()=previous ranking
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (8-0) Week 9 opponent: New Orleans Saints
2.(2) Kansas City Chiefs (7-1) Week 9 opponent: Cleveland Browns
3.(3) New England Patriots (6-2) Week 9 opponent: Green Bay Packers
4.(4) New Orleans Saints (6-1) Week 9 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
5.(5) Los Angeles Chargers (5-2) Week 9 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
6.(7) Carolina Panthers (5-2) Week 9 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
7.(9) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2-1) Week 9 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
8.(6) Minnesota Vikings (4-3-1) Week 9 opponent: Detroit Lions
9.(10) Cincinnati Bengals (5-3) Week 9 opponent: Bye Week
10.(12) Houston Texans (5-3) Week 9 opponent: Denver Broncos
11.(14) Washington Redskins (5-2) Week 9 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
12.(11) Green Bay Packers (3-3-1) Week 9 opponent: New England Patriots
13.(8) Baltimore Ravens (4-4) Week 9 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
14.(16) Chicago Bears (4-3) Week 9 opponent: Buffalo Bills
15.(19) Seattle Seahawks (4-3) Week 9 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers
16.(17) Philadelphia Eagles (4-4) Week 9 opponent: Bye Week
17.(13) Detroit Lions (3-4) Week 9 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
18.(18) Tennessee Titans (3-4) Week 9 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
19.(15) Miami Dolphins (4-4) Week 9 opponent: New York Jets
20.(20) Atlanta Falcons (3-4) Week 9 opponent: Washington Redskins
21.(21) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) Week 9 opponent: Carolina Panthers
22.(23) Dallas Cowboys (3-4) Week 9 opponent: Tennessee Titans
23.(22) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-5) Week 9 opponent: Bye Week
24.(27) Indianapolis Colts (3-5) Week 9 opponent: Bye Week
25.(24) Denver Broncos (3-5) Week 9 opponent: Houston Texans
26.(25) Cleveland Browns (2-5-1) Week 9 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
27.(26) New York Jets (3-5) Week 9 opponent: Miami Dolphins
28.(31) Arizona Cardinals (2-6) Week 9 opponent: Bye Week
29.(28) Buffalo Bills (2-6) Week 9 opponent: Chicago Bears
30.(29) New York Giants (1-7) Week 9 opponent: Bye Week
31.(30) San Francisco 49ers (1-7) Week 9 opponent: Oakland Raiders
32.(32) Oakland Raiders (1-7) Week 9 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Week 8 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers (2018 Edition)
Quarterback
MVP: Deshaun Watson (Texans)
Watson finally delivered an outing worthy of his high ADP. While his yardage total wasn't overly impressive (253), his 5 TD passes made his outing against the Dolphins a gift for his fantasy owners. The sophomore signalcaller has been a bit better of late, but will receive a serious test when the Texans travel to Denver this week.
Honorable Mentions: Cam Newton (Panthers), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Jared Goff (Rams)
LVP: Drew Brees (Saints)
Brees took a back seat (120 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT) on a night where the Vikings sloppy play (a fumble an INT and turnover on downs deep in their own territory) took them out of the game early in the 2nd half. The 39-year old should have much better numbers this Sunday when the Rams' undisciplined secondary come to the Superdome.
Dishonorabe Mentions: Jameis Winston (Buccaneers), Tom Brady (Patriots), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Running Back
MVP: James Conner (Steelers)
Move over Jimmy Haslam because the Browns have a new owner and his name is James Conner. The Steelers running back lit up the league's 30th ranked defense for 212 scrimmage YDS (146 rushing, 66 receiving) and a pair of rushing TD's on 29 touches. Conner finished the season series against Cleveland with 404 total YDS and 4 TD's, which goes a long way in showing why the Steelers haven't really missed Le'Veon Bell this season.
Honorable Mentions: Todd Gurley (Rams), Marlon Mack (Colts), Joe Mixon (Bengals)
LVP: Chris Thompson (Redskins)
The Redskins pass-catching back's return to the field after a multi-week absence was pretty uneventful. Thompson only managed 22 YDS (13 rushing, 9 receiving) on 5 touches in a blowout win over the Giants on Sunday afternoon. With Adrian Peterson handling early down work and yet another rib injury potentially limiting his upside, Thompson will be a very shaky start if he's healthy enough to play against the Falcons.
Dishonorable Mentions: Isaiah Crowell (Jets), Corey Clement (Eagles), Carlos Hyde (Jaguars)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Mike Evans (Buccaneers)
Evans record his 2nd straight huge game by registering 179 YDS and a TD against the Bengals poor secondary. There will continue to be weeks where Evans underwhelms regardless of who is under center, but his role on a team that relies on a vertical passing attack to make plays and has a defense that can't slow anyone down is enough to make him a weekly WR2.
Honorable Mentions: Marvin Jones Jr. (Lions), Sammy Watkins (Chiefs), DeAndre Hopkins (Texans)
LVP: T.Y Hilton (Colts)
This is one of the more head-scratching failures of the season so far. On a day where Andrew Luck was sharp and just about every other healthy body in the Colts receiving corps was feasting against the Raiders laughably bad defense, Hilton reeled in just 1 catch for 34 YDS. The Colts undisputed top WR has a date with a banged-up Jaguars secondary in Week 10.
Dishonorable Mentions: JuJu Smith-Schuster (Steelers), Doug Baldwin (Seahawks), Kenny Golladay (Lions)
Tight End
MVP: Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
Sammy Watkins was the king of the Chiefs offense this week, but Kelce still put together a nice performance against the Broncos on Sunday, finishing the day with 79 YDS and a TD on 6 receptions. 2018's top fantasy TE so far will be in the running for this honor yet again in Week 9 when the Chiefs square off against the Browns porous secondary.
Honorable Mentions: Jared Cook (Raiders), O.J. Howard (Buccaneers), Greg Olsen (Panthers)
LVP: David Njoku
It was a very sad week for the tight end position with 3 notable starters putting up goose eggs, but no one had to wipe away more tears than Njoku. His only target against the Steelers was nullified by an offensive pass interference call, which helped make his donut the most disheartening of the bunch. Njoku, who has been notably better since Baker Mayfield became the starting QB, will look for redemption against the Chiefs horrific defense this Sunday.
Dishonorable Mentions: C.J. Uzomah (Bengals), Benjamin Watson (Saints), Jimmy Graham (Packers)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Patriots
The Bills talent-barren offense continue to provide opposing defenses with golden opportunities to murder them. The Patriots slow, generally untalented defense looked like the '85 Bears against Derek Anderson and co., posting 3 sacks, an INT, a fumble recovery and a TD in a 25-6 victory on Monday Night Football. This dominance will likely become a distant memory when they square off against the Packers this Sunday night.
Honorable Mentions: Bengals, Redskins, Saints
LVP: Ravens
The league's top scoring defense got absolutely destroyed by the Panthers, registering 0 sacks or takeaways in an ugly 36-21 loss on Sunday. They won't be a strong play for their Week 9 home tilt against the Steelers.
Dishonorable Mentions: Colts, Vikings, Texans
MVP: Deshaun Watson (Texans)
Watson finally delivered an outing worthy of his high ADP. While his yardage total wasn't overly impressive (253), his 5 TD passes made his outing against the Dolphins a gift for his fantasy owners. The sophomore signalcaller has been a bit better of late, but will receive a serious test when the Texans travel to Denver this week.
Honorable Mentions: Cam Newton (Panthers), Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Jared Goff (Rams)
LVP: Drew Brees (Saints)
Brees took a back seat (120 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT) on a night where the Vikings sloppy play (a fumble an INT and turnover on downs deep in their own territory) took them out of the game early in the 2nd half. The 39-year old should have much better numbers this Sunday when the Rams' undisciplined secondary come to the Superdome.
Dishonorabe Mentions: Jameis Winston (Buccaneers), Tom Brady (Patriots), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Running Back
MVP: James Conner (Steelers)
Move over Jimmy Haslam because the Browns have a new owner and his name is James Conner. The Steelers running back lit up the league's 30th ranked defense for 212 scrimmage YDS (146 rushing, 66 receiving) and a pair of rushing TD's on 29 touches. Conner finished the season series against Cleveland with 404 total YDS and 4 TD's, which goes a long way in showing why the Steelers haven't really missed Le'Veon Bell this season.
Honorable Mentions: Todd Gurley (Rams), Marlon Mack (Colts), Joe Mixon (Bengals)
LVP: Chris Thompson (Redskins)
The Redskins pass-catching back's return to the field after a multi-week absence was pretty uneventful. Thompson only managed 22 YDS (13 rushing, 9 receiving) on 5 touches in a blowout win over the Giants on Sunday afternoon. With Adrian Peterson handling early down work and yet another rib injury potentially limiting his upside, Thompson will be a very shaky start if he's healthy enough to play against the Falcons.
Dishonorable Mentions: Isaiah Crowell (Jets), Corey Clement (Eagles), Carlos Hyde (Jaguars)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Mike Evans (Buccaneers)
Evans record his 2nd straight huge game by registering 179 YDS and a TD against the Bengals poor secondary. There will continue to be weeks where Evans underwhelms regardless of who is under center, but his role on a team that relies on a vertical passing attack to make plays and has a defense that can't slow anyone down is enough to make him a weekly WR2.
Honorable Mentions: Marvin Jones Jr. (Lions), Sammy Watkins (Chiefs), DeAndre Hopkins (Texans)
LVP: T.Y Hilton (Colts)
This is one of the more head-scratching failures of the season so far. On a day where Andrew Luck was sharp and just about every other healthy body in the Colts receiving corps was feasting against the Raiders laughably bad defense, Hilton reeled in just 1 catch for 34 YDS. The Colts undisputed top WR has a date with a banged-up Jaguars secondary in Week 10.
Dishonorable Mentions: JuJu Smith-Schuster (Steelers), Doug Baldwin (Seahawks), Kenny Golladay (Lions)
Tight End
MVP: Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
Sammy Watkins was the king of the Chiefs offense this week, but Kelce still put together a nice performance against the Broncos on Sunday, finishing the day with 79 YDS and a TD on 6 receptions. 2018's top fantasy TE so far will be in the running for this honor yet again in Week 9 when the Chiefs square off against the Browns porous secondary.
Honorable Mentions: Jared Cook (Raiders), O.J. Howard (Buccaneers), Greg Olsen (Panthers)
LVP: David Njoku
It was a very sad week for the tight end position with 3 notable starters putting up goose eggs, but no one had to wipe away more tears than Njoku. His only target against the Steelers was nullified by an offensive pass interference call, which helped make his donut the most disheartening of the bunch. Njoku, who has been notably better since Baker Mayfield became the starting QB, will look for redemption against the Chiefs horrific defense this Sunday.
Dishonorable Mentions: C.J. Uzomah (Bengals), Benjamin Watson (Saints), Jimmy Graham (Packers)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Patriots
The Bills talent-barren offense continue to provide opposing defenses with golden opportunities to murder them. The Patriots slow, generally untalented defense looked like the '85 Bears against Derek Anderson and co., posting 3 sacks, an INT, a fumble recovery and a TD in a 25-6 victory on Monday Night Football. This dominance will likely become a distant memory when they square off against the Packers this Sunday night.
Honorable Mentions: Bengals, Redskins, Saints
LVP: Ravens
The league's top scoring defense got absolutely destroyed by the Panthers, registering 0 sacks or takeaways in an ugly 36-21 loss on Sunday. They won't be a strong play for their Week 9 home tilt against the Steelers.
Dishonorable Mentions: Colts, Vikings, Texans
Monday, October 29, 2018
Quick Movie Reviews: Halloween, Mid90s, Apostle, The Night Comes for Us
Halloween: This direct continuation of John Carpenter's beloved 1978 original that gave birth to the slasher subgenre is a well-crafted, thoroughly entertaining ride that is about as good as anything to come out of this iconic horror movement in the past 15-20 years. Co-writer/director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Stronger) does an excellent job of manufacturing tension in the largely claustrophobic setting of the fictional Illinois town of Haddonfield, the death scenes are a good mix of the off-camera subtlety that Carpenter utilized in the original and grisly punctuation marks to appeal to modern gore fiends, and Jamie Lee Curtis' turn as the PTSD-afflicted Laurie Strode is easily her strongest performance in ages. There's a few questionable storytelling choices and hall-of-fame-caliber cases of horror movie characters utilizing poor judgement along the way, but the motley crew (Green, co-writer Danny McBride) that brought this chapter to the big screen still deserves a huge tip of the cap for making a great throwback slasher flick.
Grade: B+
Mid90s: With Mid90s, Jonah Hill joins the increasingly long list of actors (Bradley Cooper, Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig, Macon Blair) who have recently struck gold with their directorial debuts. Using the sophomoric yet tight-knit and diverse Los Angeles skateboarding scene as a backdrop, Hill explores the naivety, priority friendships tend to develop over family and heavy dose of poor, reckless decisionmaking that often define people's formative years without romanticizing questionable behavior or coming across as a judgmental asshole. Telling a slice of life story through such an authentic, unfiltered lens is a testament to Hill's understanding of the mindset of a young person and the subsequent lessons that can be gleaned from making mistakes as a result of immaturity.
Helping Hill's grounded, clear-eyed vision come alive is the impeccable group of young actors (Sunny Suljic, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin) he selected to lead this film. Every one of these kids, who with the exception of Siljac had never acted before, are incredibly natural in their roles and sell the vulgar yet loving camaraderie that exists in teenage male friendships beautifully. Mid90s is a top-tier coming-of-age story with a ton of heart, authenticity and laughs that should end up placing pretty high on my year-end best list.
Grade: A
Apostle: Gareth Evans' first venture away from the action genre is a well-intentioned failure. While there's some suspenseful sequences, pretty good performances by its principal cast (Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Michael Sheen, Mark Lewis Jones) and an intriguing premise centered around a mysterious religious cult operating on a secluded island off the coast of Wales, the comically inept writing squanders all of its potential. Everything from the unprovoked drastic changes in behavior from the trio of cult figureheads in the final 35-40 minutes to the variety pack of different horror genres Evans tries to blend together (folk, sadistic, supernatural, psychological) makes zero sense and helps give way to a flat-out ridiculous conclusion. If Evans is going to continue making more narrative-driven material like this, he's going to have spend a lot of time refining his scripts so they don't end being as disjointed and absurd as this.
Grade: C-
The Night Comes for Us: Were you disappointed that The Raid franchise didn't continue after the second installment? Well, writer/director Timo Tjahanto has answered the bell by gathering up numerous key players from Gareth Evans' cult favorite action films (Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle, Zack Lee) and essentially creating the unofficial third installment with The Night Comes for Us. Tjahanto shares Evans' flare for staging cleanly-shot, unbelievably gory mayhem and the string of nearly non-stop electric fight scenes between some of the world's greatest martial artists makes The Night Comes for Us a jaw-dropping ride from start to finish. As long as you're not bothered by subtitles or non-stop brutal deaths that are among the most graphic ever put on film, this Netflix production is an absolute must-watch for action/martial arts fans.
Grade: A
Grade: B+
Mid90s: With Mid90s, Jonah Hill joins the increasingly long list of actors (Bradley Cooper, Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig, Macon Blair) who have recently struck gold with their directorial debuts. Using the sophomoric yet tight-knit and diverse Los Angeles skateboarding scene as a backdrop, Hill explores the naivety, priority friendships tend to develop over family and heavy dose of poor, reckless decisionmaking that often define people's formative years without romanticizing questionable behavior or coming across as a judgmental asshole. Telling a slice of life story through such an authentic, unfiltered lens is a testament to Hill's understanding of the mindset of a young person and the subsequent lessons that can be gleaned from making mistakes as a result of immaturity.
Helping Hill's grounded, clear-eyed vision come alive is the impeccable group of young actors (Sunny Suljic, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin) he selected to lead this film. Every one of these kids, who with the exception of Siljac had never acted before, are incredibly natural in their roles and sell the vulgar yet loving camaraderie that exists in teenage male friendships beautifully. Mid90s is a top-tier coming-of-age story with a ton of heart, authenticity and laughs that should end up placing pretty high on my year-end best list.
Grade: A
Apostle: Gareth Evans' first venture away from the action genre is a well-intentioned failure. While there's some suspenseful sequences, pretty good performances by its principal cast (Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Michael Sheen, Mark Lewis Jones) and an intriguing premise centered around a mysterious religious cult operating on a secluded island off the coast of Wales, the comically inept writing squanders all of its potential. Everything from the unprovoked drastic changes in behavior from the trio of cult figureheads in the final 35-40 minutes to the variety pack of different horror genres Evans tries to blend together (folk, sadistic, supernatural, psychological) makes zero sense and helps give way to a flat-out ridiculous conclusion. If Evans is going to continue making more narrative-driven material like this, he's going to have spend a lot of time refining his scripts so they don't end being as disjointed and absurd as this.
Grade: C-
The Night Comes for Us: Were you disappointed that The Raid franchise didn't continue after the second installment? Well, writer/director Timo Tjahanto has answered the bell by gathering up numerous key players from Gareth Evans' cult favorite action films (Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, Julie Estelle, Zack Lee) and essentially creating the unofficial third installment with The Night Comes for Us. Tjahanto shares Evans' flare for staging cleanly-shot, unbelievably gory mayhem and the string of nearly non-stop electric fight scenes between some of the world's greatest martial artists makes The Night Comes for Us a jaw-dropping ride from start to finish. As long as you're not bothered by subtitles or non-stop brutal deaths that are among the most graphic ever put on film, this Netflix production is an absolute must-watch for action/martial arts fans.
Grade: A
Friday, October 26, 2018
The Best and Worst of Tilda Swinton
“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career
highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's
new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography
of “Suspiria” star Tilda Swinton.
Films starring Tilda Swinton that I've seen:
Adaptation.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Michael Clayton
Burn After Reading
Moonrise Kingdom
Snowpiercer
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Trainwreck
Hail, Caesar!
Doctor Strange
Okja
Isle of Dogs
Best Performance: Snowpiercer (2014)
Swinton is a force when he's she's on her game, so this choice was pretty difficult. Ultimately, the sheer terror she imposed as the primary villain in Bong Joon Ho's post-apocalyptic action thriller Snowpiercer was enough to edge out her more subtle turn in Michael Clayton and surprisingly hilarious performance in Trainwreck.
Worst Performance: Okja (2017)
Swinton's latest collaboration with Bong Joon-Ho wasn't exactly the triumph that the prior one was. In a preachy environmental adventure flick that featured numerous high quality actors (Jake Gyllenhaal, Lilly Collins, Paul Dano) churning out uncharacteristically terrible performances, Swinton was the worst of all. Her turn as evil CEO Lucy Cerrando is not only so cartoonish that it seems like she came straight off the set of one of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies, but it completely clashes with the stern, heavy-handed tone of the rest of the film.
Best Film: Trainwreck (2015)
There's been a solid amount of great romantic comedies released over the last several years (Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Big Sick, Sleeping with Other People), but Trainwreck is still my favorite by a comfortable margin. Just about every member of this ensemble cast (Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, LeBron James, Swinton, John Cena, Vanessa Bayer, Colin Quinn) brings their A-game, there's some moving drama and sincere insight on how relationships are handled in the modern era that helps make the central romance feel pretty authentic and most of all, it's hilarious from start to finish.
Worst Film: Adaptation. (2002)
Adaptation boasts a level of pretension that is so abundant and shameless that it deserves a nice, polite round of applause. I've never been a big fan of Charlie Kaufman, but this masturbatory satire about the very relatable struggle of trying to write a movie script that's based on source material written by someone else is easily the most insufferable piece of elitist porn he's ever produced. Nothing says a great time at the movies like a film that takes glee in shitting on audiences that enjoy straightforward crime thrillers and horror films over the refined nuances of a poetic arthouse drama written by a true intellectual like Kaufman. Fuck this smug, finger-wagging pile of trash.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Bohemian Rhapsody” star Mike Myers.
Films starring Tilda Swinton that I've seen:
Adaptation.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Michael Clayton
Burn After Reading
Moonrise Kingdom
Snowpiercer
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Trainwreck
Hail, Caesar!
Doctor Strange
Okja
Isle of Dogs
Best Performance: Snowpiercer (2014)
Swinton is a force when he's she's on her game, so this choice was pretty difficult. Ultimately, the sheer terror she imposed as the primary villain in Bong Joon Ho's post-apocalyptic action thriller Snowpiercer was enough to edge out her more subtle turn in Michael Clayton and surprisingly hilarious performance in Trainwreck.
Worst Performance: Okja (2017)
Swinton's latest collaboration with Bong Joon-Ho wasn't exactly the triumph that the prior one was. In a preachy environmental adventure flick that featured numerous high quality actors (Jake Gyllenhaal, Lilly Collins, Paul Dano) churning out uncharacteristically terrible performances, Swinton was the worst of all. Her turn as evil CEO Lucy Cerrando is not only so cartoonish that it seems like she came straight off the set of one of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies, but it completely clashes with the stern, heavy-handed tone of the rest of the film.
Best Film: Trainwreck (2015)
There's been a solid amount of great romantic comedies released over the last several years (Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Big Sick, Sleeping with Other People), but Trainwreck is still my favorite by a comfortable margin. Just about every member of this ensemble cast (Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, LeBron James, Swinton, John Cena, Vanessa Bayer, Colin Quinn) brings their A-game, there's some moving drama and sincere insight on how relationships are handled in the modern era that helps make the central romance feel pretty authentic and most of all, it's hilarious from start to finish.
Worst Film: Adaptation. (2002)
Adaptation boasts a level of pretension that is so abundant and shameless that it deserves a nice, polite round of applause. I've never been a big fan of Charlie Kaufman, but this masturbatory satire about the very relatable struggle of trying to write a movie script that's based on source material written by someone else is easily the most insufferable piece of elitist porn he's ever produced. Nothing says a great time at the movies like a film that takes glee in shitting on audiences that enjoy straightforward crime thrillers and horror films over the refined nuances of a poetic arthouse drama written by a true intellectual like Kaufman. Fuck this smug, finger-wagging pile of trash.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Bohemian Rhapsody” star Mike Myers.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Album Review: City Morgue-City Morgue Vol 1: Hell or High Water
If you were to analyze Spotify/Apple Music streams, YouTube views and the Billboard charts with the goal of determining what rappers are enjoying breakout years in 2018, you would likely come to the conclusion that sad hip-hop is currently trending. The late XXXTENTACION along with rising stars like Juice WRLD and Trippie Redd have all won over sizable audiences by producing downtempo, melancholic music that arguably has more in common with emo than traditional hip-hop. Of course, every popular movement ends up unintentionally breeding acts that serve as the clear antithesis to their style. Enter New York City trio City Morgue. Their debut mixtape City Morgue Vol 1: Hell or High Water is brimming with so much raw energy and angst that they feel more like spiritual successors to the Slipknot and Korn's of the world than a young hip-hop group that first gained national recognition from some vulgar music videos going viral on Worldstar roughly 8 months ago.
Embracing metal-like tendencies isn't exactly uncharted waters for hip-hop. Hell, 6ix9ine-who regularly collaborated with City Morgue's Zillakami in the early stages of his career before they parted ways due to the former's now well-documented guilty plea to a sexual misconduct involving a minor charge back in 2015-has become a star over the past 18 months by utilizing a hyper aggressive sound. However, the difference between City Morgue, their colorful-haired NYC counterpart and quite frankly, everyone else that have drawn inspiration from the more abrasive side of the musical spectrum is that these dudes go full bore insane on every single track they put out. The closest thing Hell or High Water Vol.1 offers to a reprieve from the frenzied yelling deliveries of both rappers (SoSMula, the aforementioned Zillakami) and distorted guitar-and-thumping-drums-driven production from the group's in-house producer Thraxx is a pair of understated guest spots from Black Kray on a couple of the earlier tracks ("Kenpark", "Gravehop187"). Other than those fleeting moments of relative calm, this is an unrelenting dose of pure, seething fury that should make the majority of listeners either want to run through the nearest wall at full speed or question what kind of nefarious force would inspire human beings to create such unpleasant sounds in no time at all. Does this non-stop auditory beatdown get a bit repetitive? Absolutely, but Hell or High Water Vol. 1 is a concise package (14 tracks spanning a mere 33 minutes) that is delivered with such conviction and dedication to its rage-driven aesthetic that it never lost me for a second.
Hell or High Water Vol. 1 is a refreshing adrenaline rush of an album. They may be comically sophomoric as lyricists and sorely lack any sort of variety, but City Morgue has the explosive delivery, sneaky catchiness and authentic rebel attitude to be the type of group that connects with the millions of pissed-off young people out there that are looking for a musical outlet that reflects and understands their plight. If you're looking for a different type of hip-hop record and/or miss the shameless expletive-screaming, middle finger-waving delights that nu-metal brought to the table, crank this shit up to the highest possible volume and shed a couple of tears for whoever's unsuspecting ears get caught in the crossfire.
Embracing metal-like tendencies isn't exactly uncharted waters for hip-hop. Hell, 6ix9ine-who regularly collaborated with City Morgue's Zillakami in the early stages of his career before they parted ways due to the former's now well-documented guilty plea to a sexual misconduct involving a minor charge back in 2015-has become a star over the past 18 months by utilizing a hyper aggressive sound. However, the difference between City Morgue, their colorful-haired NYC counterpart and quite frankly, everyone else that have drawn inspiration from the more abrasive side of the musical spectrum is that these dudes go full bore insane on every single track they put out. The closest thing Hell or High Water Vol.1 offers to a reprieve from the frenzied yelling deliveries of both rappers (SoSMula, the aforementioned Zillakami) and distorted guitar-and-thumping-drums-driven production from the group's in-house producer Thraxx is a pair of understated guest spots from Black Kray on a couple of the earlier tracks ("Kenpark", "Gravehop187"). Other than those fleeting moments of relative calm, this is an unrelenting dose of pure, seething fury that should make the majority of listeners either want to run through the nearest wall at full speed or question what kind of nefarious force would inspire human beings to create such unpleasant sounds in no time at all. Does this non-stop auditory beatdown get a bit repetitive? Absolutely, but Hell or High Water Vol. 1 is a concise package (14 tracks spanning a mere 33 minutes) that is delivered with such conviction and dedication to its rage-driven aesthetic that it never lost me for a second.
Hell or High Water Vol. 1 is a refreshing adrenaline rush of an album. They may be comically sophomoric as lyricists and sorely lack any sort of variety, but City Morgue has the explosive delivery, sneaky catchiness and authentic rebel attitude to be the type of group that connects with the millions of pissed-off young people out there that are looking for a musical outlet that reflects and understands their plight. If you're looking for a different type of hip-hop record and/or miss the shameless expletive-screaming, middle finger-waving delights that nu-metal brought to the table, crank this shit up to the highest possible volume and shed a couple of tears for whoever's unsuspecting ears get caught in the crossfire.
Grade: B
Standout Tracks
1.33rd Blak Glass
2.SK8 Head
3.Gravehop 187
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
As We Proceed Episode #27
On this condensed Halloween episode, special guest Hugh Stackman joins Feliciano and I to review Chance the Rapper and Austin Vesley's horror comedy Slice. Check out this lively discussion about this future cinematic classic below:
Soundcloud:
YouTube:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/as-we-proceed/id1122163104?mt=2
Soundcloud:
YouTube:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/as-we-proceed/id1122163104?mt=2
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Week 7 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers (2018 Edition)
Quarterback
MVP: Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs)
Mahomes mania continued on Sunday. The 2nd-year phenom lit up an overmatched Bengals defense for 403 total YDS (358 passing, 45 rushing) and 4 TD in a laugher of a primetime game. If he can sustain the absurd pace he's currently on (2,443 total YDS and 24 TD's through 7 games) for the rest of the season, he's a lock to be the fantasy and real life MVP.
Honorable Mentions: Mitch Trubisky (Bears), Cam Newton (Panthers), Andrew Luck (Colts)
LVP: Andy Dalton (Bengals)
On the other side of the field at Arrowhead, Dalton posted yet another dud in front of a national audience, registering a sad 148 YDS, 1 TD and 1 INT against the Chiefs abysmal defense. The Bengals longtime starter has a sensational opportunity to bounce back against an even worse Bucs D at home in the cozy, pressure-free 1:00 slot.
Dishonorable Mentions: Deshaun Watson (Texans), Blake Bortles (Jaguars), Jared Goff (Rams)
Running Back
MVP: Kareem Hunt (Chiefs)
Hunt had the honor of being the absurdly deep and lethal Chiefs offense's centerpiece this week. The sophomore back had an amazing day that included 141 scrimmage YDS (86 rushing, 55 receiving) 3 TD's (1 rushing, 2 receiving) and the most eye-popping hurdle I've seen all season long. While his yardage hasn't been consistent (he's failed to get 95 scrimmage YDS in 4 of 7 games), Hunt's regular visits to the endzone (9 TD's) and trio of 140+ YD explosions have made him a top-tier RB1 thus far.
Honorable Mentions: Marlon Mack (Colts), Todd Gurley (Rams), James White (Patriots)
LVP: Ezekiel Elliott (Cowboys)
Zeke's roller coaster 2018 season continued in Week 7. A greatly improved Redskins D had all the answers for Elliott, as he registered only 42 scrimmage YDS (33 rushing, 9 receiving) on 17 touches. Despite his occasional missteps, Elliott has been terrific for the bulk of the season and even with the acquisition of Amari Cooper, he should continue to thrive on this vertically-challenged team when they return to the field in Week 9 to face the Titans.
Dishonorable Mentions: Corey Clement (Eagles), Mark Ingram (Saints), Joe Mixon (Bengals)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Emmanuel Sanders (Broncos)
Sanders had himself quite the diverse offensive explosion this week, reeling in 6 catches for 102 YDS and a TD while adding a 28-YD TD pass on a trick play to rookie Cortland Sutton, in a comically lopsided victory over the Cardinals last Thursday. Sanders has been the receiver to own on the Broncos this year and his value will only go up if Demaryius Thomas gets dealt before next week's trade deadline.
Honorable Mentions: Odell Beckham Jr. (Giants), John Brown (Ravens), Adam Thielen (Vikings)
LVP: Allen Robinson (Bears)
Bears wide receivers were extremely quiet against the Patriots and the $42 million man was arguably the most silent. Chicago's top wideout only ended up with a single catch for 4 YDS on 5 targets in a bizzaro 38-31 loss at Solider Field on Sunday. Robinson has been average-to-above average for most of the year so far and will be a shaky WR3 against the Jets this week.
Dishonorable Mentions: Tyler Boyd (Bengals), Marvin Jones Jr. (Lions), Taylor Gabriel (Bears)
Tight End
MVP: Trey Burton (Bears)
While Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Anthony Miller were all MIA, Burton was making plays all game long. The Patriots lumbering defense simply got torched by Mitch Trubisky's top intermediate passing option, as he reeled in 9 catches for 126 YDS and a TD. Trubisky's continued struggles in the deep passing game could allow Burton to become even more involved in the offense as the latter half of the season rapidly approaches.
Honorable Mentions: George Kittle (49ers), Zach Ertz (Eagles), David Njoku (Browns)
LVP: Kyle Rudolph (Vikings)
Rudolph put up a vintage statline, catching a single pass for just 16 YDS in a Week 7 win over the Jets. Even though he's pretty much completely dependent on TD's, Rudolph remains a locked-in starter at this headache-inducing position.
Dishonorable Mentions: Evan Engram (Giants), Cameron Brate (Buccaneers), Eric Ebron (Colts)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Broncos
Apparently all the Broncos defense needed to return to their elite form of 2-3 years ago was to face a dumpster fire of an offense that's helmed by a struggling rookie quarterback. Josh Rosen and co. surrendered 6 sacks, 5 takeaways and 2 TD's to a group that looked pretty lost before they rolled into the desert last Thursday. This total dominance is almost assured to be a flash in the pan and even if it isn't, they're guaranteed to get steamrolled by the Chiefs at Arrowhead this week.
Honorable Mentions: Rams, Colts, Patriots
LVP: Jaguars
While they admittedly were much better than they were in Week 6 against the Cowboys and got put in numerous bad spots courtesy of Blake "the Mad Fumbler" Bortles , the Jags D was still alarmingly quiet against the Texans. The formerly feared group only yielded 1 sack and 0 takeaways against a shaky Deshaun Watson-led offense that had turned the ball over 8 times in their 4 prior games. Todd Wash's crew will look to snap out of this miserable stretch when they take on the similarly underachieving Eagles in London this Sunday morning.
Dishonorable Mentions: Eagles, Ravens, Bears
2018 NFL Power Rankings: Week 8
()=previous ranking
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (7-0) Week 8 opponent: Green Bay Packers
2.(4) Kansas City Chiefs (6-1) Week 8 opponent: Denver Broncos
3.(2) New England Patriots (5-2) Week 8 opponent: Buffalo Bills
4.(3) New Orleans Saints (5-1) Week 8 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
5.(5) Los Angeles Chargers (5-2) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
6.(6) Minnesota Vikings (4-2-1) Week 8 opponent: New Orleans Saints
7.(9) Carolina Panthers (4-2) Week 8 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
8.(7) Baltimore Ravens (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Carolina Panthers
9.(10) Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2-1) Week 8 opponent: Cleveland Browns
10.(8) Cincinnati Bengals (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
11.(12) Green Bay Packers (3-2-1) Week 8 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
12.(22) Houston Texans (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Miami Dolphins
13.(20) Detroit Lions (3-3) Week 8 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
14.(17) Washington Redskins (4-2) Week 8 opponent: New York Giants
15.(13) Miami Dolphins (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Houston Texans
16.(14) Chicago Bears (3-3) Week 8 opponent: New York Jets
17.(11) Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
18.(15) Tennessee Titans (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
19.(19) Seattle Seahawks (3-3) Week 8 opponent: Detroit Lions
20.(21) Atlanta Falcons (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
21.(23) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-3) Week 8 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
22.(16) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
23.(18) Dallas Cowboys (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
24.(26) Denver Broncos (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
25.(24) Cleveland Browns (2-4-1) Week 8 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
26.(25) New York Jets (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Chicago Bears
27.(31) Indianapolis Colts (2-5) Week 8 opponent: Oakland Raiders
28.(27) Buffalo Bills (2-5) Week 8 opponent: New England Patriots
29.(28) New York Giants (1-6) Week 8 opponent: Washington Redskins
30.(29) San Francisco 49ers (1-6) Week 8 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
31.(30) Arizona Cardinals (1-6) Week 8 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
32.(32) Oakland Raiders (1-6) Week 8 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (7-0) Week 8 opponent: Green Bay Packers
2.(4) Kansas City Chiefs (6-1) Week 8 opponent: Denver Broncos
3.(2) New England Patriots (5-2) Week 8 opponent: Buffalo Bills
4.(3) New Orleans Saints (5-1) Week 8 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
5.(5) Los Angeles Chargers (5-2) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
6.(6) Minnesota Vikings (4-2-1) Week 8 opponent: New Orleans Saints
7.(9) Carolina Panthers (4-2) Week 8 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
8.(7) Baltimore Ravens (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Carolina Panthers
9.(10) Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2-1) Week 8 opponent: Cleveland Browns
10.(8) Cincinnati Bengals (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
11.(12) Green Bay Packers (3-2-1) Week 8 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
12.(22) Houston Texans (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Miami Dolphins
13.(20) Detroit Lions (3-3) Week 8 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
14.(17) Washington Redskins (4-2) Week 8 opponent: New York Giants
15.(13) Miami Dolphins (4-3) Week 8 opponent: Houston Texans
16.(14) Chicago Bears (3-3) Week 8 opponent: New York Jets
17.(11) Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
18.(15) Tennessee Titans (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
19.(19) Seattle Seahawks (3-3) Week 8 opponent: Detroit Lions
20.(21) Atlanta Falcons (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
21.(23) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-3) Week 8 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
22.(16) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
23.(18) Dallas Cowboys (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Bye Week
24.(26) Denver Broncos (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
25.(24) Cleveland Browns (2-4-1) Week 8 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
26.(25) New York Jets (3-4) Week 8 opponent: Chicago Bears
27.(31) Indianapolis Colts (2-5) Week 8 opponent: Oakland Raiders
28.(27) Buffalo Bills (2-5) Week 8 opponent: New England Patriots
29.(28) New York Giants (1-6) Week 8 opponent: Washington Redskins
30.(29) San Francisco 49ers (1-6) Week 8 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
31.(30) Arizona Cardinals (1-6) Week 8 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
32.(32) Oakland Raiders (1-6) Week 8 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
Monday, October 22, 2018
Concert Review: Revocation-- Allston, MA-- October 20th, 2018
Lineup: Revocation/Exhumed/Rivers of Nihil/Yaujta
Venue: Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA
Yaujta: Arrived during their last song, so I didn't see enough of their set to have an opinion on them.
Rivers of Nihil: This set was eerily reminiscent of another instance where I saw a progressive/technical death metal band that I'm enamored with (Fallujah) for the first time. The instrumentation was flawless and much of the beautiful, immersive atmosphere of their studio material seamlessly translated to the live setting, but an erratic vocal mix that consistently went in and out prevented them from delivering a performance that lived up to the quality of their records. Since Where Owls Know My Name just came out in March, they should hit the road again soon and I'll keep my fingers crossed that these technical difficulties don't make another unwanted appearance the next time I see them.
Exhumed: Old school death metal has a special place in my heart and while Exhumed has never been a band I've been super into, their full-on, loving embrace of Alice Cooper-esque cornball horror antics makes them a lot of fun to see. I mean these guys have a dude dressed as a surgeon come out with a chainsaw, prop heads and a guitar that shoots sparks to pump the crowd up throughout. What's not to love? In addition to these hilarious schlocky gimmicks, San Jose's most prominent musical export since The Doobie Brothers have an abundance of sick, manic riffs and a visible sense of enthusiasm for their craft that very few bands that came up in that era (early-to-mid 90's) still possess. Bless these gore fiends and may they never lose their zest for delivering gloriously cheesy extreme metal to the masses.
Revocation: Out of the MANY times I've seen them, this is undoubtedly in contention for the best performance I've ever seen from Revocation. Boston's own extreme metal juggernaut are about as consistently precise as they come from a musical standpoint (this show was no exception), so the special quality of this set can entirely be attributed to the setlist selections. The repetition that tends to define their setlists, particularly the cuts from their earlier records, is typically the only issue I have with their live performances. It's almost like they read my petty nitpicky, fanboy mind when they were assembling the set for this tour because there's absolutely no complaints I can levy upon it. With the exception of staples "Madness Opus" and "Witch Trials", every older song they played ("The Blackest Reaches", "Existence is Futile", "Chaos of Forms") was a favorite of mine that I'd never heard them play live before. Of course, this diversity was further bolstered by having material from a brand new record (The Outer Ones-which is yet another spastic, incredibly heavy victory lap for them) to pull from, but I'm going to give them more kudos for them digging deep into their discography and dusting off some of their most elite tracks. Personal enjoyment of the songs being played tends to correlate with how much you enjoy yourself at a concert and Revocation did more than enough to ensure that I had an even better time than I usually do at their shows.
Grades:
Rivers of Nihil: B+
Exhumed: B+
Revocation: A
Setlists:
Rivers of Nihil:
The Silent Life
Monarchy
Death is Real
A Home
Soil & Seed
Exhumed:
In My Human Slaughterhouse
Limb from Limb
Necrocracy
Night Work
Torso
Slaughtercult
Guitar Solo
Forged in Fire (Formed in Flame)
Waxwork
Death Revenge
Deadest of the Dead
The Boys are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy cover)
Open the Abscess
Revocation:
The Outer Ones
Of Unworldly Origin
Madness Opus
Blood Atonement
Communion
The Blackest Reaches
Ex Nihilo
Existence is Futile
Chaos of Forms
Only the Spineless Survive
Witch Trials
Venue: Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA
Yaujta: Arrived during their last song, so I didn't see enough of their set to have an opinion on them.
Rivers of Nihil: This set was eerily reminiscent of another instance where I saw a progressive/technical death metal band that I'm enamored with (Fallujah) for the first time. The instrumentation was flawless and much of the beautiful, immersive atmosphere of their studio material seamlessly translated to the live setting, but an erratic vocal mix that consistently went in and out prevented them from delivering a performance that lived up to the quality of their records. Since Where Owls Know My Name just came out in March, they should hit the road again soon and I'll keep my fingers crossed that these technical difficulties don't make another unwanted appearance the next time I see them.
Exhumed: Old school death metal has a special place in my heart and while Exhumed has never been a band I've been super into, their full-on, loving embrace of Alice Cooper-esque cornball horror antics makes them a lot of fun to see. I mean these guys have a dude dressed as a surgeon come out with a chainsaw, prop heads and a guitar that shoots sparks to pump the crowd up throughout. What's not to love? In addition to these hilarious schlocky gimmicks, San Jose's most prominent musical export since The Doobie Brothers have an abundance of sick, manic riffs and a visible sense of enthusiasm for their craft that very few bands that came up in that era (early-to-mid 90's) still possess. Bless these gore fiends and may they never lose their zest for delivering gloriously cheesy extreme metal to the masses.
Revocation: Out of the MANY times I've seen them, this is undoubtedly in contention for the best performance I've ever seen from Revocation. Boston's own extreme metal juggernaut are about as consistently precise as they come from a musical standpoint (this show was no exception), so the special quality of this set can entirely be attributed to the setlist selections. The repetition that tends to define their setlists, particularly the cuts from their earlier records, is typically the only issue I have with their live performances. It's almost like they read my petty nitpicky, fanboy mind when they were assembling the set for this tour because there's absolutely no complaints I can levy upon it. With the exception of staples "Madness Opus" and "Witch Trials", every older song they played ("The Blackest Reaches", "Existence is Futile", "Chaos of Forms") was a favorite of mine that I'd never heard them play live before. Of course, this diversity was further bolstered by having material from a brand new record (The Outer Ones-which is yet another spastic, incredibly heavy victory lap for them) to pull from, but I'm going to give them more kudos for them digging deep into their discography and dusting off some of their most elite tracks. Personal enjoyment of the songs being played tends to correlate with how much you enjoy yourself at a concert and Revocation did more than enough to ensure that I had an even better time than I usually do at their shows.
Grades:
Rivers of Nihil: B+
Exhumed: B+
Revocation: A
Setlists:
Rivers of Nihil:
The Silent Life
Monarchy
Death is Real
A Home
Soil & Seed
Exhumed:
In My Human Slaughterhouse
Limb from Limb
Necrocracy
Night Work
Torso
Slaughtercult
Guitar Solo
Forged in Fire (Formed in Flame)
Waxwork
Death Revenge
Deadest of the Dead
The Boys are Back in Town (Thin Lizzy cover)
Open the Abscess
Revocation:
The Outer Ones
Of Unworldly Origin
Madness Opus
Blood Atonement
Communion
The Blackest Reaches
Ex Nihilo
Existence is Futile
Chaos of Forms
Only the Spineless Survive
Witch Trials
Thursday, October 18, 2018
The Best and Worst of Judy Greer
“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career
highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's
new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography
of “Halloween” star Judy Greer.
Films starring Judy Greer that I've seen:
Three Kings
Adaptation
The Hebrew Hammer
The Village
Love & Other Drugs
The Descendants
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Tomorrowland
Entourage
Jurassic World
Ant-Man
Grandma
Wilson
War for the Planet of the Apes
Our Souls at Night
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Best Performance: The Descendants (2011)
This role made me realize the full extent of Greer's potential as an actor. As the partner of the man (Matthew Lillard) who had an affair with Honolulu lawyer Matt King's (George Clooney) wife before she entered a coma following a boating accident, Greer gives a devastatingly heartful turn in only about 10-15 minutes of screentime.
Worst Performance: Jurassic World (2015)
Odds are if your name isn't Chris Pratt, you turned in a stinky performance in this gleefully stupid Jurassic Park reboot. While Greer didn't fare quite as badly as her on-screen children (Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins) or sister (Bryce Dallas Howard), her few scenes are still pretty painful to watch as she seems pretty unenthused about the dinosaur pandemonium occurring on Isla Nublar.
Best Film: The Descendants (2011)
While it's definitely guilty of being a little too melodramatic at points, The Descendants is still an excellent movie with a lot of heart and magnificent, multi-faceted performances from George Clooney, Greer and Shailene Woodley-who I 1000% would've voted for if I had an Oscar vote for Best Supporting Actress.
Worst Film: Tomorrowland (2015)
To be honest, I don't remember much about Tomorrowland. This is probably due to the fact that I couldn't care less about anything or anyone that graced the screen over the course of this convoluted, overlong first ballot Sleepytime Cinema Hall of Fame entry.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Suspiria” star Tilda Swinton.
Films starring Judy Greer that I've seen:
Three Kings
Adaptation
The Hebrew Hammer
The Village
Love & Other Drugs
The Descendants
Jeff, Who Lives at Home
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Tomorrowland
Entourage
Jurassic World
Ant-Man
Grandma
Wilson
War for the Planet of the Apes
Our Souls at Night
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Best Performance: The Descendants (2011)
This role made me realize the full extent of Greer's potential as an actor. As the partner of the man (Matthew Lillard) who had an affair with Honolulu lawyer Matt King's (George Clooney) wife before she entered a coma following a boating accident, Greer gives a devastatingly heartful turn in only about 10-15 minutes of screentime.
Worst Performance: Jurassic World (2015)
Odds are if your name isn't Chris Pratt, you turned in a stinky performance in this gleefully stupid Jurassic Park reboot. While Greer didn't fare quite as badly as her on-screen children (Nick Robinson, Ty Simpkins) or sister (Bryce Dallas Howard), her few scenes are still pretty painful to watch as she seems pretty unenthused about the dinosaur pandemonium occurring on Isla Nublar.
Best Film: The Descendants (2011)
While it's definitely guilty of being a little too melodramatic at points, The Descendants is still an excellent movie with a lot of heart and magnificent, multi-faceted performances from George Clooney, Greer and Shailene Woodley-who I 1000% would've voted for if I had an Oscar vote for Best Supporting Actress.
Worst Film: Tomorrowland (2015)
To be honest, I don't remember much about Tomorrowland. This is probably due to the fact that I couldn't care less about anything or anyone that graced the screen over the course of this convoluted, overlong first ballot Sleepytime Cinema Hall of Fame entry.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Suspiria” star Tilda Swinton.
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Concert Review: Kali Uchis--Boston, MA-- October 16th, 2018
Lineup: Kali Uchis/Gabriel Garzon-Montano
Venue: House of Blues, Boston, MA
Gabriel Garzon-Montano: Comparing a young artist to an immortal icon is something I try to avoid doing, but in this case, I just can't. Within 90 seconds of the start of Gabriel Garzon-Montano's set, I was overwhelmed by the similarities between him and Prince. Montano is a multi-instrumentalist (he shifted between guitar and keyboard last night, but plays a ton more instruments on record) whose music featured funky baselines, soulful vocals, the occasional shredding guitar solo that seemingly came out of nowhere and an overwhelming aura of sensuality. Even his vibrant-colored wardrobe and mannerisms were reminiscent of the Purple One. Regardless of the Prince parallels, Montano is a super talented musician with an electric stage presence and that powerful, starmaking combination made his performance an unexpected delight.
Kali Uchis: Indulgent pre-review rambling time! I honestly hadn't heard of Kali Uchis until she was announced as one of the openers for Lana Del Rey's most recent US/Canadian headlining tour late last year. Fast forward to early May of this year when a wave of excellent WOM convinced me to give her long-anticipated debut LP Isolation a listen. After a handful of spins, it completely hooked me. Her willingness to infuse a variety of decades-spanning influences (reggaetón, jazz, soul, trip hop, doo-wop) with more traditional pop/R&B sensibilities along with her lush yet powerful voice has made Isolation a standout that is easily among my favorite records of 2018 thus far. The prime spot Isolation has carved out in my music listening rotation over the past five months was enough to convince me to go see her live and by the end of the night, I came away with an even stronger admiration of Uchis than I had going in.
Like her studio material, Uchis' performance was very low key. The bulk of her interactions with the crowd came through the dance moves she busted out during the breaks in the song where she wasn't singing and her backdrop was limited to some colored lights. Minimalism might've defined the stage setup and general atmosphere, but the end result was anything but. This was the type of performance that sneaks up and floors you before you've even had time to fully process what you're experiencing.
I can't possibly put enough of an emphasis on how vital of a role her live backing band played in affirming the strength of this performance. They pulled out extended instrumental jams during the spots where the guest artists are on the studio versions, allowed for the tempos of certain songs to be rearranged (most notably "In My Dreams" and "Miami"-which were delivered in a borderline acoustic fashion) and allowed the backing vocal tracks to be reduced to the bare minimum. All of these seemingly small things allowed Uchis' hauntingly beautiful vocals to get the shine they deserved, which in turn made this set a home run.
As I'm writing this roughly 16 hours after the conclusion of the show, I'm still in complete awe. I love an over-the-top spectacle more than most, but a subdued display of talent and artistry like this is every bit as satisfying and memorable. Uchis has all the tools to become a bona fide superstar in due time and I'm just thrilled that I got to see her perform in a relatively intimate venue before that probable ascent occurs.
Grades:
Gabriel Garzon-Montano: B+
Kali Uchis: A
Setlists:
Gabriel Garzon-Montano included:
Golden Wings (opener)
Crawl
Sour Mango
Fruitflies
Keep on Running (closer)
Kali Uchis (order may be off):
Dead to Me
Never Be Alone
Tomorrow
I Feel Love (Donna Summer cover)
Todos me miran (Gloria Trevi cover)
Tyrant
Loner
Flight 22
Feel Like A Fool
Your Teeth in My Neck
Nuestro Planeta
In My Dreams
Miami
Killer
Just a Stranger
Gotta Get Up
After the Strom
Encore:
Ridin' Round
Venue: House of Blues, Boston, MA
Gabriel Garzon-Montano: Comparing a young artist to an immortal icon is something I try to avoid doing, but in this case, I just can't. Within 90 seconds of the start of Gabriel Garzon-Montano's set, I was overwhelmed by the similarities between him and Prince. Montano is a multi-instrumentalist (he shifted between guitar and keyboard last night, but plays a ton more instruments on record) whose music featured funky baselines, soulful vocals, the occasional shredding guitar solo that seemingly came out of nowhere and an overwhelming aura of sensuality. Even his vibrant-colored wardrobe and mannerisms were reminiscent of the Purple One. Regardless of the Prince parallels, Montano is a super talented musician with an electric stage presence and that powerful, starmaking combination made his performance an unexpected delight.
Kali Uchis: Indulgent pre-review rambling time! I honestly hadn't heard of Kali Uchis until she was announced as one of the openers for Lana Del Rey's most recent US/Canadian headlining tour late last year. Fast forward to early May of this year when a wave of excellent WOM convinced me to give her long-anticipated debut LP Isolation a listen. After a handful of spins, it completely hooked me. Her willingness to infuse a variety of decades-spanning influences (reggaetón, jazz, soul, trip hop, doo-wop) with more traditional pop/R&B sensibilities along with her lush yet powerful voice has made Isolation a standout that is easily among my favorite records of 2018 thus far. The prime spot Isolation has carved out in my music listening rotation over the past five months was enough to convince me to go see her live and by the end of the night, I came away with an even stronger admiration of Uchis than I had going in.
Like her studio material, Uchis' performance was very low key. The bulk of her interactions with the crowd came through the dance moves she busted out during the breaks in the song where she wasn't singing and her backdrop was limited to some colored lights. Minimalism might've defined the stage setup and general atmosphere, but the end result was anything but. This was the type of performance that sneaks up and floors you before you've even had time to fully process what you're experiencing.
I can't possibly put enough of an emphasis on how vital of a role her live backing band played in affirming the strength of this performance. They pulled out extended instrumental jams during the spots where the guest artists are on the studio versions, allowed for the tempos of certain songs to be rearranged (most notably "In My Dreams" and "Miami"-which were delivered in a borderline acoustic fashion) and allowed the backing vocal tracks to be reduced to the bare minimum. All of these seemingly small things allowed Uchis' hauntingly beautiful vocals to get the shine they deserved, which in turn made this set a home run.
As I'm writing this roughly 16 hours after the conclusion of the show, I'm still in complete awe. I love an over-the-top spectacle more than most, but a subdued display of talent and artistry like this is every bit as satisfying and memorable. Uchis has all the tools to become a bona fide superstar in due time and I'm just thrilled that I got to see her perform in a relatively intimate venue before that probable ascent occurs.
Grades:
Gabriel Garzon-Montano: B+
Kali Uchis: A
Setlists:
Gabriel Garzon-Montano included:
Golden Wings (opener)
Crawl
Sour Mango
Fruitflies
Keep on Running (closer)
Kali Uchis (order may be off):
Dead to Me
Never Be Alone
Tomorrow
I Feel Love (Donna Summer cover)
Todos me miran (Gloria Trevi cover)
Tyrant
Loner
Flight 22
Feel Like A Fool
Your Teeth in My Neck
Nuestro Planeta
In My Dreams
Miami
Killer
Just a Stranger
Gotta Get Up
After the Strom
Encore:
Ridin' Round
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
2018 NFL Power Rankings: Week 7
()=previous ranking
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (6-0) Week 7 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
2.(4) New England Patriots (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Chicago Bears
3.(3) New Orleans Saints (4-1) Week 7 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
4.(2) Kansas City Chiefs (5-1) Week 7 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
5.(10) Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Tennessee Titans
6.(8) Minnesota Vikings (3-2-1) Week 7 opponent: New York Jets
7.(13) Baltimore Ravens (4-2) Week 7 opponent: New Orleans Saints
8.(7) Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
9.(6) Carolina Panthers (3-2) Week 7 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
10.(14) Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2-1) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
11.(12) Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Carolina Panthers
12.(15) Green Bay Packers (3-2-1) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
13.(16) Miami Dolphins (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Detroit Lions
14.(11) Chicago Bears (3-2) Week 7 opponent: New England Patriots
15.(9) Tennessee Titans (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers
16.(5) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Houston Texans
17.(19) Washington Redskins (3-2) Week 7 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
18.(24) Dallas Cowboys (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Washington Redskins
19.(21) Seattle Seahawks (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
20.(20) Detroit Lions (2-3) Week 7 opponent: Miami Dolphins
21.(22) Atlanta Falcons (2-4) Week 7 opponent: New York Giants
22.(23) Houston Texans (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
23.(18) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3) Week 7 opponent: Cleveland Browns
24.(17) Cleveland Browns (2-3-1) Week 7 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
25.(26) New York Jets (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
26.(25) Denver Broncos (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
27.(28) Buffalo Bills (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
28.(27) New York Giants (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
29.(32) San Francisco 49ers (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
30.(29) Arizona Cardinals (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Denver Broncos
31.(31) Indianapolis Colts (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Buffalo Bills
32.(30) Oakland Raiders (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (6-0) Week 7 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
2.(4) New England Patriots (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Chicago Bears
3.(3) New Orleans Saints (4-1) Week 7 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
4.(2) Kansas City Chiefs (5-1) Week 7 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
5.(10) Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Tennessee Titans
6.(8) Minnesota Vikings (3-2-1) Week 7 opponent: New York Jets
7.(13) Baltimore Ravens (4-2) Week 7 opponent: New Orleans Saints
8.(7) Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
9.(6) Carolina Panthers (3-2) Week 7 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
10.(14) Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2-1) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
11.(12) Philadelphia Eagles (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Carolina Panthers
12.(15) Green Bay Packers (3-2-1) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
13.(16) Miami Dolphins (4-2) Week 7 opponent: Detroit Lions
14.(11) Chicago Bears (3-2) Week 7 opponent: New England Patriots
15.(9) Tennessee Titans (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers
16.(5) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Houston Texans
17.(19) Washington Redskins (3-2) Week 7 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
18.(24) Dallas Cowboys (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Washington Redskins
19.(21) Seattle Seahawks (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
20.(20) Detroit Lions (2-3) Week 7 opponent: Miami Dolphins
21.(22) Atlanta Falcons (2-4) Week 7 opponent: New York Giants
22.(23) Houston Texans (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
23.(18) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-3) Week 7 opponent: Cleveland Browns
24.(17) Cleveland Browns (2-3-1) Week 7 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
25.(26) New York Jets (3-3) Week 7 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
26.(25) Denver Broncos (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
27.(28) Buffalo Bills (2-4) Week 7 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
28.(27) New York Giants (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
29.(32) San Francisco 49ers (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
30.(29) Arizona Cardinals (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Denver Broncos
31.(31) Indianapolis Colts (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Buffalo Bills
32.(30) Oakland Raiders (1-5) Week 7 opponent: Bye Week
Week 6 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers (2018 Edition)
Quarterback
MVP: Jameis Winston (Buccaneers)
Winston's return to the starting lineup went pretty much as expected. The 4th year pro posted 426 total YDS, 4 passing TD's and of course, 2 INT's against the Falcons injury-ravaged defense in another tough shootout loss for the reeling Bucs. He'll look to keep things rolling against an inconsistent Browns defense in Week 7.
Honorable Mentions: Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Matt Ryan (Falcons), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
LVP: Deshaun Watson (Texans)
The Texans are lucky that Nathan Peterman was forced into the game early in the 4th quarter because their QB did everything in his power to cost them the game against the Bills. Watson threw for 177 YDS, a TD and turned the ball over 3 times (2 INT's and a lost fumble) on an afternoon he'd definitely like to forget as soon as possible. The sophomore signalcaller has been kind of a mess thus far and even against a Jaguars D that just got embarrassed by the Cowboys, there's no guarantee he'll right the ship this Sunday.
Dishonorable Mentions: Jared Goff (Rams), Blake Bortles (Jaguars), Baker Mayfield (Browns)
Running Back
MVP: Todd Gurley (Rams)
Wintry conditions in Denver on Sunday forced the Rams to lean on Todd Gurley even more than they usually do and boy did he deliver. Gurley netted 208 rushing YDS and 2 TD's as the Rams improved to 6-0 on the season with a 23-20 win over the Broncos. 2018's near-universal #1 overall fantasy pick has more than lived up to that elite designation so far and his consistent box score stuffing should continue this week against a below-average 49ers defense.
Honorable Mentions: Melvin Gordon (Chargers), Saquon Barkley (Giants), James Conner (Steelers)
LVP: Carlos Hyde (Browns)
A combination of game flow and the Chargers quietly respectable run defense forced Hyde to have a very quiet day on Sunday (34 rushing YDS on 14 carries). With Duke Johnson Jr. getting back into the rotation as the primary pass-catcher out of the backfield over the past couple of weeks, Hyde's fantasy value appears to be trending in a downward direction.
Dishonorable Mentions: Jordan Howard (Bears), Dion Lewis (Titans), Aaron Jones (Packers)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Tyreek Hill (Chiefs)
Outside of getting a beer thrown in his face by a Patriots fan, Hill had himself quite the night at Gillette Stadium. The Pats questionable group of defensive backs had absolutely no answers for the Chiefs speedster as he registered 142 YDS and 3 scores on 7 receptions. Hill could be in line for another huge performance when he squares off against an erratic Bengals secondary this Sunday night.
Honorable Mentions: Davante Adams (Packers), Alshon Jeffrey (Eagles), Adam Thielen (Vikings)
LVP: Jarvis Landry (Browns)
It was another disappearing act for the Browns top wideout on Sunday as he pulled in just 2 receptions for a paltry 11 YDS against the Chargers. Landry has been wildly ineffective since Baker Mayfield took over as the starting quarterback, but he has an excellent chance to break out of this slump against the Buccaneers laughable pass D in Week 7.
Dishonorable Mentions: Cooper Kupp (Rams), Sammy Watkins (Chiefs), John Brown (Ravens)
Tight End
MVP: Austin Hooper (Falcons)
Hooper was a prominent part of the Falcons passing attack in Sunday's win over the Buccaneers, reeling in 9 catches for 71 YDS and a TD. This was Hooper's 2nd straight 70+ YD performance and he should remain on the starting radar at this nauseatingly thin position for a Week 7 tilt against the Giants.
Honorable Mentions: Eric Ebron (Colts), O.J. Howard (Buccaneers), David Njoku (Browns)
LVP: Jared Cook (Raiders)
Even with Amari Cooper exiting early in the 2nd quarter with a concussion, Cook failed to get anything going against the Seahawks. Cook mustered a mere 10 YDS on 2 receptions on a day where Derek Carr looked like he had never started a game in the NFL before. While Cook has been pretty unremarkable outside of his 100+YD explosions in Week 1 and 4, he's still locked in as a low-end TE1.
Dishonorable Mentions: George Kittle (49ers), Jordan Reed (Redskins), Kyle Rudolph (Vikings)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Ravens
This was the type of performance that makes you do a double take. The putrid Titans offense were absolutely terrorized by the Ravens defense in a 21-0 loss on a rainy day in Nashville. While they didn't force any turnovers, Don Martindale's group managed to post a franchise-record 11 sacks and allow only 173 YDS of total offense on the day. Outside of a dismal week 2 performance against the Bengals, the Ravens D has been excellent in 2018 and can be trusted to perform in just about any matchup.
Honorable Mentions: Texans, Vikings, Chargers
LVP: Jaguars
Sunday was a simply puzzling performance by the Jags. They allowed 40 points against a Cowboys offense that had frequently struggled to move the ball, let alone score points prior to this game. Not exactly the type of thing you'd expect from a defense that was ranked in the top 3 in both scoring and pass defense only a couple of weeks ago. The unit formerly known as Sacksonville will look to stop the bleeding against the Texans talented yet sloppy offense on Sunday.
Dishonorable Mentions: Bears, Titans, Panthers
MVP: Jameis Winston (Buccaneers)
Winston's return to the starting lineup went pretty much as expected. The 4th year pro posted 426 total YDS, 4 passing TD's and of course, 2 INT's against the Falcons injury-ravaged defense in another tough shootout loss for the reeling Bucs. He'll look to keep things rolling against an inconsistent Browns defense in Week 7.
Honorable Mentions: Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs), Matt Ryan (Falcons), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
LVP: Deshaun Watson (Texans)
The Texans are lucky that Nathan Peterman was forced into the game early in the 4th quarter because their QB did everything in his power to cost them the game against the Bills. Watson threw for 177 YDS, a TD and turned the ball over 3 times (2 INT's and a lost fumble) on an afternoon he'd definitely like to forget as soon as possible. The sophomore signalcaller has been kind of a mess thus far and even against a Jaguars D that just got embarrassed by the Cowboys, there's no guarantee he'll right the ship this Sunday.
Dishonorable Mentions: Jared Goff (Rams), Blake Bortles (Jaguars), Baker Mayfield (Browns)
Running Back
MVP: Todd Gurley (Rams)
Wintry conditions in Denver on Sunday forced the Rams to lean on Todd Gurley even more than they usually do and boy did he deliver. Gurley netted 208 rushing YDS and 2 TD's as the Rams improved to 6-0 on the season with a 23-20 win over the Broncos. 2018's near-universal #1 overall fantasy pick has more than lived up to that elite designation so far and his consistent box score stuffing should continue this week against a below-average 49ers defense.
Honorable Mentions: Melvin Gordon (Chargers), Saquon Barkley (Giants), James Conner (Steelers)
LVP: Carlos Hyde (Browns)
A combination of game flow and the Chargers quietly respectable run defense forced Hyde to have a very quiet day on Sunday (34 rushing YDS on 14 carries). With Duke Johnson Jr. getting back into the rotation as the primary pass-catcher out of the backfield over the past couple of weeks, Hyde's fantasy value appears to be trending in a downward direction.
Dishonorable Mentions: Jordan Howard (Bears), Dion Lewis (Titans), Aaron Jones (Packers)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Tyreek Hill (Chiefs)
Outside of getting a beer thrown in his face by a Patriots fan, Hill had himself quite the night at Gillette Stadium. The Pats questionable group of defensive backs had absolutely no answers for the Chiefs speedster as he registered 142 YDS and 3 scores on 7 receptions. Hill could be in line for another huge performance when he squares off against an erratic Bengals secondary this Sunday night.
Honorable Mentions: Davante Adams (Packers), Alshon Jeffrey (Eagles), Adam Thielen (Vikings)
LVP: Jarvis Landry (Browns)
It was another disappearing act for the Browns top wideout on Sunday as he pulled in just 2 receptions for a paltry 11 YDS against the Chargers. Landry has been wildly ineffective since Baker Mayfield took over as the starting quarterback, but he has an excellent chance to break out of this slump against the Buccaneers laughable pass D in Week 7.
Dishonorable Mentions: Cooper Kupp (Rams), Sammy Watkins (Chiefs), John Brown (Ravens)
Tight End
MVP: Austin Hooper (Falcons)
Hooper was a prominent part of the Falcons passing attack in Sunday's win over the Buccaneers, reeling in 9 catches for 71 YDS and a TD. This was Hooper's 2nd straight 70+ YD performance and he should remain on the starting radar at this nauseatingly thin position for a Week 7 tilt against the Giants.
Honorable Mentions: Eric Ebron (Colts), O.J. Howard (Buccaneers), David Njoku (Browns)
LVP: Jared Cook (Raiders)
Even with Amari Cooper exiting early in the 2nd quarter with a concussion, Cook failed to get anything going against the Seahawks. Cook mustered a mere 10 YDS on 2 receptions on a day where Derek Carr looked like he had never started a game in the NFL before. While Cook has been pretty unremarkable outside of his 100+YD explosions in Week 1 and 4, he's still locked in as a low-end TE1.
Dishonorable Mentions: George Kittle (49ers), Jordan Reed (Redskins), Kyle Rudolph (Vikings)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Ravens
This was the type of performance that makes you do a double take. The putrid Titans offense were absolutely terrorized by the Ravens defense in a 21-0 loss on a rainy day in Nashville. While they didn't force any turnovers, Don Martindale's group managed to post a franchise-record 11 sacks and allow only 173 YDS of total offense on the day. Outside of a dismal week 2 performance against the Bengals, the Ravens D has been excellent in 2018 and can be trusted to perform in just about any matchup.
Honorable Mentions: Texans, Vikings, Chargers
LVP: Jaguars
Sunday was a simply puzzling performance by the Jags. They allowed 40 points against a Cowboys offense that had frequently struggled to move the ball, let alone score points prior to this game. Not exactly the type of thing you'd expect from a defense that was ranked in the top 3 in both scoring and pass defense only a couple of weeks ago. The unit formerly known as Sacksonville will look to stop the bleeding against the Texans talented yet sloppy offense on Sunday.
Dishonorable Mentions: Bears, Titans, Panthers
Monday, October 15, 2018
2018-19 NBA Preview and Predictions
Eastern Conference:
1.Boston Celtics: The Celtics were 1 game away from the NBA Finals without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward last season. With those 2 All-Stars (presumably) healthy to start the year, LeBron leaving Cleveland for LA and a deep bench that is loaded with players that come in and change the tone of a game on a whim (Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Aron Baynes, Marcus Morris), the East is theirs to lose.
2.Philadelphia 76ers: 2017-18 was a valuable learning experience for this young Sixers squad as "The Process" finally yielded some results (a 52-30 season that included a nice playoff series win over a resilient, well-coached Heat squad). With the bulk of their key contributors returning, this year should prove to be even better for Brett Brown's team. Health is obviously a concern with a lot of their young players, but as long as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons can stay on the court, this team's high-octane offense, solid defense and numerous bench pests gives them the best chance of posing a threat to the Celtics.
3.Toronto Raptors: If he stays healthy and engaged throughout this season, Kawhi Leonard will be a scary addition to a Raptors squad that has wreaked havoc during the regular season for the past half-decade. However, I don't know if Leonard and a new coach (Nick Nurse) that was promoted from within will be enough to break this organization's baffling trend of crumbling in the playoffs.
4.Indiana Pacers: Last year's surprise team in the East is an excellent position to improve in 2018-19. Veteran free agent signings Tyreke Evans and Doug McDermott should help sure up their 2nd unit scoring, Nate McMillan knows how to get these guys to play smart and hard on a nightly basis and if the preseason is any indication, Victor Oladpio's sensational 2017-18 campaign wasn't a fluke. This team should be a serious thorn in the side to every other potential contender in this conference.
5.Miami Heat: While GM Pat Riley has put them in a less-than-ideal position to land a true star or build for the future by handing out bad value contracts to guys like Hassan Whiteside, Dion Waiters and Tyler Johnson, Erik Spolestra should be able to work enough magic to get this sizable band of nice, 2-way role players back to the playoffs.
6.Milwaukee Bucks: It wouldn't stun me if the Bucks suddenly shot into the upon echelon of this conference under the guidance of new coach Mike Budenholzer-who took a similarly talented Hawks team to the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2014-15. However, the guys on this high-ceiling roster outside of Giannis and Khris Middleton have had a hard time consistently playing up to their potential thus far. That inconsistency combined with their continued lack of outside shooting and toughness on the interior (I'd be flabbergasted if new starting center Brook Lopez ended up fixing this issue) should continue to hold them back, regardless of who the coach is.
7.Cleveland Cavaliers: Their run of 4 straight finals appearance may be guaranteed to come to a close, but I honestly think the LeBron-less Cavs are going back to the playoffs this year. The bottom of the East is a god damn mess and the sense of continuity among the returning veteran corps (Kevin Love, Tristian Thompson, J.R Smith, Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Korver, Larry Nance) should help them rise above the rest of the average-to-below average teams fighting for the final 2 playoff spots.
8.Detroit Pistons: Dwane Casey was an excellent coaching hire for this perennially mediocre team and despite his well-documented struggles in the postseason, he has a good shoot of maximizing the production of this intriguing yet oddly-constructed roster that isn't versatile enough to play positionless basketball or physical enough to play old-school, pick-and-roll basketball. I certainly wouldn't bet on them making the playoffs, but I'll take a Casey-coached team with Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson in its starting lineup over the rest of the scrap heap.
9.Washington Wizards: The Wizards offseason was honestly hilarious. For some inexplicable reason, the front office decided that what this wildly talented yet internally troubled team needed to improve upon a disappointing 2017-18 season where they barely squeaked into the playoffs was to add Hall of Fame headcases Dwight Howard and Austin Rivers to the fold. Stay tuned for the 1st rough patch of the season where Howard, Rivers, John Wall, Markeef Morris and Kelly Oubre get into an all-out brawl in the locker room.
10.Charlotte Hornets: Dreadful cap management from years past continues to prevent them from being able to bring in some more scorers, but Kemba Walker's proven playmaking ability is enough to place the Hornets slightly ahead of the East's other rebuilding teams.
11.Chicago Bulls: Even with Lauri Markkanen on the shelf until at least mid-to-late November, this Bulls squad looks like its going to be electric on the offensive end. Zach LaVine should be much more explosive around the rim now that he's a year removed from a Achilles tear, 2016 lottery pick Kris Dunn will look to build off a very promising inaugural season as a starting point guard and free agent pickup Jabari Parker has shown flashes of dominance in between the 62,000 major injuries he's suffered over the course of his professional career thus far. Their youth makes them really raw and outside of Bobby Portis, they have no proven, quality defenders ready to suit up on Opening Night, but they're going to score a lot of buckets and do so with ample pizazz.
12.Brooklyn Nets: Optimism continues to slowly build in Brooklyn. They've got some homegrown young pieces that might turn into something special (Jarret Allen, Caris LeVert, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson), their cap flexibility allowed to bring in some more solid veteran role players (Kenneth Faried, Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier) that should help instill some more toughness onto this young roster and D'Angelo Russell might be in-line for a breakout season after turning a lot of heads with his strong performances throughout the offseason program. The likelihood of another slight on-court improvement combined with the fact that they'll finally have their own lottery pick to work with next season will be a nice silver lining as they grind through another 25-30 win season.
13.New York Knicks: I'm interested to see what new coach David Fizdale, who was puzzlingly fired by the Grizzlies early last year, will be able to do with this largely young roster and how effective Kristaps Porzingis can be when he returns from a torn ACL later in the year. Aside from those mildly intriguing storylines, the Knicks are going to be their usually stinky selves and let's not pretend like the higher-ups in the organization are going to be spending most of the year hoping that they'll be able to convince at least 1 star player to sign with them next offseason.
14.Orlando Magic: Shedding the bloated contract of Bismack Biymbo for the slightly less bloated contract of Timofey Mozgov and getting somewhat unpolished yet wildly talented young wing Aaron Gordon to re-sign were huge wins for this rebuilding franchise. That being said, there's still way too many question marks swirling around their young players offensive ability (Jonathan Issac, rookie Mo Bamba) and overall depth to believe this will be the season where they finally start to turn things around.
15.Atlanta Hawks: This season is entirely about gauging the true potential of John Collins, Taurean Prince and Trae Young. These young guns will get an excellent chance to play a ton of minutes alongside a Sacramento Kings-esque supporting cast largely consisting of washed-up veterans (Jeremy Lin, Vince Carter), draft busts (Alex Len, Justin Anderson) and a couple of legimately solid role players that are probably confused why they're still there (Kent Bazemore, Dewayne Dedmon). This exercise won't lead to a ton of wins, but it should prove to the powers that be whether or not this trio of 1st round picks are cornerstone pieces this franchise can build around.
Western Conference:
1.Golden State Warriors: Unless DeMarcus Cousins comes in and ruins all of the chemistry this powerhouse team has built up over the past several years when he returns from his Achilles injury in the latter stages of the season, there's no reason to believe that the Warriors don't have an excellent chance to win their 4th championship in the last 5 seasons.
2.Houston Rockets: Even the abhorrent stench of a washed-up Carmelo Anthony likely won't be enough to screw up the lethal, outside shot-happy scoring machine the Rockets have built since Mike D'Antoni arrived in Houston at the start of the 2016-17 seaso. In fact, the Rockets might actually be better than they were a year ago. James Harden is still an absolute offensive force in the regular season, 33-year old Chris Paul should be able to hit the ground running after undergoing some inevitable growing pains adjusting to this team's shoot-at-will approach in the early stages of last year and newly-acquired forward Marquese Chriss gives them another a much-needed second unit shot-blocking specialist that can patrol the rim when Clint Capela heads to the bench. Still really excited to see exactly when and how Melo kills their season though.
3.Oklahoma City Thunder: Paul George's surprise re-signing, the addition of a starting-caliber veteran point guard Denis Schroder that will bring some much-needed offensive firepower to their second unit and of course, the departure of Carmelo Anthony makes the 2018-19 outlook for the Thunder much rosier than expected. Who knows if the wheels will come off in the playoffs again, but they should finish the regular season near the top of the conference.
4.Los Angeles Lakers: I'm well aware that the Western Conference is a lot deeper than the East and LeBron won't be able to coast to the Finals with minimal resistance for the 9th straight year, but if he can drag the 2017-18 Cavs to within 4 games of winning a title, leading a pretty talented young corps (Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball) and a barrage of the league's meme icons (Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Michael Beasley) to a 47-52 win season and homecourt advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs shouldn't be too difficult.
5.Utah Jazz: The Jazz aren't the flashiest or most dynamic team in the world, but Quin Snyder is an underrated coach that has proven he can maximize the productivity of every player on the roster and Donovan Mitchell is one of the most exciting, gutsy young playmakers in the league. They could easily end up as high as #3 if they end up overachieving on the offensive end of the floor.
6.Portland Trail Blazers: Last year's debacle against the Pelicans further proved that the Blazers are the West's version of the Raptors. Despite this latest soul-crushing playoff letdown and lack of needle-moving additions to contend with the other teams that are hanging out in the back half of the Western Conference hierarchy (Lakers, Nuggets, Spurs, Mavericks), their deadly backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum will more than likely prevent them from missing out on postseason action entirely.
7.Denver Nuggets: I've been enamored with this team for years now and I'm not going to stop making this proclamation until it actually happens: the Nuggets are going to make the playoffs this year! Bizarre fixations and the biases that come with them aside, this team was literally 1 game away from getting the #8 seed last season, so as long as their underrated young corps (Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris) takes another step forward, they should have enough juice to finally make it over the hump and secure their 1st postseason bid since 2012-13.
8.San Antonio Spurs: Gregg Popovich is a coaching icon that is capable of taking team to higher heights than expected. That being said, I just don't think an injury-riddled squad that's depending on a 33-year old LaMarcus Alridge and Demar DeRozan, who just came over from the Raptors in the Kawhi Leonard deal and has suffered from some consistency issues when he's asked to be the primary scorer in the past, to lead the charge is a good bet to win the 50+ games that is all but required to earn a high seed in the Western Conference.
9.New Orleans Pelicans: The Pelicans went on a really impressive run after DeMarcus Cousins tore his Achilles last January that culminated in a dominant sweep of the Blazers in the 1st round of the playoffs before they got bounced by the Warriors in 5 games in the conference semifinals. While Julius Randle should be able to admirably fill the void left by Boogie in the frontcourt, losing the playmaking ability of Rajon Rondo is going to really sting and I believe that lack of a reliable facilitator (new starting point guard Elfrid Payton is not that guy) might be enough to prevent this respectable team from making back-to-back playoff appearances.
10.Minnesota Timberwolves: Even if this absurd Jimmy Butler soap opera wasn't currently taking place, there'd be ample reason to be skeptical about the state of the Timberwolves heading into the 2018-19 season. Tom Thibodeau runs his starters into the ground by the time March rolls around thanks to his steadfast refusal to play his bench guys for more than 14-16 minutes per night and their offense isn't consistently dominant enough to make up for their horrific defense. They absolutely have the talent to return to the playoffs and I wouldn't be shocked if it ended up happening, but all of the extracurricular, off-the-court nonsense paired with the guaranteed late-season fatigue makes it seem pretty unlikely as of right now.
11.Dallas Mavericks: The Mavs would honestly stand a pretty good chance of making the playoffs in the East, but they're not deep or polished enough on either end of the floor to seriously contend in this absolutely loaded Western Conference quite yet. Regardless, it's going to be a lot of fun of watching Luka Doncic, Dennis Smith Jr. and DeAndre Jordan routinely do absurd things on the basketball court all year long.
12.Los Angeles Clippers: With the unsurprising exit of DeAndre Jordan in free agency and offseason trade of Austin Rivers, the few remaining traces of the Lob City-era that remained on the roster at the end of last season are now officially gone. Doc Rivers' coaching prowess and a stable of solid veteran talent (Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverley, Avery Bradley, Marcin Gortat, Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams) should prevent them from completely falling apart, but the Clippers are now firmly in rebuilding mode and aren't likely to sniff the playoffs for at least a couple more years.
13.Phoenix Suns: Deandre Ayton is a versatile, exciting young talent that could end up making a huge impact right away and the addition of a couple of hard-nosed veteran role players (Trevor Ariza, Richaun Holmes) should make this laughably bad defense slightly less terrible this year. They're still too undisciplined, defensively-challenged and erratic offensively to be labeled a true team on the rise, but they should be able to take a notable step forward after their disastrous 21-61 campaign a year ago.
14.Memphis Grizzlies: The return of Mike Conley should provide a much-needed offensive boost to a team that scored a paltry 99.3 points per game last season (29th in the league) and Jarren Jackson could provide this aging roster with the blue chip young piece they desperately needs to enter the next era, but for now this team has an uninspiring mix of old guys (Conley, Marc Gasol, Garrett Temple, Chandler Parsons) and mediocre young players (Dillion Brooks, Kyle Anderson, Andrew Harrison) that's very likely to generate uninspired results in 2018-19.
15.Sacramento Kings: I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Kings are the worst team in the league heading into this season. Their headache-inducing, largely talent-deprived roster is a reflection of their organizational ineptitude and it's going to take a series of major miracles from coach Dave Joerger to turn this dumpster fire of mismatching pieces into a team that's even moderately functional. A win total higher than 25 would be a truly incredible feat.
Playoff Predictions:
Eastern Conference:
1st Round:
Celtics over Pistons
76ers over Cavaliers
Raptors over Bucks
Pacers over Heat
Conference Semifinals:
Celtics over Pacers
76ers over Raptors
Conference Finals:
Celtics over 76ers
Western Conference:
1st Round:
Warriors over Spurs
Rockets over Nuggets
Thunder over Trail Blazers
Lakers over Jazz
Conference Semifinals:
Warriors over Lakers
Rockets over Thunder
Conference Finals:
Warriors over Rockets
NBA Finals:
Warriors over Celtics
Year-End Award Predictions:
MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Rookie of the Year: Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
Sixth Man of the Year: Denis Schroder (Thunder)
Coach of the Year: Brett Brown (76ers)
Most Improved Player: Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
1.Boston Celtics: The Celtics were 1 game away from the NBA Finals without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward last season. With those 2 All-Stars (presumably) healthy to start the year, LeBron leaving Cleveland for LA and a deep bench that is loaded with players that come in and change the tone of a game on a whim (Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Aron Baynes, Marcus Morris), the East is theirs to lose.
2.Philadelphia 76ers: 2017-18 was a valuable learning experience for this young Sixers squad as "The Process" finally yielded some results (a 52-30 season that included a nice playoff series win over a resilient, well-coached Heat squad). With the bulk of their key contributors returning, this year should prove to be even better for Brett Brown's team. Health is obviously a concern with a lot of their young players, but as long as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons can stay on the court, this team's high-octane offense, solid defense and numerous bench pests gives them the best chance of posing a threat to the Celtics.
3.Toronto Raptors: If he stays healthy and engaged throughout this season, Kawhi Leonard will be a scary addition to a Raptors squad that has wreaked havoc during the regular season for the past half-decade. However, I don't know if Leonard and a new coach (Nick Nurse) that was promoted from within will be enough to break this organization's baffling trend of crumbling in the playoffs.
4.Indiana Pacers: Last year's surprise team in the East is an excellent position to improve in 2018-19. Veteran free agent signings Tyreke Evans and Doug McDermott should help sure up their 2nd unit scoring, Nate McMillan knows how to get these guys to play smart and hard on a nightly basis and if the preseason is any indication, Victor Oladpio's sensational 2017-18 campaign wasn't a fluke. This team should be a serious thorn in the side to every other potential contender in this conference.
5.Miami Heat: While GM Pat Riley has put them in a less-than-ideal position to land a true star or build for the future by handing out bad value contracts to guys like Hassan Whiteside, Dion Waiters and Tyler Johnson, Erik Spolestra should be able to work enough magic to get this sizable band of nice, 2-way role players back to the playoffs.
6.Milwaukee Bucks: It wouldn't stun me if the Bucks suddenly shot into the upon echelon of this conference under the guidance of new coach Mike Budenholzer-who took a similarly talented Hawks team to the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2014-15. However, the guys on this high-ceiling roster outside of Giannis and Khris Middleton have had a hard time consistently playing up to their potential thus far. That inconsistency combined with their continued lack of outside shooting and toughness on the interior (I'd be flabbergasted if new starting center Brook Lopez ended up fixing this issue) should continue to hold them back, regardless of who the coach is.
7.Cleveland Cavaliers: Their run of 4 straight finals appearance may be guaranteed to come to a close, but I honestly think the LeBron-less Cavs are going back to the playoffs this year. The bottom of the East is a god damn mess and the sense of continuity among the returning veteran corps (Kevin Love, Tristian Thompson, J.R Smith, Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Korver, Larry Nance) should help them rise above the rest of the average-to-below average teams fighting for the final 2 playoff spots.
8.Detroit Pistons: Dwane Casey was an excellent coaching hire for this perennially mediocre team and despite his well-documented struggles in the postseason, he has a good shoot of maximizing the production of this intriguing yet oddly-constructed roster that isn't versatile enough to play positionless basketball or physical enough to play old-school, pick-and-roll basketball. I certainly wouldn't bet on them making the playoffs, but I'll take a Casey-coached team with Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson in its starting lineup over the rest of the scrap heap.
9.Washington Wizards: The Wizards offseason was honestly hilarious. For some inexplicable reason, the front office decided that what this wildly talented yet internally troubled team needed to improve upon a disappointing 2017-18 season where they barely squeaked into the playoffs was to add Hall of Fame headcases Dwight Howard and Austin Rivers to the fold. Stay tuned for the 1st rough patch of the season where Howard, Rivers, John Wall, Markeef Morris and Kelly Oubre get into an all-out brawl in the locker room.
10.Charlotte Hornets: Dreadful cap management from years past continues to prevent them from being able to bring in some more scorers, but Kemba Walker's proven playmaking ability is enough to place the Hornets slightly ahead of the East's other rebuilding teams.
11.Chicago Bulls: Even with Lauri Markkanen on the shelf until at least mid-to-late November, this Bulls squad looks like its going to be electric on the offensive end. Zach LaVine should be much more explosive around the rim now that he's a year removed from a Achilles tear, 2016 lottery pick Kris Dunn will look to build off a very promising inaugural season as a starting point guard and free agent pickup Jabari Parker has shown flashes of dominance in between the 62,000 major injuries he's suffered over the course of his professional career thus far. Their youth makes them really raw and outside of Bobby Portis, they have no proven, quality defenders ready to suit up on Opening Night, but they're going to score a lot of buckets and do so with ample pizazz.
12.Brooklyn Nets: Optimism continues to slowly build in Brooklyn. They've got some homegrown young pieces that might turn into something special (Jarret Allen, Caris LeVert, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson), their cap flexibility allowed to bring in some more solid veteran role players (Kenneth Faried, Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier) that should help instill some more toughness onto this young roster and D'Angelo Russell might be in-line for a breakout season after turning a lot of heads with his strong performances throughout the offseason program. The likelihood of another slight on-court improvement combined with the fact that they'll finally have their own lottery pick to work with next season will be a nice silver lining as they grind through another 25-30 win season.
13.New York Knicks: I'm interested to see what new coach David Fizdale, who was puzzlingly fired by the Grizzlies early last year, will be able to do with this largely young roster and how effective Kristaps Porzingis can be when he returns from a torn ACL later in the year. Aside from those mildly intriguing storylines, the Knicks are going to be their usually stinky selves and let's not pretend like the higher-ups in the organization are going to be spending most of the year hoping that they'll be able to convince at least 1 star player to sign with them next offseason.
14.Orlando Magic: Shedding the bloated contract of Bismack Biymbo for the slightly less bloated contract of Timofey Mozgov and getting somewhat unpolished yet wildly talented young wing Aaron Gordon to re-sign were huge wins for this rebuilding franchise. That being said, there's still way too many question marks swirling around their young players offensive ability (Jonathan Issac, rookie Mo Bamba) and overall depth to believe this will be the season where they finally start to turn things around.
15.Atlanta Hawks: This season is entirely about gauging the true potential of John Collins, Taurean Prince and Trae Young. These young guns will get an excellent chance to play a ton of minutes alongside a Sacramento Kings-esque supporting cast largely consisting of washed-up veterans (Jeremy Lin, Vince Carter), draft busts (Alex Len, Justin Anderson) and a couple of legimately solid role players that are probably confused why they're still there (Kent Bazemore, Dewayne Dedmon). This exercise won't lead to a ton of wins, but it should prove to the powers that be whether or not this trio of 1st round picks are cornerstone pieces this franchise can build around.
Western Conference:
1.Golden State Warriors: Unless DeMarcus Cousins comes in and ruins all of the chemistry this powerhouse team has built up over the past several years when he returns from his Achilles injury in the latter stages of the season, there's no reason to believe that the Warriors don't have an excellent chance to win their 4th championship in the last 5 seasons.
2.Houston Rockets: Even the abhorrent stench of a washed-up Carmelo Anthony likely won't be enough to screw up the lethal, outside shot-happy scoring machine the Rockets have built since Mike D'Antoni arrived in Houston at the start of the 2016-17 seaso. In fact, the Rockets might actually be better than they were a year ago. James Harden is still an absolute offensive force in the regular season, 33-year old Chris Paul should be able to hit the ground running after undergoing some inevitable growing pains adjusting to this team's shoot-at-will approach in the early stages of last year and newly-acquired forward Marquese Chriss gives them another a much-needed second unit shot-blocking specialist that can patrol the rim when Clint Capela heads to the bench. Still really excited to see exactly when and how Melo kills their season though.
3.Oklahoma City Thunder: Paul George's surprise re-signing, the addition of a starting-caliber veteran point guard Denis Schroder that will bring some much-needed offensive firepower to their second unit and of course, the departure of Carmelo Anthony makes the 2018-19 outlook for the Thunder much rosier than expected. Who knows if the wheels will come off in the playoffs again, but they should finish the regular season near the top of the conference.
4.Los Angeles Lakers: I'm well aware that the Western Conference is a lot deeper than the East and LeBron won't be able to coast to the Finals with minimal resistance for the 9th straight year, but if he can drag the 2017-18 Cavs to within 4 games of winning a title, leading a pretty talented young corps (Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball) and a barrage of the league's meme icons (Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Michael Beasley) to a 47-52 win season and homecourt advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs shouldn't be too difficult.
5.Utah Jazz: The Jazz aren't the flashiest or most dynamic team in the world, but Quin Snyder is an underrated coach that has proven he can maximize the productivity of every player on the roster and Donovan Mitchell is one of the most exciting, gutsy young playmakers in the league. They could easily end up as high as #3 if they end up overachieving on the offensive end of the floor.
6.Portland Trail Blazers: Last year's debacle against the Pelicans further proved that the Blazers are the West's version of the Raptors. Despite this latest soul-crushing playoff letdown and lack of needle-moving additions to contend with the other teams that are hanging out in the back half of the Western Conference hierarchy (Lakers, Nuggets, Spurs, Mavericks), their deadly backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum will more than likely prevent them from missing out on postseason action entirely.
7.Denver Nuggets: I've been enamored with this team for years now and I'm not going to stop making this proclamation until it actually happens: the Nuggets are going to make the playoffs this year! Bizarre fixations and the biases that come with them aside, this team was literally 1 game away from getting the #8 seed last season, so as long as their underrated young corps (Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris) takes another step forward, they should have enough juice to finally make it over the hump and secure their 1st postseason bid since 2012-13.
8.San Antonio Spurs: Gregg Popovich is a coaching icon that is capable of taking team to higher heights than expected. That being said, I just don't think an injury-riddled squad that's depending on a 33-year old LaMarcus Alridge and Demar DeRozan, who just came over from the Raptors in the Kawhi Leonard deal and has suffered from some consistency issues when he's asked to be the primary scorer in the past, to lead the charge is a good bet to win the 50+ games that is all but required to earn a high seed in the Western Conference.
9.New Orleans Pelicans: The Pelicans went on a really impressive run after DeMarcus Cousins tore his Achilles last January that culminated in a dominant sweep of the Blazers in the 1st round of the playoffs before they got bounced by the Warriors in 5 games in the conference semifinals. While Julius Randle should be able to admirably fill the void left by Boogie in the frontcourt, losing the playmaking ability of Rajon Rondo is going to really sting and I believe that lack of a reliable facilitator (new starting point guard Elfrid Payton is not that guy) might be enough to prevent this respectable team from making back-to-back playoff appearances.
10.Minnesota Timberwolves: Even if this absurd Jimmy Butler soap opera wasn't currently taking place, there'd be ample reason to be skeptical about the state of the Timberwolves heading into the 2018-19 season. Tom Thibodeau runs his starters into the ground by the time March rolls around thanks to his steadfast refusal to play his bench guys for more than 14-16 minutes per night and their offense isn't consistently dominant enough to make up for their horrific defense. They absolutely have the talent to return to the playoffs and I wouldn't be shocked if it ended up happening, but all of the extracurricular, off-the-court nonsense paired with the guaranteed late-season fatigue makes it seem pretty unlikely as of right now.
11.Dallas Mavericks: The Mavs would honestly stand a pretty good chance of making the playoffs in the East, but they're not deep or polished enough on either end of the floor to seriously contend in this absolutely loaded Western Conference quite yet. Regardless, it's going to be a lot of fun of watching Luka Doncic, Dennis Smith Jr. and DeAndre Jordan routinely do absurd things on the basketball court all year long.
12.Los Angeles Clippers: With the unsurprising exit of DeAndre Jordan in free agency and offseason trade of Austin Rivers, the few remaining traces of the Lob City-era that remained on the roster at the end of last season are now officially gone. Doc Rivers' coaching prowess and a stable of solid veteran talent (Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverley, Avery Bradley, Marcin Gortat, Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams) should prevent them from completely falling apart, but the Clippers are now firmly in rebuilding mode and aren't likely to sniff the playoffs for at least a couple more years.
13.Phoenix Suns: Deandre Ayton is a versatile, exciting young talent that could end up making a huge impact right away and the addition of a couple of hard-nosed veteran role players (Trevor Ariza, Richaun Holmes) should make this laughably bad defense slightly less terrible this year. They're still too undisciplined, defensively-challenged and erratic offensively to be labeled a true team on the rise, but they should be able to take a notable step forward after their disastrous 21-61 campaign a year ago.
14.Memphis Grizzlies: The return of Mike Conley should provide a much-needed offensive boost to a team that scored a paltry 99.3 points per game last season (29th in the league) and Jarren Jackson could provide this aging roster with the blue chip young piece they desperately needs to enter the next era, but for now this team has an uninspiring mix of old guys (Conley, Marc Gasol, Garrett Temple, Chandler Parsons) and mediocre young players (Dillion Brooks, Kyle Anderson, Andrew Harrison) that's very likely to generate uninspired results in 2018-19.
15.Sacramento Kings: I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Kings are the worst team in the league heading into this season. Their headache-inducing, largely talent-deprived roster is a reflection of their organizational ineptitude and it's going to take a series of major miracles from coach Dave Joerger to turn this dumpster fire of mismatching pieces into a team that's even moderately functional. A win total higher than 25 would be a truly incredible feat.
Playoff Predictions:
Eastern Conference:
1st Round:
Celtics over Pistons
76ers over Cavaliers
Raptors over Bucks
Pacers over Heat
Conference Semifinals:
Celtics over Pacers
76ers over Raptors
Conference Finals:
Celtics over 76ers
Western Conference:
1st Round:
Warriors over Spurs
Rockets over Nuggets
Thunder over Trail Blazers
Lakers over Jazz
Conference Semifinals:
Warriors over Lakers
Rockets over Thunder
Conference Finals:
Warriors over Rockets
NBA Finals:
Warriors over Celtics
Year-End Award Predictions:
MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert (Jazz)
Rookie of the Year: Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
Sixth Man of the Year: Denis Schroder (Thunder)
Coach of the Year: Brett Brown (76ers)
Most Improved Player: Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
Friday, October 12, 2018
As We Proceed Episode #26
On this episode of As We Proceed, Feliciano and I discuss Travis Scott's Saturday Night Live performance, Lil Wayne's long-awaited The Carter V and the "surprise" delay of Kanye West's Yandhi. Check it out below.
Soundcloud:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/as-we-proceed/id1122163104?mt=2
Soundcloud:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/as-we-proceed/id1122163104?mt=2
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Concert Review: Denzel Curry--Boston, MA-- October 10th, 2018
Lineup: Denzel Curry/City Morgue
Venue: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
City Morgue: The lone opener on the bill delivered one of the most ridiculous performances I've seen at a show in recent memory. This South Florida duo's 25-minute set was pretty weak from a musical standpoint as they mostly just yelled periodically while the backing track did the heavy lifting, but all of the extracurricular shit they did was bizarrely entertaining. The head-scratching highlights included someone from their entourage repeatedly coming out and spraying bottles of water on the audience, more calls for mosh pits and walls of death than you see at most metal shows, a couple of instances where they just jammed out to old Slipknot songs ("Spit It Out", "(sic)") instead of performing their own music and one half of the duo's repeated hype move of rolling around on the ground during the instrumental pauses. All of this madness got the crowd going early and while I doubt I'll ever voluntarily listen to City Morgue again, their live performance will not be leaving my memory anytime soon.
Denzel Curry: Curry has cultivated an image as one of modern hip-hop's rawest rappers. His unfiltered sound and DIY aesthetic has made him the unofficial ring leader of the Miami/Pompano Beach hip-hop scene, which has quietly become one of the genre's biggest talent epicenters over the past few years. Unsurprisingly, his no bullshit persona beautifully translated to the stage. To be quite honest, Curry's minimalism was a nice departure from the multi-million dollar spectacle I saw Drake put on last month. Visual effects are cool and all, but the music is always the important thing about a live performance and Curry wholeheartedly delivered in that area. Thanks to some jaw-dropping breath control that allows him to rap at extreme speeds and shit flows without any audible difficulty and his gift for shifting tones without compromising coherency, this set ended up being a nice mix of wonderous technicality and legitimate, wide-spanning emotional catharsis.
This mix of virtuoso rapping and visceral emotion makes complete sense since about half of the songs he performed are from his new record TAB1300, which I found to be his most dynamic and thoughtful effort to-date. The wide variety of styles and themes explored on that record allowed Curry to craft a set that kept their audience on their toes with a slew of different tempo and feelings while also never getting bogged down with pacing issues. As solid as his past work was, the sheer range of material on TAB1300 allowed Curry to maximize the effectiveness of his live shows.
If it wasn't clear enough, I came away from this show really impressed with Curry as a performer. I've felt that he is one of the strongest pure rap talents to emerge in recent years for quite some time now and seeing him live only further solidified that take. This kid looks like he has a long, bright career ahead of him and if the raucous response from this sold out crowd at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston is any indication, true stardom could be just around the corner.
Grades:
City Morgue: B-
Denzel Curry: A-
Setlist:
Denzel Curry:
Act I:
TABOO
BLACK BALLOONS
Parents
Denny Cascade
CASH MANIAC
SUMO
Act II:
ULT
SWITCH IT UP
SUPER SAYIN SUPERMAN
SIRENS
BLACK BALLOONS 2
This Life
MAD I GOT IT
CLOUT COBAIN
Act III:
Gook
PERCS
#ImSippinTeaInYoHood (XXXTENTACION cover)
Look at Me! (XXXTENTACION cover)
Equalizer
Ultimate
BLACK METAL TERRORIST
Encore:
Threatz
VENGEANCE
Venue: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
City Morgue: The lone opener on the bill delivered one of the most ridiculous performances I've seen at a show in recent memory. This South Florida duo's 25-minute set was pretty weak from a musical standpoint as they mostly just yelled periodically while the backing track did the heavy lifting, but all of the extracurricular shit they did was bizarrely entertaining. The head-scratching highlights included someone from their entourage repeatedly coming out and spraying bottles of water on the audience, more calls for mosh pits and walls of death than you see at most metal shows, a couple of instances where they just jammed out to old Slipknot songs ("Spit It Out", "(sic)") instead of performing their own music and one half of the duo's repeated hype move of rolling around on the ground during the instrumental pauses. All of this madness got the crowd going early and while I doubt I'll ever voluntarily listen to City Morgue again, their live performance will not be leaving my memory anytime soon.
Denzel Curry: Curry has cultivated an image as one of modern hip-hop's rawest rappers. His unfiltered sound and DIY aesthetic has made him the unofficial ring leader of the Miami/Pompano Beach hip-hop scene, which has quietly become one of the genre's biggest talent epicenters over the past few years. Unsurprisingly, his no bullshit persona beautifully translated to the stage. To be quite honest, Curry's minimalism was a nice departure from the multi-million dollar spectacle I saw Drake put on last month. Visual effects are cool and all, but the music is always the important thing about a live performance and Curry wholeheartedly delivered in that area. Thanks to some jaw-dropping breath control that allows him to rap at extreme speeds and shit flows without any audible difficulty and his gift for shifting tones without compromising coherency, this set ended up being a nice mix of wonderous technicality and legitimate, wide-spanning emotional catharsis.
This mix of virtuoso rapping and visceral emotion makes complete sense since about half of the songs he performed are from his new record TAB1300, which I found to be his most dynamic and thoughtful effort to-date. The wide variety of styles and themes explored on that record allowed Curry to craft a set that kept their audience on their toes with a slew of different tempo and feelings while also never getting bogged down with pacing issues. As solid as his past work was, the sheer range of material on TAB1300 allowed Curry to maximize the effectiveness of his live shows.
If it wasn't clear enough, I came away from this show really impressed with Curry as a performer. I've felt that he is one of the strongest pure rap talents to emerge in recent years for quite some time now and seeing him live only further solidified that take. This kid looks like he has a long, bright career ahead of him and if the raucous response from this sold out crowd at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston is any indication, true stardom could be just around the corner.
Grades:
City Morgue: B-
Denzel Curry: A-
Setlist:
Denzel Curry:
Act I:
TABOO
BLACK BALLOONS
Parents
Denny Cascade
CASH MANIAC
SUMO
Act II:
ULT
SWITCH IT UP
SUPER SAYIN SUPERMAN
SIRENS
BLACK BALLOONS 2
This Life
MAD I GOT IT
CLOUT COBAIN
Act III:
Gook
PERCS
#ImSippinTeaInYoHood (XXXTENTACION cover)
Look at Me! (XXXTENTACION cover)
Equalizer
Ultimate
BLACK METAL TERRORIST
Encore:
Threatz
VENGEANCE
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
The Best and Worst of Jon Hamm
“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career
highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's
new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography
of “Bad Times at the El Royale” star Jon Hamm.
Films starring Jon Hamm that I've seen:
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The A-Team
The Town
Sucker Punch
Bridesmaids
Million Dollar Arm
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Baby Driver
Beirut
Tag
Best Performance: The Town (2010)
Hamm's first sizable movie role after the breakout success of Mad Men remains my favorite performance of his. FBI Agent Adam Frawley is the perfect, hard-nosed foil to the band of blue-collar bank robbers (Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Slaine, Owen Burke) that are wreaking havoc on Boston's sacred financial institutions and every heated exchange between them is exactly the type of grand macho theater I want out of a crime drama.
Worst Performance: Beirut (2018)
Beirut is the type of straightforward political thriller catered towards the AARP audiences that I quite simply just couldn't care less about. Hamm succumbs to the production's bland semi-competency with a phoned-in performance as a former US diplomat forced back into action after a decade-long hiatus that lacks the grizzled emotion and palpable magnetism that defines his best dramatic work.
Best Film: Baby Driver (2017)
Edgar Wright has a gift for consistently delivering awesome popcorn flicks and Baby Driver is easily one of his greatest success to the date. Adding a music-like rhythm, some Steve McQueen-esque car chases and a surprisingly well-constructed love story to the usual heist movie formula made this a colorful, electric slice of movie magic that set a bar that will be very difficult for future entries in this genre to clear.
Worst Film: The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Few blockbusters from the late 2000's stink as hard as The Day the Earth Stood Still. This agonizing alien invasion flick features a Hall of Shame-caliber wooden performance from Keanu Reeves in the lead role, sloppy action sequences and worst of all, a sober tone that prevents any of the ridiculous narrative developments from being entertaining.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Halloween” star Judy Greer.
Films starring Jon Hamm that I've seen:
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The A-Team
The Town
Sucker Punch
Bridesmaids
Million Dollar Arm
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Baby Driver
Beirut
Tag
Best Performance: The Town (2010)
Hamm's first sizable movie role after the breakout success of Mad Men remains my favorite performance of his. FBI Agent Adam Frawley is the perfect, hard-nosed foil to the band of blue-collar bank robbers (Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Slaine, Owen Burke) that are wreaking havoc on Boston's sacred financial institutions and every heated exchange between them is exactly the type of grand macho theater I want out of a crime drama.
Worst Performance: Beirut (2018)
Beirut is the type of straightforward political thriller catered towards the AARP audiences that I quite simply just couldn't care less about. Hamm succumbs to the production's bland semi-competency with a phoned-in performance as a former US diplomat forced back into action after a decade-long hiatus that lacks the grizzled emotion and palpable magnetism that defines his best dramatic work.
Best Film: Baby Driver (2017)
Edgar Wright has a gift for consistently delivering awesome popcorn flicks and Baby Driver is easily one of his greatest success to the date. Adding a music-like rhythm, some Steve McQueen-esque car chases and a surprisingly well-constructed love story to the usual heist movie formula made this a colorful, electric slice of movie magic that set a bar that will be very difficult for future entries in this genre to clear.
Worst Film: The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Few blockbusters from the late 2000's stink as hard as The Day the Earth Stood Still. This agonizing alien invasion flick features a Hall of Shame-caliber wooden performance from Keanu Reeves in the lead role, sloppy action sequences and worst of all, a sober tone that prevents any of the ridiculous narrative developments from being entertaining.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Halloween” star Judy Greer.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Week 5 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers (2018 Edition)
Quarterback
MVP: Tom Brady (Patriots)
2 dumb tip drill INT's wasn't enough to prevent Brady from being the king of fantasy QB's this week. Brady registered 341 YDS and 3 scores through the air as well as a rushing TD in yet another comical dismantling of the Colts. Brady should feast yet again in Week 6 against the Chiefs atrocious defense.
Honorable Mentions: Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Drew Brees (Saints), Andrew Luck (Colts)
LVP: Matt Ryan (Falcons)
For the 2nd time in this young 2018 season, the state of Pennsylvania proved to be a house of horrors for the Falcons signalcaller. Ryan followed up 3 straight dominant performances with an erratic stinker (295 total YDS, 1 TD and a lost fumble) against a Steelers defense that had surrendered 12 TD's to opposing QB's (11 passing, 1 rushing) in the opening month of the season. He's in a great place to rebound this week when the Dirty Birds return home for a date with the Buccaneers and their wretched pass defense.
Dishonorable Mentions: Kirk Cousins (Vikings), Alex Smith (Redskins), Andy Dalton (Bengals)
Running Back
MVP: James Conner (Steelers)
After playing so-so following his monster season opener against the Browns, the Steelers de facto starting running back returned to the realm of dominance in Week 5 by putting forth a hell of a dual threat performance against the Falcons banged-up defense (185 YDS from scrimmage and 2 TD on 25 touches). Conner's days of being a useful fantasy option might be numbered as Le'Veon Bell is reportedly set to rejoin the team following their Week 7 bye, but he'll remain a worthwhile starter as long as their star back continues his holdout.
Honorable Mentions: Todd Gurley (Rams), Isaiah Crowell (Jets), Saquon Barkley (Giants)
LVP: Jay Ajayi (Eagles)
The Jay Ajayi train screeched to a halt on Sunday against the Vikings as he picked up a mere 34 YDS on 9 touches and lost a crucial red zone fumble that pretty much cost the Eagles the game. News broke yesterday that Ajayi tore his ACL at the end of 4th quarter, so the impending free agent's tenure as an Eagle has more than likely come to a close. Corey Clement and Wendall Smallwood now appear set to be the co-lead backs in Philly, but neither of them appear to be in-line to be anything more than a middling RB3 moving forward.
Dishonorable Mentions: Alvin Kamara (Saints), Devonta Freeman (Falcons), Marshawn Lynch (Raiders)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Odell Beckham Jr. (Giants)
OBJ finally found the endzone! Beckham's receiving TD capped off a very productive 8 REC/131 YD afternoon where he also threw a 57-YD TD to Saquon Barkley on a beautiful trick play. Regardless of the dysfunction in the Giants locker room and general limpness of this offense, Odell makes enough plays to be a weekly WR1.
Honorable Mentions: Antonio Brown (Steelers), Davante Adams (Packers), Adam Thielen (Vikings)
LVP: Will Fuller (Texans)
To be fair, Fuller wasn't 100% after suffering the 89th hamstring strain of his NFL career last week, but you just can't feel good about a guy who Deshaun Watson has an incredible rapport with posting 15 YDS in a game against the Cowboys. Fuller and his brittle soft tissue have a date with the Bills respectable, but beatable secondary in Week 6.
Dishonorable Mentions: Amari Cooper (Raiders), Doug Baldwin (Seahawks), Alshon Jeffrey (Eagles)
Tight End
MVP: Eric Ebron (Colts)
With T.Y Hilton, Jack Doyle and pretty much every other viable receiving option on the roster sidelined, Ebron was the focal point of the offensive attack against the Patriots last Thursday night and boy did he pop. The 5th-year man had a career day (9 REC/105 YDS/2 TD's) in a game where few things went right for this rebuilding squad. Regardless of injuries, Ebron has carved out a nice role on this Colts offense and should be in the weekly starting mix at this scarily thin position the rest of the way.
Honorable Mentions: Zach Ertz (Eagles), Travis Kelce (Chiefs), George Kittle (49ers)
LVP: Vance McDonald (Steelers)
After back-to-back strong performances, new internet meme legend McDonald was pretty much invisible (1 REC, 6 YDS) on a day where the Steelers offense simply crushed the soul of the Falcons. He will look to get more involved in Week 6 against a Bengals defense that has allowed the 9th most fantasy points to tight end.
Dishonorable Mentions: Jared Cook (Raiders), Jordan Reed (Redskins), Ricky Seals-Jones (Cardinals)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Bengals
A trio of takeaways and a pair of defensive scores allowed the Bengals D to make a ridiculous 2nd half comeback against the Dolphins on Sunday. They'll be an interesting dice roll play in Week 6 when they face a Steelers squad that tends to turn the ball over on the road.
Honorable Mentions: Steelers, Vikings, Panthers
LVP: Broncos
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Outside of securing a pair of takeaways, this rapidly regressing defense got absolutely dusted by the Jets young, mistake-prone offense in their 34-16 loss on Sunday afternoon. Until they stop getting murdered against the run and allowing huge chunk plays on a regular basis, the Broncos D will be absolutely useless for fantasy purposes.
Dishonorable Mentions: Rams, Eagles, Packers
MVP: Tom Brady (Patriots)
2 dumb tip drill INT's wasn't enough to prevent Brady from being the king of fantasy QB's this week. Brady registered 341 YDS and 3 scores through the air as well as a rushing TD in yet another comical dismantling of the Colts. Brady should feast yet again in Week 6 against the Chiefs atrocious defense.
Honorable Mentions: Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Drew Brees (Saints), Andrew Luck (Colts)
LVP: Matt Ryan (Falcons)
For the 2nd time in this young 2018 season, the state of Pennsylvania proved to be a house of horrors for the Falcons signalcaller. Ryan followed up 3 straight dominant performances with an erratic stinker (295 total YDS, 1 TD and a lost fumble) against a Steelers defense that had surrendered 12 TD's to opposing QB's (11 passing, 1 rushing) in the opening month of the season. He's in a great place to rebound this week when the Dirty Birds return home for a date with the Buccaneers and their wretched pass defense.
Dishonorable Mentions: Kirk Cousins (Vikings), Alex Smith (Redskins), Andy Dalton (Bengals)
Running Back
MVP: James Conner (Steelers)
After playing so-so following his monster season opener against the Browns, the Steelers de facto starting running back returned to the realm of dominance in Week 5 by putting forth a hell of a dual threat performance against the Falcons banged-up defense (185 YDS from scrimmage and 2 TD on 25 touches). Conner's days of being a useful fantasy option might be numbered as Le'Veon Bell is reportedly set to rejoin the team following their Week 7 bye, but he'll remain a worthwhile starter as long as their star back continues his holdout.
Honorable Mentions: Todd Gurley (Rams), Isaiah Crowell (Jets), Saquon Barkley (Giants)
LVP: Jay Ajayi (Eagles)
The Jay Ajayi train screeched to a halt on Sunday against the Vikings as he picked up a mere 34 YDS on 9 touches and lost a crucial red zone fumble that pretty much cost the Eagles the game. News broke yesterday that Ajayi tore his ACL at the end of 4th quarter, so the impending free agent's tenure as an Eagle has more than likely come to a close. Corey Clement and Wendall Smallwood now appear set to be the co-lead backs in Philly, but neither of them appear to be in-line to be anything more than a middling RB3 moving forward.
Dishonorable Mentions: Alvin Kamara (Saints), Devonta Freeman (Falcons), Marshawn Lynch (Raiders)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Odell Beckham Jr. (Giants)
OBJ finally found the endzone! Beckham's receiving TD capped off a very productive 8 REC/131 YD afternoon where he also threw a 57-YD TD to Saquon Barkley on a beautiful trick play. Regardless of the dysfunction in the Giants locker room and general limpness of this offense, Odell makes enough plays to be a weekly WR1.
Honorable Mentions: Antonio Brown (Steelers), Davante Adams (Packers), Adam Thielen (Vikings)
LVP: Will Fuller (Texans)
To be fair, Fuller wasn't 100% after suffering the 89th hamstring strain of his NFL career last week, but you just can't feel good about a guy who Deshaun Watson has an incredible rapport with posting 15 YDS in a game against the Cowboys. Fuller and his brittle soft tissue have a date with the Bills respectable, but beatable secondary in Week 6.
Dishonorable Mentions: Amari Cooper (Raiders), Doug Baldwin (Seahawks), Alshon Jeffrey (Eagles)
Tight End
MVP: Eric Ebron (Colts)
With T.Y Hilton, Jack Doyle and pretty much every other viable receiving option on the roster sidelined, Ebron was the focal point of the offensive attack against the Patriots last Thursday night and boy did he pop. The 5th-year man had a career day (9 REC/105 YDS/2 TD's) in a game where few things went right for this rebuilding squad. Regardless of injuries, Ebron has carved out a nice role on this Colts offense and should be in the weekly starting mix at this scarily thin position the rest of the way.
Honorable Mentions: Zach Ertz (Eagles), Travis Kelce (Chiefs), George Kittle (49ers)
LVP: Vance McDonald (Steelers)
After back-to-back strong performances, new internet meme legend McDonald was pretty much invisible (1 REC, 6 YDS) on a day where the Steelers offense simply crushed the soul of the Falcons. He will look to get more involved in Week 6 against a Bengals defense that has allowed the 9th most fantasy points to tight end.
Dishonorable Mentions: Jared Cook (Raiders), Jordan Reed (Redskins), Ricky Seals-Jones (Cardinals)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Bengals
A trio of takeaways and a pair of defensive scores allowed the Bengals D to make a ridiculous 2nd half comeback against the Dolphins on Sunday. They'll be an interesting dice roll play in Week 6 when they face a Steelers squad that tends to turn the ball over on the road.
Honorable Mentions: Steelers, Vikings, Panthers
LVP: Broncos
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Outside of securing a pair of takeaways, this rapidly regressing defense got absolutely dusted by the Jets young, mistake-prone offense in their 34-16 loss on Sunday afternoon. Until they stop getting murdered against the run and allowing huge chunk plays on a regular basis, the Broncos D will be absolutely useless for fantasy purposes.
Dishonorable Mentions: Rams, Eagles, Packers
2018 NFL Power Rankings: Week 6
()=past ranking
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (5-0) Week 6 opponent: Denver Broncos
2.(2) Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) Week 6 opponent: New England Patriots
3.(4) New Orleans Saints (4-1) Week 6 opponent: Bye Week
4.(5) New England Patriots (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
5.(3) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
6.(7) Carolina Panthers (3-1) Week 6 opponent: Washington Redskins
7.(9) Cincinnati Bengals (4-1) Week 6 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
8.(14) Minnesota Vikings (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
9.(8) Tennessee Titans (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
10.(19) Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Cleveland Browns
11.(13) Chicago Bears (3-1) Week 6 opponent: Miami Dolphins
12.(6) Philadelphia Eagles (2-3) Week 6 opponent: New York Giants
13.(12) Baltimore Ravens (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Tennessee Titans
14.(17) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
15.(11) Green Bay Packers (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
16.(10) Miami Dolphins (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Chicago Bears
17.(23) Cleveland Browns (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers
18.(18) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) Week 6 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
19.(16) Washington Redskins (2-2) Week 6 opponent: Carolina Panthers
20.(25) Detroit Lions (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Bye Week
21.(20) Seattle Seahawks (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Oakland Raiders
22.(15) Atlanta Falcons (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
23.(26) Houston Texans (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Buffalo Bills
24.(22) Dallas Cowboys (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
25.(21) Denver Broncos (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
26.(31) New York Jets (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
27.(24) New York Giants (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
28.(30) Buffalo Bills (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Houston Texans
29.(32) Arizona Cardinals (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
30.(27) Oakland Raiders (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
31.(28) Indianapolis Colts (1-4) Week 6 opponent: New York Jets
32.(29) San Francisco 49ers (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Green Bay Packers
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (5-0) Week 6 opponent: Denver Broncos
2.(2) Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) Week 6 opponent: New England Patriots
3.(4) New Orleans Saints (4-1) Week 6 opponent: Bye Week
4.(5) New England Patriots (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
5.(3) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
6.(7) Carolina Panthers (3-1) Week 6 opponent: Washington Redskins
7.(9) Cincinnati Bengals (4-1) Week 6 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
8.(14) Minnesota Vikings (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
9.(8) Tennessee Titans (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
10.(19) Los Angeles Chargers (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Cleveland Browns
11.(13) Chicago Bears (3-1) Week 6 opponent: Miami Dolphins
12.(6) Philadelphia Eagles (2-3) Week 6 opponent: New York Giants
13.(12) Baltimore Ravens (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Tennessee Titans
14.(17) Pittsburgh Steelers (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
15.(11) Green Bay Packers (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
16.(10) Miami Dolphins (3-2) Week 6 opponent: Chicago Bears
17.(23) Cleveland Browns (2-2-1) Week 6 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers
18.(18) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) Week 6 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
19.(16) Washington Redskins (2-2) Week 6 opponent: Carolina Panthers
20.(25) Detroit Lions (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Bye Week
21.(20) Seattle Seahawks (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Oakland Raiders
22.(15) Atlanta Falcons (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
23.(26) Houston Texans (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Buffalo Bills
24.(22) Dallas Cowboys (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
25.(21) Denver Broncos (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
26.(31) New York Jets (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
27.(24) New York Giants (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
28.(30) Buffalo Bills (2-3) Week 6 opponent: Houston Texans
29.(32) Arizona Cardinals (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
30.(27) Oakland Raiders (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
31.(28) Indianapolis Colts (1-4) Week 6 opponent: New York Jets
32.(29) San Francisco 49ers (1-4) Week 6 opponent: Green Bay Packers
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Album Review: BROCKHAMPTON-iridescence
While there are flourishes of their trademark tender introspection ("Weight", "Fabric", "San Marcos") and an obligatory somber reflection on Vann's departure ("Tonya"), iridescence embraces more of an abrasive, relatively experimental sound than the bouncy pop rap style they favored throughout the bulk of last year's Saturation trilogy. This shift to a darker, less palatable style ends up bringing the best out of some of the supporting players that have just been thrust into more prominent roles. Dom McLennon and Joba, who arguably received the biggest upticks in mic time, pop off over these off-kilter industrial beats with a level of laser focus and palpable aggression that only made cameo appearances on the group's previous outings. These guys deliver the two most impassioned, attention-grabbing verses (McLennon on "New Orleans", Joba on "J'ouvert") of the entire record and pretty much steal the show every time they get an opportunity to hop on a track. Losing a member who was undeniably at the forefront of BROCKHAMPTON's remarkable ascent over the past 18 months left a huge void in their dynamic and this previously unheralded duo seamlessly stepped up to fill it and prevented the group from missing a beat creatively.
As much as there is to like and admire on iridescence, this change in direction is my no means a universal success. The early part of the record struggles to build momentum as it puzzlingly shifts between slices of pure, in-your-face hardcore hip-hop and slow, jarring tracks that utilize way too many vocal effects, and the emphasis on less traditional song structures significantly lessens the presence of the infectious earworm hooks that had arguably been the group's strongest asset up to this point in their career. However, the piece of mind that comes from receiving confirmation that the group's chemistry and genre bending ambition wasn't impacted in the wake of Vann's departure is more valuable for this group moving forward than the overall quality of this record. This ever-so-slight regression should only be temporary and with the inevitable anxiety that comes from a member change now out of the way, I can now say without hesitation that I'll be very excited to hear their next project when it drops.
Grade: B
Standout Tracks
1.New Orleans
2.District
3.Fabric
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
2017 in Film: Revisited
With the rollout of 2018's vast awards season slate already underway, it feels like an ideal time to look back at the previous year in cinema. Here's how I feel about 2017's films now with the benefit of some additional perspective and watching approximately 20 more movies since I posted my initial recap/rankings in mid-January.
()=previous ranking
132.(113) Message from the King (D-)
131.(112) The Only Living Boy in New York (D-)
130.(111) The Layover (D-)
129.(110) Monster Trucks (D)
128.(109) Okja (D)
127.(108) Mr. Roosevelt (D)
126.(107) Gerald's Game (D)
125.(106) The Little Hours (D)
124.(105) Collide (D+)
123.(104) The Foreigner (D+)
122.(103) War for the Planet of the Apes (D+)
121.(102) Take the 10 (D+)
120.(101) American Assassin (D+)
119.(100) Alien: Covenant (D+)
118.(99) Columbus (D+)
117.(98) Beatriz at Dinner (C-)
116.(new) Roman J. Israel, Esq (C-)
115.(97) The Book of Henry (C-)
114.(new) Tragedy Girls (C-)
113.(new) Fifty Shades Darker (C-)
112.(96) Split (C-)
111.(95) Annabelle: Creation (C-)
110.(94) The Zookeeper's Wife (C)
109.(93) The Incredible Jessica James (C)
108.(92) The House (C)
107.(91) Wonder Woman (C)
106.(90) Lowriders (C)
105.(89) Snatched (C)
104.(88) King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (C)
103.(87) Colossal (C)
102.(86) The Glass Castle (C)
101.(new) The Florida Project (C)
100.(85) Mother! (C)
99.(84) Table 19 (C+)
98.(83) War on Everyone (C+)
97.(82) Crown Heights (C+)
96.(new) Only the Brave (C+)
95.(81) American Made (C+)
94.(80) To the Bone (C+)
93.(79) Wilson (C+)
92.(78) ChiPs (C+)
91.(77) Sleight (C+)
90.(76) Patti Cake$ (C+)
89.(75) The Dark Tower (C+)
88.(new) Darkest Hour (C+)
87.(74) Life (B-)
86.(73) The Mummy (B-)
85.(72) The Hero (B-)
84.(71) The Great Wall (B-)
83.(70) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (B-)
82.(69) A Cure for Wellness (B-)
81.(new) Wonder (B-)
80.(new) Jigsaw (B-)
79.(68) Before I Fall (B-)
78.(67) The Lego Ninjago Movie (B-)
77.(new) Father Figures (B-)
76.(66) Call Me by Your Name (B-)
75.(65) Free Fire (B-)
74.(64) Fist Fight (B-)
73.(62) Blade Runner 2049 (B-)
72.(63) Logan (B-)
71.(61) Going in Style (B-)
70.(60) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (B-)
69.(59) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (B-)
68.(new) Murder on the Orient Express (B-)
67.(new) A Bad Moms Christmas (B-)
66.(51) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (B-)
65.(58) Sleepless (B-)
64.(57) Win It All (B-)
63.(56) All Eyez on Me (B-)
62.(55) Baywatch (B)
61.(54) Dunkirk (B)
60.(53) Girls Trip (B)
59.(52) Underworld: Blood Wars (B)
58.(50) Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (B)
57.(47) Pitch Perfect 3 (B)
56.(48) T2: Trainspotting (B)
55.(49) Mayhem (B)
54.(new) All the Money in the World (B)
53.(new) Daddy's Home 2 (B)
52.(46) Battle of the Sexes (B)
51.(new) Band Aid (B)
50.(new) Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (B)
49.(new) Hostiles (B)
48.(45) Shot Caller (B)
47.(44) Goon: Last of the Enforcers (B)
46.(43) The Babysitter (B)
45.(42) The Belko Experiment (B)
44.(41) Mudbound (B)
43.(40) Landline (B)
42.(new) Last Flag Flying (B)
41.(32) Detroit (B)
40.(39) It (B)
39.(38) Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (B)
38.(37) Logan Lucky (B)
37.(new) Geostorm (B)
36.(36) The Hitman's Bodyguard (B)
35.(35) Gifted (B)
34.(34) The Lego Batman Movie (B)
33.(33) Good Time (B)
32.(31) Wheelman (B+)
31.(30) Our Souls at Night (B+)
30.(28) Bright (B+)
29.(27) Stronger (B+)
28.(26) The Shape of Water (B+)
27.(25) Spider-Man: Homecoming (B+)
26.(24) Justice League (B+)
25.(23) Kong: Skull Island (B+)
24.(22) Power Rangers (B+)
23.(21) Rough Night (B+)
22.(29) Atomic Blonde (B+)
21.(20) Happy Death Day (B+)
20.(19) Jumanjii: Welcome to the Jungle (B+)
19.(17) Dean (B+)
18.(18) Lady Bird (B+)
17.(16) xXx: Return of Xander Cage (A-)
16.(15) Kingsman: The Golden Circle (A-)
15.(14) Ghost in the Shell (A-)
14.(13) I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (A-)
13.(new) Coco (A-)
12.(12) Brigsby Bear (A-)
11.(11) John Wick: Chapter 2 (A-)
10.(10) The Big Sick (A)
9.(9) Molly's Game (A)
8.(8) I, Tonya (A)
7.(7) Baby Driver (A)
6.(6) Thor: Ragnarok (A)
5.(5) Get Out (A)
4.(4) Ingrid Goes West (A)
3.(3) The Fate of the Furious (A)
2.(2) Wind River (A)
1.(1) The Disaster Artist (A)
()=previous ranking
132.(113) Message from the King (D-)
131.(112) The Only Living Boy in New York (D-)
130.(111) The Layover (D-)
129.(110) Monster Trucks (D)
128.(109) Okja (D)
127.(108) Mr. Roosevelt (D)
126.(107) Gerald's Game (D)
125.(106) The Little Hours (D)
124.(105) Collide (D+)
123.(104) The Foreigner (D+)
122.(103) War for the Planet of the Apes (D+)
121.(102) Take the 10 (D+)
120.(101) American Assassin (D+)
119.(100) Alien: Covenant (D+)
118.(99) Columbus (D+)
117.(98) Beatriz at Dinner (C-)
116.(new) Roman J. Israel, Esq (C-)
115.(97) The Book of Henry (C-)
114.(new) Tragedy Girls (C-)
113.(new) Fifty Shades Darker (C-)
112.(96) Split (C-)
111.(95) Annabelle: Creation (C-)
110.(94) The Zookeeper's Wife (C)
109.(93) The Incredible Jessica James (C)
108.(92) The House (C)
107.(91) Wonder Woman (C)
106.(90) Lowriders (C)
105.(89) Snatched (C)
104.(88) King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (C)
103.(87) Colossal (C)
102.(86) The Glass Castle (C)
101.(new) The Florida Project (C)
100.(85) Mother! (C)
99.(84) Table 19 (C+)
98.(83) War on Everyone (C+)
97.(82) Crown Heights (C+)
96.(new) Only the Brave (C+)
95.(81) American Made (C+)
94.(80) To the Bone (C+)
93.(79) Wilson (C+)
92.(78) ChiPs (C+)
91.(77) Sleight (C+)
90.(76) Patti Cake$ (C+)
89.(75) The Dark Tower (C+)
88.(new) Darkest Hour (C+)
87.(74) Life (B-)
86.(73) The Mummy (B-)
85.(72) The Hero (B-)
84.(71) The Great Wall (B-)
83.(70) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (B-)
82.(69) A Cure for Wellness (B-)
81.(new) Wonder (B-)
80.(new) Jigsaw (B-)
79.(68) Before I Fall (B-)
78.(67) The Lego Ninjago Movie (B-)
77.(new) Father Figures (B-)
76.(66) Call Me by Your Name (B-)
75.(65) Free Fire (B-)
74.(64) Fist Fight (B-)
73.(62) Blade Runner 2049 (B-)
72.(63) Logan (B-)
71.(61) Going in Style (B-)
70.(60) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (B-)
69.(59) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (B-)
68.(new) Murder on the Orient Express (B-)
67.(new) A Bad Moms Christmas (B-)
66.(51) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (B-)
65.(58) Sleepless (B-)
64.(57) Win It All (B-)
63.(56) All Eyez on Me (B-)
62.(55) Baywatch (B)
61.(54) Dunkirk (B)
60.(53) Girls Trip (B)
59.(52) Underworld: Blood Wars (B)
58.(50) Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (B)
57.(47) Pitch Perfect 3 (B)
56.(48) T2: Trainspotting (B)
55.(49) Mayhem (B)
54.(new) All the Money in the World (B)
53.(new) Daddy's Home 2 (B)
52.(46) Battle of the Sexes (B)
51.(new) Band Aid (B)
50.(new) Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (B)
49.(new) Hostiles (B)
48.(45) Shot Caller (B)
47.(44) Goon: Last of the Enforcers (B)
46.(43) The Babysitter (B)
45.(42) The Belko Experiment (B)
44.(41) Mudbound (B)
43.(40) Landline (B)
42.(new) Last Flag Flying (B)
41.(32) Detroit (B)
40.(39) It (B)
39.(38) Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (B)
38.(37) Logan Lucky (B)
37.(new) Geostorm (B)
36.(36) The Hitman's Bodyguard (B)
35.(35) Gifted (B)
34.(34) The Lego Batman Movie (B)
33.(33) Good Time (B)
32.(31) Wheelman (B+)
31.(30) Our Souls at Night (B+)
30.(28) Bright (B+)
29.(27) Stronger (B+)
28.(26) The Shape of Water (B+)
27.(25) Spider-Man: Homecoming (B+)
26.(24) Justice League (B+)
25.(23) Kong: Skull Island (B+)
24.(22) Power Rangers (B+)
23.(21) Rough Night (B+)
22.(29) Atomic Blonde (B+)
21.(20) Happy Death Day (B+)
20.(19) Jumanjii: Welcome to the Jungle (B+)
19.(17) Dean (B+)
18.(18) Lady Bird (B+)
17.(16) xXx: Return of Xander Cage (A-)
16.(15) Kingsman: The Golden Circle (A-)
15.(14) Ghost in the Shell (A-)
14.(13) I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (A-)
13.(new) Coco (A-)
12.(12) Brigsby Bear (A-)
11.(11) John Wick: Chapter 2 (A-)
10.(10) The Big Sick (A)
9.(9) Molly's Game (A)
8.(8) I, Tonya (A)
7.(7) Baby Driver (A)
6.(6) Thor: Ragnarok (A)
5.(5) Get Out (A)
4.(4) Ingrid Goes West (A)
3.(3) The Fate of the Furious (A)
2.(2) Wind River (A)
1.(1) The Disaster Artist (A)
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
2018 NFL Power Rankings: Week 5
()=previous ranking
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (4-0) Week 5 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
2.(2) Kansas City Chiefs (4-0) Week 5 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
3.(4) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
4.(6) New Orleans Saints (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Washington Redskins
5.(8) New England Patriots (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
6.(3) Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
7.(7) Carolina Panthers (2-1) Week 5 opponent: New York Giants
8.(18) Tennessee Titans (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Buffalo Bills
9.(11) Cincinnati Bengals (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Miami Dolphins
10.(5) Miami Dolphins (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
11.(12) Green Bay Packers (2-1-1) Week 5 opponent: Detroit Lions
12.(14) Baltimore Ravens (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Cleveland Browns
13.(17) Chicago Bears (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Bye Week
14.(9) Minnesota Vikings (1-2-1) Week 5 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
15.(13) Atlanta Falcons (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
16.(16) Washington Redskins (2-1) Week 5 opponent: New Orleans Saints
17.(15) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2-1) Week 5 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
18.(10) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Bye Week
19.(20) Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Oakland Raiders
20.(22) Seattle Seahawks (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
21.(19) Denver Broncos (2-2) Week 5 opponent: New York Jets
22.(25) Dallas Cowboys (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Houston Texans
23.(21) Cleveland Browns (1-2-1) Week 5 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
24.(23) New York Giants (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Carolina Panthers
25.(24) Detroit Lions (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Green Bay Packers
26.(30) Houston Texans (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
27.(31) Oakland Raiders (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers
28.(27) Indianapolis Colts (1-3) Week 5 opponent: New England Patriots
29.(28) San Francisco 49ers (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
30.(26) Buffalo Bills (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Tennessee Titans
31.(29) New York Jets (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Denver Broncos
32.(32) Arizona Cardinals (0-4) Week 5 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
1.(1) Los Angeles Rams (4-0) Week 5 opponent: Seattle Seahawks
2.(2) Kansas City Chiefs (4-0) Week 5 opponent: Jacksonville Jaguars
3.(4) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Kansas City Chiefs
4.(6) New Orleans Saints (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Washington Redskins
5.(8) New England Patriots (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Indianapolis Colts
6.(3) Philadelphia Eagles (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Minnesota Vikings
7.(7) Carolina Panthers (2-1) Week 5 opponent: New York Giants
8.(18) Tennessee Titans (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Buffalo Bills
9.(11) Cincinnati Bengals (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Miami Dolphins
10.(5) Miami Dolphins (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Cincinnati Bengals
11.(12) Green Bay Packers (2-1-1) Week 5 opponent: Detroit Lions
12.(14) Baltimore Ravens (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Cleveland Browns
13.(17) Chicago Bears (3-1) Week 5 opponent: Bye Week
14.(9) Minnesota Vikings (1-2-1) Week 5 opponent: Philadelphia Eagles
15.(13) Atlanta Falcons (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Pittsburgh Steelers
16.(16) Washington Redskins (2-1) Week 5 opponent: New Orleans Saints
17.(15) Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2-1) Week 5 opponent: Atlanta Falcons
18.(10) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Bye Week
19.(20) Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Oakland Raiders
20.(22) Seattle Seahawks (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Los Angeles Rams
21.(19) Denver Broncos (2-2) Week 5 opponent: New York Jets
22.(25) Dallas Cowboys (2-2) Week 5 opponent: Houston Texans
23.(21) Cleveland Browns (1-2-1) Week 5 opponent: Baltimore Ravens
24.(23) New York Giants (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Carolina Panthers
25.(24) Detroit Lions (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Green Bay Packers
26.(30) Houston Texans (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Dallas Cowboys
27.(31) Oakland Raiders (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Los Angeles Chargers
28.(27) Indianapolis Colts (1-3) Week 5 opponent: New England Patriots
29.(28) San Francisco 49ers (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Arizona Cardinals
30.(26) Buffalo Bills (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Tennessee Titans
31.(29) New York Jets (1-3) Week 5 opponent: Denver Broncos
32.(32) Arizona Cardinals (0-4) Week 5 opponent: San Francisco 49ers
Week 4 Fantasy Football Winners and Losers (2018 Edition)
Quarterback
MVP: Jared Goff (Rams)
If there was any stragglers out there that still doubted Goff's ability to be a franchise quarterback in this league, his performance against the Vikings last Thursday should be enough to shut them up for good. He absolutely lit up the Vikings suddenly horrendous defense for a career-high 465 YDS and 5 TD's in another impressive win for the undefeated Rams. As long as this offense remains dynamic and explosive, Goff has a real shot to be a top 3-5 fantasy QB this season.
Honorable Mentions: Andrew Luck (Colts), Deshaun Watson (Texans), Kirk Cousins (Vikings)
LVP: Drew Brees (Saints)
The Saints signalcaller was due for a so-so performance after starting off 2018 with a trio of masterful outings. While Brees didn't make a lot of mistakes in this relatively easy victory over the Giants, solid secondary play and an outstanding ground performance from Alvin Kamara limited him to a 217 YD/0 TD afternoon. Brees will look to get back on track against an underrated Redskins pass defense next Monday night.
Dishonorable Mentions: Russell Wilson (Seahawks), Ryan Fitzpatrick (Buccaneers), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Running Back
MVP: Alvin Kamara (Saints)
I said to one of my friends earlier in the week that despite his overall effectiveness, Kamara hasn't been overly productive running the ball this year. His Week 4 performance made me look like the trash-spewing clown that I often am when talking about sports. Kamara eviscerated the Giants usually respectable rush D for 134 YDS and 3 TD's on 19 carries. He also unsurprisingly added 5 receptions for 47 YDS to further pad his 4th straight monster fantasy performance. Kamara has been absolutely unstoppable this season and I feel really silly for doubting his ability to maintain the absurd level of production he displayed as a rookie this year.
Honorable Mentions: Ezekiel Elliott (Cowboys), Melvin Gordon (Chargers), Kareem Hunt (Chiefs)
LVP: Jordan Howard (Bears)
Everybody seemed to be eating on the Bears offense in Sunday's blowout victory over the Buccaneers. In fact, starting running back Jordan Howard was the only notable player to be left out of the feast. The 3rd-year back only mustered 25 YDS on 11 carries and ended up getting outtouched by backup Tarik Cohen-who led the team in both receiving (121 YDS) and rushing (53 YDS) on the day. Despite Cohen's big day, Howard should remain the Bears top back when they square off against the Dolphins in Week 6.
Dishonorable Mentions: Kenyan Drake (Dolphins), Dalvin Cook (Vikings), Isaiah Crowell (Jets)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Cooper Kupp (Rams)
All 3 of the Rams starting wideouts got 100+ YDS and reached the endzone against the Vikings, but Cooper Kupp ended up being the top dog on a night where the baseline for the receiver group was nothing less than exceptional. The 2nd-year slot wideout secured 9 receptions for 162 YDS and 2 TD's against a Vikings secondary that looked like they had indulged in some Actavis before hitting the field last Thursday night. Kupp is proving to be one of the biggest steals in fantasy so far this year and there's no reason to believe his target share or overall production is going to fall off anytime soon.
Honorable Mentions: Golden Tate (Lions), DeAndre Hopkins (Texans), Corey Davis (Titans)
LVP: Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals)
To be fair, Fitz has been hampered by a hamstring injury and horrendous QB play in the early portion of 2018, but his 3 REC/28 YD performance against the Seahawks on Sunday is still another disheartening letdown for a player that has been the epitome of consistency at the receiver position for the last dozen seasons. As sad as it is to say, he should probably be riding your bench in the interim.
Dishonorable Mentions: Mike Williams (Chargers), Nelson Agholor (Eagles), Demaryius Thomas (Broncos)
Tight End
MVP: Jared Goff (Rams)
If there was any stragglers out there that still doubted Goff's ability to be a franchise quarterback in this league, his performance against the Vikings last Thursday should be enough to shut them up for good. He absolutely lit up the Vikings suddenly horrendous defense for a career-high 465 YDS and 5 TD's in another impressive win for the undefeated Rams. As long as this offense remains dynamic and explosive, Goff has a real shot to be a top 3-5 fantasy QB this season.
Honorable Mentions: Andrew Luck (Colts), Deshaun Watson (Texans), Kirk Cousins (Vikings)
LVP: Drew Brees (Saints)
The Saints signalcaller was due for a so-so performance after starting off 2018 with a trio of masterful outings. While Brees didn't make a lot of mistakes in this relatively easy victory over the Giants, solid secondary play and an outstanding ground performance from Alvin Kamara limited him to a 217 YD/0 TD afternoon. Brees will look to get back on track against an underrated Redskins pass defense next Monday night.
Dishonorable Mentions: Russell Wilson (Seahawks), Ryan Fitzpatrick (Buccaneers), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
Running Back
MVP: Alvin Kamara (Saints)
I said to one of my friends earlier in the week that despite his overall effectiveness, Kamara hasn't been overly productive running the ball this year. His Week 4 performance made me look like the trash-spewing clown that I often am when talking about sports. Kamara eviscerated the Giants usually respectable rush D for 134 YDS and 3 TD's on 19 carries. He also unsurprisingly added 5 receptions for 47 YDS to further pad his 4th straight monster fantasy performance. Kamara has been absolutely unstoppable this season and I feel really silly for doubting his ability to maintain the absurd level of production he displayed as a rookie this year.
Honorable Mentions: Ezekiel Elliott (Cowboys), Melvin Gordon (Chargers), Kareem Hunt (Chiefs)
LVP: Jordan Howard (Bears)
Everybody seemed to be eating on the Bears offense in Sunday's blowout victory over the Buccaneers. In fact, starting running back Jordan Howard was the only notable player to be left out of the feast. The 3rd-year back only mustered 25 YDS on 11 carries and ended up getting outtouched by backup Tarik Cohen-who led the team in both receiving (121 YDS) and rushing (53 YDS) on the day. Despite Cohen's big day, Howard should remain the Bears top back when they square off against the Dolphins in Week 6.
Dishonorable Mentions: Kenyan Drake (Dolphins), Dalvin Cook (Vikings), Isaiah Crowell (Jets)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Cooper Kupp (Rams)
All 3 of the Rams starting wideouts got 100+ YDS and reached the endzone against the Vikings, but Cooper Kupp ended up being the top dog on a night where the baseline for the receiver group was nothing less than exceptional. The 2nd-year slot wideout secured 9 receptions for 162 YDS and 2 TD's against a Vikings secondary that looked like they had indulged in some Actavis before hitting the field last Thursday night. Kupp is proving to be one of the biggest steals in fantasy so far this year and there's no reason to believe his target share or overall production is going to fall off anytime soon.
Honorable Mentions: Golden Tate (Lions), DeAndre Hopkins (Texans), Corey Davis (Titans)
LVP: Larry Fitzgerald (Cardinals)
To be fair, Fitz has been hampered by a hamstring injury and horrendous QB play in the early portion of 2018, but his 3 REC/28 YD performance against the Seahawks on Sunday is still another disheartening letdown for a player that has been the epitome of consistency at the receiver position for the last dozen seasons. As sad as it is to say, he should probably be riding your bench in the interim.
Dishonorable Mentions: Mike Williams (Chargers), Nelson Agholor (Eagles), Demaryius Thomas (Broncos)
Tight End
MVP: Jared Cook (Raiders)
If anyone has benefited from Jon Gruden's arrival in Oakland, it's Cook. The veteran tight end has pretty been the focal point of the passing attack so far and that's further evidenced by his absurd numbers (110 YDS and 2 TD's on 8 REC) in their OT win over the Browns on Sunday. Cook is firmly on the TE1 radar and could be in line for another huge day against a struggling Chargers defense that just got destroyed by the 49ers George Kittle.
If anyone has benefited from Jon Gruden's arrival in Oakland, it's Cook. The veteran tight end has pretty been the focal point of the passing attack so far and that's further evidenced by his absurd numbers (110 YDS and 2 TD's on 8 REC) in their OT win over the Browns on Sunday. Cook is firmly on the TE1 radar and could be in line for another huge day against a struggling Chargers defense that just got destroyed by the 49ers George Kittle.
Honorable Mentions: George Kittle (49ers), Trey Burton (Bears), Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
LVP: Benjamin Watson (Saints)
Week 4 was not kind to Watson. The 37-year old only caught 1 pass for 23 YDS, dropped an easy TD and got outplayed by backup Josh Hill in Sunday's showdown with the Giants. Watson will be a questionable boom-or-bust starter against the Redskins in Week 5.
Week 4 was not kind to Watson. The 37-year old only caught 1 pass for 23 YDS, dropped an easy TD and got outplayed by backup Josh Hill in Sunday's showdown with the Giants. Watson will be a questionable boom-or-bust starter against the Redskins in Week 5.
Dishonorable Mentions: Austin Hooper (Falcons), Austin Seferian-Jenkins (Jaguars), Rob Gronkowski (Patriots)
Defense/Special Teams
MVP: Packers
While they allowed 21 points to the Bills, the Packers still wreaked a ton of havoc against Josh Allen and co. (7 sacks, 2 INT's, 1 FUM REC) in this easy win at Lambeau. This relatively average defense is a longshot to put another up another monster performance when they visit the Lions on Sunday.
While they allowed 21 points to the Bills, the Packers still wreaked a ton of havoc against Josh Allen and co. (7 sacks, 2 INT's, 1 FUM REC) in this easy win at Lambeau. This relatively average defense is a longshot to put another up another monster performance when they visit the Lions on Sunday.
Honorable Mentions: Bears, Texans, Patriots
LVP: Vikings
It's seriously time to consider moving on from the Vikings defense. While you could counter with the argument that the Rams high-powered offense has smoked every opponent they've faced in 2018 thus far, this group has played with no fire, purpose or even general competency since the season started. They obviously have the talent to bounce back at some point, but they're too sloppy, burnable and takeaway/sack-challenged to trust right now.
It's seriously time to consider moving on from the Vikings defense. While you could counter with the argument that the Rams high-powered offense has smoked every opponent they've faced in 2018 thus far, this group has played with no fire, purpose or even general competency since the season started. They obviously have the talent to bounce back at some point, but they're too sloppy, burnable and takeaway/sack-challenged to trust right now.
Dishonorable Mentions: Seahawks, Browns, Eagles
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