Monday, September 30, 2013

Movie Review: Rush

The end of the year is inching closer and in the world of cinema that means awards season is right around the corner. Rush, a biopic about 1970's Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda from director Ron Howard ushers in the start of prestige-picture season with one of the most triumphant films of 2013 so far.

What I admired so much about Rush is its ability to take a topic (Formula One racing) and make it accessible to both fans and non-fans alike. Personally, I have zero interest in Formula One racing and I became completely absorbed in the culture thanks to the strength of Howard's direction and the script from Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland.) Howard and Morgan paint a vivid picture of how cutthroat and difficult the circuit was at the time by examining every possible angle of the sport from the driver's relationship with the owners to the politics of determining whether or not to carry on with a race due to inclement weather. In a less-competent film, the scenes diving into the race culture would be just dead space to break up the race scenes, but here each scene showcasing the everyday grind of Formula One is just as exciting as the scenes on-the-track. Matching the intensity of the behind-the-scenes stuff, is the actual racing sequences. Each race sequence is brilliantly-shot and puts the audience in the middle of the action. You can feel every move that the driver's make on-the-track with crushing realism. Saying these scenes are exhilarating to watch would be a gross understatement, I can't recall the last time I was this captivated and blown away from the sheer convincing fury of something put on film.

The heart of Rush though lies in the rivalry between its two protagonists James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). Hunt and Lauda could not be any more different: Hunt is a hard-partying playboy who lives every day as his last while Lauda who lives by the book and is focused on nothing but racing, which wins him few friends and a whole lot of enemies. The one thing these two men share is the burning to desire to win and to never settle for anything less than being on-top of the sport. The friction and mutual respect they have for each other is an absolute pleasure to watch. Both Hemsworth and Bruhl get to the core of these real-life figures and deliver absolutely striking performances. Hemsworth gives Hunt so much charisma and brashness that you can completely understand why people either wanted to be around him constantly or wanted to punch him square in the face. His character is very arrogant, but there are certain scenes that require him to turn off the charm and handle serious business and Hemsworth proves up to the task by delivering pretty big emotional payoffs in these key scenes. Hemsworth, who is pretty much only known for his work as Thor in various Marvel films, shows with his performance here that his career will be alive and well once he hangs up the cape and hammer. The relatively unknown Bruhl shines just as bright, if not brighter than Hemsworth as Lauda. Bruhl captures the loner mentality of Lauda and paints a vivid picture of a man whose only goal in life was to be the best driver Formula One has ever seen. While Bruhl is great throughout, the scenes immediately after the crash at the German Grand Prix that left him severely burned and restricted to a hospital bed, are the most powerful in the whole film. Bruhl doesn't say much in these scenes because of his character's condition but his actions and (mostly) silent desire to get back on the track are awe-inspiring in their authenticity. Rush is a consistently engaging and exceptionally-made film bolstered by two outstanding performances that will hopefully gain some recognition come awards season.

4/5 Stars   

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Movie Review: Don Jon

What do Ben Stiller, Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Clint Eastwood have in common? They're all currently-active actors who are also successful directors.With Don Jon, you can add Joesph Gordon-Levitt to that storied list.

Don Jon is definitely a bold concept for Gordon-Levitt to tackle on his first film. The title character (Gordon-Levitt) is a New Jersey bartender with a love of going to church, his friends, his family, clubbing, sleeping with girls from the club and to top things off, porn. Jon is quite content with his routine until he decides to give monogamy a try after meeting the stunning Barbara (Scarlett Johansson)  during one of his visits to the club. Everything is going fine until Barbara finds out about Jon's unholy addiction to porn. When Barbara starts to question the relationship over Jon's porn habits, Jon begins to evaluate himself and tries to kick his addiction with the help of an older woman (Julianne Moore) he meets at his community college night class.

Don Jon does a pretty good of handling delicate central material. A movie centered around porn could've been incredibly immature and crass, but Gordon-Levitt (who also wrote the screenplay) treats the topic with a sense of maturity and intelligence. Clearly with porn being such a key element in the plot there is going to be a lot of frank sex talk, but it never delves into the many frat-house level jokes that could've easily been inserted given the subject matter. Jon is an asshole who loves sex and porn, but he's a smart and relatively likeable guy as well thanks to the writing and acting from Gordon-Levitt. Gordon-Levitt also built around his personal strengths as an actor and filmmaker with a very talented cast that all work well together. Johansson makes a solid love interest with her good looks and the way her character challenges Jon to change his ways for better or worse while Moore is the deepest character here and matches her character's complexity with a nuanced and genuine performance. The film's most surprising casting choice, Tony Danza, is also responsible for what is the strongest performance in the film. This marks Danza's first major appearance in film or television in almost 10 years and Danza looks happy to be back with his energetic and amusing performance here. The casting of Danza in this role is a stroke of borderline genius on the filmmakers part.

For all that Don Jon gets right with its charm, smarts and laughs, the film also has its missteps. While Gordon-Levitt crafts a solid and original script here, there are some glaring problems with it that can't be overlooked. The film's third act comes off as really awkward with a jarring tonal shift that doesn't align with the rest of the movie. I get that it was trying to be insightful and show a change in Jon's character, but unlike a majority of the film which was authentic and smart, this portion felt forced and almost entirely unbelievable. When the credits rolled, I was left in a state of confusion over the ending to the film. For a film that felt so real for the first hour, it ending on such a sour, fabricated and abrupt note that it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth that took away a decent amount from the overall quality of the movie. I expected it to be funnier and more consistently heartfelt, but Don Jon is still a sweet and realistic film with a good cast that shows that Joseph Gordon-Levitt can more than hold his own as a writer and director.

3.5/5 Stars

Friday, September 27, 2013

2012 in Music Revisited

It's that time of the year to go back and reflect on the previous year's music.  2012 didn't see me listening to as much new material after the year ended or as much of shift in rankings from my year-end list. Here is my updated full list of LP and EP's from last year from worst to best with their rankings from my year-end list if applicable.
EP's
8. (7) Chelsea Grin-Evolve (1.5/5)
7. (6)TesseracT-Persepective (2.5/5)
6. (new) Kitty-Haha, I'm Sorry (2.5/5)
5. (5)Hodgy Beats-Untitled EP (3.5/5)
4. (4)T.R.A.M-Lingua Franca (3.5/5)
3. (3)Brother Ali-The Bite-Marked Heart (3.5/5)
2. (2)Down-Down IV Part I: The Purple EP (3.5/5)
1. (1)Revocation-Tertrogenesis (4/5)

LP's
91. (80) Baroness-Yellow & Green (1.5/5)
90. (78) Curren$y-The Stoned Immaculate (2/5)
89. (79) The Mars Volta-Noctourniquet (2/5)
88. (77) Soundgarden-King Animal
87. (68) Joey Bada$$-1999 (2/5)
86. (76) Trash Talk-119 (2.5/5)
85. (75) Van Halen-A Different Kind of Truth (2.5/5)
84. (74) Chiddy Bang-Breakfast (2.5/5)
83.(new) 2 Chainz-Based on a T.R.U. Story (2.5/5)
82. (73) All That Remains-A War You Cannot Win
81. (72) The Safety Fire-Grind the Ocean (2.5/5)
80. (71) ScHoolboy Q-Habits and Contradictions (2.5/5)
79. (70) Devin Townsend Prjoect-Epicloud (2.5/5)
78. (69) Sleigh Bells-Reign of Terror (2.5/5)
77. (67) Lacuna Coil-Dark Adrenaline (3/5)
76. (66) Miss May I-At Heart (3/5)
75. (64)Nile-At the Gate of Sethu (3/5)
74. (62)Napalm Death-Utilitarian (3/5)
73. (61) OFWGKTA-OF Tape Vol.2 (3/5)
72. (60)Psycroptic-The Inherited Repression (3.5/5)
71. (new) Tame Impala-Lonersim (3/5)
70. (55)Pig Destroyer-Book Burner (3/5)
69. (54)Monuments-Gnosis (3/5)
68. (58) Texas in July-Texas in July (3.5/5)
67. (new) Snow Tha Product-Good Nights and Bad Mornings (3.5/5)
66. (new) Riff Raff and Dame Grease-Hologram Panda (3.5/5)
65. (59) Big K.R.I.T.-Live From the Underground (3.5/5)
64. (57) Jack White-Blunderbuss (3.5/5)
63. (52) Aborted-Global Flatline (3.5/5)
62. (47) War of Ages-Return to Life (3.5/5)
61. (49) Municipal Waste-The Fatal Feast... Waste in Space (3.5/5)
60. (48) Cannibal Corpse-Torture (3.5/5)
59. (53) Eluveitie-Helvetios (3.5/5)
58. (63) Meshuggah-Koloss (3.5/5)
57. (new) Affiance-The Campaign (3.5/5)
56. (51) Cancer Bats-Dead Set On Living (3.5/5)
55. (45) JJ Doom-Key to the Kuffs (3.5/5)
54. (46) The Acacia Strain- Death is the Only Mortal (3.5/5)
53. (new) While She Sleeps-This is the Six (3.5/5)
52. (65) Thy Art is Murder-Hate (3.5/5)
51. (44) The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza- Danza IIII: The Alpha- The Omega (3.5/5)
50. (42) Shadows Fall-Fire From the Sky (3.5/5)
49. (41) Spawn of Possession-Incurso (3.5/5)
48. (50) Glass Cloud-The Royal Thousand (3.5/5)
47. (56) The Ghost Inside-Get What You Give (3.5/5)
46. (new) Royal Thunder-CVI (3.5/5)
45. (new) Action Bronson & The Alchemist-Rare Chandeliers (3.5/5)
44. (40) Aesop Rock-Skelethon (3.5/5)
43. (37) Cattle Decapitation-Monolith of Inhumanity (3.5/5)
42. (39) Macklemore & Ryan Lewis-The Heist (3.5/5)
41. (43) Frank Ocean-Channel Orange (3.5/5)
40. (new) Title Fight-Floral Green (3.5/5)
39. (38) Big K.R.I.T.-4eva N A Day (3.5/5)
38. (36) Code Orange Kids-Love Is Love// Return to Dust (4/5)
37. (new) Aeon-Aeons Black (4/5)
36. (33) Gaza No Absolutes In Human Suffering
35. (new) Reflections-The Fantasy Effect (4/5)
34. (32) Testament-Dark Roots of Earth (4/5)
33. (34) Parkway Drive-Atlas (4/5)
32. (29) Gojira- L'enfant Sauvage (4/5)
31. (31)Goatwhore-Blood for the Master (4/5)
30 (30) Hour of Penance-Sedition (4/5)
29. (35) El-P- Cancer 4 Cure (4/5)
28. (23) The Sword-Aprocryhon (4/5)
27. (28) Job for a Cowboy-Demonocracy (4/5)
26. (27)Black Breath-Sentenced to Life (4/5)
25. (24)Overkill-The Electric Age (4/5)
24. (26) 3 Inches of Blood-Long Live Heavy Metal (4/5)
23.(21) The Contortionist-Intrinsic
22.(25) Whitechapel-Whitechapel
21. (22) Death Grips-No Love Deep Web (4/5)
20 (20).Brother Ali-Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color (4/5)
19. (17) Veil of Maya-Eclipse (4/5)
18. (18)The HAARP Machine-Disclosure (4/5)
17. (19) Deftones-Koi No Yokan (4/5)
16 (16).Killer Mike- R.A.P. Music (4/5)
15 (15).Nas-Life Is Good (4/5)
14 (14).God Forbid-Equilibrium (4/5)
13 (13).Converge-All We Love We Leave Behind (4/5)
12. (12)Dying Fetus-Reign Supreme (4/5)
11.(10) As I Lay Dying-Awakened (4/5)
10.(11) Coheed and Cambria-The Afterman: Ascension (4/5)
9.(9)Kendrick Lamar-good kid, m.A.A.d city (4/5)
8.(8)Periphery-II (4/5)
7.(6)High on Fire-De Vermis Mysteriis (4/5)
6.(7) Every Time I Die-Ex Lives (4/5)
5.(5)Sylosis-Monolith (4.5/5)
4.(4)Lamb of God-Resolution (4.5/5)
3.(3)The Faceless-Autotheism (4.5/5)
2.(2)Death Grips-The Money Store (4.5/5)
1.(1)Between The Buried and Me-The Parallax II: Future Sequence (5/5)




Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Fantasy Football Week 3 Winners and Losers

Quarterback
MVP: Drew Brees (Saints)
Drew Brees had his first breakout game of the season this week torching a normally pretty good Cardinals secondary for 342 yards and 3 TD's. Brees even contributed a rare rushing touchdown in this blowout victory for the Saints, which no doubt brought joy and a bit of shock to his fantasy owners.
Honorable Mentions: Cam Newton (Panthers), Peyton Manning (Broncos), Tony Romo (Cowboys), Jake Locker (Titans)

LVP: Colin Kaepernick (49ers)
Colin Kaepernick was in the perfect position to rebound from a poor performance in Seattle last week at home against a middling Colts defense. Instead, Kaepernick got bottled up yet again and could not get anything going with his arm or his feet. This dry spell is definitely alarming for Kaepernick, who has become known for his consistency, poise and dual-threat abilities in his brief time in the league. Another performance like this against the Rams on Thursday night could send some of his fantasy owners over the edge and put him on the trading block.
Dishonorable Mentions: Eli Manning (Giants), Robert Griffin III (Redskins), Aaron Rodgers (Packers) Joe Flacco (Ravens) 

Running Back
MVP: DeMarco Murray (Cowboys)
Continuing the unpredictable bedlam that has been running backs in the 2013 NFL Season thus far, the most impressive performance of this week came from the oft-injured and inconsistent Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray. Murray ripped through the Rams defense on his way to one of the best games of his career with 175 yards on the ground (averaging an astronomical 6.7 yards per carry) and a touchdown. Murray's reputation as a borderline RB2/high-end RB3 going into the year will be advanced into a solid RB2/borderline RB1 if he continues to run this hard week in and week out.
Honorable Mentions: LeSean McCoy (Eagles), Jammal Charles (Chiefs), Joique Bell (Lions), Matt Forte (Bears)

LVP: Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks)
I can't even believe this one. Marshawn Lynch only put up 69 yards on the JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS. It's clear the Seahawks domination of the Jaguars in just about every aspect of the game were responsible for Lynch's numbers, but it's still monumentally disappointing that a top-flight RB1 puts up such a low yard-total on a horrible defense.
Dishonorable Mentions: C.J. Spiller (Bills), Arian Foster (Texans), Stevan Ridley (Patriots), Rashard Mendenhall (Cardinals)

Wide Receiver
MVP: Antonio Brown (Steelers)
Antonio Brown came out of his coma this week and played out of his skull in route to a 196-yard, 2 TD performance against the Bears on Sunday night. This performance not only woke up the Steelers offense, it proved that Brown is finally a worthy weekly starter in most leagues.
Honorable Mentions: Josh Gordon (Browns), Santonio Holmes (Jets), Eric Decker (Broncos), Sidney Rice (Seahawks)

LVP: Hakeem Nicks (Giants)
It was not a good day for any Giants receiver (or any Giants player for that matter,) but no one suffered more than Hakeem Nicks. Nicks was held without a catch against a banged-up and inexperienced  Panthers secondary.
Dishonorable Mentions: Dwayne Bowe (Chiefs), Andre Johnson (Texans), Victor Cruz (Giants), Vincent Jackson (Buccaneers)

Tight End
MVP: Jimmy Graham (Saints)
Jimmy Graham is just not a human being. Every week he comes out and causes a barrage of problems for the opposing defenses. His latest victim was the Cardinals, who allowed 134 yards and a pair of TD's to the star tight end. I thought it was crazy when people were taking him in the 2nd round of my drafts, now I realize that I was the crazy one for not feeling he was worthy of such a high pick.
Honorable Mentions: Jordan Cameron (Browns), Zach Miller (Seahawks), Antonio Gates (Chargers), Scott Chandler (Bills)

LVP: Martellus Bennett (Bears)
After dominating in his first 2 weeks as a member of the Chicago Bears, The Black Unicorn struggled with just 2 receptions for 10 yards against the Steelers on Sunday night. It was a tough matchup so these numbers aren't cause for concern, but they are still disappointing due to how strong Bennett played in the first 2 games.
Dishonorable Mentions: Owen Daniels (Texans), Tony Gonzalez (Falcons), Brandon Myers (Giants), Jared Cook (Rams)

Defense
MVP: Chicago Bears
The Bears defense was in vintage form forcing 5 takeaways and tacking on 2 defensive TD's against the Steelers in primetime on Sunday night. Their defense might not be as feared as it was in the past, but the Bears can still take the ball away and score points from turnovers with the best of them.
Honorable Mentions: Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens

LVP: Denver Broncos
The Broncos may have picked up a hefty victory against the Raiders, but for fantasy purposes their defense came up way short with only 3 sacks and 0 takeaways against one of the weakest offenses in the NFL.
Dishonorable Mentions: San Fransisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, San Diego Chargers

     

Friday, September 20, 2013

Album Review: Crossfaith-Apocalyze

My first exposure to Crossfaith was this past summer at Warped Tour. I checked them out simply because of a sign I saw advertising their set that simply read "Crossfaith: Futuristic Japanese Metal". My intrigue gained from that sign paid off as Crossfaith put on one of the most energetic and fun sets I've seen in a while. Much of the raw energy of their live shows translates over to their third full-length album, Apocalyze, which solidifies them as one of the promising up-and-comers from overseas.

On Apocalyze, Crossfaith takes a very stale genre (trancecore) and injects it with a much-needed spark of creativity. A lot of bands in the genre use the same tired formula of auto-tune, dubstep beats, frail screams and emo-inspired clean vocals catering towards the teenage girl audience. Aside from a couple of brief wub-wub brostep moments early on in the record with tracks like "We Are the Future" and "Hounds of the Apocalypse", Crossfaith (thankfully) does none of that and reaches outside the stereotypes of the genre for inspiration. The vocals are very much rooted in melodic death metal, there is a killer sense of groove that is reminiscent of old-school metalcore, the drums are explosive and loaded with crazy fills and the synths are mostly catchy and fun. It's very refreshing to see an act produce metal with a heavy electronic influence that isn't gimmicky or watered-down. This is some legitimate, classic metalcore that intertwines perfectly with the electronic elements to produce something that will stick with you and warrants multiple listens.

The music that Crossfaith produces is not only technically-sound and interesting, it's just plain catchy. There is quite few synth lines here that are absolutely infectious and if you dropped the metal around it, could pass as straight techno-classics. Keyboradist Tamano Terfauri uses a wide-array of synths and programming to keep the listeners on their toes and and me being the sucker for good synths that I am, was happy to find a new band that likes to use synths in a variety of different, cool ways. Completing the successful electronic/metal fusion is the guitarwork of Takemura Kazuki. Kazuki proves himself a master groovesman with a storm of fat, headbang-worthy riffs throughout the record. The unholy mid-album trio of "The Evolution", "Scarlett" and "Gala Hala (Burn Down the Floor) are the best moments of the album primarily because of how sick the riffs Kazuki lays down on these tracks are. Really the only downside of Kazuki's performance is the lack of soloing. The listener gets a nice taste of what he's capable of on "Burning White", but as satisfying as that solo is, it's disappointing that he didn't rip out more over the course of the record.

Apocalyze is one satisfying album from the masters of "Futuristic Japanese Metal". Crossfaith shatters trancecore genre stereotypes and makes an album that is well-crafted, hooky and a whole hell of a lot of fun. I have to give them a lot of props because this is a genre that I had heavily written off in the past and this is the first album/band from the genre that I've enjoyed in the slightest. Crossfaith is the perfect, organic blend of electronic music and metalcore and I can see them absolutely exploding here in the U.S. with more exposure. They are one of my top discoveries of 2013 so far and hopefully they keep cranking out inspired, energetic music in the future.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.The Evolution
2.Gala Hala (Burn Down the Floor)
3.Scarlett
  

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Fantasy Football Week 2 Winners and Losers

Quarterback
MVP: Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Aaron Rodgers repaid his owners after a slightly disappointing outing last week with a monstrous 480-yard, 4 TD performance against the Redskins on Sunday. These superhuman numbers are pretty much par for the course for Rodgers, which is why he a perennial top-tier fantasy quarterback.
Honorable Mentions: Phillip Rivers (Chargers), Michael Vick (Eagles), Peyton Manning (Broncos), Sam Bradford (Rams)

LVP: Colin Kaepernick (49ers)
Seattle has not been kind to Colin Kaepernick thus far in his career. The normally electric Kaepernick The Seahawks defense may be one of the league's undisputed best, but it doesn't excuse his absolutely horrible numbers both times he's faced them. He was clearly rattled and it showed with his forced passes that lead to 3 INT's and limited opportunities to get out of the pocket and run. Kap's uncharacteristically sloppy performance made him the weakest play at quarterback by far this week.
Dishonorable Mentions: Russell Wilson (Seahawks), Drew Brees (Saints), Tom Brady (Patriots), Eli Manning (Giants) 

Running Back
MVP: Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks)
Marshawn definitely had his Skittles this week. After a very underwhelming performance against the Panthers last week, Lynch bounced back in a big way as a threat in both the rushing and passing game on his way to 135 total yards and 3 TD's on one of the stoutest defenses in the league. Lynch owners can breathe a huge sigh of relief moving forward because (barring injury) Beast Mode appears to be back in full swing after a brief hiatus.
Honorable Mentions: Giovanni Bernard (Bengals), Knowshon Moreno (Broncos), LeSean McCoy (Eagles), James Starks (Packers)

LVP: Frank Gore (49ers)
Just like last week, there were a lot of contenders for this award (Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Reggie Bush) but all of those guys got hurt before the end of the game leaving Frank Gore with the dubious honor of getting the title. Gore continued his woes against the Seahawks with a whopping 30 total yards on the night. Gore's reputation as a consistent, top-tier RB2 is beginning to dwindle after a lackluster start to the season in which he has gotten absolutely stuffed. He's going to need a redemption game against the Colts to provide his owners with some kind of piece of mind as the season progresses.
Dishonorable Mentions: Ray Rice (Ravens), Maurice Jones-Drew (Jaguars), Stevan Ridley (Patriots), Trent Richardson (Browns)

Wide Receiver
MVP: DeSean Jackson (Eagles)
Eddie Royal had the best numbers of the week, but let's get real here, 99.9% of fantasy owners didn't own him let alone start him this week. With this in mind, the most valuable wide receiver that was actually a factor this week was DeSean Jackson. Jackson has seen a serious resurgence under Chip Kelly's offense with two huge games to start the year off. If the trend continues, Jackson will be one of the top fantasy steals of 2013.
Honorable Mentions: Eddie Royal (Chargers), Calvin Johnson (Lions), Julio Jones (Falcons), Dez Bryant (Cowboys)

LVP: Anquan Boldin (49ers)
If you haven't picked up it yet, it was an awful week to have a 49ers offensive player. Just a week removed from a 13 reception/208 yard performance in his 49ers debut, Boldin got absolutely suffocated by Richard Sherman and was held to only 1 garbage time reception for 8 yards.
Dishonorable Mentions: A.J. Green (Bengals), Demariyus Thomas (Broncos), Mike Williams (Buccaneers), Lance Moore (Saints)

Tight End
MVP: Jimmy Graham (Saints)
Jimmy Graham showed why he was the uncontested top tight end pick in this year's drafts by massacring the Buccaneers secondary the whole game accounting for 179 yards on an otherwise off-day for the Saints high-powered passing game.
Honorable Mentions: Martellus Bennett (Bears), Jermichael Finley (Packers), Greg Olsen (Panthers), Coby Fleener (Colts)

LVP: Jason Witten (Cowboys)
The normally consistent Jason Witten dropped a rare dud against the Chiefs this week being held to just 12 yards on 3 catches. Despite being targeted 8 times, Witten was just not on the same page with Tony Romo and given little room to get open by the Chiefs talented defense.
Dishonorable Mentions: Jared Cook (Rams), Vernon Davis (49ers), Tony Gonzalez (Falcons), Fred Davis (Redskins)

Defense
MVP: Seattle Seahawks
As you can tell from the rest of the piece, the Seahawks defense absolutely dominated the 49ers this week. The Seahawks prevented the 49ers from getting into any sort of grove and managed 5 takeaways on this great offense. After this performance, the Seahawks proved their place alone at the top of the fantasy defense heap.
Honorable Mentions: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings

LVP: Green Bay Packers
The Packers didn't even come to close to their potential managing only 1 sack and 1 takeaway against the suddenly shaky, hesitant offense of the Redskins. What makes these numbers even worse for the Packers is the inferior Eagles defense put up 3 sacks and 3 takeaways on them in Week 1. After 2 weeks, the Packers have not been the sack/takeaway machine they have been over the past few seasons.
Dishonorable Mentions: Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Rams



Saturday, September 14, 2013

Movie Review: Riddick

Richard B. Riddick, everyone's favorite intergalactic antihero with nightvision, is back on the big-screen for the first time in nine years with Riddick, the third installment in the cult franchise. Riddick is thankfully more reminiscent of the first film in the series Pitch Black than the last film The Chronicles of Riddick.

It takes awhile for Riddick to get its footing with the first 30 minutes feeling oddly like a morbid, futuristic Discovery Channel show with little dialogue and Riddick frolicking around a deserted planet with an awful CGI tiger and fighting random snake-like creatures. After the plodding intro, Riddick picks up the pace once two teams of bounty hunters come to the abandoned planet and try to hunt down Riddick for a giant cash reward. Riddick's biggest triumph is bringing the series back to its roots with an R-rating. The Chronicles of Riddick was a high-budget, watered-down PG-13 film that ended up being pretty underwhelming. Without the restrictions of a PG-13 rating, this film brings back the gore (one standout scene features one of the best machete kills in the history of film)and subsequently makes the series fun again. When you start a series with intense, bloody action it needs to stay the way and I'm glad the filmmakers decided to bring heavy gore back into the fold this time around.

This film also sees far more of an injection of energy into the role of Riddick for Vin Diesel. He went to great lengths for this film to be made (he exchanged a cameo appearance in Fast Furious: Tokyo Drift for the rights to this franchise and funded a majority of this himself) and it shows with his added dedication to the character. Writer/director David Twhoy gave Riddick more depth and made him more leathal and Diesel just rolls with it, giving the character more mystique than it past and even adding a bit of sympathy for him as well. I commend Diesel for putting in the extra effort into getting this film made and not letting the series conclude on the low that was The Chronicles of Riddick. In the end, Riddick is a relatively satisfying albeit straightforward sc-fi action film that serves as a nice, bloody holdover before the more thought-provoking fare of the fall hits.

3/5 Stars




Thursday, September 12, 2013

Album Review: Attila-About That Life

Every once in a while in my musical travels, I'll come across an album that is so bad that it makes me lose faith in humanity. Atlanta deathcore act Attila's third full-length album, About That Life, is the latest record to be placed in this disgraced camp.

About That Life has so many problems with that it's almost tragic. From a musical standpoint, it's about as generic as you can possibly get. An overwhelming majority of the music is just the same brOOtal breakdown that weak deathcore bands constantly recycle because they don't know how to write anything else. At a couple points on the record Attila gets a whim of inspiration and whips out a cool solo or melody, but as soon as it's over, they go right back to the same stale deathcore chugfests that plague that rest of the album. If nothing else, Atilla can take pride in the fact that this record earns them a  well-deserved master's degree in cliched, overdone deathcore riffs. Guitarists Chris Link and Nate Salameh have open-note strumming down to a science and hXc bros everywhere should fight an invisible ninja in honor of these generic deathcore legends. Making the boring music even worse is the presence of vocalist Chris "Fronzilla" Fronzak. Fronzak's vocals are absolutely laughable. His low screams are muddy and weak while his highs are damn near impossible to listen to without breaking into a hysterical laughing fit. On top of failing at screaming, this dude further embarrasses himself by rapping at a few points on this record. I don't know who in the band though that was a good idea in the slightest, Fronzak's rap skills make Bubba Sparxxx look like the second coming of Tupac. With his performance on this record, Fronzak gives guys like Danny Warsnop, Oli Sykes and Alex Kohler a legitimate run for the title for worst vocalist in all of metal.

The horribly uninspired music isn't even the worst part of About That Life, it's the message Atilla has and the general attitude they have as a band. This is a band that thinks they are being edgy and controversial by using pervasive language and saying a bunch of "ignorant" shit in their lyrics (i.e. the title track which contains this segment of almost Shakespearean poetry  "Fuck church, hit a bong, then go smash a fucking bottle, got a few sluts to help me roll a few blunts and they never question me cause they know I hate cunts".) Newsflash: It's not edgy or controversial, it's just sad. Making music with the sole intent to try and shock someone is cheap and amateurish. The saddest part about Attila's music is there is not even a drop of irony to it. These dudes are dead serious with their half-baked, idiotic ramblings about the rage lifestyle. It's honestly hilarious to think of Chris Fronzak and his moronic bandmates sitting in the studio just thinking of different ways they can try to offend people simply by making comments that could be deemed offensive by some conservative who still gets their feathers ruffled when someone drops an F-bomb (The type of people who would be offended by their music would and will not ever hear it.) If they put as much effort into their music as they did trying to piss people off with their "ignorant" lyrics about bad bitches and the rage lifestyle, they would probably be fucking modern metal pioneers. Despite Fronzak and co.'s gratuitous effort to send the listener into a gasp-induced coma from their lyrics, I can safely say that the only thing that is offensive about Attila's music is how bland and wholly forgettable it is.

About That Life is the type of record that makes me sad about the future of metal.  Poorly-written, childish bullshit like this is selling while other artists who take time to hone their craft and are far more deserving of success are fucking starving. Music is clearly subjective and I respect everyone's opinions, but I honestly can't see how anyone could support this band of traveling assclowns. These guys are essentially the Carlos Mencia of metal: They're talentless hacks whose only goal is try and shock an audience. When it comes to Attila, I sure as hell am not about that life.

1/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
The solos on "Unforgiveable" and "Thug Life" and the intro riff on "Hellraiser" 

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Fantasy Football Week 1 Winners and Losers

Week 1 is in the books and I'm sure the week brought plenty of triumphs and headaches depending on how your team did (for me, it was even split between my 4 teams.) In the first of a weekly series, I'm going to run through my picks for the most valuable and least valuable player (a.k.a most disappointing player) from a Fantasy Football standpoint for each week of the season. Hope you enjoy and spread the word.

Quarterback:
MVP: Peyton Manning (Broncos)
Could not me a more obvious pick for this week. Manning's NFL record-tying 7 TD performance all but assured his fantasy owners victory this week
Honorable Mentions: Colin Kaepernick (49ers), Andrew Luck (Colts), Michael Vick (Eagles), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)

LVP: Russell Wilson (Seahawks)
Russell Wilson had the first 300-yard game of his career against the Panthers on Sunday, but his 1 TD-outing against an unproven secondary was very disappointing from a fantasy standpoint. I'm sure he will recover in upcoming weeks, but definitely not the start to his fantasy season that many had hoped for.
Dishonorable Mentions: Cam Newton (Panthers), Tom Brady (Patriots), Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers), Josh Freeman (Buccaneers)  


Running Back:
MVP: LeSean McCoy (Eagles)
Chip Kelly may just be the genius he was advertised to be. LeSean McCoy had one of his most impressive performances of his career ripping off 184 yards on a heavy-workload of 31 carries against the Redskins in his 1st game with the highly-touted offensive guru at the helm. It's only 1 game, but this is a great indicator for McCoy's success this season in Kelly's uptempo offense.
Honorable Mentions: Reggie Bush (Lions), Adrian Peterson (Vikings), Jammal Charles (Chiefs), Shane Vereen (Patriots)

LVP: C.J. Spiller (Bills)
You could make a case that Lamar Miller's embarrassing 10 carry, 8-yard performance against the Browns or David Wilson's fumble frenzy against the Cowboys was the weakest of the week, but Miller and Wilson didn't have the expectations or experience that C.J. Spiller has. Spiller's first game as the uncontested starter was one to forget as the Patriots held him to a paltry 41 yards on 17 carries and an early fumble in his own end that lead to an easy Patriots touchdown. Spiller is going to continue the bulk of the touches in Bills offense, but based on this performance Spiller owners are probably wishing they spent their 1st round pick elsewhere (and by elsewhere, I mean LeSean McCoy.)
Dishonorable Mentions: Lamar Miller (Dolphins), Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks), Stevan Ridley (Patriots), David Wilson (Giants)

Wide Receiver:
MVP: Victor Cruz (Giants)
The Giants passing offense was dominant all game amidst all their turnovers and were a blessing for fantasy this week, but nobody shined brighter than Cruz, who looked hungry and well worth his contract extension with a 3 TD outing.
Honorable Mentions: A.J. Green (Bengals), Demaryius Thomas (Broncos), Anquan Boldin (49ers), Jordy Nelson (Packers)

LVP: James Jones (Packers)
The Packers touchdown vulture from last year opened the 2013 campaign by getting zero catches while the rest of his fellow receivers thrived. Jones looked sluggish and not even remotely worth his WR2 price tag.
Dishonorable mentions: Dez Bryant (Cowboys), Calvin Johnson (Lions), Mike Wallace (Dolphins), Roddy White (Falcons)

Tight End:
MVP: Jared Cook (Rams)
The start of the Jared Cook era in St.Louis was rather eventful with. Cook had an instant chemistry with quarterback Sam Bradford and torched the Cardinals defense throughout the game on his way to outperforming proven fantasy studs like Jason Witten, Vernon Davis and Tony Gonzalez. If Cook keeps it up, he will easily be a top-5 tight end at the end of the year.
Honorable Mentions: Vernon Davis (49ers), Jason Witten (Cowboys), Owen Daniels (Texans), Julius Thomas (Broncos)

LVP: Zach Sudfeld (Patriots)
Undrafted rookie Zach Sudfeld was supposed to be a huge sleeper pick for Fantasy and be the perfect short-term fill-in for Rob Gronkowski. After Sudfeld's performance on Sunday against the Bills, the Patriots (and everyone who has Tom Brady on their fantasy team) are going to pray Gronkowski comes back immediately. Sudfeld was a complete non-factor getting no catches and really did nothing of note besides giving the Bills a gift-wrapped interception after deflecting the one pass targeted to him. Sudfeld did not look like he could handle the speed of the NFL and unless a miracle happens, holds no fantasy value going forward.
Dishonorable Mentions: Kyle Rudolph (Vikings), Fred Davis (Redskins), Greg Olsen (Panthers), Antonio Gates (Chargers) 

Defense
MVP: Dallas Cowboys
They allowed a ton of points, but 6 takeaways, 3 sacks and 2 defensive TD's made them a brilliant play for the few people that started them
Honorable Mentions: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs,  Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans

LVP: Cincinnati Bengals
The immensely talented Bengals D blew it big time with 1 takeaway and no sacks against a Bears offense that is normally a turnover/sack gold mine.
Dishonorable Mentions: Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Quick Movie Reviews: We're the Millers, Elysium, The World's End, You're Next

I've spent so much time over the past month with my NFL preview that I didn't get the chance to share my thoughts on the majority of the films I saw in theaters in August. To fix that injustice, I've decided to briefly sum my thoughts on We're the Millers, Elysium, The World's End and You're Next.

We're the Millers: One of the whackiest and most consistently funny movies of the year. The whole lead cast delivers the goods and nails the fucked-up family dynamic they were going for. Comedy veterans Jason Sudekis and Jennifer Aniston pull their weight per usual, but the two young guns Will Poulter and Emma Roberts steal the show. British import Poulter makes a splash in his first major American role with a fresh take on the standard "awkward virgin" role and Roberts goes completely against her typical roles and shows a lot of comedic chops as the runaway Sudekis's character hires to pose as his daughter. We're the Millers is a blessing in a year that has mostly lacked standout comedies.
4/5 Stars

Elysium: Neil Bloomkamp follows District 9 with another hard-hitting sci-fi flick in Elysium. It may not be as groundbreaking, well-written or carry as powerful of a social message as District 9,but Elysium has more than enough of its own merits to succeed as a film. The solid albeit straightforward story and the barrage of well-shot, bloody action sequences suck you in immediately. Not to mention, Matt Damon delivers a powerful performance in the lead role and Sharalto Copley makes for a delightfully demented villain (aside from Benedict Cumerbatch in Star Trek Into Darkness, Copley's performance as Kruger makes for the strongest antagonist of the year.) What prevents Elysium from a home run is a woefully miscast Jodie Foster as the secondary antagonist and the action sequences, while impressive, they were almost directly lifted from District 9 giving the film a subtle sense of unwanted familiarity . It's definitely not perfect, but Bloomkamp delivers another great film that further strengthens his resume and reputation as one of the young directors to watch.
4/5 Stars

The World's End: Another amusing and fun romp from Simon Pegg and co. Pegg and Nick Frost add Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan to switch things from their typical buddy dynamic to a more group-based dynamic and the results are pretty fantastic. There is a very authentic sense that this is a group of guys reluctantly reuniting after decades apart and heading back their hometown then realizing why they became friends in the first place when chaos ensues. It was also cool to see Pegg and Frost do a bit of a role reversal with Frost playing the straight man focused on his career and Pegg playing the immature moron who refuses to grow up. The vibe of this is much more in-line with Shaun of the Dead than Hot Fuzz, which was great because this crew is at their finest when dealing with the supernatural opposed to more realistic storytelling and there is plenty of director Edgar Wright's trademark high-octane, over-the-top action sequences to balance out the comedy. This film rolls on all cylinders most of the way until it loses a bit of steam with a pretty stupid finale that wraps up the story on a really awkward, bizarre note that doesn't line up with the rest of the film. Aside from a disappointing and unfitting ending, the final film of the Cornetto trilogy is a success.
4/5 Stars

You're Next: Now this is the type of horror film I enjoy watching! What starts off as your typical, run-of-the mill slasher/home-invasion film, turns into a wildly entertaining, creative and often morbidly hilarious film that puts a breath of fresh air into a genre that desperately needs it. Director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett have a thorough understanding of what makes the genre tick. There's a nice balance of old-school tension (the suspense is amplified by stunning cinematography that creates an aura of dread and has a lot of really cool, creative shots) and new-wave gorefests (the kills in this are some of the most creative and satisfying in recent memory.) It's biggest success though is that never it takes seriously and is all about having fun, which is something the horror genre rarely accomplishes.  You're Next is the type of film that helps me maintain faith in the horror genre and is easily the best film the genre has offered up in 2013 thus far (To be fair, I haven't seen the wildly-acclaimed The Conjuring yet.)
4/5 Stars  

Thursday, September 5, 2013

2013-14 NFL Playoff + League Leaders Predictions

After months of waiting and agonizing hype, the 2013 NFL season finally starts tonight! To commence the start of the season and to wrap up my NFL preview, I figured I'd share my (far too early) picks for the Super Bowl, League Leaders, End-of-year awards, etc. Here they are in all their glory, feel free to agree, disagree, send angry letters, make a voodoo doll of me or whatever else you see fit as a reaction to a blogger's predictions.

AFC Playoff teams:
1.Denver Broncos
2.Cincinnati Bengals
3.New England Patriots
4.Houston Texans
5.Baltimore Ravens
6.Indianapolis Colts

Wild Card:
Patriots over Colts
Texans over Ravens

Divisional Round:
Broncos over Texans
Patriots over Bengals

AFC Championship Game:
Broncos over Patriots

NFC Playoff teams:
1.Seattle Seahawks
2.Atlanta Falcons
3.Green Bay Packers
4.Washington Redskins
5.San Fransisco 49ers
6.New Orleans Saints

Wild Card:
Packers over Saints
49ers over Redskins

Divisional Round:
Seahawks over 49ers
Packers over Falcons

NFC Championship Game:
Packers over Seahawks

Super Bowl:
Packers over Broncos

Projected League Leaders:
Passing Yards: Drew Brees (Saints)
Passing TD's: Drew Brees (Saints)
Rushing Yards: Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks)
Rushing TD's: Arian Foster (Texans)
Receiving Yards: Dez Bryant (Cowboys)
Receiving TD's: A.J. Green (Bengals)
Sacks: Clay Matthews (Packers)
Tackles: James Laurinitis (Rams)
INT's: Patrick Peterson (Cardinals)
Forced Fumbles: Charles Tillman (Bears)

Award predictions:
MVP: Drew Brees (Saints)
Offensive Player of the Year: Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks)
Defensive Player of the Year: Clay Matthews (Packers)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: DeAndre Hopkins (Texans)
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Star Lotulelei (Panthers)
Comeback Player of the Year: Brian Orakpo (Redskins)
Coach of the Year: Sean Payton (Saints)

Miscellaneous:
AFC team most likely to surprise: Kansas City Chiefs
AFC team most likely to fall below expectations: Houston Texans
NFC team most likely to surprise: Arizona Cardinals
NFC most likely to fall below expectations: Minnesota Vikings
Top 10 veterans that need to prove themselves in 2013:
1.Sam Bradford (Rams)
2.Jay Cutler (Bears)
3Josh Freeman (Buccaneers)
4.Jared Cook (Rams)
5.Jake Locker (Titans)
6.Danny Amendola (Patriots)
7.Alex Smith (Chiefs)
8.Michael Vick (Eagles)
9.Fred Davis (Redskins)
10.Darrius Heyward-Bey (Colts)

Top 5 draft order for 2014:
1.Raiders
2.Jaguars
3.Jets
4.Bills
5.Chargers


Wednesday, September 4, 2013

NFL Preview: NFC West

Arizona Cardinals: If you watched the Cardinals play for any length of time last year, you know their offense was impotent as they come. They couldn't run the ball, they couldn't block and their quarterback situation was nothing short of disastrous after Kevin Kolb went down for the season (John Skelton, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer threw for a combined total of 3 toucdown across the final 10 games, the team went 1-9 over this span.) This lack of offensive success led the ownership to pretty much nuke the team firing the general manager, longtime coach Ken Wishenhunt and bringing in a number of new starters. At least on paper, the Cardinals made a lot of smart choices offensively. New coach Bruce Arians has been absolute force of an offensive cordinator in the past half-decade. With his pedigree of success and brilliant schemes/playcalling, I have no doubt he'll be able to turn this offense around. Aside from Arians, the most important offensive acquisition they made this offseason was quarterback Carson Palmer. Palmer gives them a MAJOR upgrade at the position that gave them an abundance of headaches last season. Palmer may not be an elite player anymore, but he gives them much-needed stability and leadership at the position and unlike the fill-ins last year, will actually be able to get the ball to Larry Fitzgerald and the rest of the receiving corps. Continuing the mass overhaul, the Cardinals also scooped up veteran running back Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall is coming off an injury-plagued season in 2012, but he had his best years as a Steeler with Arians at the helm of the offense. If the Cardinals O-line can hold up and he can stay healthy, Mendenhall could very well return to his glory days with the Steelers. Where the Cardinals focused on overhauling the offense to their fix their previous, defensively they focused on adding depth to their already-stacked unit. Guys like John Abraham, Yerimah Bell and Karlos Dansby bring veteran leadership to this young defense and can still play at a pretty high level when called upon while Jasper Brinkley and Matt Shaugnessy are rush and pass-rush specialists respectively who will get the chance to go and contribute as part of this big defensive rotation. This amount of depth should be hugely beneficial to the whole defense and also helps cushion the loss of all-pro inside linebacker Daryl Washington, who is suspended for the four games for violating the league's drug policy. The Cardinals are a team with a great young defense who knows how to create turnovers and an offense that has the pieces in place to be a much-improved unit. Personally, I think this team is the biggest sleeper in the NFL and would not be the least bit surprised if they hit .500 this season.

St. Louis Rams: The Rams returned to relevancy last year with  a 7-8-1 record in Jeff Fisher's first year with the squad. The team surprised a lot of people with their resilience and mostly solid peformances despite being relatively young and lacking a lot of star power. Their defense has suddenly emerged as one of the top units in the league. Robert Quinn an Chris Long make for one of the best defensive end combos in the league after Quinn's breakout season in 2012, James Lauranitius is a general in the middle of the field and amongst the most feared inside linebackers in the game, Michael Brockers made a big impact in his rookie year and should only continue to improve and the cornerback tandem of Cortland Finnegan and Janoris Jenkins are two huge talents with great coverage skills that know how to take the ball away. While their defense is without a question top-notch (and should only get better with the addition of rookie outside linebacker Alec Ogletree,) the Rams offense leaves a lot to be desired. The team has invested a lot in young weapons for quarterback Sam Bradford, adding to that arsenal by trading a lot of picks to move up and select highly-touted wideout Tavon Austin in the 1st round of this year's draft and throwing a lot of money at free-agent tight end Jared Cook. In theory, this seems like a good move because of how highly regarded Austin is and the fact that Cook showed flashes of brilliance in his time with the Titans. The problem is that neither of them really did much of anything in the preseason. After watching them play multiple times in exhibition games, Bradford seems to only have a connection with Chris Givens (who is in-line for a huge year if the favoritism from Bradford lasts into the regular season) and be completely out-of-whack with the rest of his receivers. I don't know if it's on Bradford or his receivers, but for now Austin and Cook seem kind out of it and for the sake of this team's success, they better hope they fix it during the regular season. Bradford has been a stable albeit unspectacular player in his career so far, 2013 is going to prove how much he's actually worth to this football team and if he can breakout in the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks. Another issue with the Rams going into 2013 is the whole running back carousel they have at the moment. The loss of Steven Jackson is pretty devastating to this team as he was the one guy on the roster that could be counted on for consistent success. With that safety belt gone, the team could have some difficulty readjusting. Daryl Richardson is the current starter and wasn't bad as the 3rd-down back last year, he just doesn't have a big enough sample size in the league to show if he handle the starting duties. Backups Zac Stacy and Issiah Pead aren't proven either and haven't done anything to show that they can take the reigns if Richardson doesn't work out. The Rams seems to the sexy pick for a sleeper playoff team in the NFC this year, but with the question marks surrounding their entire offense, I just don't see it happening.

San Fransisco 49ers: The 49ers rode the back of their ever-so-exciting quarterback Colin Kaepernick (who only became the starter after incumbent Alex Smith went down with a concussion and impressed Jim Harbugh so much in his limited time that he kept the job even after Smith was healthy) to a Super Bowl in which they rallied big time from a 28-6 deficit at the start of the 3rd quarter and were just 10 yards of taking out the Ravens in what would've been one of the craziest and most improbable comebacks in NFL history. Going into 2013, the 49ers are poised to return to get another chance at the Lombardi Trophy and with much of the same roster in place, they very well could. Their defense is still about as deep and talented as they come, even with dominant safety Dashon Goldson leaving for the Buccaneers in the offseason and Harbaugh has proven in his short tenure in the NFL that he is one of the smartest, innovative and just plain best coaches in the league. That being said, it will certainly not be the easiest road back to the Super Bowl for the 49ers. First off, their receiving corps took a huge hit when Michael Crabtree went down with an Achilles injury in mini-camp in March. Crabtree was easily the favorite target of Kaepernick and the chemistry between the two was electric. Crabtree is set to return before the end of the season, but his absence for at least the majority of the year could be absolutely devastating to this offense. In the meantime while Crabtree and fellow veteran Mario Manningham are out with injuries, Kaepernick is going to have work on his rapport with the guys that are going to be on-the-field with him to start the year. Thankfully for the 49ers, he did start to build something with tight end Vernon Davis during the playoffs after all but ignoring him in the regular season. If Kapernick can continue his strong connection with Davis and/or establish something with big-time new pickup Anquan Boldin, Kyle Williams or rookie Quinton Patton, it should be smooth sailing for the 49ers this year. If he fails to establish a connection with any of these guys, the 49ers will be sulking until Crabtree comes back. Adversity like this will prove what kind of a quarterback Kaepernick is. Was last year a fluke or is he really the phenom people think he is? We will know the answer to that question once the 2013 season comes to a close. The 49ers have a lot of potential and hope on the horizon and if everything comes together for them this year (a.k.a Colin Kaepernick continues to play a high level) we could be looking at the next Super Bowl champions.

Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks came out of nowhere to go 8-0 at home and advance to the NFC divisional round before falling just short to the Falcons despite an impressive comeback. The surprise factor is now gone, the Seahawks are one of the most talented and well-rounded teams in the league and should be perennial title contenders for the foreseeable future. They are probably the only team in the league that really has no problems on either side of the ball. Their offense is led by Russell Wilson, who shined as a rookie and should continue to do so unless the dreaded sophomore slump hits and Marshawn Lynch is one of the toughest running backs in the league, who has only gotten more productive each season he's spent with the Seahawks. Defensively, they know how to get to the quarterback, contain the run and have the undisputed most talented secondary in the league. The scary part is that they've only gotten better during the offseaon by adding pass-rushing phenom Cliff Avril and the ever-improving, versatile defensive end/tackle Michael Bennett.  Really the only problem they have is that new acquisition Percy Harvin is currently injured and isn't slated to return till November. The team will be fine in the meantime without Harvin, but I except them to start rolling when Harvin joins the mix. He is such just an explosive player and should make the Seahawks offense even more dynamic and hard to predict. If Percy Harvin gels with the team upon his return and Russell Wilson doesn't disappoint in his second year, The Seahawks could be the frontrunner for a championship this year.

Projected Standings for the NFC West:
1.Seattle Seahawks (12-4)
2.San Fransisco 49ers (11-5)
3.Arizona Cardinals (8-8)
4.St. Louis Rams (7-9) 

  

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

NFL Preview: NFC South

Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons 2012 season ended in heartbreak when they blew a huge lead in the NFC Championship game and lost to the 49ers. This year, the Falcons look to redeem themselves and they have definitely made the necessary moves to improve as a team. The prized acquisition for them this offseason was veteran running back Steven Jackson. Jackson gives them a huge improvement over incumbent Michael Turner, who was sluggish through all of last season. Jackson is a dual threat with great-pass catching abilities as well as being a consistently-productive rusher. Jackson has the same skill set as Turner in his prime only better, which could make this already high-powered Falcons offense that much more scary. While there is no question the power of the Falcons offense with the addition of Jackson, Matt Ryan at the helm and arguably the best receiving tandem in the league in Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, the Falcons defense is a bit suspect. Aside from their wildly underrated safeties William Moore and Thomas DeCoud, the Falcons defense is pretty weak. For some unknown reason, they didn't really do much to address their defense in either the draft or free agency despite finishing near the bottom of the league in both passing and rushing defense last year. The two big moves they made (drafting cornerback Desmond Trufant and signing defensive end Osi Umenyiora) are far from guaranteed fixes. Trufant has been up-and down thus far and has a lot to work on if he wants to be a solid corner, while Umenyiora was once elite and can still get to the quarterback every once and a while, but the Falcons essentially just replaced one aging, formely dominant pass rusher (they cut ties with defensive end John Abraham in March) for another one. However if the Falcons can sure up their defense this year, they have as good of a shot to win the NFC as anyone.

Carolina Panthers:The Panthers ended 2012 on a hot streak winning 5 out of their last 6 games and finishing in 2nd place behind the Falcons in the super-competitive NFC South. That finish paired with the make-or-break season for head coach Ron Rivera makes the Panthers one of the most exciting teams to watch this season. The Panthers clearly run through Newton and I expect him to only get better this year. His numbers through his first two years are absolutely outstanding and the growth he showed in the second half of the year after a slow start is very promising going forward in his career. Really the only thing that is holding Newton back from being an undisputed top-flight quarterback is the overall lack of weapons surrounding him. Aside from longtime Panthers number 1 wideout Steve Smith and tight end Greg Olsen, he has no trustworthy options throw to. Brandon LaFell is not talented enough to be a number 2 wideout in this league and new additions Dominik Hixion and Ted Ginn. Jr are of comparable skill levels to LaFell and unless a miracle happens, are not going to be threats in this offense. Newton has gotten by with this problem before and it doesn't deter too much from the excitement surrounding this team this year.  Adding to the Panthers promise, is a defense on the rise that is loaded with young talent. Defensive ends Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy have quietly become two of the best pass-rusher in the game, rookie Star Loutlelei has been killing it so far and looks to be every bit the run-stuffing menace he was touted to be going into the draft and of course, inside linebacker Luke Kuchely is hoping to build off his monster rookie year and solidify himself as one of the best inside linebackers in the game.  Really the only not to like about the defense going forward, is the inexperienced secondary. Neither Captain Munnerlyn or Josh Thomas have started as pros, which could lead to a vulnerable secondary throughout the year if they don't adjust well to the increased workload. The Panthers have a difficult schedule this year and they still may be a year or two away from being contenders, but there are a lot of nice pieces falling into place for this young football team.

New Orleans Saints: New Orleans is probably set to have a second Mardi Gras this year with Sean Payton returning to the helm as coach of the Saints after being suspended for all of last season for the bounty scandal. The impact Payton had on this team is evident from the struggles they had last season in his absence. Their offense while still efficient, was not running on all cylinders and the less said about their defensive play last season, the better. With Payton returning, the Saints should pick up right where they left off after the 2011 season. Another reason for Saints fans to rejoice this season is the team went out and loaded up on defensive pickups in the offseason to try and improve a defense that allowed the most yards in a single season in NFL history. Kennan Lewis is a monumental upgrade at corner and actually gives the team a legit talent they can build around, Parys Haralson has been one of the most underrated linebackers in the league during his years with the 49ers and brings explosiveness that this defense desperately needs and their first-round pick Kenny Vaccaro is one of the most promising players in the entire 2013 draft class who has the potential to be one of the best and most intimidating safeties in the league. The Saints aren't perfect by any means, but they still have more than enough talent offensively to make it to the playoffs this season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Like the rest of the division, the Buccaneers are loaded with promise and intrigue headed into the 2013 season. The biggest reason for excitement in Tampa this season is the complete revamping of the secondary that finished dead last in the league in 2012. The Bucs landed Darrelle Revis in a trade with the Jets and picked up top-flight safety Dashon Goldson from the 49ers. Unless Revis is a shell of his former self after the torn ACL last season and Goldson all of a sudden softens up his hard-hits and pass-coverage skills, I fully expect this to be a much-improved unit. With the new talent in the secondary paired with an absolutely loaded front seven (they were the number 1 run defense in 2012,) they have all the makings of a potential top-10 defense this season. Offensively, their success is going to lie solely on the play of quarterback Josh Freeman. This is a make-or-break season in a contract year for Freeman. His play at times last year was outstanding, but he had an abysmal second half and continued to make the mistakes that have hampered his NFL career thus far. He's got more than enough have talent around with a pair of standout receivers (Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams) one of the most promising young running backs in the league in Doug Martin and a great offensive line that provides him ample protection to make plays. His future as a starter in the NFL and with the Buccaneers, all rides on his play this season. The Buccaneers have a clear abundance of talent and could end up being a surprise playoff team if everything clicks consistently.

Projected Standings for the NFC South:
1.Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
2.New Orleans Saints (10-6)
3.Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-8)
4.Carolina Panthers (8-8)

Sunday, September 1, 2013

September in Film

September is essentially the transitional period from the big blockbusters of summer to the prestige pictures of the fall/winter. The releases may not be big for the most part, but there are a few intriguing titles amidst the small crop of releases this month. Here are my thoughts on all of September's films.

Films I want to see:
4.Riddick (9/6): Riddick marks a return to R-rated glory for the franchise after softening up with the PG-13 rated Chronicles of Riddick. I didn't love Pitch Black, but it was a decent enough albeit very straightforward sc-fi flick. The trailer for this is pretty cool and hopefully they can build on the first installment and make a standout sc-fi movie.

3.Rush (9/27): I'm happy to see Ron Howard return to drama after his disastrous last comedic outing The Dillemma. I'm not really a Formula One racing fan nor do I know anything about the lives/rivalry of James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Despite that non-interest in the subject, I still want to see this. The cast is excellent and I'm really intrigued to see Chris Hemsworth in a major dramatic role. It's one of the first Oscar contenders of the year and hopefully Howard leaves his stamp of quality on it. 

2.Prisoners (9/20): My excitement level for this film keep on-growing. Everything I've see on it is just great and this cast is stacked with top-level talent including Jake Gylenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard and Mellisa Leo. This is also the first American film for highly-acclaimed Canadian director Denis Villeneuve and the film has been steadily-picking up awards buzz as the early reviews come in. Absolute must-see for me.

1.Don Jon (9/27): Joesph Gordon-Levitt is one of my favorite actors right now and I'm stoked to see what he does with his directorial debut. This film was very well-received at Sundance and has picked up additional positive reception along the way and the trailer looks like it blends comedy and charm very well. An added bonus for this film is seeing Tony Danza on-screen for the first time in forever. This is easily one of my most anticipated films for the rest of 2013.

Films I'm not sure about:
The Family (9/13): The trailer is half-decent and I like Robert De Niro a lot, but writer/director Luc Besson has been on a cold streak recently.

Films I have zero interest in:
Insidious Chapter 2 (9/13):The first one had its moments before jumping off the deep end in the second half of the film. The sequel looks like the wacko second half of the first one, so I'll pass.

Battle of the Year (9/20): Oh cool man another dance movie. I was shocked to find out that Josh Peck and Sawyer from Lost are in this.

Baggage Claim (9/27):Haven't seen the full trailer, but after reading the plot and seeing a brief commercial for it I'm fairly certain I don't want to see it.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (9/27): Plan and simple, not my bag. I'll give them props for casting Mr. T in it though.