Media Captures - March 2022

It Was the Music – 11

I’ve never rated anything this high before, but, if you love music you’ll get the reference.  And make no mistake, this is no Mocumentary.  It’s as down home and real as it can get.  “It Was the Music” is a 10-part documentary series available on several streaming services.  It could basically have been called the “Joy of Music.”  It is being offered at a $10 surcharge for the whole series.  That’s the bargain of the century considering it’s less than what you’ll spend on a fast food meal these days,  This ain't fast food.

Alvy Singer said to Annie Hall, that you can divide life into two parts, the horrible and the miserable.  This movie goes the other way, essentially saying you can divide life into two parts – that which makes you happy, and everything else.  What makes you happy?  Is it time with the family, concerts, fishing, hunting, church, movies, art?” 

As this musical journey unfolds, one of them finally says it:  Those two hours on stage, trying to connect with an audience, is a happiness like no other.

This movie is mostly about two married performers who after 30 years, decide it is time to tour together, instead of with others.  Larry Campbell has been the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan, and played with many others, and Teresa Williams is a Tennessee singer trying to keep “Americana” alive.  They don’t care where they play.  If it’s a bar with 15 people or at Lincoln Center to thousands, they just adjust the size of the band a little and give it everything they’ve got.  The documentary film maker Mark Moskowtiz saw them by chance and was so blown away, he decided to feature them.  He wanders through their and their friend’s legacies with patience and reverence.  Some of their friends you will have heard of, some you will not have.  They’ve been doing it for the love of music for a long time. 

The film meanders through Larry and Teresa’s life, including barbeques, parties and arguments.  There are dead spots of commonality, but they are countered by brilliant musical tales.  What resonated the most with me was the love of albums.  Remember when you played an album til the point that you had scratched it, and then you knew where the scratches were?  That love of an album and its flow doesn’t exist today, and it’s just one of many, many points that are made over the course of this wonderful journey.

This is hypnotic, reverential, and a must-see for music lovers.

Belfast – 10

Kenneth Branagh tells the story of his growing up during the civil unrest in Belfast in the 1980’s and with the help of a compelling soundtrack featuring Van Morrison, crafts one of the great family drama stories in movie history.  It’s heart-warming to the core.

Jamie Dornan (surprise) is pa.  He’s had gambling issues, and back tax issues, but he loves his family and has to work away from Belfast to survive.  There are some violent Protestants who want to evict the Catholics from the neighborhood and he is resistant to that.  Guess there’s always someone to hate, and some reason to build a wall to keep them at bay.  Jude Hill is 11-year old Buddy and he roams the streets of Belfast on the brink of love or trouble most days.  Ciaran Hinds and Judi Dench are the grandparents and both got Oscar nominations.  Their family unit is perfectly situated within their neighborhood unit, a great place to grow up, until unrest materializes.

The story telling is wonderful, but it is the performance of Caitriona Balfe as Ma who elevates this movie.  She dances through the highs and lows, the parties and the danger with a spirit we rarely see on screen, but often see in real life mothers.  She is wonderful and it’s the crime of the century that she won’t be picking up an Oscar, because she wasn’t even nominated.  I watched this movie for the first time for the story.  I will watch it again to just drink in her performance. 

 

Licorice Pizza – 8

Director Paul Thomas Anderson, 3 names needed, is an acquired taste that I’ve never quite acquired, although I consider “There Will Be Blood” a classic.  It’s funny because it goes on to a strange list for me.  It’s a movie that I totally loved and yet I never want to sit through it again.  That’s a very short list.

I admire Anderson’s unpredictability and visual style.  Sometimes I just don’t understand why he’s telling the story the way he is. 

In this movie, the story is about Gary, a young man in the San Fernando Valley around 1973 with an entrepreneurial bent even at 15.  First he’s a child actor, then sells waterbeds, then has a pinball parlor. 

All of these phases are captured perfectly and are sometimes hilarious.

He feels an attachment to a girl who is 25, or so she says.  Gary is played by Cooper Hoffman and Alana Kane is played by Alana Haim of the singing group Haim.  Haim starts the movie not resembling a movie star but finishes it as one.  The story wanders around San Francisco with some strange tangents.  I’m going to summarize my impression this way.  I loved the first half, but the second half seemed to drag.  While I would have edited it a lot differently, there’s no one going to take scissors to Paul’s movies, and I respect that.  It costs them a little here, but the movie is still worth seeing, especially if you experienced the 70’s.

Drive My Car - 9

This is a lock for best foreign film but I will confess it took me 3 nights to get through the three hours.  Yes, it's brilliant.  It's got a slow melancholy pace that slowly picks the plot apart.  Much time is spent in an old Saab.  I was thankful that it had ended, but fully realized that it could have gone on for another hour.

A director's wife dies suddenly right after he discovers she was having an affair.  He is overwhelmed with grief.  Two years later he travels to a theater to direct a Checkov play and casts his wife's ex-lover as the lead.  

He is forced to have a driver of his car by the management, and when she talks of her grief, they begin to dissect their lives.  I admit it.  It's damn good.

Black Crab - 7

This is one of those Netflix movies filmed in several different languages and dubbed in.  It makes for strange viewing for me.  The world is on the brink of ending and Noomi Rapace, who is Netflix's go to actress in these movies, must skate across the frozen archipelago with the thing that will save mankind, and we don't know what it is, other than it isn't love.  

So, they skate and they skate, and my legs got tired just watching it.  One of those end of the world movies that's not bad, not great.  

 

Oscar Forecast:

There are many problems with the Oscar broadcast:

• I have read numerous predictions.  There is little drama on who will win.  Very little suspense.
• They are moving some technical awards off-air to shorten the broadcast.  A more entertaining broadcast is what is needed.  With these awards there is a real possibility that Monday you will see an advertisement for “Dune, winner of 5 Academy Awards” and go “What?  When did that happen?”
• There is no box office.  Again.  I have shouted from the beach (we don’t have a mountaintop) about how wonderful CODA is, and it has amazing word of mouth.  And yet, it has been streamed less than a million times, and did no box office.  Yet it’s considered a hit.  Meanwhile fellow best picture nominee West Side Story is considered a monumental box office flop at $10 million, probably just over a million tickets sold.  Strange times for Hollywood to try to muster together a tribute to its work.

Here goes:

Best Picture
Will Win:  CODA
Should Win:  CODA, but don’t be surprised if Power of the Dog sneaks in after months and months as the favorite.  Power of the Dog waits until the last half hour to exert its brilliance, whereas I truly believe that CODA will be one of those beloved family movies like Sound of Music, with great staying power.  Think “Shawshank Redemption” which was a flop until it hit cable and achieved legendary status.  I’ve moved CODA on to my list of 250 favorite movies, which I’m sure is fascinating news.

Best Director:
Will Win:  Jane Campion
Should Win:  Jane Campion.  I expect it to be a coronation night for Jane, but it is a travesty that CODA’s director Sian Heder wasn’t nominated.

Best Actor:
Will and Should Win: Will Smith

Best Actress:
Will Win:  Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, although Penelope Cruz has late momentum.
Should Win:  Caitriona Balfe (oops, not even nominated) for Belfast
As much as I love Jessica, this just feels like a movie where the objective was not to entertain or tell the story, but to win her some awards, whereas Caitriona is the sparkplug of Belfast as the mother.  Can’t believe she’s been overlooked.

Best Supporting Actress:
Will and Should:  Ariana Debose, the lock of the night, although I’m a monster fan of Jesse Buckley, whose day will come.

Best Supporting Actor:
Will and Should :  Tony Kotsur, CODA
If there’s an upset here it will be Kodi Smith-McPhee, who turns the Power of the Dog into something special. 

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will and should:  CODA

Best Original Screenplay:
Will Win:  Licorice Pizza
Should Win:  Belfast
I’m thinking I’m calling a race that’s too close to call.

Best Foreign Film:
Will and should:  Drive My Car, an even bigger lock than Debose.

Best Animated Feature:
Will Win:  Encanto
Should Win:  Flee
While Encanto is a Bruno juggernaut, and Disney would be mortified, Flee is unforgettable.

Best Documentary Feature:
Will Win:  Summer of Soul
Should Win:  Flee
See Above, and see Flee if you get a chance.

Best Original Song:
Will Win:  No Time to Die
Should Win:  We Don’t Talk about Bruno (not even nominated because you really can’t predict what will be a hit.)

Best Costume Design:
Will win:  Cruella
Should win:  West Side Story

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Will win:  The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Best Live Action Short
Will Win:  The Long Goodbye

Best Animated Short:
Will Win:  Robin Robin

Best Documentary Short
Will Win:  Audible

The following categories will all go to DUNE
Score - Hans Zimmer
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Production Design
Best Sound
Best Visual Effects

Oops that’s six.  One will wash out, so I’ll stick with my prediction of 5, most of which will happen before the broadcast airs.  Let's see how that plays.

Should you choose to watch, enjoy.  If the producers don’t start the show with “Both Sides Now,” they are idiots.  A good drinking game will be to take a swig every time Ukraine or Zelensky are mentioned. 

Media Captures - February 2022

Free Guy – 8

A breezy video game of a movie.  But aren’t all Ryan Reynolds’ movies breezy?  He’s just has to do like Ringo says and act naturally.  His costar in this movie is Jodie Comer of Killing Eve fame.  Early press said she steals the movie from him, but as much as I like her, I can’t say I saw it that way.  Were I guiding her career, this is not what I’d be steering her into.  Would love to see her in a romantic comedy.  But, I digress.  In this overly long picture, Ryan slowly realizes he’s just a character in a video game, one that Jodie’s character designed and wants credit for.  A Fun movie that needed a little trimming.

The Eyes of Tammy Faye – 7

I want Jessica Chastain to win an Oscar in the worst way, but I’m not sure I want it this bad.  There are really only two types of roles.  You either impersonate a real person, or create a character from scratch.  This is a mostly magnificent impersonation of Tammy Faye Bakker, the at-the-time wife of Jim Bakker who used his religion and the PTL club as his personal bank account, then went to jail for it.  Tammy Faye seems to have come off unscathed.  She didn’t go to jail, and this movie is a very sympathetic rendering of her.  I have no idea how much is true.

Jessica takes it all and runs with it.  It seems to very much be the kind of starring vehicle designed to make an Oscar winner of the lead actress, much like the film “Judy” of a few years ago.  As much as I love Jessica – I think she is the Katherine Hepburn of our time - this movie just seems so gimmicky to me.  There are some great scenes, and there are some scenes where it seems like they were just hitting the highlights.  Mixed emotions are the order of the day.

Nightmare Alley – 8

Guillermo Del Toro’s latest directorial splash is with this Oscar nominated film that is a remake of an old film noir that I haven’t been able to watch yet.  Here’s what I know about this one.  It’s dark and brooding, it’s too long, and Bradley Cooper has got to be tired.  He’s in nearly every shot.  He starts as a down on his luck drifter who becomes a carny, then a con man.  He teams with Rooney Mara, then Cate Blanchett as he tries to take down a big score.  Pretty predictable, but a lot of style points. 

Georgetown - 7

Christoph Waltz makes his directorial debut in this “based on a true story” yarn.  And it’s quite a yarn.  He’s won a couple of Supporting Oscars, but it’s beginning to look like he can only sing one note.  He sings it here as the star as well as the boss.  The story is based on the real-life murder of socialite Viola Herms Draft, who was killed at the age of 91.  Really.  Who murders someone at that age?  Well it may have been her 49 year old husband, played by Waltz and the ultimate con man.  Fairly interesting at times, but it’s not gonna change your life. 

 
The Humans – 6

This is a film adaptation of a play.  It can’t be anything like the play, because the filmmakers chose to make the camera a character, telling you exactly which of the characters to watch.  The always excellent Richard Jenkins plays a father whose family has gathered for Thanksgiving in his daughter’s new residence – a bleak, noisy, largely unfurnished New York apartment.  The apartment is as much a character as the camera.  This baggage-laden family creaks and circles around the two stories of this apartment as if they are trying to get away from each other.  But that won’t work as they all have cliches to reveal. 

The basic purpose of this movie seems to be to make one appreciate one’s own life, and after watching this crew, I’m appreciative.  I said this last month, and I hate to repeat it, but not my cup of angst.

The Vault – 8

This Amazon production is about a deep ocean recovery of 3 valuable Spanish doubloons that are immediately seized by the Spanish Government without really knowing their value.  The salvagers decide they want to steal them back from the most secure location in the world, a vault in the Bank of Spain.  They recruit a recently graduated genius engineering student to ingeniously help them steal it back. 

There’s no new ground here, but I really liked the crew and the performances, particularly by Liam Cunningham as Walt, the crew leader.  Nothing great here, but if you like heist movies, this one is a steal.

The Marksman – 6

Liam being Liam. This time Liam Neeson is doing a version of Cry Macho, just a little younger than Clint.  If you liked the Taken trilogy, you'll probably like this, but let's hope there's no trilogy in store.

DOCUMENTARIES

Flee -10

You probably know by now I’m not much for animation.  It has to have quite the rep to draw me in, and this movie does.  It’s favored to win Best Documentary at the Oscars, and it’s easy to see why.  It’s the harrowing story, (and that in itself is a very inadequate description)  of what a took a man to emigrate out of Afghanistan.  It is animated for two reasons.  First, to still, after 20 years, protect his identity, and secondly, it would have been excruciating if done as a physical reenactment.  No Thank You.  That’s how bad it is. 

Adrienne – 10

The most moving thing I saw this month was this HBO documentary.  It is the story of the life and death of Adrienne Shelly, who died suddenly under mysterious circumstances in 2006.  Her most famous accomplishment was the movie Waitress.  She wrote it, acted in it, and directed it.  After her untimely death, It was taken to Sundance and was a big hit It was later adapted as a musical on Broadway to great acclaim.  Creative people are just different, and this movie celebrates her life through various interviews, including those made with her before her death.  I won’t get into the details of everyone interviewed, but some of them are heartbreaking.  Don’t miss this.

I remember seeing Sara Bareilles in concert in Atlanta when she was writing the music for the Broadway play.  One of her songs, “She Used to Be Mine,” has become a standard showcase for female vocalists.  You can see many renditions on Youtube, but this one is my favorite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c7NUyhNuEs

 

Icahn:  The Restless Billionaire – 9 (HBO)

Carl Icahn is a financier/corporate raider who has had a lot of impact on Wall Street as an activist investor.  This is one of those up close and personal portraits.  It's interesting, and much like Warren Buffet, Icahn is playing a different game from the rest of us.

The Worst Roomate Ever - Incomplete

This just came out on Netflix, and the final two episodes about a squatter named Jamison Bachman is a story I heard and read about a long time ago from my friend Bob Friedman, who makes an appearance in the documentary.  It’s the final 2 episodes, and it is truly horrifying what Bachman got away with.  As a documentary this piece suffers from what I would call over-stuffing.  The same pictures over and over with ominous music to convey something.  Anyway, he was a childhood friend of Bob’s and as detailed in this article, Bob probably got off lucky.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/jamison-bachman-worst-roommate-ever.html

REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel – 10

I’m sure it helps when you have a month to put together some quality reports, but for my money this HBO series is not only the best documentary series on TV (take that 60 minutes) but it may be the best thing on TV.  Don’t believe me?  Check out the stories this month:

1. The head injuries suffered by Bobsledders
2. An incisive interview conducted by Gumbel himself of Brian Flores (and 2 attorneys) about his law suit against the NFL.
3. A Bitcoin craze initiated by Surfers in the very poor El Salvador
4. The heartbreaking story of Opioid addiction among high school athletes, including on struggling player they have been following for years.

 
CLASSICS/OLDIES

Boondock Saints - 7

This is the story of twin brothers who think they’ve been given permission by their priest to become vigilantes.  So that’s what they do.  They are pretty good at doing it, considering there’s no discernable training.  I’m told there’s a namesake bar in the French Quarter that just plays this movie over and over on their TV’s.  It ain’t worth all that.

The Ambassador – 4
King of Marvin Gardens – 6

Why in the world would I watch these two movies?  Simple.  They were holes in my Ellen Burstyn resume. 

The Ambassador is a 1984 film starring Robert Mitchum as a Middle East Ambassador, with Rock Hudson as his security guard, trying to broker peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis and it could take place today, because in 40 years, the quo is still status.  Ellen plays Micthum’s wife who is having an affair, and there are two shocking scenes in the movie, the first of which is a love scene in which Ellen appears topless.  I can’t remember her ever doing that.  The second shocking scene is a slaughter at the end of the movie that would never make it to the screen today.  So, I won’t call the movie forgettable, but it’s not very good.

The King of Marvin Gardens is a Jack Nicholson film that was directed by Bob Rafelson in the wake of their breakout success with “Five Easy Pieces” and they flopped on this one.  Ellen has the standout scene in this movie when she dispenses justice at the end.  Quirky scenes, not forgettable, but best forgotten.

I have been a huge fan of Burstyn’s since her Oscar-winning turn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.  She has two of my top ten female performances of all time, but you could google that subject, as I have, and she wouldn’t be listed in the top 100.  To appreciate her, you could watch her episode of Law and Order SUV that she won an Emmy for playing Elliott’s bipolar mother (Season 10 – Episode 3).  You could watch her incredible turn in Requiem for a Dream, but it may haunt your dreams.  If you could find it, (I can’t) you can find a 14 second appearance in an HBO Movie (Mrs. Harris) for which she got an Emmy Nomination.  That’s right.  14 seconds.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite Movie Female Performances of all Time, including what I think is the most underrated physical performance, Ellen as a healer in Resurrection.

Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line
Ellen Burstyn – Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Bette Davis – All About Eve
Liza Minelli - Cabaret
Judy Garland – The Wizard of Oz
Vivian Leigh – Gone With the Wind
Ingrid Bergman – CasaBlanca
Katherine Hepburn – Bringing Up Baby
Diane Keaton – Annie Hall
Ellen Burstyn – Resurrection

Media Captures - January 2022

Nobody – 9

This 2020 film with Bob Odenkirk is nothing but violence porn with a whole bunch of people finding new ways to kill and be killed.   And yet…..and yet…..it all works pretty well.  Most of the thanks for that belongs to Odenkirk, who plays a former Government bad-guy who made bad things go away.  He has a particular set of skills (although they don’t use that line) and he has tried, really tried to stay on the straight and narrow.  But, a home invasion changes all that and sends him down a John Wicky like road.

Great soundtrack, including a revelatory version of “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” by Nina Simone.  This is one of my favorite songs.  I'm partial to the Santa Esmeraldo version, but Nina opened my eyes:

Don’t believe me?  https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/dont-let-me-be-misunderstood.html

Queenpins – 8

I’ve become a huge fan of Paul Walter Hauser, who plays a neb in movies, because he is a neb.  He’s got some hilarious scenes in this, the best of which is him sitting in a car with Vince Vaughn while trying to suppress the call of nature. 

Kristen Bell is doing bad things with coupons.  Paul is in pursuit.  The teeter totter is out of balance. 

 

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard – 5

A kitchen sink of wisecracks and ridiculous action, there isn’t a believable minute in this movie, which doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its moments, like early in the movie when an American detective comments on what Europeans do with their time.  That’s also the highlight.  The rest is silliness, the height of which is Morgan Freeman’s casting as Ryan Reynold’s father – Stepfather!  Stunt casting at its finest.  Stupid, and too long, of course.  It reminds me again of one of my top rules of movie watching.  Avoid movies who have a double possessive in the title. 

 
The Tender Bar – 8

The critical consensus of this movie has been pretty low, other than a nice performance by Ben Affleck.

But I liked it more than I was supposed to.  Affleck plays a wise uncle to the main character, a young author to be.  The movie has two main locales:  The young man’s college and his campus crush, and the infinitely more interesting Long Island Bar run by Affleck’s character and the house that the family lives in.  This is directed by George Clooney, and I don’t know where he finds the time.  His direction here is so low key that it’s frustrating at times, but this movie is better than its rep.

The Lost Daughter – 7

Olivia Coleman makes another bid for an Oscar as a troubled mother named Leda doing strange things as she vacations alone in a beach town.  This is not a movie for everyone, as it’s like reading a think piece in some journal.  It’s slow moving and makes nothing easy for the viewer.  I can’t remember this ever happening before, but Jessie Buckley plays the young version of Leda, and she got a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.  Jessie Buckley brings the film to life in her scenes, and I’m sure that’s the way they intended it.  Pay attention to her, if you decide to take on this movie, which I already told someone was not my cup of angst. 

In my opinion, the two most exciting young actresses working in movies right now are Jesse Buckley and Jodie Comer.  Jessie’s not going to win that Oscar (Ariana Debose is, and rightfully so) but this should launch Jessie into more great roles. 

 

DOCUMENTARIES

Closed For Storm – 8

This is the story of Jazzland, otherwise known as Six Flags over New Orleans.  It got devastated by Hurricane Katrina and has never reopened. 

Now I’ve been to a lot of Six Flags Amusement parks and if there is a city that legitimately deserves one it’s New Orleans.  I never made it to this park, and it really never caught on because the populace has such a loyalty to the long-gone Ponchartrain Beach which still echoes through the Bayou. 

Nevertheless, this was a sad loss for the city, and the political travails following the storm have kept it on the back burner.  As the property is now back in play, it seems the filmmakers had an agenda.  You be the judge.

Shut Up and Dribble – 9 (SHO)
Kareem:  Minority of One  – 9 (HBO)

These two documentaries (Dribble is 3 parts) delve into race and sports, but mostly the sport of basketball.  There’s really nothing new here, but it’s a great reminder of where we’ve been and the ups and downs of our country’s struggle with race.  The focus of Kareem is on his life’s struggle and as he is a frequent subject of Shut Up and Dribble, this is a great double feature. 

 

BINGING

Dopesick – 10

This Hulu series is just as good as it gets.  It tears apart the Sackler family and Purdue Pharmacy.  The acting is uniformly superb, highlighted by Kaitlyn Dever as an injured mine worker, and Michael Keaton as her prescribing doctor.  The Sackler Family, which saw their chance to get even more mega-richer than they already were by rolling out opiates and misrepresenting them, are bone-chilling in their greed.

This is a long, heart-burning watch, but it’s a series that you will never forget. 

 
The Blacklist  – 10 (so far)

I had no idea.  The last network drama I liked at all was The Good Wife, but a friend of mine was always rapturous about The Blacklist.  I don’t know why I decided to watch the first episode, and now I’ve watched exactly 52 of the 183 that have been aired.  I’ve reached a natural stopping point and I need to take a break.  But first, I’ve got something to tell you.  So far…fantastic.  It is story telling at its best.  Yes, of course its far-fetched and ridiculous at times, but it never falls apart.

James Spader infuses his character Red Reddington with great verve and personality.  Red is a fugitive who turns himself into the FBI and tells them he intends to walk them through his Blacklist of worldwide criminals to be captured.  The caveat is that he will only deal with one FBI agent, a new profiler named Elizabeth Keen, to whom he has some link.  Keen is spectacularly inhabited by an actress named Megan Boone, whom I had never heard of, presumably because at 22 episodes a year for 9 years, she’s had no time for anything else.

These stories of various criminals are bizarre and crazy, and tied together with silly evidence and assumptions, and….I believe it all.  I’m hooked.

 

Reacher – 8

We breezed through the 8 episodes of this Amazon series in two nights.  I’m not one of those guys who obsesses over how big the actor is playing Jack Reacher.  In two movies the part of Jack Reacher was played by Tom Cruise.  The first movie was excellent, the second movie not very good, and that probably killed a potential 2^nd franchise for Tom.  I liked him as Jack Reacher.  It has been explained to me by a zealot or two why I was wrong.

Loyalists to the Jack Reacher series of books by Lee Childs were mortified by Tom’s take because as Childs wrote him Reacher is a Goliath of a man.  This series goes about correcting that with the casting of unknown, at least to me, Alan Ritchson.  He does a great job at a few things:  1.  Delivering his lines in a dead-pan manner that is often hysterical.  2.  Head butting bad guys, and 3. Taking off his shirt (a skill he shares with Cruise.)   He’s a brilliant ex-army investigator and a brutal fighter who thinks nothing of taking on several baddies at once and maiming and otherwise killing them.  As the body count mounts, any hint of law enforcement holding Reacher accountable evaporates and that’s rather amusing.

The story is based on the first book in the series, and since this series is entertaining in its patter and violence, let’s face it.  This could go on forever.  Amazon can afford it, and I suspect this will be a big hit.  Mostly because Ritchson is a hunk that fits the job description.  I see this going for 25 years. 

CLASSICS

Sweet Smell of Success – 7

I watched this alleged classic only because it plays a pivotal part in The Newsroom episode where Don Keefer and Sloan Sabbith realize what they need to realize, if you know what I mean and I think you do.  Don and Sloan are two of my favorite TV characters of all-time so I thought I owed it to them.

Now the Sweet Smell has a classic script wherein Publicist Sidney Falco. played by Tony Curtis is trying to stay in the good graces of columnist JJ Hunsecker, played by Burt Lancaster.  The sleaziness of all the characters doesn’t age well, so it’s such an unappetizing story that I have to wonder what Don Keefer saw in it, and if I ever run into Aaron Sorkin (the writer of The Newsroom) remind me to ask him.

Master and Commander:  Far Side of the World – 10

Somehow I missed this Russell Crowe vehicle.  Crowe plays Captain Jack Aubrey who is piloting the British HMS Surprise.  It is near South America in conflict with Napoleon’s heavy frigate Acheron, against which it should have no chance.  But with Aubrey’s experience and persistence it’s going to be a fair and thrilling fight.

Director Peter Weir doesn’t waste a dollar of the prodigious budget.  It’s captivating, and different from what hits the screen these days.  Really sorry it took me so long.

Little Shop Around the Corner – 9

Famed film critic Paulene Kael said this film was “Close to perfection--one of the most beautifully acted and paced romantic comedies ever made in this country.”  Who I am I to argue?  I stumbled on this, and my love of Jimmy Stewart kept me hanging in, and sure enough it turned into one of those gentle romantic comedies they just don’t make anymore.

Thunder Road – 8

Robert Mitchum plays a moonshine runner evading the law in a pretty standard pot-boiler that makes the “favorite film” list of many celebrities, including Bruce Springsteen who penned a song by the same name that is much better than this movie.  But, it is worth watching for that Mitchum charisma.

2021 Rankings - The Year in Review

2021 was certainly a challenging year.  

My favorite quote of the year, and I don't remember where I saw it was "the future eats the present."

Here’s a ranking of everything I saw this year, largely in the throes of a knee replacement, and you will see that there is a lot I loved.  Only saw 3 movies in a theater, which saddens me.  Hope this helps when you sit down at night wondering what to watch.

Movies

1,  CODA – 10
2.  Come From Away – 10
3.  Leave No Trace – 10
4.  Promising Young Woman - 10
5.  Shiva Baby – 10
6.  The Father – 10
7.  Minari – 10
8.  The Wife – 10
9.  Incendies – 10
10.West Side Story – 9

Don’t Look Up – 9
Tick, Tick…Boom - 9
Power of the Dog - 9
Soul - 9
Always Be My Maybe – 9
One Night in Miami – 9
Never Rarely Sometimes Always - 9
I Care A Lot – 9
Nomadland – 9
Greyhound - 9
No Time to Die – 9
Blood Red Sky - 9
Red Notice – 9
Doctor Sleep - 9
Palm Springs - 9
The United States vs Billie Holiday - 8
A Quiet Place Part 2 - 8
In the Heights – 8
Being the Ricardo’s - 8
First Cow - 8
The Keeping Room - 8
A Most Violent Year - 8
Enemy - 8
The Tomorrow War – 8
Without Remorse – 8
Mix Tape - 7
The Little Things - 7
Irrational Man – 7
Homefront - 7
News of the World – 8
Chris Rock – Total Blackout – 8
Magic in the Moonlight - 7
Barb and Starr Go To Vista Del Mar – 7
The Ice Road - 7
Cry Macho - 7
Gunpowder Milkshake – 7
Wonder Wheel – 7
A Rainy Day in New York – 6
The Prom - 6
Café Society - 6
Jolt - 6
Dave Chappelle: The Closer – 5
Under the Skin - 5
To Rome with Love - 3
6 Underground - 1

Classics

The Seven Samurai – 10
Lawrence of Arabia - 10
The Red Shoes – 10
The General – 10
Aguirre Wrath of God - 10
Paths of Glory – 10
Blood Simple - 10
The Last Picture Show - 9
Rio Bravo - 9
My Darling Clementine – 9
Wild Strawberries - 9
Phantom Thread – 9
The Paper Chase - 9
New Orleans – 9
Sunrise:  A Tale of Two Humans - 9
Late Spring - 8
Sherlock Jr – 8
L’Atalante - 8
Brief Encounter – 7
The Hypnotic Eye - 6

Documentaries

Get Back – 10 (Disney+)
Summer of Soul – 10 (Hulu)
The Crime of the Century – 10 (HBO)
Music Box:  Woodstock ’99:  Peace, Love, and Rage – 10 (HBO)
Collective – 10 (Hulu)
McCartney 3,2,1 – 10 (Hulu)
Time – 10 (Amazon)
My Octopus Teacher – 10 (Netflix)
Inventing David Geffen – 10 (Netflix)
Stop Making Sense – 10 (VUDU)
Allen v Farrow – 10 (HBO)
Soul of America – 10 (HBO)
The Way Down:  God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin – 10 (HBO)
Muhammed Ali – 10 (PBS)
Tina – 10 (HBO)
The Sparks Brothers – 10 (Netflix)
Mr A & Mr. M – 10 (Epix)
The Bee Gees:  How Can You Mend a Broken Heart – 9 (HBO)
Roadrunner – 9  (CNN)
Music Box:  Jagged, Kenny G, and Mr. Saturday Night
Pretend It’s a City – 9 (Netflix)
The Mole Agent – 9
David Crosby:  Remember My Name – 9 (Starz)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi – 9
1971:  The Year tha Music Changed Everything - 9
Untold:  Malic in the Palace – 9 (Netflix)
The Ron Artest Story – 9 (Showtime)
Every Little Step – 9 (Netflix)
Tiger – 9 (HBO)
Val – 8 (Amazon)
Framing Britney Spears - 8
Count Me In – 8 (Netflix)
Bitchin’:  The Sound and Fury of Rick Jams – 8 (Showtime)
Miles Davis:  Birth of the Cool – 8 (Netflix)

TV Series 

Mare of Easttown – 10 (HBO)
Deadwood – 10 (HBO)
Brockmire – 10 (Hulu)
Lie to Me – 10 (Hulu)
Broadchurch – 10 (Netflix)
Ted Lasso – 9 (Apple+)
The Kominsky Method – 9 (Netflix)
Only Murders in the Building – 9 (Amazon)
Hacks – 9 (HBO)
Cobra Kai – 9 (Netflix)
Condor – 9 (Epix)
Your Honor – 0 (Showtime)

The Ozzies

Best Picture – CODA
Best Actor: Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick, … Boom
Best Actress: Rachel Zegler, West Side Story
Best Supporting Actor: Troy Kotsur, CODA
Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Best Director: Sian Heder - CODA
Best Documentary:  Get Back

The Lizzies

Best TV Series:  Mare of Easttown:
Best Actor:  Jason Bateman, Ozark
Best Actress:  Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown
Best Supporting Actor:  Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
Best Supporting Actress:  Julianne Nicholson, Mare of Easttown

Second Opinions - this from my friend David Jones, who can see a movie once, and recite dialogue:

1. Come from Away, a wistful 9/11 musical giving us hope for the human race;
   
2. Get Back, Fab Four Forever;
3. Bo Burnham's Inside, pure genius;
4. CODA, delightful /\ insightful;
5. tick, tick...BOOM, Andrew Garfield and Lin-Manuel Miranda unleash;
6. Power of the Dog, a slow burn with a powerhouse performance;
7. The Hand of God, a beautiful Fellini-like reminiscence;
8. Saint Maud, A holy hell of a character study;
9. Encanto, Lin-Manuel (again!) along with the best animated hair ever;
10. Nightmare Alley, just enough del Toro to edge it onto the list...

Limited Run & Series

The Mare of Easttown

Ted Lasso

Dopesick

Only Murders in the Building

The Great

Welcome to Earth

Always Sunny in Philadelphia (partial)

Most Disappointing: 

Dune 

No Time to Die 

Don't Look Up

Being the Ricardos

Best "discovered" film

Woman at War

"Missed" but will see soon!

Road Runner (and I might read an associated book "In the Weeds" written by his longtime producer)...

Saints Report #17 - January 9, 2022

"You’ve got to be kidding me.  This is what we get with a 17 game season.  The Saints?  So, let me get this straight, if we had stuck to the 16 game schedule, the 49’ers would be in already? "

"Roger, let’s not panic yet.  There’s still a half to play and although they’re down 17-3, we know the Rams aren’t a second half team and they’ll probably choke.  As for the Saints, we thought for sure after that Hurricane, down to their 4^th Quarterback, and all that covid, they were goners.  You gotta give them credit."

"No, no credit.  But I’ll say this.  You guys sure did a good job getting the National Media to ignore them until now.  If the 49’ers do lose, I want that blackout of Saints info to continue." 

"Roger, we’ve got Colin, Stephan, and Mike in our back pocket.  They haven’t mentioned the Saints all year.  The only one we can’t get to shut up is Kay Adams, and she’s on our own network." 

"Can we bring someone else in?" 

"Roger, she’s so popular it would be suspicious."

 "Ok, it's halftime.  Let's get to work.  Mary Ann, contact the replay booth and tell them which way to lean.  Also, reach out to the clock operator and tell him what to do." 

"If the Saints make the playoffs despite our efforts, put together a “preserve-our-ratings” task force.  First, start with sending Fauci down to personally sit with the opposing quarterback, I guess Matthew Stafford, for the week so he doesn’t get sick.  Isolate him.  Keep him away from his kids."

"Second, I want that Officiating Crew from LA that we sent to the Superdome to keep the Saints out of the Super Bowl, I want that same crew doing the Saints playoff game."

"Third, I want a deep dive into the Saints observation of protocols.  Surely, we can suspend someone.  Maybe Tom Benson?"

"Roger, Tom died years ago."

"Oops.  If the Saints don’t make the playoffs, let’s get the “Coach of the Year” criteria changed to “must go to a coach of a playoff team,” just to be sure Payton can’t win.  And why are the Saints allowed so many quarterbacks?"

"Roger, good news.  The Rams choked and it’s going to overtime." 

"Ok, make sure the Niners win the toss.  I want that crew on high alert for pass interference."

Ultimately, the Saints season of adversity ended with a Matthew Stafford interception in overtime, and the 49’ers got the playoff spot.  Stafford has the footwork of Stephen Adams (Slowfoot) who played for the Pelicans last year.  Should they meet again in the playoffs, the 49’ers will grind them into the ground with their running game.

The Saints finale was mostly satisfying.  Their 30-20 win over Matt “Turnover” Ryan and the hapless Falcons was good until the last drop, and then the shoe dropped when the Rams spit the bit.

Taysom Hill was nearly perfect until he got hurt.  If he really has a lisfranc foot fracture, he’ll be under the knife tomorrow. 

Trevor Siemian took over and was safe and flawless, helped substantially by the defensive takeaways.  The announcers were even impressed by the fact that the Falcons had three one play drives.  It wasn’t just Roger Goodell who didn’t want the Saints in the playoffs.  That defense and the Saints ability to play field position is enough to frighten every team.  Let’s hope that somehow the defense can stay together for next year.  They’ll be some salary wrangling to do.

I watched with admiration this year as Sean Payton unveiled his game plan for each game.  He took a team with a couple of quarterbacks who had no mobility, and one that had too much, and a rookie, and basically manipulated this team to competitiveness.  Yes, there were games that slipped away. (Giants, Titans, Falcons).  Kicking problems were embarrassing at times.  But, for obstacles overcome, adversity dealt with, and juggling of personnel, hats off to Sean Payton.  A 9-8 record is nothing to covid sneeze at.

Media Captures - December 2021

Get Back – 10 (Disney+)

The greatness of the Beatles is on full display in all its beauty and conflict in this almost 9 hour documentary from Peter Jackson, culled from the Let It Be Sessions.

On the verge of disintegration, with only 1 album ahead, the Beatles decided to go back to basics, and without a lot of studio enhancements write, record, and perform a whole new album in a month, the Let It Be album.

I have many observations:

Paul is the driving force of creativity.  Pumping out classics-to-be is 2^nd nature.  John is struggling to keep up, and George is actually catching up.

I was surprised that George Martin played so little role in this album, but it makes sense as there is little production. 

The Beatles use a musical shorthand that I don’t understand.  They sure are good at it!

Because cameras were rolling, I think they were probably on their best behavior, especially Paul.

There are parts that are hard to take, and there are parts that bring the purest wonderment.  If your wish was to go back in time and witness The Beatles, you will love this trip.

West Side Story – 9

Steven Speilberg is at his best in what will probably go down as a masterpiece despite flopping at the box office.  The sets and scenery and dancing are phenomenal, as good as anything that’s ever been put on the big screen.  Newcomer Rachel Zegler is stunning as Maria, as is Ariana Debose as Anita, the role that Rita Morena won an Oscar for in the original.  

Unfortunately, there was one huge casting mistake.  Ansel Elgot as Tony was a huge misfire for me, as he has less charisma than a chair, making it hard to believe that Maria would fall for him.  Also, Rita Morena is shoehorned in for nostalgia’s sake, but her scenes bring things to a screeching halt.  These are unfortunate, because without these two mistakes, this would be in the top two or three musicals of all time. One more thing:  This year there are two scenes that are so stunning they should live forever.  The one that is in this movie, is the singing and dancing of "America" with all the joy and love for this country that no longer seems to exist.  

 

Tick, Tick….BOOM - 9

Andrew Garfield jumps into the Best Actor Oscar race playing Jonathan Larsen, the writer of Rent.  Although just about 30, Larsen is desperate to write a Broadway musical, and his ups and downs are portrayed here, weaved around a one-man show.  Creative people are often troubled, or at least put themselves under a lot of stress, and Garfield conveys that.  Larsen would die suddenly before Rent opened on Broadway.  Directed by Lin Manuel-Miranda of Hamilton fame, this would be a great musical in any year.

The Power of the Dog – 9

Benedict Cumberbatch is the other top Oscar Best Actor contender playing a troubled cowboy in Jane Campion’s latest.  Set in Montana, the echos of current television hit Yellowstone are audible.  The breathtaking scenery, the family disfunction.  Cumberbatch plays a closeted cowboy who harrasses then befriends his brother’s stepson, Peter.  Peter is played by Kodi Smith-McPhee in a stunning performance that will likely net him a supporting actor Oscar.  And as good as the acting is, it’s the script and the ending that make this movie something special. 
 

Music Box:  Jagged – 9
Music Box:  The Sounds of Kenny G: - 9
Music Box:  Mr. Saturday Night – 9

Bill Simmons is doing music documentaries under the “Music Box” heading for HBO, the entity that grabbed him when he pissed off ESPN one too many times. , and they are all fine, competent, and often enthralling. 

“Jagged” is about the Alanis Morissette dominated music period, but her prior period as a teen star in Canada is equally fascinating.  Alanis seems grounded about the whole “fame” thing.

“The Sounds of Kenny G” is a surprisingly interesting portrait of the popular woodwind player. 

“Mr. Saturday Night” is Robert Stigwood and the story of the amazing profit home run he hit with Saturday Night Fever.  Gene Siskel would’ve loved this doc. 

Val - 9

My childhood included bad Super 8 movies, slides and photographs, all of which would have come in handy had I become famous and played Doc Holiday in Tombstone..  Val Kilmer went through the same thing, often of his own choosing, and ended up giving a knock-out performance as Holiday, making this a fascinating self portrait.  Kilmer takes us through his childhood, his roles, and his throat cancer which has crippled his voice.  He narrates through a rasp, but that doesn't diminish his story.  Much like Get Back, this is a great peek at how the minority live - those with talent.

Encanto - 9

Yes, I watched an animated Disney film.  This one is a fantasy set in Columbia and it is filled with bright colors, a wonderful story, and superb music written by Lin Manuel-Miranda, who is everywhere these days.  I wasn't wowed by it, but I was certainly entertained.

Woman at War – 9

This is a foreign film about a woman in Iceland who is a deadly serious climate crusader, and the drama is significant, but what makes this film is a recurring sight gag worthy of Monty Python, and every single time it recurred, I laughed out loud

 

Don’t Look Up – 9 

This is an anti-review of a silly little satirical movie directed by Adam McKay.  The Antivaxxers will understand. Finally leftist Hollywood has made a movie worthy of the right, defending liberty and decrying big government.  The story is that leftist scientists played by known activists Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, want people to believe that a comet is about to destroy earth, but fortunately, the Patriots adeptly sniff out the hoax as just a way to control the thinking of the public.  As the hoax reaches its supposed climax, the divisions grow and reaffirm what I’ve been saying.  Hope there’s no World War III, because these days, the U.S. would never come together to win a war.  Stay until the end when leftie, commie Meryl Streep sees the future.  Also, I laughed out loud.  A lot.  I could be wrong, but I actually think this will be one of those movies that live on, maybe even to “classic” status.  It’s got that feel.  Conservatives will certainly elevate it to that status.
 

Mix Tape – 7

If you have ever compiled a mix tape you know that special joy of expecting one song to follow another – for the rest of your life, because that’s the way you designed it on a cassette.   It’s 1999 and 12-year-old Beverly finds a broken mixtape made by her late parents.  She goes exploring, tracking down each song and trying to find the hidden message her parents intended to send her.  This is harmless fun and a nice cast.  It’s just enough to distract you from today’s music. 

Being the Ricardos – 8

At times amusing, at times entertaining, this condensation of numerous events into one week of filming by the great Aaron Sorkin, comes across as a stretch.  The controversial casting of Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as Lucy and Desi dominate the watching of the movie as much as the pre-movie chatter.  Kidman is a little stiff for her role, while Bardem is a little more believable.  There are so many subplots going on, it can’t help but be suspenseful. 

The actors playing Vivian Vance and William Frawley (Fred and Ethel Mertz on the show) are Nina Arianda and J K Simmons, and they have the best lines, so they steal the show.  I’m a big fan of Arianda from her work on Goliath and when I first heard she was in the movie, I thought she would be a perfect Lucille Ball.  Wrong again Ricardo. 

 

Coming soon - The Year in Review.....

Saints Report #16 - January 2, 2022

The Payton 57

And then there was one.  Just weekend number 18 left, and still in the hunt.

I made my first trip to section 116 of the Superdome in 2 years and I found two differences since my last visit:  The Who Dat Chant was missing (I learned later an oversight), and the men’s bathroom had shrunk in half (not an oversight.)  I got to view the newest incarnation of the Dome Patrol up close, and they are a sight to behold.  The Saints stifled the Carolina Panthers 18 – 10 to keep their playoff hopes alive.  Now the Saints must beat the Falcons next week, and if the Rams beat the 49’ers, the Saints will displace the 49’ers as the 7^th seed.

The Panthers jumped out to a 10 -3 lead in the first half, but got shut down and shut out the rest of the way.  The Saints chipped away with chip shots.  They managed 4 field goals to take a 12-10 lead.  They finished the scoring with a swing pass to Kamara that he took 12 yards for the Saints first touchdown in 11 quarters. 

It’s a different kind of football the Saints are playing, but it can be winning football. 

Make no mistake, this Is not the high-flying days of Drew Brees, Marques Colston, and Devery Henderson.  This is ground and pound and dominate.  Don’t turn the ball over, and control field position and the clock.   The offense was missing 4 starters on the offensive line, so the battle in the trenches was ugly.  The Saints kept trying to run the ball, even though they were getting nowhere.  Where did this dedication to the running game come from?  The Saints got exactly one run of consequence from Kamara, and a few late ones from Taysom Hill, who really tried to stay in the pocket for most of the game. 

Meanwhile, the undrafted Marquez Callaway is the only receiver who hasn’t disappeared, although Deonte Harris had some impact  They beat the Bucs scoring no touchdowns, and the Panthers by scoring one.  How far can they go scoring just one touchdown a game?   

The defense allowed a total of 178 yards, 90 passing, 88 rushing.  They sacked Sam Darnold 7 times, half of them attributed to Cam Jordan, who came back from his covid break 3 weeks ago like a man from the Marvel universe.  For the season Jordan has 11 ½ sacks, but 7 1/2 of them have come in the last 3 games.  His covid game was the first game he has missed as a Saint, and he looks rejuvenated.

It was revealed that the Saints have started 57 different players this year.  With the adversity they have faced, hurricanes, injuries, and covid, including 4 different quarterbacks, you have to marvel that they have stayed competitive.  I guess it could have been worse.  We could have signed Antonio Brown.  We could have traded for “teammate of the year” Kirk Cousins, who refused to get vaccinated, then was sidelined with covid before their biggest game of the year. Goodbye playoffs.  Game after game Payton has pieced things together, while adapting his offensive attack to the weapons that were available.  To be 8-8 and still in contention is pretty amazing.  

If the Saints can close this out with a little 6 game winning streak, Mrs. Benson would have to buy a record number of rings.

It’s unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

Saints Report #15 - December 27, 2021

The Saints fell to the Dolphins 20-3 in the annual Attrition Bowl Monday Night.  It wasn’t that close.  It was never going to be that close.

The Saints had no choice but to trot out QB Ian Book, their 4^th round draft choice, who by all accounts had never taken a practice snap with the first team.  He looked as bad as you would expect, as he couldn’t even throw the ball away when headed out of bounds faced with a loss.  It looked like he had never played the position before, at least at times.

Not his fault.  He never expected to have to play this year, and I’m a little concerned at the lack of development here, but I guess the Saints have had other things on their mind, like fighting the war of attrition, which they are losing as surely as the world is losing the war on covid.  And to ask him to play behind that make-shift offensive line with only two starters and three who should’ve been in street clothes was like putting a matador in the ring with a bull and blindfolding him.  It was treacherous.  Remember the replacement teams?

The Greed Football League expanded the schedule to 17 games this year in the year they should have dropped it to about 12, with teams getting 3 byes.  Many teams have had to send out players that don’t belong in the NFL.  It’s not the product we are used to.  The Saints looked so inept on offense, by far their worst game in the Payton era, that’s it no wonder they reached out to Brees last week.  Bobby Hebert was probably sitting by his phone.  They coulda been killed.  Glad Brees stayed the course on his retirement, on the course.

The Saints have fallen to 7-8 and I just don’t think they can get up.  I’d just as soon they start Book the last 2 games and see if he improves any.  Look, I read all the Saints chatterboxes doing the Hill/Winston argument and let me say this.  The Saints don’t have any NFL Playoff Caliber Quarterback on their roster. 

Winston has a good arm, but can’t read defenses quickly enough, Hill will never make it through a season, Siemian is a known quantity, and it’s average at best, and Book – well would any other team have drafted him?

What’s sad is that this year, and I emphasize “this year,” the defense may be the best the Saints have ever had.  The injuries have been excessive, and it is rather disconcerting that covid has swept through the team in the last couple of weeks.  Doesn’t exactly make me want to browse Wal-Mart. 

Other than last night’s embarrassment, and the weird propensity to beat great teams and lose to bad ones, I actually like the way the Saints have competed, given all the injuries.  Sean Payton has kept them in the games.  I have questioned his play calling at times, like we all do, but he has put together a great team which is lacking at one position, where he has saddled himself with some Ansel Elgot’s.  If it can happen to Speilberg, it can happen to anyone.  Casting your leading man is extremely important.  The off-season will be interesting.  In the NFL, there are about 10 Quarterbacks who can win a Super Bowl.  If the goal is the Super Bowl, time to find an eleventh.      

Saints Report #14 - December 19, 2021

It is doubtful that Tom Brady began his evening wondering if his team would score any points.  

He certainly wasn't expecting a score that would read like a baseball forfeit.

The Saints defense shut out Tampa Bay 9-0 in a game that had to be a shock to the football world.  For the second straight year the Saints swept the TB’s. 
Let's review:  38-3, 34-23, 36-27, 9-0.  

I will always maintain that the Saints would have won the playoff game as well if not for Jared Cook's fumble.  

Sunday night, it was as if the Saints took it personally that Brady hasn’t retired yet.  “Hey man, it’s time for you to sit in your hot tub on your deck overlooking some body of water sipping mint juleps, or those smoothies you make.  Hang it up, already.”  Or, at least that's what CJ Gardner-Johnson was probably thinking when he stared down Brady during the game. Brady at 44 is probably older than some of the Saints player's parents.  

With Sean Payton sidelined with Covid, Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen continued his mastery of Brady.  The Saints have had a lot of things go wrong this year, but one thing that has gone right is the defense.  That has to be attributed to Allen.

It is a luxury to have a competent coordinator in his 7^th year.  He has molded the defense, he has filled the holes, and he is well acquainted with every team in the league.  He’s seen it all, and he is getting better and better.  After this headline-making performance I’m a little scared.  Is he going to be a head coaching candidate?  Selfishly, I hope not.  This morning on the NFL network Peter Schrager said the Saints have the best defensive backfield in the league, and that was the part of the team I was most concerned about.  Go figure.  You have to give Sean Payton credit for following the Belichick process which is build your team to dominate your division and beat your divisional opponents, in those 6 games.  That strategy has resulted in 4 straight divisional titles on the heels of Carolina winning 3 in a row during Cam Newton’s prime.  A fifth is a long-shot, but it’s still a great run.

On the offensive side, the Saints didn’t do much against an excellent Tampa defense.  The Saints basically took just enough advantage of good field position to kick 3 field goals.  Who began the night thinking that would do it?

So the Saints are still alive to win the division.  Sure, at 7-7 they would have to win their last 3 and the Bucs would have to lose their last 3.  Let’s face it, the Saints offense is a little tepid for that to happen.  But there’s no question that given the many adversities of this season, Saints fans can hold their heads high.  Lotta Heart on this team.

 

Saints Report #13 - September 12, 2021

Give me your tired, your poor, your losing teams.  Come to New York and face our team, the J-E-T-S, the worst the NFL has to offer.  If you can’t beat this team, you’re really in trouble.

The Saints traveled to New York, well actually New Hoffa, to feast on the Jets, and feast they did, 30-9.  The Jets looked awful, a reminder to the Saints fans what an awful team really looks like.  The game left the Saints as one of many teams at 6-7 and squarely in the playoff hunt, although it almost certainly won’t be by division title.  The Saints have some quarterback uncertainty over the next few years, but not like the Jets.  The green team invested the 2^nd pick in Zach Wilson, who looks like a great NFL quarterback maneuvering around the pocket, until he actually has to let go of the ball.  At that point anything could happen, but it usually involves bouncing.  Bouncing off a shoulder pad, a helmet, or the turf.  I have said all along that I don’t think the Saints have an NFL quarterback on the roster, but after watching Wilson I could make the argument that the Saints have 4, 5 if you count Kamara.  If Wilson makes it as an NFL quarterback, I will be shocked. 

Yes, Alvin Kamara was back from his fall break, and did he look fresh!  He is clearly the NFL MVP as the Saints are 6-3 with him, and 0-4 without him.  He was spectacular, accounting for 145 yards running and catching and just bothering the Jets.  Taysom Hill also had a good game, doing what he does.  But the defense was stout, allowing only 3 harmless field goals, threatened only at the end of the game.    They didn’t miss Cameron Jordan, who missed his first game ever as a Saint, and with their biggest game of the season on tap next Sunday Night against TB, now is the time to make a challenge for a a playoff spot. 

How will it go?  Well, you can bet they will concentrate on Kamara, so someone else will need to step up.