2024-25 NBA Midseason Awards

Top Player: Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)

Since Jokic has now won 3 out of the last 4 MVP's, we're once again in the position we were 2 years ago where a lot of people are lobbying for somebody else to win (the popular pick this time around is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) just for the sake of mixing things up. This isn't to say that Gilgeous-Alexander would be underserving MVP, he's averaging 30+ points per game on over 50% shooting from the field for a 3rd straight season and remains the undisputed leader of a Thunder team that has taken another huge step forward in 2024-25. In fact, he would be the clear MVP if Jokic wasn't in the midst of yet another career-best season. The Nuggets star is on pace to average a triple double (current averages are 29.8 points/12.6 rebounds/10.2 assists per game) for the first time in his career, currently boasts a 3PT% of 45.0 while shooting just over 1.5 attempts (4.5) more per game than he did a year ago (2.9, which is ironically also his career average) and has even upped steal total to nearly 2 per game (1.8). That's absolute freak shit right there and he completely deserves to continue to be awarded for it until either the day that somebody exceeds his stat sheet-stuffing magic, or the Nuggets are no longer an annual contender comes along.     

Honorable Mentions: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), Jalen Brunson (Knicks)

Top Defensive Player: Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)

Speaking of freak shit, it only took Wembanyama 1.5 seasons to become the most prolific shot blocker in the NBA right now. The chaos that his combination of athleticism and size is causing at the rim is unlike anything I've ever in the league before and it wouldn't shock me at all if he can get his blocks per game total up to 4+ over the final couple months of the season.

Honorable Mentions: Evan Mobley (Cavaliers), Lugentz Dort (Thunder), Ivica Zubac (Clippers)  

Top Most Improved: Norman Powell (Clippers)

Look, I understand why Cade Cunningham is the favorite for the real Most Improved Player Award right now. He's currently averaging career highs in nearly every stat category, just made his 1st All-Star team and most importantly, finally has the Pistons trending upwards after a prolonged stretch in the league's basement. I just think it's asinine to give the Most Improved Player award to a guy who got picked 1st overall not too long ago and was widely expected to be a franchise-altering player by the time he reached his 4th or 5th year in the league (he's in year #4 right now). Powell, on the other hand, is a journeyman vet who has taken advantage of the increasing playing time he's been afforded this season following the departure of Paul George in free agency to become the glue that's held this Clippers team together as they've navigated a rash of injuries and the continued growing pains of trying to find an identity while franchise cornerstone Kawhi Leonard bounces in and (mostly) out of the lineup.     

Honorable Mentions: Jalen Williams (Thunder), Amen Thompson (Rockets), Trey Murphy III (Pelicans)  

Top Rookie: Stephon Castle (Spurs)

Castle has wasted no time establishing himself as the perfect San Antonio Spur. It doesn't matter if he's starting or coming off the bench or what role the team needs him to play on any given night, he'll be completely locked in for every single second he's on the court. In a rookie class that's lacking star power in the traditional sense, that unselfishness and ability to impact the game in a variety of ways has made him stand out from the rest of his peers.  

Honorable Mentions: Ke'lel Ware (Heat), Jaylen Wells (Grizzlies), Zaccharie Risacher (Hawks)

Top Sixth Man: Payton Pritchard (Celtics)

Pritchard has been a stabilizing force as the Celtics have fallen into several extended stretches of erratic play coming off their dominant title run a year ago. He's hustling for boards, has active hands on defense and is consistently drilling clutch shots-particularly from 3-when they need a bucket most. These are the types of things you want a Sixth Man to do for your team and as a Celtics fan, it's been awesome to see Pritchard get the opportunity to fill and excel in this role after being kept out of the rotation for much of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Honorable Mentions: De'Andre Hunter (Hawks/Cavaliers), Naz Reid (Timberwolves), Malik Beasley (Pistons)  

Top Coach: Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers)

Prior to acquiring De'Andre Hunter from the Hawks at the trade deadline earlier this month, the Cavaliers effectively ran it back with the roster of the 2023-24 team that went 48-34 in the regular season and 5-7 in the playoffs after the Celtics steamrolled them in 5 games during the Conference Semifinals. Nobody who didn't know that information already would've never guessed that was the case watching them this year since they look like a completely different team and that's all thanks to their new head coach Kenny Atkinson. They're playing way faster on offense and harder on defense. Evan Mobley's Swiss Army Knife offensive skill set has been fully unleashed as he's now making more regular runs at the rim and taking more outside shots. Darius Garland has returned to peak form after back-to-back disappointing seasons following his breakout season in 2021-22. These are just a few of the reasons of why they've built up a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference through 54 games (44-10!!!) and it's going to take a huge collapse for them to not have home court advantage for the playoffs, which would be huge for the pursuit of their 2nd title in franchise history.      

Honorable Mentions: Ime Udoka (Rockets), Taylor Jenkins (Grizzlies), J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons) 

Neon 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 indie distributor Neon-whose latest project "The Monkey" releases in theaters on Thursday. 

Neon's Filmography Ranked:

46.Fire of Love (C)

45.Ammonite (C)

44.Colossal (C)

43.Origin (C)

42.Borg vs. McEnroe (C)

41.Cuckoo (C+)

40.Gemini (C+)

39.Assassination Nation (B-)

38.Wild Rose (B-)

37.It Lives Inside (B-)

36.Ferrari (B-)

35.The Royal Hotel (B-)

34.Crimes of the Future (B-)

33.Presence (B-)

32.Triangle of Sadness (B-)

31.Beach Rats (B-)

30.Possessor (B-)

29.Pig (B-)

28.Immaculate (B-)

27.Self Reliance (B)

26.Flee (B)

25.Little Monsters (B)

24.Perfect Days (B)

23.How to Blow Up a Pipeline (B)

22.Bodied (B)

21.Eileen (B)

20.Revenge (B)

19.Longlegs (B)

18.The Worst Person in the World (B)

17.Little Woods (B)

16.Titane (B)

15.Luce (B)

14.Anatomy of a Fall (B)

13.Infinity Pool (B)

12.Big Time Adolescence (B+) 

11.Spencer (B+)

10.Three Identical Strangers (B+)

9.Sanctuary (B+)

8.Babes (B+)

7.Palm Springs (B+)

6.Pleasure (B+)

5.Parasite (A-)

4.The Beach Bum (A-)

3.I, Tonya (A)

2.Ingrid Goes West (A)

1.Anora (A)

Top Dog: Anora (2024)

This year's current Best Picture favorite tells a deeply human story about a Brooklyn stripper's (Mikey Madison) whirlwind fairy tale turned nightmare romance with the son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). In shakier hands, this could've been a thoroughly disjointed affair, but the assured ease in which writer/director Sean Baker and his cast spearheaded by the fearless, unstoppable force that is Madison navigate the abrupt drastic tonal shifts that this story takes allows it to be heart-achingly real every step of the way.  

Bottom Feeder: Fire of Love (2022)

There's a lot of potential for a fascinating documentary to be made about married French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft -who died in 1991 while documenting the eruption of Mount Unzen in Japan, Fire of Love just isn't it. Despite the inclusion of some impressive archival footage the Kraffts shot during their decades of studying volcanoes around the world, director Sarah Dosa tells their story in such a dry, plodding manner that it suppresses the power of the very clear love they had for each other and the work that ultimately cost them their lives.   

Most Underrated: Ingrid Goes West (2017)

Fun fact: Ingrid Goes West was the first film Neon ever acquired when they beat out the likes of A24 and Netflix in an auction for its distribution rights in the hours following its Sundance premiere 8 years ago. If you ask me at least, this was the first sign that Neon was going to become a rapidly ascending force in the independent film space. Matt Spicer's satire of the superficiality of influencer culture and how the illusion of perfection they put into the world helps breed toxicity among their followers is a deeply hilarious, clever film full of outstanding performances that has only gotten better with age as social media celebrities have continued to become more prevalent in the zeitgeist over the past 7 years.      

Most Overrated: Triangle of Sadness (2022)

How such a mild, obvious "eat the rich" satire ended up beguiling enough powerful movie industry figures worldwide to take him the Palm d'Or and earn a Best Picture nomination is completely baffling to me. There have been quite a few movies (The Menu, Saltburn, Infinity Pool, Glass Onion, Bodies Bodies Bodies, The Hunt) released this decade alone that are full of funnier, sharper barbs than what Rueben Ostlund constructed here and many of them were able to hit their targets more consistently in a fraction of the time that it took Ostlund (147 minutes) to connect on 50-60% of his dart throws.       

Movie Review: Love Hurts

The thorough torching Love Hurts has received critically since its review embargo lifted a week ago today is something that I'm failing to understand. Disliking it? Sure. It has a cartoonish, chaotic and vaguely romantic vibe that is reminiscent of the type of projects Jackie Chan was making when he first made the leap to English-language cinema (Rumble in the Bronx, Mr. Nice Guy) before Rush Hour took his career to the next level that's going to be too corny for some viewers. But straight abomination status? Color me baffled! 

Outside of Ariana DeBose being painfully miscast as a snarky, badass lawyer for a criminal enterprise turned strip club bartender who sets this "regular guy forced to return to his criminal past" plot into motion and the 83-minute runtime being a smidge too short for a movie with such a crowded revenge narrative, I thought Love Hurts worked. Ke Huy Quan is a charming delight as the aforementioned regular guy with a violent past who's forced to dust off his killing boots when that past-which happens to be his mobster brother (Daniel Wu)- catches up with him. Director Jonathan Eusebio's extensive experience as a stunt performer/coordinator is on full display in the film's playful, exquisitely choreographed fights. There's a host of quirky, scene-stealing supporting characters (Lio Tipton as Quan's miserable co-worker at a real estate agency, Mustafa Shakir as a poetry-writing hitman, Marshawn Lynch and Andre Eriksen as bumbling mob enforcers who are trying to help each other through personal issues in between their failed attempts to subdue Quan) that nicely fit into the film's goofy universe. The slick cinematography and bone-crunching sound design are both very impressive for a relatively low budget ($18 mil) movie. At the end of the day, I had fun watching Love Hurts and I'm pretty sure that was the only intention that the creatives responsible for it had while they were making it.                  
 

Grade: B

Anthony Mackie 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 Anthony Mackie-whose latest project "Captain America: Brave New World" releases in theaters tomorrow. 

Anthony Mackie's Filmography Ranked:

38.What's Your Number? (D-)

37.Freedomland (D+)

36.The Man (D+)

35.Avengers: Age of Ultron (D+)

34.Miss Bala (D+)

33.Playing It Cool (C)

32.Hollywood Homicide (C)

31.Night Catches Us (C+)

30.Captain America: The Winter Soldier (C+)

29.Outside the Wire (B-)

28.We Have a Ghost (B-)

27.Our Brand is Crisis (B-)

26.Runner Runner (B-)

25.Half Nelson (B-)

24.Point Blank (B)

23.Eagle Eye (B)

22.The Woman in the Window (B)

21.If You Were the Last (B)

20.Ant-Man (B)

19.Seberg (B)

18.Notorious (B)

17.Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (B)

16.Triple 9 (B)

15.Captain America: Civil War (B)

14.Detroit (B)

13.The Adjustment Bureau (B)

12.Real Steel (B)

11.Man on a Ledge (B)

10.We Are Marshall (B)

9.The Hate U Give (B)

8.Synchronic (B+)

7.The Night Before (B+)

6.Gangster Squad (B+)

5.Million Dollar Baby (B+)

4.Avengers: Endgame (A-)

3.The Hurt Locker (A)

2.Avengers: Infinity War (A)

1.Pain & Gain (A)

Top Dog: Pain & Gain (2013)

Calling Pain & Gain Michael Bay's masterpiece would be insulting as the man has crafted many a masterpiece over the course of his 30+ year career. That being said, Pain & Gain is definitely the best thing he's made that exists outside of his maximalist action sweet spot. This wild fact-based story about a group of Miami bodybuilders (Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie) known as the "Sun Gym Gang" whose plan to kidnap, extort and kill a wealthy man (Tony Shalhoub) that frequents their gym goes horribly awry is an exceptional satire about the unattainability of the American Dream and the awful things people will do to try and achieve it. Wahlberg, Johnson and Mackie all turn in some of the finest performances of their careers as a group of bumbling morons desperate to break free from the shackles of being broke with no prospects for a brighter future, the script from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely is bleakly hilarious at every turn and Bay uses his chaotic, hyperstylized direction as a way to hammer home just how warped and hollow the definition of success can be when it's achieved by greedy, selfish pricks. In light of the current state of the world, I have a feeling this movie will continue to age quite well.             

Bottom Feeder: What's Your Number? (2011)

Part of the reason that Anna Faris deserves to make a big Hollywood comeback is due to how much the industry failed her during the peak of her fame. While every comic actor is going to lead a dud movie at some point, there isn't too many that are handed something as bad as What's Your Number? There are dads all over the world cranking out a lower rate of groanworthy jokes than what appears in this major studio movie from the early 2010's and the amount of funny people/solid actors (Faris is joined here by Chris Evans, Blythe Danner, Ed Begley Jr., Ari Graynor, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Andy Samberg, Chris Pratt, Mackie, Zachary Quinto, Martin Freeman, Aziz Ansari, Joel McHale and several others in bit parts) that got dragged down by this hacky material is genuinely astounding.     

Most Underrated: Gangster Squad (2013)

Watching this again a few years back was such an awesome surprise. Gangster Squad is just a super fun slice of cartoonishly over-the-top gangster movie cheese with cool action, solid performances from a stacked ensemble (Josh Brolin, Sean Penn and Giovani Ribisi are the standouts) and style to burn that ranks among the finest entries in the underrated filmography of director Ruben Fleischer.  

Most Overrated: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

A lot of people are excited about the prospect of Captain America: Brave New World potentially taking a page out of The Winter Solider's playbook by taking the franchise back to the spy/political thriller realm. I'm not among them. The Winter Solider has long been my pick for the most overrated MCU movie for a variety of reasons. The plot is convoluted to the point where it's often completely incoherent, it was responsible for establishing the bland gray color palette that Marvel has largely refused to stray from ever since and the pacing is pretty sluggish for the majority of the runtime. Even the really well-choreographed fight scenes that are largely responsible for making the movie watchable don't hit quite as hard as they should thanks to the choppy fashion in which they were edited. Give me something like Eternals, Captain Marvel or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness over this blah movie any day of the week.            

Movie Review: Heart Eyes

When it comes to the wild world of genre mashups, romcom and slasher isn't exactly the most obvious or natural pairing. What could possibly be romantic or funny about a masked serial killer being on the loose? Well, Heart Eyes has arrived to prove that these genres are capable of complementing each other quite well.

The way that Heart Eyes goes about melding these two genres together is pretty straightforward as it places a bloodthirsty maniac in the middle of a classic romcom setup. Following a cold open that depicts the first victims of the latest killing spree from the titular "Heart Eyes Killer"-a masked individual who travels around the United States and murders couples on Valentine's Day, we're introduced to Ally (Olivia Holt) and Jay (Mason Gooding) as they have an awkward meet cute at a Seattle coffee shop. This embarrassing encounter becomes even more mortifying when Ally-who works in advertising-learns that Jay is the freelance marketing guru that her boss (Michaela Watkins) has brought in to help fix her classic literary tragedy-themed jewelry campaign that was widely criticized on social media. Yet another uncomfortable series of events occurs during and immediately following a business dinner between the pair later that evening that leads to them entering the crosshairs of HEK-who mistakes them for a couple and will stop at nothing to kill them before February 15th rolls around and they put away their murder instruments for the year.

What becomes clear from the opening moments of Heart Eyes is that this is a film that's really going to embrace being corny and tongue-in-cheek. Director Josh Ruben (Werewolves Within, Scare Me) assembles the film in a way that regardless of what is happening on the screen, it feels like everybody on screen is constantly winking at the audience to let them know that they know God damn well that they're in on the joke. As shameless and exhausting as its ever-present meta self-awareness can be at times, cheesiness is the only common thread that exists between these two genres and the commitment to the bit is really admirable. Holt and Gooding do a good job of playing out the classic romcom trope of polar opposites who soon realize they're perfect for each other as they frantically run around for an hour or so trying to evade Heart Eyes, the slasher sequences are overflowing with cartoonish energy/gore, and the closing minutes go from repulsive to ridiculous to sweet and back again at warp speed. It's absolutely saccharine bullshit, but its saccharine bullshit coming from a place of pure love and that's something that's always worth celebrating in the cinematic artform.                

Grade: B

2025 NFL Mock Draft (Pre-Combine)

1.Tennessee Titans: Abdul Carter, edge rusher (Penn State)

2.Cleveland Browns: Travis Hunter, wide receiver/cornerback (Colorado)

3.New York Giants: Cam Ward, quarterback (Miami)

4.New England Patriots: Will Campbell, tackle/guard (LSU)

5.Jacksonville Jaguars: Mason Graham, defensive tackle (Michigan)

6.Las Vegas Raiders: Sheduer Sanders, quarterback (Colorado)

7.New York Jets: Tyler Warren, tight end (Penn State)

8.Carolina Panthers: Mike Green, edge rusher (Marshall)

9.New Orleans Saints: Will Johnson, cornerback (Michigan)

10.Chicago Bears: James Pearce Jr., edge rusher (Tennessee) 

11.San Francisco 49ers: Kelvin Banks Jr., tackle (Texas)

12.Dallas Cowboys: Ashton Jeanty, running back (Boise State)

13.Miami Dolphins: Malaki Starks, safety (Georgia)

14.Indianapolis Colts: Tetairoa McMillian, wide receiver (Arizona)

15.Atlanta Falcons: Walter Nolen, defensive tackle (Ole Miss)

16.Arizona Cardinals: Shemar Stewart, edge rusher (Texas A&M)

17.Cincinnati Bengals: Jahdae Barron, cornerback (Texas)

18.Seattle Seahawks: Mykel Williams, edge rusher (Georgia)

19.Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Shavon Revel, cornerback (East Carolina)

20.Denver Broncos: Colston Loveland, tight end (Michigan)

21.Pittsburgh Steelers: Luther Burden III, wide receiver (Missouri)

22.Los Angeles Chargers: Nic Scourton, edge rusher (Texas A&M)

23.Green Bay Packers: Armand Membou, tackle (Missouri)

24.Minnesota Vikings: Tyler Booker, guard (Alabama)

25.Houston Texans: Josh Simmons, tackle (Ohio State)

26.Los Angeles Rams: Emeka Egbuka, wide receiver (Ohio State)

27.Baltimore Ravens: Grey Zabel, guard/tackle (North Dakota State) 

28.Detroit Lions: Jack Sawyer, edge rusher (Ohio State)

29.Washington Commanders: Matthew Golden, wide receiver (Texas)

30.Buffalo Bills: Kenneth Grant, tackle (Michigan) 

31.Kansas City Chiefs: Josh Conerly Jr., tackle (Oregon)

32.Philadelphia Eagles: Jalon Walker, inside linebacker/edge rusher (Georgia)

Super Bowl 59 Prediction

Conference Championship Record: 2-0

Overall Playoff Record: 8-4

Kansas City Chiefs over Philadelphia Eagles:

For the 2nd time in 3 years, the Chiefs and Eagles are playing in the Super Bowl. As much as things have changed with both these teams over the past 2 years (including the public enthusiasm in seeing them square off in the Super Bowl), the results have a good chance of ending up being the same as they were last time.

On paper, I actually like the Eagles in this matchup quite a bit. The Chiefs run D has started to unravel in the playoffs (they've allowed 148 YDS over their 2 playoff games, up considerably from the 101.8 they allowed during the regular season) after a strong regular season-which bodes well for Saquon Barkley's chances of putting together a great game, the Eagles passing attack is pointing up after Jalen Hurts settled into a nice groove (20/28, 246 YDS, TD) against the Commanders following a quiet start to the playoffs and Vic Fangio's defense is completely capable of stifling the Chiefs unsexy offense at every level if they are able to maintain the elite form they've shown for most of this season in the biggest game of the year. So why am I picking against the Eagles despite sincerely believing that they are the better team? Simple: I don't have the fucking stomach to pick against the Chiefs.

While they're still a little bit away from matching the prolonged dominance of the Patriots dynasty of the 2000's/2010's, the Chiefs have already become the successor to those Brady/Belichick teams by becoming basically impossible to pick against in the playoffs. It's not that they can't lose, they got run over by the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl 4 years ago and got popped by the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game 3 years ago. It just seems unwise to pick against a team that has proven to be so good at winning, especially in an era where both their coach and quarterback have zero peers on their level. The last two times that I went against them (last year's AFC Championship Game versus the Ravens, the Super Bowl against these very Eagles 2 years ago) ended poorly and despite all my reservations about their multiple vulnerabilities on both sides of the ball and the fact that no team in league history has won 3 straight Super Bowls, I'd rather back the team with the track record of delivering on this stage then naively doubt their ability to do so once again. It's unquestionably a gutless move on my part, but nothing in the world could stop me from making it and I don't give two shits if I end up being wrong.