NFL Preview 2018

February 3, 2019.  The day the obnoxious Miami Dolphin geezers had to put away the champagne, when the two great geezer Quarterbacks, Drew Brees and Tom Brady, met before both announcing their retirements..

The New Orleans Saints did it.  They completed the first undefeated 19 – 0 season by rolling over their last opponent, The New England Patriots, by a 43 -14 score in the Super Bowl.  The irony was thick.  They defeated the only team to previously get close, the Patriots who had their bid for immortality stymied back in 2008 by the New York Giants, and it happened in the Falcon’s home stadium.  The Falcons seemed on the verge of beating the Patriots in Super Bowl 51 when they blew a 28 – 3 lead.

The Saints would not blow their lead today.  Drew Brees was a perfect 30-30 for 300 yards passing, Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram had over 150 yards from scrimmage each, and the Saints defense, which allowed less than 7 points per game was equally impressive.  The Saints were simply the most dominating team in NFL history.

That's the way the Saints season will go.

Or they could go 8-8 and be a major disappointment.

Who knows? The Saints appear loaded. They have a dominant offensive line, a hall of fame quarterback, a running back tandem that can dominate, and a continually improving defense.  Their kicking games is sound, and they appear healthy.  They have a receiver who has caught more passes in his first two years than anyone ever has.  They have built through the draft and are young and talented.

Here’s the problem.  Just getting out of the division will be a task.  The Falcons and Panthers aren’t going away. The biggest problem with going 16 – 0 is that would mean you have to go 6 – 0 in the division, and probably still face a divisional team somewhere in the playoffs.  The Panthers, Falcons and Saints all made the playoffs last year, and the Saints beat the Panthers three times, accounting for half of the Panthers 6 losses.  Think the Panthers have been watching film all summer?  Then there are the two unknowns – injuries and zebras. 

So, we have a couple days left to dream.  Then, we’ll see how long before the limb I just went out on breaks. When in doubt, dream.

At the Cinema - August 2018

Mama Mia – Here We Go Again – 8

While the audiences wait for the 4^th iteration of “A Star is Born” they can look no further than this frenetic wafer of a film to see it actually happen.  Lily James sets the screen on fire as the young Donna of Donna and the Dynamos, played by Meryl Streep in the first Mama Mia, and briefly in this movie.  You see, the Meryl version of Donna has died of either movie disease or contract negotiations, leaving Pierce Brosnan alone to paint well and sing poorly on their Greek island.  Her daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is still singing and has taken over the restoration of her mother’s hotel project.  Early on, a storm comes and goes as the movie does the time warp shuffle between past and present.

Apparently, the budget was modified to bring on Cher as Meryl’s mother (I know) to sing a couple of songs.  To put it kindly, she looks like someone slapped white paint on Mt Rushmore.  But she can still sing, and it’s very helpful that the former boyfriend she runs into is named, wait for it, .. Fernando.

Once you throw all this in the pot, you have a fairly entertaining movie, a tad better than the first one, mostly due to the casting of the young Donna and the Dynamos, led by Lily James, who would be perfect in the fifth Star is Born.  The 40 year old pop of Abba is reprised, including some lesser known songs and if you liked the first Mia, you’ll like this one too.

 

RBG – 9

As it turns out, there is a lot to learn about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  She was a prominent lawyer in the Women’s Liberation Movement, winning 5 of 6 cases she argued before the Supreme Court.  Prior to that she was a pioneering female student at Harvard Law School.  After that she was a Judge renown for her thoughtful opinions. In this wonderful documentary, friends, family, and foes speak glowingly about her persistence, her intellect, and her work ethic.  Her friendship with her polar opposite, the late Anthony Scalia, is examined and it seems they met their intellectual matches with each other.  Finally, it chronicles her tacking to the left as the court continues to move to the right.  This movie will be shown on CNN soon, and it’s another one of many great documentaries in 2018  

Scanning the Satellite:

The Sinner: Season 1 – 10

In keeping with the Binge economy – “I’ll give you 8-10 terrific episodes” – the USA network gets into the Fargo – True Detective act with this terrific series.  The first season, available on Netflix, stars Jessica Biel as a woman who goes berserk on a beach one day, and stabs a man who is being to cozy with his girlfriend.  The story is so far-fetched that it is riveting.  Biel and costar Bill Pullam (as a troubled detective) have never been better.  Got a weekend?  Take the plunge.

Sharp Objects – 1
HBO’s highly acclaimed summer series stars Amy Adams, and the accolades end there for me.  While Amy is terrific, the series is a muddled mess of misdirection.  It’s a sure sign that your murder mystery is a calamity when after 8 episodes you don’t reveal the killer until half way through the closing credits (hope half the audience hadn’t tuned out by then) and it’s so obscured that you better have a recorder so you can slow it down and look at it frame by frame.  More ridiculous than you can imagine, even with the high brow praise.  Got a weekend?  Go to the beach.

Succession – 3

HBO’s other summer entry was one that I gave up on after about 4 episodes.  It has not one interesting or sympathetic character.  Hard to watch when you have no one to root for in a family of megalomaniacs.

At the Cinema - July 2018

Mission Impossible:  Fallout – 10

Ethan Hunt allows the cameras to follow him and his force for this 6^th installment of the Mission Impossible franchise, this one subtitled “Fallout.”  His motivation is clear.  He must find a bad guy, keep another bad guy whom he captured on his last Mission 3 years ago in handcuffs, save the world from nuclear explosions, and most importantly save those he cares about.  What has he been doing since the last mission?  Apparently, working out.

So, Ethan Hunt’s motivation is clear.  What I can’t figure out is what motivates Tom Cruise.  His desire to put his limbs at risk in stunts involving planes, trains, automobiles, motorcycles, helicopters, buildings, rocks, motorboats, big trucks, little trucks, skydiving, jumping, leaping, climbing, swimming, dangling and even tussling in bathrooms, is nerve-wracking.  All this at the age of 56.   And it’s all done so convincingly that the most unbelievable part of this movie is a 3-minute sprint that he does, chasing a baddie.  It’s a sprint that couldn’t be done by a 20 year old, not even Usain Bolt, or Ethan Hunt training for 3 years with Usain Bolt, not unless there’s been some amazing advances in lung transplants.  Most 56 year olds get winded in a motivated sprint to the bathroom, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.  But, we know that every Tom Cruise movie must include a running scene, although it does appear that the previously-required shirtless scene has finally bowed to father time.

Fallout is superbly scripted and executed.  It’s like a roller coaster ride where you keep thinking “surely that was the biggest incline.”  But it’s not.  Here’s another one.  It all combines to set a new standard for the action movie.  Sure, there’s a better one around the corner.  But for now, let’s just say that the Mission Impossible series has caught and passed James Bond.  Not in quantity.  But in thrills.  Certainly Tom and Ethan can’t keep this up much longer.  I kind of hope they quit while they’re ahead – and this movie puts them way ahead.  It’s terrific. Just choose to accept it.

Three Identical Strangers – 10

This a documentary that I can’t tell you much about, because I don’t want to unravel its secrets.  It’s the true story of triplets separated at birth and adopted by 3 very different families. The three brothers had no clue about their beginnings.  But, they fatefully and accidently find each other and the story is just beginning.  You won’t believe it, and as the story unwinds you will be stunned.  I go to a lot of movies, and I often sit and watch the credits as the audience jumps up and leaves.  This is the only movie I’ve ever been to, where the entire audience just sat there, through the credits, stunned.  Nobody moved. 

I’m guessing you won’t move either.  It will take a moment to digest.  Simply amazing – this is a documentary masterpiece.

At the Cinema - May/June 2018

Hearts Beat Loud – 10

I’ll admit it.  I saw the previews and knew this was a movie I would like.  It’s about a record store owner, and I sure do miss browsing through vinyl.  His Brooklyn store is failing, and his daughter is about to go off to college in California.  He’s a crochety guy, played to perfection by Nick Offerman, and his daughter has not just a heart of gold, but pipes of gold.  She can really sing.  Sam is played by wonderful Kiersey Clemons, and their bond has been to write and perform their songs in the comfort of their home.  One is so good (the title tune) that he puts it on Spotify, and some things begin to happen.  The last half hour is essentially a musical, and it makes for a thoroughly gentle, pleasant, and enthralling musical experience.

If there’s any justice, the Oscar winning song will come from this movie (there are several that would qualify) and Clemons will be the next big musical star.  She’s got it.  This is the low budget “star is born.”  They actually shot it in 19 days.

If you like music, you should see this movie.  I can’t wait to see it again.

Ocean’s Eight – 4

I don’t know what possessed me.  Maybe I had forgotten how irritating the Oceans’ movies are, with their jangly score and split screens sliding off into never-neverland.  It was an expensive nap, made worthwhile only by the presence of Anne Hathaway who managers to steal the movie while playing an Anne Hathaway type star. That in itself presents a conundrum.  While the subject jewels the thieves are trying to steal may have theoretically been worth it, is the movie worth stealing?  I would have to say no.  Can’t believe I fell into another Ocean.

 

Scanning the Satellite

Imposters – 9

One of the great trends in TV is short series like Fargo and True Detective.  I thoroughly enjoyed this silly little 2 season series.  You can catch the first season on Netflix and the second on Bravo.  A young lady is conning the unsuspecting into marriage (you’ll see why) and some of the conned decide to seek revenge, but they themselves must learn to con, in an effort to get their money back.  The story is unpredictable, and the actors are engaging.  A perfect little binge.