if it’s going to be the last.

Dan and Phil had been attached at the hip since they were teenagers and for years since then, not much has changed. Sometimes when Witches spend enough time together their souls start to bond with each other, in a romantic or platonic way, they call it a bond similar to marriage, a sign that the two will be together forever in their relationship whether that is as lovers or as brothers. Together, their powers become stronger and when away from each other the bond and their control over their element weaken. When one half of the soulbond dies then the bond dies with it. Over time many Witches have explained it like half of your own soul has been ripped away and most do not last long alone after this.

The idea of losing Dan was Phil’s worst fear, and it was a sentiment returned. The ebony-haired man knew he would lose every piece of himself should the other die, and honestly, there wasn’t much of life for him beyond his best friend, his brother and his partner in crime. Looking at Thomas and Atticus now and knowing that destruction could fall on them at any minute he has to ask himself how they do it, how they willingly enter such a dangerous affair without the knowledge of the future or the certainty of any of them making out alive. He supposed, quietly to himself, that they’re lonely and that they’re young and nobody on this Earth with the capability of feeling it wants anything more than love. He doesn’t want anything more than love either.

Dan’s smile breaks him from his thoughts and he smiles in return as he watches Atticus bury his face in his hands and Thomas smile bashfully. No he really couldn’t blame them at all, looking at Thomas’ face now it’s the first time he’s seen such content and peaceful looks on his face; with his boyfriend shouldering some of the worry and pain and fear he suddenly looks much younger, much happier. He looks back at Dan, who has worry hidden behind a smile too and squeezes his hand comfortingly to reassure him.

They knew what they were doing, and Phil would honestly rather die than prevent them from being happy in the final days or weeks of their lives. They all knew in their own ways that love was never meant to be easy, love came with its scars and bruises even for people who weren’t them. It’s not an easy mountain to climb knowing you would protect someone with your life and live with the knowledge that one day, a day that’s coming quickly for the occupants of this little underground home, they will not be able too.

As they all disperse, Phil squeezes Thomas’ shoulder quickly and the American man thinks he sees tears in the other’s eyes but before he can ask the elder is gone, walking away alongside Dan the way he always does. Then his mind is diverted by a soft kiss on his cheek and a giggle and it slips his mind in favor of warm arms wrapped around him and a head against his chest.

--

“I’m trying not to set you on fire Atticus,” The younger boy laughs and dodges faster and faster “It would be very counterproductive,” Thomas sits at the side with a cup of coffee and watches as Jack hurls balls of fire, making the ball dissipate in the air before they reach Atticus to train the other in his speed. “But if you keep going this slowly I’m not going to be able to stop it,” The Irishman teases before letting his hands fall to his sides. “Thomas your turn, show him how it’s done,”

The American stands with a grin, placing a gentle kiss to his boyfriend’s head as he passes him before taking the space that the elder had previously been sat in. Thomas doesn’t really dodge whatever Jack throws at him, the two look as mischievous as each other as they brace their hands and minds for what could be perceived as a friendly match, like a game of football, except the ball is actually made of fire.

Jack throws first and his opponent extinguishes it before it’s even formed but a second bubbles from its ashes and hurls towards Thomas, who sends it firing in another direction. They’re both grinning, adrenaline pumping as they send attacks and build defenses one straight after the other, dodging and dancing around each other. For the spectator, it was interesting to watch, it filled him with a sense of ease as he watched the two battle in a way that only friends could, best friends, Atticus admired their friendship to no end.

In truth, he’d held some jealousy for Jack at first but it resolved pretty quickly once he got to know the Irishman, who was filled with layers of respect and love for his friends, no his family. He liked to protect people, help people and teach more than anything and Jack would happily pick up all the misfits and strays he could to help them find a home in him. He was just that sort of person.

He also has a fiery attitude and five different levels of sarcasm which was an art that the newcomer could most truly respect and enjoy. The two are laughing as they finally lower their hands, clapping each other on the back and bringing Atticus from his thoughts as they move towards him.

They’re stopped in their tracks by a low, rumbling noise, causing looks of panic to switch between them. “Hall, now,” The cup of coffee is knocked to the floor and left with a clang behind in an empty room as the three men take off in the direction of the hall. The corridors suddenly seem much longer than usual, much darker and sinister as they wind through the labyrinth to meet the center of their fears.

Dan and Phil sprint in from the other end, half holding onto each other as they ran not wanting to risk losing each other in the havoc. The noise could be heard through the long corridors and Thomas swallowed on his air, hands shaking but braced and ready to fight. Dodie and Lucia are stood as far back from the entrances as they could with their hands also braced in a defensive position. Suddenly there is silence, long and haunting silence and somewhere one of them is crying but Thomas can’t place who until he hears Dan’s shaky voice “I don’t want to die, life was just getting good,”

All of them feel that statement in their bones, life was getting good for them all; they had each other in their little family underground. But all good things must come to an end, even themselves.

The door opens, all of them step back a little and Jack’s hands are already on fire whilst Thomas’ hand is frantically reaching for his boyfriend’s in a last and desperate attempt to just feel him there. There’s a moment of anticipation, of fear, of anger, but what walks through the door is not who they expect. There’s a lot of them in various shapes and sizes, Thomas makes out Sophie’s face and a Joan that looks less than perfect but much better than the last time he’d seen them. Thomas’ breath runs out for a second before he’s racing over, Jack hot on his heels. “Joan!” He scoops the smaller person in his arms and held him close “Oh fuck, I’m so glad to see you again buddy, I’m so fucking glad,” His eyes are watering as he meets Sophie’s tight smile and then Talyn, who looks as small and unthreatening as ever, taking in the sight of familiar faces and then many, many more. “Where did all these people…?”

“They’ve come to fight with you Thomas, all of them, Witches from all around the world are talking about you, it seems word got out that a prophecy is being fulfilled,” She smiles and places a hand on his shoulder “See Thomas, when you came to us we had no idea who or what you were and things became more apparent over time, but you were destined to be here at this moment, and I’m sorry I had to leave you alone but I knew you would be safe, because it is your destiny to defeat these people, it’s written in time itself,” The man’s eyes raise “You are the most powerful Witch alive on this Earth, and tonight when those doors come knocking down you’re going to see why,”

“What am I going to do Sophie?” He asks breathlessly, stepping closer “What…what is this destiny?” There’s silence, the hush of chatter ceases and Sophie smiles, looking at Joan who steps forward and places their hands on the other’s shoulders.

“We’re going to defeat them, and you are going to win this battle, and for now, that’s all you need to know,” Looking small and somewhat terrified, Atticus stands behind Thomas, his fingertips seeking the hem of his boyfriend’s jumper for some security in a very unfamiliar situation. Joan smiles at the smaller boy, and holds their hand out for the other to shake. “Sorry my name is Joan, this is Sophie, we built this place sort of, well we staffed it and looked after it, so did Talyn,” Talyn, who was never much of a talker also waved. “We should probably start getting ready, they’re coming tonight, it has to be tonight,” The people walking past looked at Thomas with awe, some giving shy smiles and small waves, others simply staring.

What had exactly gone on on the surface whilst he’d been sat underground for the last…month? Perhaps longer, perhaps shorter he wasn’t exactly sure the day or time anymore. He turns around and looks at Atticus, bringing his hands into his and pressing soft kisses against the backs of them. Inside his mind he could hear Patton saying “aww!” and Roman giggling whilst Logan and Virgil made noises that sounded mostly like “Eurgh,” He smiles and brings Atticus into a hug, kissing the top of his head.

“Everything’s going to be okay, I hope,” And for the first time in so very long, he thinks perhaps they will be. Thomas turns to Jack, his fingertips interlaced with Atticus’ still as he does, not wanting to let go and lose him in a suddenly very full place. “Did you know, about a prophecy, about me?” The Irishman looks a little sheepish, his cheeks flushing red as he rubs the back of his neck.

“I mean, I may have had the tiniest inkling, as in…” he sighs “Okay, I vaguely knew you were a big deal when you first got here, a Manifestor that can master all four elements comes walking through the doors that’s not an everyday occurrence, but we all knew to some extent you would have a very big role to play in the future of Witches and Humans alike, and that this moment would eventually come, we knew you would have to fight and we knew you were at risk and I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner but if I did it could affect everything, people aren’t supposed to know their destinies for a reason,”

Thomas understands he’s upset that Jack had kept something so important from him but he knows he would never do it out of spite. He was worried about him and his future and through it all knowing that staying would end in bloodshed, Jack chose to stay with him. They were best friends, and so much more powerful together and when that door gets knocked in, Thomas knows that the other man will still be by his side.

“It’s okay,” He says with a warm smile and lets go of Atticus’ hand to open his arms for a hug to Jack, who accepts warmly. “Just promise me it will be you fighting beside me tonight and not…not him, okay?” they nod in understanding, neither of them wanted to dwell on the thought of Anti escaping the confines of Jack’s mind again.

“I promise,”

 --

Ko-Fi

[junker-town]

Jacoby Brissett is proving he’s more than just the Colts’ Plan B

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Jacoby Brissett has improved by leaps and bounds through three games in Indianapolis.

The last time the Colts went through a full season without Andrew Luck, they went 4-12. That won’t happen in 2019.

Jacoby Brissett’s maturation into an above-average NFL quarterback has kept playoff hope alive early in a year that saw Indianapolis’ franchise cornerstone opt for retirement. Through three games, the fifth-year veteran has emerged as a reliable engine for a team that can still fight its way to the top of the AFC South.

The question now is whether he and the Colts can keep this going. If Sunday’s game against the Falcons is any indication, they’ve got a real shot — and the rest of the division should be worried.

Brissett is making the correct decisions — and throws — a Pro Bowl QB makes

The Colts have built a strong support system around their recently promoted quarterback. Indianapolis’ plan to turn Brissett into a potential franchise passer has been to pump up his confidence and weaken opposing secondaries with short passes before unleashing his big arm downfield into single-coverage situations.

Brissett’s average throw only traveled 5.1 yards downfield through his first two games, a mark that ranked ahead of Jets passers Luke Falk and Sam Darnold and no one else. That was significantly less than he averaged in 2017 in Indianapolis (7.3) while trying to drag a flawed team with few weapons besides Hilton to respectability.

This year, head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni have decreased Brissett’s downfield workload in order to create easier throws in both short- and long-range situations. It worked like a charm in Week 3 in a 27-24 win over the Falcons.

Brissett took what Atlanta gave him with a long list of short passes to start the game, then exploited the adjustments Dan Quinn made. The Colts quarterback began his afternoon with eight straight completions, most of which ran close to the line of scrimmage and took advantage of holes in the short section in the middle of the field. With the Colts inside the Falcons’ 20 on their second drive of the day, Brissett dropped back for his ninth. Atlanta tried to cover up this weakness by sitting its linebackers in zone coverage in the middle of the field.

That did effectively prevent another 5-yard gain on a quick pass to the middle of the field. It also meant wideout Zach Pascal got passed off to a linebacker in coverage as the cornerback shadowing him stepped up to cut off another short route out of the backfield. That left Pascal all alone for an easy six points:

Pascal’s so wide open that Brissett didn’t have to make a great throw to find the end zone (though his is still pretty good); he just had to make the right decision.

Nine of Brissett’s first 11 completions all traveled five yards from the line of scrimmage or fewer. This is a useful way to build up a passer with only 17 career starts under his belt. It also plays off one of Brissett’s biggest strengths: he can absolutely rifle short passes into tight windows. This is especially helpful in the red zone, as he showed with T.Y. Hilton late in the second quarter Sunday.

Seeing ghosts in the end zone again. #ATLvsIND pic.twitter.com/4fLOeGtor3

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 22, 2019

That goes down in the scorebooks as a rote 4-yard scoring pass, but it needed a grown man throw to get there. Brissett got it done, and those accurate short-range strikes are throws an NFL quarterback needs to make in order to set up bigger opportunities downfield. He has proven he’s capable of sliding passes through those fast-closing lanes when they arise.

Here, his slight underthrow to Hilton keeps his All-Pro wideout’s route from running into double coverage. Brissett trusts his top target enough to adjust to the ball, and the end result is a 26-yard gain ... and a wallop from Ricardo Allen that drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness call.

Again, a big-league throw from a player who understands what risks he can and can’t take downfield. The outcome of this short-short-short-short-kinda long! performance against the Falcons? A 75 percent completion rate, 310 yards, two touchdowns, and zero turnovers.

That’s a replicable line for a player with the arm strength to launch frozen ropes to either sideline on the run. While he wasn’t infallible against an Atlanta secondary missing top performer Keanu Neal for much of the game — he completed just four of 10 passes that traveled 8+ yards — he was still good enough to push Indianapolis to a 2-1 start while demoralizing the Falcons.

This pushed Indianapolis out to a big early lead. When Atlanta came back to cut that advantage to only three points, Brissett responded with a pair of massive third-down conversions on a 75-yard scoring drive that effectively doomed the Falcons. More importantly, he did so without Hilton in the lineup; the star wideout missed a significant portion of the second half due to a quadricep injury that threatens to pour water on the hottest start of his career.

The Colts’ revamped offense is a major part of this

Two years ago, Brissett was thrown into a brutal situation in his first season as a Colt. He had only 15 days between his trade from the Patriots and his first start with the club. He was then stuck behind one of the league’s worst offensive lines and surrounded by a receiving corps that was effectively Hilton and a handful of fourth/fifth WR types like Donte Moncrief and Chester Rogers.

As a result, the debuting starter was sacked on 10 percent of his dropbacks — a worse sack rate than any other qualifying quarterback in the league in 2017. Though 71.3 percent of his pass attempts were labeled “catchable” by Sports Information Solutions, just 58.8 percent of those passes were completed.

Chris Ballard took over general manager duties before that 2017 season and overhauled both sides of the ball the following year, making life easier for Brissett in the process. The 2018 draft brought two different starters to the offensive line, including rookie All-Pro Quenton Nelson. Prudent drafting also brought in young targets like Parris Campbell, Nyheim Hines, Jordan Wilkins, and Deon Cain. Meanwhile, Eric Ebron, a 2018 free agent, proved to be an explosive addition after a 13-touchdown debut season in Indiana.

In ‘17, 46 percent of Brissett’s passes went to either Hilton or tight end Jack Doyle. Through three games this fall, Hilton and Ebron, the team’s top TE option so far, have made up only 40 percent of his throwing output. Twelve different players have at least one reception this season. 10 players have at least four targets. This ability to share the receiving workload will be crucial should Hilton miss any time due to injury.

Brissett’s sack rate has dropped from 10 to 6.1. His catchable pass rate shot up to 83.6 percent before Week 3’s breakout performance. His passer rating is more than 30 points higher than it was in 2017. These are all numbers that will be vitally important in the Colts’ playoff chase.

There’s still plenty of reason to be wary about Brissett’s strong start. While he was solid in Week 1 against a tough Chargers team, his breakout game came against a Falcons club that’s somehow a lesser sum than all its parts combined. He has yet to take on an opponent who can readily shut down all the short and intermediate routes that open up his passing game and make bigger gains possible. And, as the Raiders have shown, this kind of gameplan is no week-to-week certainty in the NFL.

Brissett was pressed into unexpected duty this fall. While it was nowhere near as abrupt as it was two years ago, it still brought many questions about both the quarterback and his team.

But Indianapolis has given Brissett the tools he lacked in a throwaway 2017 (and a team-friendly contract extension that will keep him in town should he outperform expectations). Now the franchise will get the chance to see if he can keep this pace and establish himself as a worthy successor to Luck. Through three games, he looks like the kind of NFL quarterback who can pilot a team to postseason success. We just need to see what he can do when the degree of difficulty gets turned up a few more notches.

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: 2019 Training Camp Opens

Hockey is back! This offseason was a little bit slimmer on the back end than last year, phrasing intended; so the gap of time created by Hockey-less August felt much more oppressive. Earlier this week in the blog on the Prospect Tournament I waxed on poetically about how it’s harder to get excited for the Sabres this season. We’re probably looking at a less that 50% chance this team qualifies for the playoffs this season. Between the completion of the Prospect tournament and the arrival of Training Camp, my Sabres heart has come thundering back to life this week. That’s a huge relief considering the aforementioned difficulty seeing this club make the playoffs this season given its current roster construction. More good news: Training Camp narratives are not in short supply! Last year we celebrated competition at Training Camp as a long-awaited sign the team was turning a corner. Perhaps it was still the residual haze of the Jeff Skinner trade washing over us, but something was new about this club going into last year. This year still features a lot of competition for roster spots, Thank God, but this time around it requires a little bit more creative thinking to see how different players raise up the club overall. Last year both of Jeff Skinner and Conor Sheary were upgrades on the left wing no matter how you cut it. In the same way Rasmus Dahlin was a huge upgrade, even as a rookie, on defense. As the players filed into the building for their physicals yesterday and engaged in media day it may be helpful for us to look at Training Camp competition positionally this Preseason. While the new pieces and therefore the tighter competition for fewer roster spots came in the forward corps last year, this go around the change is much more obvious on defense… hopefully.

The big X factor I see in this year’s Training Camp is the guy behind the bench. Ralph Krueger returns to NHL coaching with the Buffalo Sabres six years after an Edmonton Oilers organization in even more chaos than the current version let him go. For someone looking at Krueger’s history for hints at how he’ll coach and deploy players it’s like he’s a super-electable politician: he’s more or less what you want him to be. In other words, he’s something of an empty glass you put your values in. The buzzwords that orbited around him in the early summer when he was hired were communication and flexibility. We were teased about that flexibility a couple days ago when he said this Training Camp will see the players pick what positions they’re fighting for a spot in. More on that later. After firing a Head Coach who was only consistently inconsistent with his roster deployment, General Manager Jason Botterill opted for someone in Krueger who maybe more of a chameleon. The last three coaches of the Sabres, two of which who are still being paid to not coach the team, were problematic in large part because they were too rigid in their systems and didn’t allow the skill players to be skilled in game situations. Phil Housley was moderately better than Dan Blysma on that front but all shit stinks, right? Ralph Krueger is going to let his butterflies fly and rigid is certainly not a word to describe him in anyway. Beyond that however it’s hard to say what exactly his style and decision-making will look like come Opening Night. He’s the biggest wildcard this preseason and maybe also once the games mean something in the regular season.

Unlike in past seasons this year we find ourselves with a rare logjam on the blueline. There are too many good defenseman on the Sabres depth chart! That was such a weird sentence to write! While at least three of Brandon Montour, Marco Scandella, Zach Bogosian and Lawrence Pilut will start the season in the Press Box nursing injuries, only two of those guys will the average Sabres fan be dying to see get back on the ice. Rasmus Ristolainen and Marco Scandella are two players you want off this club pretty soon for very different reasons. Ristolainen is likely traded for just not being up to par in the advanced stats categories the modern game requires of its defenseman. It was hilarious but encouraging to hear Risto acknowledge his defensive game needs some work yesterday. If he is on this roster Opening Night let’s hope we see the effort pay off. Marco Scandella on the other hand is, to put it creatively, a crater full of trash. Those two players, on the right and left sides of defense respectively, are jamming up the pipes for a handful of really awesome pieces fighting for roster spots. Colin Miller was acquired via trade with the hope he could be a good shutdown-defenseman on the second or first pairing depending on how optimistic you are. He probably makes the roster below the pairing he deserves. On the younger side Brandon Montour and Henri Jokiharju are poised for breakout seasons if they’re given the right opportunities. You could argue Montour could single-handedly be the difference maker on whether this club is close to that playoff line or not come April. Then again Jake McCabe and Zach Bogosian still have jobs if they’re not beaten for them this preseason. If Housley were still coach I’d tell you the chances of the kids getting their shot at changing this team, even in preseason action, are slim. Again, Krueger is a huge wildcard here and there’s a lot to be learned in the preseason games coming up next week. Two more dark-horses worth mentioning in any conversation about Buffalo’s defense are Lawrence Pilut and Will Borgen. Pilut was a true rising star in the chances he got last season and it will be very interesting to see what he can do after returning from injury. Will Borgen on the other hand has been developing for what feels like an eternity. The season he finally looks ready to make the jump to the NHL and that’s the season there is this giant logjam. Don’t be surprised to see him really gunning for a look as Training Camp goes on though.

The offense should be an easier discussion. It’s not because Jason Botterill’s weird move of the offseason was bringing back several guys who are or should be on their way out the door. I am totally okay with not buying anyone out, there are few guys that makes sense with and even the ones who it does can be banished in less salary-cap damaging ways. However if we’re going to bring back a fourth line of Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson and Kyle Okposo you minus well just build a wall that says “Stay in Rochester” on it. Guys like Arttu Routsalainen, CJ Smith, Rasmus Asplund and even Victor Olofsson may be staring at the wall wondering if they have any position to gun for. And I’ll be very honest up front: I have no clue what the plan is with Tage Thompson. I’m more patient than the average joe with a guy like that but it’s just too crowded in the forward group. We probably just need to suck it up and ride out Okposo’s albatross of a Tim Murray contract, but those other two guys on the likely fourth line would’ve been very sensible departures given how long they’ve been given second chances. They each brought something to last season’s team but I’m not sure I don’t want their spots taken by the young guns anymore. I suppose there is still time for those young guns to take their spots. It is a new coach after all. As mentioned earlier Krueger wants to have each of these guys fight for the spot of their choosing. Is Zemgus Girgensons better than all of Thompson, Andrew Oglevie and Matej Pekar? Strong maybe I guess? What about Johan Larsson: is he better than all of CJ Smith, Arttu Routsalainen, Rasmus Asplund and Dylan Cozens? Two of those guys are likely sent to their junior teams once camp ends but Smith was an AHL All-Star last year. Competition in the bottom six, at least the fourth line, should be very interesting.

The biggest questions in the forward corps is who will be the second line center and who will be the first line right wing? Both questions have obvious answers that are not necessarily the only options. A top line of Jeff Skinner, Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart is very on brand for this club but if you use Reinhart at second line right wing you give Casey Mittelstadt some help shoring up that second line center role. Sheary could play on his off-side if it meant tapping in Eichel apples. If Victor Olofsson does indeed arrive as this top six player we’re all expecting, and you put him at 2LW you got a promising second line and a very interesting potential third line of Jimmy Vesey, Evan Rodrigues and Marcus Johansson. Yeah, I opt for the more experienced 28-year-old Johansson to play his off-side because I think he can do it fine on the third line and our good friend E-Rod may be fantastic at center if we give that an extended look. Now you may look at that summation of the top three lines as a pretty upbeat projection outside of the bitching about the fourth line. Where’s the difficulty in this discussion of the offense? Click, Click! In rolls every Sabres fan’s lineup projection grenade Vladimir Sobotka! NHL.com says he’s from the Czech Republic but anyone who watched last season’s Sabres knows he hails from the Kremlin. Wherever Putin hides the illegal chemical weapons, that’s where Sobotka is from because he stinks on ice! He’s not off the roster yet and that alone throws a wrench in the most fun version of the Sabres we could get out of Training Camp. Thompson and Sobotka are the guys that make the most fun version of the forward lines look unlikely but hey… Thompson could surprise me? I know, I wrote that full of doubt. Joking aside, he could be a late bloomer even though he didn’t exactly shine after getting sent down to the Amerks last season. Hmm, we really do have a lot to figure out during Training Camp, don’t we?

So what did I miss… Risto came to Training Camp after he definitely asked for a trade but why would he say that on media day? Eichel wants to score more goals, of course sweet boy. Marcus Johansson thinks Ralph Krueger is *pause for comedic effect* not your average Coach. Kyle Olsen was a Prospect Camp invite who earned an invitation to Sabres Training Camp. He’s probably the darkest of dark horses to make the roster. Uh… I think that’s it for now. When we wrap up Training Camp we’re going to tie all these loose threads together and preview the regular season. Between now and then however we have six preseason games to see how some of the questions get answered. Note: Six is fewer games than last year’s seven thankfully. If you weren’t reading the blog last year those games will be a taste of what the regular season is like here. Game action is much more fun and has a lot more opportunity for humor. Even though they’re meaningless in the standings I hope you’ll read, like and comment for the fun of it. It’s a sprint to regular season hockey from here!

Thanks for reading.

P.S. So it looks like Mitch Marner is going to pull a Will Nylander and miss Training Camp. The drama is better this time around for us Leafs Haters because for some reason Marner is personally offended by an $11 Million contract offer because it’s not as big as Auston Matthews’. Better more he’s much more likely to get traded than Nylander. I’m giddy for that Toronto Meltdown!

[creepykingdom]

Episode 133 / Creepy Day 2 Halloween Time at Disneyland

SHOW NOTES:

On our second Creepy Day of 2017 we take a look at all of the Halloween offerings this year at the Disneyland Resort!  Including all of the brand new Halloween fun at Disney California Adventure and a review of this year’s Mickey’s Halloween Party!

REVIEW: (by Melissa A. Camacho)

It’s amazing what a little lighting and fog can do to get you in the Halloween spirit. At this year’s Mickey’s Halloween Party at the Disneyland Resort, both Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure were decked out in fall and Halloween decorations. And for the first time ever, your ticket to Mickey’s Halloween Party allowed you into either Disneyland or DCA prior to the main event. In this review, I will be covering both parks and also giving you tips on this year’s party.

For those of you who have not heard of Mickey’s Halloween Party, it is a separate ticketed event that happens on select nights starting in mid September to Halloween at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. At this event, the park is closed early for regular attendees and the park is transformed into a full blown Halloween Party. Complete with a trick-or-treat candy trail, a dance party, Disney Villain appearances, the Frightfully Fun Parade and the Halloween Screams Fireworks; not to mention everybody is allowed to come in costume. Each year, this event sells out, and this year was no exception. So for those interested in attending next year, I highly recommend buying your tickets early.

We start off at Disney’s California Adventure. If you want to get a head start on your spooky day, take advantage of the early entry park-hopper and enjoy what DCA has to offer for the fall season. Early entry to either Disneyland or DCA starts three hours prior the main event. Unfortunately, I missed early entry this year (traffic coming up from San Diego was unusually bad) but, I was at DCA a few days earlier so I’m happy to report my take on the park on a regular day.

Before you even enter the park, you are welcomed by Oogie Boogie on top of the DCA entrance. As a huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, I was already sold. I have never been into DCA around this time of year, so walking into Buena Vista street and seeing the vintage purple banners and bats immediately put a smile to my face. Going in farther, there is an epic Headless Horseman statue that exhales out smoke through its nostrils. It also makes noses and and lights up as the day goes darker.

Another new and bigger thing at DCA for this Halloween season is Cars Land’s Haul-O-Ween layover. Now, I am not a huge Cars fan, but this themed section of the park is my favorite. So adding a dash of spooky made it 10x, better in my opinion. There were car parts that created spider webs and ghouls. Many of the signs had creepy layovers which referenced classic Halloween and horror movies. Not to mention the perfectly themed treats they offered there which have been featured on numerous videos and instagram accounts by now. Luigi's Rollickin Roadsters had new music for your cars to dance to. And Ramone's House of Body Art was Day of the Dead themed complete with an altar for one of it’s characters. As a Mexican-American, it was really refreshing to see my culture being represented as genuinely as possible, considering the context of the land. I enjoyed it. My tip for this section of the park is to arrive at sundown. That’s when all the neon gets turned on and the whole environment feels different. Still cute, yet spooky.

Continuing with our trend of Day of the Dead, there is a Coco experience near Paradise Pier that features activities, music, dancers, folk art and food inspired by the Mexican tradition and movie. When I went to DCA a few days prior, I did not get to experience this part of the park myself, so I can’t give a first hand account of this seasonal experience. But, thanks to the internet, you can view all the colorful displays they have up.

Another new thing that DCA offers this season was Guardians of the Galaxy: Monsters After Dark, ride layover. Right out of the gate, the Guardians ride is noticeably different. The lights and projections on the building are different and kind of creepy. The story of the ride also changes, as you are now trying to help Rocket save Groot from the space monsters that have been let loose. I also felt that there were way more drops in this incarnation of the ride, which I highly enjoyed. The cool thing about this version, is that it’s not an all day layover. So if you want the little ones to enjoy the original, ride it during the day. My tip if you want to experience this scary version, is to ride it at or after the sun sets. It’s a digital layover so it gets converted in a short period of time.

Overall, the three hours you have at DCA will be enough time to look at all the new decorations and maybe ride a few things. Now onto onto Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland.

I have attended this event for the first time last year and I immediately fell in love. If you’re a fan of Halloween and all things Disney, then this is the event for you. My boyfriend and I Disneybounded as Oogie Boogie and Jack Skellington, respectively. The one thing I love about Mickey’s Halloween Party is the small crowds. There is practically no wait for any of the rides. Another thing that makes the event so different is ambiance of the park. It immediately puts everybody in good creepy mood.

As huge Disneyland fans, we all know that Disney spares no expense when it comes to their seasonal decorations. Besides the cute fall leaves and pumpkins on main street and other parts of the park, Disney bumps it up a bit for their Halloween party. The colored lights turn on, the spooky sounds creep up and fog covers Rivers of America as the Cadaver Dans start making their way down on a raft. If there’s one section that screams out creepy Disney, it’s New Orleans Square by Rivers of America. If that’s not your thing, then I suggest taking a stroll down the newly opened Big Thunder Trail. If you’re coming up from the Frontierland side, keep an eye out for the creature that lives in the old train ride tunnel. I honestly don’t remember if that was there last year, but it really freaked me out. The sound effects and lighting in that little section made me feel uneasy. Which looking back… still freaks me out just thinking about it. I still don’t know what that was suppose to be and no Google search is helping me. So if you’re brave, go check it out.

Besides my irrational fears of things unknown, the majority of the event was amazing. If rides are your thing, as they were for me and my boyfriend, I highly suggest riding Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy and Haunted Mansion Holiday. These rides have seasonal layovers that really put you in the Halloween (or Christmas) spirit. As some of you might know, each year the gingerbread house in Haunted Mansion Holiday is changed. And this year, it features a humongous Oogie Boogie gingerbread man. Again, I am a sucker for this guy, so I loved it. Biases aside, I wish the doombuggies would move slower at the ballroom scene just so everybody can see and appreciate all the little details of the gingerbread houses. Especially considering that it is all real gingerbread and sweats. While Haunted Mansion Holiday is less scary once Jack takes over, in my opinion, I can’t say the same for Space Mountain’s layover. So if your children get easily frightened, I say skip Ghost Galaxy. I think it’s a bit loud and the projections might be too scary for your younger counterparts.

Now it’s not a Halloween Party without costumes and candy. While you see your usual and more traditional costumes, there are some that certainly stand out. Maybe it’s the Disney magic that sparks people’s creativity or the photo opportunities that the park offers. Either way, some people went all out. I only captured some spooky ones, but there were plenty more varieties that people dress up as too. While you people watch, I suggest taking advantage of the treat trail that spans the whole park. I personally didn’t stop at all of the candy spots, but I got enough candy to fill my Zero popcorn bucket. When you first enter the park, you are given a treat bag and a map of the treat trail. At some stops, there are healthier and allergy friendly options for the trick-or-treaters.

I am not one for Parades or Fireworks, but for this event, I try my best to make some time to watch it. First is the Frightfully Fun Parade. Before the parade begins, the Headless Horseman makes his way down on a real horse holding his pumpkin head. Then parade begins. The floats are given as much detail as the regular parade floats but better because they feature spooky characters and Disney Villains. The parade itself is rather short but cute for what it is. They run it twice throughout the night. Now for the fireworks, I highly suggest either being in front of the castle or in the middle of main street. Both the castle and main street have projections casted on them. I was on the side of the castle closer to Frontierland and still had a decent view. Like I said before, I’m not much of a fireworks person, but this one sold me with the theme, projections, synced fireworks and pyrotechnics. If you ever attend Mickey’s Halloween Party, I suggest finding a good spot and watching it at least once.

Overall, Mickey’s Halloween Party is defiantly one of my favorite events to attend at Disneyland. I’m an annual passholder and I will gladly pay the extra money to attend this event. It has the perfect mix of Disney and creepy. I give this year’s event a five poison apples out of five poison apples rating.

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PICTURES: (By Melissa A. Camacho, Little Nikki, & James H. Carter II)

[thebachelordiaries]

Getting Out The Campzone: The Bachelorette Season Premiere Recap

Sweet. Sour. Sassy. Classy. 

That’s our girl, Rachel.

Rachel is more beautiful than Cinderella. She smells like pine needles and has a face like sunshine.

The journey for Rachel to find a mate is officially underway and even though these men were hand-picked for her, she will still need to weed through the losers to find the love of her life.

And there are losers galore: a ticklemonster, a Whaboom! guy, an aspiring drummer and a dude named Jamey who hates women.

Some of these aforementioned were among the lucky few to get their own video packages.

-Kenny is a father to his beautiful 10-year-old daughter by day, and a professional wrestler called the “prettyboy pitbull” by night. So essentially, he barks, he bites and he’s good at cuddling.

-Jack Stone is a lawyer from Texas who has the potential to be the world’s most boring speaker right behind Ben Stein. His mother passed away from cancer when he was in high school, so he has a tragic story. The best part about him is that he has a labradoodle.

-Alex is a self-described beefy nerd. He says he likes to hit the weights at the gym but also code on the computer. He grilled some kebobs with his Russian mother, who said in Russian that he is only allowed to kiss Rachel on the cheek.

-Mohit is a startup guy, so I am assuming he must be really good at ping pong. He likes to bollywood dance with his family, and they all seemed like a fun family to be around.

-Lucas, aka Whaboom! I respect his dedication to the brand, but he’s going to have an aneurysm shaking his head that aggressively one day, and I don’t want to witness it on my television screen.

-Blake says he’s a personal trainer but his bio says drummer boy, so I already can’t trust him. Blake claims that since working out increases his testosterone, he is great at sex. I’m sorry but I don’t care about his (probably small) penis.

-Diggy is a nickname this man (I don’t know his real name) received after someone complimented his style. “Hey, I like your digs,” they said. Some may say having 500 pairs of shoes is materialistic, but Carrie Bradshaw would say it’s a lifestyle.

-Josiah probably had the most heartbreaking story. At age seven he cut his dead brother down from the rope he used to hang himself. As a troubled youth, he decided to get into crime and was arrested at age 12 for burglary. He was inspired by the people who helped him turn his life around, so he became just like them. Now he is a prosecuting attorney at the same center that helped him. How can that story not warm up your heart?

The Squad Gets Back Together

Usually the show brings in former Bachelorettes to give advice to the new one. Instead, they brought in some of Rachel’s friends from The Bachelor like Whitney, who tried to convince us that she actually knows how to speak. I for one am not buyin’ it.

The robot pretending to be Whitney said she heard the second guy Rachel met on After The Final Rose has bad intentions. It was either Blake or Greg. I am unsure.

This is Raven adorably getting emotional when discussing Rachel’s journey to find love.

Imagine Rachel did get to meet the former Bachelorettes, though? Her, Andi and Kaitlyn could all go into a corner and talk shit about Nick Viall. I would love to be a fly on that wall.

Limo Entrances

I am going to discuss ones that deserve discussing. Obviously the first person out the limo is typically a big interest of the lead and that person usually (not always) plays a big part in the season. Let’s meet first-out-the-limo guy and everyone else worth talking about:

Peter, aka “Daddy,” was first out the limo. I normally wouldn’t like a guy wearing an outfit that belongs on a waiter in Las Vegas, but Peter can wear anything. I just want to thank him for existing.

He looks like a movie star from the 1940s. Is this love at first sight?

Bryan went up to Rachel and started speaking Spanish. Apparently he’s a Columbian guy who called himself “trouble.” I’m into it, and apparently so is Rachel.

Will came out the limo as Steve Urkel, slipped on the ground and said “Oh, did I do that?” He ran back into the limo and came back out as Stefan Urquelle. It was probably the most creative limo entrance ever. Rachel got the reference right away because she’s Rachel. Will is probably already in love.

Fred had the most hilarious entrance I’ve ever seen. Rachel was his camp counselor 15 years ago, so he brought out a yearbook and showed old pictures of him and Rachel. Rachel said Fred was a bad kid growing up. Most people get friendzoned at some point in their lives. Some even get sexzoned. Fred, however, got campzoned. What will it take to get Fred out of the camp zone? Stay tuned...

Jonathan, in typical ticklemonster fashion, tickled Rachel. Apparently he is a doctor in real life. I feel like tickling someone is some sort of violation. Like I said earlier, we will see this guy on the sex offender registry in due time.

Alex came in with a vacuum and I literally JUST understood his reference as I am typing it out. His entrance was an homage to Rachel dancing while vacuuming in her video package on The Bachelor. Well played, sir, well played.

Matt wore a penguin outfit and was quite adorable. He explained that penguins mate for life, which is what he says he wants to do. He said he’s gonna “waddle right into her heart.”

Mohit used the most basic best man wedding speech in existence as his opening line. If you didn’t work at a wedding hall for three years and haven’t heard this at basically every wedding ever, let me explain. Almost every best man at a wedding has the groom put his hand over his wife’s hand. He then says “This is the last time you will ever have the upper hand in the relationship. Enjoy it.” Negative 10 points for originality.

Lucas, the Whaboom! guy, was all sorts of extra. First he rolled down the window with a megaphone and did his best Bruce Buffer impression. I didn’t want to know that Lucas has one testicle bigger than the other, but now I do. What will I do with this source of information? Suppress it, probably. Lucas then shows us what Whaboom! really means, and it’s not pretty. Let’s just say there’s a reason why Lucas looks like he is recovering from a stoke. Whabooming! is a violent activity.

My reaction after witnessing what a Whaboom! is.

The Goings On In The Mansion

Some worthwhile observations...

Blake is clearly this season’s villain and Whaboom! guy is the token weirdo for the first few episodes. Blake’s presence already annoys me. He’s no Chad. Chad was at least funny.

Mohit took one for the team and was the one who got completely hammered on night one. He was so drunk that he grabbed someone else's drink out of their hand and started drinking it.

Josiah, Alex and DeMario have already developed a friendship. I hereby name them the “Goon Squad” for being a bunch of clowns. DeMario keept calling Rachel his future wife and Josiah was announcing that he probably will get the first impression rose. I believe at one point Josiah asked, “Who has had time with my wife?” Alex is just guilty by association.

Fred by far had the best interaction with Rachel: 

Rachel: “Frederick. I can’t”

Fred: “Yeah, you can.”

Rachel says she knew Fred as a third grader and can’t get past that memory. If the guy is hot enough, I think she could do it. If she can’t get past it, that probably means she’s not interested and Fred will remain forever in the Campzone.

Bryan pulled Rachel to the side to have a private talk. Right out the bat, Bryan tells her he is 37 years old, wants something serious and doesn’t want to waste her time. Oh, he also says “I’m good with my hands.” Ya know, because he’s a chiropractor. 

Just showing some appreciation for Bryan’s face.

The two were flirting back and forth. It felt really genuine like they met at a bar or something. Bryan just went for it and grabbed her face to give her an aggressive face readjustment. A+ for grabbing her face like that. You go, Glen Coco.

Peter said in an ITM that he likes Rachel because they both have a gap in their teeth and honestly that is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. He brought chocolate from Wisconsin for her and she confessed that she didn’t like chocolate but said she would eat it anyway. Why? Because Peter is fine as hell so you gotta do what you gotta do.

I also observed that Kenny is hilarious. For example, this line: “If she chooses Whaboom! guy, we need to re-examine what we think is fly.”

When the time comes for Rachel to give out her first impression rose, she doesn’t give it to the over-confident Josiah, she gives it to Bryan. They kiss again with a hammered Mohit accidentally witnessing the entire thing. 

Here’s a shot of them kissing that didn’t look like Bryan’s tongue was searching for the Chamber of Secrets down Rachel’s throat.

Good thing Mohit was blackout drunk so he was likely physically incapable of snitching. Too bad Bryan later snitches on himself on the Ellen date. 

Rose Ceremony

The first rose is always super important. That person usually plays a big part in the season.

Peter got the first rose. This, on top of him being first out of the limo, is pretty big. Producers are pushing Peter on us hard. 

Will aka Stefan got the second rose. Soft-spoken Jack Stone got the third. I think Anthony, the deep-thinking bald guy, got the fourth rose.

Producers picked Whaboom! guy to stay to 1. entertain us and 2. piss off Blake. I’m just scared Lucas is going to hurt his neck Whabooming! At least Bryan will be there to work his chiropractor magic if need be. Imagine getting adjusted by Bryan? There is no way I’d be able to relax. 

By the time several of the guys get eliminated, it’s daylight outside. It looks like it’s around noon. 

Blake K. the hot asian went home. Apparently he asked to leave early because his grandfather is sick. Dammit, ABC, put him on Paradise. He might be too good for the show, but I still need to see more of him.

Grant, the ugly Dan Humphrey also went home.

Follow me on twitter, @thebachdiaries 

Another eliminated guy cried about how he spent so much money on outfits and now no one will be able to see them. It was kind of funny but, I hate that I was able to relate to this so much.

So there you have it folks. The real fun starts on Monday once the group dates are underway. I also promise the upcoming recaps won’t be the length of a short novel. I need to get back into my blogging groove.

Prediction Corner: Top 5

Peter

Bryan

Kenny

Will

Jack Stone

Who do you think will get the 1-on-1 next week? 

[devils-gatemedia]

Earlier this year, the glorious summer came to an end at exactly the time that Steelhouse Festival opened with a weekend of storms, high winds and incessant rain. Halfway up the bill on Saturday, a band that had somehow previously escaped my notice came on stage and gave the sodden crowd one of the best festival sets I have ever seen. As we left the pit the photographers each applauded, something I have never seen before. After the set, I sought the singer out in the crowd as he watched the next band, a young unknown called Myles Kennedy. Firstly, I have NEVER done that before, but I wanted him to know how much I enjoyed his music and secondly, after thanking me he gazed at the stage, turned back to me and said in awe “It’s Myles Kennedy”. That band was the Dan Reed Network, and when I heard that they were taking a headline tour on the road, I HAD to be there.

Opening the show were another band that have so far not appeared on my radar, but I will now be following and looking out for, Hollowstar. It is genuinely exciting to see young bands with this much class and ability. Every song in the brief set, from opener “Money” to absolute stunner of a set closer “All I Gotta Say”, hit the mark. There is light and shade, with “Feel The Burn” showcasing some soulful and emotional vocals from Joe Bonson before a huge guitar hook comes in, courtesy of the ever-active guitarists Phil Haines and Tom Collett, all supported by powerful drums courtesy of Joe’s brother Jack. There is a healthy dollop of Black Stone Cherry about “New Age Lullaby”, and “Let You Down” is simply massive! Mid set, Joe takes some time to talk about how it feels to be where they are and to be playing to a crowd, passionately talking about invisible illnesses and how music helps him deal with issues he has faced. It is raw and honest, and rewarded with spontaneous applause.

Later in the evening, during Dan Reed’s set, the female half of our little review team needed to hydrate and lost her place upfront with me. Joe, at the merch stand, saw what had happened, and made a gap back to the front for her, where he spent some time dancing. A really gentlemanly thing to do, and this is a public shout out to thank him as it made her day! It is easy to say that bands low on a bill have “potential” to go all the way in this business, but I haven’t been as impressed by an opening act in a long time, and wish the guys every success. I get the feeling I will be seeing a LOT more of them!

Mason Hill also appeared on the bill at the mudfest that was Steelhouse, and whilst I enjoyed their set, I picked up on some reviews that weren’t exactly impressed and accused them of going through the motions. Since then, they have had a number of difficulties, and so I was intrigued to see how they would come across on such a strong line u

Their intention became clear as soon as the lights went down. Singer Scott Taylor walked to the mic and sang solo vocals in a single spotlight to “No Regret”. It’s a ballsy and exposed way to start a show, and as the rest of the band kick in, it is clear that they are out to put the record straight. “Survive” was up next and could well have been written to sum up recent trials. The anthemic chorus was sung with particular passion. Hold On” slowed the tempo down a little then burst into life. “Out Of Reach” quickly followed. Every song an absolute belter and thrown at the crowd with immense energy and passion not to mention musical ability.

Between songs, Taylor has an easy rapport with the audience, which isn’t easy when the combination of his thick Glaswegian and a Bristol burr must be the most contrasting of accents! He seems thrilled at the size of the crowd and the reception they are giving the band. “Wait For You” and “Against The Wall” continue to showcase their songwriting skill. The twin guitars of James Bird and Marc Montgomery trade some powerful licks and riffs. One of the strengths of the band is the quality of the rhythm section with bassist Matthew Ward and drummer Craig McFetridge excelling. “Where I Belong” is a belter. Taylor’s vocals once again taking centre stage. It’s a ‘lighters in the air’ anthem, and the room is silent as the waves of emotion surge from the stage. For me, the best two songs end the set – “Now You See Me” with it’s complex guitar intro has a different feel to much of the set and then encore. “Cochise”, is delivered with real respect. Dan Reed has said several times on the tour how strong the support bands are, and how the future of rock music is in good hands. He is absolutely on the money. Here’s hoping Mason Hill get through recent challenges and realise their potential.

So, to the headliner. Even before Dan Reed Network take the stage, there was a demonstration of the class that the “Network” bring to the business when bassist Melvin Brannon snuck out and stood at Hollowstar’s merch table with his bass. The guys were visibly stunned when he asked them to autograph it for him! Shortly after, the band took the stage for one of the most entertaining and enjoyable couple of hours I have seen on a stage.

Now usually I would run through a setlist , mention a few songs that I liked and comment on the skill of the musicians, but somehow at a Dan Reed show that feels insufficient. You see, a Dan Reed show is a life affirming, joyous, fun, amusing, musical, soulful, funk and rock experience, rather than simply a collection of songs played live.

First there is Dan Reed himself. The living epitome of the phrase “dance like nobody is looking”, he is never still for a moment. His rapport with the crowd is unparalleled; constantly shaking hands, pointing at old friends, hanging out over the room from the unfortunately placed steel support right in the middle of the stage and entertaining them with banter and stories rooted in many years in the business.

Then there is the ‘Network’: Brion James, dreadlocks flying and a smile that lights up the room, mixing funk with raw rock sounds, Melvin Brannon slapping the strings off his bass and entertaining with one of the best solos I have witnessed on the four-string, Rob Daiker, keys and all around support as well as a couple of songs at the front in the spotlight, and drummer Dan Pred, long-time friend of Dan Reed, and tonight, honoured with a round of shots for his fast approaching birthday.

Then there is the sheer fun that they have on stage together. During the set, an entire litany of problems presented. First the monitor in front of Brannon objected to being used as a step and disappeared into the void. Result? Dan suggested they would spend the evening singing Celine Dion songs instead and handed the mic to Brannon for a simply hilarious version of “My Heart Will Go On” while it was sorted. Shortly after, the show came to a halt with Reed commenting that whenever the drums played the bass stopped. Brannon’s wireless system was to blame and Reed gleefully ranted about the old school leads that never let you down as Brannon went low tech. Further into the set again, and issues with James’ effect pedals led to more improvisation and finally a broken string for said guitarist led to Reed singing almost the entirety of jazz standard “All Of Me” leading to discussions of an alternative future as a jazz band.

Dan Reed stops and starts the set at will even without the issues, at one point instructing James not to choose a particular effect because he “wants to hear that guitar part differently tonight” and often just dissolving into laughter at the antics of his band. All of that might sound unprofessional, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. What we are seeing is how to continue to enjoy what you do many years after most bands become formulaic and all feeling is gone. Every band should take a lesson from Dan Reed Network, as it keeps a freshness that is pretty unique to the set. Of course, there are the songs too!

“Rainbow Child” is the song most people would associate with Dan Reed Network, and tonight it is played as emotively and passionately as the day it was written. “Tiger In A Dress” had the crowd in the palms of his hands. “Baby Now I” is possibly my favourite few minutes of a band on stage with its’ jam, where anything and everything could happen, from heavy metal classics to soul and funk. “Save The World” and it’s addictively funky rhythms.

The set consists of sixteen or more songs, plus the many breakouts and jams. The clock goes way past curfew with Dan Reed Network just keeping on going. Reed refers back to the support bands several times, and also takes time to thank pretty much everyone who has taken a part in the evening from the venue, another humble touch.

I rarely wish I had video from gigs, but the ending tonight just after I had put my camera away was one of the times I wish I had done so. Just as I thought Dan Reed Network had taken their final bow, they lined up and sang acapella with some sumptuous harmonies. Dan Reed, leaning out over the crowd, was unaware of the chaos unfolding behind him as Pred sneakily removed the cord from Brannon’s mic, just as he went to step forward to sing a lead vocal. Brannon grabbed James’ mic. James saw his moment approaching and reached to grab Reed’s mic from behind. Reed struggled and threw a mock punch at James who retaliated. Cue utter chaos and hilarity as the entire band tried to complete the song amidst cartoon violence with one less microphone than vocalists.

Several bows later, and Dan Reed Network finally leave the stage, promising to return for signing and almost nobody moves as they wait to shake his hand and have a word. There is only one way to end the review – to Mr Dan Reed and the Dan Reed Network, Thank you! See you soon!

Review and pics – Rob and Danni Wilkins

Live Review: Dan Reed Network – The Fleece, Bristol Earlier this year, the glorious summer came to an end at exactly the time that Steelhouse Festival opened with a weekend of storms, high winds and incessant rain.