Week 6 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers: 2024 Edition

Quarterback

MVP: Caleb Williams (Bears)

Williams put together the best game of his rookie campaign thus far in London on Sunday morning, shredding the Jaguars for 226 YDS and 4 TD's while adding 56 YDS on the ground in a statement win for the Bears. The reigning #1 overall pick has found his footing over the past few weeks after a brutal start to the year and should remain on the QB1 radar when the Bears return to action against the Commanders in Week 8.  

Honorable Mentions: Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers), Jordan Love (Packers), Jared Goff (Lions)

LVP: Dak Prescott (Cowboys)

The Cowboys Week 7 bye couldn't be coming at a better time. Prescott was among the worst Cowboys on the field on Sunday in their hilariously lopsided loss to the Lions, throwing for 178 scoreless YDS and 2 picks. After a shaky 8 TD/6 INT start to 2024, Prescott should be left out of starting lineups until he gets his shit together.   

Dishonorable Mentions: Kyler Murray (Cardinals), Kirk Cousins (Falcons), Geno Smith (Seahawks) 

Running Back

MVP: Joe Mixon (Texans)

Mixon's return to action after a 3-game absence with an ankle ailment was a mighty eventful one. Despite playing on a pitch count, he managed to rip off 132 scrimmage YDS and 2 TD's on only 15 touches (13 carries, 2 receptions) against the Patriots. He'll be an RB1 for their Week 8 tilt with the Packers.   

Honorable Mentions: Derrick Henry (Ravens), Bijan Robinson (Falcons), David Montgomery (Lions)

LVP: James Conner (Cardinals)

Negative game script and riding the pine for a bit after a fumble in the 2nd quarter led to Conner having a pretty ugly afternoon against the Packers, registering 46 YDS on 11 touches (7 carries, 4 receptions). Conner also managed to ding up his ankle late, so his practice availability will be monitoring ahead of their Week 7 showdown with the Chargers.     

Dishonorable Mentions: Javonte Williams (Broncos), Saquon Barkley (Eagles), Antonio Gibson (Patriots)

Wide Receiver 

MVP: Chris Godwin (Buccaneers)

On a day where the Bucs running backs were the main stars of the show, Godwin managed to seize some of the spotlight for himself. The veteran wideout secured 11 catches for 125 YDS and 2 TD's (all season highs) in a wild road win over the Saints. Godwin is being blessed with another plus matchup against the Ravens this week.   

Honorable Mentions: Garrett Wilson (Jets), A.J. Brown (Eagles), Terry McLaurin (Commanders)

LVP: D.J. Moore (Bears)

Moore's day almost went differently as he got tackled just shy of the goal line on a screen pass in the 3rd quarter, but alas, he was left with a boring 4 REC/20 YD statline on a day where the Bears dominated the Jaguars. This was the only 2nd game all season that Moore had less than 5 receptions and 6 targets, so this quit showing will probably serve as an outlier.     

Dishonorable Mentions: Brian Thomas Jr. (Jaguars), Brandon Aiyuk (49ers), Calvin Ridley (Titans) 

Tight End

MVP: Cole Kmet (Bears)

Kmet was the surprise top star of the Bears passing attack this past week, securing 5 catches for 70 YDS and 2 TD's versus the Jaguars. He's been a solid starting option for much of this year, and I have no reason to believe that will change as long as he's out there.    

Honorable Mentions: George Kittle (49ers), Mark Andrews (Ravens), Trey McBride (Cardinals)

LVP: Jake Ferguson (Cowboys)

After a couple decent games in a row, Ferguson reverted back to the kind of duds he was posting to start the year-making just 3 catches for 11 YDS in the Cowboys horrendous loss to the Lions. Ferguson will remain on the TE1/TE2 borderline when the Cowboys take the field against the 49ers in Week 8.   

Dishonorable Mentions: Tucker Kraft (Packers), Pat Friermuth (Steelers), Isaiah Likely (Ravens)

Defense/Special Teams

MVP: Steelers

Outside of surrendering a TD on the opening drive, the Steelers were dialed in against the lowly Raiders on Sunday, accumulating a sack, INT, 2 fumble recoveries and a blocked punt in a 32-13 win. They have a date with the Jets in Week 6.    

Honorable Mentions: Texans, Eagles, Bears

LVP: Jets 

Robert Saleh had to be having a nice big laugh at home after this performance versus the Bills. The vaunted Jets defense was far from great last night versus, picking up 2 sacks and 0 takeaways in a 23-20 loss where they allowed several huge gains and had zero answer for rookie Ray Davis-who was making a spot start for the injured James Cook-on the ground. They'll be looking for redemption against the Russell Wilson-led Steelers this week.  

Dishonorable Mentions: Cowboys, Broncos, Ravens

Movie Review: Saturday Night

Saturday Night depicts what transpired from 90 minutes before airtime through the opening sketch of the debut episode of Saturday Night Live on October 11th, 1975, in real time. Equipment malfunctioned. Crew members walked off during the dress rehearsal. Cast members were questioning what the hell they had signed up for.  Sketches were constantly being rewritten and cut from air. Celebrity guests were waiting around to see if they would get the opportunity to perform on air. Copious amounts of cocaine, marijuana and cigarettes were consumed by many parties involved in the making of the episode of live television. Basically, it was a borderline miracle the show even made it to the air to that night.

What Jason Reitman does in Saturday Night is use the behind-the-scenes look at the debut episode of Saturday Night Live to celebrate the enduring power of artists coming together to make things against all odds. Sure, he deeply respects and loves the legendary pop culture brand/comedic talent incubator that Saturday Night Live has become, but he knows that it wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to become those things if a band of talented, yet woefully inexperienced creatives hadn't stood strong in the face of adversity 50 years ago. A real time dramatization of the events of that night was the ideal storytelling tool to help Reitman convey this point as it highlights just quickly massive problems can arise on a production of this scale and how the best solutions to them often require a delicate combination of on-the-fly fixes and pervasive finger-crossing that those fixes hold up for long enough to complete the job. Making movies or television is a pressure cooker that only sickos who love to make shit with other like-minded people would sign up for and if it all works out, you get filled with a tremendous amount of pride for what you accomplished. And if it doesn't? Well, there's always next time.

The real time narrative device also ensures that Saturday Night is fun as hell to watch. There's an electric energy stemming from the revolving door of chaos that is playing out on screen, and it makes the movie feel alive in a way that it likely wouldn't have if it had taken a more conventional structural approach to telling this story. Telling such an inherently manic story bred an environment where everybody just gleefully leaned into the madness. Damn near everyone in this massive ensemble cast is fired up to goof around with a large group of fellow actors (the top standouts for me were Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Dylan O'Brien as Dan Akroyd and Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris), the playful camerawork paired with the tight editing ensures that the viewer is fully aware of every move this speeding bullet train is making throughout and Jon Batiste's-who also stars as the episode's musical guest Billy Preston-brilliant score goes from sparse piano pieces to explosive horn-driven jazz at the drop of a hat. Despite all of the stress that goes into making it, vigor, vibrancy and playfulness are the heart of many great creative endeavors and Saturday Night has all of those things in spades. This is Reitman's finest hour as a director in quite some time and may the love and admiration he poured into this project carry over to whatever he does next.              

Grade: B+

Dylan O'Brien Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Dylan O'Brien-whose latest projects "Saturday Night" and "Caddo Lake" are now playing in theaters and streaming on Max respectively.  

Dylan O'Brien's Filmography Ranked:

12.American Assassin (D+)

11.Caddo Lake (D+)

10.Infinite (C)

9.Maze Runner: The Death Cure (C+)

8.Deepwater Horizon (C+)

7.The Internship (B-)

6.Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (B)

5.The Maze Runner (B)

4.The Outfit (B)

3.Not Okay (B)

2.Love and Monsters (B+)

1.Bumblebee (B+)

Top Dog: Bumblebee (2018)

Bumblebee has a secret sauce that the other Transformers movies just don't have: A legitimately good human story! The entire film hinges on the relationship between the titular mute yellow-and-black robot and high school senior Charlie Watson (Hailee Steinfeld) and how their bond helps them cope with the pain of their pasts. A buddy movie narrative is a really unexpected angle to approach a Transformers movie from and the whole thing works so beautifully because the writing from Christina Hodson along with Steinfeld's performance is so heartfelt. The action, comedic and 80's nostalgia bits are good too, but the earnest emotion underneath all of the VFX is what makes Bumblebee a special movie.  

Bottom Feeder: American Assassin (2017)

While I never made a worst action movies of the 2010's list, American Assassin would've absolutely landed on it if I had. This lumbering dud of a spy revenge thriller features a level of clunky pacing, incoherent quick cut editing and flat action direction that is downright shocking for a mid-budget mainstream genre vehicle backed by a legit studio in Lionsgate.   

Most Underrated: Love and Monsters (2020)

One of the many films robbed of the chance of achieving cultural relevancy on account of the pandemic, Love and Monsters is a really charming, creative adventure romance that makes great use of O'Brien's inherent magnetism and contains some of the most unique, best looking VFX monsters in recent cinema history.   

Most Overrated: Deepwater Horizon (2016)

As technically impressive as it is as a disaster movie, Deepwater Horizon is too emotionally stagnant to properly depict the horrors of this tragedy that was brought on by the greed of BP.   

Way Too Early Oscar Predictions: 2024 Edition

Fall festival season has all but officially concluded as the New York Film Festival enters its final stretch tonight with the US premiere of Steve McQueen's Apple-backed WWII biopic Blitz. This of course means it's time to embark on a silly little annual tradition in these parts: Trying to guess who and what will be nominated for Oscars at a juncture of the calendar where it's neither necessary nor wise to do so! Making this exercise even more reckless this year is the current lack of clear frontrunners in damn near every category, which is an exceptionally rare thing to see roughly a month after the big 3 fests (Venice, Telluride, Toronto) have concluded. This lack of early favorites across the board won't do anything to disrupt this piece. In fact, it only makes this whole goofy exercise more fun.       

As always given how far out we are from the start of the voting process, it needs to be noted that there are several major titles including Gladiator II, Wicked, A Complete Unknown, Nosferatu, Here and Juror #2 that have yet to publicly screen in their final form and the races have the potential to be widely impacted once they debut. Now with that note out of the way, here are my way too early Oscar predictions for every category excluding Best Original Song, Best Animated Short, Best Documentary Short and Best Live Action Short. 

*Indicates the predicted winner   

Best Picture:

Anora*

Blitz

The Brutalist

Conclave 

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Perez

Gladiator II  

Nickel Boys

A Real Pain

Sing Sing 

Best Director:

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Perez 

Sean Baker, Anora* 

Brady Corbet, The Brutalist  

Steve McQueen, Blitz

Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two 

Best Actor:

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist 

Daniel Craig, Queer 

Colman Domingo, Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes, Conclave* 

Paul Mescal, Gladiator II  

Best Actress:

Karla Sofia Gascon, Emilia Perez 

Angelina Jolie, Maria 

Nicole Kidman, Babygirl 

Mikey Madison, Anora* 

Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun 

Best Supporting Actor:

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain* 

Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing 

Guy Pearce, The Brutalist

Stanley Tucci, Conclave

Denzel Washington, Gladiator II 

Best Supporting Actress:

Danielle Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson  

Selena Gomez, Emilia Perez 

Felicity Jones, The Brutalist  

Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez* 

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Nickel Boys 

Best Original Screenplay:

Anora*

Blitz

The Brutalist

A Real Pain

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Conclave*

Emilia Perez 

Nickel Boys

The Room Next Door

Sing Sing

Best Animated Feature:

Flow

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot*

Best Documentary Feature:

Black Box Diaries 

Daughters

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Sugarcane* 

Will & Harper

Best International Feature:

Emilia Perez*

The Girl with the Needle

Grand Tour

I'm Still Here

The Seed of the Sacred Fig 

Best Cinematography:

Lol Crawley, The Brutalist*

Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two

Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys  

Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Perez 

Edward Lachman, Maria 

Best Film Editing:

Sean Baker, Anora

Nick Emerson, Conclave 

David Jancso, The Brutalist

Peter Sciberras, Blitz

Joe Walker, Dune: Part Two*

Best Costume Design:

Blitz

Dune: Part Two

Gladiator II

Maria

Wicked*

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Dune: Part Two*

Nosferatu

The Substance

Wicked

Best Production Design:

Blitz

The Brutalist

Dune: Part Two

Gladiator II*

Wicked

Best Score:

Conclave*

Dune: Part Two 

Emilia Perez 

Saturday Night

The Wild Robot

Best Sound:

Blitz

Dune: Part Two*

Emilia Perez

Gladiator II 

Twisters 

Best Visual Effects:

Dune: Part Two*

Gladiator II

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Mufasa: The Lion King 

Twisters 

2024 NFL Power Rankings: Week 6

()=Previous Ranking

1.(1) Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) Week 6 opponent: Bye 

2.(2) Detroit Lions (3-1) Week 6 opponent: Dallas Cowboys 

3.(3) Minnesota Vikings (5-0) Week 6 opponent: Bye 

4.(4) Baltimore Ravens (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Washington Commanders 

5.(8) Houston Texans (4-1) Week 6 opponent: New England Patriots 

6.(9) Washington Commanders (4-1) Week 6 opponent: Baltimore Ravens 

7.(10) Green Bay Packers (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Arizona Cardinals 

8.(5) Buffalo Bills (3-2) Week 6 opponent: New York Jets 

9.(15) Atlanta Falcons (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Carolina Panthers 

10.(7) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) Week 6 opponent; New Orleans Saints 

11.(18) Dallas Cowboys (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Detroit Lions

12.(6) Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Las Vegas Raiders 

13.(11) Seattle Seahawks (3-2) Week 6 opponent: San Francisco 49ers

14.(14) Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) Week 6 opponent: Denver Broncos

15.(12) San Francisco 49ers (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Seattle Seahawks

16.(16) Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) Week 6 opponent: Cleveland Browns  

17.(20) Chicago Bears (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars 

18.(17) Indianapolis Colts (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Tennessee Titans 

19.(13) New Orleans Saints (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

20.(22) Arizona Cardinals (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Green Bay Packers 

21.(24) Denver Broncos (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers 

22.(19) New York Jets (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Buffalo Bills 

23.(27) New York Giants (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals 

24.(21) Los Angeles Rams (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Bye 

25.(26) Cincinnati Bengals (1-4) Week 6 opponent: New York Giants 

26.(23) Las Vegas Raiders (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers

27.(28) Tennessee Titans (1-3) Week 6 opponent: Indianapolis Colts 

28.(30) Miami Dolphins (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Bye 

29.(32) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Chicago Bears 

30.(25) Cleveland Browns (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles 

31.(29) Carolina Panthers (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Atlanta Falcons  

32.(31) New England Patriots (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Houston Texans  

Week 5 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers: 2024 Edition

Quarterback

MVP: Kirk Cousins (Falcons) 

Cousins' first great performance as a Falcon coming on a short week in primetime is something that no one would've ever predicted. Outside of a late pick that probably should've but ultimately didn't cost them the game, Cousins carved through the Bucs defense with ease-throwing for 509 YDS and 4 TD's in an early contender for Game of the Year. Only rostered in about 50-60% of leagues at the moment, Cousins will be a priority waiver target where available ahead of his Week 6 date with a horrid Panthers defense.   

Honorable Mentions: Joe Burrow (Bengals), Lamar Jackson (Ravens), Kyler Murray (Cardinals)

LVP: Sam Darnold (Vikings)

Anybody that bought in on Darnold extracting his long-awaited revenge on the Jets organization was left mighty disappointed on Sunday morning. Darnold put together his 1st stinker as a Viking, throwing for 179 scoreless YDS and an INT while also losing a fumble against the Jets elite defense. He'll face the Lions when the Vikings return to action in Week 7.  

Dishonorable Mentions: Josh Allen (Bills), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Brock Purdy (49ers)

Running Back

MVP: D'Andre Swift (Bears)

What a difference 2 weeks makes! Swift put together another strong performance as the clear leader of the Bears backfield versus the Panthers, handling 21 carries for 73 YDS and a score while adding a pair of catches for 47 YDS. He should remain in starting lineups for the Bears Week 6 trek over to London to face the hometown Jaguars. 

Honorable Mentions: Rico Dowdle (Cowboys), Kareem Hunt (Chiefs), Rhamondre Stevenson (Patriots)

LVP: Breece Hall (Jets)

So much for Hall turning things around in Week 5.... Hall was once again completely stifled by a good defense, registering just 37 scrimmage YDS on 12 touches (9 carries, 3 receptions) versus the Vikings. As bad as his yardage totals have been, his touch counts are even more concerning as the Jets aren't really committing to the run and have basically put Hall into a timeshare with rookie Braelon Allen-who's arguably looked better than him over the past few weeks. Hall will be a risky start in Week 6 against the Bills.   

Dishonorable Mentions: Jerome Ford (Browns), Zack Moss (Bengals), Bucky Irving (Buccaneers)

Wide Receiver

MVP: Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals)

A season-best performance from Joe Burrow led to a season-best performance from Chase on Sunday. The Bengals star wideout was getting open and running after the catch at will against the Ravens suddenly porous secondary, turning 10 catches into 193 YDS and 2 TD's. Chase has officially returned to form after a very slow start and should be locked in as the elite WR1 option he was drafted to be moving forward. 

Honorable Mentions: Drake London (Falcons), Tee Higgins (Bengals), D.J. Moore (Bears)

LVP: Chris Olave (Saints)

Despite being in a pass-driven game script for most of the game last night, Olave was really quiet against the Chiefs-catching 2-of-4 targets for just 10 YDS. The Saints most versatile receiving threat has been off to a very erratic start to 2024 and with the team losing 3 straight games after a 2-0 start, Klint Kubiak should really start drawing up more plays for him. Olave will be a WR2 for the Saints Week 6 matchup with the Bucs.     

Dishonorable Mentions: George Pickens (Steelers), Diontae Johnson (Panthers), Deebo Samuel (49ers)

Tight End

MVP: Tucker Kraft (Packers)

Don't look now but the Packers might have another quietly lethal receiving option on their roster. Kraft followed up his breakout Week 4 performance with an even brighter gem (4 REC/88 YDS/2 TD's) in Week 5 versus the Rams. While his usage rate could suffer once Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs return to action, he's a no brainer starting option in the interim.  

Honorable Mentions: Brock Bowers (Raiders), George Kittle (49ers), Isaiah Likely (Ravens)

LVP: Dalton Kincaid (Bills)

Khalil Shakir's absence presented Kincaid with an excellent opportunity to step up and be the featured option in the Bills passing attack. He didn't take advantage of it. To be fair, Josh Allen only completed 9 passes on a day where he was pressured relentlessly by the Texans ferocious pass rush, but that still doesn't let Kincaid off the hook for not really showing up (he had 2 catches for 34 YDS) when his team needed him most. The second-year tight end has been one of the biggest disappointments of 2024 thus far and it's hard to envision him putting together a breakout performance against the Jets stubborn pass defense this week.       

Dishonorable Mentions: Hunter Henry (Patriots), Zach Ertz (Commanders), Mike Gesicki (Bengals)

Defense/Special Teams

MVP: Vikings

Brian Flores had Aaron Rodgers wishing he had just moved to Peru to do peyote full time. The Vikings sacked the Jets aging burnout QB 3 times and forced him to throw a whopping 3 INT's including a pick 6 by edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel in a 23-17 victory that brought the Skol gang to 5-0 on the year. Minnesota's D/ST has been elite to start the year, and they'll look to pick up where they left off against the Lions top-flight offense in Week 7.    

Honorable Mentions: Broncos, Bears, 49ers

LVP: Ravens

While they did just enough to put their offense in a position to mount a late comeback and eventually pull out a somewhat lucky OT victory over the Bengals, this was a terrible showing by a Ravens defense that looked like they were trending in the right direction after a strong performance versus the Bills in Week 4. They allowed a Bengals offense that had been stuck in neutral for weeks now to hang 36 points on them and only countered that with 3 sacks and a pick, which wasn't even enough to get back them back to 0 fantasy points. A scorching hot Commanders offense is not an ideal bounceback spot for Zach Orr's group this week.   

Dishonorable Mentions: Texans, Bills, Dolphins 

Movie Review: It's What's Inside

Psychological black comedy thriller It's What's Inside is something that has been on my radar since it debuted at Sundance back in January. The debut feature from writer/director/editor Greg Jardin is a super low budget, twist-happy ensemble piece about a pre-wedding reunion between college friends (Brittany O'Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carrey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell) that goes awry when an unexpected guest (David W. Thompson) from their past arrives with a suitcase containing a party game that threatens to drastically alter their lives moving forward was among the small number of titles that brought down the house in Park City this year. All of those rowdy screenings eventually lead to It's What's Inside getting its worldwide distribution rights picked up by Netflix for $17 million-which ended up being the biggest acquisition deal of this year's festival. While I don't lament the producers for taking the money Netflix threw at them, the at-home viewing experience of It's What's Inside left something to be desired that could very well have been remedied by being released in the same theatrical venues where the streaming giant's team first saw the film. 

As I alluded to above, It's What's Inside is a movie that makes heavy use of mind games, misdirection and plot twists to tell its story. There's really no shortage of moments-particularly in the back half of the movie-that would generate gasps, cheers, applause or really any emotion of excitement, surprise or jubilation from a crowd. Without the energy of a crowd however, the entire affair has really nothing going for it outside of Jardin's confident, stylish direction and trippy visuals/editing/camerawork that vibrantly illustrates the disorienting sensory experience its characters are going through. The big bag of sleight-of-hand tricks that serves as the driver for the plot becomes more grating as the twists start to pile up, the satirical elements aren't at all funny or clever and while it was probably a deliberate creative choice, the characters are obnoxious, thinly written jabronis who are largely indistinguishable from one another and really not much fun to be around at all. Is it entirely possible that I still would've been left cold by It's What's Inside if I had seen in a theater? Absolutely, but this is a project that was designed to get pops from a large, engaged crowd and seeing it outside of that environment just quite simply removed most of whatever fun exists within this flashy wannabe mindfuck of a genre movie.                 

                  

Grade: C