Are the Kings crazy enough to take Michael Porter Jr. with the second overall pick? Can the Grizzlies find a team that's willing to take on Chandler Parsons' garbage contract in exchange for the fourth overall pick? Will the Hornets fully commit to tanking? Will today be the day where the Spurs grant Kawhi Leonard's wish to be traded and potentially plant the seeds for the formation of the league's next potential superteam? All of these questions and more will be answered this evening when the launching pad for hardwood chaos otherwise known as the NBA Draft kicks off at 7:00 EST. As you anxiously await for the festivities at the Barclays Center to get underway, you can briefly pretend that you live in a fantasy land where flurries of draft night trades don't happen and take a gander at this bare bones 1st round mock that I've assembled. Enjoy the non-stop madness that this evening will more than likely deliver my friends.
1.Phoenix Suns: Deandre Ayton, center (Arizona)
2.Sacramento Kings: Marvin Bagley III, power forward (Duke)
3.Atlanta Hawks: Luka Doncic, small forward (Slovenia)
4.Memphis Grizzlies: Mo Bamba, power forward/center (Texas)
5.Dallas Mavericks: Jaren Jackson Jr., center (Michigan State)
6.Orlando Magic: Trae Young, point guard (Oklahoma)
7.Chicago Bulls: Michael Porter Jr., small/power forward (Missouri)
8.Cleveland Cavaliers: Wendell Carter Jr., power forward/center (Duke)
9.New York Knicks: Colin Sexton, point guard (Alabama)
10.Philadelphia 76ers: Mikal Bridges, small forward (Villanova)
11.Charlotte Hornets: Kevin Knox, small forward (Kentucky)
12.Los Angeles Clippers: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, point guard (Kentucky)
13.Los Angeles Clippers: Robert Williams, power forward (Texas A&M)
14.Denver Nuggets: Miles Bridges, small/power forward (Michigan State)
15.Washington Wizards: Zharie Smith, shooting guard (Texas Tech)
16.Phoenix Suns: Ellie Okobo, point guard (France)
17.Milwaukee Bucks: Lonnie Walker IV, shooting guard (Miami)
18.San Antonio Spurs: Troy Brown, shooting guard (Oregon)
19.Atlanta Hawks: Donte DiVincenzo, shooting guard (Villanova)
20.Minnesota Timberwolves: Jerome Robinson, shooting guard (Boston College)
21.Utah Jazz: Aaron Holiday, point guard (UCLA)
22.Chicago Bulls: Mitchell Robinson, center (N/A)
23.Indiana Pacers: Kevin Huerter, shooting guard/small forward (Maryland)
24.Portland Trail Blazers: Dzanan Musa, small forward (Bosnia)
25.Los Angeles Lakers: Grayson Allen, shooting guard (Duke)
26.Philadelphia 76ers: Josh Okogie, shooting guard (Georgia Tech)
27.Boston Celtics: Bruce Brown, shooting guard (Miami)
28.Golden State Warriors: Keita Bates-Diop, small forward (Ohio State)
29.Brooklyn Nets: Jacob Evans III, small forward (Cincinnati)
30.Atlanta Hawks: De'Anthony Melton, point guard (USC)
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Quick Movie Reviews: Hotel Artemis, Ocean's 8, Set It Up
Hotel Artemis: I hate to play spoiler, but Hotel Artemis isn't the next John Wick. In fact, this film centered around a particularly busy night at a members-only hospital for criminals in an impoverished, riot-torn, near-future Los Angeles is much more of a noir thriller than a straight-up action flick. Writer/director Drew Pearce packs way too many subplots into such a short film (it clocks in at just over 90 minutes) and the few fight scenes it does have are pretty sloppy, but the excellent work from its wildly talented ensemble cast (particularly Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown and Charlie Day) combined with the badass atmosphere of its contained yet chaotic setting prove to be more than enough to make Hotel Artemis a slick, respectable crime flick.
Grade: B
Ocean's 8: For better or worse, this reboot/spin-off of the George Clooney/Brad Pitt/Matt Damon-led franchise from the early-to-mid 2000's is built around the same ingredients that made the installments not named Ocean's Twelve immensely likable. The largely underdeveloped titular gang of thieves, played by numerous A-listers including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Rihanna, bring the charisma and their robbery of a $150 million Cartier necklace from the annual Met Gala is about as elaborate, clever and adversity-free as movie heists get. As breezy, well-acted and generally watchable as it is, Ocean's 8 still manages to be kind of a letdown. While the proceedings are never dull, Gary Ross' restrained direction nixes any chance this movie had of being an over-the-top good time. Even with his blatant thievery of Steven Soderbergh's hallmarks (jazzy musical cues, multi-frame shots, liberal usage of montages), Ross never even comes close to replicating the effortlessly cool style and electric level of energy that helped make Ocean's 11 and Ocean's Thirteen premier pieces of entertainment. If Debbie Ocean and the gang get called into action again, Warner Brothers needs to bring back Soderbergh to direct or find another similarly gifted person that revels in lighthearted spectacle so this well-matched powerhouse ensemble can make a legitimate grin-inducing crime romp.
Grade: B
Set It Up: The quality of a romantic comedy is usually correlated with the likability of and general rapport between its protagonists. With underappreciated young actors Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell steering the ship, Set It Up coasts to genre respectability with relative ease. Deutch and Powell are both magnetic presences with an effortless, palpable chemistry that keeps the proceedings of this Netflix production about a pair of 20-something personal assistants that attempt to dupe their demanding bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs, both respectable in comedic psycho roles) into entering a relationship with each other so they can receive a reprieve from their hellish existences funny, sweet and engaging throughout. Definitely worth a look if you're looking for a nice romcom you can watch from the comfort of your couch.
Grade: B
Grade: B
Ocean's 8: For better or worse, this reboot/spin-off of the George Clooney/Brad Pitt/Matt Damon-led franchise from the early-to-mid 2000's is built around the same ingredients that made the installments not named Ocean's Twelve immensely likable. The largely underdeveloped titular gang of thieves, played by numerous A-listers including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Rihanna, bring the charisma and their robbery of a $150 million Cartier necklace from the annual Met Gala is about as elaborate, clever and adversity-free as movie heists get. As breezy, well-acted and generally watchable as it is, Ocean's 8 still manages to be kind of a letdown. While the proceedings are never dull, Gary Ross' restrained direction nixes any chance this movie had of being an over-the-top good time. Even with his blatant thievery of Steven Soderbergh's hallmarks (jazzy musical cues, multi-frame shots, liberal usage of montages), Ross never even comes close to replicating the effortlessly cool style and electric level of energy that helped make Ocean's 11 and Ocean's Thirteen premier pieces of entertainment. If Debbie Ocean and the gang get called into action again, Warner Brothers needs to bring back Soderbergh to direct or find another similarly gifted person that revels in lighthearted spectacle so this well-matched powerhouse ensemble can make a legitimate grin-inducing crime romp.
Grade: B
Set It Up: The quality of a romantic comedy is usually correlated with the likability of and general rapport between its protagonists. With underappreciated young actors Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell steering the ship, Set It Up coasts to genre respectability with relative ease. Deutch and Powell are both magnetic presences with an effortless, palpable chemistry that keeps the proceedings of this Netflix production about a pair of 20-something personal assistants that attempt to dupe their demanding bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye Diggs, both respectable in comedic psycho roles) into entering a relationship with each other so they can receive a reprieve from their hellish existences funny, sweet and engaging throughout. Definitely worth a look if you're looking for a nice romcom you can watch from the comfort of your couch.
Grade: B
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
The Best and Worst of Bryce Dallas Howard
“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 “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” star Bryce Dallas Howard.
Films starring Bryce Dallas Howard that I've seen:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Village
Lady in the Water
Spider-Man 3
Terminator Salvation
The Help
50/50
Jurassic World
Gold
Best Performance: The Help (2011)
While it's not quite on the level of the award-caliber work from Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone, Howard's performance in The Help is still notably great. Her turn as Hilly Walter Holbrook, a deceitful, highly prejudiced Mississippi socialite that employs Spencer's character as a maid, was a thoroughly convincing departure from the largely unassuming characters she'd played up to that point in her career.
Worst Performance: The Village (2004)
The Village was Howard's first substantial film role, and boy did it show. Her performance as a kind-hearted blind woman that stumbles upon a colonial village's bizarre, long-kept secret is as laughably terrible as the twist M.Night Shyamalan concocted for this misguided mystery thriller.
Best Film: 50/50 (2011)
If I were to compose a list of the most underrated films of the 2010's so far, there's a very strong chance that 50/50 would top it. Thanks to an outstanding, largely autobiographical script from Will Reiser and its terrific ensemble cast (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Howard, Anna Kendrick, Angellica Houston, Phillip Baker Hall), this borderline flawless dramedy is able to seamlessly blend gut-busting R-rated humor with heartfelt sentiments about mortality, love and the significant toll cancer takes on a patient and their loved ones.
Worst Film: Lady in the Water (2006)
Virtuoso filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan managed to follow up The Village with a project that was even more poorly-acted and unintentionally hilarious. Lady in the Water, which is currently the infamous writer/director's lone foray into the world of fantasy, is a pretty much unprecedented exercise in rapidly-escalating ridiculousness. Just about every plot development in this wanna-be epic fairy tale is so gloriously dumb that I almost have to commend Shyamalan for making something that is so unabashedly, balls-to-wall preposterous.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” star Josh Brolin.
Films starring Bryce Dallas Howard that I've seen:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
The Village
Lady in the Water
Spider-Man 3
Terminator Salvation
The Help
50/50
Jurassic World
Gold
Best Performance: The Help (2011)
While it's not quite on the level of the award-caliber work from Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone, Howard's performance in The Help is still notably great. Her turn as Hilly Walter Holbrook, a deceitful, highly prejudiced Mississippi socialite that employs Spencer's character as a maid, was a thoroughly convincing departure from the largely unassuming characters she'd played up to that point in her career.
Worst Performance: The Village (2004)
The Village was Howard's first substantial film role, and boy did it show. Her performance as a kind-hearted blind woman that stumbles upon a colonial village's bizarre, long-kept secret is as laughably terrible as the twist M.Night Shyamalan concocted for this misguided mystery thriller.
Best Film: 50/50 (2011)
If I were to compose a list of the most underrated films of the 2010's so far, there's a very strong chance that 50/50 would top it. Thanks to an outstanding, largely autobiographical script from Will Reiser and its terrific ensemble cast (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Howard, Anna Kendrick, Angellica Houston, Phillip Baker Hall), this borderline flawless dramedy is able to seamlessly blend gut-busting R-rated humor with heartfelt sentiments about mortality, love and the significant toll cancer takes on a patient and their loved ones.
Worst Film: Lady in the Water (2006)
Virtuoso filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan managed to follow up The Village with a project that was even more poorly-acted and unintentionally hilarious. Lady in the Water, which is currently the infamous writer/director's lone foray into the world of fantasy, is a pretty much unprecedented exercise in rapidly-escalating ridiculousness. Just about every plot development in this wanna-be epic fairy tale is so gloriously dumb that I almost have to commend Shyamalan for making something that is so unabashedly, balls-to-wall preposterous.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” star Josh Brolin.
Monday, June 18, 2018
As We Proceed Episode #20
On this month's As We Proceed, Feliciano and I discuss Ameer Vann getting kicked out of Brockhampton, the riveting Drake/Pusha T beef and review the first two projects (Pusha T's Daytona and Kanye West's ye) in the G.O.O.D. Music new release marathon. This captivating hour of takes can be heard at any of the links 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
Friday, June 15, 2018
Concert Review: The Black Dahlia Murder/Whitechapel--Boston, MA--June 14th, 2018
Lineup: The Black Dahlia Murder/Whitechapel/Fleshgod Apocalypse/Aversions Crown/Shadow of Intent
Venue: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Shadow of Intent: Once I got past the tragic fact they were a Halo-themed band that didn't do Master Chief cosplay on stage, I ended up enjoying Shadow of Intent's set quite a bit. Their vocalist has some wild high screams, every guitar solo was a winding ripper that delighted my wank metal sensibilities and the symphonic elements are a nice touch that helps them standout in a crowded field of up-and-coming deathcore bands that have solely dedicated their time to attempting to replicate the brutal yet atmospheric sound of Thy Art is Murder. Definitely intrigued to see where these guys go from here.
Aversions Crown: Aversions Crown is a band that has never been anything more than decent to me. To be frank, they're one of the bands that I alluded to in the last paragraph that seems like they want to ride the Thy Art is Murder wave to genre stardom. Whether that's true or not, the power of their live performance is undeniable. Their energy, intensity and crowd engagement helps elevate them from middle-of-the-road band with no true standout elements to a pretty damn enjoyable one with well-timed breakdowns, fierce vocals and the occasional effective burst of melody. I urge anyone that's attending this tour to see Whitechapel that isn't familiar with Aversions Crown to show up early to check out their set.
Fleshgod Apocalypse: Even with a pretty substantial recent lineup shift that included longtime drummer Francesco Paoli returning to the vocalist/guitarist post he vacated following their 2009 debut Oracles, Fleshgod Apocalypse is still pretty much the same band they were during the Tommasso Riccardi years. In terms of the live setting, this means that Italy's resident evil operatic enthusiasts haven't stopped being a soundboard operator's worst nightmare. I figured that the great acoustics of the Paradise Rock Club would help make their mix much clearer than it was the previous times I'd seen them at the Worcester Palladium, which is known for its shaky sound, but as soon Paoli came in on set opener"The Violation", it became clear that he and both of the band's clean vocalists (bassist Paolo Rossi and resident opera singer Veronica Bordacchini) would be drowned out by the guitars, piano and booming orchestral sections. Their massive slam riffs and distinctly odd stage presence kept things engaging, but the full scope of their classical/death metal hybrid will always be better captured on record.
Whitechapel: For a band that isn't notorious for partying, Whitechapel's live shows are rather erratic. The previous four times I've seen have ranged from excellent (Summer Slaughter 2011) to pretty fucking awful (Warped Tour 2010). On this tour honoring the 10th anniversary of their breakout sophomore LP This is Exile, the Whitechapel dice roll yielded some pretty favorable results. Phil Bozeman's vocals were sharp, their trio of guitarists, who I've seen blow many a solo in the admirably handled all of the deep cuts (which is essentially all but three songs on this record) and the crowd unsurprisingly lost their shit as they ripped their way through an album that played a pivotal role in the growth of the most polarizing metal subgenre to emerge in the past decade. I'm not going to go out of my way to see Whitechapel again anytime soon, but this show was an enjoyable nostalgia trip that brought back warm memories of my high school years when watching breakdown compilations on YouTube and getting dirty looks from strangers when you blared shit like this in public were life-affirming pastimes.
The Black Dahlia Murder: It's incredibly difficult for me to discuss a Black Dahlia Murder performance without going full fanboy. I'd seen them eight times prior to this show and every single one of those performances rendered me speechless upon conclusion. Their 14-song set, which consisted of their ferocious new record Nightbringers in its entirety alongside a handful of fan favorites from their first three albums, here was no exception. Even as the founding members (vocalist Trevor Strnad and rhythm guitarist/primary songwriter Brian Eschbach) approach 40, the band has not lost an ounce of their musical proficiency or general zest for performing that they had when they first broke out on the scene in the mid-2000's. This kind of prolonged consistency in quality of live performances is pretty infrequent and as they continue to chug along through another extensive touring cycle, that reign of destruction doesn't look its going to slow down anytime soon. All hail and long live the Immortals.
Grades:
Shadow of Intent: B+
Aversions Crown: B+
Fleshgod Apocalypse: B
Whitechapel: B
The Black Dahlia Murder: A+
Setlists:
Shadow of Intent included:
The Heretic Prevails (opener)
The Battle of the Maginot Sphere (closer)
Averisons Crown included:
Prismatic Abyss
Hollow Planet
Fleshgod Apocalypse included:
The Violation (opener)
The Fool
Cold as Perfection
The Egoism
Whitechapel:
Father of Lies
This is Exile
Possession
To All That Are Dead
Exalt
Somatically Incorrect
Death Becomes Him
Daemon (The Procreated)
Eternal Refuge
Of Legions
Messiahbolical
Encore:
Vicer Exciser
Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation
The Black Dahlia Murder:
Widowmaker
Of God and Serpent, Of Spectre and Snake
Matriarch
Contagion
Nightbringers
Jars
Kings of the Nightworld
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Catacomb Hecatomb
As Good as Dead
The Lonely Deceased
Everything Went Black
Statutory Ape
Deathmask Divine
Venue: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Shadow of Intent: Once I got past the tragic fact they were a Halo-themed band that didn't do Master Chief cosplay on stage, I ended up enjoying Shadow of Intent's set quite a bit. Their vocalist has some wild high screams, every guitar solo was a winding ripper that delighted my wank metal sensibilities and the symphonic elements are a nice touch that helps them standout in a crowded field of up-and-coming deathcore bands that have solely dedicated their time to attempting to replicate the brutal yet atmospheric sound of Thy Art is Murder. Definitely intrigued to see where these guys go from here.
Aversions Crown: Aversions Crown is a band that has never been anything more than decent to me. To be frank, they're one of the bands that I alluded to in the last paragraph that seems like they want to ride the Thy Art is Murder wave to genre stardom. Whether that's true or not, the power of their live performance is undeniable. Their energy, intensity and crowd engagement helps elevate them from middle-of-the-road band with no true standout elements to a pretty damn enjoyable one with well-timed breakdowns, fierce vocals and the occasional effective burst of melody. I urge anyone that's attending this tour to see Whitechapel that isn't familiar with Aversions Crown to show up early to check out their set.
Fleshgod Apocalypse: Even with a pretty substantial recent lineup shift that included longtime drummer Francesco Paoli returning to the vocalist/guitarist post he vacated following their 2009 debut Oracles, Fleshgod Apocalypse is still pretty much the same band they were during the Tommasso Riccardi years. In terms of the live setting, this means that Italy's resident evil operatic enthusiasts haven't stopped being a soundboard operator's worst nightmare. I figured that the great acoustics of the Paradise Rock Club would help make their mix much clearer than it was the previous times I'd seen them at the Worcester Palladium, which is known for its shaky sound, but as soon Paoli came in on set opener"The Violation", it became clear that he and both of the band's clean vocalists (bassist Paolo Rossi and resident opera singer Veronica Bordacchini) would be drowned out by the guitars, piano and booming orchestral sections. Their massive slam riffs and distinctly odd stage presence kept things engaging, but the full scope of their classical/death metal hybrid will always be better captured on record.
Whitechapel: For a band that isn't notorious for partying, Whitechapel's live shows are rather erratic. The previous four times I've seen have ranged from excellent (Summer Slaughter 2011) to pretty fucking awful (Warped Tour 2010). On this tour honoring the 10th anniversary of their breakout sophomore LP This is Exile, the Whitechapel dice roll yielded some pretty favorable results. Phil Bozeman's vocals were sharp, their trio of guitarists, who I've seen blow many a solo in the admirably handled all of the deep cuts (which is essentially all but three songs on this record) and the crowd unsurprisingly lost their shit as they ripped their way through an album that played a pivotal role in the growth of the most polarizing metal subgenre to emerge in the past decade. I'm not going to go out of my way to see Whitechapel again anytime soon, but this show was an enjoyable nostalgia trip that brought back warm memories of my high school years when watching breakdown compilations on YouTube and getting dirty looks from strangers when you blared shit like this in public were life-affirming pastimes.
The Black Dahlia Murder: It's incredibly difficult for me to discuss a Black Dahlia Murder performance without going full fanboy. I'd seen them eight times prior to this show and every single one of those performances rendered me speechless upon conclusion. Their 14-song set, which consisted of their ferocious new record Nightbringers in its entirety alongside a handful of fan favorites from their first three albums, here was no exception. Even as the founding members (vocalist Trevor Strnad and rhythm guitarist/primary songwriter Brian Eschbach) approach 40, the band has not lost an ounce of their musical proficiency or general zest for performing that they had when they first broke out on the scene in the mid-2000's. This kind of prolonged consistency in quality of live performances is pretty infrequent and as they continue to chug along through another extensive touring cycle, that reign of destruction doesn't look its going to slow down anytime soon. All hail and long live the Immortals.
Grades:
Shadow of Intent: B+
Aversions Crown: B+
Fleshgod Apocalypse: B
Whitechapel: B
The Black Dahlia Murder: A+
Setlists:
Shadow of Intent included:
The Heretic Prevails (opener)
The Battle of the Maginot Sphere (closer)
Averisons Crown included:
Prismatic Abyss
Hollow Planet
Fleshgod Apocalypse included:
The Violation (opener)
The Fool
Cold as Perfection
The Egoism
Whitechapel:
Father of Lies
This is Exile
Possession
To All That Are Dead
Exalt
Somatically Incorrect
Death Becomes Him
Daemon (The Procreated)
Eternal Refuge
Of Legions
Messiahbolical
Encore:
Vicer Exciser
Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation
The Black Dahlia Murder:
Widowmaker
Of God and Serpent, Of Spectre and Snake
Matriarch
Contagion
Nightbringers
Jars
Kings of the Nightworld
What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
Catacomb Hecatomb
As Good as Dead
The Lonely Deceased
Everything Went Black
Statutory Ape
Deathmask Divine
Thursday, June 14, 2018
2018 NFL Position Rankings: Top 35 Outside Linebackers
35.Aaron Lynch (Bears)
34.Carl Lawson (Bengals)
33.Craig Robertson (Saints)
32.Jamie Collins (Browns)
31.Leonard Floyd (Bears)
30.T.J. Watt (Steelers)
29.Christian Kirksey (Browns)
28.Pernell McPhee (Redskins)
27.Lorenzo Alexander (Bills)
26.Shaq Thompson (Panthers)
25.Vic Beasley Jr. (Falcons)
24.De'Vondre Campbell (Falcons)
23.Tahir Whitehead (Raiders)
22.Anthony Barr (Vikings)
21.Shaquil Barrett (Broncos)
20.Nick Perry (Packers)
19.Preston Smith (Redskins)
18.Derrick Morgan (Titans)
17.Nigel Bradham (Eagles)
16.Bruce Irvin (Raiders)
15.Thomas Davis (Panthers)
14.Clay Matthews (Packers)
13.Whitney Mercilus (Texans)
12.Myles Jack (Jaguars)
11.Vontaze Burfict (Bengals)
10.Terrell Suggs (Ravens)
9.Brian Orakpo (Titans)
8.Olivier Vernon (Giants)
7.Ryan Kerrigan (Redskins)
6.K.J. Wright (Seahawks)
5.Jadeveon Clowney (Texans)
4.Telvin Smith (Jaguars)
3.Lavonte David (Buccaneers)
2.Justin Houston (Chiefs)
1.Von Miller (Broncos)
34.Carl Lawson (Bengals)
33.Craig Robertson (Saints)
32.Jamie Collins (Browns)
31.Leonard Floyd (Bears)
30.T.J. Watt (Steelers)
29.Christian Kirksey (Browns)
28.Pernell McPhee (Redskins)
27.Lorenzo Alexander (Bills)
26.Shaq Thompson (Panthers)
25.Vic Beasley Jr. (Falcons)
24.De'Vondre Campbell (Falcons)
23.Tahir Whitehead (Raiders)
22.Anthony Barr (Vikings)
21.Shaquil Barrett (Broncos)
20.Nick Perry (Packers)
19.Preston Smith (Redskins)
18.Derrick Morgan (Titans)
17.Nigel Bradham (Eagles)
16.Bruce Irvin (Raiders)
15.Thomas Davis (Panthers)
14.Clay Matthews (Packers)
13.Whitney Mercilus (Texans)
12.Myles Jack (Jaguars)
11.Vontaze Burfict (Bengals)
10.Terrell Suggs (Ravens)
9.Brian Orakpo (Titans)
8.Olivier Vernon (Giants)
7.Ryan Kerrigan (Redskins)
6.K.J. Wright (Seahawks)
5.Jadeveon Clowney (Texans)
4.Telvin Smith (Jaguars)
3.Lavonte David (Buccaneers)
2.Justin Houston (Chiefs)
1.Von Miller (Broncos)
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
The Best and Worst of Jason Mitchell
“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 “Superfly” star Jason Mitchell.
Films starring Jason Mitchell that I've seen:
Contraband
Broken City
Straight Outta Compton
Keanu
Kong: Skull Island
Detroit
Mudbound
The Disaster Artist
Best Performance: Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Mitchell's current status as one of the industry's most respected young actors can be traced back to his breakout role as Eazy-E in Straight Outta Compton. With his magnetic presence and incredible emotional range, Mitchell's awards-caliber performance was a big part of the reason why the N.W.A. biopic went down as a standout entry in the genre.
Worst Performance: Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Like just about everyone else in Kong: Skull Island's wildly talented ensemble cast, Mitchell's character is there to fight giant monsters and occasionally participate in a conversation about said monsters. While Mitchell handles this task competently, Skull Island is the only time where I've watched something he was in for more than a few minutes and wasn't notably impressed with his performance, which is enough for it to pick up this unfortunate distinction.
Best Film: Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Biopics have a bad tendency of not even beginning to scratch the surface of their subject matter. Straight Outta Compton marked an increasingly rare instance of a film dedicated to telling the story of an iconic figure (or in this case, figures) that was willing to subvert that formula. Andrea Berloff and Jonathan Herman's terrific script manages to hit all out of the obligatory rise-and-fall footnotes in N.W.A's career while also serving as a deep exploration of what made each prominent member tick. Combine this dense, cliché-averting script with an electric sense of energy and terrific performances from every actor that has significant screen time (Mitchell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Paul Giamatti), and you have one of the most absorbing and flat-out fantastic films in recent history.
Worst Film: Broken City (2013)
Broken City is one of those cinematic failures that just seems implausible. It has all the ingredients for a successful film (talented ensemble cast, director with a good track record, solid premise about a disgraced former police officer turned private investigator that stumbles into a web of corruption centered around the mayor of New York City), yet it somehow ends up being a dull thriller that offers up next-to-no suspense or entertainment value.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” star Bryce Dallas Howard.
Films starring Jason Mitchell that I've seen:
Contraband
Broken City
Straight Outta Compton
Keanu
Kong: Skull Island
Detroit
Mudbound
The Disaster Artist
Best Performance: Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Mitchell's current status as one of the industry's most respected young actors can be traced back to his breakout role as Eazy-E in Straight Outta Compton. With his magnetic presence and incredible emotional range, Mitchell's awards-caliber performance was a big part of the reason why the N.W.A. biopic went down as a standout entry in the genre.
Worst Performance: Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Like just about everyone else in Kong: Skull Island's wildly talented ensemble cast, Mitchell's character is there to fight giant monsters and occasionally participate in a conversation about said monsters. While Mitchell handles this task competently, Skull Island is the only time where I've watched something he was in for more than a few minutes and wasn't notably impressed with his performance, which is enough for it to pick up this unfortunate distinction.
Best Film: Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Biopics have a bad tendency of not even beginning to scratch the surface of their subject matter. Straight Outta Compton marked an increasingly rare instance of a film dedicated to telling the story of an iconic figure (or in this case, figures) that was willing to subvert that formula. Andrea Berloff and Jonathan Herman's terrific script manages to hit all out of the obligatory rise-and-fall footnotes in N.W.A's career while also serving as a deep exploration of what made each prominent member tick. Combine this dense, cliché-averting script with an electric sense of energy and terrific performances from every actor that has significant screen time (Mitchell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Paul Giamatti), and you have one of the most absorbing and flat-out fantastic films in recent history.
Worst Film: Broken City (2013)
Broken City is one of those cinematic failures that just seems implausible. It has all the ingredients for a successful film (talented ensemble cast, director with a good track record, solid premise about a disgraced former police officer turned private investigator that stumbles into a web of corruption centered around the mayor of New York City), yet it somehow ends up being a dull thriller that offers up next-to-no suspense or entertainment value.
Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” star Bryce Dallas Howard.
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